Silly Zhu's Moving: The Old Neighbor's Nightmare

Chapter 194 Toys

Sha Zhu found a small wooden bucket by the pond in the yard and handed it to Yan Bugui.

This little wooden bucket is two or three sizes smaller than a regular bucket. It was made by Sha Zhu for rainwater to play with.

She was very popular with the children in the neighborhood, and made about ten of them so that the rainwater could be distributed among her close friends to play with.

There are also several wooden toys in the yard, including two rocking horses that children love to ride. They often attract children to come and play.

Yan Bugui took the small wooden bucket handed to him and walked out. He saw Sha Zhu following behind and said as he walked,

"Zhu Zi, I won't play chess with you today. I'll make up for Yu Shui's homework tomorrow."

"Okay, you'd better go back and check on things quickly, lest you find yourself clueless when Director Wang asks you questions."

Sha Zhu knew what Yan Bugui meant: to make up for Yu Shui's homework. It just meant making up two steamed buns for Yan Lao the next day.

Normally, if Yan Bugui didn't leave around mealtimes, he could always eat his fill at Shazhu's house before going home.

If you don't eat at Shazhu's house, you can only take two cornbread buns home; this has become a verbal agreement between the two of them.

Yan Bugui rarely brought cornbread home, since he usually ate at Sha Zhu's house.

I can always eat a couple more cornbreads, drink an extra bowl of corn porridge, and have plenty of pickled vegetables. Occasionally, I can even have a small glass of wine with peanuts. It's much better than going back to my own home.

If Sha Zhu were to catch a big fish one day and make boiled fish or sauerkraut fish, the taste would be unforgettable. Yan Bugui's mouth would water whenever he thought about it.

But most of the time, the fish I caught were small ones, and the rainwater ended up feeding the geese I raised at home.

Today, I finally heard the rain on the bicycle, telling Sha Zhu to get home and make sauerkraut fish. But then, something else happened in his own yard.

If we don't go back and find out the specifics, and if we don't know anything when Director Wang questions us, we'll lose our position in this department.

Unwilling to give up, Yan Bugui, surrounded by onlookers, scooped his fish out of the bucket and threw it into the small bucket he was carrying.

He cursed Jia Zhangshi in his heart and went back unhappy, feeling that he had suffered another loss today.

That's a rare treat, you might not get to eat it even once a week. It's a one-of-a-kind dish, and none of the restaurants nearby sell it.

Ever since I tasted Sha Zhu's pickled fish and boiled fish, I haven't been able to bring myself to eat boiled fish at home.

I shared it all with my family, and seeing them enjoying it so much, I just couldn't bring myself to eat it.

After Yan Bugui left, Shazhu picked up the bucket and went home. Yushui followed behind and asked,

"Brother, Teacher Yan took my little bucket again! Isn't he going to teach me to read today?"

"Hmm, maybe something's come up at home. Don't just play around. If you don't finish your homework today, you won't be able to have the pickled fish."

Sha Zhu said as he walked.

My stinky older brother threatened me again, and Yushui unhappily followed him home.

Several of Rainwater's friends wanted to drag him out to play, but Rainwater refused.

They all followed the rain into Sha Zhu's house and ran inside to play.

The rain shelter has comic books, picture books, and building blocks inside, and you can ride a rocking horse and swing in the yard, which is much more fun than outside.

He wasn't very friendly to the two goslings in the yard, except for a few classmates who were particularly close to Yu Shui.

As soon as the rain lets the two goslings out to run around in the yard, several of her friends will run away.

Even Yan Bugui was still shaken; those two goslings had a habit of biting people.

Because Sha Zhu didn't feed them often, he didn't pay attention when the two goslings ran up to him, and was bitten by them once.

After being disciplined by Sha Zhu twice, the two goslings would reflexively avoid him.

Yan Bugui dared not lay a hand on the two goslings, so whenever the rains let the geese out, they would often hide in the living room and not come out.

Sha Zhu had just moved the deck chair to the grape trellis in the yard, intending to fetch the teapot and make himself a cup of tea.

Director Wang from the subdistrict office walked in with Liu Qian from the subdistrict office's finance department.

Sha Zhu was a little confused. Li Jianguo had come over a few days ago to inquire about Jia Zhangshi's matter.

Aside from some rumors circulating on the street, nothing much was made of it, and no one knew why Director Wang came over.

Director Wang stepped forward and examined the recliner and two wooden rocking horses in the yard.

He said to Shazhu, "Zhuzi, I heard you have a lot of handmade wooden toys at home. Where are they? Let me see."

"A wooden toy? What's so interesting about that?" Sha Zhu asked, puzzled.

Director Wang said solemnly, "Several children from the neighborhood came to your house to play and then cried and begged their parents to make them a set too. I heard that their parents even came to you for help?"

Sha Zhu nodded, his mind racing. What was Director Wang up to?

Should I make more for them? I don't have the time or energy for that.

Giving away a dozen or so small buckets was already an act of extreme kindness from Sha Zhu. Wouldn't it have been better to use that time to rest?

Why get involved in other people's business? You might end up doing all that work for nothing.

"That's true. I've already given out about ten small wooden buckets for the children to play with. I don't have time to make any more wooden toys. Aren't there shops selling them outside? Let them go to the shops and buy them themselves."

"Take it out and let me see what kind of toy it is," Director Wang said, mainly curious about what strange toys Sha Zhu had made at home that had caused several nearby children to cry.

"Director Wang, those little toys are in the rain shelter. Go and see them yourself. I'll make you a cup of tea."

Sha Zhu led the two to the living room, pointed to the rain-soaked house, and then carried a teapot and several teacups out of the living room to brew tea under the grape trellis.

Director Wang and Liu Qian entered the rainwater house and saw several children playing inside, while the rainwater itself was doing its homework.

Some were reading comic books, some were playing with building blocks—goodness, Sha Zhu really dotes on his little sister!

Even though I'm the director of the neighborhood committee, my grandchildren don't have a single toy, but Yushui has so many toys in this house.

Director Wang doubted whether the kindergarten had enough toys for the children to play with.

When Yu Shui saw Director Wang come in, she looked at him with suspicion, wondering what Director Wang from the neighborhood committee was doing in her room.

She put down her homework, stood up, and greeted Director Wang. Even her own brother was afraid of Director Wang, so she couldn't afford to offend him.

Director Wang waved them off, telling them to continue playing with their own things. He then picked up the wooden house model and car model on the heated brick bed and examined them.

There were two children playing with building blocks on the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove). They had made an unfinished little house, and after glancing at Director Wang, they continued playing.

On the desk where Yu Shui does her homework, there are several small wooden gadgets, one of which is actually a miniature wooden piano. When you tap it, it can produce different tones.

"Rainwater, did your brother make this for you too?" Director Wang asked, picking up the small xylophone.

Rain nodded and said, "Yes, this is a small one that my brother made for me based on the big piano when he took me to the mall. The big piano was too expensive, and our family couldn't afford it."

She didn't know if her family could afford to buy rainwater, but her brother wouldn't buy it for her anyway.

Sha Zhu certainly couldn't harm his own sister; those were things capitalist heiresses played with.

Even if officials' families had such items, they didn't fare well later on; their homes were often raided. For an ordinary citizen like myself, buying them would only bring trouble upon myself.

In October, a Children's Home, the predecessor of the Children's Palace, will be established in Chanfu Temple on the north bank of Beihai Park.

If Rainwater is interested, Shazhu would like to send Rainwater over to cultivate his hobbies.

This is Beijing's first off-campus education base, equipped with physics, chemistry, and biology activity rooms.

Art studios and music rooms are fine to use outside, but there's no need to buy them.