Chapter 54 Buying Cloth
After saying goodbye to Liu Dazhi, Li Shengli did not continue shopping. He carried his things to the bicycle shed and rode his bicycle home.

"Hey, Shengli, are you going to buy New Year's goods?" Yan Bugui sighed as he looked at the large and small bags that Li Shengli was carrying.

"Yes, Third Uncle, the New Year is coming soon, so we have to buy things in advance." Li Shengli scratched his head. Yan Bugui is calculating and stingy, but he won't come to the house to ask for things, such as the writing of couplets in the courtyard every year.

Every year, the third uncle Yan Bugui would charge a small fee for writing couplets for the people in the courtyard, which was mostly peanuts, melon seeds, candies and the like. Yan Bugui would not mind some dry goods.

"Uncle, don't you want to prepare in advance?" Li Shengli asked curiously.

"Oh, no need, we have some at home." Yan Bugui said vaguely.

Is there any at home? This old man Yan usually uses all his non-staple food coupons to exchange for money to supplement the family income. How can there be any at home?

Suddenly, Li Shengli remembered that Yan Bugui seemed to have returned with a bulging pocket some time ago, and it seemed that there was a social gathering at school that day.

Li Shengli couldn't help but think of the rumors in the courtyard about the third uncle Yan Bugui. According to the rumors, the third uncle Yan Bugui's family never bought sugar and peanuts and melon seeds. Every year when the school held a social gathering, Yan Bugui would always bring back a bag of peanuts and melon seeds, plus the annual New Year's fee for writing.

When Li Shengli thought of this, his eyes became strange.

"What's wrong, Shengli?" Yan Bugui felt a little embarrassed by Li Shengli's look.

"It's nothing. I just admire your good housekeeping skills, Uncle." Li Shengli laughed and gave Yan Bugui a thumbs up to show his admiration.

Yan Bugui was a little puzzled. Li Shengli's call left Yan Bugui completely bewildered.

After praising Yan Bugui, Li Shengli felt happy when he saw Yan Bugui's puzzled look.

Without planning to tell Yan Bugui, Li Shengli said goodbye to Yan Bugui and went back home.

When you get home, put the things you bought in the cabinets first, so that they won’t be destroyed by rats that might come from somewhere in the yard.

There was no conversation along the way, and a week passed quickly. Lee Seung-ri got up early on Sunday morning. Lee Seung-ri took a private job today and had to go out soon.

After packing up my kitchen utensils, there was a knock on the door.

"Shengli, someone is looking for you." The knock on the door was accompanied by the voices of Auntie Three.

Hearing the third aunt's call, Li Shengli suddenly remembered that Liu Dazhi was coming to see him today. Thinking of this, Li Shengli hurried forward and opened the door. Sure enough, Liu Dazhi and the third aunt were standing at the door.

"Shengli, this person is looking for you." The third aunt looked at Liu Dazhi and the cloth in Liu Dazhi's hand, with three parts of curiosity and seven parts of greed in her eyes.

"Okay, thank you, Third Aunt." Li Shengli thanked her and indicated to Third Aunt that he had guests and he would not entertain her any longer.

The third aunt understood what Li Shengli meant. She looked at the cloth in Liu Dazhi's hand reluctantly and turned back to her home.

"Brother, come in and sit down." Li Shengli welcomed Liu Dazhi into his home, picked up the kettle on the table and poured a glass of water for Liu Dazhi.

"Don't fall, I have something else to do later and I should leave soon." Liu Dazhi put down the cloth in his hand and hurriedly stopped Li Shengli's politeness.

"I brought you something, all black cloth." Liu Dazhi patted the cloth beside him, "a total of fifteen feet, enough to make a set of clothes."

"Oh, thank you so much, how much is it in total?"

"Don't refuse, or I won't be able to ask you for help next time." Seeing that Liu Dazhi was about to refuse, Li Shengli blocked his mouth with words. "Okay, give me five dollars." Liu Dazhi thought about it and thought, if the two families don't have any dealings in the future, it's okay not to ask for money, just consider it as a thank you. If the two families still have dealings in the future, it's not appropriate not to charge money, so he quoted a similar price.

Upon hearing this, Li Shengli took out seven yuan from his pocket and stuffed it into Liu Dazhi's hand. The cloth was said to be defective, but Li Shengli thought it was pretty good. At this time, a foot of cloth cost more than 40 cents outside, and the cloth should not be as expensive as the market price. Li Shengli simply stuffed it into Liu Dazhi's hand according to the market price. After all, the cloth in Liu Dazhi's hand did not require a ticket.

"It's too much, too much." As soon as Liu Dazhi got the money, he felt that it was too much, and hurriedly shouted to refuse.

"Not much, not much. Your cloth doesn't require tickets in the first place, and you must have spent favors on it, so just keep these."

The two men declined the money for a while, but in the end Liu Dazhi couldn't resist Li Shengli and accepted it.

After receiving the money, Liu Dazhi left in a hurry. He had something urgent to do, so he came here to give the thing to Li Shengli.

After seeing Liu Dazhi off, Li Shengli also prepared to go out. Not to mention that he had a private job today, he also had to make clothes out of the cloth.

Li Shengli took the kitchen bag and cloth and went out. When he was locking the door, the three aunts opposite came over stealthily.

"Shengli, is that your friend?" the third aunt asked quietly, looking out.

"Yes, Auntie." Li Shengli nodded. It is better to do things openly in this hospital. This is not something illegal.

"What does your friend do? Why did he give you such a big piece of cloth?" The third aunt asked enviously while looking at the cloth in Li Shengli's hand.

The third aunt also figured it out. Even if there was cloth, her husband would not be willing to buy it. The clothes her children wore were passed down from one generation to the next.

"Well, he's from the textile factory. I asked him to buy some defective cloth from the factory without any invoice." Li Shengli explained so that these people would not think he was profiteering.

"Don't want a ticket?" The third aunt didn't hear anything else, but she heard the three words "don't want a ticket" clearly.

"Victory..." Auntie Three opened her mouth as she looked at Li Shengli.

"Third auntie, don't think about it." Li Shengli knew what the third auntie wanted to say without thinking. She must also want to buy some cloth without a ticket.

"I spent a lot of effort to find someone to buy so much cloth. They also saved a lot of money." Regardless of whether Liu Dazhi could still get the cloth, Li Shengli didn't want to take advantage of others for no reason.

"Shengli, go look for another one." There was a gleam of greed in the third aunt's eyes.

"Third aunt, I won't ask for a favor. I've already caused enough trouble for others this time." Li Shengli curled his lips secretly.

"Third aunt, you see, there might be someone working in a textile factory among Third Uncle's students. You can ask Third Uncle." Li Shengli gave Third Aunt a bad idea.

The third aunt shook her head and said nothing. Although her husband, Mr. Yan, loved to take advantage of others, buying cloth was no trivial matter.

Seeing that the three aunts were silent, Li Shengli went out with his bag on his back. He first went to the tailor to measure his height, and then left the cloth with the tailor to make a Zhongshan suit for him.

After putting down the cloth and paying the deposit, Li Shengli carried his bag and went to the place where he could take private jobs.

This time it was a wealthy family and they were hosting a birthday banquet for an elderly person. In this case, Lee Seung-ri's cooking skills were very popular. After all, you can't let an old person eat spicy food.

(End of this chapter)