My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 127: Buying Used Bicycles

Soon, the warehouse keeper weighed all eight old bicycles that Zhang Lei had brought over.

Zhang Lei looked at the numbers on the scale and nodded to himself. These bicycles were indeed heavy; it seemed the materials used in this era were truly sturdy and durable. The eight bicycles together weighed approximately 360 jin (about 130 kg).

The scrap metal station originally bought scrap metal for five cents a pound, but the warehouse keeper, out of respect for Old Zhang, paid Zhang Lei four cents a pound instead.

In total, it came to fourteen dollars and forty cents.

Zhang Lei readily paid fourteen yuan and forty cents.

The warehouse keeper shook his head upon seeing his appearance, secretly chuckling to himself: "This is another opportunist trying to take advantage of the situation. He'll probably bring all this scrap metal back to sell in a few days."

Zhang Lei ignored his gaze; after all, skilled workers were highly sought after in this day and age. He felt that with his current abilities, building a bicycle was no problem. His family already had one, and he could simply copy it later.

Zhang Lei quickly found Old Man Zhang and stuffed the half-pack of cigarettes into his hands. Old Man Zhang accepted it without hesitation, and even called over a scrap collector to help Zhang Lei load the eight old bicycles onto a cart and take them home.

Holding the issued invoices in his hand, Zhang Lei looked at the pile of "treasures" and felt very pleased with himself, extremely satisfied with today's haul.

Soon, Zhang Lei and the scrap collector arrived at the courtyard. With the collector's help, Zhang Lei carried eight old bicycles into the yard one by one.

The people in the courtyard were stunned by what they saw.

Yan Fugui leaned closer and asked Zhang Lei, "Zhang Lei, where did you get so many bicycles?"

Zhang Lei glanced at him, ignored him, and continued moving the truck.

Yan Fugui was left standing there, feeling a little embarrassed, so he raised his voice and called out again, "Zhang Lei! Zhang Lei! I'm calling you, why aren't you answering?"

Zhang Lei stopped what he was doing, turned his head and gave a cold snort, still not saying a word.

The neighbors couldn't help but chuckle at Yan Fugui's embarrassed expression.

Liu Guangtian, who had been watching the commotion from the sidelines, leaned over to Yan Fugui and said, "Third Uncle, did you offend Zhang Lei somehow? Why won't he even talk to you?"

Yan Fugui frowned and thought for a long time, but couldn't figure out what he had done to offend Zhang Lei. He muttered, "Who knows what's wrong with that kid this time!"

At this moment, Yan Jiecheng walked up to Yan Fugui and whispered, "Dad, I just counted, there are a total of eight abandoned bicycles."

Upon hearing that it was eight abandoned bicycles, Yan Fugui's mind raced, and he immediately said, "That kid Zhang Lei... he wouldn't be thinking of building his own bicycle, would he?"

When Yan Fugui said this, everyone was stunned. Then they all nodded, thinking that it was indeed possible, and began to discuss it among themselves.

Liu Guangtian said with a skeptical look, "Build a bicycle? Zhang Lei? Does he even have that skill?"

Yan Fugui shook his head, saying with a disdainful look, "Difficult! If it were that easy to save money, wouldn't everyone be saving money?"

Hearing Yan Fugui's words, the curiosity on everyone's faces slowly turned into mockery.

"Hey, I think Zhang Lei is probably obsessed with finding a clever trick!" someone said bluntly.

"Exactly, what's the use of spending so much money to buy a bunch of scrap metal? In the end, it'll just rot in the yard." Another person chimed in, his tone full of disdain.

Just then, someone raised a different opinion, though not in a loud voice: "Hey, we can't be too sure of things. Maybe Zhang Lei really has that ability? Let's not jump to conclusions too soon."

These words immediately drew laughter; clearly, few people believed that Zhang Lei could turn these scrap metal pieces into rideable bicycles.

Zhang Lei ignored the jeers from the crowd in the yard. He paid the scrap collector 50 cents for the delivery, and after watching him leave, he turned and went home to inspect the eight old bicycles.

Looking at the eight abandoned bicycles piled up in the backyard, Ye Shuqin asked curiously, "Honey, are you really going to assemble these bicycles yourself?"

Zhang Lei nodded and said, "Let's give it a try. If we can save up enough for one, we'll make a fortune."

Although Ye Shuqin didn't quite believe he could succeed, she didn't object. She just wanted to support Zhang Lei in whatever he wanted to do. After all, in this era, it was customary for the wife to follow the husband's lead.

Without saying much, Zhang Lei took out wrenches, pliers, and other tools he had bought from the repair shop and began disassembling the vehicles one by one.

When Zhang Lei had dismantled about four bicycles, he suddenly heard crying and fighting coming from the Intermediate Court.

Upon hearing that there was excitement, Zhang Lei immediately put down the wrench he was holding and ran excitedly towards the Intermediate People's Court.

Seeing his appearance, Ye Shuqin quickly followed him.

When the two arrived at the central courtyard, they saw Jia Zhangshi chasing and beating Xu Damao, cursing as she did so. Xu Damao was being chased all over the courtyard, and He Yuzhu would occasionally trip him or block his path, clearly trying to help Jia Zhangshi and make it harder for Xu Damao to run.

Zhang Lei was overjoyed and egged him on, shouting, "Xu Damao, run!"

After a while, he shouted again, "Jia Zhangshi, quick, grab his pants!"

Everyone was speechless at Zhang Lei's smug and goofy attitude.

Just then, Zhang Lei saw Ye Shuqi walking over and quickly called out to her, "Shuqi, come quick, come quick, let's watch together!"

Ye Shuqi rolled her eyes at him: "Brother-in-law, I've been watching their relationship closely."

Upon hearing that she knew the inside story, Zhang Lei immediately perked up: "Tell me quickly, what happened?"

Seeing how interested he was, Ye Shuqi recounted the whole story.

It turns out that today, Jia Zhangshi went to the steel rolling mill to make a scene, asking about Jia Dongxu's work injury. In the end, the factory fired Jia Dongxu.

The head of the personnel department said that Jia Dongxu's injury was not a simple work-related injury, but rather because he had gambled and owed high-interest loans, and was beaten by debt collectors. Furthermore, Yi Zhonghai testified that Jia Dongxu was lazy and slacker at work and had poor character.

After discussions, the factory decided to dismiss Jia Dongxu.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lei and Ye Shuqin both gaped open.

Ye Shuqin said in surprise, "Shuqi, you mean... Jia Dongxu was fired?"

Ye Shuqi nodded: "Yes, that's how it is."

Zhang Lei was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected things to escalate to this point, and he certainly hadn't expected Yi Zhonghai to stab Jia Dongxu in the back so quickly.

Zhang Lei quickly asked Ye Shuqi, "Is Jia Zhang's family really willing to let Jia Dongxu be fired?"

Ye Shuqi pursed her lips: "How could that be? She caused a huge scene in the personnel department, scratched the head of the personnel department's face, and even attracted the security department and the factory leaders."

Hearing this, Zhang Lei was even more puzzled: "Logically, Jia Zhangshi should have been arrested by the security department, so how did she get involved with Xu Damao again?"

Ye Shuqi looked at the two chasing each other in the courtyard and was speechless: "It's all because of Xu Damao, that guy who loves to watch the drama unfold. Originally, some leaders in the factory questioned whether it was just the personnel department head's side of the story, but who knew that Xu Damao would suddenly jump out and say that he and Jia Dongxu lived in the same courtyard and knew that Jia Dongxu gambled and owed usurious loans. He also said that Jia Dongxu usually liked to slack off in the workshop and had a particularly bad character."

At this point, Ye Shuqi sighed: "His words directly confirmed Jia Dongxu's guilt. Jia Zhangshi immediately vented her anger on Xu Damao. If it weren't for the security department stopping her, she would have torn Xu Damao to pieces. Later, the factory leaders, fearing things would escalate, had Jia Zhangshi 'invited' out of the factory. Who knew that Jia Zhangshi was lying in wait for Xu Damao at the factory gate, which is why she chased after him and beat him all the way."