Li Anquan pondered for a moment; now, the only thing he could rely on was the System.
After thinking things through, Li Anquan returned to bed. He didn't rush to rest, but instead prepared to try his hand at the lottery!
【A lottery draw requires 100 yuan in cash. Please ensure your cash balance is sufficient. Do you wish to draw?】
Li Anquan clicked [Confirm] without hesitation, and a turntable appeared before him.
The wheel displayed attributes, skills, and black technology. Attributes accounted for 50%, skills only 30%, and as for black technology, it was even rarer, at only 20%!
As the pointer spun, 100 yuan vanished from Li Anquan's cash total.
"Congratulations on gaining +1 Physique. Your physical fitness has improved slightly!"
An average adult has a Physique of 10 points, while some special forces soldiers can reach over a dozen or even twenty-plus points. As for Li Anquan’s physical fitness, he barely scraped together three or four points. Thus, increasing his physical fitness by even one point was a massive help; he could physically feel his body growing stronger!
Spending 100 yuan to enhance his own strength wasn't a loss, especially looking at the nearly 1,800 yuan he still had on hand.
Li Anquan gritted his teeth and started the lottery again!
"Congratulations on gaining +1 Charm!"
"Congratulations on gaining the Lockpicking skill. As long as you have the right tools, you can open any lock!"
Seeing this skill, Li Anquan wasn't particularly satisfied; he felt this skill wouldn't be very useful. He actually preferred black technology and wondered what it could bring him.
"Congratulations on gaining +1 Physique."
"Congratulations on gaining black technology: The Fishing Patriarch's Equipment!"
Hearing this, Li Anquan immediately stopped the lottery to inspect the black technology he had obtained!
The Fishing Patriarch's Equipment included: a bamboo rod that would never break, a top-tier reed float that would never be damaged, fishing line, and hooks! Plus, an inexhaustible, universal fish bait.
Description: With this set of equipment, even if you don't know how to fish, you will become a master of the angling world!
Li Anquan’s eyes lit up. In his previous life, he had been particularly fond of fishing, but resources were limited, and many water sources were severely polluted. He had never had such excellent equipment in his past life, and he felt impatient to give it a try!
However, it was already late, so he had to suppress his inner excitement and impulse, planning to head to Shichahai tomorrow to test it out!
The courtyard was quiet in the middle of the night, with stars twinkling in the sky, and Li Anquan drifted off into a deep sleep.
Early the next morning, while Li Anquan was still sound asleep, the courtyard became bustling with activity! Everyone was rushing to cook breakfast before heading to work.
He Yuzhu had returned home last night to find thumbtacks in his shoe soles, and he was seething with rage, though he couldn't very well talk to others about such a thing.
After finishing breakfast, He Yuzhu once again arrived at Li Anquan’s doorstep. He carefully checked the area and, finding no thumbtacks, stood before the door and shoved it hard. However, the door had been bolted from the inside by Li Anquan.
He Yuzhu couldn't force his way in, and feeling resentful, he turned to leave, only to catch sight of the public water tap in the center of the courtyard!
This tap was essential; the entire courtyard relied on it for water. Usually, everyone lined up here to fetch water before cooking in the morning. Since no one had emerged from Li Anquan’s house yet, He Yuzhu’s eyes rolled, and he quickly ran back to his room!
When he came out, he was holding a padlock. The tap had an iron housing; if you locked that housing, the tap couldn't be used!
He Yuzhu checked his surroundings guiltily, and seeing that no one was around, he immediately locked the tap shut with the padlock! Then, he slipped out of the courtyard to head to the Red Star Rolling Mill for work.
When Li Anquan opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was his sister, whose face was a sallow, unhealthy yellow. She blinked her large, watery eyes, not daring to make a sound for fear of disturbing her brother's rest.
Li Anquan, accustomed to sleeping late, felt a pang of embarrassment. He reached out and ruffled Li Dujuan’s hair.
"You must be starving! Wait a moment, I’ll get up and make you something to eat right now!"
In his previous life, he had always been used to living alone; Li Anquan wasn't yet accustomed to taking care of others.
The little girl shook her head, saying, "Brother, I'm not hungry," but her stomach betrayed her, letting out a loud rumble at that very moment.
At seven years old, she was already at the age where she knew how to feel shy. She scrambled off Li Anquan’s bed in a panic and ran away with a flushed face!
Li Anquan felt full of energy; he couldn't wait to test out his newly acquired black technology equipment! The leftover porridge from yesterday was already gone, and he wasn't particularly fond of it anyway. After some thought, he bought two jin of rice from the dimension!
The reason he only bought two jin was that the price of rice wasn't cheap; it cost two yuan per jin! In the sixties, the price of fine grain was only one mao and one fen!
Li Anquan put the rice in a basin and carried it out, intending to fetch water. But when he opened the door and reached the tap, he saw an iron lock hanging from it!
This courtyard really was impossible to live in! It was chaotic all day long; he had no idea who had pulled such a dirty trick this time!
Nearby, Third Aunt and Mrs. Jia were cursing away.
"Which childless bastard locked the tap? How could they be so malicious! I’m still waiting to wash my clothes!"
As she spoke, Third Aunt placed the wooden basin she was carrying on the edge of the sink; it was full of clothes.
Mrs. Jia had been watching the drama unfold. She happened to see Li Anquan coming out with his rice basin, clearly intending to wash rice for breakfast. She still remembered yesterday’s incident—he had almost made her pay money—so she harbored deep resentment toward Li Anquan!
"Since someone won't let us use the water, then nobody should have it easy! Let's all put our own locks on it. If he doesn't want people to use it, then no one will!"
Mrs. Jia suggested her wicked idea. Third Aunt hesitated, but eventually agreed. Neither of them paid any attention to Li Anquan as they went back home to find suitable locks.
Li Anquan looked at the lock on the tap. He picked up a thin piece of wire from the side and poked around for a moment.
"Click!" The lock snapped open. He then turned on the tap, filled a basin with water to take inside, grabbed a bucket to fill up another, and then relocked the tap before returning home to start washing the rice.
There were still many people in the courtyard who weren't working. Mrs. Jia and Third Aunt were like walking megaphones! They spread the news that the tap had been locked.
A group of women gathered by the tap, pointing and whispering. Yi Zhonghai’s wife, Aunt Tan, saw the lock on the tap and immediately knew who had done it! Wasn't that the lock from He Yuzhu’s house?
However, she didn't say it out loud. Seeing everyone else bringing their own locks to secure the tap, there was no way she could stop them. After all, He Yuzhu had been the one to lock it first!
This incident had already stirred up public outrage. It seemed it would have to wait until the evening meeting to be resolved; He Yuzhu would likely be in for another round of criticism and education!
Inside Li Anquan’s house, the aroma of rice had little Li Dujuan drooling! Everyone was reluctant to eat fine grains because of the price gap, and in these times, people only cared about filling their bellies; who cared about flavor? Having money and grain in hand was the only truth!
As soon as the fluffy white rice was out of the pot, the little girl couldn't wait to take a bite. Li Anquan watched her flushed face and chuckled.
"Eat slowly, it just came off the stove, it's hot!"
The little girl nodded excitedly. Li Anquan scooped out all the rice from the pot, then used a rice spatula to scrape off the crust from the bottom.
In the Northeast, this crust was called 'gaba'! It was what everyone knew as scorched rice! He also bought a packet of pickled mustard greens from the mall. With the rice and the pickled vegetables, Li Dujuan ate with great relish!
Her little tummy was round as a ball again, and Li Anquan wore a satisfied smile.
"This is the scorched rice. If you get hungry later, just eat some; it’s very crispy and fragrant. I need to go out for a while to handle some things, so you stay home and be a good girl!"
Though the little girl felt reluctant, she obediently listened. She watched as Li Anquan picked up a bamboo rod from goodness knows where and walked out of the courtyard!