Chapter 37 Already prepared
You know, in the 1980s, owning a bicycle was definitely a luxury.

Jiang Daguo had to work in the production team for two years to earn enough work points to buy a bicycle.

In addition, it is not easy to buy a bicycle.

First, you need to obtain a bus ticket issued by the village brigade. Only those who hold specific positions in the village team or are outstanding production team members are eligible to get a bus ticket.

For ordinary people, even if they have money, they can't easily buy the bicycle they want.

The kind-hearted passerby came to the rescue, allowing the employees in the bicycle factory dormitory to escape the disaster. This good deed was even reported in newspapers and radio stations in City A.

When Jiang Daguo heard his daughter's thoughts, he was stunned.

Why would a bicycle factory dormitory suddenly catch fire? This is a matter of life and death!
He had to see it.
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Although Aunt Jiang kept complaining about the high cost of going to the city, it would be a huge loss if she couldn't recover the cost.

But Jiang Daguo was still busy delivering food.

After dinner, he took a scoop net and fishing rod and went to the wild ponds and ditches of the village team to start fishing.

The fish ponds of each village team were originally the collective property of the village. They were managed by special people, and every household received a share of the dividends at the end of the year.

Now the fields are divided into responsibility plots, and some large ponds have been contracted out to wealthy families.

However, some small ponds and ditches will easily dry up if there is no rain for two consecutive months, so no one will contract them.

Such wild ponds and ditches become a paradise for men in the summer, where they come to fish, catch shrimps and pick lotus roots.

Old men, men, and boys, each took tools to catch fish.

Some little girls would also come to join in the fun, taking fishing rods to catch shrimps.

In his spare time, Jiang Daguo often takes out a fishing rod and a fishing net to try his luck.

The weather is hot during the day, and the fish will float to the surface to breathe in the evening, which is suitable for catching and fishing.

Jiang Daguo was lucky today. He caught a grass carp weighing more than three kilograms and a carp weighing about two kilograms.

Seeing that it was getting late, he picked up the bucket of fish and went home.

Outside the back door of the Jiang family, there was a small puddle the size of a living room. Jiang Daguo found a fish basket, dipped it into the water, and put the two fish in.

Fearing that the basket might be stolen, Jiang Daguo pulled a few more water hyacinths and covered it on top of the basket.

The whole next day, Jiang Daguo went fishing whenever he had time.

I searched several wild ponds in the village and found four fish.

One was kept for home consumption, and the other three were put into the fish basket in the puddle.
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The next evening, Jiang Daguo pushed a cart and took the purchase list to buy vegetables from other village brigades, just like the previous two times.

After buying it, I still soaked it in the well water in my own yard.

Early on Monday morning, Liu Xihua got up early, boiled two eggs for Jiang Daguo, fried two pancakes, and filled a pot of water. She wrapped them in a cloth and placed them on top of the vegetables in the basket.

As for the fish, they were put in a small bucket.

The bucket was filled with water and covered with bamboo strips.

Such a device can not only allow the fish to breathe, but also prevent the fish from escaping.

Because the baskets we carried this time were too big to be loaded onto the truck.

The conductor impatiently got off the bus and opened the trunk, "Put it inside."

Jiang Daguo carried the basket up with great effort.

After putting his things away, he patted his sleeves and got in the car.

When looking for a seat, he found that he met the woman who had quarreled with him that time again.

He glanced at her calmly, ignored her, and sat somewhere else. Xiang Dongying also saw Jiang Daguo and moved back to her seat guiltily.

I thought to myself, what bad luck! Why did I meet this person again?

When you get to the station, take the bus.

There were many empty seats on the bus, but because it was early in the morning, there were many people on the bus and it was so crowded that everyone couldn't help but complain to Jiang Daguo.

Jiang Daguo endured the strange looks from the people around him, stood for five stops holding the handrail, and arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau.

The dishes served this time were still juicy and the fish were all alive and kicking.

Master Tian was very happy.

He patted Jiang Daguo on the shoulder and said, "Master Jiang, not bad, not bad. You should deliver fish every Monday. Just like this every time, five fish weighing two or three kilograms."

Jiang Daguo put away the order from Master Tian and nodded, saying, "Okay, okay."

When leaving, Jiang Daguo asked Master Tian about the address of the bicycle factory.

"My neighbor asked me to go over there and find someone to deliver a message, but I don't know the route." Jiang Daguo said with a simple smile.

He didn't tell the truth that he was waiting to rescue someone, he just said he was going to look for someone.

Master Tian was very enthusiastic. "It's not far, but you have to take a detour. Do you want to take a car or walk?"

"If it's not far, I'd rather walk. I'm carrying an empty load anyway," said Jiang Daguo.

Master Tian took a pen, tore a blank page from the notebook, spread it on the table, and drew a simple map. "You follow the route. It's about seven or eight stops away."

Jiang Daguo took the drawing, looked at it, thanked Master Tian, ​​and walked towards the bicycle factory carrying the empty basket.

It took him more than half an hour to walk to the destination, which included seven or eight stops.

It's a little after nine o'clock now, and everything is normal at the bicycle factory.

The daughter said that the fire started at around 12 o'clock, which was still early when the accident happened. Jiang Daguo walked to a noodle restaurant opposite the bicycle factory, put down his burden, sat down to eat dry food, drink water and rest.

When the sun rose to the middle of the sky, Jiang Daguo dozed off, and then he heard someone exclaim, "Ah? What happened over there? There's so much smoke!"

"What else could have happened? There's a fire! Call 119!"

Jiang Daguo woke up with a start.

He took the axe he brought from home from the basket and rushed towards the fire.

The others were also frightened. Some ran to find phones to call the police, while others rushed towards the bicycle gate.

But after hearing Jiang Xiaoxiao's thoughts, Jiang Daguo did not run to the gate.

Not only is the gate very far from the dormitory building, there is also a large cafeteria in between.

Although the dormitory of the bicycle factory is inside the factory, the back door opens to the alley outside.

I think the back door is locked to prevent employees from sneaking out or people from outside from sneaking in.

When Jiang Daguo ran over, he found the people from the bicycle factory standing on the rooftop crying loudly. There was a fire on the road leading to the gate, but the back door was locked.

Someone suggested jumping off the roof of the fourth floor, while someone else suggested rushing to the front door with a wet quilt on their head.

But someone soon countered that jumping from the fourth floor was too high and there was a high chance that he would not survive. He also said that covering himself with a wet quilt was useless as the smoke was too heavy and he would be suffocated to death.

Just when a group of employees were crying and didn’t know what to do.

Jiang Daguo, who was well prepared, used an axe to split the lock open. He shouted upstairs, "Pour water on the quilt and hold it on your body. Cover your mouth with a wet towel and go downstairs quickly. The back door is open!"

(End of this chapter)