Break out of the courtyard

Chapter 851 Old Classmates Visit

The Zhang family circled the lake, accompanied by bodyguards, resembling wealthy landowners inspecting their territory, attracting the attention of passersby.

If it weren't for the neighbors greeting Ma Xiuzhen and Zhang Bing from time to time, showing that the Zhang family was well-liked in the area, things would have been very different.

When they reached the southern shore of Qianhai Lake, at Ma Xiuzhen's suggestion, the group turned into Nanluoguxiang to see her newly purchased three-courtyard house.

It was called a purchase, but in reality, someone else had acquired it and resold it to Ma Xiuzhen at a premium.

The old lady remained as frugal as ever in her eating and dressing habits, but when it came to buying a house, she seemed to be obsessed and couldn't help but make the purchase.

Zhang Heping didn't care about this; as long as his elderly mother was happy, that was all that mattered.

Only six families rented this courtyard. They were the families that Ma Xiuzhen had a good relationship with when she was working as a clerk in Nanluoguxiang.

As soon as Ma Xiuzhen entered the courtyard, Old Lady Wang from the east wing of the front yard started gossiping with her, saying that Yi Zhonghai from courtyard number 95 had died last night.

"That Yi Zhonghai wanted to be buried in the ground. Before he died, he made a will stating that as long as Sha Zhu buried Yi Zhonghai in a coffin next to the deaf old lady's grave, the west wing room in the courtyard would belong to Sha Zhu." Old Lady Wang's eyes lit up as she said this. "And guess what happened?"

Zhang Heping hadn't paid much attention to this matter, but when he heard Old Lady Wang ask such a question, he inexplicably thought of the people in the courtyard who had been swindled out of money by Yi Zhonghai.

Before Ma Xiuzhen could ask, the old woman Wang said to herself, "Yi Zhonghai had only been dead for a short time when the neighborhood committee received more than a dozen complaint letters overnight, accusing Sha Zhu of engaging in feudal superstition and occupying farmland, and demanding that Yi Zhonghai be buried."

"Then, the neighborhood committee called the funeral home at noon today and took Yi Zhonghai's body away for cremation!"

"Didn't Sha Zhu stop him?" Ma Xiuzhen asked doubtfully. "If he hadn't buried Yi Zhonghai, would he have gotten that west wing room?"

"Hey! They've all been fooled by Yi Zhonghai!" Old Mrs. Wang said with a smile as she saw Zhang Bing, Zhang Zhaodi, Zhang Pandi, and others gathered around. "A couple of years ago, didn't this area allow tenants to buy the houses they rented?"

"Then Yi Zhonghai told the people in courtyard No. 95 that he had bought the west wing of the central courtyard."

"But what the neighborhood committee said today was that Yi Zhonghai never mentioned buying a house to them. He just changed the monthly rent payment to an annual payment, and he showed us the long-term lease contract that Yi Zhonghai signed with the neighborhood committee."

"Hmph!" Zhang Pandi sneered, "Yi Zhonghai is deceiving Sha Zhu like this, isn't he afraid Sha Zhu will dig up his grave!"

Zhang Zhaodi said disdainfully, "Yi Zhonghai didn't even spend money to buy the west wing room. He probably thought he would have no one to take care of him after his death, so he deliberately used the burial method to trick the neighborhood committee into coming forward."

While the women were gossiping, Zhang Heping had already gone for a walk around the backyard with the rest of the family and returned.

"Aunt Wang, we're heading back now, we won't bother you any longer!" Zhang Heping said to Old Lady Wang before heading straight out of the courtyard.

Upon seeing this, Ma Xiuzhen immediately arranged to talk another day and quickly chased after him.

"Aunt Ma, have you heard?"

Not long after the Zhang family came out, a woman fanning herself with a palm leaf fan approached Ma Xiuzhen and said with a gossipy look on her face, "Yi Zhonghai is dead, and there isn't even anyone to set up a mourning hall!"

Several women who were chatting nearby saw that the woman fanning herself with a palm leaf fan had not been stopped by the bodyguards in black, so they immediately gathered around and started talking all at once about how miserable Yi Zhonghai's death was, with no one even claiming his ashes.

Long-time residents of Nanluoguxiang know that the Zhang family and Yi Zhonghai are at odds.

After all, Zhang Heping had often criticized Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu both inside and outside the hospital back then.

The fact that these women were so eager to approach her inevitably gave the impression that they were trying to curry favor.

Zhang Heping felt that the women were slowing down their family's walk, so when they passed a store with a freezer, he used a hundred-yuan bill to buy all the popsicles and ice cream in the freezer.

After the Zhang family members and bodyguards each received an ice cream, Zhang Heping had the women distribute the remaining popsicles and ice cream in the freezer.

The women were worried that the popsicles and ice cream they had received would melt, so they didn't have time to chat with Ma Xiuzhen. They agreed to chat another day and then went home with their popsicles and ice cream.

However, not long after they left with the ice cream, Ma Xiuzhen was harassed by several women.

After they finally walked out of Nanluoguxiang, Tang Xin couldn't help but smile at Zhang Heping and said, "No wonder Mom and Dad don't live with us. They know a lot of people here, and they can chat with anyone they go around with."

Zhang Heping gave a noncommittal "hmm," not paying much attention to the matter.

"Organization Committee Member!"

Just as Zhang Heping reached his doorstep, the middle-aged woman in a white ruffled-collar dress next to Zhou Xiaochun called out to him.

"Director Ye! What brings you here today?"

Zhang Heping immediately recognized the woman, Ye Juan, who had become much darker and thinner from the sun.

Ye Juan said with a smile, "I heard from Liu Yuan that you returned to the capital today, so I came here specifically to ask you for investment!"

This old classmate was very close to Liu Yuan when they were in school. After retiring from the military, he went to work for CCTV.

In the past few years, I was doing poverty alleviation work, recording and publicizing it, and I rarely saw her throughout the year.

Otherwise, if Zhou Xiaochun had gotten a job at CCTV, they could have directly approached her to help, instead of Zhang Pandi having to go through the roundabout way of asking for favors.

"Come inside and we'll talk slowly!" Zhang Heping casually gestured towards the door and led his old classmate into the courtyard.

After passing through the courtyard, Zhang Heping led Ye Juan up to the second floor and sat down in the rest area.

Because it involved investment matters, Chen Shuting also went along.

Zhou Xiaochun took over the task of pouring tea, while the others went about their own business.

Zhang Heping pushed the fruit plate on the coffee table in front of Ye Juan, "Fruit, melon seeds, snacks, please help yourself!"

"Let's get down to business!" Ye Juan sat upright on the sofa, leaning forward as she looked at Zhang Heping and said, "You should have heard that I've been making promotional videos for poverty alleviation work for the past few years."

“Not long ago, I heard in the Northwest that you proposed a model of installing photovoltaic panels on farmers’ roofs to generate electricity, and using the commission from the electricity generation to hire farmers to be responsible for cleaning and maintaining the photovoltaic panels.”

"That's true!" Zhang Heping nodded. "However, this model requires the support of the State Grid to ensure its long-term effectiveness."

Ye Juan's eyes lit up, and she said with a hint of excitement, "I asked the people at the State Grid, and they support this poverty alleviation model in principle, but they don't have the budget for it right now."

"Could you contribute some money to set up a pilot project in the Northwest and get this model up and running?"

"Once this pilot program is successful, it will be much easier for the State Grid to apply for budgets!"

Zhang Heping picked up two White Rabbit milk candies from the fruit plate, handed one to his concubine Chen Shuting, and then carefully unwrapped the candy.

After taking a bite of the White Rabbit candy, Zhang Heping said slowly, "The solar photovoltaic power generation project uses technology derived from satellite solar panels. The technology is very mature, so mass production of those devices is not a problem." "This project has two modes: one is what you just mentioned, installing photovoltaic panels on farmers' rooftops; the other is building photovoltaic power generation equipment on a large scale in the Gobi Desert."

"Have you heard of the Southern Power Company that built thorium-based molten salt reactor nuclear power plants?" Zhang Heping continued after seeing the other person nod.
“The current cost of generating electricity from a nuclear power plant is 5 cents per kilowatt-hour, while the State Grid’s purchase price has been reduced to 1 cents per kilowatt-hour.”

"Because nuclear power plants generate a large amount of electricity, the Southern Power Company's profits are still acceptable."

“But…” Zhang Heping saw Zhou Xiaochun coming over with a water bottle and teacup, so he changed his words and said, “Xiaochun, peel an apple for your Director Ye. In the future, learn more from Director Ye at work.”

"What Director Ye! Xiaochun calls me 'sister' at the station!" Ye Juan said with a hint of complaint, perhaps annoyed that Zhang Heping was keeping her in suspense.

However, Ye Juan didn't let Zhou Xiaochun peel the apple. Instead, she reached out and took one, putting it in her hand and saying, "Organization Committee Member, you can continue!"

Zhang Heping continued, "The design life of photovoltaic panels is 20 to 30 years. Based on the 30-year standard, and excluding cloudy and rainy days when they cannot generate electricity, the cost of generating electricity by installing photovoltaic panels on farmers' rooftops is about 3 cents per kilowatt-hour!"

"Wait a minute!" Ye Juan gripped the apple tightly in both hands, frowning as she said, "You just said that the State Grid's purchase price is 1 cents per kilowatt-hour?"

Zhang Heping nodded, ignoring Ye Juan's worried expression, and continued, "The model of building photovoltaic power generation equipment on a large scale involves manual cleaning and long-distance water pumping for washing, so the cost per kilowatt-hour is about 23 cents."

“No wonder you said this project needs the support of the State Grid!” After listening to Zhang Heping’s explanation, Ye Juan had already done the math from the State Grid’s perspective.

Zhang Heping laughed and said, "Do you think the cost is too high and the State Grid won't agree?"

Ye Juan remained silent; that was indeed what she was thinking, and she was currently worried about how to reply to the people in the Northwest.

“That’s not how you calculate it!” Zhang Heping said with a faint smile. “My original intention in proposing this solar photovoltaic power generation project was to stabilize sand dunes and plant trees on the edge of the Gobi Desert.”

"At the same time, it can also create a photovoltaic industry in China, increase hundreds of thousands of jobs, and generate related tax revenue."

"Now, do you still think the cost is high?"

Hearing Zhang Heping say this, Ye Juan's eyes lit up again. "Have you told Elder Hua and the others about this?"

“They know about this, but they are waiting for the State Grid and the Northwest to make their choices.” Zhang Heping said with a smile, “Since you have contact with them, you might as well pass on what I just said to them and see if they have that kind of big-picture perspective and courage.”

"This...wouldn't this be inappropriate?" Ye Juan suddenly hesitated, wondering if she should avoid suspicion in this matter.

"If this succeeds, it will be good for the farmers who can earn commissions, good for desertification control and afforestation in the Northwest, good for the unemployed, and good for national tax revenue," Zhang Heping patiently explained.
"The only downside is that it might put a strain on the State Grid's budget!"

"I understand!" Ye Juan finally understood what Zhang Heping was trying to convey to her.

Zhang Heping instructed Ye Juan to tell her acquaintances at the State Grid Corporation of China that they should use state funds to carry out a politically significant project in the Northwest that would benefit the country and its people.

Seeing that Ye Juan was still deep in thought, Zhang Heping added, "I told them before that I would license the relevant technology to them for free."

"Therefore, whether they set up their own factories to produce photovoltaic power generation equipment or outsource the production to others, it is profitable!"

Ye Juan pondered for a moment, then asked, "Don't you plan to invest in this project?"

“The technology is readily available, and we can get started with a small amount of money, then expand production with a loan.” Zhang Heping shook his head slightly. “It’s not a question of whether I have any plans to invest, but whether this project can even be launched.”

Ye Juan stood up and said, "Okay, I'll go ask them if they're willing to do this project!"

Zhang Heping casually replied, then got up and saw his old classmate to the door.

As a result, the two ran into an old classmate, Tang Weiguo, at the door!
When Tang was in school, he was just the class's political representative and didn't show anything special.

Even now, Tang's job level is only average, not even in the top ten among his classmates.

However, this guy's future is currently the most promising, because he recently managed to get into the central office.

"Consultant Zhang, there's a meeting tomorrow morning. Would it be convenient for us to pick you up at 6 a.m.?"

Zhang Heping looked at Ye Juan and smiled, "We haven't had a class reunion in years, and everyone's relationships have become distant."

“Absolutely!” Ye Juan laughed. “Director Ye, you call me like a stranger.”

"I forgot to ask earlier, why didn't the entertainment committee member register a QQ account?" Zhang Heping laughed and said, "After you register a QQ account, Liu Yuan will add you to our classmate group."

"Got it! You can talk business with Secretary Tang! I'm leaving now!" Ye Juan said, waving to Zhang Heping, Chen Shuting, Zhou Xiaochun and the others, then pushed a women's bicycle away.

Zhang Heping withdrew his gaze, glanced at the young guard behind Tang Weiguo, and frowned, saying, "I have things to do tomorrow."

Tang Weiguo had joined the class QQ group, and they usually communicated with each other, so they weren't exactly strangers.

Therefore, even if Tang Weiguo had to address Zhang Heping, he would use the titles Heping or Organization Committee Member.

Hearing Tang Weiguo call for Advisor Zhang at this moment must mean that there is something inconvenient to discuss openly at this meeting.

Thinking back to the three Lifespan 120 potions that had been used up not long ago, and the Lifespan 120 potion left with Elder Hua in Shenzhen, Zhang Heping couldn't help but speculate in this direction.

Tang Weiguo did not reply immediately, but turned to look at the young guard behind him, staring at him silently as if waiting for him to speak.

However, the young guard had received instructions from his superior before following them: listen but do not speak.

Before the young guard could speak, Tang Weiguo turned to Zhang Heping and said, "I wonder what business Advisor Zhang has tomorrow? Can we handle it for him?"

"It's a private matter, so there's no need to trouble you two!" Zhang Heping replied, his gaze falling on the young guard again, secretly wondering whose man this kid was, that he had forced Old Tang to speak to him in such an official tone.

"Alright then! I can only report what Consultant Zhang said truthfully! Excuse me!" After saying this, Tang Weiguo took the lead and left, leaving the young guard stunned for two seconds before following him.

"What are they doing..." Chen Shuting didn't recognize Tang Weiguo, so she didn't understand the implied meaning.

"It's an old classmate. There were other people around, so it wasn't convenient to talk," Zhang Heping explained casually, then looked around at the night market stalls.

The roadside stalls along the back shore have not been regulated, and there are still quite a few people strolling around the night market. With the help of the spiked lights, it looks very lively.

Zhang Heping waited at the door for a while, and sure enough, he saw Tang Weiguo walk back alone. It seemed that the person behind the young guard had compromised.

"Peace, something's happened!"

……

(End of this chapter)