The booming era begins with the director of the Propaganda Department!

Chapter 350 New clues?
Seeing Zhang Shenfei coming back with ten eggs and a bag of sugar, Yan Bugui came over eagerly: "Da Fei, what's in that oil paper bag? Brown sugar or white sugar?"

“Cuban candy.”

"Oh, this is Cuban sugar?" Yan Bugui's eyes sparkled. "I saw in the newspaper that since the Cuban leader visited our country in November this year, we signed a contract with them to import 40 tons of Cuban sugar every year...

I only saw it in the newspaper, but I didn't see it sold in the supply and marketing cooperative. Where did you buy it? Can you open it and let me see it?"

"What's wrong with that? Just look." Zhang Shenfei opened the oil paper package, revealing the dark brown sugar cubes inside.

Cuban sugar is dark brown and packed in large sacks. It absorbs moisture and becomes lumpy. The salesperson uses a hammer to break it into lumps when selling it.

This thing is actually made of sugarcane juice. Because it is not filtered well, there are a lot of impurities in it. In addition, salt is used as the crystal nucleus, so it tastes sweet and slightly salty.

Seeing that Yan Bugui not only looked at it but even reached out to touch a small piece of it, Zhang Shenfei was not nervous at all and told him calmly that he bought this candy specifically for visiting the deaf old lady.

"Ah? It's for the deaf old lady!!" Yan Bugui withdrew his hand, his tone full of disappointment.

It's not that he didn't do it for the sake of face, but the deaf old lady was very protective of her food. If she knew that he touched a piece of her candy today, she would come to their house tomorrow and smash the glass.

Although he withdrew his hand, Yan Bugui's eyes were still fixed on Zhang Shenfei's packing movements.

During the chat, he told Zhang Shenfei that he also visited the deaf old lady yesterday and brought her two taels of Yilke candied dates.

"Do you remember the Iraqi candied dates, Dafei? They were the ones that your Director Tian treated our entire courtyard to...

Now the supply and marketing cooperatives are supplying that stuff in large quantities, no tickets are required, and it only costs 30 cents per pound. Hey, there are quite a few people buying it."

He bought a whole pound, gave two ounces to the deaf old lady, and hid the remaining eight ounces under the bed. Every day when the children were not at home, he secretly took out four nuts and gave two to himself and his wife.

Needless to say, after eating these dates, I felt more energetic and the symptoms of dizziness were relieved a lot.

Of course, he would not tell Zhang Shenfei about eating candied dates behind the children's backs. He only told Zhang Shenfei to buy some candied dates when he had time to supplement his diet, so that his face would not become more and more sallow.

After confirming that he could not gain any advantage from Zhang Shenfei, Yan Bugui lost interest in chatting.

"Well, Dafei, I'm hungry again. I'm going to go home and lie down for a while."

"That's fine. Take your time. I'll go to the backyard."

The two parted ways, and Zhang Shenfei went to the backyard with brown sugar and eggs.

As soon as he stepped into the Moon Gate, he was bumped into by Zhang Fenjin.

"You kid! What are you doing? You're running like you're being chased by a wolf?" Zhang Shenfei scolded.

"I'm sorry, second uncle. See you later!!!" However, Zhang Fenjin didn't have time to pay attention to him. Before he could finish his words, he disappeared.

Zhang Shenfei was just wondering when he saw his sister-in-law Tang Danniu chasing after him with a kitchen knife.

"Wow, what's going on? Why are you using a kitchen knife?" Zhang Shenfei was startled and snatched the kitchen knife away.

Although his sister-in-law is tough, she basically uses a clothes hanger, shoe soles, and belt to beat her children.

Even a kitchen knife was used today, which shows that he was very angry with Zhang Fenjin.

Tang Danniu lost her weapon, bent over and gasped for breath. After she recovered, she told Zhang Shenfei that the fourth brother was really outrageous this time.

"Yesterday after school, he brought home a test paper with a score of 98. I thought it was good! I made him a bowl of noodles with pork sauce and an egg..."

As he spoke, he gasped again.

Zhang Shenfei just kept silent. Others might not know what level of ability their fourth child had, but as his second uncle, how could he not know?

This guy's scores in Chinese, math, and foreign language added up to about 98.

Ninety-eight points for one subject? ? Either he copied it or he cheated!!
Sure enough, the next moment, I heard Tang Danniu say, "Yesterday, that bastard was enjoying his noodles. As a result, I ran into his teacher when I went to buy groceries today... The teacher said that this bastard didn't get 98 on the test. He got 18!!!"

That kid was afraid of getting beaten, so he added a 1 to the 0! !
"Da Fei, tell me, didn't our old lady say that it's okay to do poorly on the exam but you can't lie?" Tang Danniu was so angry that she stared at the kitchen knife again.

She gave birth to ten sons, but Zhang Fenjin was the only mischievous one. It would have been fine if he was just naughty at ordinary times, but now he even dared to correct the test papers. How could she tolerate this???
"The old lady did say that the fourth son really deserved to be beaten this time." Zhang Shenfei handed the kitchen knife to Tang Danniu, "Sister-in-law, please take it. The boy just ran over there."

After saying that, she pointed in a direction, and Tang Daniu rushed out with a kitchen knife in hand.

Shaking his head towards Tang Danniu's back, Zhang Shenfei continued walking forward.

The deaf old lady lives in the back room of the courtyard, which is next door to Zhang Shenliang's house.

Maybe because there have been many visitors recently, the door is half open.

Zhang Shenfei knocked with his fingers, and after hearing the deaf old lady's weak "come in", he pushed the door open and walked in.

But he didn't know if it was an illusion, but Zhang Shenfei always felt that the deaf old lady's house was cold and dark, and lacked the warmth of his eldest brother's house.

If I really have to make an analogy, it's like a Zen room that is uninhabited and only sees people on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month.

There were not many furnitures in the house, two stools, a table and a bed, nothing else. The deaf old lady didn't have a kitchen either, and usually cooked under the eaves.

at this time,

The deaf old lady was half lying on the bunk bed that she had used for who knows how many years. When she saw Zhang Shenfei appear, she struggled a little.

"Old lady, please lie down and don't get out of bed. I'll just sit for a while and leave soon." Zhang Shenfei said hurriedly.

The deaf old lady lay back down again: "Excuse me, a college student, for coming to see me. Is your grandmother doing well outside the Great Wall now?"

"It's pretty good. The land there is vast and rich, and the population is sparse. We don't have to worry about food." Zhang Shenfei replied.

"It's good to be full, that's good... Unlike us, I haven't had a full meal for a long time..." The deaf old lady raised her thin face and looked at Zhang Shenfei, "Don't you eat well at school? Why do I see that you have lost a lot of weight?"

Didn't they say that the university didn't offer a 30% discount on the fixed amount? Why did Zhang Shenfei's expression look similar to that of the workers in the yard?

Zhang Shenfei thought that even the deaf old lady with her dim eyesight could see that he had lost weight. It seemed that deliberately eating less to please everyone recently was effective.

While thinking this in my mind, I said that life in college was not easy and there was not enough food.

"It's all the same, just get through it, it will all be over. Old lady, I've lived for most of my life, what haven't I seen?
"I was born in the ninth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty, and I got married at the age of seventeen... At that time, the Pigtail Kingdom was at its end, and the people were living in poverty.

My husband was not a good man, and his house was taken away by someone. Later, he had no choice but to live in Huguo Temple...

At that time, Huguo Temple was larger than it is now, and several courtyard houses in the alley behind were their property. We lived at No. 3 Luoquaner Hutong.

We had a place to live, but no food! We could only go out of town to get some wild vegetables to eat every day.

Wasn’t it hard when the city was under siege before liberation? But our life was even harder than that time!! Even so, didn’t we still make it through? ? So, as long as you close your eyes and endure, there will always be a day when you can get through it.”

The deaf old lady seemed to be lost in her memories, her eyes began to wander as she talked about the past.

However, Zhang Shenfei's thoughts were attracted by the Huguo Temple she mentioned.

At the end of 1952, after he learned from an enemy spy disguised as a painter that the old eunuch's treasure was hidden in the Huguo Temple, he would go there for a stroll when he had nothing to do, intending to find the treasure.

But they went there for two or three years in a row, and even dug up the rat holes in the Huguo Temple, but still didn't find the treasure.

As time went by, Zhang Shenfei thought that the painters were just spreading rumors, so he stopped caring about it and never went there again.

But now,
But the deaf old lady told him that the former Huguo Temple was twice as big as it is now, and they also had property in the alley behind it???

Zhang Shenfei suddenly had a bold idea in his mind.

Although old eunuch Li was driven into the temple by the emperor along with other eunuchs, there is a saying that money makes the world go round.

Old eunuch Li is the eunuch in charge, not an ordinary person. Can he live in the temple's big bunk bed with other young eunuchs? ?
Maybe he lives in a courtyard in Luoquaner Hutong, ruling one or even several courtyards by himself, still acting tyrannically and leading a life with a horde of servants...

Anyway, from the emperor's point of view, he was still in the Huguo Temple and did not disobey the emperor's order...

If the old eunuch lived in Luoquaner Hutong, then the treasure might be hidden there too...

Zhang Shenfei was a little excited, but it was still early, so he couldn't just go over. After patiently chatting with the deaf old lady for a while, he saw Sha Zhu coming to the door.

"Grandma, I'm here to cook for you again. Hey, Brother Dafei, are you back to see grandma too?" Sha Zhu was very surprised.

"Didn't Cai Quanwu tell me that the old lady is sick? Come over to visit her."

Sha Zhu glanced at the eggs and Cuban sugar on the table and said, "They are all good things. Old lady, since there are eggs, I will make you egg custard tonight."

The deaf old lady has always been greedy, so she naturally didn't want to waste her money, so she quickly agreed.

Shazhu quickly took two eggs and went under the eaves and started to work.

Zhang Shenfei chatted with the deaf old lady for a few more words, then went out, stood next to Sha Zhu and started smoking.

"Brother Dafei, I plan to marry Liu Lan." Sha Zhu said suddenly while working.

Zhang Shenfei raised his eyebrows curiously: "Oh? Why did you suddenly decide to get married? Don't you want to be more selective?"

He said this purely to discredit Sha Zhu, who has been with Liu Lan for several years but has yet to get married.

This era was different from later generations. When people dated, they would go straight to marriage. Generally, two people would meet, feel that they were a good match, get engaged, and get married. The whole process would not take more than half a year.

But what about Sha Zhu? It took Liu Lan several years to get back to him. Liu Lan had urged him to do it, but he always evaded the question.

In fact, Zhang Shenfei also knew that Sha Zhu did this simply because he was unwilling to accept his fate.

He wanted to find someone who was as pretty as Qin Huairu, but she couldn't be from the countryside like Qin Huairu, and she had to have a formal job.

Simply put, I want to find something that is both presentable and substantive.

But Liu Lan obviously did not meet his standards. In recent years, this guy said that he had no intention of looking for a better partner while still working, but Zhang Shenfei did not believe it.

And there is Qin Huairu. Although she no longer brings lunch boxes to the courtyard, Zhang Shenfei knows that this guy still helps Qin Huairu secretly.

To sum up, how could he not be shocked to hear that this guy suddenly came to his senses and wanted to live a good life with Liu Lan? ?

Sha Zhu was so insulted by Zhang Shenfei that he wanted to bury his head in his crotch. Under the continuous urging of the other party, he said:
"I just saw that the deaf old lady was sick. Tell me, this old lady was also a very respectable person when she was young.

But because I don’t have my own children, I don’t even have anyone to take care of me when I’m sick, so I have to rely on my neighbors for help…”

If he hadn't felt sorry for the deaf old lady and offered to cook for her, it would have been difficult for the deaf old lady to even have a hot meal.

"Oh, then can you still support Sister Qin after you get married? Without your support, it will be hard for Banggeng to have enough to eat." Zhang Shenfei blew out a smoke ring and said slowly.

Although the Jia family is not poor now, they have a small amount of money, and there are two younger children, Qin Aimin and Xiaodang. Banggeng is not as doted on as in the original drama...

"If you can't help, then don't help. People have to take care of themselves first."

At this point, Sha Zhu sighed again:
"I have finally figured it out. No matter how good you are to others, it is all in vain. It is only when you have someone who understands you and a child of your own that you will have hope in your old age."

The deaf old lady and the old man had a very good relationship in the past, but didn’t they say it faded away later?

To put it bluntly, this means there is no blood relationship and the relationship is not solid.

What's more, Banggeng has a real father!!! He is even more unreliable.

Well, Zhang Shenfei was sure that Sha Zhu was determined to get married, so he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Start a family. If you can make up your mind to start a family, I wish you the best.

But one thing, remember what you said today. Take good care of your wife and children after you get married. Some thoughts should be put away..."

Sha Zhu nodded and put the beaten eggs into the steamer.

"Brother Dafei, would you like to have a drink together tonight?"

Zhang Shenfei waved his hand and refused: "I finally get home, I have to spend time with our Zao'er, how can I have time to drink with you."

Their daughter Zao'er is pregnant now, shouldn't he take good care of her and provide her with sufficient emotional value? ?
Ah, this… I almost forgot that the man in front of me is going to be a father too.

Sha Zhu slapped his forehead and said, "My brother also wishes you well. But you just wait and see. When Liu Lan and I get married, we'll have two children in three years. But I won't be like that girl..."

As he spoke, he pointed in the direction of Xu Damao's house and said, "It's useless. Brother Dafei, do you think Xu Damao is okay?"

He had heard many people in Siheyuan say that if a couple couldn't have children, it wasn't necessarily the woman's fault.

After Yu Shui said those words last time, there were many speculations in the courtyard that Xu Damao would not succeed.

"I heard from Second Aunt that Guan Hongguo is forcing Xu Damao to go to the hospital for a check-up, but Xu Damao is sticking his neck out and refuses to go." At this point, Sha Zhu chuckled.

How could he feel so happy when he saw that Xu Damao was having a hard time?

Zhang Shenfei was thinking about the treasure of the old eunuch Li, so how could he have time to chat with him? After a few perfunctory words, he went home and started cooking.

Although Tian Xiaozao was pregnant, she did not lose her job in the street office and still went out early and came back late every day.

Zhang Shenfei prepared the meal and kept it warm in the pot, then went out to pick up his wife from get off work.

(End of this chapter)