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

Chapter 443: One Thousand Jin of Gray Flour!

If Lou Xiao'e were allowed to go out and work, once the truth came to light, not only the Lou family but also their backers might be implicated.

The Lou family is not short of money, but what they lack is safety, security and the possibility of being able to survive in the old city.

Everything Lou Zhenhua is doing now, including allowing Lou Xiao'e to enter Yenching University, is also for this reason.

But now, Lou Xiao'e's move may very well have the opposite effect.

To put it simply, Lou Zhenhua made a bad move by letting Lou Xiao'e go to college.

But now is obviously not the time to think about these things, so Zhang Shenfei comforted Lou Xiao'e with a few words.

Tell her that what she learns will come in handy.

Lou Xiao'e's mood eased a little. She now considered Zhang Shenfei as a member of her family. She told him without hiding anything:

"Dad said, although I didn't study business or trade, if there really comes a day when we can't live in Beijing anymore and have to leave the mainland, maybe...

With my knowledge, I can also help him manage the family business... Depending on the situation, I may need to continue my studies.

He said that although the family no longer runs a business, he would teach me some professional knowledge... just in case I need it.”

Zhang Shenfei nodded. In Lou Zhenhua's opinion, if it was a year ago, the probability of the Lou family leaving the mainland might be one-third, but now it has risen to half.

That's why he said that to Lou Xiao'e.

But in Zhang Shenfei's opinion, the Lou family was 100% sure to leave, and it was completely understandable that Lou Xiao'e was now starting to learn how to do business.

It’s just that he had already been a gigolo with Chen Xueru, but he didn’t expect that another rich woman would come and he would be a gigolo at both ends.

You can attack when you advance and defend when you retreat. What's the point of worrying about the future???
Hey, just thinking about it makes me happy!!

Then again,
Now Lou Zhenhua is staying here just to gamble on the last 10% of hope.

But in fact, he knew very well what the current situation was, and he was just betting on that tiny miracle to happen.

So on the one hand, I stayed where I was and didn't leave, while on the other hand, I was making various preparations to withdraw.

But Zhang Shenfei did not intend to tell Lou Xiaoe about these things.

This girl is different from the rich young lady Chen Xueru. Her mind is much simpler and she can’t hide so many things.

Instead of letting her worry in advance, it is better to let her live her life happily.

Learn first, it’s not too late to practice after you arrive in Hong Kong.

"Look, you have something to do, don't you? If I really assign you a job, you'll be so busy every day, how can you have time to learn these?"

As Zhang Shenfei spoke, he habitually wanted to take out a cigarette from his pocket, but when he thought that all the people present were women, he silently put the half-empty cigarette box back into his pocket.

Seeing this, Song Xiaofei couldn't help but sigh, this is a gentleman.

Unlike that bastard Lou Xiaofeng, who never cared about others and only cared about himself, he could do whatever he wanted as long as he was happy.

After talking about serious topics, they started chatting about some family matters.

Tan Yali said that the price of grain on the black market has started to fall recently, and the prices of some daily necessities and bills have stabilized.

The New Year is coming soon. If I can find some cloth coupons tomorrow, I will make a new set of clothes for Lou Xiao'e and Lou Xiaofeng.

"It's the New Year, so you have to wear something new... Life was hard in the past few years, and no one had enough to eat. Your father refused to buy you new clothes, saying that it was too ostentatious.

Now that the situation has improved, he won't have any complaints if I make clothes again, right?" Tan Yali said.

She only has two biological children, Lou Xiaofeng and Lou Xiao'e, and she dotes on them.

Lou Xiao'e curled her lips and said, "What can I do? Clothes nowadays are all pretty much the same. Every set of clothes looks like the same one when I wear it out.

Even if I change into new clothes, no one else can tell, and I don’t think I look good either…”

A few years ago, she was also a beauty-loving girl.

But now everyone wears green military uniforms and blue work clothes, and she no longer has the desire to make new clothes.

"Mom, if you can really get the cloth coupons, please make a set of clothes for my sister-in-law. I remember that she hasn't made new clothes for three or four years..." Lou Xiao'e said naively.

She wasn't being nice just because she saw Song Xiaofei here, she really thought her sister-in-law should buy new clothes.

Because she remembered that her sister-in-law had not bought any new clothes since the Song family's accident.

The one I’m wearing was made five or six years ago.

"Your sister-in-law doesn't need new clothes..."

"Why is it not necessary? I see that your arms are all worn out..." Lou Xiao'e said as she went to pull Song Xiaofei's clothes and pointed to the worn-out places on her clothes to show Tan Yali.

Tan Yali glanced at Lou Xiaoe and said nothing more.

Zhang Shenfei sighed in his heart that the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is indeed an eternal problem.

Even a wealthy family like the Lou family is still divided in the current difficult times.

Even he, who had only been to the Lou family a few times, had already noticed the discord between Tan Yali and Song Xiaofei, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. It could even be said that the resentment had been accumulating for a long time. Only this idiot could not see it and was dreaming.

As soon as Lou Xiao'e finished speaking, no one responded and the atmosphere became a little awkward. Fortunately, Song Xiaofei didn't care about it at all.

Or rather, Zhang Shenfei thought that Song Xiaofei didn't care about anyone in the Lou family at all.

In his opinion, Song Xiaofei had a strange feeling in the Lou family, as if she was isolated from the whole family.

How to describe that feeling? It was as if she didn't really want to stay in her hometown and consider herself a member of the Lou family.

It’s because people live under the eaves and have to bow their heads, and they are just seeking a place of shelter here.

Of course it would be best if I could get the Lou family's protection, but if I can't, it doesn't matter...

This situation made Zhang Shenfei feel that Song Xiaofei was very advanced.

Of course, if we were to say who in the Lou family Song Xiaofei still has feelings for, in Zhang Shenfei's opinion, it would only be Lou Xiao'e.

After chatting with Tan Yali downstairs for a while, it was already nine o'clock in the evening. It was very late, so Zhang Shenfei got up to say goodbye.

Lou Xiao'e stood up with a red face: "Mom, sister-in-law, I'll go see Dafei off..."

Tan Yali felt embarrassed by her daughter's lack of reserve and glared at him silently.

Song Xiaofei's mood had calmed down by now, or perhaps it was because of what happened to Lou Xiaoe that she felt a little happier.

She covered her mouth and laughed secretly: "Moth, should I leave the door open for you tonight and wait for you to come back?"

Lou Xiao'e was indeed a fool. She even answered foolishly, "No, that's not necessary... I, well, I may not be back at night..."

Judging from today's situation, Dafei and I should spend the night outside and probably won't come back.

When she thought that they hadn't been together for a long time, Lou Xiao'e's heart began to beat fast.

"Not coming back?" Song Xiaofei repeated in a strange way and laughed.

Lou Xiao'e suddenly realized what was going on. She covered her face and stamped her feet: "Sister-in-law, you are so mean! You are so mean."

Song Xiaofei cried out in injustice and raised her hands: "No, what does this have to do with me? It's not me who stopped you from coming back, so how come I'm the bad guy? You are such a bitch...

How about this, I will wait at the gate tonight, you must come back, don’t let me wait in vain…”

As he spoke, the smile on his face widened, revealing two big dimples.

Only at this moment did Zhang Shenfei feel that she was somewhat alive.

Lou Xiao'e had always been acting like a little girl, and now she couldn't stand it anymore. She stomped her feet and said, "Sister-in-law, you!!! Forget it, I won't talk to you anymore. I can't explain it to you clearly. You always tease me." After that, she pulled Zhang Shenfei out.

Zhang Shenfei smiled and whispered something to her, as if trying to calm her down.

Seeing that he couldn't coax her, he held Lou Xiao'e's little hand and touched her hair.

Song Xiaofei saw it from behind and couldn't help but sigh.

When she married Lou Xiaofeng, the two families were evenly matched and it was a straight-up arranged marriage.

It's not that we had never met before marriage, but there was really no emotional foundation between us.

After getting married, I found out...

After she found out that Lou Xiaofeng was like that, she was completely dead and had no intention of opening up to him.

I just hope that the marriage between the two families can continue and they can just live together.

Later, as fate would have it, the Song family fell into ruin, and he and Lou Xiaofeng could no longer maintain their superficial relationship, and their relationship instantly dropped to freezing point.

Many times, Song Xiaofei always feels that she is old before she is young...

It can be said that Song Xiaofei has never been in love, nor has she enjoyed any of these romantic relationships.

Seeing Lou Xiao'e and Zhang Shenfei in this state, I couldn't help but feel very envious.

Think about it a little more.
Lou Xiaofeng is only one or two years older than Zhang Shenfei, but there is a huge difference between the two in every aspect.

If, if I had married Zhang Shenfei instead of Lou Xiaofeng, maybe everything would be very different...

At the very least, Zhang Shenfei would definitely not treat her as a burden just because the Song family was in decline.

Thinking of this, he sighed again.

Everything is fate, Song Xiaofei thought to herself.

……

Zhang Shenfei and Lou Xiao'e had no idea what Song Xiaofei was thinking.

After leaving Lou's house, the two walked hand in hand along the road towards Xizhimen.

As early as last year, Zhang Shenfei took advantage of the low housing prices and secretly bought a four-courtyard courtyard house in Xizhimen.

At that time, so many people were hungry, and those who were sick with diseases were willing to do anything as long as they could get food.

When Zhang Shenfei bought this yard, he didn't pay any money at all, he only paid for food.

A thousand kilograms of flour, not Fuqiang flour, but gray flour, was used to bring this yard.

The yard is quite large, but there are only fifteen rooms in total, which is not enough for rental.

All the formalities were handled by an acquaintance introduced by Secretary Jian from the secretariat.

Although the number of houses owned by a private individual cannot exceed 15, any number exceeding 15 must be rented out.

but,

According to the acquaintance, many people secretly own more than a hundred houses.

Those people not only have houses, but also various other resources.

Considering Zhang Shenfei's current social status, having only two courtyard houses is already considered few.

Since getting this house, Zhang Shenfei gave it to Lou Xiao'e to live in in her spare time.

The two of them basically go on dates here every time.

However, the house was too big for two people to live in, so only the north room in the central courtyard was tidied up, and the other rooms were locked.

When they arrived at the place, Lou Xiao'e was worried that Zhang Shenfei didn't eat much for dinner, so she asked Zhang Shenfei if he wanted to eat noodles.
Zhang Shenfei looked at her lovingly: "Are you hungry too?"

Although Lou Xiao'e looks thin, she is actually a big eater.

The two of them had dinner early and had been busy downstairs for a while, so they must be hungry.

Lou Xiao'e nodded rapidly and grinned, "Yes, I'm starving. When we were at home, mom wanted to have sex with both of us but I stopped her..."

At this point, she curled her lips, looking disdainful of her mother's cooking skills: "Let me tell you, Dafei, don't look at my mother's last name being Tan, there are also ancestral Tan family dishes in our home.

But her cooking skills are terrible, and the food she cooks is simply inedible. My father often says that she inherited the Tan family in vain...

In comparison, the noodles you made are simply the most delicious food on earth. I would rather go hungry and eat the food you cooked when I get back than eat what he cooked."

What Lou Xiao'e didn't say was that after being rejected by him, her mother suggested that her sister-in-law Song Xiaofei make her two bowls of noodles, but she also refused.

There is no other reason,

Lou Xiao'e knew that her sister-in-law was already a marginal person in her family, so she tried not to bother her whenever possible.

While motioning Lou Xiao'e to follow him to the kitchen, Zhang Shenfei rolled up his sleeves and prepared to get to work.

He asked Lou Xiao'e to pick some onions and garlic, and then he took out four eggs from the cupboard.

Because the two of them did not live here often, they did not use a coal briquette stove in the kitchen, but instead used a ground pot and a wood stove.

After lighting the fire, Shen Fei put four eggs into the hot pan and started frying...

The eggs these days are all free-range eggs. After being fried, they turn golden in color, which whets one’s appetite at first sight.

After the eggs are fried, add two scoops of cold water directly into them. Then find some noodles in the kitchen, add them in after the water boils, and season them.

After Lou Xiao'e peeled the onions and garlic, she picked two small green vegetables she grew in the yard, washed them, and handed them to Zhang Shenfei...

With the tacit cooperation of the two, two bowls of steaming egg noodles were soon ready.

The two of them did not go into the house, but sat in the kitchen, each holding a bowl, and ate at a small table.

It is already mid-November, and there is a big temperature difference between day and night in Beijing. Although the temperature is still acceptable during the day, it is already cold at night.

Lou Xiao'e felt that eating hot egg noodles with her lover on such a cold night was the happiest thing.

……

After this meeting, Zhang Shenfei continued to be busy and the two rarely had the opportunity to meet again.

The marriage of Zhang Shunsui and He Yushui began to move forward.

Wang Mantang helped them renovate the backyard's back room. The two rooms were furnished with white tiles that had been polished to a bright finish.

The big kang in the inner room, where the ten brothers of the Zhang family slept, had also been stripped down, making the space appear much larger.

The roof was rebuilt by a professional scaffolding master. Zhang Shenfei also asked an acquaintance to get new glass and replaced the previous window paper on the windows with glass windows.

You know what, after doing this, the lighting in the room has improved a lot and the whole house looks brighter.

Other than that,

New bed, new table, new benches, everything, even the pots and pans in the kitchen are new.

This new house is the first of its kind in the entire Nanluoguxiang, not only in the Siheyuan area.

After the house was completed, it attracted countless people to come and see it. Several middle-aged women in the courtyard were talking about it and exclaimed that He Yushui had really married into a good family.

(End of this chapter)