Siheyuan: Rebirth of a comfortable life starts with Shazhu

There are great scholars among whom to talk and laugh, and no unlearned people among whom to associate.

This describes He Yuzhu's current life.

He is currently on sick leave at home and cannot go out, but that doesn't mean others can't visit him.

People like Lao Niu and Lao Chang would go to He Yuzhu's house to drink tea and chat whenever they had free time.

This actually made He Yuzhu even busier than before.

After all, those guys used to have to maintain a certain level of decorum when they went to the school to talk to He Yuzhu about work.

But when they went to the He family, they no longer had that concern.

Every Sunday, Lao Niu would often come empty-handed, or bring He Yuzhu two books.

He Yuzhu always wanted to complain, "Do they really think of me as some kind of scholar?"

Can he understand books that are too profound?

Old Chang was more polite; he would occasionally find a jar or two of old wine for He Yuzhu.

Although his gifts couldn't cover He Yuzhu's expenses, after all, when guests come, meals must be provided.

And each time, He Yuzhu had to cook himself.

As a result, he has now entered retirement life ahead of schedule.

Every Sunday, a group of freeloaders would come to our door.

It wasn't just Lao Niu and Lao Chang; there were also some other young people.

They are all people who have unique insights into the reform and opening-up policy.

One or two of them were big shots who sat next to the old ox in their past lives.

Of course, those people are just beginners in their thirties right now.

Anyway, the He family's living room always felt quite crowded on Sundays.

Actually, the authorities had been thinking about getting the He family a new house for a long time.

Those places with their own yards.

However, Liu Ting already owns many houses, and He Yuzhu is too lazy to move them.

Another point is that living in those high-security compounds felt too out of touch with reality for He Yuzhu.

He was quite clear that He Yuzhu was different from Lao Chang and Lao Niu.

Friends like him can be said to have dedicated their entire lives to the community.

But He Yuzhu, in a few years, he will have plenty of time to see the world.

Our gathering here is merely a brief stop on our journeys together.

If He Yuzhu hadn't offered many insightful and targeted suggestions some time ago, it's hard to say whether these people would have even come.

In comparison, He Yuzhu preferred drinking and bragging with that bastard Xu Damao.

Xu Damao came to the door on Monday.

He brought He Yuzhu two cartons of foreign cigarettes, supposedly from a chubby guy from the south who had someone bring them back as a gift.

"Brother Zhu, Shengli sent me a telegram."

"Do you know who went to see him?" Xu Damao asked mysteriously.

Xu Damao is no longer qualified to enter the He family study.

He Yuzhu now has to painstakingly write several hundred words of data every workday.

Old Lu replaced the main door of the He family study with a new one, making it look like a bank vault.

There are a few new faces at the security guard post near the entrance recently.

The checks on outsiders are quite strict.

Every week, Lao Lu would come over with an iron box in his hand, and lock all of He Yuzhu's writings inside the iron box and take them away.

The iron box was still locked to Lao Lu's arm.

It was done in a very formal manner.

The study is still the He family's study, but now no one except He Yuzhu is qualified to enter.

This is a classic case of the higher-ups just giving orders while the people below are running themselves ragged.

Of course, although He Yuzhu felt that what he wrote was not that important, the fact that they arranged it this way was also to protect him.

After all, some of He Yuzhu's writings are indeed too explicit. For example, He Yuzhu recently wrote a piece about how foreign companies operate in the mainland market.

First, they look for a 'capable' agent, rather than relying on product quality or price to win.

Instead, they rely on agents, business consultants, and various connections.

This is actually what He Yuzhu and HUO said when they were discussing cooperation.

Use relationships to seize market share.

Of course, He Yuzhu's talk of such cooperation with those two was simply to enable the research and development technologies of various schools to be converted into commercial profits.

It's mostly for the collective good.

But what He Yuzhu wrote was even more explicit.

He Yuzhu raised a question, which meant he offended a large group of people.

Families like Xiao Song's were originally not valued, just like Xiao Song.

After the reform and opening up, it will be much more difficult for them to make big money.

Anyway, after a leader above read what He Yuzhu wrote, he raised the level of secrecy on his case.

This also creates a problem: when He Yuzhu's writings are published in books in the future, it is estimated that his authorship will be removed.

He Yuzhu was well aware of this, because it was all because he found himself increasingly happy as he wrote.

He spoke without restraint, writing down everything that could and couldn't be said.

"Who? An acquaintance from the old Beijing?" He Yuzhu lay on the sofa, his posture unsteady, the cigarette ash falling onto his clothes.

The stubble on his face indicated that He Yuzhu hadn't been taking care of himself much lately.

I'm at home all the time, who am I going to show off if I tidy up?

Even Liu Ting isn't as clingy to him as she used to be.

They said they were tired of seeing his old face every day.

"Liu Guangqi! Hehe..." Xu Damao said mysteriously as always.

He Yuzhu remained unfazed and casually replied, "He went to the south?"

Looks like things aren't going well for him!

Xu Damao grinned slyly and nodded in agreement with He Yuzhu's statement. After he finished laughing, he said with a hint of annoyance, "This guy is obsessed with gains and losses."

They found my family's Shengli and proposed to cooperate with him.

Let my family win, help him get things, and he'll go to the pigeon market to sell them.

That's fucking ridiculous!

This guy must have lost his mind; he really thinks he's someone important.

He Yuzhu reached out and lightly brushed the ash off his clothes.

He then sat up and said seriously to Xu Damao, "He's not out of his mind, he just thinks that the little fat guy is ignorant and greedy for the small benefits he mentioned."

I reckon he also said a lot of things about how he could get rich.

Damao, let me give you a piece of advice.

Your child is over there. As parents, you should often remind him to stay true to himself and not to be greedy for immediate gains.

You, especially you, should stop telling the children such and such things that are valuable in Beijing now.

Are you fucking short of money?

As the pace of reform and opening up draws ever closer, the social atmosphere is becoming increasingly restless and superficial.

Nowadays, when young people get together, they mainly discuss what to do to make some quick money.

Children from ordinary families, especially those with relatives in the countryside, have been visiting relatives quite frequently lately.

In other words, they would secretly collect eggs, meat, and grain from farmers and bring them to the city, which could be equivalent to several days' wages.

That was an ordinary family.

Those at a slightly higher level naturally have their own ways of playing.

According to He Yuzhu, Xu Damao is now having quite a few fancy dealings with some leaders of the toy factory.

The products from the toy factory are now a rarity in the city.

Xu Damao didn't know how it happened, but now he was a well-known merchant on Xiushui Street. (End of Chapter)