Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 134 The Blood and Tears Lesson of Two Broken Ribs!
Li Hongbing had been preparing to accept Yang's criticism.

After all, since physical violence was involved, it's impossible for them to go without even a symbolic reprimand or punishment.

But that's about it.

This is also why, before confronting Jia Dongxu, Li Hongbing went to great lengths to make a scene in the courtyard and publicly reveal the whole truth.

It is both necessary and crucial to uphold reason and sentiment.

Only under such circumstances could taking action against Jia Dongxu be considered justifiable.

It's not that killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of your own is impossible, but in most cases, it's unnecessary.

Bringing the Xu family into the mix was not only because Xu Damao was also one of the "victims" of this incident, but also to share the risks.

Everything requires strategy, and we should also prepare for the worst.

Revenge should be sought, but not blindly.

If the final result is a lose-lose situation, where someone sacrifices themselves in the pursuit of revenge, then even if Li Hongbing gets his revenge, it will still be a losing situation.

If he hadn't reported it to the police station, Jia Dongxu would have been beaten for nothing today.

Now that the case has been reported, there's nothing that can be done about Li Hongbing.

Both Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu were furious.

Not only did they fail to do anything to Li Hongbing, but they also received a reprimand, which made them feel extremely aggrieved.

Even though Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu were angry, they didn't dare to vent their anger on Yang Ganshi and Qian Gong'an.

As they left, Sha Zhu also left, leaving only Li Hongbing, Guo Youzhong, and Chen Xueru.

"Alright, now that things are settled here, Hongbing, you and Xiao Chen come back with me. We've prepared a lot of food at home. We didn't get to eat it at noon, so we can have it together tonight. Damin and the others are probably already preparing it."

Seeing that things had come to a satisfactory conclusion, Guo Youzhong smiled again and said to Li Hongbing and Chen Xueru.

The family reunion dinner, originally scheduled for noon, was delayed because everyone rushed over due to Li Hongbing's situation.

Now that things are over, it's time to get back to work.

Chen Xueru, the apprentice's partner, was also there; Guo Youzhong had specially invited her.

If Li Hongbing and Chen Xueru's relationship develops smoothly, they may become a family in the future.

Faced with Guo Youzhong's invitation, Chen Xueru felt embarrassed. After hesitating for a moment, she finally declined, saying, "Master Guo, I'm really sorry, I probably can't go. I've been out all day, and if I don't go back soon, my family will be worried."

Li Hongbing guessed that after he left last night, Chen Xueru probably stayed at the shop and didn't go back.

If I go to Guo Youzhong's place for dinner again before going home, my family might really be worried.

Thinking of this, Li Hongbing said, "Master, I'll bring Xueru to visit again next time. I'll send her back today."

"That's fine."

Hearing Li Hongbing say this, Guo Youzhong did not insist.

The reason for the invitation was merely because of Li Hongbing, his apprentice; Guo Youzhong didn't necessarily insist that Chen Xueru participate.

Next.

Li Hongbing and Guo Youzhong rode together for a while, then parted ways, with Li Hongbing carrying Chen Xueru home alone.

After being escorted to the gate, Li Hongbing merely looked at the gate and did not go inside.

I need to go see my master, Guo Youzhong, later; today is not a good day to visit him.

Riding his bicycle to a secluded spot, Li Hongbing took out some pastries from his personal storage space and headed towards the courtyard where his master, Guo Youzhong, was.

Guo Youzhong's family lives in a separate courtyard house with no other residents.

This is Guo Youzhong's private property, which he bought before the liberation.

For Guo Youzhong, this is not a problem.

Currently, many families in Beijing are facing housing shortages, with several people crammed into two rooms or even just one room.

Such spacious housing is not uncommon; in fact, there are quite a few such places.

For legitimate properties like Guo Youzhong's, the property rights are protected by law, and after official registration, a legal property certificate will be issued.

There are no problems at the moment.

only.

By 1958, the authorities will soon promote the socialist transformation of private housing. At that time, houses owned by individuals that exceed the standard will be rented out in a manner similar to redemption, either as state-rented housing or public-private partnerships. The original owners will be able to collect a certain percentage of the rent for the corresponding period.

The rent in this era was really not high.

The initial standard for housing renovation is based on a combination of the number of rooms and the square footage of the building.

That is, a house with 15 rooms (natural rooms) and 225 square meters, meeting or exceeding either of these two standards.

Guo Youzhong's courtyard house consists of three main rooms (north-facing rooms), three east and west wing rooms, and four south-facing rooms (reverse-facing rooms). The total number of rooms is less than fifteen, and the area of ​​the entire courtyard exceeds the limit, but the total area of ​​the houses does not.

When Li Hongbing came before, he had already inquired and learned about it. That's perfect.

Besides his two daughters, Guo Youzhong also has three sons, all of whom are married or married, and have several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He can be described as having a large and prosperous family.

With a large family and an unused house, coupled with not meeting the required standards, the upcoming housing reforms will have little to do with them.

Pushing my bicycle inside, the scene inside suddenly became lively.

"The Red Army is here!"

"Little junior brother!"

"Master's wife, these are some pastries for you and Master, including your favorite almond shortbread and ox-tongue biscuits."

"Hey, you little rascal, I told you not to bring anything over, but you're just like your senior brothers, each of you bringing one thing. Even your master's wife can't finish them all!"

"We can eat it slowly, it won't spoil easily, and besides, there's Xiaoyong and Xiaofang to take care of!"

"You've spoiled them all..."

"..."

Li Hongbing was coming to have a reunion dinner, and it was also his first visit during the New Year, so how could he come empty-handed?

The master's wife spoke reproachfully, but her smile never stopped. The more she looked at her, the more pleasing her little apprentice, Li Hongbing, seemed.

It's not that I'm mercenary; my family doesn't really lack these so-called good things. What's important is the sincerity of these apprentices.

The entire courtyard was full of cooks, including many famous chefs. Li Hongbing wanted to help, but there was no spot for him. He could only chat with his master, Guo Youzhong, and his sons, and play with the children for a while.

Interestingly, Guo Youzhong taught so many apprentices, yet none of his three sons followed in his footsteps.

The eldest son is a teacher, the second son is a soldier, and the youngest son is a factory worker...

Fortunately, Guo Youzhong has long since let go of these things and no longer dwells on them, focusing more on teaching his apprentices.

Perhaps that's why all the apprentices he taught were quite good.

As dusk fell, Liang Damin and his fellow students quickly prepared the evening's reunion dinner.

The seventeen apprentices, plus Guo Youzhong's entire family, needed three tables set up in the courtyard to accommodate them all.

I enjoyed the meal very much.

Everyone except the children had a little to drink, including Li Hongbing.

Because Guo Youzhong said that a little wine is good for the soul, even the few senior brothers who were good at drinking didn't drink much.

After the family reunion dinner.

Guo Youzhong chatted and drank tea with his disciples, creating a very harmonious atmosphere.

The time I left wasn't early, but it wasn't too late either.

Riding his bicycle, Li Hongbing quickly returned to the courtyard house.

“Hongbing, your sister and brother-in-law came over this afternoon. They must have heard about what happened in the courtyard. They waited for a while because you weren’t there, and after learning more about the situation, they went back.”

As soon as he returned, Li Hongbing learned about the situation from Yan Bugui.

He had forgotten about Li Hongmei and the others, but with what happened today, Li Hongbing couldn't possibly attend to them.

"Thank you, Uncle Yan. I'm going to my sister's place now."

Since it wasn't too late, Li Hongbing planned to go over there and explain what had happened that day, so that Li Hongmei wouldn't worry.

"Wait, don't you want to know about Jia Dongxu and Xu Damao?"

Seeing that Li Hongbing was about to leave as soon as he returned, Yan Bugui, who had prepared a wealth of information for him, became somewhat anxious.

Today, Yan Bugui received a great benefit from Li Hongbing. Although he also made some sacrifices, it made him even more convinced that his previous strategy of befriending Li Hongbing was correct, so he plans to continue it to the end.

"Uncle Yan, please stop being so mysterious and just tell me what's on your mind!"

It's impossible to say that he doesn't care at all, but Li Hongbing isn't particularly concerned either.

Anyway, this matter is basically no longer related to him.

"Jia Dongxu broke two ribs, and Xu Damao suffered a brain injury. The doctor said he needs to stay in the hospital for observation for two days; it seems to be some kind of brain injury... There's something you might not know: Jia Zhangshi and Tao Cuilan got into another fight at the hospital, and I heard it caused quite a commotion..."

Upon learning that Xu Damao had suffered a concussion from that fall, Li Hongbing felt a pang of sympathy for him.

"Where's the old man? Is he alright?"

Although he only kicked Jia Dongxu once, it was a powerful kick. Li Hongbing wasn't really sure whether Li Hongbing or Xu Fugui had kicked him in the two broken ribs.

"It's nothing serious. Although Old Xu was quite ruthless, considering that Xu Damao is also in the hospital with a head injury, and that everything was caused by Jia Dongxu, Officer Yang and Officer Qian only gave Old Xu a verbal reprimand for now..."

At this point, Yan Bugui paused, then lowered his voice and said, "However, I think Old Xu's job as an old man might not be working out anymore..."

(End of this chapter)