Courtyard houses: Those who are capable are rewarded, and many children bring many blessings.

Yue Ru quickly said, "Ning Ru, don't talk nonsense. Our whole family is waiting for him. How could we bear not to come back?"

Ningru's eyes reddened: "We have plenty to eat and drink at home, why do we have to go so far away? We can't even communicate. Waaah... Sister, I feel so empty inside."

Ningru's crying caused the eyes of her sisters to redden as well.

"Hey! Who isn't? Our men are pretty easygoing. Let me tell you, don't cry in front of the kids. Life goes on. Let's go home."

The six sisters stood on the platform outside the courtyard, gazing in the direction where Niu Dazhuang had disappeared, reluctant to go back for a long time...

Niu Dazhuang returned to Beijing and was busy again.

Yu Haitang is finally pregnant. All the hard work before the New Year was worthwhile. So far, there are only three children between Ye Chunlan and Yu Li.

Yu Li's first two pregnancies were both daughters. After the New Year, she finally gave birth to the son she had longed for, whom she named Niu Chengjun.

Having taken six months of sick leave, Niu Dazhuang has stopped going to work and isn't staying home either. Today he's at Qin Huairu's courtyard, and tomorrow night he might be at Xu Huizhen's.

The day after tomorrow, I went back to the courtyard house and spent half the night with Su Ting. This little life of mine is so decadent.

If it weren't for the wind picking up, Niu Dazhuang really wouldn't have been willing to leave his family and business behind to go to Hong Kong Island.

After the sixteenth night of the first lunar month. Qin Huairu's small courtyard.

"Dazhuang, Vice President Bai Hongyan asked me to tell you that your paperwork is done and she wants you to go to the office in person tomorrow. She has something else to tell you."

"Okay, Qiu Nan is happy tonight, have a few drinks with me." Qin Huairu is pregnant and can't handle too much.

Niu Dazhuang could only torment her.

"No way! Last time I drank a bit too much and you made me suffer terribly. I had trouble going to work the next day."

"Once you miss this opportunity, you'll never have another one. You don't know how to cherish opportunities at all."

"Whoever wants to cherish it can cherish it; I'm not going to fall for it. You agree, right, Sister Huairu?"

"I'm not taking sides, so don't try to drag me into this. Do whatever you want tonight."

Although Ding Qiunan didn't drink much, Niu Dazhuang didn't let her off easily that night...

The next day, Niu Dazhuang arrived at work after 10 a.m. It wasn't for any other reason than that he hadn't had enough last night, and then he ate twice-cooked pork again that morning.

Ding Qiunan has taken sick leave again.

Upon entering Bai Hongyan's office, Bai Hongyan handed him a brown leather bag: "This contains your documents for your trip to Hong Kong. Keep it safe. Your current identity is publicly known as the Deputy Commissioner of China National Machinery & Equipment Import & Export Corporation, a subsidiary of China Resources Company."

Internally, it's a temporary transfer process; your personnel file and records are still with the Ministry of Industry. Once you arrive at Xinhua News Agency in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong branch will be under your direct jurisdiction; you can think of it as him being your immediate superior…”

After listening to Bai Hongyan's long list of rules, Niu Dazhuang didn't even want to go through the proper channels: "Is it too late to regret it now? According to you, we don't even have personal freedom anymore."

"You can't say that. You need to report when you go out, but it's not that you can't go out at all."

"You have to report back who you met that day, and you can't have any private contact with the locals..."

Bai Hongyan smiled and said, "If you're not used to staying in Hong Kong, you can come back sooner! Let me tell you, don't cause trouble over there, and don't be disorganized or undisciplined. If you really run away, I'll be in trouble too. Go to Xinhua News Agency for training tomorrow."

"Why would I run away? I have a beautiful woman like you waiting for me at home, I wouldn't want to run away."

"You're so sweet-talking!"

"What's the point of studying if you go to Hong Kong Island?"

"Of course I'll study, because I'm afraid you'll be blinded by the glitz and glamour of capitalism and have your mind confused by its allure."

"Damn, what haven't I seen? If I had known it would be this troublesome, I would have just sneaked over there and gotten away with it."

"Stop complaining, it's too late to regret it now. Get ready for studying tomorrow!"

Goodness, this learning session is almost one-on-one. There are only two people in total who were sent to Hong Kong Island with Niu Dazhuang this time.

The vice president was supervising two people being organized all by himself; even Niu Dazhuang, who had never received such treatment in his previous life...

On the 22nd day of the first lunar month in 1966, the two finally lay down on a green train heading south.

Niu Dazhuang and Liu Shijie were about the same age, both in their thirties. They got along well.

"Old Liu, hurry up and teach me Cantonese, otherwise I'll give myself away as soon as I start speaking Cantonese when we get to Hong Kong."

"It's nothing, you're not involved in united front work. Speaking in a northern accent is more in line with your identity."

"But I can't be completely clueless. At the very least, I have to understand what they're saying to insult me. Otherwise, if I'm just laughing like an idiot while they're insulting me, I'll really become a blockhead."

"Didn't I tell you already, you idiot, you clueless old man, you loser, fuck your mother..."

Clang, clang... Not only was it slow, but it also stopped at every station. At major stations like Zhengzhou, it would stop for more than an hour. It took nearly 60 hours to finally reach Guangzhou Station.

They could have bought tickets directly at the station to go to Shenzhen, but Niu Dazhuang was unhappy and dragged Liu Shijie out of the train station.

"Old Liu, why are you in such a hurry? You've been on the train for so many days, aren't you tired? Your company gave you four days! Besides, let's just wear these clothes, aren't you afraid of getting heat rash?"

"I brought clothes. I suggest you buy clothes when you get there." As he spoke, Liu Shijie leaned forward and whispered, "It's hard to buy any Dacron fabric here. I heard that it's cheap and good quality there, and you don't even need to ask around. You can buy it anywhere."

"Those things are comfortable to wear, but they're not breathable and don't absorb sweat."

"It's cool and stylish!"

"I disagree. You're a local bigwig, so lead the way and let's go to the guesthouse to stay."

While the north is still experiencing the coldest part of winter, spring is almost here and flowers are blooming.

Niu Dazhuang really just wanted to rest. There was no nightlife in this era, so he experienced the local food culture and went to bed early.

The next day, it took another three hours of bumpy travel to reach Shenzhen Station, also known as Luohu Station.

The departure hall was empty, and the queue wasn't long, but the checks were quite thorough. They not only carefully checked the bags I was carrying, but also thoroughly patted my body.

Another characteristic of the era was that if an inspector asked a casual question, you had to quickly and accurately answer the following sentence.

Niu Dazhuang and his companion had all the necessary documents and passed through customs smoothly.

The two walked to the other end of Luohu Bridge, where those who had arrived earlier were already queuing in front of a dilapidated tin shack.

They checked all my documents, and then asked in an arrogant tone, "What are you doing in Hong Kong Island? Where are you staying? How many days are you staying? How much money did you bring?"

Niu Dazhuang despised these traitors the most. With their foreign fathers backing them up, they acted as if they were superior to their own compatriots.

"What are you looking at, you worthless bastard!"