Courtyard House: Passing through the Silly Pillar, Activating the Blessed Cave Heaven

45

"There's a hidden cellar under the bedroom floor; the money is hidden there, and most people can't find it," He Yuzhu said mysteriously in a low voice.

"Okay, I understand. You're very thoughtful." Lou Xiao'e nodded, then asked, "Brother He, what's your opinion on Qiu Guangpu's house? Is it worth buying?"

"The layout of his courtyard house is similar to ours, except that the courtyard is larger, there are more rooms, and it is more impressive."

"When the children are a little older, I'll take you to see it; I'm sure you'll like it," He Yuzhu said with a smile.

After listening, Lou Xiao'e said with little interest, "Never mind, let's talk about it later."

The courtyard houses in Beijing are all the same, just a bit more elaborate and larger, nothing special.

"Are you hungry? I'll go cook for you, make your favorite braised pork." Seeing that Lou Xiao'e was in a bad mood, He Yuzhu quickly changed the subject to divert her attention.

The next morning, after breakfast, Qiu Guangpu put down his chopsticks and said to his wife, "I'm going to the silk shop to refuse Chen Xueru and tell her that the house is no longer for sale."

If anyone asks, you absolutely mustn't let slip that we sold the house to He Yuzhu. Just say what Manager Cai taught us.

"Don't worry, I know what to say."

Just say that your sister took the house back, and you don't want to sell it, so you won't sell it.

"Manager Cai explained everything clearly last night, I remember it all, there won't be any mistakes," the wife replied confidently.

"Okay, I'm off then." Qiu Guangpu hummed a little tune and left the house in a cheerful mood.

He strolled leisurely to the silk shop. Chen Xueru, seeing him arrive, immediately greeted him with a smile, saying warmly, "Old Qiu, you've finally come! I'll go get the money ready right away, and we'll sign the contract today and settle things about the house!"

Qiu Guangpu's smile vanished instantly, and he said in a flat tone, "Mr. Chen, I'm sorry, but I'm not selling this house..."

Qiu Guangpu quickly waved his hand and said, "I'm really sorry, Mr. Chen, I won't sell this house."

"What did you say?" Chen Xueru's eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief. "We already agreed on this last night, how could you suddenly change your mind?"

"Boss Chen, how could I dare to mess with you!" Qiu Guangpu explained with a smile, "It's all my sister's fault. When she heard that I was going to sell the ancestral home, she came over overnight to make a scene and even said that if anyone dared to buy this house, she would stay here and not leave."

"So, how do you think we can sell this house?"

"I really wanted to buy it, but after your sister made such a fuss, how could I dare to buy it?" Chen Xueru glared at Qiu Guangpu, her tone slightly displeased. "Fine, if you don't want to sell, then don't sell. I really don't like this house. It's not like I have nowhere else to live."

"Old Qiu, is there anything else? If not, then hurry up and leave. Don't get in my way." She gave him the order to leave without any politeness.

"Boss Chen, I'm so sorry, so sorry! I'll leave now and won't disturb your business any longer." Qiu Guangpu still smiled apologetically as he turned and quickly left Chen Xueru's silk shop.

Stepping out of the silk shop, Qiu Guangpu spat on the ground and muttered a curse, "With your contemptuous attitude, I'm not going to sell to you!" After saying that, he hummed an off-key tune and swayed towards Cai Quanwu's unemployed tavern.

When Qiu Guangpu arrived at the tavern, he found that the door was closed and it was obviously not open for business yet.

He slapped his forehead and said with annoyance, "Look at my memory, I forgot that the tavern doesn't open until noon."

"Never mind, I'll just go home first." He shook his head and turned to walk back.

On the other side, after tidying up the chores at home, Cai Quanwu briefly explained a few words to his wife, Su Xiulian, and then rode his tricycle straight to the courtyard house in Qudeng Hutong where He Yuzhu lived.

He needed to go there to withdraw some money to pay the remaining balance on Qiu Guangpu's house.

In addition, he also plans to take some time to talk to He Yuzhu about his plans to do business with Qiu Guangpu.

Cai Quanwu took the money from the courtyard house, put it into a bulging cloth bag, and then rode his tricycle to Qiu Guangpu's house.

Qiu Guangpu was leisurely sitting in the courtyard drinking tea when he saw Cai Quanwu enter carrying a large cloth bag. He immediately beamed and said, "Oh, Manager Cai, you're really efficient! You've got the money ready so quickly? I just came back from Chen Xueru's place, and you're already here."

Cai Quanwu smiled and said, "I was just afraid of delaying your business."

"By the way, Mr. Pian, how did your talk with Boss Chen go?"

Qiu Guangpu raised his chin smugly: "Needless to say? It went very smoothly! I didn't take her deposit, so even if I backed out, she couldn't do anything to me!"

Cai Quanwu nodded and handed over the cloth bag in his hand: "Uncle Pian'er, this contains the remaining 48,000 yuan. The extra 200 yuan is a tip from my nephew for you. Please help me block up the passageway in the yard."

Qiu Guangpu took the cloth bag, beaming from ear to ear: "Haha, Manager Cai, your nephew is too kind! Alright, then I'll accept it without hesitation."

"Come on, let's go inside and talk."

As the two walked into the house, Qiu Guangpu called out towards the kitchen, "Old woman, come here quickly, come inside!"

"Coming!" Qiu Guangpu's wife responded from outside, and soon came in. "What's up, Lao Qiu? Oh, Manager Cai is here." She greeted Cai Quanwu with a smile.

"Manager Cai is here to deliver the payment for the house. He asked you to come and help count the money." Qiu Guangpu shook the cloth bag in his hand. "Go and close the front door first, so no one can come in and disturb us."

"You're so thoughtful, I almost forgot," Qiu Guangpu's wife said, turning and walking into the yard.

When she returned to the house, Qiu Guangpu had already emptied the money from the cloth bag, neatly stacked it on the table, and started counting it.

She picked up a bundle of money and sat down to count it.

About ten minutes later, the two of them finished counting all the money with smiles on their faces.

Qiu Guangpu said, "Manager Cai, the amount of money is exactly right, not a penny off."

"My dear wife, put the money inside and bring the house deed while you're at it."

"Okay, I'll go right away." Qiu Guangpu's wife happily put the banknotes back into the cloth bag.

"This cloth bag belongs to Manager Cai. Remember to return it to him after you're done using it," Qiu Guangpu reminded him.

"I know, I won't forget." She quickly packed up the money, picked up the cloth bag, and went into the inner room with a smile.

"Uncle Pian'er, when I saw my nephew today, he said that if you want to sell the front yard house in the future, you can still contact him, and the price will still be set by you," Cai Quanwu said.

"Sure thing! Just because of your nephew's straightforwardness, if I ever need to sell a house again, I'll definitely go to him first."

"But I can't sell it right now. If I do, I'll have nowhere to live. Please understand," Qiu Guangpu said.

"You're exaggerating! How could I possibly leave you without a place to stay? I was just mentioning something for later."

"By the way, now that the money is ready, when do you plan to set off for the border region?" Cai Quanwu quickly changed the subject.

"Let's wait a few more days. There are still some miscellaneous matters to take care of in Beijing," Qiu Guangpu said after a moment's thought.

At this moment, his wife came out of the inner room with the house deed and handed it to Qiu Guangpu: "Here, the house deed is."

Qiu Guangpu unfolded the property deeds and looked at them, then handed them to Cai Quanwu: "Manager Cai, these are the property deeds for the entire courtyard."

"We'll go to the housing management office to complete the division procedures when it's more convenient later."

After carefully examining the property deed, Cai Quanwu smiled with satisfaction: "Don't worry, I will keep this property deed safe."

There's no rush to divide the property, and my nephew He Yuzhu isn't in a hurry to move in either.

Besides, current policies allow for this.

Qiu Guangpu nodded and said to his wife, "You go ahead and do your work. Manager Cai and I will chat for a while longer." After his wife left, the two continued their conversation.

Qiu Guangpu looked at Cai Quanwu with a serious expression: "Manager Cai, last night you said you would help me deal with that batch of grain that you brought from other places."

However, I need to ask clearly: do you really have a reliable sales channel in Beijing? Let's be frank, this batch of goods is related to the success or failure of my trip to the Northeast, and I can't afford to lose even the slightest bit.

Besides, this business is shady to begin with, and if something goes wrong... so you have to tell me the truth.

"

Cai Quanwu patted the hem of his cotton-padded jacket and said, "Brother Pian'er, we've been doing business in Qianmen for over ten years, and we know all the rules of the game."

Let me put it this way: I have about twenty men working for me, and they all rely on doing business to make a living.

I cannot disclose the specific sales channels, but I guarantee that your grain will be sold smoothly.

"

"I'm relieved to hear you say that!" Qiu Guangpu's brows smoothed out. "When it comes to credibility, someone like Old Monster He isn't even worthy of carrying your shoes."

"

As darkness fell, Cai Quanwu, carrying the house deed, knocked on He Yuzhu's door.

The aroma of stir-fried cabbage wafted through the room as Lou Xiao'e placed cornbread on the table.

Uncle, you've come at the perfect time. Let's have something hot together.

He Yuzhu lifted the curtain and greeted them warmly.

Cai Quanwu waved his hand: "No, the tavern is waiting for me to go back and take care of things."

Here, this is the Qiu family's property deed.

He pulled a paper package from his pocket. "You guys eat it while it's hot, I'll go first..."

I'll see you out.

He Yuzhu grabbed his cotton-padded coat and followed Cai Quanwu out.

The two walked to the tricycle outside the courtyard gate, and Cai Quanwu lowered his voice and said, "I found out yesterday that Qiu Guangpu sold the house to raise capital—he wants to go to the area outside the Great Wall to trade grain."

The night wind blew coal dust across the bluestone path beneath our feet.

After listening, He Yuzhu said with a smile, "That's pretty much what I guessed. Last night when you said that Qiu Guangpu's three sons had all gone to the Northeast, I felt that his sudden sale of the house must be related to this matter."

But I really didn't expect that he sold his house to raise money to smuggle grain outside the Great Wall. Qiu Guangpu is incredibly audacious.

"Yes, Qiu Guangpu is indeed a courageous person." Cai Quanwu nodded, but hesitated before speaking.

Seeing his hesitant expression, He Yuzhu asked directly, "Uncle, is there anything we can't say between us? Just say it."

Cai Quanwu took a deep breath and said decisively, "Zhuzi, I didn't discuss it with you last night. I just told Qiu Guangpu directly that I wanted to help him sell the grain he got from outside the Great Wall in Beijing." After saying this, he breathed a sigh of relief and stared intently at He Yuzhu's reaction.

"Hey, I thought it was something big!" He Yuzhu waved his hand. "Aren't we just dealing with food right now? Dealing with more food isn't a big deal."

Previously, I was reluctant to deal with grains, firstly because there was no stable supply, and secondly because grains are too conspicuous, with low prices and taking up a lot of space.

But if you want to do it, then go ahead and do it. Anyway, the guys below are just sitting around doing nothing.

As long as we're careful and don't get targeted, we'll be fine.

"Zhu Zi, thank you." Cai Quanwu's eyes were slightly red.

"Uncle, you have to make sure Qiu Guangpu has paved the way properly and that nothing goes wrong."

"We have long-standing relationships here. As long as there are no problems on his end, we're absolutely safe here," He Yuzhu earnestly instructed.

"Don't worry, I'll keep a close eye on this." Cai Quanwu nodded solemnly.

"Also, in case something really happens, the goods can be discarded, but the safety of the people must be guaranteed."

We can afford to lose our savings. As long as we're still alive, we can always earn the money back.

But if someone gets hurt inside, then everything is over.

"I understand," Cai Quan said firmly. "If anything really happens, I'll take it all on myself and I'll never drag you down with me."

"I'll be leaving the household affairs in your care then."

He Yuzhu was both amused and exasperated: "Uncle, don't make it sound so serious."

Even if you do end up in jail, I can find someone to pull strings and at least save your life.

"Alright, let's not talk about these unlucky things anymore. You should go home now; I need to go home for dinner too."

He had just turned to leave when he suddenly stopped: "By the way, tomorrow is the day I arranged to pick up the keys with Qiu Guangpu. You can go and hand them over to him."

Keep the key with you for now, don't rush to give it to me.

Remember to make a couple extra, keep one for yourself. Use that yard as a storage room from now on; I have some old things to store there.

"Okay, I've got it."