The Beginning of a Courtyard House: Sixty Years of Internal Strength

Two days later, Li Jianguo couldn't hold back any longer. What exactly was going on with Yan Bugui? When he got off work, Li Jianguo went up to Yan Bugui, the gatekeeper, and asked him directly.

"Teacher Yan, didn't you say you wanted your child to recognize Yi Zhonghai as his godfather? Why hasn't anything happened after a month or two?"

Li Jianguo looked at Yan Bugui with curiosity.

"That guy Yi Zhonghai, I stopped him on my way home from get off work and quietly told him about it. He didn't even acknowledge me and just left. He won't even let my son change his surname."

Yan Bugui grew angrier the more he thought about it, and his face turned cold.

"Oh dear, Teacher Yan, this is where you went wrong. How could you talk to him in private?"

You should find a meeting, when everyone is there, and bring it up directly, so everyone can put him in a difficult position, right?

Li Jianguo quickly came up with another bad idea: more people, more fun.

"Don't give me that, Li Jianguo. I know you just want to watch the show."

If he still disagrees then, wouldn't I lose even more face? Go away, go away, hurry up and get going.

When Yan Bugui saw that Li Jianguo had nothing in his hands but was still urging him on, he quickly chased Li Jianguo away.

Li Jianguo had no choice but to go home, realizing that there was no point in saying anything.

Actually, he now understands why Yi Zhonghai disagreed. After all, his own son was about to be born, so who would want to take in a godchild?

Time passed, and nothing particularly special happened in the last few months of 52.

However, government personnel have already moved into the steel rolling mill and are gradually taking over it. It seems that Lou Bancheng has finally compromised by the end of the year.

It's estimated that it will be renamed Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill next year, and it will probably need to be expanded then.

As winter approached, Li Jianguo had no choice but to pretend to buy some Chinese cabbage. He claimed that he had already harvested two crops of grain in his space, and had more vegetables than he could eat.

Li Jianguo went to the livestock market outside Beijing. He strolled around and bought several lambs and calves in batches.

There were two males and three females in each family. He planned to raise them in the space long-term, so he would have an endless supply of beef and mutton.

Because buying too many items at once would be too conspicuous, I had to take them to an alleyway and then return them to a more accessible location.

He also bought five piglets, two males and three females, intending to use them for breeding; he didn't plan to eat them directly.

Because pigs, if not sterilized, have such a strong, unpleasant smell that they are simply inedible.

I even bought a fully grown donkey, but I never expected that this market would even sell carts.

He bought a cart, harnessed a donkey to it, and thus had a donkey cart, which made it convenient to haul anything.

Fortunately, the market outside the city was quite large, and people from nearby villages would trade there.

Otherwise, his purchase volume would attract the attention of others, since he bought too much, and he was doing it all by himself, and he didn't want the village collective to make the purchase.

Li Jianguo kept them separate, far apart, so that if they got sick, they wouldn't infect each other.

There was so much grain that Li Jianguo stopped eating cornbread after the wheat became plentiful. He ate plain steamed buns instead, and sometimes he would take some back to his hometown, but he didn't dare take too much, mainly because the source was hard to explain.

Pure wheat flour steamed buns were still quite rare in those days. Nowadays, whether in cities or rural areas, most people eat cornbread made from cornmeal or mixed grains.

The steamed buns that are always warm in the yard are veteran performers; they're always the same few that get warm all day long.

Because there's so much grain, he figured the livestock couldn't finish it all. It seems he'll have to learn how to brew wine, but he doesn't know what kind of wine he can make, and he doesn't know how either.

Xu Huizhen in the tavern, her family seems to be brewing wine.

Later, due to family misfortunes, the brewery could no longer continue operating.

Xu Huizhen was probably abandoned in 1955, and she had a difficult childbirth, which was probably in 1954 or 1955 when she got married.

Next year I must visit Xu Huizhen's family's brewery and learn about their brewing techniques.

Li Jianguo went back to his parents' home before the Lunar New Year. Recently, the matchmakers have stopped, which means it's difficult for them to introduce him to a partner. They probably won't give up. Li Jianguo is having a headache.

The New Year holiday was only three days long, and nothing special happened during the holiday. He Yuzhu still spent the New Year with his retirement group. It seems that he has been completely fooled.

Just a few days after the New Year, the neighborhood committee staff came again to promote the first five-year plan.

With strong support from the Russians, we also learned from their development model and formulated our first five-year plan.

Li Jianguo listened carefully to the propaganda. No wonder Lou Bancheng couldn't withstand the pressure and donated the steel rolling mill. The first five-year plan was to vigorously develop industry.

At the same time, in order to ensure the smooth implementation of the five-year plan and prevent sabotage by spies.

When Li Jianguo heard that the institute was selecting liaison officers, he immediately understood that they were choosing a steward.

As soon as the topic of selecting liaison officers came up, Liu Haizhong's eyes lit up immediately. Li Jianguo saw that he was so excited that he was trembling, and he was really afraid that he would have a stroke.

"Our voting is democratic, and the main purpose is to prevent strangers and spies. Those who want to run for office should prepare in the next few days."

I'll come back in a couple of days, and then we'll have a fair and open election.

Then the clerk went out, and Liu Haizhong, like a lackey, saw him off at the gate.

Sure enough, those who were interested started campaigning for votes in the past few days.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong started giving gifts in a very extravagant manner.

Liu Haizhong gave each family five eggs, which is quite a lot. These days, eggs are considered a delicacy and are often eaten as a side dish.

Yi Zhonghai was even more direct, giving each household 10,000 yuan. He was truly wealthy and powerful.

Both men personally came to him, saying all sorts of nice things, and Li Jianguo accepted them all with a smile. He thought it would be a fool not to take advantage of such a good deal.

Yan Bugui also wanted to be the liaison, but he was stingy, so he approached Li Jianguo first.

Looking at Yan Bugui, who had come empty-handed and with only two pieces of bread, Li Jianguo shook his head in disdain.

"Jianguo, we all belong to the front yard, you can't side with outsiders."

Yan Bugui shamelessly said nice things.

"Teacher Yan, look at the things on my desk. They were just delivered and are still warm."

"Are you saying I took something from someone else and then gave you a vote empty-handed? That's just not fair."

"Oh dear, how can you compare them? We're mainly talking about feelings, how can you use this kind of money-grubbing to insult their friendship?"

Yan Bugui wanted to continue his deception, but Li Jianguo was getting impatient.

"Come on, stop talking. I've already decided to vote for Liu Haizhong. Look at his five eggs, that's enough for me to make a whole plate of scrambled eggs tonight. Go ahead and try to fool someone else."

Li Jianguo simply kicked Yan Bugui out.