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

"Sister Xue Ru, I can't tell you this. Just think of it as me finding a treasure trove with endless money."

Li Jianguo thought about it and decided not to tell her; too many people knowing would only cause trouble.

"Brother Jianguo, I never expected you to be so rich. But even so, I don't want to abandon my family's business. After all, it's been passed down from our ancestors."

After careful consideration, Chen Xueru still refused. She really couldn't bear to part with the silk shop, and she didn't know what else to do if she didn't do that.

"Sister Xue Ru, let me put it this way, there are several communist countries now, like Russia in the north, North Korea. Do you know anything about Russia's history?"

"You underestimate your sister. Not only does she know history, but she also has a few good friends in Russia. I'll introduce you to them later."

Only then did Li Jianguo remember that at the beginning of the story, Chen Xueru was drinking and supporting two big Russians in a tavern. What were their names again? Something like Vladimir and something like Lian.

"Oh, that makes things much simpler. You should know about Mao's Great Purge and Revolution, right?"

Li Jianguo gave Chen Xueru a meaningful look. Chen Xueru was a smart woman and immediately understood what Li Jianguo meant. She unconsciously dropped the wine glass in her hand to the ground.

Hearing the sound of the wine glass shattering, Chen Xueru finally came to her senses, her voice trembling involuntarily.

"Brother Jianguo, do you mean we'll have a revolution too?"

"Sister Xue Ru, by looking at history we can understand the rise and fall of dynasties, and by looking at people we can understand our gains and losses. If you just open the book of history, you can get a general idea of ​​how things will develop in the future."

At this moment, Chen Xueru retorted excitedly.

"Brother Jianguo, the mistakes of the Great Purge have long been corrected. Our country shouldn't make the same mistake again, right?"

"Sister Xueru, have you read Hegel's *Philosophy of History*?"

"Brother Jianguo, stop beating around the bush. Just say what you have to say. What history and philosophy? I've never even heard of it."

There is a classic sentence in the book "Philosophy of History": "The only lesson that mankind learns from history is that mankind learns nothing from history."

So they will only repeat the same mistakes they made before. This revolution is definitely coming. You'd better donate the store as soon as possible.

You should know that a grain of sand in the era can become a mountain on an individual's head.

When the revolution breaks out, a mere proprietress will be strangled to death and disappear into the annals of history; no one will bother to investigate.

After listening to Li Jianguo's words, Chen Xueru remained silent for a long time before nodding in agreement with trembling hands.

"Okay, Jianguo, I'll listen to you. I'll donate it directly and see if I can get it into the factory later."

"Sister Xue Ru, that's right. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. And if you need money, I'll give you some gold bars tomorrow."

"Find yourself a safe haven; it'll be your little treasure trove from now on. Be careful of your husband; he's not a good person, and he might just run off with you one day."

Chen Xueru burst out laughing after hearing this.

"Brother Jianguo, does this mean I'm being kept by you?" Chen Xueru winked at Li Jianguo.

"Of course, little girl, aren't you going to come and serve this master properly?"

Li Jianguo even patted his leg in a pretentious manner. Chen Xueru walked over to Li Jianguo with great charm and sat on his lap.

After drinking some alcohol, Chen Xueru's face turned even redder, showing a lack of manners.

Li Jianguo carried Chen Xueru directly to the bed.

(Ten thousand words omitted here)

Li Jianguo glanced at the sky and said, "Sister Xueru, it's getting dark, I'll be going now."

"Go back now, don't worry Yao Yao. The clothes are in the cabinet next to you, take them with you."

"Okay, sis, I'll be going now."

After collecting his clothes, Li Jianguo went straight back to courtyard number 95. When he got home, he saw Wang Yao still practicing calligraphy.

"Yaoyao, is everything alright at home today?"

"Oh, it's nothing, it's just that people in the courtyard have started to ostracize us now, and basically no one talks to me."

When I went to the Intermediate People's Court to fetch water, several old women simply avoided me.

Wang Yao shook her head helplessly. "Haha, what's the big deal? It's good to have some peace and quiet, saving us from being bothered by them every day."

After resting at home for two more days, Li Jianguo returned to the factory to hand in his tasks, only to find that the section chief had been replaced.

The newly arrived section chief was preparing for a meeting. Li Jianguo asked Wu Qiang next to him, and found out that Zhao Qiang was the only person Li Jianguo was relatively familiar with in the purchasing department.

"Xiaoqiang, what's going on? Why was the section chief replaced?"

"What else could it be? All of Director Lou's people have been replaced. You don't come to the factory often, so you might not know."

Now, Director Lou's people have been purged, and Director Li is now in charge of logistics. This section chief is Director Li's confidant.

It seems the renowned Deputy Factory Director Li has already taken office; I'll have to cultivate a good relationship with him then.

At this moment, Section Chief Zhao clapped his hands to signal for quiet.

"Today's meeting is mainly to discuss future work processes."

We've changed the name of our steel rolling mill to Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, as you all probably already know.

Management needs to be stricter in the future; it can't be as lax as before.

The people who were originally in charge of supplies for the small canteen have been reassigned to the Planning Section 3, and I am your section chief.

From now on, we will have a strict procurement process, strictly following the procedure of approval before procurement. Moreover, if there are any prohibited items, we will send out the details shortly.

From now on, purchasing items from the black market will also be prohibited. If you want to go to the countryside after completing your mission, you must obtain prior approval before you can go.

Those not going to the countryside must report to the city every day. As for assignments, they will be issued monthly from now on, not weekly. This month's assignments are still being planned and will be sent to you in a couple of days.

As he spoke, Section Chief Zhao distributed all the documents, which included the purchase prices and controlled items.

Li Jianguo shook his head as he looked at it; it seemed that the unified purchase and sales system was about to begin.

That's right. It's already October, and it seems like the era of grain rationing will begin in November. It looks like we'll only be able to buy grain and oil with ration coupons at the end of the year. Sigh, time really flies.

The purchasing staff in the room started chatting amongst themselves.

"Xiaoqiang, your good days are over. You'll be working shifts every day from now on. Look at the list he made. There's such a huge amount of stuff that can't be purchased. There are so many controlled materials."

Fortunately, most of our usual ingredients aren't included in this price range; we can still buy things like eggs and meat. But the prices they set are really low.

"Sigh, things are different now that it's a public-private partnership. But it's alright, it's just a morning reporting session, right? A little trouble is fine, we can just apply for the rural outreach program a few more times."