The Courtyard House: The story begins with He Yuzhu beating up the White Widow.

"Really?!" He Yukun's eyes lit up instantly. He Daqing then asked, "Zhu Zi, is your information accurate?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "It's almost certain. I estimate it will be in the second half of the year."

He Yukun said excitedly, "Brother, my girlfriend is my high school classmate. She's a top student in her class."

He Yuzhu said, "Don't tell her about the college entrance exam yet. You two should get married first. Then you can study while working. Ask your sister-in-law if you don't understand something. Later, I'll gather Han Chun and the other kids together to study as well. Let's try to produce a batch of college students from our He family."

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, He Yukun met with Xie Lanya and they had a brief discussion. Early on the second day, He Daqing and his wife brought He Yukun to their home. The two families already knew each other well, and after a friendly exchange, they agreed that on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, He Yukun and Xie Lanya would get their marriage certificate. They planned to hold their wedding banquet on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

With He Yukun's marriage, He Yuzhu's family's study group was officially established. After nearly ten months of studying, at the end of the year, everyone in He Yuzhu's family study group entered the examination hall. Their hard work finally paid off; they all achieved good results and entered their desired universities.

The goodwill that He Daqing, Xu Wude, and Xu Damao had forged during the ups and downs of the day had finally paid off. He Daqing became the deputy director of the factory's logistics department, Xu Wude became the head of the factory's propaganda department, and Xu Damao became the captain of the first fleet of the transportation department. However, both He Daqing and Xu Wude were aware of their own limitations. A month after the appointments were made, both He Daqing and Xu Wude submitted their retirement applications. Seeing that He Daqing and Xu Wude were so sensible, the factory director and the clerk quickly approved their retirements.

This was during the peak of the educated youth returning to the cities. Many of these returning youths were unemployed. Neither the He nor the Xu families had anyone willing to inherit their jobs. Therefore, He Daqing and Xu Wude quickly sold their respective job quotas. A little over a year later, Liang Wanping and Zheng Xiaoying also retired. They did the same thing, selling their respective job quotas.

With the arrival of 1979, He Yuzhu became more active. First, he bought some houses in other alleys, and then, through a land swap, transferred all the houses in the front yard to his name. Next, taking advantage of the cheap labor costs, He Yuzhu hired several skilled craftsmen to renovate the houses in the back yard.

Seeing that He Yuzhu had started repairing the house, He Daqing and Xu Wude's minds started to work as well. He Daqing followed He Yuzhu's example, buying a house and exchanging it with the residents of the central courtyard. He ended up owning the entire central courtyard of No. 95 Nanluoguxiang. Xu Wude, on the other hand, didn't set his sights on No. 95. Instead, he bought several poorly maintained and somewhat dilapidated one- and two-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard houses) in the nearby alleys.

While the He and Xu families were secretly acquiring courtyard houses in bulk, time quietly slipped into 1981. Lou Zhenhua, already in his eighties, returned to Beijing with Tan Lingya, Lou Xiao'e, and Lou Xiao'e's two older brothers. After settling her parents in, Lou Xiao'e went to the Nanluoguxiang Police Station.

The gatekeeper stopped Lou Xiao'e and asked, "Comrade, what can I do for you?"

Lou Xiao'e asked, "Is He Yuzhu here?! I need to talk to him!"

The gatekeeper stared at Lou Xiao'e for a while, then said, "Our director is here, you can go in!"

"Thank you, sir!" Lou Xiao'e greeted the old gatekeeper. Just as she entered the police station, she saw He Yuzhu standing not far away. He Yuzhu also saw Lou Xiao'e, but his face showed no surprise. Lou Xiao'e walked up to He Yuzhu and asked, "You don't seem surprised at all?!"

He Yuzhu retorted, "Why didn't you come looking for me when you came back two years ago?!"

Lou Xiao'e smiled and said, "I'm afraid I won't want to leave if I see you."

He Yuzhu glanced at his watch and said, "It's lunchtime right now. I'll go tell my colleagues, and I'll treat you to lunch!"

Lou Xiao'e asked, "Aren't you afraid your wife will be jealous?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "She knows about you and the child."

Lou Xiao'e said, "I'll treat you and your partner to dinner at the Sijiu City Hotel tonight."

"We'll talk about tonight!" After saying that, He Yuzhu turned around and went to Song Zhaohong's office. He greeted Song Zhaohong and left the police station with Lou Xiao'e.

Upon arriving at Quanjude, He Yuzhu selected the duck, ordered the dishes, and sat down with Lou Xiao'e at a table against the wall. He Yuzhu asked, "Are you leaving again this time?!"

Lou Xiao'e replied, "You're having a pretty good time being a hands-off manager. You've dumped such a big business in Hong Kong on me."

He Yuzhu understood the underlying meaning in Lou Xiao'e's words and asked, "How have you been all these years?!"

"It's nothing special," Lou Xiao'e replied, taking a stack of photos from her handbag and handing them to He Yuzhu, saying, "These are photos of our son, He Xiao."

He Yuzhu took the photo and looked at it, saying, "Judging by the days, our son should have graduated from high school by now, right?!"

Lou Xiao'e replied with a smile, "You underestimate your son. He's already graduated from Gangcheng University and is currently interning at his family's company. After his internship ends in the second half of the year, I'll have him come to Beijing to visit you."

He Yuzhu nodded silently, reluctantly put down the photos, and asked, "Can I have these photos?!"

"Take it!" Lou Xiao'e replied, then asked, "Are you planning to continue working as a police officer?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "I just do what I'm supposed to do. I have fourteen years until retirement. I'll do what I want to do after I retire!" Then he asked, "Have you taken back all those houses from your family?!"

Lou Xiao'e nodded and replied, "They've all been taken back. Even the dividends that the steel rolling mill didn't give us have been compensated. My dad's idea is to add some more money and invest in the steel rolling mill. But my eldest brother and second brother both disagree."

He Yuzhu said, "The reason our father wanted to invest in the steel rolling mill again was because he was unwilling to give up. Rather than investing, he preferred to start from scratch."

Lou Xiao'e said, "I've already built six factories in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. I plan to move all the factories in Hong Kong to Guangzhou and Shenzhen. As for those factories in Hong Kong, I plan to demolish them and rebuild them in apartment buildings. If it weren't for the wealth you left behind, I might not have been able to survive all these years."

He Yuzhu said, "Now that the country is open, traveling back and forth is much easier. If you don't want to shoulder some things, then don't."

Then the dishes were served one after another. He Yuzhu personally wrapped a roast duck and handed it to Lou Xiao'e. Lou Xiao'e took the roast duck from He Yuzhu, took a bite, and said, "It still tastes the same."

"Eat more if you like!" After saying that, He Yuzhu wrapped two more and put them on the plate in front of Lou Xiao'e.

After dinner, He Yuzhu first took Lou Xiao'e home, then returned to the police station. He stayed there for a while, then told Song Zhaohong that he had gone to Hongxing Elementary School to find Song Ran and told her that Lou Xiao'e was back and that he had invited them to dinner that evening. Song Ran, who had long wanted to see Lou Xiao'e, readily agreed.

After work, Song Ran returned home, dressed up carefully, and went to the Sijiucheng Restaurant with He Yuzhu. On the way, He Yuzhu worried that Song Ran and Lou Xiao'e would fight when they met. But when they did meet, it was completely different from what He Yuzhu had expected. Song Ran and Lou Xiao'e hit it off immediately, sitting together eating and chatting, as if He Yuzhu were superfluous.

After dinner, He Yuzhu was sent away, and Lou Xiao'e took Song Ran to her room at the Sijiucheng Hotel. The two slept in the same bed and talked all night. From that day on, Lou Xiao'e and Song Ran became half-sisters.

Time flew by, and it was 1995. Sixty-year-old He Yuzhu retired. No sooner had he completed his retirement procedures than he called all his children together and laid out their entire fortune. Without favoritism, He Yuzhu divided the fortune into seven parts. Each of his four children received one part, and of the remaining three, he kept one part for himself and gave the other two to Lou Xiao'e and Song Ran. After distributing the fortune, He Yuzhu, along with Song Ran, went to the port city with Lou Xiao'e. ...

The End