Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

The two bigwigs from the Ministry of Metallurgy felt refreshed after their argument.

Of course, in the end, neither of them wanted the car from the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill.

This thing is indeed rare. The Ministry of Metallurgy also has some, and it's even a Red Flag.

Given their positions as high-ranking officials, especially those in important departments, it wouldn't be a problem for them to be provided with a car.

However, they didn't want them. The ministry's cars were usually used for diplomatic occasions, and they were used to using jeeps normally.

The older generation doesn't care much about pomp and circumstance, but of course, it depends on the occasion.

According to current regulations, officials at the department-level or above can apply for a car if they work in an important department.

But no normal person would want that. Many higher-ranking leaders ride in Jeeps, and you're riding in a sedan?

Therefore, the department will normally provide cars, but very few people use them for personal purposes; they are mainly used for transportation.

Like the car that Lou Bancheng donated to the factory, Secretary Nie can use it whenever he wants.

When there are diplomatic occasions or when it's necessary to pick up people, a sedan can still make a good impression.

You don't have to use it, but you must have it.

Before long, winter arrived in Beiping, and the people began a new round of stockpiling supplies.

That means hauling coal, firewood, and winter-stored cabbages.

The Lou family certainly doesn't understand these things, but they have to learn; when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

They simply followed the example set by their neighbors in the courtyard.

The Lou family was not short of money; in fact, the Ministry of Metallurgy even gave Lou Bancheng a lot of receipts when they moved.

It's just a little something. You, Lou Bancheng, have given us so much, so we're just going to reciprocate in kind.

The gifts weren't many, but they were better than nothing. They were a way of showing Lou Bancheng his attitude and calming people's nerves.

In the past, the Lou family always had someone specifically assigned to run the boiler in winter, so their house was very warm.

Things are different now; I have to do it myself.

So, just a few days into winter, the Lou family was already looking rather disheveled.

There's no way around it; I've had too many good days before, and now that I'm an ordinary person, it's really hard to get used to.

As a result, the entire Lou family caught a cold.

Their neighbors had all noticed their situation, and had been observing them since early winter.

As they expected, the Lou family were not decent people at all.

They stupidly left the coal and firewood they brought back in the yard without even covering them up.

It looks nice, but what if it rains?

The whole family would freeze to death, isn't that just stupid?

Sure enough, it rained not long after, and the Lou family, without coal and firewood for heating, were bound to freeze.

It was the chivalrous Yi Zhonghai who stepped forward to visit the Lou family, gave them some coal and firewood, and then taught them how to survive.

Yi Zhonghai was a bit exhausted. He couldn't not go; he was the liaison officer for the institute. If a few people from the Lou family froze to death, what progress would be made?

The only way to teach him was by hand, with Da Louzi taking notes on the various life tips that Yi Zhonghai shared.

Lou Bancheng originally wanted to take Western medicine, but the enthusiastic Yi Zhonghai even got the medicine for them, and it was Chinese medicine.

They had to learn this too. The Lou family then underwent rigorous survival training, which was chaotic and made a complete mess of their lives.

The neighbors all saw it; it's not that they're heartless and didn't want to help.

What one cannot teach another to do, one can teach another to do in one go.

This is the effect they wanted.

Of course, the effect was quite good. Half a month later, the Lou family came back to life, and their lives began to improve.

The Lou family members are all quite good-looking; they're all raised with money.

With their fair complexions, Lou Xiao'e, a young woman in her prime, naturally attracted the attention of the single young men in the courtyard.

Just one word: white...

Although he came from a capitalist background, he has now reformed and is now a law-abiding citizen.

Moreover, Lou Xiao'e also had a job as a broadcaster in the publicity department of the steel rolling mill.

She earns 27.5 a month, which is quite good, and she's also very attractive.

Lou Bancheng has very specific ideas about his daughter's marriage.

If possible, he wanted his daughter to marry Li Jiuzhou's second younger brother, Li Shanhe.

A top student from Peking University, this further strengthened the relationship between the two families.

Of course, he only thought about it; he wouldn't even dare to mention such a thing to Li Jiuzhou.

It depends on the daughter herself. He only has one daughter, and he spoils her quite a bit.

His current thought is that it would be fine for his daughter to marry an ordinary worker.

I really don't dare to think about it anymore.

Lou Xiao'e was very popular in the propaganda department.

Thanks to Lou Bancheng's actions, Lou Xiao'e's identity has been exposed.

When his colleagues found out, they were somewhat surprised, but not overly concerned.

She's reformed, donated all her assets, and I even feel a little sorry for her.

After all, to fall from a wealthy young lady to this state is nothing short of a family's decline.

Some people felt sorry for her, and some mocked her, but fortunately no one bullied Lou Xiao'e.

Section Chief Xu Damao is protecting him.

A subordinate privately asked Xu Damao, "Your family was exploited by the Lou family back then, so why are you still taking care of them? Isn't that repaying kindness with ingratitude?"

Xu Damao said at the time, "How can that be called exploitation? Otherwise, if Lou Bancheng had arranged for his father to learn how to project movies, Xu Damao wouldn't be where he is today."

This is clearly a favor. The things from the old society are hard to unravel, but in any case, the Lou family didn't exploit our family.

With Xu Damao protecting her, Lou Xiao'e's work went very smoothly.

She has no shortage of suitors. So what if she's a capitalist's daughter? She's beautiful.

Even Yang Guangming has started to take action, occasionally going over to flirt and try to increase his favorability.

It's not easy to find a well-educated and courteous woman, especially one like Yang Guangming who has received an education.

Too few women are receiving higher education these days.

When he was in vocational school, there were hardly any girls in the entire school; it was all boys.

In the past, Yang Guangming wouldn't even have had the right to associate with someone like Lou Xiao'e, who came from a wealthy family.

This young woman, so well-educated, beautiful, fair-skinned, and with such a complicated background, would naturally arouse any man's curiosity and desire to conquer her.

Whenever this happens, Lou Xiao'e's face will naturally appear when she uses the Five Finger Mountain technique at night.

This is called daydreaming, meditation... or even fantasizing...

And right now, no one is saying that marrying a capitalist's daughter would be bad; there hasn't been any indication of it yet.

In the original drama, Xu Damao was able to get married back then, and after marriage, he was the envy of the entire hospital, and no one said anything.

He and Lou Xiao'e lived happily together until a special period broke out, and Sha Zhu had no choice but to use his connections with a high-ranking official to send Lou Xiao'e away.

Several young men in the courtyard were eyeing Lou Xiao'e.

She is now the only unmarried young woman in the courtyard; the other little girls are still too young.

There are several single young men in the compound.

There are seven or eight people in total, including Li Shanhe, Yan Jiecheng, Liu Guangqi, and Wang Erhu.

Don't they care?

The answer is definitely yes, but no formal action has been taken yet.

Moreover, there are many people and eyes in the courtyard, so one must follow the rules when making a move.

You can either take the initiative to ask someone out, or have your parents come to propose marriage.

It all depends on whether you dare to do it.