Comfortable life in Siheyuan

After taking a nap at noon, I got up, sorted out the work supplies in my hands, prepared my work clothes and briefcase and put them aside, then went out.

I climbed over the next yard, stepped on the weeds, and walked into the house. There were several cracks on the north wall of the house. If I wanted to repair it, I would have to tear it down and rebuild it. No wonder no one chose it. The beams were gone.

There is an area of ​​about 20 square meters behind the yard. The wall behind is intact. If we simply clean it up as a whole, we only need to repair two sides of the wall. The east and south sides need major repairs.

One wall of the house needs to be torn down and rebuilt, and several other walls need to be repainted. There is also a cellar in the house. It is too dark down there, so I went down to take a look.

If this area is demolished and rebuilt, it will be enough to build a courtyard house. After thinking about it, I decided not to be too high-profile. It will be dangerous when the catastrophe comes. It is better to wait until after the reform and opening up before building a large-scale house. Now I can only build two rooms and a small study room next to it for my own use.

When I got home, I saw that it was getting late, so I went into the kitchen to prepare dinner and wait for my parents to come back.

Not long after, my parents came home and asked about my work as soon as they entered the door.

"What's it like to report today? What's your level and how much is your salary?" my mother asked anxiously.

"The salary is 48.5 yuan. During the internship, I was a level 14 technician. After becoming a regular employee, I became a level 13 technician, with a salary of 55."

"Wash your hands first, get ready to eat, and chat while eating." Dad Liu Yaohui said with a smile!

"Yes, yes, let's eat first and talk while we eat. I have something important to tell you."

"What's the big deal?" Mom wiped the water off her hands and brought up the steamed buns and dishes.

Liu Qingshan ran to get a bottle of wine. This wine was given by his sister and brother-in-law during the Chinese New Year. Usually, his father was reluctant to drink it.

"Today is a good day. Pour my dad a glass of wine and I'll have a drink with you two."

"Yes, it's time to have a drink today. Many people in the factory asked me about your work situation today, and many people wanted to introduce their daughters to you as wives."

"Don't worry about this for now, let's talk about this later."

"The factory allocated me a house today, and I asked for the east wing next door to ours."

My parents looked surprised.

My mother quickly said, "This courtyard has been broken for a long time. No one wants it. Why do you want it?"

"Yeah, I can't share any of it. It costs a lot of money to take a break."

"I know. Others don't want it because they have other options that don't cost money. I choose this one because, first, it's big enough. The yard in front is so big. Second, it's close to you. I don't even need a kitchen. I can eat at home. How convenient. With such a big place, when I have money in the future, I can build a few more rooms so that my brother and sister will have a place to live when they come back."

"I've even asked Section Chief Song, and it only costs two hundred yuan to make it my own property. It will be mine from now on."

"How much money do you have?" Mom looked at Liu Qingshan and asked!

"I still have more than 300 yuan, which is enough for the private property certificate. It's a little short of money for repairing the house. I want to pay the money tomorrow and then go to get the certificate."

After taking a sip of wine, the old man said seriously, "Buy this house! I still have some money here. If it's not enough to repair the house, I'll give it to you. Your brother will also send some money back in the past few years, and your sister is getting married again. The family expenses are lower, and we have saved some money."

"It should be about three hundred. The people in our yard are jealous of others doing well. I think we should just build two rooms, clean up the yard, repair the wall, seal the door connecting the yard to ours, build a door in our ear room, and open a door on the east wall. In the future, if you want to come in through the door, you have to go through the east gate. You can't go through our yard."

"This may not work. There are three uncles in charge of the yard, and each of them is a tough guy. I don't think they will agree. Remove the original iron gate and replace it with a tighter gate. Just lock it normally. Then open a small door at home." Mom continued.

"That's fine. I'll pay the money tomorrow and get the certificate from the street office."

"Okay, that's it."

Early the next morning, I went to the factory's finance department, paid the money, took my supporting documents and went directly to the street office.

When I arrived at the street office, I went directly to the director's office.

The director’s surname is Yang. His eldest son Wang Weiguo was a junior high school classmate of Liu Qingshan. At that time, he was still the deputy director. He had come here several times with his son and was very familiar with the roads here.

It's only in recent years since I went to college that I have less contact with Wang Weiguo, but we used to hang out together often.

"Boom! Boom!"

"Please come in!"

Pushing the door open, Liu Qingshan walked in: "Aunt Yang."

"College students are here. I haven't seen you for a long time. Why don't you come home? I saw you during the Chinese New Year."

"I have a lot of study to do, and it's troublesome to go back and forth, and I don't have many holidays. I graduated a few days ago and was assigned to work in the Third Steel Rolling Mill. So I came to see my aunt!"

Wang Weiguo's academic performance was average before, so he went to his home every day to tutor him and study with him. In the end, his son was admitted to a technical secondary school, and he was very happy. He even specially invited Liu Qingshan to his home for a meal.

"Tell me what you want from me. I don't have time to chat with you. Let's get down to business!"

"Hey, here are the materials. I'm going to get a real estate certificate. Can you see if these materials are enough?"

"Let me see. Courtyard No. 95. Isn't your home nearby? We have almost all the materials."

"It's the east courtyard next to my house. No one has lived there for many years. It's all abandoned. I just want to find it and live in it myself."

"You graduated from university, didn't the steel mill allocate you a building? No one wants that broken yard, isn't this too much of a bully?"

"No, no one bullied me. I wanted it myself. The yard is big enough and close to my parents, so I wanted to live together so that I can take care of them." My goodness, he has been baptized by war, and he is scary when he gets serious.

"That's good. Do you need someone to clean up your house? The street office has a cooperative construction team. They are temporary workers of the street. Their work is relatively flexible. You can let them do things when there are things to do. They also take on jobs on their own. Their skills are inherited from their ancestors."

"That's great. I was just thinking about where to find someone. Thank you, Aunt Yang."

"I'll take you downstairs to get the certificate first, and then I'll take you to meet Captain Sun of the construction team. You can discuss the details with him."

"Ok!"

As they spoke, the two of them walked out the door and came to another large office, where they handed the materials to a staff member.

After a while, Director Yang handed the certificates and materials with the official seal to Liu Qingshan.

"Come on, I'll take you to the construction team. When there's no other work, Captain Sun will stay in the duty room in the morning. I'll take you there now. His home is nearby!"

"Okay!" As they talked, the two of them arrived at the duty room.

When we arrived at the duty room, there were three people sitting inside. One of them was the gatekeeper, Old Zhang, who had a lot of military medals. Wang Weiguo had introduced him to the military. He said that he was injured during the war and lost an arm, so he couldn't hold a rifle. He applied for retirement on his own. The military control committee arranged for him to be a gatekeeper. He was also an old revolutionary. He was carrying forward his remaining energy.

There were also two dark-skinned men who looked to be in their fifties. The three of them were smoking and looking towards the door.

Director Yang greeted Old Zhang first, and then said to Captain Sun: "Captain Sun, there is a job for you. See how he does it. This is my nephew. You have to pay attention and don't make mistakes."

"Don't worry about me. I will definitely take good care of your nephew and won't ruin my reputation. Don't you think so?"

"Then I'll get busy first. You go and discuss with him about materials and other things. Choose some more affordable ones."

"Oh, don't worry! I promise to do my best."

"Go slowly, auntie!"

"Director Yang, take care!" Several people greeted him.

Picking up their tools, they left the street office and came to the house. Instead of going through the courtyard, they climbed over the wall and came in. The door on the courtyard side was also rusted shut.

After entering the yard, Liu Qingshan said, "Captain Sun, the walls here have all collapsed. See how many bricks are left. Use them all. If there are not enough, you can supplement them."

"Okay, if you want to add something, do you want new bricks or old bricks? New bricks are more expensive."

"What kind of bricks are the old bricks? Broken ones?"

"These were all picked up by us when the city wall collapsed a few years ago, and some were collected later. They are all usable."

"Then use old bricks, and save some money." Oh my god, there is such a good thing. These are all ancient buildings.

"Okay, I'll go back and help you pick some good ones."

"Do you have suitable bricks for the ground here? Please help me lay them all." When it rains, people can't stand here. The original bricks are no longer visible.

"To get the large square bricks, you need a receipt from the brick factory. I do have a batch of good bricks, the large gold bricks used in the Summer Palace before. But there are not many of them. If you use them all, it is definitely not enough. In total, they can only cover two rooms."

Hearing this, Liu Qingshan's eyes lit up. This thing is so hard to find that it is considered an antique in later generations.

"Then you can help me lay the foundation for my house."

"I'll weed the yard first. There should be bricks underneath, but it's been abandoned for a long time without anyone living there. Some of the bricks are broken and covered with mud and sand. I'll deal with it first and then help you fill it up."

"Open a door on the east side, the iron door leading to the yard. Please replace it for me. Replace it with a tighter one so that this side cannot be seen from the yard. It should be stronger. That house is where my parents live. Open a small door behind the ear room. It doesn't need to be big, just a single door will do."

"That's no problem. Yard doors are all made of wood. I'll find a sturdy one."

"If you have an old one, you can use it. As long as it's not broken, it's fine."

"I understand. I'll help you look for it. It should be no problem!"

"This house is in serious damage. The roof is gone, the beams are gone, and there are several big cracks on the back wall. You can see which walls need to be demolished and which can be used. Extend the side half to build a small kitchen."

Captain Sun looked around the room, then pushed and knocked left and right, and after a while he said

"This house looks dilapidated, but actually the corners of the wall haven't moved, and these cracks haven't gone down. Just dig it up from here and lay bricks upwards."

"Okay, you can do it as you see fit, and make the beams stronger, that's all, you decide how much is appropriate. My family are all employees, and it's not convenient for them to bring their own meals, so you can also include it in the price."

"Well, thank you, boss."

After a while, Captain Sun said, "The total cost is about 10 yuan. The main reason is that the gold bricks are a bit expensive. The price of the other things can only be determined after the goods arrive. The construction period is about days. Is it okay for the boss?"

"Okay, that's it. Let's get started. I'll tell you if there's anything you need!"

After saying that, both of them left.