Siheyuan: Bringing Warehouses to 1959

When Director Zhang heard that Zeng Wangcai wanted to renovate the house, his first reaction was the same as Chen Yumei's, thinking that they were going to get married.

"Congratulations first." Director Zhang said with a smile, "If you are getting married, the house should indeed be renovated. The room you live in is indeed a bit small. I remember that your courtyard, which is next to yours, has a total of four rooms, and two are empty, right?"

In a room three meters wide, a large bed or a kang (kang) will take up half of the room.

"Yes, Aunt Zhang is not mistaken." Zhang Xiuzhi was reluctant to explain the marriage in front of outsiders to avoid misunderstanding. "There is another room where the eldest son of our third uncle's family lives."

"I remember that Yan Bugui came to me and wanted a room for his son to use when he got married, but their company didn't agree. Then he went to the steel mill, but your factory didn't agree either. Then he kept pestering me to let his son live there first when he got married and move out when someone else moved in. How could I agree to that? The house wasn't mine...

"Xiuzhi, don't get me wrong. I'm not shirking my responsibility to help. I'm just telling you the truth. The house is public property, and no one has the power to arrange it on their own. If you want a house, you have to go to your work unit. If your work unit says they want to allocate housing, our street will cooperate."

Director Zhang was worried that Zhang Xiuzhi didn't understand the ins and outs of this, so he explained in great detail the process of how to get the house, including who was in charge of this at the steel mill and so on.

Zhang Xiuzhi knew some of these small details, but she was not very clear about the issues concerning who was in charge.

"So that's how it is. If we ask for it in this situation, will the factory give it to us?" Zhang Xiuzhi asked.

"Others may not be able to succeed if they go, but if you go, you have a great chance." Director Zhang said with a smile, "Don't go to the logistics department, go to Zhou Yongping from your factory office, and explain to him that you don't want the factory dormitory area, but a courtyard house, and say that you want it for your wedding with Wangcai."

Zhang Xiuzhi wrote them down one by one, and then asked the carpenter.

Director Zhang slapped his thigh and said, "You have really found the right person. I have a distant relative who is a master in this field. He is not only good at carpentry, but also good at anything related to houses.

"His name is Lei Daqiang. He now lives in Dongzhimen. His ancestors are from Yongxiu. He boasted that his lineage was passed down from Yang'er Lei..."

(The courtyard is full of flowing water, and the style is unchanging. It is not too much to write about it in this book, right?)

Zhang Xiuzhi was not from the old city and was not familiar with architecture, so naturally she did not know Yangshi Lei's reputation.

She wrote down Lei Daqiang's address, thanked Director Zhang for his kindness in inviting her to dinner, and rode her bike to Dongzhimen.

The environment in Dongzhimen is similar to that in Luoguxiang, but the people in Beixiaojie are more complicated, and can be described as a mixed bag.

There are more lower-class people here, including more unemployed vagrants and laborers.

The courtyard where Lei Daqiang lives is very messy, with all kinds of people living there.

When Zhang Xiuzhi found Lei Daqiang, the small courtyard where Lei Daqiang lived was so crowded that it was impossible to stand. Wood tools and other things were everywhere, and Lei Daqiang was leading a few people to do carpentry work with a planer.

Lei Daqiang, in his forties, has a crew cut, is not tall, and has thick eyebrows.

Seeing Zhang Xiuzhi coming over, Lei Daqiang asked, "Girl, who are you looking for? Is there any work to be done?"

"I'm looking for Master Lei Daqiang. Director Zhang introduced him to me." Zhang Xiuzhi said, glancing at the wooden table in the yard.

She found that the table was well made, but the wood was not very good.

"I'm Lei Daqiang. My cousin introduced this girl to me. Please take a seat." Lei Daqiang knew that he had a lot of business, so he quickly ordered the burly young man, "Mingzi, stop working. Go into the house and ask your mistress to clean up and pour tea."

The young man named Mingzi glanced at Zhang Xiuzhi, turned shyly and went into the house.

"This boy is just shy!" Lei Daqiang smiled and said awkwardly, "Excuse me, young lady. Please stay in the yard for a while. It's too messy and there's no place to step. What's your name, young lady?"

"No need to worry about your surname being Zhang, my surname is Zhang!" Zhang Xiuzhi replied.

"Oh, your last name is Zhang, then don't bother to be polite. It's not necessary! Miss Zhang, please take a seat and make do with it for now." Lei Daqiang cleared a space and brought a chair over, while asking, "What kind of work does Miss Zhang have? Making furniture or something else? Do you have the materials yourself?"

"We need to repair the house and make furniture!" Zhang Xiuzhi took out the decoration drawings drawn by Zeng Wangcai and handed them to Lei Daqiang. "Here are the drawings of three rooms. See if you can do it. The drawings of the furniture are below. Let's take a look together."

Zeng Wangcai's painting skills improved by leaps and bounds because he had to draw the blueprints for the Type 81 rifle. He drew the decoration and furniture drawings himself.

However, the decoration and furniture drawings he drew were completely different from the current style.

According to the decoration plan, three rooms are connected into one, with a total span of nine meters, and then partitions are made inside. A small partition is separated to serve as a bathroom and toilet, and the remaining room is divided into two large rooms, one for living and the other for living. A small partition is also made in the bedroom for living, which serves as a cloakroom.

To be honest, there is no doubt that this is indeed a decoration for a wedding, and the beds are all king-size beds.

With these designed partitions, life is life and living is living, which is completely different from the lives of ordinary people today, and you won’t have to face the outside world when you get up.

When it comes to furniture, the difference is even greater.

Not to mention anything else, just the lazy sofa alone surprised Lei Daqiang.

"You want a sofa?" As expected of Director Zhang, Lei Daqiang knew about sofas, but after seeing the picture of the sofa, Lei Daqiang asked in confusion, "The sofa in your house is different from the sofas I have seen. The angle is too open. People can only lie down comfortably, but sitting is uncomfortable.

"By the way... this painting... is quite good. Is he an expert?"

Zhang Xiuzhi didn’t know whether Zeng Wangcai was an expert or not, but she was now clear about the mystery.

"Well, he's good at writing and drawing." Zhang Xiuzhi got to the point, "Just tell me if you can do it?"

"It can certainly be done, but it's very troublesome." Lei Daqiang pointed to the blueprint of the bathroom and said, "Look here, girl. This room needs water pipes. According to your design, the water tank is too big. You plan to take a shower once a day, so you need such a big water tank. And here, this is the toilet, right..."

Zhang Xiuzhi didn't understand the design of the bathroom. After listening to Lei Daqiang's words, she realized Zeng Wangcai's plan for future life. She couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to live in such a house.

As long as you are a human being, you hope to live comfortably. Who doesn’t want to wash cleanly every day? Who wants to go to a public toilet to attract flies in hot weather or freeze your butt in cold weather?

"Let's not talk about the details for now. Since you can do it, just name a price," said Zhang Xiuzhi.

"Are you planning to only provide the labor, or give us all the materials?" Lei Daqiang asked. "The two prices are different, but if you provide us with the materials, don't worry. For the business introduced by my cousin, I will use the best materials for you."

"We will provide the materials, but we have some requirements for the wood. Here is the list..."

Lei Daqiang looked at the last piece of paper Zhang Xiuzhi took out, then took a breath: "Girl, are you planning to build a palace or something? Using Huanghuali and Jinsinan is too extravagant..."