Siheyuan: I am different He Yuzhu

Lou Bancheng looked at his daughter who hurried upstairs without thinking much, but Tan Yali looked thoughtful. After Lou Xiaoe returned to her room, she first went to the bathroom to turn on the faucet on the bathtub. While the bathtub was running, Lou Xiaoe stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself in the mirror. The scene of kissing He Yuzhu emerged in her mind, and Lou Xiaoe's hand involuntarily placed on her lips.

When Lou Xiao'e finished her bath and came downstairs, Tan Yali looked at her daughter. Lou Xiao'e felt embarrassed by her mother Tan Yali's look and said coquettishly, "Mom, why do you keep staring at me? Is there something wrong with me?" After that, Lou Xiao'e looked at her clothes again to see if she was wearing the wrong clothes.

Tan Yali smiled and said, "Xiao'e, Mom just feels that you are different today than before. It feels like you have become a different person since you went out."

Lou Xiao'e said curiously, "Really? Why don't I feel anything?" After saying that, Lou Xiao'e's face suddenly turned red when she thought of He Yuzhu's confession to her. In order to hide her nervousness, Lou Xiao'e hurriedly picked up the glass of water on the table and drank it.

Tan Yali saw Lou Xiao'e's face turn red instantly, and she immediately realized something in her heart, but she didn't say anything.

At lunchtime, Lou Xiao'e and her family sat together to eat. Tan Yali noticed that Lou Xiao'e would be distracted when eating, and she would always have a smile on her face. Tan Yali kicked Lou Bancheng under the table without making a sound. Lou Bancheng looked at his wife Tan Yali curiously and found that Tan Yali was pouting at their daughter Lou Xiao'e. Lou Bancheng turned his head to look at his daughter Lou Xiao'e.

Lou Bancheng then noticed the strangeness on Lou Xiaoe's face. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong with Lou Xiaoe, he saw his wife Tan Yali making a hushing gesture with her hand, so Lou Bancheng could only suppress his curiosity. After a while, Lou Xiaoe was full, so she stood up and said, "Dad, Mom, I'm full. I'm going back to the house first. You guys eat slowly."

Lou Bancheng waited until Lou Xiao'e walked away before he quietly asked, "Why didn't you let me ask Xiao'e what happened just now?"

Tan Yali rolled her eyes at Lou Bancheng and said, "The way our Xiao'e was just now, it's obvious that she is in love."

Lou Bancheng stood up and said in surprise, "What did you say?"

Tan Yali quickly pulled Lou Bancheng to sit down and said, "What's the big deal? Didn't I remind you before? It's obvious that our daughter went out to see He Yuzhu today. Judging from her expression while eating, He Yuzhu should like our daughter too, otherwise she wouldn't be smiling with such a happy expression."

Lou Bancheng asked anxiously, "He Yuzhu didn't do anything to our daughter, did he?"

Tan Yali thought about Lou Xiao'e's words and actions, and responded: "Looking at Xiao'e's appearance, they probably didn't do anything excessive together. By the way, last time Old Lou asked you to find out about He Yuzhu's family situation, how did you find out?"

After hearing what his wife Tan Yali said, Lou Bancheng immediately put his heart at ease and said, "There is nothing to investigate about He Yuzhu's family. There are only him and his sister. His sister is called He Yushui. She seems to be 12 years old today. His mother died of complications during childbirth. His father He Daqing used to be the deputy director of the canteen of my steel mill. In 51, he ran away to Baoding with a widow named Bai. Before He Daqing left, he found me and asked He Yuzhu to replace him as the chef of the canteen."

After listening to Lou Bancheng's words, Tan Yali said, "There's really nothing to say about He Yuzhu's family, but it's good this way. When Xiao'e goes there, she can be the head of the family directly without having to consider the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. By the way, where does He Yuzhu live? Does he have a house?"

Lou Bancheng thought for a moment and replied, "He Yuzhu's family seems to live in Nanluoguxiang Hutong, and they seem to have several houses. When the Skinheads were still in power, He Daqing asked me to buy two side rooms in a courtyard in Nanluoguxiang. I remember He Daqing said at the time that the two side rooms were next to his main house."

Tan Yali was relieved after hearing this, and continued, "As long as we have a house, it's fine. Our family is not like before. Most of our houses have been taken away by the government. Besides, He Yuzhu is now a cadre, so it's not appropriate to give him a house. Lao Lou, please find some time to talk to He Yuzhu and ask him to find some time to come to our house to propose marriage. Looking at Xiao'e's expression, I guess she is thinking of He Yuzhu. Both of you are young people. Don't let things get out of hand and cause trouble. Today's society is not the same as when the skinheads were young."

"Oh, by the way, I remember that the home of our former servant Wang Xianglian seemed to be in a courtyard house in Nanluoguxiang. Could it be the same courtyard house as He Yuzhu's?"

After listening to his wife Tan Yali's words, Lou Bancheng nodded and said, "Well, Wang Xianglian's family is indeed in the same courtyard as He Yuzhu's, but her family is in the backyard and He Yuzhu's family is in the middle yard, so they are at most front and back neighbors. I used to think of finding a worker for Xiao'e to be her partner, but I didn't expect Xiao'e to find a cadre herself. But it's good this way, cadres' families are better off than workers' families, and Xiao'e has never suffered since she was a child. When she marries He Yuzhu, she won't suffer or be wronged. Xiao'e will be 3 in another 18 months, so let them get married when she turns 18, otherwise it will be like what you said, where the two of them can't control themselves and really do something."

After sending Lou Xiao'e home, He Yuzhu thought that since he planned to marry Lou Xiao'e when she turned 18, he had to clean up the house. It seemed that he would have to trouble Yangshi Lei again. Thinking of this, He Yuzhu turned the car around, rode his bicycle and sped away in the direction of Yangshi Lei's residence.

He Yuzhu rode his bicycle to Yangshilei's home. As He Yuzhu expected, Yangshilei happened to be at home. Yangshilei saw He Yuzhu coming to see him again. He was immediately delighted and greeted He Yuzhu enthusiastically: "Xiao He, you have work again. Tell me, what do you want to do this time?"

He Yuzhu said with a smile: "Master Lei, I am now at the age to get married, so I want to fix up the house first so that I can get married when the time comes. Isn't that why I came to see you?"

After listening to He Yuzhu's words, Yangshi Lei said with a smile: "Okay, okay, is it still the house in Nanluoguxiang?"

"Well, Master Lei has a good memory. It's that house. By the way, Master Lei, has your construction industry become a public-private partnership?" He Yuzhu asked curiously.

After listening to He Yuzhu's question, Yangshi Lei said with a smile: "Xiao He, you are really funny. I am just a part-time worker and I don't even have a place to work. How can I go to the public-private partnership? I would like the government to give me a public-private partnership, so that I can have a place to work, but the government doesn't want me. Let's go, Xiao He, while I'm not busy now, I'll go to your house first to see what you plan to do, so that I can come back to prepare things."

He Yuzhu agreed immediately: "Then listen to Master Lei, let's go, Master Lei, do you want me to ride a bike with you, or what should I do?"

Yangshi Lei chuckled and said, "Wait for me a moment. I'll ride my own bike. Otherwise, when I come back from your house, I'll have to walk back by myself."

After a while, Yangshi Lei came out of the house with a bicycle. He Yuzhu gave Yangshi Lei a thumbs up and said, "Master Lei, your bicycle is good. When did you buy it?"

Yangshi Lei said with a smug look on his face, "It was just two years ago when bicycles were not popular. I thought walking was too slow when I went out to work for others, so I bought a bicycle. When I bought it, not many people bought bicycles in department stores, and the salespersons had to promote them. When they heard that I wanted to buy a bicycle, they were very enthusiastic. I didn't expect that I would have to queue up to buy another bicycle the following year after I bought it, and there was no guarantee that they would be available. Now I heard that if you want to buy a bicycle, you need a ticket, and you can't buy it no matter how much money you have without a ticket."

He Yuzhu brought Yangshi Lei back to his courtyard home in Nanluoguxiang. After entering the house, He Yuzhu said to Yangshi, "Master Lei, you should renovate the house like the one I had in Qudeng Hutong. Scrape off all the wall paint and re-scrape it. Put up the roof and build a small attic. Replace the windows with double-glazed windows. By the way, Master Lei, do you still have the gold bricks for paving the floor? If you do, I want to pave the floor with gold bricks."

Yangshi Lei heard He Yuzhu's question and laughed, saying, "If someone else wants to use it, I can't guarantee that I can find it. Since you asked, Xiao He, I have to arrange it for you anyway."

He Yuzhu brought Yangshi Lei to the east side room and the east wing, and explained to him how to renovate these rooms. After telling Yangshi Lei his requirements, He Yuzhu asked, "Master Lei, how much do you think it will cost to renovate my house, and how many days will it take?"

Yangshi Lei calculated silently in his mind, and after a while he said seriously: "Xiao He, I calculated that it will take you a week to finish the house, and the cost will be about 500 yuan."

After listening to this, He Yuzhu thought about it and thought that he would have to find a place to live during the renovation period. Then He Yuzhu said, "Then I'll trouble you, Master Lei. I will clean up all the things in the house this afternoon. Master Lei, you can come over tomorrow and start working directly. As for meals, let's follow the old rules. Each worker will get 1 yuan per day for meals, and I will give it to you all when the work is finished. Master Lei, please wait for me for a while. I will go into the house to get the money and give you the money for the renovation of the house first."

After a while, He Yuzhu came out from the inner room with money, handed it to Yangshi Lei, and said, "Master Lei, these are the wages for you, please count them."

Yangshi Lei took the stack of bills handed over by He Yuzhu with a smile, put his hand in his mouth to spit, and counted them carefully one by one. After counting, Yangshi Lei looked up at He Yuzhu and said, "It's correct, no problem."

He Yuzhu suddenly thought of how to build a bathroom in the house, so he said, "Master Lei, what do you think about me converting the cellar in front of the kitchen into a septic tank, and then digging another cellar in the room next to the kitchen?"

After listening to He Yuzhu's words, Yangshi Lei pondered for a moment and responded: "Xiao He, the method you mentioned is feasible, but the cellar in front of your kitchen needs to be dug up and modified."

When He Yuzhu heard Yangshi Lei say yes, he said excitedly, "As long as it works, it's fine. It's just a matter of spending a little more money. Master Lei, listen to me first. When the floor is repaired in the house, you can build a toilet in my Qudeng Hutong courtyard against the wall on the north side of the east room. Then you can run a water pipe from the kitchen to the bathroom, and then install a shower on the wall. By the way, Master Lei, can you get the tiles for the bathroom?"

Yangshi Lei thought for a moment and replied, "It should be possible to get it. It seems to be produced in Tangshan, but the price is not cheap."

He Yuzhu thought for a moment and said, "It's fine as long as we can get it. The price is fine. By the way, if we dig up the cellar in front of Master Lei's kitchen and rebuild it, we can dig out the gold bricks inside, replace the bottom with blue bricks, and make stone slabs on top."

Yangshi Lei readily agreed: "Okay, no problem, but if you want to lay tiles, you need cement, which is a bit troublesome to buy. But if you think of a way, you can buy it, but the price may be a little more expensive."

He Yuzhu didn't care at all after hearing this. As long as it could be solved with money, it wouldn't be a problem. So He Yuzhu said readily, "Master Lei, don't worry about the money. I'll give you some money later. Just buy the materials with confidence. Is 300 yuan enough?"

When Yangshi Lei heard what He Yuzhu said, he nodded and said, "It's almost enough. If it's really not enough, I'll fill it up first, and you can give me another one later."

He Yuzhu then turned around and walked into the inner room, took out three hundred yuan and handed it to Yangshi Lei, then said, "Then I'll leave it to you, Master Lei. I won't keep you for dinner. I have to hurry and clean up the house."