What if I haven't seen Siheyuan?

Early the next morning, Yan Xiaoyao was still sleeping soundly in bed, with a smile flashing across his face from time to time. He was dreaming of being surrounded by beauties, but he was abruptly pulled out of his dream by a rapid and loud knock on the door outside.

Rubbing his sleepy eyes and yawning, he complained, "These beasts are so disgusting. What are they doing here so early in the morning?"

"I was so damn close to getting in. What bad luck!"

Then he reluctantly climbed out of the warm bed and opened the door.

The door creaked open, and a little old man in his fifties stood in front of me.

The little old man was as thin as a bamboo pole, as if a stronger wind could blow him down.

His slightly hunched back made him look a few centimeters shorter. He was wearing a blue work suit that had been washed to a pale color and had several patches on it. The cloth shoes on his feet were covered in dust and the edges of the shoes were worn out.

The deep wrinkles on his face seemed to be carefully carved by time with a sharp knife, and each one told of the hardships of life.

At this moment, he seemed a little reserved, rubbing the corners of his clothes awkwardly with his hands, his finger joints were thick, as if he didn't know where to put them.

After asking the reason, he found out that this was the master arranged by Director Wang to renovate his house.

This decorator is Director Wang’s relative, also surnamed Wang, and named Wang Defa.

Yan Xiaoyao hurriedly and enthusiastically welcomed Master Wang into the room, with a smile on his face, and said, "Master Wang, please come in." Then he quickly walked to the table, picked up the kettle and poured a cup of steaming hot water, handed it to Master Wang with both hands, then took a cigarette from the cigarette box on the table, handed it to him, and said, "Master Wang, please drink some water and smoke a cigarette first."

Master Wang quickly stretched out his calloused, bony hands, took the cigarette with a slightly trembling look on his face, and said, "Oh, thank you, thank you." He looked at the cigarette and found that it was a Peony brand cigarette with a filter.

However, he hesitated for a moment and didn't want to smoke. He carefully put the cigarette between his ears, then took out a wrinkled Daqianmen from his worn-out pocket, lit it, took a deep puff, and said with satisfaction: "I can't bear to smoke such a good cigarette now. I will smoke it after I go back and show it off in front of my brothers."

Yan Xiaoyao listened, smiled, took out another unopened box from the drawer and stuffed it into Master Wang's hand, saying, "Master Wang, don't be polite with me, take it, I will have to trouble you a lot with my decoration."

Wang Defa quickly waved his hands and shook his head like a rattle, saying, "No, no, it's too valuable." But Yan Xiaoyao insisted again and again, and he finally couldn't persuade Yan Xiaoyao. He accepted the cigarettes gratefully, holding the cigarette box tightly in both hands, as if he was holding a priceless treasure.

Afterwards, the two began to discuss the decoration matters.

Yan Xiaoyao said excitedly: "I want to connect all three houses, and then turn them into two bedrooms and a living room, plus a study. I'll repaint the walls, replace the windows with new ones, and harden the floor with cement. The kitchen will be built separately in the yard, and a toilet will also be built, with the sewer connected to the pipes on the street. Then I'll bring in tap water to the kitchen and bathroom, and build a small pool for washing clothes in the yard." As he spoke, he gestured with his hands, his face full of anticipation.

While listening carefully to Yan Xiaoyao's request, Wang Defa took out a somewhat worn little notebook and a short pencil and began to record it carefully.

He sometimes frowned in thought, sometimes nodded, his hand holding the pen was a little rough due to years of hard work, and his knuckles were covered with calluses. When recording, his eyes were fixed on the notebook, writing very seriously, and he kept muttering: "Okay, okay, I'll write it down."

After listening to him, Master Wang started to work. He bent his waist, squinted his eyes, and used a ruler to measure here and there. He also squatted down from time to time and touched the ground and walls with his hands to feel the texture.

After taking the measurements, he straightened up, patted his aching waist, said "ouch", and said, "Boss, it's not cheap to do all of this as you said. The labor and materials will cost about 800 yuan, and I need a ticket. If the ticket is not enough, the cost will be even higher." As he spoke, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand.

"It's quite convenient to connect the tap water, but it's a bit troublesome to connect the toilet water. But fortunately, Director Wang told me yesterday. I deliberately walked around the street outside your house this morning, and there happened to be a sewer pipe behind the wall of your yard. I can connect it directly when the time comes."

After hearing this, Yan Xiaoyao hurriedly thanked him, "Thank you for your trouble, Master Wang."

Then, Yan Xiaoyao asked how many tickets were needed, and after carefully checking the storage space, he said, "Master Wang, I'm still a little short of the tickets. I'll have to trouble you to find a way to pay for the excess. It doesn't matter if I spend a little more money."

Wang Defa took out a small abacus with some paint peeling off it, calculated it with a crackle, and said: "Because there is a shortage of tickets, I have to go to the pigeon market to exchange them. It is estimated to cost more than 900 yuan."

Yan Xiaoyao heard it and said without hesitation: "It's okay, it's okay."

Then he pretended to take out 500 yuan from his pocket and handed it to Wang Defa with both hands. He said, "Master Wang, I will give you the deposit first, and the rest will be given to you after the decoration is completed. Is that ok?"

Wang Defa took one look and said quickly, "Okay, okay, boss, don't worry, I will definitely do a great job for you and make sure you are satisfied."

Then, Wang Defa looked at the furniture in the room. Some of them were missing a leg and were shaky. Some of the tabletops were bumpy, as if they had been gnawed by mice. He walked up, patted them gently with his hands, and said, "When there are extra materials, I will help you fix them."

Upon hearing this, Yan Xiaoyao hurriedly thanked him and said, "No need to trouble you. I plan to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to sell old furniture after the renovation is completed, and then I will directly buy a set of finished products.

But if there is no bed I like, I would have to trouble you to make one for me."

Yan Xiaoyao thought that they would definitely sleep together in the future, so he wondered if he could get a big, sturdy bed to prevent it from creaking when they did that.

Then he continued, "When the time comes, you can use the leftover scraps to make a few more small chairs for me if it's convenient for you."

Wang Defa said, "Okay, no problem. I'll try to make a few more chairs for you when the time comes."

After everything was settled, Wang Defa said, "I still have some work to do these two days. I have to finish the work of the previous house before I can come here. And I have to contact materials and labor in advance these two days."

After hearing this, Yan Xiaoyao smiled and nodded, saying, "No problem. I've been staying at home these few days and have nothing to do. When you're done, just come and find me."