"Yes," the old man sighed. "I was thinking, finally I have a place to stay. Later, quite a few people came to our courtyard."
Before liberation, this courtyard was much more populated after liberation.
Most of them were distributed on the streets.
The deaf old lady, the first uncle, the second uncle, the He family, the Xu family, and the Wang family.
And so on and so forth, many families made up this large compound.
"The compound was really lively back then. Even the smallest things could cause a commotion that became known throughout the compound." The third uncle couldn't help but laugh as he thought about it.
"That's right, Jia Zhangshi back then was quite formidable." The third aunt nodded in agreement: "She could curse for hours on end without taking a breath over a little grain."
What seems trivial now was life-saving food back then.
"Living in that era was tough, but looking back, it has a unique charm," the auntie concluded.
"Yes, it has a unique charm."
The old man looked around.
This courtyard house has gone through several periods.
The first period was the noisy and chaotic adolescence, when all sorts of people lived in the compound.
The noisiest and most boisterous ones have to be Sha Zhu and Xu Damao.
The second period was when the people here gradually moved away. It was after the reform and opening up that the craftsmen who had been rehired by Wang Shouren settled here, and the atmosphere in the entire compound became more harmonious.
The third period is old age, when these old friends will either leave or pass away. No one can stay.
"Let's go, old man," the third auntie said cheerfully.
"I'm not leaving," the third uncle shook his head.
"Dad! What are you still thinking about!" A noisy voice came from outside.
The old man suddenly opened his eyes, looking somewhat confused.
Looking at Yan Jiecheng as he walked in, one could say that he was now a successful man. He was wearing a designer suit, a flashy tie, and had a small mustache. He looked very energetic.
The old man looked around, as if searching for something.
Yan Jie immediately took a big step back: "Dad, I'm already this old, please don't lay a hand on me."
"Your beard is almost white, and you don't even know how to knock! You're disturbing my peaceful sleep!" The third uncle was furious.
"Didn't you ask me to come pick you up?"
"Alright, alright, I'll pack up, you can go now." The third uncle waved his hand impatiently.
Yan Jiecheng withdrew.
The old man looked around again, chuckled softly, and muttered to himself, "Sorry, I don't want to go down yet. I want to go south and see what's fun there. I'll come find you after I've had my fill of fun."
The few clothes were tidied up in no time.
He took his things, went out the door, picked up a lock, and locked the door.
Before Yan Jiecheng could even start the car, Yan Bugui said, "Let's go to the housing management office first and transfer the house to you."
"No, Dad, what's the rush? You can keep it if you want, I don't need your money."
Yan Jiecheng has really made money; he's ranked among the richest people in China.
"You know nothing!" Yan Bugui cursed. "If we don't transfer the property now, it'll cause you a lot of trouble with the paperwork later. Let's transfer it while I'm here. Besides, your brother Shouren said this house might be worth hundreds of millions in the future. If someone tries to trip you up then, you'll be in trouble! Our family may have money, but we don't have power!"
At this point, Yan Bugui paused for a moment: "In the future, if your children are not promising, sell this land. I reckon that by then, this land might become the residence of princes and nobles."
“Dad, our country doesn’t have any royalty or nobles,” Yan Jiecheng said with dissatisfaction.
"You don't know anything, just listen to me."
"Dad, how come you're getting more and more reactionary as you get older? With your thinking, in the past..."
"Alright, alright, back in the old days, who was the father, me or you? What? Should I call you father?"
"No, no, no, I'll listen to you, I'll listen to you..." Yan Jiecheng was scared. Good heavens, if he were to be called "father" out loud, it wouldn't matter if he got struck by lightning, the important thing was that he would be disgusted to death.
His father is much more adept at having fun than he is.
"Then go ahead and get it done. Remember, don't sell it for less than 100 million."
"Okay, okay, I'll do as you say."
One hundred million isn't an outrageous goal for Yan Jiecheng. Whatever the old man says goes.
Moreover, it can also serve as a memento.
"Oh, right, after you're done, go and see that kid Wang Shouren. He hasn't come back since your mother passed away. Well, this old man has to go and see him."
"Dad, don't you feel guilty saying that? You came here just to freeload."
"Get out of here! How dare you talk to your father like that?"
"By the way, where's Yu Li?"
"Um... Yu Li has something to do."
"Alright, you handle your own affairs. I don't care about this old man. But when we get there, you can't skimp on my money. I still want to play, and I want those game consoles too..." The old man rambled on about his demands.
Yan Jiecheng was at his wits' end: "Okay, okay, here you go, all of it is for you."
Yan Jiecheng has achieved considerable success in recent years, which has made him increasingly valuing family ties. A while ago, Yu Li lost her temper with her granddaughter, and now the granddaughter has come to complain. After hearing the whole story, Yan Jiecheng, in a fit of anger, ran away from home to take his father to live in the south. Actually, he had wanted to take his father away for a long time.
The old man, however, was unwilling to leave, saying he wanted to stay and guard the courtyard.
I don't know what happened, but recently she suddenly changed her mind and said she wanted to come to the South for a visit.
This gave him the perfect excuse to run away from home.
In fact, Yu Li didn't even know he was angry with her...
The father and son went to the housing management office. They had been neighbors for many years, and no one gave the old man a hard time. Instead, they teased him, saying that it was impressive that the old man had managed to buy an entire courtyard house over the years.
These days, people don't actually love courtyard houses that much.
Places like Nanluoguxiang are at best large courtyards with many residents, and they've been vandalized so much that it would take a lot of effort to clean them up.
After leaving the housing management office, Yan Jiecheng looked at his watch: "Dad, should we leave tomorrow or tonight?"
"Stay one more night. We'll stay near the airport tonight, so we don't have to make another trip tomorrow. Remember to clean up the car and return it to the owner tomorrow."
"Don't worry, I know."
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