Chapter 252: Can I Fit In?
"After all, they are real relatives!"

"Master Yan, could you please count how many people there are in our courtyard now? Let's calculate based on two taels of meat per person. I'll go buy some meat. Has the apprentice chef in the middle courtyard, Sha Zhu, finished his apprenticeship? Please ask him to take charge of the cooking."

Wang Deming quickly took over the conversation to ease the awkward atmosphere.

Didn’t you see that Yan Bugui, who likes to build relationships so much, is now embarrassed?
As soon as the word meat was mentioned, Yan Bugui immediately forgot what happened just now. His eyes glowed blue, which could not be blocked by his black-framed glasses. He swallowed hard and said politely, "How can I be so embarrassed!"

"Including the eight families who moved in later, there are now nearly 8 households and more than 20 people in our courtyard."

Wang Deming was shocked. "What? Why are there so many people here? Where are there so many places to live?"

"Look, the gatehouse, the back house, and the side rooms in the middle courtyard, all of them have been occupied." Yan Bugui pointed at various places in the courtyard, "The average family has 5 or 6 people, isn't that a lot of people?"

"But I don't know about Shazhu. Did he become a master? Or does he have nowhere to go? After all, where are the new restaurants now? He has no connections, so he can only help out at Emei Restaurant. I don't know if he can cook, but he and Yushui will definitely be able to fill their stomachs."

My God, I didn't have a clear impression before. I only knew that the newspaper reported that there are many people and few houses in Beijing, with the average house per person being less than 4 square meters.

But if you look at the current Nanluoguxiang No. 95 courtyard, Sha Zhu alone occupies three northern main rooms in the middle courtyard. Assuming that each room is 3.3 meters wide and 5 meters deep, he alone occupies nearly 50 square meters.
There is also a room in the east wing of the central courtyard, which is also 15 square meters.

Tsk tsk, everyone says that He Daqing abandoned his two children and was heartless and ungrateful, but let's be honest, the few rooms he left for his two children are so valuable. Not to mention that Nanluoguxiang will become a tourist area in the future, every inch of land is worth a lot of money, even in Beijing now, it is a rare good house.

"Okay, then we'll set it for this Sunday. Tell Shazhu when you see him."

Yan Bugui smiled happily: "Okay! Comrade Deming, don't worry!"

"See you later."

Wang Deming, Yan Baozhen, along with Chang Youguang and his mother and son, pushed open the door of the east wing. The people in the front yard behind them had different expressions.

"Bang!" After the door of the east wing was closed, several women in the front yard looked at each other from the doorway, and then they all took rice and vegetables and quickly walked to the sink. While washing the vegetables and rice, they muttered in a low voice: "Hey, why does it feel like Baozhen's man just came out of the cell?"

"What do you think? I see it! Even though he's wearing a hat, the stubble on the back of his head is very short. And it's not just Baozhen's man. I see Baozhen's mother-in-law and elder sister-in-law were also just released from the cell."

"Ah, so there isn't a single good person in this family!"

"But Baozhen is a good person. When she lived in our courtyard, she always took good care of Yu Shui, and the other children also benefited from her."

"That's because she has a good brother. So, whether a woman can gain a foothold in her husband's family depends on her own family."

"Hey, what did you think they did to get into prison?"

"It's hard to say. I guess he either stole or robbed someone, or smoked opium. Next time you go out, remember to lock the door."

"We have to be careful in the future."

"Oh, you're right. Why did such a family move in?"

In the east wing, Yan Baozhen took Chang Youguang and his mother and daughter on a brief tour of the room. Although the house was a bit small, it had everything needed.

Wang Deming moved all the redwood cabinets, bookshelves, and the Huanghuali eight-immortal table at the door to the small factory. The dining room at the entrance was replaced with an elm round table and matching chairs; the redwood wall remained, and in the back room with the stove, the two rows of cabinets that used to be beds were replaced with two elm beds, just enough for the old lady Ma Xiuqin and Chang Yourong.

The kang in the inner bedroom has dried out and is still the same as before, with a kang cover, kang cabinet, and floor-standing cabinet; there are also two beds in the previous study room, which are for Renchun and Yichun to sleep in, and a mahogany desk is also left.

Chang Youguang and her two daughters often felt happy and sad. They moved from their own house in Gulou to a large yard with five shops on Gulou East Street. Now, the whole family can only live in two small rooms under the roof of others, without even a separate room.
But after experiencing labor reform, he also realized that in order to treat his old lady, Yan Baozhen sold his only two remaining courtyards. It was a blessing from God that he could still have a place to live like now.

When they were taken to the police station, Yan Baozhen was the only one left at home with three children. The youngest one had just been born. She was truly an orphan and a widow.

If Wang Deming hadn't taken care of me, who knows what would have happened to me now? I guess I'm lucky to be barely alive.

Thinking of this, Ma Xiuqin was so moved that she shed tears again, "Deming, thank you so much!"

"Aunt, we are a family and we don't have to gossip. You have been tired all day, so take a nap first." Wang Deming raised his hand and looked at the time. It was almost 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Renchun and Yichun would be back from school soon, so he had to go back to the small factory to send them here.

Then he pointed to the rice jar and bowl rack in the back room and said, "Rice, noodles, oil, vegetables, and meat are all here. You can make dinner if you want. I'll send the children over after they finish their meal tonight."

"No, no, just let your sister and brother-in-law take her back."

"Hey, that's fine. I'm leaving now."

In the evening, Wang Deming sent the children over and gave Chang Youguang and Chang Yourong two employment certificates from the steel rolling mill. When the time comes, they can go to the street office to register and then report to work with the street office's certificates.

Wang Deming felt that he had done his best for his brother-in-law's family, and repaid them for taking care of him when he came to Beijing alone to study.

As for the future, who knows?

Without the children, Xiaojing Factory returned to its former tranquility, except at night.

Zhang Shouchun joined forces with Jin Yuqing and Qin Huairu. As long as their bodies allowed, the three of them would join forces to conquer Wang Deming. They would not let him get off the kang until he was exhausted. Even if her own body did not allow it, she would cheer on him.
Even Zhang Ma and Bai Ma would occasionally whisper in his ear that the family was lacking the laughter of children.
But Wang Deming kept asking Zhang Shouchun and her three daughters to wait. He still had doubts in his heart, and the shares of the Chinese medicine factory always weighed on his mind like a mountain.

Even after the public-private partnership, I know that I am the major shareholder of the Chinese medicine factory. Will I be implicated in the future?

After the National Day, many businessmen in the Wangfujing Garment Association, under the leadership of Yin Changrong, finally applied to the government for public-private partnership in the name of Beijing Garment, Shoes and Hats Company.

At the same time, through Yin Changrong, more and more old banknotes were gathered in Wang Deming's hands, all with a face value of 5 yuan per piece, with a total value of more than 500 million, equivalent to million.

Oh my god! Wang Deming was secretly shocked. No wonder the government always wants to stimulate consumption. These people really love saving money!

You rich people, what's the point of saving money if you don't spend it? Do you like to look at numbers? Listen to the sound?
You have to know that the average minimum living standard per capita in Beijing at that time was only 5 yuan a month, and it did not rise to 60 yuan a month until the 8s.

Ordinary people are lucky to have a few dozen or a few hundred dollars in savings. What about these people? The clothing business in Wangfujing alone can easily make so much money! And they may not be all of them.

Wang Deming didn't believe that they would take out all the hidden money and exchange it at once.
Carrying four heavy canvas bags and secretly hanging long and short branches on his body, Wang Deming once again embarked on the journey to Hong Kong.

I thought it would be the same as last time, taking the Beijing-Hankou Railway to Wuhan, and then transferring to Guangzhou in the south.

I didn't expect that this time I would go directly to the sea by boat from Tianjin
Yes, we won the Korean War and there are no more American warships roaming around the coasts of Bohai and East China Sea.
(End of this chapter)