Siheyuan: The Era of Struggle

Chapter 104 The Lou Family Leaves ( words, please subscribe)
The eldest son of the Lou family was named Lou Sichang, who was the same age as Yang Ning. He was secretly sent to Hong Kong on the eve of the liberation of Beijing.

After arriving in Hong Kong, Lou Sichang discovered that people from the North were extremely discriminated against in Hong Kong. Even though he brought most of the Lou family's property with him, he did not live the good life he had imagined.

At the beginning, his mother, Lou Shouxing's legal wife, wanted to continue doing business but was excluded by the business community which was mainly composed of local tyrants and people from the south. Their family was also exploited by local ruffians and John Bull gentlemen on a regular basis. It can be said that their family has been struggling since they arrived in Hong Kong.

This time, he heard that we were holding the Canton Fair, so he wanted to come and see if there were any new business opportunities. After all, in Hong Kong, they couldn't squeeze into the more mature industries.

Although he brought a lot of money with him when he came to Hong Kong, he can't just live off it, right?
When he saw these electric cars with novel designs and fashionable looks, his eyes lit up.

After hearing from the comrades from the Foreign Trade Department that these electric cars were also exhibited products, he quickly got on an electric car to experience it for himself.

He found that this electric car is not only easy to learn and drive, but also relatively economical and affordable, although it has the disadvantages of short battery life and long charging time.

However, in the small area of Hong Kong, it can definitely meet people's daily travel needs.

The most important thing is that it is not expensive, which is especially appealing to Hong Kong people who like to be thrifty.

So, under the guidance of comrades from the Ministry of Foreign Trade, he came to the industrial products exhibition area.

After seeing Lou Sichang in a suit and tie, the staff of the industrial products exhibition area immediately came forward to warmly welcome him and introduced the electric vehicles and other industrial products on display to him.

"Are those electric cars produced by you?" Lou Sichang went directly to the electric car exhibition area and asked excitedly after listening to the staff's introduction.

Isn’t this the new business opportunity that I have been looking forward to?
No one in Hong Kong is involved in this field yet, so if our company enters the electric vehicle industry, we will encounter much less resistance.

"Yes." The comrade from the Foreign Trade Department looked at the excited Lou Sichang and said with a hint of pride: "These electric vehicles are all designed and produced by our Sijiucheng Motorcycle Factory."

"Sijiu City?" When Lou Sichang heard this familiar city, he thought of the scenes of his life there when he was young, and suddenly he felt mixed emotions. This place carried his lost youth!

He quickly came to his senses and asked the comrade from the Foreign Trade Department: "I need to buy a batch of these electric vehicles and go back to Hong Kong to see if there is a market for them. Is that okay?"

When the comrade from the Foreign Trade Department heard that the young man wanted to buy an electric car, he quickly nodded and said, "Of course, sir, come over here, our leader is there, you can discuss it with him."

Shortly after Lou Sichang arrived at the industrial products exhibition area, some merchants who were attracted by the electric vehicles at the entrance of the exhibition area also followed.

When those people came here and saw the numerous industrial products, they were all amazed at our development over the years.

In addition to some people who are interested in selling electric vehicles, there are also some merchants from Southeast Asia who are attracted by cheap fertilizers and plastic products and come forward to inquire.

The industrial products exhibition area, which was originally deserted, has gradually begun to gain popularity.

As the daily transaction volume increased, the leaders of the Foreign Trade Department, who were originally a little worried, gradually put their minds at ease.

"The sales volume of electric vehicles is over 500 million, and the fertilizer orders are concentrated in Southeast Asia, with a sales volume of over million..."

After receiving the information from the Canton Fair, the leaders were very excited. Although these transaction volumes are still a drop in the bucket for our development, it is at least a good start.

As long as our industrial technology continues to develop and more and more products are exhibited, I believe that by then, the Canton Fair will become a window for us to showcase ourselves to the outside world.

In order to complete the orders as quickly as possible, the superiors soon split out an electric car factory from the Sijiucheng Motorcycle Factory to produce these orders.

At this time in the Lou family, Lou Shouxing was looking at the letter sent from Hong Kong by the eldest wife and fell into deep confusion.

"Master~" Lou Tan looked at the embarrassed Lou Shouxing and called out cautiously.

As the legitimate wife of the Lou family, although the Lou family is no longer as prosperous as it was before liberation, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, and her life as the legitimate wife is much better than before.

But ever since she received the letter from her first wife in Hong Kong, she was worried that her husband would really abandon their property here and move their family south.

In this way, wouldn't she be back to her old days again?
However, as a traditional woman, and considering Lou Shouxing's previous prestige, she did not dare to say much on this matter.

"Oh." After hearing Lou Tan's cry, Lou Shouxing sighed deeply.

Thinking about his cautious life in the past few years, combined with what was said in the letter from his eldest wife, the trace of entanglement in his eyes disappeared, and his expression was full of determination.

At this moment, it seemed as if the once powerful Lou Bancheng had returned.

He took a deep look at Lou Tan, and then looked at the home where he grew up with some reluctance, and said slowly: "I'm going out for a while!"

It turned out that since Lou Sichang returned to Hong Kong with the electric car he bought at the Canton Fair, it caused a big sensation in the neighborhood.

In less than a week, all the electric cars he bought from the Canton Fair were sold out.

But then, other Hong Kong merchants who had purchased electric cars at the Canton Fair followed suit, and it was said that they had placed a large number of orders for electric cars in the north.

Out of caution, Lou Sichang only bought a few to try out, but he didn't expect electric cars to be so popular in Hong Kong.

For a time, Lou Sichang seemed to be in a situation where he was surrounded by enemies on all sides.

It was too late to place an order there, so he remembered that the comrade from the Foreign Trade Department said that this kind of electric car was produced in Sijiu City, so he wrote a letter to his father who was still in Sijiu City and told him about the situation here.

He also thought that life over there would be difficult for a family like theirs, so he suggested that his father move the whole family over.

At least with their father here, their family will be able to live a better life in Hong Kong in the future. After all, the network of contacts that Lou Shouxing had accumulated back then was extremely terrifying.

Although Lou Shouxing handed over those connections to him when he came to Hong Kong, his skills were still far inferior to his father's.

In the letter, he suggested that his father use his family's property there in exchange for some support from above for their family in Hong Kong.

Although this seems a bit far-fetched, what if it succeeds?
After receiving the letter from his son, Lou Shouxing felt both relieved and sad.

The good news is that my son has finally grown up and started to plan his own career.

What's sad is that those people he had made friends with before actually stood idly by and watched the difficulties faced by the first wife in Hong Kong, and some even took advantage of the situation.

Although Lou Shouxing was still a little reluctant to give up his family's property here, for the sake of his son and family, he decided to give it one more try.

He also noticed the rapid development here. If they could get support from here, their Lou family might have a chance to make a comeback in Hong Kong.

Lou Shouxing first went to the leader of the First Machinery Department, the parent unit of the Third Steel Rolling Mill, and told him his plan. "Boss Lou, have you really thought it through?" The leader of the First Machinery Department looked at Lou Shouxing and asked seriously.

Lou Shouxing, who was originally a little conflicted, instantly strengthened his determination after hearing the leader of the First Ministry of Machine Building call him "Mr. Lou".

"Leader, you know that I only have one son, Sichang. He is in trouble over there, so as a father, I have to go over and help him."

"As for my industry here, in addition to donating all the shares of the steel mill to contribute to our construction, I hope to exchange the other assets and the gold and silver antiques that I left behind for some of our products."

"Our current industrial technology has begun to develop rapidly, and there will be more and more products in the future. I want to go to Hong Kong to help open up a sales channel for our products."

Lou Shouxing has now made a desperate move. In order to win our support, he even donated his shares in the steel mill and left behind all the gold, silver and antiques he had accumulated.

"This matter is too big. I need to report it and give you a reply after discussion."

Seeing that Lou Shouxing had made all the arrangements, the leaders of the First Ministry of Machine Building knew that he was determined to leave.

He thought about it and decided that this was not a bad thing. After all, we were now in a period of great public-private partnership, and families like the Lou family would face increasingly difficult situations in the future.

Now that Lou Shouxing was able to survive by cutting off his arm, he was not only able to serve as a model leader for public-private partnerships.

And we really need someone we can trust on the Xiangjiang River.

"Lou Shouxing is so courageous!"

When the leader of the First Ministry of Machine Building reported Lou Shouxing's affairs, his superior said something with emotion.

Then he weighed the pros and cons of this matter. Public-private partnership has become an irreversible trend of the times. People like Lou Shouxing are destined to slowly withdraw from the stage of history.

Instead of letting him do nothing here, it might not be a bad thing to let him go to Hong Kong.

Besides, they have already made up their minds to leave. If we try to keep them by force, it will inevitably make them resentful towards us in the future.

"As for some of his requests, I think we can meet some of them. After all, the Lou family has made contributions to us in the past."

After receiving approval from their superiors, the Lou family began preparing for their departure in an orderly manner.

According to Lou Shouxing's opinion, in addition to the steel mill shares that were handed over, part of their family's assets were exchanged for electric car orders, and all other properties were converted into money and deposited in our bank as a reserve fund for future transactions.

"Boss, the master and his family have left."

After Yang Ning got off work in the afternoon, his mother Yang Liu spoke to him with a lonely look on her face.

"What?" Yang Ning was also surprised when he heard this.

"The Lou family left. Where did they go?" Yang Ning looked at Yang's mother and asked in disbelief.

"Yes! They went to the south to find the Madam and the Young Master." Yang Liu's eyes were red, and it was obvious that she had shed tears for the departure of the Lou family.

Come to think of it, my mother worked as a wet nurse in the Lou family when she was a teenager, and she worked there for almost twenty years.

Although they were just servants, the Lou family treated my mother and other servants very well.

Not only did they give red envelopes during the holidays, they also never delayed paying wages and arranged for my father to work in their factory.

Even when he resigned, he gave them the house they lived in and helped his mother find another job.

If the cattle and horses in the future met such a boss, they would definitely be more reluctant to leave than their mothers.

It’s no wonder that even after several years of liberation, whenever my mother talks about the Lou family, she always calls them by respectful titles like Master and Madam. After all, their family’s current life is certainly inseparable from the care of the Lou family.

The Lou family left so early, which was beyond Yang Ning's expectations.

He was thinking of giving the Lou family a reminder before the storm next time, but he didn't expect them to leave so lightly.

"Xu Damao won't have the chance to cause trouble in the future!" Yang Ning felt gloating when he thought of this.

Although he had a good relationship with Xu Damao, he felt very sorry for what happened to Lou Xiao'e later in life.

Not to mention the kindness the Lou family had shown to her family, just thinking of the figure of Lou Xiao'e leaving with her and He Yuzhu's son in the original novel, Yang Ning felt that it was better for the Lou family to leave now, so as to avoid having to face these bad things in the future.

Yang Ning was thinking about reminding the Lou family when Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e went on a blind date, but now it seems that there is no need.

I just don’t know which girl will fall into Xu Damao’s trap in the future.

But these are none of Yang Ning’s business. After all, he can’t let his good brother live alone for the rest of his life, right?

"It's actually good for the Lou family to leave. After all, this is a new society. Staying here may not be a good thing for them."

Yang Ning looked at his mother who was about to cry again and quickly comforted her.

"I know that the master and his family have been in a bad situation in recent years, but when I think about the possibility that I may never see them again, I feel empty in my heart, as if I have no one to rely on in the future."

Yang Liu wiped her eyes, looked at her son and daughter-in-law who was at a loss, sniffed and said.

Yang Ning was speechless when he saw Yang Liu's look.

He could clearly feel that his mother had been a wet nurse in the Lou family for nearly twenty years and had almost regarded the Lou family as her own home.

Now that my mother’s family has left, it’s no wonder that my mother is so sad.

"Mom, how can you think like that? You still have me, my dad, and Erguai, as well as Yinghong and the two unborn grandchildren in her belly."

Yang Ning sat next to his mother and spoke softly.

Hu Yinghong also came over and sat on her other side, holding her mother's hand and comforting her: "Mom, Yang Ning is right, you still have us in the future."

(End of this chapter)