Courtyard House: Passing through the Silly Pillar, Activating the Blessed Cave Heaven

53

"The tickets were prepared long ago."

Your brother's a cadre, what's a little bicycle voucher to him? I'll take you to buy one this weekend, and I'll pick out the same women's bicycle as your sister-in-law's."

"That's awesome! Thank you, big brother!" He Yushui excitedly rushed over and hugged He Yuzhu, jumping up and down.

"Don't be so polite with your elder brother."

"Remember, be careful when riding your bike. If anyone bullies you, tell me, and I'll take care of it for you," He Yuzhu reminded him.

"Okay! I'm going to find Sister Xiangyun!" He Yushui couldn't wait to share the good news with her best friend.

"Go ahead, and by the way, tell Sister Xiangyun that if she wants to take a bath, she should remember to boil water in the kitchen."

"Alright!" He Yushui darted out, lifting the curtain in a flash.

Seeing He Yushui walk away, Lou Xiao'e said worriedly, "Brother He, Yushui is only 12 years old. Is it okay for her to ride her bike to school alone? What if she runs into bad people..."

"Of course I'm not at ease."

I had already planned it out; after school started, I would have someone secretly follow her for a few days.

"Once she gets to know her classmates, they can go to and from school together," He Yuzhu said confidently.

In fact, his plans went far beyond that.

Tomorrow he plans to find Zhang Hu and ask him to send someone to find out the security situation along He Yushui's route to school.

If he finds any petty thugs, He Yuzhu will personally go and "talk to them"—using his fists to make them deeply understand what it means to be kind to others.

If anyone is ignorant of their own limitations, He Yuzhu would not mind emulating Confucius and winning people over with virtue.

Confucius once had a sword named "De" (德), and He Yuzhu also had a cleaver engraved with the character "De".

This fifty-pound axe was specially crafted by a blacksmith.

If there are still people who are not influenced by the axe of "virtue", he also carries a saw of "reason" at his waist, ready to persuade people with reason at any time.

He Yuzhu was always decisive and efficient. Seeing that it was still early, he immediately decided to go to Zhang Hu to make arrangements.

"Xiao'e, I'm going out to run some errands. I'll be back in half an hour," he said to Lou Xiao'e as he unchained the door.

"Go on, Brother He, the children are all asleep," Lou Xiao'e replied, holding her knitting needles.

The bicycle rolled over the bluestone road and soon arrived at Zhang Hu's courtyard house.

The Zhang family, young and old, were enjoying the cool air in the courtyard when Zhang Hu jumped up as soon as he saw He Yuzhu: "Brother Zhu! What brings you here?"

"I suddenly remembered something important." He Yuzhu glanced at the neighbors in the yard, then changed the subject: "Why don't we go inside and talk?"

Zhang Hu immediately understood and turned to instruct his wife, "Take the child to play in the yard for a while. I need to talk to Brother Zhu." After entering the house, He Yuzhu waved his hand as soon as he sat down, "Don't make tea. I'm leaving after I've finished talking."

"Please give me your orders."

"That's right, Yushui is about to start junior high school."

"I wanted her to commute to school before it got cold, but I was worried about her safety on the way." He Yuzhu lowered his voice, "Send a few of your clever brothers to find out her route to school."

If there are pickpockets, report them directly; if there are petty thugs, issue a warning.

"Understood! I'll arrange for someone to scout the location tonight," Zhang Hu assured, patting his chest.

"And my sister's school, we also need to send someone to investigate that."

Warning those bad students who bully girls to be careful and not to make a big fuss or attract the attention of the authorities.

"If there are any who are unruly or have someone backing them up, don't confront them head-on. Send someone to keep a close eye on them. As soon as you catch them doing something wrong, report it to the authorities and let them deal with them." He Yuzhu thought for a moment and then added.

"Brother Zhu, we have so many brothers now, we don't need to be afraid of them at all. Anyone who dares to disobey, we'll beat them into submission!" Zhang Hu said boldly.

"Tiger, good shoes don't step in dog poop. The safest way to deal with this kind of person is to hand them over to the government."

It wouldn't be worth it if our brothers were targeted by the authorities because of them.

"Of course, if they're foolish enough to retaliate, then show no mercy." He Yuzhu's face darkened. "Just capture them and hand them over to me; the rest is none of your concern."

"Understood, Brother Zhu!" Zhang Hu nodded in response.

"By the way, did my uncle mention to you that a batch of grain from beyond the Great Wall will be arriving soon?"

"Uncle Cai told me that I have already informed the brothers that we will start working as soon as the grain arrives."

"Now, anything that's edible sells out perfectly," Zhang Hu grinned.

"As I always say, business can be done, but safety comes first."

"You know what kind of business we're in, so don't be careless." He Yuzhu paused, "Tiger, I have an idea, but I don't know if it's feasible."

"Brother Zhu, you're so amazing, your ideas are sure to work!" Zhang Hu quickly flattered He Yuzhu before he could finish speaking.

"Tiger, you're flattering me way too quickly. I haven't even finished speaking yet," He Yuzhu said with a smile, pointing at him.

Zhang Hu scratched his head and chuckled.

"We have so many brothers living scattered around. If we could find a way to bring them all together in one alley, it would be more convenient for us to handle things in the future, and we wouldn't have to worry about being noticed by our neighbors."

"What do you think?" He Yuzhu said, revealing his plan.

Zhang Hu's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed excitedly, "Brother Zhu, that's a brilliant idea!" But then he frowned, "But right now, houses are either allocated by the neighborhood committee or privately owned, and they can't be bought or sold. How can we brothers live together?"

There are always more solutions than problems.

First, look around for rental properties near your residence. Ideally, choose a small alley with few residents, but with convenient transportation so that it won't be too noticeable when people come and go.

Once you find a suitable place, rent it. After moving in, try to get along well with your neighbors and see if you can get them to move out or exchange rooms with them.

"Take it slow, we'll find a way to get all the brothers living together." He Yuzhu told Zhang Hu about his plan.

"Brother Zhu, they're living perfectly well, why would they want to switch with us? Besides, would the neighborhood committee agree to that?" Zhang Hu asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Find people who are also renting to exchange apartments. As long as the apartment size is about the same, and you pay a little extra, they will definitely be happy to do so."

Since it doesn't matter where you live, and you can get some money for free, who would refuse? As for the neighborhood committee, as long as both parties agree and the reason is legitimate, they won't stop you.

By the way, ask my cousin for the money to buy a new house; he'll give each family 100 yuan.

"If all else fails, try lobbying the local street office and bribing them to help you find a solution."

After all, they are in charge of the house.

"That's my idea. As for how to do it, you can call the brothers over to discuss it together. There's strength in numbers!" He Yuzhu smiled. "Alright, I've said everything I need to say. I have to go now."

If you have a better idea, feel free to come to my house anytime.

"Okay, Brother Zhu, I'll see you off." Zhang Hu escorted He Yuzhu to the entrance of the courtyard house.

"No need to see me off, Tiger, go home." He Yuzhu got on his bicycle and headed home.

Two days later, Zhang Hu arrived at He Yuzhu's house in the evening.

"Brother Zhu, are you home? It's Tiger."

Hearing the voice, He Yuzhu replied, "I'm at home, Hu Zi. Wait a moment, I'll be right out." He turned to Lou Xiao'e and said, "Xiao'e, I'm going out to talk to Zhang Hu about something. I'll be at the gate. If it's urgent, have Yushui come find me."

"Understood, Brother He, you can go now."

He Yuzhu pushed open the door and said to Zhang Hu, who was standing outside, "Let's go, Hu Zi, let's go outside and talk." The two walked to the gate of the courtyard house.

As they stepped out of the courtyard, He Yuzhu asked, "What's wrong, Tiger? You seem quite happy. Did you come up with a good idea?"

Zhang Hu nodded excitedly and said, "That's right, Brother Zhu, you guessed it perfectly."

Last night I called everyone together to discuss the matter you asked me to do, and one of the brothers actually came up with a brilliant idea, though it's a bit costly.

"Tell me quickly!" He Yuzhu immediately perked up.

"That brother said that there were several courtyards in his alley, which were destroyed during the war years ago. The original owners could not be found, and now they are all broken walls and tiles."

"Who is in charge of these unclaimed properties now?" He Yuzhu pressed.

"It's under the jurisdiction of the subdistrict office, but they don't have the money to repair it, so it's just been abandoned there," Zhang Hu replied.

"What do you mean?" He Yuzhu asked, following up on the conversation.

"I've inquired about it. The neighborhood committee allows them to purchase these damaged courtyards and demolish and rebuild them, but building new houses is quite expensive," Zhang Hu quickly explained.

"If we buy these ruins and rebuild, who will own the houses that are built?" He Yuzhu pondered.

"Whoever built it owns it, the neighborhood committee has made that clear."

Moreover, the land price is very cheap; a plot of land the size of a courtyard house only costs 100 yuan.

"100 yuan is indeed not expensive, so why don't you buy a piece of land and build a house yourself?" He Yuzhu looked at Zhang Hu curiously.

"The neighborhood office said that once the new houses are built, the previously rented public housing will have to be returned."

"I thought about it, and building a house would cost so much money, I really couldn't bear to part with it," Zhang Hu said, scratching his head and laughing.

"Then why are you looking for me? I can't just give up my house for this."

"This house was passed down from my father. If I secretly changed it, I wouldn't be able to explain it to him when he comes back." He Yuzhu looked puzzled.

"Brother Zhu, let me finish."

"I asked the neighborhood office, and if it's your own property, there's another way: after the new house is built, hand it over to the neighborhood office to rent out, and collect rent every month according to their standards." Seeing He Yuzhu's impatience, Zhang Hu hurriedly explained.

He Yuzhu frowned upon hearing this.

This plan seems feasible, but it has many hidden risks.

Handing over a property to the neighborhood committee for rental means losing autonomy and may result in problems such as a mix of good and bad tenants and inadequate maintenance.

More importantly, the income is too low—according to the standards of the subdistrict office, the monthly rent for a room is only three yuan.

Spending a few thousand yuan to build a courtyard house, the rent collected throughout the year probably wouldn't even cover the maintenance costs.

Nobody wants to do this right now, but He Yuzhu is different.

He came from the future and doesn't even need to pay rent, as long as he can build a house.

These are houses in Beijing; any one of them is worth a lot of money.

"Brother Zhu, what do you think?" Zhang Hu couldn't help but ask when He Yuzhu remained silent.

I think it's alright.

Okay, I'll go ask Director Wang of the subdistrict office about the specific policies.

If it works out, we can build a few courtyards; money is not an issue.

Go back and ask your local street office if they can approve four courtyards.

They said there was a housing shortage nearby, so they wanted to give two units to acquaintances and leave the remaining two to the neighborhood committee for allocation.

"If you agree, let me know quickly. We're building this house mainly to make it easier for the brothers to get things done," He Yuzhu said after thinking for a moment.

"Understood, I'll ask tomorrow."

I think the neighborhood committee should be able to agree.

"By the way, Brother Zhu, what are the requirements for the location of the yard?"

"I want a hutong that is wide, easy to enter and exit, and close to the main road."

If you're going to build one, buy a bigger yard.

Just use these criteria to find it.

"Brother Zhu, buying a big yard and building a house must cost a lot of money, right? Bricks are hard to come by these days."

"Won't it arouse suspicion if I suddenly take out so much money?" Zhang Hu was a little worried.

"Bricks are not a problem; there are plenty of idle brick factories in Beijing."

"As for money, have you forgotten what my father-in-law does?" He Yuzhu said with a smile.

"Oh dear, how could I forget that! Your father-in-law was known as Lou the Half-City back in the day!" Zhang Hu said, slapping his forehead.

"Tiger, is there anything else? If not, I'm going home. The three kids are still awake."

"It's alright, Brother Zhu, you should go back now."

He Yuzhu walked towards the courtyard house, but after taking only two steps, he turned back and called out to Zhang Hu, "Hu Zi, wait a minute!"

Zhang Hu rushed back: "What's wrong, Brother Zhu?"

"Go back and tell the guys to ask around if anyone in the area wants to sell their workstations."

"Selling workstations? What do you mean?" Zhang Hu asked, looking confused.

"Now all industries have implemented joint public-private ownership. There is a succession system in factories, where retired workers can have their children take over their positions."

However, some workers' children already have jobs and don't need to take over, so these spots can be transferred. He Yuzhu explained to Zhang Hu in detail.

"Brother Zhu, why are you asking about this?" Zhang Hu asked curiously.

"Of course, it's to buy workstations and arrange work for the guys."

"Go to work? Don't you have a job? It's not convenient for your sister-in-law to go to work either."

"It's not for me, it's for those brothers who don't have proper jobs."

They idle away their days, which may make things convenient for them, but it's not a long-term solution.

"I want everyone to have a formal job," He Yuzhu said sincerely.