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

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The shopkeeper quickly prepared two receipts. He Yuzhu carefully examined them, and after confirming that there were no problems, he put them in his inner pocket.

He took out the Longines pocket watch, set the time, wound it up, and listened to the ticking of the second hand. Satisfied, he put the pocket watch back into his coat pocket.

"Then I won't bother you any longer, I'll be leaving now." He Yuzhu picked up the cloth bag, stood up and said goodbye.

"Take care, and please come again next time." The shopkeeper saw him all the way to the door.

The streets were still relatively sparsely populated, so He Yuzhu took the opportunity to put everything in the cloth bag into the Blessed Land.

He then boarded the tram and headed to Wangfujing Department Store—he had secured a job and it was time to buy a bicycle.

The money his master had lent him before would come in handy, and even if others asked, he would have a reasonable explanation, since he could pay it back with four months' salary.

Arriving at the bicycle counter, He Yuzhu asked, "Comrade, how much is a bicycle?"

"Forever brand, 1.6 million each; Flying Pigeon brand, 1.87 million each."

"Given your height, I recommend a 28-inch Flying Pigeon bicycle; it will be more comfortable to ride," the salesperson said.

"Then let's choose the Flying Pigeon brand. Where do we pay?" He Yuzhu asked.

"You can get your invoice here first, then go to the cashier to pay, and come back here to pick up your car with the payment receipt," the salesperson said.

He Yuzhu handed over 1.9 million yuan and the prepared receipts.

After carefully verifying the receipt, the cashier stamped it and gave back 30,000 yuan in change.

He Yuzhu took the payment receipt and returned to the bicycle counter.

The salesperson issued another delivery slip and said, "Please choose one yourself."

The sales clerk handed the delivery slip to He Yuzhu and instructed him, "Keep this slip safe. You'll need to take it to the police station later to register the vehicle. It will cost 25,000 yuan."

He Yuzhu nodded and said, "Thanks for the reminder, I'll choose this one."

Can I take it away now? Are there any other procedures I need to go through?

"Comrade, you can ride it directly, but you must remember to register it at the police station first."

"If they find we're not displaying the sign, we'll be fined," the salesperson said.

He Yuzhu thanked the sales clerk again, then pushed his brand-new bicycle out of the department store.

He nimbly hopped on the bike, gave it a light push, and the bicycle glided swiftly forward, drawing envious glances from passersby.

This feeling of being noticed made him feel as if he were experiencing the glory of driving a luxury car.

When he bought the bicycle, he thought it would be in high demand, but to his surprise, there were very few customers.

For ordinary people who have just emerged from the chaos of war and are still suffering from currency devaluation, solving the problem of food and clothing is the most important thing.

Bicycles didn't really become scarce until after 1956—when the national economy gradually recovered and people had more money to spend, at which point they began to consider buying bicycles as a means of transportation.

He Yuzhu rode his bicycle straight to the nearest police station and paid a management fee of 25,000 yuan.

The staff quickly processed his bicycle certificate, stamped the bicycle with a steel seal, and attached the license plate.

Once all the formalities are completed, he can legally drive on the road.

He first rode his bicycle to the courtyard house that Zhang Hu rented.

Seeing that the front door was locked, He Yuzhu took out his key, opened the door, parked his bicycle, and then locked the door again.