Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Lou Yufan, under the guise of being "commissioned by a supply and marketing cooperative in Guangxi," purchased mineral raw materials such as gypsum and talc powder in mainland China (large quantities, lax inspections, and simple packaging). He then used formal foreign trade procedures to ship the goods to Hong Kong via three trains.

The container contained the Lou family's treasured collection—gold was mixed in with bulk minerals, resulting in a very low customs inspection rate.

Of course, Lou Yufan also had a backup plan during the random inspections along the way.

Each time, they can only move a small amount, like ants carrying grains of rice.

"Even if I wanted to leave now, I couldn't. I still have so many assets to deal with, and my superiors are watching me."

"When will that be?!" Lou Yufan asked anxiously.

Lou Bancheng raised his head, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"Wait until...the time Zhang Dabiao mentioned."

Lou Yufan couldn't persuade him otherwise, and in the end, he could only quietly return to Hong Kong with his father's entrustment and a heart full of worries.

------------

No sooner had he left than Zhang Dabiao also went to Hong Kong, switching his identity to "Zhang Yaoyang". His daily routine included checking the accounts of Mixue Ice Cream, monitoring the operations of the two magazines, submitting manuscripts, and transporting some supplies.

But Ah Xiang came looking for him in a great hurry.

Hong Kong is experiencing a severe drought!

Since the summer of 1962, Hong Kong has not received a drop of rain, its reservoirs have dried up, and its water storage is severely insufficient.

The Hong Kong government has begun to implement a strict water rationing policy. The tap water supply has been reduced from eight hours a day to four hours, and now it is only supplied once every four days, for four hours each time.

The citizens are suffering greatly, with countless people carrying buckets and forming long queues at the street water collection points every day.

This is a fatal blow to Mixue Ice Cream, a brand that mainly focuses on milk tea and ice cream.

Without water, it means we can't make products, we can't clean equipment, and business simply can't continue.

With four branches, being able to open for two or three hours a day is considered a stroke of good luck.

If things continue like this, closing down is only a matter of time.

Zhang Yaoyang paced back and forth inside the village house.

Water shortage?

This doesn't exist for him at all.

His "little nest" had little else to offer, except that the tap water could flow continuously for 24 hours.

An idea instantly formed in his mind.

He immediately went to Lou Yufan's plastics factory to order a batch of the largest size sealed plastic buckets, the more the better. The kind of food-grade PC buckets for water dispensers, 18.9 liters – 5 gallons.

We'll order 500 units first, including small manual water valves.

Lou Yufan has not yet returned to Hong Kong, but Zhang Yaoyang is one of the shareholders of "Yufan Plastics Factory", so the factory workers directly helped with this small matter.

Then, he began his massive "water-moving project".

The second window on the left of the balcony "connects" to the headquarters of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea in the tenement building on Shau Kei Wan Main Street, and the small wooden house in the backyard.

Zhang Dabiao extended the water pipe through the window; with him holding the pipe, it could pass through without being pushed back.

Outside the cabin, Qin Mancang was taking over the task. He filled buckets with water one by one, and each time a bucket was full, A Xiang would carry it aside and stack it up. In the evening or at night, the buckets would be transported by car to the other three Mixue Ice Cream shops.

Qin Mancang and A Xiang were strictly warned not to enter the cabin to avoid being exposed.

In addition, there is a well in the backyard of Mixue Ice Cream, so it is not impossible to get a lot of water from the backyard - there is also a special filtration device.

Then, in the entire backyard, rows of large plastic buckets were neatly stacked.

500 barrels is 2500 gallons of water, weighing a whopping 9.5 tons! The process sounds simple, but it is actually quite complicated to carry out.

He had to hold onto the water pipe the whole time; if he let go, the pipe would be pushed back.

It took a full four hours to fill all 500 buckets. After finishing, Zhang Yaoyang greeted Qin Mancang and A Xiang, gave them some instructions, and then went to continue moving grain or sorting cultural relics.

Qin Mancang and A Xiang then arranged for others to secretly transport this "lifesaving water" to three other Mixue Ice Cream branches using a special water delivery truck.

They carried water every day until their arms ached and they could barely lift them, but they gritted their teeth and persevered without uttering a sound.

Don't ask too many questions, just do what the boss says.

Thanks to Roy Cheung's miraculous "transportation of water across space," four Mixue Ice Cream shops miraculously managed to maintain normal operations when the whole of Hong Kong was in dire straits.

Although the costs were much higher, the business was at least saved.

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On the morning of September 1st, an unusual dust storm swept through Beijing.

While it wasn't exactly a whirlwind of yellow sand, it still created a hazy, yellowish atmosphere that was extremely uncomfortable for the eyes.

Zhang Dabiao rummaged through the room in the east courtyard and found three exquisitely packaged boxes.

These are high-end items he casually brought back from Hong Kong a couple of days ago when he went there as "Roy Cheung" to inspect the city.

The three boxes contained the latest model of windproof aviator goggles, along with three brightly colored silk triangular scarves.

In the 60s, Apliu Street and Mong Kok had numerous stalls selling secondhand military supplies, with mountains of surplus American and British military equipment. During the Vietnam War, the US military disposed of obsolete materials in Hong Kong, selling many brand-new items as secondhand at very low prices.

He called Mu Wanqing, He Yushui, and Qin Jingru over to him.

The three girls stared wide-eyed at the sunglasses that gleamed with a high-end luster.

Zhang Dabiao personally tied the sea-blue silk scarf around Mu Wanqing's neck and then placed the sunglasses on her nose.

Mu Wanqing's already fair face was accentuated by this outfit, instantly giving her a more fashionable and modern look.

He Yushui and Qin Jingru quickly followed suit and put them on as well.

He Yushui chose a red silk scarf, while Qin Jingru picked a pale yellow one.

Three beautiful young women stood in a row, creating a stark contrast with the gloomy weather.

Zhang Dabiao then pulled a cool black windproof mask from the cabinet and put it on his face.

He straddled the gleaming sidecar motorcycle and pressed the start lever.

The roar of the engine instantly shattered the morning tranquility.

"Get in the car, I'll take you to school!"

Mu Wanqing sat in the sidecar, while He Yushui and Qin Jingru squeezed into the back seat.

The motorcycle spewed out a plume of exhaust fumes and roared out of the outer courtyard.

Hearing the commotion, the people in the front courtyard all peeked out to see what was happening outside the hanging flower gate.

Qin Huairu was washing diapers by the pool with a broken wooden basin.

Soaking her hands in cold water left them red, her fingers pale, and her knuckles slightly bluish-purple.

She looked up and just in time to see the motorcycle drive by.

Looking at the three girls' shiny sunglasses and their unpatched Dacron shirts, I could see the difference.

Qin Huairu looked down at the faded patch on her cuff.

An extremely strong sense of bitterness and inferiority rushed to my head.

They were both women, and they both tried to make a living in this courtyard.

What kind of life do other people live, and what kind of life do I live?

She gritted her teeth and vigorously rubbed the diaper in her hand to create several bubbles.

Liu Haizhong, who lives in the backyard, happened to be heading out to work when he saw this scene.

Watching Zhang Dabiao's departing figure, he muttered sourly, "That little rascal, he's becoming less and less like the hardworking and frugal spirit of the working class!"

"Wearing blindfolded glasses and parading around like that, you're bound to get yourself into trouble sooner or later!"