Courtyard Houses: The Great Masters of a Nation Hidden Within

In the blink of an eye, a week has passed.

Early Sunday morning, Gao Jianguo picked up another online article and was reading it while having breakfast.

This one is alright; it's not bad for passing the time.

I was chewing on a steamed bun when there was a knock on the door.

Gao Jianguo, clutching half a steamed bun in his hand, got up to open the door.

As soon as the door was opened, the first thing that caught the eye was a scarf that completely covered the lower half of her face, leaving only a pair of crescent-shaped eyes that were smiling.

Gao Jianguo recognized her immediately. With a steamed bun still in his mouth, he mumbled, "Lou Xiao'e, what brings you here? It's not that cold yet, is it? Why are you wrapped in such a thick scarf?"

Even with only half her face showing, Gao Jianguo recognized her. Lou Xiao'e was clearly delighted, but she said, "What? Can't I come? I came here specifically for you. I don't have a gramophone at home, and I wanted to listen to your record."

Gao Jianguo knew perfectly well who you were trying to fool. If your family lacked this thing, I would write the character "Gao" backwards eight hundred times, each time with a different handwriting.

Lou Xiao'e herself knew that this excuse was tantamount to lying through her teeth.

It's hard to believe that someone who can put the needle on the first note of the second movement of "From the New World" could say they don't have a phonograph at home.

However, she didn't take being exposed seriously at all, or rather, she didn't care how well the lie was made up.

An excuse is something you only need; whether it's real or fake doesn't matter.

Gao Jianguo didn't unravel her mystery. He poured her a glass of water, then, while chewing on something, pointed to the gramophone and said, "It's over there. You can fiddle with it yourself. But I don't have many records here, so I don't know if they'll suit your taste. By the way, have you eaten? If not, we can grab a bite together."

He made a lot of steamed buns today, adding up all the day's worth.

Lou Xiao'e walked straight over, without any politeness, and started fiddling with the food: "You eat yours, don't worry about me."

The music flowed out, it was still "From the New World".

Perhaps Lou Xiao'e originally loved listening to this song, or perhaps there were other reasons.

Gao Jianguo quickly finished his breakfast in a few bites, downed the last mouthful of soy milk, and then took his toothbrush cup to wash up.

Lou Xiao'e glanced at Gao Jianguo, who was washing up, and then scanned the room with her eyes.

So clean.

After Gao Jianguo finished washing up, he returned and sat down by the ventilator.

Lou Xiao'e noticed he had some free time and asked, "This room is so warm. What were you planning to do today?"

Gao Jianguo suddenly remembered and pointed to the Peony six-tube radio on the table.

The transformer arrived a while ago, but it's not fully fixed yet: "I was planning to get it working properly, so I'd have two turns and two sounds, hehe."

A watch, a bicycle, a phonograph, and a radio—these perfectly combine two rotating and two resonating items.

Lou Xiao'e had never seen anyone repair a radio before, and her eyes gleamed with curiosity: "Then don't worry about me, I'll enjoy mine, you fix yours."

"Are you really alright? You can sit still?"

"I'm fine! I can sit still!"

Hearing her say that, Gao Jianguo stopped being coy. He went into the inner room pretending to get something, but actually he brought out some raw melon seeds and fruit and put them on the table: "I won't bother you for now. Just eat whatever you want. If you need anything, just let me know."

Lou Xiao'e nodded, picked up a melon seed from the plate, peeled it, put it in her mouth, and let it slowly melt on her tongue.

so sweet.

Gao Jianguo buried his head and focused intently on disassembling the radio.

Replacing a transformer is a piece of cake. Just take off the casing, remove the old parts, clean the solder, and put on a soldering iron. I've worked in automation for two lifetimes, and in my previous life I was an old junk collector. I could do this job with my eyes closed.

Gao Jianguo was completely absorbed in the study, and Lou Xiao'e was equally captivated by the reading.

What they're repairing is a lump of iron; what they're really looking at is the person repairing it.

Lou Xiao'e poured the melon seeds onto the table and began peeling them half-heartedly.

The shelled sunflower seeds were placed on an empty plate, but I didn't chew more than a few myself.

The smell of pine solder filled the room, but she didn't find it unpleasant. Her eyes shone as she looked at Gao Jianguo.

Not long after, Gao Jianguo let out a long sigh of relief and plugged in the power to test whether the machine worked properly.

When the switch is pushed, a hissing sound comes from the speaker.

Gao Jianguo slowly turned the tuning knob, the hissing sound gradually diminishing until it was drowned out by a voice: "...People's Broadcasting Station..."

Lou Xiao'e exclaimed happily, "It's fixed! It's fixed! Jianguo, you're amazing!"

Look at her, she's even happier than Gao Jianguo himself.

Gao Jianguo chuckled.

In his past life, he was an expert computer repairman, yet he never had a girlfriend. He never imagined that in this life, a beautiful girl would watch him repair radios without batting an eye.

Lou Xiao'e pushed the plate of sunflower seeds in front of Gao Jianguo: "Here, consider this a reward."

Gao Jianguo, like a cow chewing on a peony, picked up the plate and shoveled the whole thing into his mouth: "It's not your radio, why are you so happy for me?"

Just by talking to this hothead, he could probably break even the stainless steel red thread.

Lou Xiao'e wasn't annoyed at all, and said with a smile, "Because I can come and listen in the future too."

Gao Jianguo wasn't confused: "Then I welcome you anytime, anywhere."

As they were talking, the stylus of the phonograph brushed against the innermost circle of the record.

The record was still spinning, but the music had stopped, leaving only a soft hissing sound as it turned.

This kind of old-fashioned phonograph won't stop on its own after it finishes playing. The 78 RPM vinyl record has a closed circular groove at the very end, so it just keeps spinning inside once it reaches the end.

The phonograph relies on the brakes to stop the platter, and the stylus won't lift up by itself; you have to lift the cartridge by hand.

Gao Jianguo walked over, raised the phonograph needle, and glanced at the watch.

It's almost noon.

He turned to Lou Xiao'e and asked, "Want to have a meal here?"

"OK."

Lou Xiao'e agreed quite readily.

"Can you cook?"

Gao Jianguo pretended to be ignorant even though he knew the truth.

"I can't do it."

Lou Xiao'e spoke with a mix of righteous indignation and guilt.

"If you don't know how, just learn! Shall we do it together?"

"OK."

The answer came crisply, with a hint of eagerness in the voice.

The two young people worked for almost half an hour and served two dishes and a soup.

Gao Jianguo directed from the sidelines, while Lou Xiao'e cooked a traditional Chinese dish: scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

Lou Xiao'e had no idea that tomatoes were already out of season by this time of year, but tomatoes do keep for a while, so she could make up an explanation.

The staple food was leftover steamed buns from breakfast, which were then thoroughly heated in a steamer.

Lou Xiao'e nibbled on her steamed bun while chatting happily with Gao Jianguo about all sorts of things.

"Jianguo, don't you think this dish I cooked is especially delicious? I think it's better than what my family makes."

"It's alright, but for a beginner, it's passable. Looks like you have some talent for cooking. As for why you think it smells so good, it's probably just your own ego; you're naturally biased towards what you made."

Gao Jianguo first praised her talent, then criticized her for it.

"So you mean I'm not good enough? I don't believe it. I'll cook a few more vegetables and practice until you're convinced."

"Alright, I'm waiting! I'm just afraid you'll back out halfway through and give up at the last minute."

Gao Jianguo added fuel to the fire.

"Impossible! Gao Jianguo, you just wait and see!"

So everyone knows that using reverse psychology is a trap, but people still keep falling into it.

For example, George Blake, a KGB mole planted in MI6 and a loyal and devoted Red soldier.

As for someone like Lou Xiao'e, she not only jumped in herself, but also covered herself with a layer of soil.