Courtyard Houses: The Great Masters of a Nation Hidden Within

As Gao Jianguo pondered, the effects of the alcohol kicked in, and his eyelids drooped, causing him to fall into a deep sleep.

When I opened my eyes again, it was almost dark, and it was past mealtime.

He got up, wiped his face, and rinsed his mouth with the leftover boiled water from lunch.

I took a handful of noodles from the cupboard and threw them into the pot, cut up a sausage, and tore off a few cabbage leaves.

Then he took out the half-bottle of chili oil that was left over from last time from the storage room.

I stirred it all together haphazardly, finished a bowl of noodles, and felt full.

With food in his stomach, Gao Jianguo took out paper, pen, and other household items and began to draw.

That's right, it's a drawing of a reflux furnace, the one I saw in my previous life.

When I went back to my hometown that year, there was one of these things in my grandfather's main room. He squatted there and studied it for a long time, and he remembered the structure pretty well.

You rarely see this kind of thing in the city anymore, but it's still quite popular in towns and villages.

To put it simply, it's an upgraded version of the iron stove from my hometown.

By cleverly using the recirculating heating system, the remaining heat from the smoke is brought back, allowing the coal to burn a second time and saving coal.

The advantages are quite substantial; it's easy to use, doesn't require much effort, and doesn't need to be scrubbed or washed every few days.

It has high thermal efficiency, which can save a lot of coal over the winter.

The downside is that it's ridiculously expensive!

The cost of materials and labor is significantly higher than that of an old iron furnace.

Gao Jianguo wasn't worried about that. He wasn't going to sell it; he was just using it himself, so he could afford to pay a higher price.

Whether it's a factory or another company, if they think it's good, they can manufacture it according to the blueprints and sell it. They don't really need to worry too much about the sales channels.

This thing is expensive, but it's not ridiculously expensive.

Because it saves coal and works well, ordinary families can afford it if they grit their teeth.

The mechanical drawing skills I've built up over two lifetimes aren't for nothing.

As he pondered the details of each part, he worked backwards along the structure to figure out what he couldn't recall, while comparing the dimensions.

After working on it until around 10 p.m., the blueprints were finally finished.

Gao Jianguo gave himself a thumbs up in his heart, put away the paper, and went to sleep.

The next day, as soon as Gao Jianguo opened his eyes, he tidied himself up and went out, carrying a bulging bag in his hand, heading straight for the supply and marketing cooperative.

I rummaged through a huge pile of daily necessities, then turned around and went to the grain and oil shop to buy some non-staple foods.

He paused as he passed the consignment shop.

Inside the counter was a broken "Peony" brand six-tube radio, priced at fifty.

This is a real gem. There are at least a hundred new ones, and you need tickets for them. These days, tickets are harder to come by than money.

Gao Jianguo's soul, that of a scavenger from his past life, suddenly resurfaced.

I must chop off my hand!

Recalling the tragic loss he suffered gambling on electronic waste in his past life, his eyes welled up with tears.

So I decided to go all in and lingered in the shop for a while longer.

I spent another 45 yuan to copy a May Day watch made by the Tianjin May Day Watch Factory.

The famous "Seagull" that would later become known was not yet famous at this time.

This watch was one of the first precision instruments manufactured by the Chinese government after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and it wasn't very accurate.

It can be tuned to match the loudspeaker used for announcing the time in the factory. Do you think it will work?

The key is that you don't need a ticket, and you can clearly explain your background when you chat with people.

The morning passed just like that.

Gao Jianguo delivered the things home, then went to a state-run restaurant for a delicious meal.

The afternoon's plan is to handle large items.

He spent the afternoon strolling around consignment shops, coal yards, and scrap metal collection stations, as if taking a leisurely walk.

Tables, chairs, bed frames, honeycomb briquettes—almost everything was prepared.

I even picked up a tin bucket from the scrap yard for a few cents.

He paid someone to move his belongings into his home.

Seeing some yellow mud by the roadside, he borrowed a hoe and dug out a few clumps.

Everything was moved into the yard, and Gao Jianguo directed the movers to set up the furniture.

The walls are alright; the third uncle's family has kept them quite clean, so he doesn't plan to repaint them.

Let's talk about marriage later.

If you apply it now, you'll have to apply it again for the wedding. Wouldn't that be a waste?

During a break from the moving work, Gao Jianguo went to Uncle San's house to return the coal briquettes.

When he got back, he squatted in the yard and mixed mud.

Don't overthink it, he just plans to use that tin bucket to patch up a stove hole.

From now on, we'll be using a return-air stove, so the south room won't be used as a kitchen for the time being.

A blast stove was set up in a corner of the living room for cooking.

It also saves coal in winter.

summer?

In the summer, we'll move the stove to the south-facing room.

Before we can get the reflux stove sorted out, we'll make do with the iron bucket stove for a while.

The original stove in the living room took up too much space, so he had the workers knock it all down.

One person eats their fill and the whole family isn't hungry; that's how carefree I am.

The bricks and stones that were knocked down were not wasted; they were used to reinforce the outdoor water tank and stove.

This iron stove can be used in emergencies after it's retired.

He saw honeycomb briquettes at the coal station, and based on the model of the honeycomb briquette stove from his previous life, he estimated the size of the honeycomb briquettes and made one.

Yellow clay is not durable and doesn't last long to burn, so he didn't plan to bother solving it; he'd just use it temporarily for a few days anyway.

And so, busy as we were, it got dark again.

He bought some food and brought it to the courtyard to ask Sha Zhu to cook dinner. He also invited the workers who had been busy all afternoon to join him for dinner.

Sha Zhu teased him, "Brother, if you tidied up the house like this every day, I'd be thrilled."

On that day, Gao Jianguo met Banggeng and his sister for the first time.

They were just two little kids, around the age of following Sha Zhu around watching the fun.

Gao Jianguo took a few Cuban candies out of his pocket and handed them over, and the two children were delighted for a long time.

In the original series, Bang Geng's personality was unlikable, but it doesn't seem like that now.

He can't possibly argue with a child who's only a few years old over a reason that a group of people don't understand.

Time flew by, and Sunday arrived.

This is big news, there's a prize draw going on!

This is the first time I've participated in a lucky draw since joining the factory.

Gao Jianguo got up early in the morning, pretending to burn incense and take a bath, hoping to find out what good things he could get.

He first went to the public bathhouse and soaked thoroughly, then asked the bathhouse attendant to scrub off a thick layer of grime.

Feeling refreshed, I returned to the house and boiled water to wash my hands.

Although he couldn't understand what washing paws had to do with drawing a lottery in his brain.

Let's make the most of this performance and leave it at that.

"System! Draw a prize!"

No light effects, no sound.

The only difference was a thin stack of documents in the repository.

Gao Jianguo pulled the curtains shut, took out the item, and held it up to the light to unfold it.

His eyes widened: "Holy crap!! It worked!!"

"What did I tell you? No kid cries every day! I can't keep slapping those worthless online novels every time."

"I wouldn't say this thing is heaven-defying, but it's at least a top-tier item, and the key is that it fits my current problem perfectly."

Ultimately, the return air furnace isn't really that relevant to the actual work we're doing.

It's fine to use it for minor comments or as a research topic; if word gets out, it'll earn you some praise.

However, if we make this our main focus and core achievement, it's somewhat unpresentable and doesn't hold up well enough.