I, Yan Jiefang, will live to 2025 in this courtyard house.

In mid-July, Liu Ruyan and her daughter finally arrived in Beijing again by train.

At 18, Liu Ruyan was even more beautiful than when she was 16, and she seemed to possess an indescribable charm that made her appear somewhat ethereal.

During her high school years, more and more male classmates wrote her love letters or gave her small gifts.

This made her feel annoyed and also made her increasingly arrogant.

The personalities of many early fairies in later generations were gradually formed in this way.

But Liu Ruyan remained clear-headed. She realized that she was about to face Yan Jiefang, the National Games champion, a man of great literary talent and high income.

No matter how proud she is, she will unconsciously feel inferior and lack confidence.

After all, given Yan Jiefang's circumstances, there would definitely be a large number of beautiful women throwing themselves at him; it just depends on how he chooses.

What am I, someone from a remote place, anyway?

Yan Jiefang was willing to marry her only because he liked her looks.

In other aspects, she simply cannot compare with girls who have local Beijing residency.

She thought it through at home and discussed it with her mother and sister before finally deciding to marry Yan Jiefang.

It wasn't some sudden inspiration or a momentary impulse.

When Sha Zhu saw Liu Ruyan, whose looks and temperament were exceptional, at the train station, he was also taken aback.

This sister-in-law is so outstanding that she can be spotted at a glance, even in the bustling train station square.

Looking at his sister-in-law, Qin Huairu's idealized image of him shattered completely, and could never be mended.

I guess only someone as outstanding as Yan Jiefang could barely be worthy of him.

Fearing that they might be targeted by certain people, Liu Ruyan and her mother deliberately stood near the police post.

Only here do they feel slightly at ease.

The four people took a bus back to Courtyard No. 95.

Almost everyone who saw Liu Ruyan couldn't help but gossip about her.

"This girl is getting prettier and prettier!"

"I wonder which kid will get it?"

Do you think my son Liugen has a chance?

"My Li Xianying is no worse than your Liugen!"

...

After settling his mother-in-law and sister-in-law in, Sha Zhu immediately rode his bicycle to Factory 774 to inform Yan Jiefang.

After Yan Jiefang obtained a marriage introduction letter from his superiors, he and Sha Zhu returned to the courtyard house together.

Seeing Liu Ruyan now, even the well-informed Yan Jiefang was amazed:

As expected of Liu Ruyan, her appearance never disappoints, no matter what.

In the future, Yan Jiefang will also test her true colors.

He nodded to his future mother-in-law in greeting, then looked at Liu Ruyan and spoke directly:

"Is everything ready?"

"Um."

"Alright, let's go then, let's head straight to the neighborhood office."

"Um."

Under the watchful eyes of the birds in the yard, Yan Jiefang rode his bicycle with Liu Ruyan to the street office.

With a letter of introduction and various formal documents, obtaining a marriage certificate is not difficult even without registering residency.

Not long after, the marriage certificate was issued, and the two became a legal couple.

After the two left, a street office official sighed:

"I haven't seen Yan Jiefang get married yet. I didn't expect him to find someone from out of town. My niece had her eye on him for a long time, but she hadn't had a chance to make a move. It's such a pity."

"Officer Li, with your niece's looks, how could Yan Jiefang possibly be interested in her? Don't flatter yourself! My aunt's daughter would be more suitable."

"Officer Zhang, your cousin is alright looking, but she's just an ordinary person. Yan Jiefang wouldn't even give her a second glance either."

You saw his wife just now, her looks, her demeanor, and her height—she must be at least 1.7 meters tall! She's much taller than many men!

"I guess only families with this kind of looks would be interested in them."

"Well, that's true. None of us are destined for that."

Back at No. 95 courtyard, Yan Jiefang took out several kilograms of fruit candy and distributed it to the animals in the yard.

Then he stood in the front yard and said...

"The country is still in a difficult period, and we cadres should take the lead in being thrifty and frugal. We will not hold any banquets. I hope everyone will not mind."

He then took Liu Ruyan back to his home in Mianhua Hutong.

Here, he also took out several kilograms of fruit candies and distributed them, then repeated the previous reason.

No one could refute his high-sounding reasons.

After all, cracking down on extravagance and waste is a common occurrence these days.

In the following days, Liu Ruyan truly witnessed the "diligence and thrift" that Yan Jiefang had described.

Not to mention the large amounts of meat, fish, and refined grains we eat every day, all sorts of appliances in our home are running non-stop.

The cupboard was almost overflowing with soft drinks, peanuts, melon seeds, candies, and other snacks, so everyone could eat and drink as much as they wanted without worrying about running out.

Even his personal allowance is only two hundred yuan!

Knowing that his mother-in-law would be living in Beijing for a long time, he spent a lot of money to buy a room in the opposite building for her to live in.

It's not that he doesn't want to buy one or two more rooms, but that there's no one available to sell them right now.

With the increasing population in Beijing, urban housing has become increasingly scarce in recent years.

In addition, with strict government control, there are almost no private properties available for sale in the market.

Yan Jiefang paid 50% more than the normal price for this abandoned side room he bought, even though it was secretly abandoned. It was much more expensive than the abandoned side room he bought last year.

That means he currently has about 10,000 yuan more in savings than the average family; otherwise, who would buy a house for no reason?

Money alone is not enough; without certain personal connections, even the proper procedures cannot be completed.

Many families are still crammed into rented houses.

After his honeymoon ended, Yan Jiefang returned to work at the factory.

To his surprise, according to regulations, he could no longer live in a single-person apartment building after getting married, and had to move to the family dormitory.

Moreover, because he had private property and was underemployed, he could not be allocated a dormitory room for family members in a tenement building.

Therefore, from now on, he will have to travel back and forth between Factory 774 and Cotton Alley every day.

Even by bicycle, given the poor road conditions and the distance of thirteen or fourteen kilometers, it would take an hour or two to travel one way.

In other words, he wastes two hours every day just commuting to and from work.

This is infinitely more troublesome than living in a single dormitory.

It would be even more difficult if there were blizzards or rain.

Yan Jiefang sighed inwardly: "Lust is indeed a dangerous thing! I should have known better than to get married so early! It was too hasty!"

Should I learn some mechanical modification skills to modify bicycles? How about converting them into gasoline-powered bicycles?

After thinking about it carefully, he realized that even if the modification was successful, it wouldn't be of much use.

The gasoline issue was simple for him, and the modifications weren't difficult either. The only problem was that this kind of car wasn't allowed on the road at all.

Unauthorized modified gasoline-powered bicycles are non-standard vehicles without license plates or permits, and do not comply with the current regulations for non-motorized vehicle management, so they cannot be legally driven on the road.

In a prime location like Nanluoguxiang, driving on the road will result in being stopped and penalized by traffic management authorities, and the vehicle will be confiscated immediately.

All that hard work and effort, in the end it's all for nothing.

With no other option, Yan Jiefang decided to rent a house near Jiuxianqiao as a temporary residence.