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

I almost forgot, there's also this guy, the Moral Celestial.

Because of all the years of mending pots and pans, exposed to wind and rain, this old man has suffered a lot.

Now his face is covered in deep wrinkles, like chrysanthemums; he's barely 70 and already looks terrible. (Based on a line from a TV series, Yi Zhonghai was born in 1911.)

Not long ago, Yan Jiefang glanced at him.

With his medical skills, he could tell at a glance that the Celestial Venerable Morality had late-stage lung cancer and wouldn't live much longer.

Yi Zhonghai's wife, Li Cuilan, suffered from heart disease and also did not live for many more years.

...

Because in 1981, 49 cities were in a special stage of breaking through and starting the individual catering economy, Yan Jiefang had to temporarily give up his plan to open a restaurant after seeing the situation at that time.

That same year, a song called "The Heroic Spirit of China" became a huge hit and spread rapidly throughout the country.

The streets and alleys are filled with Yan Jiefang's magnificent and heroic voice in this song.

"In China, the mountains stand tall like proud heads!"

"In China, rivers flow like hot blood!"

...

Many people were hearing about Yan Jiefang, who sang this song, for the first time.

I thought he was a rising star singer from some organization.

It turned out that he was just an ordinary worker in an electronics factory.

News about him gradually began to circulate:

Senior technician, level 11, at Factory 774;

Author of several best-selling novels, including the Bloodstained Charge trilogy, the Great Rejuvenation trilogy, and Birds Fill the Courtyard;

He was the lyricist and composer of several widely popular songs, including "Me and My Motherland".

A top sprinter who broke the world and National Games 100-meter records;

He was a core member of the Beijing basketball team that led them to two National Games championships.

Now I never expected that, besides all that, he is also a very talented singer!

The song "The Mighty Spirit of China" is powerful and majestic, inspiring everyone who hears it and boosting their confidence.

It is said that this song was written specifically for the athletes participating in the 23rd Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

He himself, at the age of 39, will participate in the 100-meter competition at this Olympic Games to win glory for the country!

Reporters from numerous radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and 49 City Television flocked to him to conduct interviews.

When faced with various questions from reporters, Yan Jiefang mostly brushed off the questions without giving a clear answer.

He repeatedly stated that he would train hard to maintain his best physical condition in preparation for the next Olympic Games and strive to win glory for the country.

Faced with the incredibly slick Yan Jiefang, many reporters couldn't find a way to get through to him.

Just as they were about to finish the interview, one of the reporters suddenly asked:

"Comrade Yan, do you think the national team can qualify for next year's World Cup in Spain?"

Yan Jiefang did not answer, but simply shook his head, indicating that he was an amateur and had not paid attention to the competition.

As a time traveler from later generations, who doesn't know that the only time the Chinese national football team qualified for the final round of 32 was in 2002?

Of course, there will only be 24 teams in the finals next year, not the 32 that will be selected.

If there's a World Cup promotion in the sports lottery, just bet on the Chinese national football team losing; it's a guaranteed win!

After the interviews and recordings were broadcast, Yan Jiefang became even more famous among ordinary people.

After all, in people's basic understanding at the time, those who could appear on television were still viewed through an "elite lens".

They are generally considered a capable and contributing group, and hold a high social status among ordinary citizens.

Now, more people greet him when he goes out or stays at the factory.

Everyone waved and greeted each other with smiles on their faces.

Even those who were originally jealous of him and disliked him disappeared.

The factory leaders and the National Olympic Committee have both invited him to sing on the radio or in stadiums.

Everyone praised his song highly, saying that it captured the spirit and character of the nation.

Yan Jiefang accepted all the praise, saying it was all he should do.

That year, he went to the state-owned Beijing Jade Factory at No. 13 Guangming Road, Dongcheng District, and purchased ten kilograms of top-grade Xinjiang mutton-fat jade pebbles. (Hetian jade; you need to specify your needs.)

At that time, the price of top-grade mutton fat jade pebbles from Xinjiang had not yet risen to the astronomical price of tens of thousands of yuan per gram that would later become the case.

It only costs 100-150 yuan per kilogram. (Xinjiang Hetian jade is the most expensive.)

That works out to about 0.1 yuan per gram. (Data available)

In other words, more than forty years later, the price of this product has increased hundreds of thousands of times.

This is so much better than collecting antiques, gold, or rosewood!

These items are all from state-owned factories, so there's no such thing as a fake. Compared to mindlessly collecting antiques, this is the real right way!

Those time travelers in the past had too narrow a vision and failed to discover real business opportunities.

That's hundreds of thousands of times the return!

Buy just a kilogram or two, and you'll have a small financial freedom in future generations. (Readers who write about courtyard houses should remember this and include it in their books. Don't just mindlessly collect antiques; readers are tired of that, haha.)

Yan Jiefang had other uses for the money, so he only bought 10 kilograms and then stopped.

This is almost the best jade available; let's see if a critical hit next year will yield a real spirit stone.

If it's useful, he will naturally come to buy more top-grade mutton fat jade.

Although mutton fat jade is subject to centralized purchase and sales, it is not a big problem to obtain one or two tons or even more than ten tons by using some means and time.

We'll see what the outcome of next year's super critical hit is.

Yan Jiefang put the Hetian jade into his spatial storage and headed home.

To his surprise, Sha Zhu and Liu Yuyan were waiting for him at Mianhua Hutong.

Upon seeing Yan Jiefang return, both of them couldn't help but show some joy.

After exchanging greetings, the two sat down at the octagonal table to drink tea.

Sha Zhu, being tongue-tied, remained silent. Liu Yuyan stood up and said to Yan Jiefang:

"Jiefang, we've come today to ask for your help with something. Among all our relatives, you're the most successful, so we guess we can only rely on you for this..."

As she recounted her story, Yan Jiefang gradually learned the purpose of their visit.

In recent years, Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill has lost its competitiveness in the gradually opening commodity economy market due to outdated equipment and a single product range.

Now, even workers' wages cannot be guaranteed to be paid on time.

Factory director Li Huaide, who was on good terms with them, was already looking for a way out.

Sha Zhu had sensed this situation during his conversations with him, and when he got home he told his wife about it.

Liu Yuyan also became anxious.

After thinking about it for quite some time, she finally came up with the idea of ​​having her husband, Sha Zhu, go out and start his own business.

But they didn't have much savings, so they didn't have enough money to open a restaurant and thought about borrowing money.

The moment the idea of ​​borrowing money came to mind, Yan Jiefang, his brother-in-law, immediately came to mind.

They all knew that Yan Jiefang must be rich, and as long as they spoke politely, lending him a thousand or two yuan shouldn't be a problem.