All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

In response, Han Chunming was quite straightforward. He simply didn't make many friends, his studies were so-so, and he was quiet and reserved in the classroom. During holidays, he would basically stay at home with Qi Siqiao. At school, he would spend most of his time in the library. Even more outrageous, he would occasionally go with the ragpicker Hou to collect antiques.

In short, such an outlier can be described as someone who is invisible and has no presence whatsoever.

On the contrary, Qi Siqiao caused quite a stir as soon as she entered university. After all, such a beautiful mixed-race girl is really rare in this era. Her exotic charm and unique allure are a direct shock to these pure college students.

In those days, whether in universities or in rural areas, most young women wore two braids and dressed plainly, as if the simpler the clothes, the more glorious it was.

Through Han Chunming's unintentional guidance, Qi Siqiao's clothing, hairstyle, and overall appearance seemed to be ahead of their time.

With the added nourishment from Han Chunming, this young lady has become increasingly beautiful and charming in the past two years. Even some young teachers are starting to take notice of her.

Even now, young boys would occasionally confess their love to her with poems. A woman who had ridden the wolf king naturally looked down on these little puppies.

Fortunately, it was already 1979, and the new ideas of reform and opening up had already taken root in the hearts of young people. For a beautiful girl like Qi Siqiao, there was more envy than criticism!

The wave brought about by reform and opening up has not only changed the thinking of many people, but also changed the fate of many.

Cheng Jianjun's father, Cheng Qinghua, returned to his post after Director Lin stepped down, but it was only a sinecure, and he would probably retire in this position.

However, the evidence against Cheng Jianjun is already irrefutable and cannot be changed. He has now been in prison for two years.

I wonder if that old scheming bastard has already had his chrysanthemum planted by someone. Who knows?

Since that incident, the Han and Cheng families have completely severed ties. Han Chunming has not publicized the matter, and Cheng Qinghua and his wife are even more ashamed to spread their son's story. In short, there seems to be an undercurrent in this compound.

The Su family and the Han family no longer have much contact. When they occasionally meet, they only exchange greetings. The old-fashioned chats are no longer possible. The former neighborly relationship can never be restored.

With the arrival of 1979, Han Chunming, though still in school, noticed the changes brought about by the reform and opening up.

In various markets, supplies gradually became more abundant, and some foreign gadgets, as well as novelties from Hong Kong and Macau, also flowed into Yanjing through various channels.

The number of street vendors has increased without anyone noticing, and you can even occasionally see foreigners with white skin and blond hair in Beijing, something that would have been absolutely unheard of in the previous ten or twenty years.

For a country, the changes brought about by reform and opening up may not be immediately apparent to ordinary people, but their lives are gradually affected.

In short, this change came as if a spring breeze had arrived overnight, catching countless people off guard.

The clock struck 1980 without us even realizing it.

It's unclear when exactly, but in Yanjing, many families bought television sets to watch TV dramas and keep up with the latest trends, which became a popular practice.

When people went to the market to buy things, the value of money seemed to become more pure. Many new gadgets that couldn't be bought in state-run stores could be found elsewhere.

Jeans, sunglasses, and tape recorders have become the new fashion staples for young people.

Time was moving forward, and Han Chunming was still in the same lazy state. In the blink of an eye, it was graduation season in 1982.

He didn't know when it started, but every time Han Chunming returned home, the same song would play on the same street.

Sweet, sweet smile

It's like flowers blooming in the spring breeze.

Open in the spring breeze

Where, where have I seen you?

Your smile is so familiar

~~

The song is catchy and easy to sing, like a spring breeze, so that Han Chunming would unconsciously hum it every time he passed by.

1982 was a year that left a deep impression on Han Chunming.

That year, he and Qi Siqiao finally completed their graduation thesis and officially ended their four-year university life.

That same year, Han Chunming and Han Chunming hastily obtained their marriage certificate just ten days after graduation.

The reason for this rush is that Qi Siqiao is pregnant.

It was indeed Han Chunming's fault that Qi Siqiao was pregnant, and it disrupted Han Chunming and Qi Siqiao's plans.

The couple had originally planned to wait two years before having children, but Han Chunming didn't expect that he would get carried away and have too much fun. He felt guilty.

The only saving grace is that they have already graduated. If it had been a year earlier, it's hard to say whether the kid would have stayed or not.

So, you never know whether an accident or tomorrow will come first.

In short, since she was already pregnant, the two of them discussed it and decided to keep the baby. After all, Han Chunming was already twenty-eight years old, which was not considered young in this day and age.

Han's mother was overjoyed about Qi Siqiao's pregnancy and immediately let Qi Siqiao move into the compound.

All these things happened at once, and Han Chunming had no choice but to let nature take its course.

Besides these things, there's another urgent matter: we're almost out of money at home. Not that we're really broke, but we're out of cash.

Over the years, Han Chunming has collected only a few antiques, maybe a hundred or so, but each one is the kind that would fetch tens of millions at auction in later years.

Even if he had found a way to sell it in 1982, the price would have been at least several dozen times higher than what he bought it for. Truly good things are valuable in any era.

Just like those five blue and white porcelain vases that Cheng Jianjun stole back then, if Han Chunming had bought them for 1,880 yuan back then, now, four or five years later, if he sold them to foreigners, each one could fetch several thousand US dollars. But for Han Chunming, he wouldn't sell a single one of them.

However, it's quite a coincidence that those five blue and white porcelain vases are still in Han Chunming's possession. It's really a coincidence that Cheng Jianjun went to jail in 1977 and Director Lin went to jail in 1979.

After he went down there, he desperately tried to raise money to protect himself. He sold most of his beloved possessions. Han Chunming only spent 1,500 yuan to buy the five blue and white porcelain vases.

But Cheng Jianjun exchanged 1,500 yuan for 18 years in prison—what a coincidence!

But maybe if I perform well, I'll be able to get out sooner, who knows?

The Cheng family is now the most low-key family in the compound. They don't participate in any excitements. Cheng Qinghua is currently in a sinecure, waiting to retire, and goes to work and leaves work on time every day.

Cheng's mother no longer works in the neighborhood committee and now stays home to take care of the children. Cheng Jianjun's younger brother is now married and has children. The Cheng family has finally returned to its former tranquility.

After learning she was pregnant, Qi Siqiao secretly told Han Chunming that her family had no money.

Over the past few years, Qi Siqiao's savings have been squandered by Han Chunming, and the small yellow croaker has long since been converted into cash. Now, Han Chunming has less than 500 yuan left in his pocket.

If you're broke, you naturally have to earn more!

Han Chunming and Qi Siqiao were originally supposed to be assigned jobs, but Qi Siqiao became pregnant and naturally couldn't work.

Han Chunming, of course, would not accept that forty yuan a month's salary.

There are many ways to make money; it just depends on how quickly you make it.

At this moment, in a prison on the outskirts of Yanjing, a bearded man heard the broadcast outside, his eyes narrowed, and he sat cross-legged on his bed, listening quietly to the broadcast.

Fifteen minutes later, when the broadcast ended, the man slowly got up from the bed, a deep-seated hatred lingering between his brows as his eyebrows twitched a few times.

He looked out at the sky through the narrow window, and seemed to be talking to himself.

"Han Chunming should have graduated from university by now, right? Five years have passed, time really flies!"

Chapter Thirty-One: Cai Xiaoli Dumps Taozi

Han Chunming felt somewhat out of place returning to society after graduating from university.

Before, I spent every day in the library, oblivious to what was happening outside. Only after returning to society did I realize how much the outside world had changed in the past few years.

In the past, when people got things done, they talked about relationships and feelings. Now, everyone starts talking about money.

Ordinary people talk about being "ten-thousand-yuan households" (households with ten thousand yuan in savings), while those with connections talk about who can get approvals. In short, society isn't as pure as it was a few years ago. But for Han Chunming, this is actually a good thing.

There are many more private restaurants outside, and they don't accept food coupons. The ingredients are also much more abundant, and every restaurant is doing quite well.

Han Chunming was worrying about how to make money when he saw the bustling restaurants everywhere, and he started to feel a little tempted to try it himself.

However, making money from running a restaurant is too slow, and Han Chunming doesn't have the patience to stay in a small restaurant all day.

If you want to make money, you have to make big money; this kind of small-scale operation is meaningless.

In the original novel, Han Chunming invested in a restaurant with Taozi and Cai Xiaoli, but that's definitely not possible in this world for now.

Cai Xiaoli was assigned to work at the newly established Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, while Taozi was assigned to a small state-owned unit under the Industrial Bureau.

Han Chunming was somewhat surprised that Cai Xiaoli was able to get into the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade. Perhaps this was one of the butterfly effects he had caused.

During those two years of college entrance exam preparation, Han Chunming told Cai Xiaoli and Taozi that the country's import and export industry would definitely be a hot industry in the future, and that the import and export of industrial machinery would definitely develop rapidly.

If they want to develop in the industrial sector in the future, they will definitely need to learn foreign languages, and be proficient in a series of professional foreign languages, such as foreign mechanical languages.

Cai Xiaoli trusted Han Chunming implicitly, and she genuinely wanted to change her fate. She also had some talent, so under Han Chunming's guidance, she made rapid progress in professional foreign language skills.

Cai Xiaoli's outstanding performance in university led to her being selected by relevant departments, and upon graduation, she was assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade.

Taozi wasn't so lucky. He tried his best to keep up with Cai Xiaoli, but he got into university by rote memorization. He was also bad at foreign languages, even his everyday speech was a bit hesitant. In the end, he was left far behind by Cai Xiaoli.

He had complained to Han Chunming not long ago. After all, he was a college student, but now his daily job was just pouring tea and delivering newspapers.

I asked my colleagues and found out that this kind of work requires at least three to five years of hard work. The company is a state-owned enterprise and doesn't lack top students. They only hire a few top students to make a show of things.

Furthermore, in his workplace, promotions are purely based on seniority, and the growing gap between him and Cai Xiaoli only fueled his resentment.

The only fortunate thing is that Cai Xiaoli didn't dump Taozi; the two are still a couple and have even met each other's parents, relatives, and friends.

However, even Taozi herself is unsure whether this couple, whose differences are becoming increasingly apparent, can maintain their relationship until the day they put on their wedding dress.

During this period, Han Chunming could sense from Taozi's emotions that the relationship between the young couple was now fraught with crisis.

It's quite normal. Han Chunming could almost guess that in another year or two, after Cai Xiaoli in the Ministry of Foreign Trade had seen the outside world, their relationship would face a real test.

Han Chunming was powerless to change the relationship between the two. He had already changed their fates, and there was no point in forcing things when it came to feelings; they had to rely on themselves.

However, Han Chunming also tentatively asked Taozi about his troubles, suggesting that he should start a business with him. After all, it was 1982 now, and the reform and opening up had been going on for several years. The private economy in the south was booming, and he could definitely start his own business.

For Taozi, that was all Han Chunming could do to help.

The only way to catch up with Cai Xiaoli is through money. Otherwise, following the current path, Taozi might be promoted to deputy section chief in five years, section chief in ten years, and before retiring, he might be able to become a division-level cadre.

His talent was mediocre to begin with, and if he worked in a government agency, his achievements would probably be limited.

Taozi was somewhat tempted by Han Chunming's suggestion, but when he asked Han Chunming what he planned to do, Han Chunming didn't have any good ideas at the moment.

He doesn't have much cash on hand right now, and he's not very interested in low-end industries. If he wants to make quick money, he needs to go for high-profit industries. He hasn't really figured out what to do yet.

Seeing that Han Chunming hadn't decided what to do, Taozi immediately deflated. Although he wasn't satisfied with his current job, his family was. His parents would often boast about him to relatives and friends, which made it difficult for him to make a decision.

Someone like him, a graduate of a top university and working for a government agency, has qualifications that would easily surpass over 90% of young men in Yanjing. But what can he do? This is not an era where women are superior to men. Seeing his partner being so much better than him, how could Taozi not feel anxious?

There was no use in being anxious. That day, Taozi, with a dark face, rode his bicycle to Han Chunming's house to ask him for a drink.

When Han Chunming saw that it was broad daylight and the person was dressed so well, and looking at the other person's face, he knew that this must be another relationship problem.

Sure enough, it was Cai Xiaoli's 25th birthday today, and it was also the weekend. Taozi had prepared to pick Cai Xiaoli up for dinner early in the morning. Taozi had told Cai Xiaoli about this a week ago.