Siheyuan's Silly Pillar has been replaced by someone else

The television was installed very quickly.

Yan Bugui didn't charge anyone for watching TV on his first visit; he generously invited everyone to his home to watch TV.

Yan Zhipeng also crawled into the house, pressed himself against him, and kept calling out "Grandpa".

Yan Bugui verbally agreed, but inwardly he was unconvinced. He thought he could get free TV just by calling someone "Grandpa"—dream on.

So many people wanted to watch TV that they almost blocked the front yard.

He Yuzhu and Xu Damao arrived at the door, but neither of them could get in.

"what happened?"

The sounds came from Yan Bugui's house.

Xu Damao asked in surprise, "Old Man Yan bought a TV?"

People who went to Xu Damao's house to watch TV a couple of days ago turned around and looked over.

“Xu Damao, did you see that? Uncle San bought a TV too. From now on, even if you want us to come to your house to watch TV, we won’t go.”

Xu Damao was about to argue with him angrily, but He Yuzhu stopped him.

The two entered the intermediate court, and Xu Damao complained to He Yuzhu, "Yan Bugui is clearly trying to spite me. Why are you stopping me?"

He Yuzhu said, "Why are you acting impulsively? Don't you know what kind of person Yan Bugui is?"

He would stop and taste every manure cart that passed by his door.

Do you think he'd spend that much money just to spite you?

Xu Damao asked in confusion, "Then why did he buy a television?"

What else could it be for? Of course, it's to charge a fee.

So that's what he did.

After Xu Damao bought the television, Yan Bugui saw an opportunity to make a fortune.

He followed suit and bought a television set. Besides the elderly couple and his grandson, everyone else who wanted to watch television had to pay for electricity.

The idea is beautiful.

As a result, the people in the hospital didn't buy it.

Nobody wants to pay to watch TV.

Everyone in the compound knew about this, but the last person to find out was Sha Zhu.

Xu Damao and Yan Bugui had bought their TVs a long time ago, but no one told them.

Qin Huairuo didn't tell him, her stated reason being that she was afraid he would get angry.

Actually, she was afraid he would ask for money. You see, Sha Zhu's salary was all in Qin Huairu's hands; if Sha Zhu wanted to buy a TV, there was an 80% chance he would ask her for money.

"You've forgotten how Yan Jiecheng used to listen to the radio at home."

Xu Damao quickly remembered.

Yan Bugui was considered a fashionable figure in the courtyard.

He was among the first to buy radios, bicycles, and televisions.

After buying the radio, he would turn the volume down very low so that only he could hear it.

Yan Jiecheng and his group had to pay money if they wanted to listen to the radio.

"So, he bought the TV to make money?"

He Yuzhu said, "Of course. When you watch TV at night, a lot of people gather in the backyard every day."

Yan Bugui had been watching from there the whole time.

Xu Damao gritted his teeth and said, "I never expected that old guy would find an opportunity to make a fortune."

If he can do it, so can I.

He Yuzhu said, "Don't be foolish. If he were taking money, no one would watch it."

Alright, let's go home now. Don't let your daughter sit so close to the TV. Be careful she doesn't get nearsighted.

Xu Damao didn't have time to talk to He Yuzhu and prepared to go back to the backyard.

Ever since they bought a television, Xu Zhenbao has been glued to it every day. Whenever there's a program on, she sits in front of the TV and watches it.

Televisions at this time were very small, so you had to get close to them to see them clearly.

As they reached the corner, Xu Damao turned and asked, "Aren't you going to buy one?"

When I got home, all three of my children were there.

Seeing He Yuzhu come in, He Yuanting asked, "Dad, when are we going to buy a TV?"

He Yuzhu asked, "Why did we buy a TV?"

He Yuanting said, "Nothing much. Everyone else has bought one, so let's buy one too." He Yuanyang added, "Or we could bring over the TV from Grandpa's house."

That way, we can watch it at home too.

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "Silly son, your maternal grandfather's television belongs to the sanatorium. It's government property."

“Then let’s buy one for our family.” He Yuanyang knew that he couldn’t take something that belonged to the government.

He Yuzhu turned to look at Lin Jinghan and said, "Why don't we buy one so they won't keep eyeing it?"

If you say you'll buy it, then buy it.

The next day, He Yuzhu went to Li Huaide and asked him for TV tickets.

Unlike bicycle tickets, TV tickets are a true scarce commodity.

Li Huaide did not have any spare TV tickets.

But this didn't stump him; he made one phone call and got one.

“I offered it to you before, but you didn’t want it. Why are you asking for it today?”

He Yuzhu said, "Isn't this all because of the TV tickets you gave Xu Damao?"

After he bought the television, the children became restless and kept pestering him to have it every day.

Li Huaide laughed and said, "This is my fault. By the way, the Ministry of Metallurgy has notified us to reinstate Lao Yang and make him the deputy factory director."

He Yuzhu actually knew all along. The leader had told him beforehand when he was cooking for the senior leader.

The top leader originally wanted him to be the factory director. However, Li Huaide had done a good job over the years, and his father-in-law was still in power.

Unable to find a suitable reason for Li Huaide to step down, Yang Peishan was left with no choice but to suffer the injustice.

Yang Peishan was originally supposed to be reinstated as factory director.

After getting the ticket, He Yuzhu bought a 14-inch television before leaving get off work.

This is the largest television set ever made.

Xu Damao also wanted to buy a 14-inch one, but they were out of stock, so he bought a 12-inch one instead.

He Yuzhu was luckier than him; a new batch of goods just arrived today.

I brought the TV to Nanluoguxiang and ran into Xu Damao at the intersection.

Xu Damao said in surprise, "A 14-inch one? It's in stock so quickly? When I asked last time, the salesperson told me it would take three months."

If I had known it would be this fast, I would have waited two days.

He Yuzhu said, "I just happened to be there."

The two entered the courtyard, where Yan Bugui was watching a game of chess.

Since he started charging, no one goes to his house to watch TV anymore.

The couple could only entertain themselves.

Upon seeing that He Yuzhu had also bought a television, Yan Bugui quickly said, "Zhuzi, if you want to buy a television, you can tell me. I haven't used my television for more than a few days, so I can sell it to you for five yuan less."

Xu Damao said, "Stop dreaming. Brother Zhu's is a 14-inch one."

You should keep your nine-inch monitor for yourself.

When people in the courtyard heard that He Yuzhu had bought the biggest television set, they looked at him with envy.

After Yan Bugui bought a television, the people in the courtyard were spurred on; even those who couldn't afford one wanted to go and see it.

They all knew the price of the television.

A 14-inch monitor would cost at least 500 yuan.

Five hundred yuan.

Many people don't earn that much in a year.

Yan Zhipeng moved closer to He Yuzhu and asked, "Uncle He, can I watch your TV?"

Xu Damao deliberately asked, "Your grandfather has a TV, why don't you go watch it?"

Yan Zhipeng said aggrievedly, "I don't have any money, and my grandparents won't let me watch it."

Xu Damao said, "Good heavens. Uncle Yan, you really are a real sucker. You even charge your own grandson for watching TV."

Yan Bugui retorted confidently, "What's wrong with me taking money? The TV is on, doesn't it use electricity? The wear and tear on the TV isn't money."

Everyone knows that he can't get poor from eating or dressing, but he can't figure out the reason why he will become poor.

Therefore, it was not surprising that he asked Yan Zhipeng for money.

Back when Yan Jie was this age, he already had to send money home for living expenses. (End of Chapter)