Siheyuan, my new life

After listening to her husband's words, Liu Lanhua nodded slightly involuntarily. Although she, as a mother, loved all her own children, after all, they were her own flesh and blood, compared to daughters, sons bore the heavy responsibility of continuing the Xu family line. In this era, the preference for sons over daughters was a common phenomenon in society. Many families had five or six daughters in a row in order to have a son to continue the family line. Even the names of those daughters were related to having a son, such as Zhaodi, Pandi, and Niandi, which were countless.

Although Liu Lanhua was far more knowledgeable and discerning than other ordinary housewives, she was still a rather traditional woman at heart. Between her son Xu Damao and her daughter Xu Xiaoling, the scales in her heart would naturally tip in favor of her son. However, she had already thought that when her daughter got married, she would prepare a generous dowry for her and, like the third concubine Lou Tanshi, secretly give her daughter some extra money as a private stash.

Hearing that it concerned her son's future, Liu Lanhua fully supported Xu Fugui's idea. The Xicheng Cinema used to be Lou Bancheng's property. It was one of the places that Boss Lou specially built to entertain clients and friends. You should know that before liberation, being able to watch a movie was almost a luxury for ordinary people. It was an enjoyment that only high-ranking officials and nobles could have.

Liu Lanhua had accompanied the third concubine to watch movies there many times. However, after the peaceful liberation of Beijing, Lou Bancheng donated the original Lou Family Cinema to the state. After the local government took over, it expanded and renovated the cinema and opened it to the public.

The Xicheng Cinema now has fewer than twenty staff members in total. As a projectionist in such a small unit, there is basically no chance for advancement. On the other hand, the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill is a large factory with tens of thousands of employees. It is considered a relatively large steel enterprise in Beijing. The propaganda department alone has twenty or thirty people, and the department head enjoys the treatment of a deputy director. Liu Lanhua firmly believes that with her son Xu Damao's intelligence, he will definitely be able to get a position in the future, and at that time, she will be the mother of a leader.

Seeing that his wife remained silent, Xu Fugui mistakenly assumed she was still sulking about his outings, so he tried to divert her attention by making small talk: "Lanhua, as I just mentioned, I told Da Mao to try and get on good terms with that new guy. Besides hoping to use his connections in the future, since we're moving to the vicinity of the West City Cinema, our son will be living alone in this courtyard house. You know Da Mao has never gotten along with Zhu Zi from He Daqing's family since he was little. To be honest, Da Mao can't really beat that brat on his own. If our son can get on good terms with the new guy, then if Da Mao and Zhu Zi have a conflict, someone will be there to help Da Mao. Even if they don't help, it's good to have someone to mediate between them. You should know very well what kind of people the other families in our courtyard are like. Most of them are snobbish opportunists who fawn over the powerful and bully the weak. If you want those guys to help you, pigs will fly."

Liu Lanhua knew all too well the residents of this courtyard. Now that He Daqing had become a government official, they were all trying to curry favor with him, hoping to gain some advantage from him. However, He Daqing was shrewd enough to be more cunning than a monkey once he got involved with someone. Over the years, who in the courtyard at number 95 had ever gotten the better of him? It was probably a case of the blind lighting a lamp, a futile effort.

So Liu Lanhua said, "Since you've already made up your mind, I'll teach Da Mao how to cook more in the future. After all, once we move out, he'll have to cook for himself. Things aren't like they used to be. With money but no receipts, it's difficult to even eat at a restaurant. Especially now that the food supply has decreased, food is scarce everywhere. We need to teach Da Mao how to manage his life. It's a pity there are age restrictions for marriage now; men have to be at least twenty. Otherwise, we could find him a wife sooner and have a grandson sooner."

Hearing his wife finally speak, Xu Fugui secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although Lou Tanshi had disappeared, he still didn't speak with much authority in front of her because of his long-standing habits.

Reaching out to pick up his wine glass, Xu Fugui took a sip of Erguotou and said in a low voice, "I plan to invite Yue Xiangqian for drinks in a couple of days. During the few days he was detained in the security department's detention room, he inadvertently revealed that the food factory is currently conducting a political review on him. If he can pass the review, he will become the director of the third workshop of the food factory. Although he is just a section chief, he has stepped into the ranks of reserve cadres. We may need him in the future."

Liu Lanhua nodded: "Inviting Yue Xiangqian is no problem, but forget about Hao Aiguo. Since you've decided to move out, you can't keep this job as the manager anymore. Don't get involved in those thankless tasks anymore. You two were detained for three days, but none of these guys in the courtyard cared about it, and they even deliberately avoided me."

Xu Fugui's face darkened, and he snorted heavily: "All my hard work in organizing the residents of the courtyard to buy grain on the black market was for nothing. Now that something has really happened, they all run away quickly. I still have to act as the manager before we officially move out. But if anyone asks me to organize a trip to the black market to buy grain again, I can use this incident as an excuse to refuse. Anyway, Yue Xiangqian and I have already discussed it inside. If we really need to go to the black market in the future, we can go together. Judging from Yue Xiangqian's demeanor, he probably practiced martial arts for a few years when he was young."

Just as Xu Fugui and his wife were sitting at the octagonal table eating and talking, Yue Xiangqian and his wife were also sitting opposite each other in the east wing of the middle courtyard. On the octagonal table was a pot of stewed chicken with potatoes and stir-fried cabbage with cured meat.

Yue Xiangqian's wife picked up the wine bottle and poured her husband a teacup of baijiu (Chinese liquor), then complained in a low voice, "You went to take a bath with Xu Fugui as soon as you got home this morning. There are some things that are not easy to say in front of him. I just don't understand. You are usually such a shrewd person, how could you be so confused this time? You know, even if you get caught buying grain on the black market, at most the goods will be confiscated and you will be fined. At worst, your workplace will be notified for criticism and education. How could you fight with law enforcement officers?"

Yue Xiangqian picked up his teacup, took a sip of baijiu, and sighed softly: "At the time, I was also hoping for the best. First, there was only one person blocking the road, and second, he was wearing a cotton overcoat, not a uniform."