A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Lu Cheng followed Director Zhang to a courtyard house with two entrances. Seeing that there were already five or six families living in the yard and there were a lot of sundries piled up, he looked down on it.

But Lu Cheng did not speak directly. Instead, he followed Director Zhang to the backyard and listened to Director Zhang's introduction: "The three main rooms in the backyard of this yard are vacant. The original residents were workers from the textile factory. Because of job transfers, their workplaces are far away, and they were re-allocated houses. They no longer live here. The people living here are all families of textile factory workers. These three houses can be rented for only a hundred yuan a year..."

Lu Cheng nodded and didn't say much.

Seeing his attitude, Director Zhang knew that he didn't like this place, so he just took him for a walk and then left.

After Lu Cheng went out, he looked around again and was not very satisfied.

In fact, at that time, many slums did not have toilets in the yard in order to accommodate as many people as possible. People had to go to public toilets outside, and they were all dry toilets, so the sanitary conditions were not particularly good.

Moreover, many residents in the slums have built shacks next to their houses, or simply expanded them into one or two small houses, making the interiors appear very crowded.

For such haphazardly rebuilt shantytowns, the price will be greatly reduced even in 20 or 30 years.

After coming out, Director Zhang said, "It seems that you really want to find a small courtyard."

Lu Cheng also explained with a smile: "Director Zhang, I was a barefoot doctor before I was admitted to university. I wanted to have an independent yard to store some medicinal materials. In the future, I may want to open a small clinic or something..."

Lu Cheng briefly stated his request: "Director Zhang, I'm new here and I'm unfamiliar with the place. As soon as I saw you, I felt very friendly. I don't know much about the situation here, so I'm sorry to trouble you to take care of me."

Director Zhang thought for a moment and then suddenly thought of something: "Now that you mention it, there is indeed a yard that may meet your requirements. Let's go, ride our bikes and take a look together."

The two returned to the street office. Director Zhang pushed out a Phoenix brand bicycle. Lu Cheng rode the bicycle and took Director Zhang through the streets. After walking about two or three kilometers, they arrived at the gate of an independent courtyard.

The gate of the courtyard was open, so Director Zhang took Lu Cheng directly inside.

As soon as I entered the yard, I saw a short and thin old man fiddling with a radio.

Director Zhang greeted him, "Old Li, are you fiddling with your old radio again? It's time to buy a new one."

"It's so expensive to buy a new one. I can still use it after repairing it. How come Director Zhang has time to come to my place today?"

"Aren't you planning to rent out this yard? Perfect, let me introduce you to a tenant."

Then Director Zhang introduced Lu Cheng: "This is Old Li, Li Zhengyu. He is also an old Beijinger. This house is his ancestral inheritance, and he is planning to rent it out."

Old Li stood up, looked Lu Cheng up and down, and shrugged: "Young man, you smell like Chinese medicine, are you studying Chinese medicine?"

"Hello, Uncle Li, you have a really good sense of smell. My name is Lu Cheng, and I am indeed studying Chinese medicine. I was just admitted to the University of Traditional Chinese Medicine this year."

"I was saying that, the smell of Chinese medicine on you is too much like my old friend. But, as a student, why do you want to rent a house?"

"I want to bring my wife and children from my hometown to live here so that I can take care of them nearby."

"How old are you? How many children do you have?"

"I'm 24 this year, and I only have one child, less than two years old."

There was nothing to hide about this matter, so Lu Cheng said it directly.

"Okay, take a look at my yard first. If you are satisfied, I will rent it to you for 20 yuan a month."

Lu Cheng didn't expect the other party to be so straightforward. In fact, as soon as he entered the yard, he liked this small yard very much.

The yard is not small, with a total area of ​​about 450 square meters. There are three main rooms on the north side, two ear rooms, two side rooms on the east and west sides, and a total of more than ten rooms together with the back room.

The house was very clean inside and out. There was a pomegranate tree, a small round stone table and several stone benches in the yard.

A small yard like this only costs twenty yuan, which is obviously too low.

Even Director Zhang was puzzled: "Old Li, I remember that last time I brought someone here, you were unwilling to rent it to them for 25 yuan a month. Why are you only charging yuan this time?"

Old Li laughed: "Just because this guy is studying Chinese medicine and is a student of the University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, I am willing to rent it to him."

When Lu Cheng heard this, he knew there was a story behind it, but he didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he said, "Uncle Li, are you really willing to rent this whole yard to me for 20 yuan?"

"Of course, if you're sure you want to rent it, you can stay here tonight and I'll move out tomorrow."

Lu Cheng didn't say much. He went into each room and looked around. There was nothing wrong with the house and there wasn't much furniture in the house. He nodded happily and said, "Okay, I'll rent this house. I'll rent it for two years and pay you two years' rent directly. As long as you agree, we can sign a contract now."

Twenty yuan a month, that’s only four hundred and eighty yuan for two years. Lu Cheng doesn’t care about this little money.

As for why he didn't rent for a longer period of time, Lu Cheng already had a plan in mind. He would find a way to earn some money in the next two years and then buy a courtyard house directly, so he wouldn't have to rent a house.

Seeing that they hit it off immediately, Director Zhang was happy to notarize the document for them.

Uncle Li was also a straightforward person. Soon the street office came forward and prepared a rental contract for them in duplicate. Both parties signed and put their fingerprints on it, and the house was rented.

Only then did Lu Cheng realize that this Mr. Li's ancestors had been wealthy and owned several courtyard houses in Yanjing.

Later, for various reasons, only two courtyards were left. One was given to his only son, and the other was for himself and his wife to live in.

Last year, Mr. Li's wife passed away, and his son has always wanted Mr. Li to live with them and rent out this yard.

But Uncle Li has not found a suitable tenant yet. He would rather stay and look after the yard than rent it to an unsuitable person.

In fact, these days all factories and units will allocate housing, and the people in Beijing are not short of houses to live in, and not many people rent houses, so Lu Cheng has waited for what he wanted.

As for why Uncle Li was willing to rent the house to Lu Cheng at a low price, there was a reason for that.

Mr. Li had a serious illness a few years ago and visited all the major hospitals. He was finally cured by an old Chinese doctor and became very fond of Chinese medicine. When he learned that Lu Cheng was a student of the University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, he was willing to rent the house to Lu Cheng at a low price and was very optimistic about Lu Cheng.

In order to thank Director Zhang for his help in the introduction, Lu Cheng specially bought two boxes of snacks and a pound of White Rabbit milk candy and gave them to Director Zhang.

After the two signed the contract, Lu Cheng moved into the west wing of the courtyard that day.

Uncle Li also specially prepared two or three side dishes, a bottle of Niulanshan, and drank two glasses with Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng also returned the favor by giving Uncle Li a massage for free.

After Lu Cheng's massage, Uncle Li felt much more relaxed and praised Lu Cheng's skills: "Little Lu, with your unique skills, you will never have to worry about having no food in Yanjing in the future. I will introduce you to some old friends later, and you can help them with massage and earn some money for food."

"Then I'd like to thank you very much, old man."