Siheyuan: Living in the People's Community, with a Heart for the Red Star

The next morning, Lao Yang was woken up by Zhao Jingyi, who urged Lao Yang and Li Yuping to wash up quickly. By the time the three of them had finished their work and prepared the gifts, it was already nine o'clock.

Lao Yang took out a yellow mink coat named Zhao Jingyi from his space and asked her to go back to her parents' home to have a meal for a day. He also gave the coat to his mother-in-law as a gift to save her from being bored at home.

Old Yang got in the car and, under the guidance of Li Yuping, went to No. 3 Courtyard, Zhengyi Road, Dongjiaominxiang, Dongcheng District. This used to be the old house of the Huang family, which was considered a private residence and had been passed down to Huang Jincheng for ten generations.

Huang Jincheng's father, Huang Yujian, was a man of prominent family, suave and capable before the founding of the People's Republic of China. He served as the director of the Economic Department and the deputy mayor of Kyoto. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as a logistics and financial consultant, a national economic committee member, and a special financial commissioner. After the age of 70, he resigned from all his jobs and lived at home.

Because you have been out of the financial system for too long, your influence has been seriously reduced, and you seem to be powerless to take care of your son Huang Jincheng. Huang Jincheng was suppressed because Huang Yujian's reputation in the financial system was seriously reduced.

Although Mr. Huang is over 80 and no longer as energetic as he used to be, he still has a good eye for people. This time, inviting Old Yang to the Huang family was also meant to test him. After all, if he wanted his son to follow Old Yang to develop abroad, it would require a lot of determination and comprehensive considerations.

Huang Jincheng is the most outstanding among Mr. Huang's sons, and he is expected to take up the responsibility of the Huang family in the future. Mr. Huang has three sons and four daughters, and Huang Jincheng is the youngest son. The first two sons are leaders at the department level in the financial system, and this is the level they will reach in their lifetime. Huang Jincheng is the one with the highest achievement, but he was suppressed and sat on the bench after returning to China. Huang Jincheng's four sisters, the eldest sister has died of illness, the second sister is working with her husband in Nanjing, the third sister Huang Jinzhi is in Kyoto, and the fourth sister and her family are supporting construction in Northeast China.

When Lao Yang and Li Yuping arrived at Huang's house, Huang Jincheng's elder brother Huang Jinguo, Huang Jincheng, and Huang Jinzhi were all waiting at home.

The Huang family's ancestral home is really big, with two courtyards in front and back, and a cross-courtyard with east and west sides. The east cross-courtyard is the eldest brother Huang Jinguo, and the west cross-courtyard is the second brother Huang Jinshan. The front yard has obviously been renovated, and the gate has been rebuilt and expanded, so that cars can drive directly into the yard. Although the Huang family is now in decline, there is still a Fiat car in the family. Although it is more than ten years old, it can still be used. Huang Jincheng drove this Fiat yesterday.

Old Yang drove the car into the front yard and parked it side by side with the Fiat. The sound of the car startled the people chatting in the front hall. After Old Yang and Li Yuping parked the car, they saw the door of the hall was pushed open, and Huang Jinguo, Huang Jinzhi and Huang Jincheng appeared outside the door. When they saw Old Yang getting out of the car, they also came to greet him.

Old Yang opened the trunk and took down all the gifts he had brought with him. The Huang brothers and sisters also came over to help carry the gifts and walked into the house. Huang Jincheng introduced his eldest brother Huang Jinguo to Old Yang, and the two shook hands enthusiastically.

Huang Jincheng's eldest brother Huang Jinguo is a bit dull and not good at socializing, but he is a nice person and is really fond of Lao Yang and Li Yuping. Huang Jinguo is 50 years old this year and has no children. It is said that he has not remarried after his wife died, and he loves the next generation of children very much.

According to Li Yuping, her second uncle Huang Jinshan and his wife Jin Yumei have two sons and a daughter, all of whom are in school. Her third uncle Huang Jincheng also has a son and two daughters, and his wife Zhao Guizhi is a university teacher.

I didn’t see the Huang family’s children or daughters-in-law today. I don’t know what’s going on.

The group soon arrived at the living room, which was the largest living room Lao Yang had ever seen, occupying most of the building in the north room of the front yard. The living room is divided into two levels, an outer hall and an inner hall. Hanging in the main hall of the outer hall was not a portrait of a great man, but a painting of "Jade Tree in Autumn Frost", and underneath was a set of 18 antique yellow rosewood living rooms. The inner hall was a set of 11 large sofas, which was luxurious. The inner and outer halls were separated by hollow door panels, which could also be disassembled into a hall.

Everyone came to the inner hall and sat down on the big sofa. Li Yuping and her mother took the gifts they brought to the back hall. Only the Huang brothers and Old Yang were left in the hall, so Huang Jincheng and Old Yang were the main focus of the conversation, and Huang Jinguo was a qualified observer at the side.

Huang Jincheng said that Mr. Huang lived in the backyard. Since their mother passed away, Mr. Huang rarely left the backyard. He just took a walk in the yard, basked in the sun, listened to the radio, read the newspaper, and rarely came to the front hall.

The wives of both families are working overtime and will rush back at noon. The children in the family are also in school and will have a day off tomorrow, so the house is very quiet now, and such a large yard seems a bit deserted.

Huang Jin Guo was so happy after Lao Yang called him "uncle" several times that he almost had a nose bubble. He kept refilling tea for Huang Jin Cheng and Lao Yang, and occasionally chatted with them.

Li Yuping and Huang Jinzhi went to the back kitchen to prepare food and lunch. Huang Jincheng also invited a chef to cook, who was said to be the successor of the famous Tan family cuisine. Old Yang thought to himself, could this be referring to Sha Zhu? In Old Yang's impression, there were too few successors of Tan family cuisine, only the original Fengzeyuan and the wives of Lou Zhenhua and Lou Bancheng.

With the current level of Huangjincheng, it is estimated that the only person who can be invited is Shazhu. Of course, Lao Yang is in no mood to go back to confirm whether it is Shazhu, which has no effect on him at all.

Li Yuping would bring some washed and dried fruits to everyone from time to time. Fresh lychees, bananas, and mangoes were rare in Beijing, and the Huang brothers also tried a few each, praising Lao Yang for his skills.

Huang Jinguo also envied Huang Jincheng, after all, Huang Jincheng could go abroad with Lao Yang to develop. As the eldest son, he had to be filial at home, and it was even more unreasonable for him to travel far away without any children. Therefore, he was very interested in the foreign situation, finance and currency that Lao Yang and Huang Jincheng talked about, and he listened carefully.

Soon, it was almost noon, and the wives of Huang Jinshan and Huang Jincheng returned home. Their workplaces were not far from their houses, so it was convenient to ride bicycles to and from get off work.

Huang Jincheng introduced the couple to each other, and Lao Yang hurriedly greeted his aunt. The two girls were so happy that they couldn't stop smiling. After the introduction, the two girls went to the back hall to help clean up the food.

At this time, the two brothers took Lao Yang to the backyard to meet Mr. Huang.

The three of them walked through the back door of the central hall and came to the backyard. There was an archway on the east and west sides of the backyard, connecting the east and west courtyards. There were two side rooms on both sides of the archway. The east side room was converted into a kitchen. Several women were helping to pick vegetables in the kitchen. The cooked food would be brought to a room on the north side, which should be a converted restaurant.

Huang Jinguo and Huang Jincheng led Lao Yang to the main room in the north and pushed the door open. There was a rocking chair in the main room. An old man wearing glasses was listening to the radio with his eyes closed, rocking back and forth. He stopped rocking when he heard the door open, opened his eyes and looked over.

Seeing his eldest son Huang Jinguo and the third son Huang Jingcheng leading a young man into the room, he knew that this must be his granddaughter and son-in-law. The old man smiled and sat up from the rocking chair and sat on the chair next to him.

Huang Jincheng immediately stepped forward and introduced: "Father, this is Ping'er's boyfriend Yang Shangjin, he came to see you today!"

"Xiao Yang, this is our father Huang Yujian, come forward and meet him!" Huang Jincheng introduced to Lao Yang.

Old Yang stepped forward, clasped his hands together, bowed and said, "Hello, Mr. Huang! I am so overwhelmed to see you, and I can't express it in words. I hope you will forgive me!"

Old Yang raised his head and stared at Old Mr. Huang. Old Mr. Huang also looked at Old Yang carefully. The two looked at each other without saying anything. The atmosphere was a little awkward for a while.

Huang Jincheng quickly replied, "Father, Xiao Yang is Ping'er's boyfriend and this is his first visit..."

Huang Jincheng paused for a moment and glanced at the old man. The old man withdrew his scrutinizing gaze with a smile on his face, took a small box from the table behind him and handed it to Lao Yang.

"Well, you are a handsome, suave, and dignified man, a true Chinese man. I'll give you this small gift!"

Old Yang took another step forward and took the iron box with both hands. It felt quite heavy in his hands, but he didn't know what was inside. He said, "Thank you for your generous gift, old man. I dare not refuse the gift from my elders, so I will accept it!"

After saying that, he put the gift into his jacket pocket, which was actually a storage space. He quickly scanned it and found a Parker gold pen engraved with the name of a great man. Old Yang's heart beat violently twice. Anything related to a great man is not a simple item. In this era, it can turn the tide and is a life-saving amulet. The old man has invested a lot!

Old Yang calmed down and took out a birthday ornament he had made before. A yellow jade birthday ornament appeared in the palm of his hand. He handed the yellow jade birthday ornament to Mr. Huang.

Mr. Huang also loved it as soon as he saw it. The gift not only caters to his surname, but also caters to his hobbies and satisfies his current wishes. This is a model of giving gifts that touch the heart.

Mr. Huang's observation and carefulness towards Lao Yang have improved. In fact, he didn't know that Lao Yang just took out a gift casually, but he felt that the yellow one was more suitable for the old man to play with. Fortunately, he won a lot of favor in the old man's heart.

Huang Jincheng saw that the two were in a good mood and said quickly, "Father, the food and wine are ready. Let's go to the restaurant and eat and talk. Brother, please support father."

Huang Jincheng turned to Lao Yang and said, "Come on, Xiao Yang, let's go to the restaurant and eat and chat. Today I have prepared the best Lao Baigan. This is the best liquor I have found since returning to China, and it is even rarer than what we drank in Hong Kong!"

Huang Jincheng led the way, while Lao Yang and Huang Jinguo followed the old man to the restaurant. Although the old man was not young, he was still very strong and his movements were very flexible. He did not look old at all.

Mr. Huang, Mr. Huang, and Mr. Yang sat down, and Huang Jincheng brought a mud-sealed wine jar, the kind that holds 10 jin. He put the wine jar on a small table next to him, gently patted off the mud seal, opened the paper seal inside, and gently took out the lid of the wine jar.

A strong aroma of wine emanated, and Mr. Huang's eyes also shone brightly. The eldest of the Huang family also turned his eyes to the mouth of the jar. Except for Old Yang, everyone's eyes were attracted by the strong aroma of wine, as if they were admiring some rare treasure. Huang Jincheng picked up the bamboo wine scoop beside him, took a scoop and sniffed it gently, looked at the color of the wine under the light, and after confirming that there was no problem, he took the wine pot and funnel beside him and poured the wine into the wine pot. After filling the pot with wine, he sealed the wine jar, returned to the table and filled all the two-cent small cups in front of everyone.

The old man couldn't help but pick up the wine glass and said, "It's Xiao Yang's first time to visit my home. I am very happy. I am also very happy that Ping'er has found such a good son-in-law. I hope you can stay together and spend your life together. This cup wishes you a long and happy life together!"

Several people raised their glasses and drank them all. Mr. Huang and the eldest brother of the Huang family held the wine in their mouths and tasted it carefully before swallowing it. Only Lao Yang, who knew nothing, swallowed it in one gulp and tasted nothing except the taste of wine. After all, Lao Yang's wine tasting ability is just that of a younger brother. His love for fine wine is nothing more than the influence of public opinion in later generations. He only knows that these wines are valuable, but he doesn't know the value of these wines.

Then the old man drank five glasses of wine in a row in the manner of a patriarch. After that, Huang Jinguo and Huang Jincheng refused to let the old man drink any more, but kept picking food for him and urging him to eat more. The old man was very unhappy and chatted with Lao Yang for a while before getting up and leaving the restaurant. The Huang brothers and Lao Yang were left to eat and drink as much as they wanted.

Lao Yang did not try to control his alcohol, and the three of them soon became drunk. They drank almost all of the liquor in the jar, and each of them drank nearly two kilograms. When Lao Yang left, Li Yuping drove him away, and he was already unconscious. Huang Jinguo and Huang Jincheng were not much better, and were sent back to their respective rooms by several women to rest. Huang Jinzhi led several wives to send Lao Yang and Li Yuping away.

After Lao Yang and Li Yuping returned to the compound, Li Yuping helped Lao Yang back to the house. Lao Yang, who was drunk, lay down on the bed and fell asleep drunk. This was also the second time Lao Yang got drunk since he came into this world, and he was even more drunk than the first time, because the old wine had a stronger aftereffect. Lao Yang did not sober up until Zhao Jingyi came back, and the two of them took care of him until the next morning.

After Lao Yang sobered up, he shook his groggy head and quickly came to his senses. After all, Lao Yang's physical fitness was there and definitely not comparable to that of ordinary people!