Courtyard House: He Yuzhu started in 1948

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west; time passes and stars shift.

After the Kuomintang lost the Northeast, the situation changed again. With its army having annihilated nearly 500,000 enemy troops, it stopped resting and quickly and secretly entered the pass. Large armies from all over North China poured in one after another, and places such as Beijing, Tianjin, Zhangjiakou, and Xinhuai were already divided and surrounded.

Ms. Fu, who worked for the Tianjin Ta Kung Pao newspaper, received orders from her superiors to enter Beiping (Beijing) to persuade her father to protect the ancient northern city from being destroyed by war.

As early as the beginning of November, He Yuzhu gathered Tian Zao, Dayong, and others together and told them that except for purchasing necessary living supplies, they were not allowed to go out. They were to stay at home obediently and study hard.

The same applies to No. 5 Middle School.

At this time, due to the tense situation, the Fifth Middle School had already given students a holiday and warned them not to go out unless necessary. However, some students lived far away, and it was a big problem for them to eat after returning home. After layers of review, more than 50 students were allowed to stay at the school, and He Yuzhu also had to go to the school to cook for the students.

Of the five elderly women who worked as kitchen helpers, only Jia Zhangshi and Du Jian's mother remain.

Jia Zhangshi was reluctant to give up her wages, while Du Jian's mother wanted to be with her son.

He Yuzhu did not live at the school and continued to go to and from get off work on time as before. The main reason was that he was worried about his family, so he often went back to check on them. Jia Zhangshi went to and from get off work with He Yuzhu. She felt that with He Yuzhu around, at least her safety could be guaranteed.

If we really encounter danger, we can just abandon He Yuzhu and run away. Those bad guys won't just ignore He Yuzhu and make things difficult for a fat old woman like me.

That evening, He Yuzhu returned to his room. After airing out the house, he spent money to buy some antique furniture. Many families in Beiping had fled before, and they couldn't take the fine furniture with them. In addition, with the army besieging the city, the fine antique furniture had become dirt cheap. He Yuzhu bought a huanghuali canopy bed, a huanghuali luohan bed that was said to have come from the palace, and two very ordinary huanghuali noodle cabinets from the Ming Dynasty... Hmm, the kind of red noodle cabinets with hemp and ash coverings that Han Chunming saw at the Nine Gates Admiral Guan.

He prepared a cinnabar-coated cabinet for Tian Zao, a long cabinet for He Daqing, and a large desk made of golden nanmu wood that He Yuzhu bought for himself, making the room full of old things.

Is it expensive?

expensive!

But now it's really dirt cheap... even cheaper than cabbage.

If you don't buy them now, they might end up being burned as firewood when you get them for free later, which would be a real shame.

He Yuzhu especially liked the desk made of large golden nanmu wood slabs.

He Yuzhu was resting when Tian Zao suddenly knocked on the door in the middle of the night. When she saw He Yuzhu, she pulled him aside and said, "My brother came yesterday and said that the weapons have been delivered and the supplies are all stored in an empty house next to Han Qingkui's house."

Upon hearing this, He Yuzhu understood what Tian Zhuang meant.

Tianqiao Xiaogangdan wanted to take advantage of the chaos to kill Han Qingkui.

His plan was similar to He Yuzhu's. He Yuzhu also wanted to take this opportunity to get rid of Han Qingkui, but he would have to wait until January next year to deal with Han Qingkui before the Chinese New Year.

At this point in time, Han Qingkui died, and no one investigated. People from the new world came, and they wouldn't pursue the death of a local tyrant too much, since the world was too chaotic.

He Yuzhu asked, "Where's your older brother?"

Tian Zao replied, "He's busy and can't come right now. He told me to listen to you on what to do, Zhu Zi. What should we do?"

"Let's go take a look over there first."

He Yuzhu felt that there was no time to lose and that preparations had to be made in advance: "There's no time to lose, let's go now. Wait for me to tell my father."

After saying that, He Yuzhu ran to He Daqing's door. He Daqing, who had drunk a little bit of liquor, was quite tipsy. When he saw He Yuzhu knocking on the door, he was very angry: "What's going on? Knocking on the door so late at night?"

He Yuzhu said directly, "Dad, I have something urgent to do and need to go out. If I don't come back later tonight, don't wait for me. When Dongxu's mother calls me to go to work, just tell her I had to leave first."

Upon hearing He Yuzhu's words, He Daqing immediately perked up: "What's the matter? Why do you have to go out so late at night?"

"Don't ask anymore, I'm leaving now."

After He Yuzhu finished speaking, he turned and left, pulling Tian Zao with him as they went out.

He Daqing watched He Yuzhu leave and sighed helplessly.

He was increasingly unable to understand his son. Ever since He Yuzhu accepted counterfeit money and called him "Silly Zhu," He Yuzhu's behavior had become more and more unpredictable. However, every step He Yuzhu took had been proven correct by time, so He Daqing could no longer say anything.

Ugh……

He Daqing sighed, his feelings complicated. He turned and lay down on the bed, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

He Lei was asleep next to him, but no matter how close his apprentice was, it couldn't compare to He Yuzhu's position in his heart.

After all, he's his own son.

……

Han Qingkui's house is located in a courtyard house in Lili Shamao Hutong.

Li Sha Mao Hutong was named after a gauze hat workshop owned by the Li family during the Qing Dynasty. It was renamed Xiao Li Hutong 65 years later.

But in 48, Li Sha Mao Hutong had another unified name: the Eight Great Hutongs!

The term "Eight Great Hutongs" does not refer specifically to these eight streets and alleys, but rather to the area around Dashilan outside Qianmen. This is because there were nearly a hundred brothels of varying sizes scattered in the hutongs outside these eight streets and alleys. However, back then, the brothels in these eight hutongs were mostly first- or second-class, and the prostitutes were of a higher "quality," which is why they were so famous.

Some say it will develop into ten major hutongs, but everyone is used to calling it the eight major hutongs, so it's been called that ever since.

During the Ming Dynasty, those who worked in brothels and entertainment venues lived in the Dongsi South Street area, which was called "Goulan". During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, such venues were strictly prohibited from being opened in the inner city of Beiping, so they were moved to Dashilan outside Qianmen.

The prosperity and prostitution of the Eight Great Hutongs can be attributed to Yuan Shikai. He frequently used his wealth to become emperor, and the places where these transactions took place were in the Eight Great Hutongs. Military and political officials at the time, whether they liked it or not, had to frequent the Eight Great Hutongs, which is why the Eight Great Hutongs became so high-class.

As He Yuzhu walked towards Li Sha Mao Hutong, various descriptions of the Eight Great Hutongs floated through his mind.

Qingyin Xiaoban, teahouse, brothel, brothel... these are the four categories of those places.

Oh dear, I've traveled back to 48, and this is my first time entering the Eight Great Hutongs.

And it wasn't for sightseeing, it was for killing.

Han Qingkui was in charge of two alleys, Li Shamao Alley and Wang Guangfu Xiejie. Li Shamao Alley was easy to defend and difficult to attack, so he lived there.

The house next to Han Qingkui's was relatively small, just an ordinary courtyard, but the owner of that house was nowhere to be found.

Tian Zao was a little worried when she entered the courtyard. What if Han Qingkui found out that this was not a place he was familiar with and came to check?

He Yuzhu, however, did not have such concerns. What kind of identity did Tianqiao Xiaogangdan have? He already had three identities and was working undercover. How could he not have thought of the problems that Tian Zao was worried about?