Courtyard House: He Yuzhu started in 1948

"Old Beijing is great in every way, except for one thing: it likes to litter everywhere."

Jia Zhangshi was incredibly shameless, speaking as if she had never thrown away trash before: "Daqing-ge, Zhuzi, and some other kids would help clean up whenever they had free time..."

Qingyun Hutong is relatively clean, but that's not entirely thanks to He Yuzhu and his team.

Most of the residents in Qingyun Hutong are employees and their families. For example, the employees of Lou Bancheng's steel plant occupy more than ten large courtyards in Qingyun Hutong... This half of the hutong is all Lou Bancheng's own property! They bought it with real money, or some people didn't want to sell, so they rented a large courtyard... Anyway, they are basically all settled together, which is convenient.

Factory workers are generally considered high-income earners, so cleanliness is a corresponding requirement.

Of course, this level of cleanliness is relative to the entire city of Beiping.

Since the War of Resistance against Japan, the area under the city wall has become a natural garbage dump, with trash being thrown everywhere along the wall... Since no one lived in the palace, they simply dumped garbage at the base of the wall.

In January 1949, there were piles of garbage under Tiananmen Square.

Do you know how much garbage there is in Beiping (Beijing) right now?

60 million tons!

A simple conversion would make it eight Jingshan Hills!

I don't know about other things, but after the garbage was cleared out of the city, a road was built from the 12th district of Beiping to Shunyi... But that's another story, so let's not go into it for now.

He Daqing was mainly bored, so he brought the children out to play. Besides, they had nowhere to take the trash after cleaning it up, so they could only move it from one alley to another wall...

When He Daqing saw Lü Qinghuan arrive with several cadres in charge of taking over the project, he felt a little embarrassed, since moving garbage was not something to be proud of.

Lü Qinghuan expressed his understanding and informed He Daqing that the Military Control Commission and city leaders had noticed this issue and would find a way to resolve it.

But being able to sacrifice one's own time to improve the environment of the hutong where one lives is already a contribution.

He Daqing didn't continue the topic, but instead asked, "Teacher Lü, is there something you need from me?"

"Here's the thing, our troops are entering the city today, and the Military Control Commission and the Municipal Government will soon be opening their offices. The Baojia system in Beiping has been abolished and is being taken over by the Military Control Commission's cadres. This is Chang Zhen, and this is Pan Songnian. Starting today, your alley, Suoyi Hutong, Nanluoguxiang Hutong, and Banchang Hutong will be under their management. Because there is a shortage of cadres and office staff, we hope that Master He can help prepare a meal. You are familiar with this area, so we would like to ask Master He to help our comrades... Aunt Zhang, you can also help out... The wages haven't been decided yet, so there might not be any wages at the moment, but they will be paid later! Master He and Aunt Zhang, please don't worry."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi hesitated.

If there's no pay, what's the point of working?

When I was in school, I worked under He Yuzhu... He was like a devil, constantly yelling and forbidding me from taking anything out... I had to buy it myself.

Who taught He Yuzhu?

It must be He Daqing. He Yuzhu wouldn't even let him take it, so why would He Daqing agree?

Stop joking!

Jia Zhangshi was unwilling, but He Daqing's answer was very firm: "Sure, no problem! I'll work for you whenever you need me! But I have a request. You know my apprentice, Xiao Sanzi, Teacher Lü. He's at a crucial stage of honing his skills and building a solid foundation. I need to keep an eye on him to feel at ease. Could you let him work with us? No money needed, just a meal will do!"

Who is the mistress?

Unbeknownst to the takeover cadres Chang Zhen and Pan Songnian, Lü Qinghuan was helping to explain He Lei's tragic life. The takeover cadres were also human, and they believed that Xiao Sanzi deserved help, and that He Daqing was a good person.

Not only did I not take a single penny of my own salary, but I also brought along an extra person, who, although young, at least did some work.

Seeing that He Daqing was going to do it, Jia Zhangshi immediately raised her hand as well: "Me too, I'll do it too... Teacher Lü, you know, I'm just a woman, I can't make up my mind, and Brother Daqing is from the courtyard, if he's willing, so am I!"

In fact, what Jia Zhangshi valued was Lü Qinghao's status.

A teacher who used to be powerless now has armed henchmen behind him. This is clearly a rise in status. He should hurry up and cling to this powerful figure. Even if he doesn't get any benefits himself, he can leave a good impression on Lü Qinghuan. Wouldn't Jia Dongxu be given more preferential treatment when he studies under Lü Qinghuan in the future?

It's very beneficial!

Jia Zhangshi is the kind of person who won't do anything without a profit, and now, for Jia Dongxu, she is even more willing to give up a lot.

They agreed to work in an empty house belonging to someone who had fled... Unfortunately, that house was located in Nanluoguxiang Hutong.

If He Yuzhu were here, he would definitely make them stay in Qingyun Hutong.

This is a moment when we'll have the naming rights in the future; how could we possibly back down?

Unfortunately, He Daqing didn't understand.

Of course, He Daqing wasn't helping for nothing; he was a logistics director with a formal position. However, since the country was under military control, his position couldn't be officially issued yet. But Lü Qinghuan had promised that once the military control ended and the areas were redefined, He Daqing would definitely have a formal position.

He Daqing himself didn't take the so-called organizational structure seriously, but after He Yuzhu reminded him, he realized that this unit was different from any unit he had seen before, so he agreed to everything they said first and went home to tell He Yuzhu before making a decision.

If He Yuzhu knew, he would definitely agree wholeheartedly!

This is a government-appointed position!

Even if he's just a logistics supervisor, he's still a proper cadre.

Yes, you have to agree!

As for Jia Zhangshi, she was considered to be officially employed, but she was just a staff member and not an official.

If Liu Haizhong had known that becoming an official was so easy, he would definitely have left the steel mill and joined the military control commission without hesitation.

Liu Haizhong: I really want to improve!

As for He Yuzhu... he wasn't idle either, he was always working.

He was left to work at the Fifth Middle School. He was wondering what kind of work he would need to do, but he didn't expect to be "conscripted" by Zhang Tianyong as soon as he arrived.

Of course, their current work is very easy, mainly to prepare for the upcoming city entry ceremony, which is what the day laborers call "recruiting people to fill the venue".

It's a pity there was no payment.

To prevent sabotage by spies, the specific time and location of the entry ceremony were not widely publicized within Beiping City. On all the streets the ceremony passed through, the first three rows were almost entirely staffed by our own people.

He Yuzhu is an old Beiping native and knows Tian Zao and other children. If they were to stand at the front and take a few photos, it would look very authentic.

Oh, the one taking the photos now is still Lü Qinghuan's reporter friend. He is a nobody and has no power to leave Beiping City. He can only desperately protect the camera in his hand, and then he waited for Lü Qinghuan to come again.

This time was different from the last. This reporter was incredibly excited and accepted Lü Qinghuan's invitation without hesitation.

What's there to disagree with?

As a junior reporter, of course I need to be pragmatic.

The route the army took to officially enter the city on February 3 was kept secret. He Yuzhu knew the whole route but had to pretend he didn't. When He Yuzhu learned that he was assigned to Dongjiaomin Lane... He Yuzhu was incredibly excited.