Courtyard House: He Yuzhu started in 1948

Shuntian Middle School was closed, and Xu Damao, bored once again, went to work at the movie theater with his father, Xu Wude.

Going to the movie theater is better than staying in the courtyard.

While studying at Shuntian Middle School, Xu Damao felt that his horizons and knowledge had broadened considerably. Especially after getting to know Guo Chun and Gong Deming, Xu Damao realized how narrow his previous perspective had been... as narrow as his own home in the tenement courtyard.

cramped!

I want to move to a bigger house someday!

The cinemas are not open yet, but some films need to be cleared out in time. Xu Wude doesn't think the cinemas will stay closed forever... they will reopen sooner or later.

So, Xu Wood has been preparing for the reopening of the movie theater... It has to reopen, he has no choice. He had been eating and drinking too much and hadn't saved any money. In addition, he had borrowed a lot of money. The creditors had even come to the movie theater to collect the debts. If the movie theater didn't reopen, his creditors would break one of his hands.

Xu Wude was tidying up the film, while Xu Damao was fixing his hair in front of the mirror.

Stanscon is a high-end hair oil brand from Shanghai.

But so what if it's high-end?

It's not like I can't afford it!

Xu Damao wore a Palomino suit jacket that cost him over eighty yuan and was reluctant to take it off all day.

Xu Wude also owns clothes from Paramount. He wore a suit from this brand when he got married. When he went to get his clothes made, he heard the salesperson say that Paramount now costs more than eighty dollars. Xu Wude was so angry that he cursed the owner of Paramount for making money by cheating people.

The Palomino brand he bought back then only cost fifty-two yuan.

Unfortunately, Xu Damao only wore Pailermont, so Xu Wood had no choice but to grit his teeth and buy it.

Xu Damao combed his hair in front of the mirror. He touched the hair oil bottle a couple of times and found that it was almost empty. So, while wiping the inside of the bottle, he said to his hair, "Dad, my Stamina is finished. Can you buy me another bottle?"

"I'm not buying!"

Xu Wood refused without hesitation.

Are you kidding me?

They can't even pay salaries now, why would they use such a good brand of hair oil?

But she only had one son, and she had to spoil him: "Isn't Danhe good? Isn't Baiqueling good?"

Xu Damao immediately shouted, "No way, I'll use Stamina!"

Guo Chun said, "If we don't use Stamcon, how can we play with them?"

At the time, Xu Damao didn't even know what hair oil was for, but he remembered the name Stankang very well.

In any case, we must use Stemcon.

It seemed that only after using Stemcon and wearing Palomino did Xu Damao feel like he wasn't part of the tenement.

I should live in a big villa and be a superior person, just like Guo Chun and Gong Deming!

Seeing that Xu Damao was about to act recklessly again, Xu Wude quickly agreed, "Okay, okay, I'll buy it for you, alright?"

"That's more like it!"

Xu Damao muttered to himself, extremely satisfied.

Then I left the movie theater and went for a stroll on the street.

Guo Chun and Gong Deming disappeared without a trace after the army entered the city. Xu Damao left whistling, hands in his pockets.

As he was leaving, several burly thugs were about to enter the movie theater. Xu Damao glanced at them, pretended not to see them, and hurriedly left.

Xu Damao knew who these people were looking for.

The movie theater was closed and only Xu Damao and his father Xu Wude were inside. Now that Xu Damao was gone, who else could those thugs go to?

But what does this have to do with me?

Xu Damao went out, still holding his head high like a "young nobleman"!

He was going to find Guo Baosen. Back in Shuntian Middle School, he was closest to Guo Chun, Gong Deming, and Guo Baosen, so naturally he was going to find him now.

Guo Baosen was in Banchang Hutong, a place where timber and wood products were roughly processed during the Xuantong period. It wasn't that this place supplied the royal family... but rather that it was a place where timber from outside the city was processed into planks or other boards and stacked.

Apart from the back gate of Prince Senggelinqin's mansion, the rest of the houses here belong to poor families.

Xu Damao walked through the alley with a look of disgust on his face, especially when he saw people dressed in tattered clothes.

How could Guo Baosen live in such a awful place?

Xu Damao followed the address given earlier and arrived at the entrance of Guo Baosen's courtyard. Coincidentally, Guo Baosen was just coming out of there.

"Guo Baosen!"

Xu Damao called out, and Guo Baosen saw him too. Especially after seeing the Paramount suit Xu Damao was wearing, a look of disdain and contempt flashed in his eyes.

Even in a yellow robe, he doesn't look like a prince.

His own father was just a projectionist at a movie theater, while Da Sha Chun's family was at least a small-to-medium-sized business, not to mention Gong Deming...

You don't have much of a family fortune to begin with, so why are you acting like a big shot?

"Oh, Da Mao, what brings you here?"

Guo Baosen was wearing coarse cloth clothes with patches, but when facing Xu Damao, who was wearing a suit, he still had the upper hand in terms of demeanor: "What is it?"

Xu Damao felt that Guo Baosen was ignoring him, and retorted, "Can't I come to see you if there's nothing wrong?"

"Sure, but I'm busy and don't have time to chat with you."

Guo Baosen bluntly told Xu Damao, "Besides, I don't consider us friends. Your friends are Guo Chun and Gong Deming, not me."

"nonsense."

Xu Damao was furious and retorted, "Aren't you Guo Chun and Gong Deming's friends? You're their friend, and I'm their friend, so aren't we friends?"

"Friends? Xu Damao, should I call you naive, or just plain stupid? Let's not even talk about Da Sha Chun; how could someone like Gong Deming possibly be interested in me?"

Guo Baosen was amused by Xu Damao's words and laughed heartily, saying bluntly, "Gong Deming took me under his wing because I had good grades. He needed me to help him with his homework and copy my test papers to get by during exams. I took advantage of this to allow me to focus on my studies at school."

"Xu Damao, since you came to see me today, I'll say something to you: we can't be friends, because we're not on the same wavelength! You won't be friends with Guo Chun or Gong Deming either, because in their eyes, you're nothing but a clown!"

"You're the clown!"

Enraged, Xu Damao immediately raised his fist to fight Guo Baosen.

How could Xu Damao possibly beat the tall and strong Guo Baosen? The fist he swung out was directly grabbed by Guo Baosen, who then twisted it slightly, turning Xu Damao 180 degrees on the ground.

"Xu Damao, do you know why we can't find Da Sha Chun and Gong Deming in Beiping?"

"Da Sha Chun's family fled south, and Gong Deming is dead... his entire family was slaughtered by their enemies! Your father was just a film projectionist, an ordinary worker, and he doesn't even realize it. In the future... you'll be in trouble!"

"Get lost! Don't bother me again unless it's absolutely necessary. I had no intention of getting to know you!"