Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 415

After all, she wasn't good-looking, so even though she had ability and money, she couldn't show it off too much.

My strength lies in the fact that my cooking skills are already at a high level, and the dishes I prepare are top-notch.

To win someone's heart, you must first win their stomach.

This experience applies to both women and men.

He Yuzhu doesn't usually cook; he eats directly from the cafeteria. Of course, the chef will sometimes make a separate meal for him, which tastes better.

However, just before noon on the second day, He Yuzhu did something unusual. Instead of entertaining guests, he personally cooked two dishes.

When I arrived at the office with my lunchbox, Lü Xiaomi was just coming out of the office, heading to the cafeteria.

"You haven't gone yet. I just happened to cook too much food today, so I'll give you some."

Lü Xiaomi asked in surprise, "Did you cook this yourself?"

"Of course, I felt that the dishes cooked by the cafeteria chefs didn't suit my taste, so I made two dishes myself today."

Lü Xiaomi said happily, "Okay, just give me some of the vegetables."

The two went into the house together. Lü Xiaomi put some of the food into her lunchbox and then took it back to her room to eat.

He Yuzhu was very happy that the first day of feeding was a success. As long as he persisted, he could make Lü Xiaomi unable to leave him.

Back then, Xu Xiaomei was the same. She was still a young, unmarried woman. If she had put in a little more effort, wouldn't she have been able to hold hands with him and embrace him?

Lu Xiaomi is even more beautiful than Xu Xiaomei, and comes from a good family. She is well-educated and polite. Although it will be difficult to conquer her, as long as I persevere, I still have a great chance of taking down this mountain.

The feeding incident was just a temporary hiccup, and He Yuzhu continued with his work.

It's still autumn now; the heat from the electric fan has long since passed, and winter will soon be here.

He Yuzhu's current thought is to try and see if he can make an air conditioner.

The most crucial component of an air conditioner is the compressor. If a qualified compressor can be manufactured, it can be used not only in air conditioners but also in refrigerators and freezers.

There are many application scenarios. He Yuzhu plans to use the autumn season to handcraft a few compressors so that he can make air conditioners for both heating and cooling in the winter.

After dinner, I spent the whole time in the small laboratory. Since there were no blueprints, I had to design and build it myself.

Lu Xiaomi brought the documents to the office but did not see He Yuzhu. She turned around and went to the outside of the laboratory without knocking. She opened the door and saw that the workbench was full of various parts.

He Yuzhu was assembling something there when he walked up to him and asked, "What are you doing? I don't understand."

"This is something new; you've certainly never seen anything like it before."

He Yuzhu said without looking up.

Lü Xiaomi pursed her lips; He Yuzhu was really impolite.

He placed the documents in front of him and said, "These need to be signed, and there's also a notification."

"What notice?" He Yuzhu wiped his hands, then picked up the pen that Lü Xiaomi handed him and signed the document.

Lü Xiaomi said, "The notice just issued by the neighborhood committee says that starting next month, each person can only receive 80% of their rationed food."

"Ah! It's starting already?"

He Yuzhu quickly signed his name and then saw the notice at the bottom.

The notice, bearing the official seals of the grain bureau and the local street office, stated that due to reduced reserves, starting next month each person would only receive 80% of their ration.

He Yuzhu's ration was 32 jin, of which 30% was rice and wheat flour, and the remaining 70% was cornmeal and other grains.

At that time, the cornmeal was pure cornmeal, not the kind of cornmeal that was mixed with corn stalks in later generations.

Corn has different names in different regions. For example, it is called "yushushu" in the Huanghuai region, and "bangzimian" in the Beijing-Tianjin area and Northeast China.

At this time, the so-called "cornmeal" specifically refers to flour made from corn kernels.

"If you only get 80% of what you need, you won't have enough to eat after that."

Even without reducing the ration, 32 jin of grain wouldn't be enough for He Yuzhu.

If he hadn't taken it out of his spatial storage to make up for it, where would he have had enough energy to do so many things?

"Yes, we won't have enough to eat from now on," Lü Xiaomi said, also worried.

Quantitative measures were implemented starting in 1955, although the system was not perfect at the time, and many people found loopholes to exploit.

However, over the years, the people in the food system have not been idle; they have already patched up all sorts of loopholes.

For example, the implementation of the grain coupon system left no loopholes for anyone to exploit.

Not only grain was rationed, but also eight other common items such as oil, cotton, and cloth were all subject to a rationing system.

"In that case, we can only respond to the requirements of our superiors, post the notice, and let all employees be mentally prepared."

Lü Xiaomi sighed: "Well, that's all we can do."

He Yuzhu said, "By the way, pack up and come with me to a place later."

Which organization are you going to?

"It's not another unit, it's another place."

Lü Xiaomi had some doubts, but since it was broad daylight, she didn't ask any further questions.

He Yuzhu tidied himself up, changed his clothes, took the keys, and came out with Lü Xiaomi.

The two went straight into the city and then into Jiudaowan Hutong. Lü Xiaomi thought they were going to find some leader to pull strings for.

He Yuzhu stopped in front of a small Western-style building.

While courtyard houses are common in Beijing, small Western-style buildings are quite rare.

He Yuzhu took the key, opened the iron gate, and entered the yard. There was a garage in the corner. He walked through the brick-paved path and then opened the door to the first floor.

Lu Xiaomi was very surprised, and then she became extremely nervous. There was no one living in this courtyard. Did He Yuzhu want to force himself on her?

After standing outside gritting his teeth and hesitating for a long time, he cautiously entered the living room on the first floor.

The furniture in the house is very stylish, and there is also a large fireplace.

However, it has been uninhabited for a long time, and it is covered in dust.

He Yuzhu checked each room. On the first floor, there was a kitchen, a washroom, and a storage room. There was also a staircase leading to the basement and a small garden at the back.

Go up the escalator to the second floor, where there are multiple bedrooms, two living rooms, and a shared bathroom.

The third floor is much smaller, but it still has two bedrooms and a large open-air balcony.

The entire building is in European style, and the furniture is also European style, so it looks quite fashionable.

It looks rather out of place compared to the surrounding low-rise courtyard houses.

He Yuzhu checked the second and third floors, then returned to the first floor and asked, "Aren't you going up to take a look?"

Lu Xiaomi was extremely nervous. She shook her head and asked, "Why did you bring me here?"

He Yuzhu retorted, "You don't think I'm here to do something bad, do you?"

Lu Xiaomi blushed instantly. That was exactly what he was thinking, but he didn't expect He Yuzhu to bring it up so directly.

"No...no, why would I think that!"

Seeing that he looked ridiculous with his red face, He Yuzhu said, "I didn't mean anything by it. This house was a reward from the ministry. Here are the keys. In a couple of days, you can arrange for someone to clean it up."

Looking at the key He Yuzhu handed her, Lü Xiaomi realized she had misunderstood.

Blushing, she put the keys in her pocket and said, "Okay, I'll have someone come clean tomorrow."

"Okay... I can go home right now."

He Yuzhu successfully tricked Lü Xiaomi today, making her worry all the way. It was all on purpose. He only told her at the very end that he just wanted her to arrange for someone to clean the house.

They had no shortage of space, and each of the women had their own courtyard. At this point, they hadn't yet figured out how to use the villa.

The next day, Lü Xiaomi arranged for someone to come and clean it up, and then returned the key to He Yuzhu.

For the next few days, He Yuzhu spent his time in the laboratory tinkering with his compressor.

Even if you make the wrong parts at the beginning, the system will gain corresponding experience and give subtle reminders, so you will instinctively know how to correct the mistakes.

The task force targeting He Yuzhu first gathered some basic information and discovered his daily routine.

Fortunately, He Yuzhu had been focused on the compressor project these days, and with Xu Xiaomei's pregnancy and the other women also being unable to make things convenient, they hadn't discovered that he was keeping many women on the side.

They found out his daily routine and learned that he often went back to the courtyard house to visit his father and sister.

I usually live in the hutongs on Qianmen Street and don't go to other places except these three.

In the same room, the man in the Zhongshan suit briefly recounted the intelligence he had gathered about He Yuzhu over the past few days.

"There are more than 20 households in the No. 95 courtyard, with a population of over a hundred, so it is not an ideal place to carry out the operation."

The man with glasses said, "His house isn't suitable either. There's a small tavern right in front of us, and any slight noise here will alert the people in front."

The stinking latrine cleaner said, "Then we'll have to find a place to do it in the machine factory."

“Recently I’ve noticed that Mr. He’s get off work hours are irregular. He only leaves the machine factory after all the other workers have left.”

Without a woman's company these days, He Yuzhu focused his attention on research and development.

I don't get back from the factory until very late every day, and sometimes it's so late that I just sleep in the dormitory.

"Then let's get started right here in the factory."