Xu Damao's Thirty-Six Stratagems in Siheyuan

Xu Damao was showing the movie "Tiger's Lair" at the Dongcheng District Cinema. The district had specially asked for the movie to be shown for a few more days. The movie itself was about a battle of wits and courage with enemy spies.

Last month, Dongcheng uncovered a major spy case, so the superiors instructed that this movie be screened this month.

The screening lasted nearly an hour and a half. Xu Damao looked down from the small window of the screening room on the second floor and saw that there were quite a lot of audience members.

The show was over and everyone was heading for the exit. Xu Damao saw a man patrolling the rows of seats, bending down from time to time.

Interesting, it turns out that they are picking up leftovers in the cinema. Xu Damao has heard that there is a group of people in Kyoto who do not work and hang around in stores, markets, cinemas, and even public toilets every day just to pick up leftovers. It is said that their income is not low.

Xu Damao knew that these people knew a lot about the gossip in the market. He decided to go over and get to know them, so he said hello to the manager of the projection room, hurried downstairs with his briefcase, and waited for this guy at the exit of the cinema.

After a while, the young man came over with his hands in his pockets.

"Brother! How did you harvest today?"

The man was startled for a moment, but he quickly reacted. He didn't respond, but walked around and wanted to leave.

"Brother, I don't have any bad intentions. I just saw you in the theater and wanted to get to know you."

"Brother, what are you doing? You can't do that. I'm telling you, this is my territory."

"How could that be possible? I have a proper job, so I won't compete with my brother for food. I just want to get to know you first, just in case I need to trade items with you in the future, you'll be more familiar with me."

The man's face looked better. "Let's talk about this later. There are not many good things on the market right now. Even if there are good things, you can't afford them."

"This person can't judge others by their shortcomings. Maybe he can be replaced. More friends mean more ways." Xu Damao handed over a cigarette at the right time and took the initiative to light it with a match.

"Last month, that master wanted to sell a jade ruyi for 600 yuan. Can you afford it? It is said that it was awarded by the Empress Dowager. I have seen it and it is indeed extraordinary. Do you want it?"

"Brother, I really can't afford this, but we can visit each other more often in the future. Who knows, maybe I will be able to do it someday. How can I find you in the future?"

"Brother, do you really want to exchange items? Okay, there are some that can be useful. Just go to Datianshuijing Hutong and ask for Guo Xiaosan. I'm a famous street stalker in that area. If you don't mind my appearance, just come find me."

"Come on, I'm Xu Damao, from the Red Star Steel Mill, and I live in the Nanluoguxiang area. So from now on we know each other."

"Okay, let's go." He left while smoking a cigarette.

Xu Damao also rode his bike directly to Hepingli, picked up Lou Xiaoe, explained the situation in the screening room to Xu Fugui, and then returned to his own nest.

When I arrived at the courtyard gate, I heard the third uncle of the Yan family and Yan Jiecheng from the south house chatting in the house.

"Dad, ask someone to find out. The girl who came to the courtyard this morning is called Yu Li. Isn't her sister in the same class as Yu Shui? If you look up her sister's information at school, you will find her address. I really like that girl. Dad, I am not a child anymore. You always talk about finding a wife for me, but there is no sign of one until today. This time I have chosen one, but you are not interested. How can I be filial to you in the future?"

"Boss, you don't even have a job now, how can you compare with Sha Zhu. Besides, if the news of this sneaking around to steal someone's girlfriend gets out, how can I stay in this compound? Do I have to give up my reputation as a big uncle?! Jie Cheng, you should be more realistic. Go to the neighborhood office more often and find a proper job. Only then will you have a good life and a good wife willing to marry you. Don't daydream about nonsense all the time. Didn't you see that Sha Zhu and that girl are already flirting with each other? You can't pry them apart even if you want to."

Xu Damao didn't expect to overhear this conversation when he returned to the courtyard. This third uncle is indeed smart and self-aware. Think about the three uncles in this courtyard, they have distinct personalities. Xu Damao suddenly thought of uniting the second uncle and the third uncle, and then checking the first uncle, who is a shrewd guy, so that he will not have a hard time in the courtyard in the future.

Pretending not to hear the conversation between Yan Fugui and his son, he went into the backyard while talking and laughing with Lou Xiao'e.

"Da Mao, from what Uncle San said, does this mean that Sha Zhu's blind date was a success?"

"Ezi, let's not worry about this. Shazhu must be concerned about it now. He's not stupid, don't worry. I need to take a break. I've been running around all day and I'm really tired. Ezi, do you want to come with me?"

"You should get some sleep. You have to go to work tomorrow. I'll take a look and make some dinner. You just need to wait and eat it. Just stop complaining."

"Everything my wife cooks tastes delicious now. I'll lie down for a while."

At this time, Yi Zhonghai was also in the backyard, discussing with Liu Haizhong about convening a general meeting of all employees in the evening.

"Old Liu, you see, there are some very bad phenomena in our No. 95 courtyard now. For example, some time ago, the daughter-in-law of the Jia family quarreled with her mother-in-law, and they didn't care about filial piety at all. Although everything was fine later, the impact was still quite large. Look, I went to Sha Zhu's place early this morning. I originally thought that Sha Zhu was honest and respected the elderly and loved the young. Yesterday, he stewed braised meat. I originally thought that he would serve a bowl of it to the old lady in the backyard to show his filial piety. Then we would promote it and cultivate our courtyard into a model courtyard. I didn't expect Sha Zhu to not buy it at all. Now it's time for our uncle in charge to take good care of it. Otherwise, if we let it go on, our courtyard will have a bad reputation."

Liu Haizhong didn't want to get involved in this matter at all, but because he was the second uncle, the desire for power in his heart made him follow Yi Zhonghai's pace, "Old Yi, I have no objection, you and Old Yan should also discuss it, and have a meeting in the evening."

"Okay, I'll talk to Old Yan and set the time at seven o'clock. Everyone should have finished dinner by then."

Lou Xiao'e was cooking porridge at home and making dumplings with two-grain flour. The filling was cabbage and pork fat residue, which Xu's mother asked her to bring back. She was not very good at cooking, but she was good at making dumplings.

He Yushui is calling at the door.

"Sister Xiao'e, Brother Damao, my brother asked you two to go to the middle courtyard for dinner. My brother also left some braised sausage for you to try."

"Yushui, come in, come in. I'm making dumplings. How about you and your sister eat them? You're going to school tomorrow, right? Eat well. You're growing."

"Go ahead. Brother Damao still has half a bottle of wine left. The most important thing is that my brother is happy today, and I should have a sister-in-law soon. He also wants to show off a little. I want to satisfy my brother's vanity. Take the dumplings, cook them, and we can eat together in the evening."

Lou Xiao'e thought about it and said, "Okay, Yushui, then you can help me make the dumplings and then we can bring them over together."

Xu Damao was woken up by Lou Xiao'e for dinner and slept very comfortably.

"Da Mao, Sha Zhu let us go to his house to eat braised sausages, and you have wine to drink again. Get up, wash your face, serve the porridge, and go over to eat."

"Hey, Shazhu, there's a happy event, so we have to go over and have a drink. Wait, I'll wash my face."