Siheyuan: Struggle Begins in the 1950s

However, after Xu Damao left Sha Zhu, he did not go back to the courtyard directly. Instead, he took many detours and came to a remote alley.

When it was late at night and everyone was asleep, Xu Damao disguised himself again.

He kept disguising himself until even Shazhu couldn't recognize him when he saw him.

Then he went to the entrance of the alley outside the yard and staked out.

After waiting for about half an hour, Xu Damao finally met his target.

I saw two furtive middle-aged men approaching.

Xu Damao waved his hand and said carefully:

"Are you two here to watch a movie?"

The two of them then came closer and asked nervously:

"I heard you have a private video room here? And they play all those foreign art films."

Xu Damao looked around and then took the two people into his yard and said:

"I think it was introduced by an acquaintance. We agreed in advance. Three dollars per session. The movie is an hour long. Half an hour is two dollars."

"How come it costs two dollars to see half of it?"

Xu Damao said speechlessly:

"The exciting part is at the end. The beginning is just a prelude. Do you want to watch it? If you want to, I'll start playing it now. I'm telling you, this is a color movie with sound."

Hearing this, the two men looked at each other and then tacitly took out the money and handed it to Xu Damao.

Xu Damao took the money and led the two men into the yard, which he had converted into several small private rooms using wooden boards and curtains.

After Xu Damao took the two of them into a private room, he turned on the video recorder, and then a thrilling scene appeared on TV.

Those two men had never seen such an art film before, and they stared at the screen with their eyes wide open without blinking.

It looked as if he couldn't wait to stick his eyes on it.

At this moment, they just felt that the three dollars were well worth it.

Seeing the two men's silly looks, Xu Damao smiled and then considerately closed the door and went back to where he was just now to continue waiting.

In the second half of the night, after the last guest left reluctantly, Xu Damao closed the door and began to count the night's harvest.

That night Xu Damao brought a total of twenty people in to watch the videotape.

He earned more than fifty yuan in just one night.

This is almost half a month's income for him.

Looking at the money, Xu Damao was overjoyed.

But when he thought of Shazhu's smug expression during the day, his fun disappeared.

If you don't feel happy even when you make money, it's very likely that your competitors are making more than you.

This is Xu Damao’s current situation.

He was stimulated by the fact that Yan Jiecheng and Wang Jianjun successfully opened stores and started their own businesses.

Xu Damao was unwilling to be outdone by the people in the same courtyard.

Especially can't be outdone by Sha Zhu.

So Xu Damao has been thinking about how to start a business.

As a result, he actually thought of it.

It’s just that this method is somewhat despicable.

Xu Damao’s first entrepreneurial project was to open a video hall.

This was a popular small business in China in the 80s.

The Hong Kong film industry developed very well in those years, but it was not difficult to find resources to watch in China.

Thus, these video hall businesses came into being.

Most of these video halls are located in corners of the streets and alleys.

You may not seem to be able to find them if you don't look for them, but they often appear in front of you inadvertently.

But at the beginning, these video halls only played normal movies.

However, some people with creative ideas have found some special uses for video halls.

They got some indescribable tapes from certain channels and rented them to those who needed them.

Naturally, the cost of such films is not low.

But due to the scarcity of resources, such films have always been in short supply.

And it’s not easy to get these things.

It was only during the years of reform and opening up that these things had the opportunity to come in.

And Xu Damao just happened to be the person who had the ability to get these tapes.

After his own preliminary appreciation, Xu Damao directly selected several tapes with relatively high artistic content.

We rented another yard and converted it into a temporary video room.

Then we need to find ways to attract customers to consume.

Once you have the first customer, repeat customers will soon follow.

Xu Damao even set up an operation to lure customers and get free meals.

So the guest introduced the next guest.

His underground video hall business is becoming more and more prosperous.

You can earn dozens of yuan every day.

After counting the money in his hand, Xu Damao collected the tapes and took them away.

The video hall business belongs to the gray area.

Basically, it is a situation where no one cares if no one reports it.

But underground video halls are different.

In this era, there is a crime called hooliganism.

Xu Damao didn't want to get himself involved before all the money was spent.

Therefore, he was always very cautious and therefore had never been discovered.

After returning home with the tape, Xu Damao took out an iron box from under the bed and put the dozens of dollars he had earned that day into the iron box.

He immediately opened a bottle of wine for himself, without using anything to go with it, and just drank it while counting his income during that period.

The underground video hall business will not last long.

And he didn't want to live in fear every day.

So he planned to do it for a while and then stop.

He saved all the money he earned during this period as start-up capital for his future business.

Xu Damao no longer bothers to engage in petty quarrels.

He felt that with his abilities, he would be able to make a name for himself sooner or later.

So what if Shazhu opens a shop and makes money.

Sooner or later, Xu Damao will earn more money than Sha Zhu.

Just like Wang Jianjun!

Thinking about how he would spend money lavishly in the future when he became successful, Xu Damao couldn't help but let out a few silly laughs.

Then he lay down and fell asleep again in a daze.

After a busy night, Xu Damao slept until 9 o'clock the next morning when he was woken up by Liu Haizhong.

Seeing Liu Haizhong's anxious look, Xu Damao asked curiously:

"Uncle, what's going on?"

"Da Mao, don't you have a phone at home? Please call an ambulance for me. Your aunt was very dizzy this morning, and it's not easy for me to call an ambulance because my feet are not convenient."

Xu Damao has a good relationship with Liu Haizhong now, so he is willing to help.

He immediately called a taxi for Liu Haizhong and went to the hospital with Liu Haizhong.

After a series of examinations, the diagnosis was migraine.

It's not a big deal, I just need to go home and have a good rest.

When Liu Haizhong knew his wife was fine, he sat down on a chair in the hospital corridor.

"Da Mao, thank you so much for this time."

Xu Damao waved his hand and said:

"Uncle, this is a small matter. But I still have to say that you and Aunt are both old now. It won't work if you don't have children to help take care of you. I just happened to be at home this time, but who can say what will happen next time."