Literary Master 1978

"My sister is pregnant?" Tao Yumo screamed, and then immediately reacted, "I'm going to be an aunt?"

"Your sister is pregnant, why are you so excited?"

"I'm just happy for you."

Tao Yumo ran to Tao Yushu, who was pressed on the bed by Lin Chaoyang just after returning home, and said, "Sister, are you really pregnant?"

"Nonsense! Can your brother-in-law lie to you about this?"

"I'm just asking."

Tao Yumo looked at her belly, her eyes full of novelty, "How can you get pregnant just like that?"

Lin Chaoyang found it difficult to explain to her. This was the result of several months of hard work by Comrades Lin and Tao. Tao Yushu scolded angrily, "Are you speechless? If you are speechless, go cook."

"Your temper is really getting worse!"

Tao Yumo muttered like a chatterbox, and ran away obediently.

Lin Chaoyang reminded her again, "Don't tell your family about your sister's pregnancy yet, wait for your sister to tell you herself."

"I know."

While eating, Tao Yumo stared at Tao Yushu.

"Sister, do you want to vomit?"

"Sister, do you want to eat something sour?"

Tao Yushu was annoyed by her and glared at her, and Tao Yumo immediately became obedient.

"Your sister is only one month pregnant and has no symptoms."

"Then she was confused yesterday?" Tao Yumo said.

"The doctor said it might be due to fatigue. There were too many people at home yesterday, so we won't have dinner at home in the future."

Lin Chaoyang regretted that Tao Yushu had to do a lot of work for the dinner yesterday, but she didn't care.

"What's the problem with doing some work? Li Tuo said something right.

It has become a traditional trend to have dinner at our house after the awards ceremony every year, which is a good thing for us and everyone."

"The point is not to treat guests, but to work."

"Then why don't we just let them work in the future? We can't stop eating because of choking." Tao Yushu said.

Lin Chaoyang accepted her opinion humbly, and said seriously: "From today on, Ms. Tao Yushu's words are the highest instructions of the family."

Tao Yushu gave him a coquettish look, and Tao Yumo on the side was full of disgust.

"Brother-in-law, you are really good at flattering!"

After a few jokes, Tao Yumo stayed in the courtyard overnight after dinner.

It was late today, and she told her family before she came that she would stay in Mianhua Hutong at night.

The next morning, when she went out, Tao Yumo found that her sister was sitting on the back seat of her brother-in-law's 28 bicycle.

She hurriedly asked: "Sister, don't you ride a motorcycle to work?"

"Your brother-in-law doesn't let me ride it."

Tao Yushu said faintly, with dissatisfaction and grievance in her tone.

Hearing this, Tao Yumo's eyes suddenly lit up, and she circled around the red motorcycle.

"Don't look at it, I have to ride it after I give birth to the baby."

Tao Yushu saw her sister's thoughts at a glance.

Tao Yumo took her arm and begged, "Then lend me a motorcycle for the time being before you give birth."

"Riding a motorcycle is too dangerous."

"If you can ride one, why can't I?"

Although Tao Yushu usually treats her sister badly, she can't stand Tao Yumo's coquetry most of the time.

After she shook her arm for a while, Tao Yushu's attitude softened.

"You don't know how to ride a motorcycle."

"If you don't know how to ride a motorcycle, I can learn. If you promise to lend it to me, I will learn it immediately."

"Wait until you learn it first."

Seeing her sister's relenting, Tao Yumo cheered and said, "Just wait, I will learn it in a few days."

On Sunday, the couple came to the Tao family and announced the news of Tao Yushu's pregnancy to the public. The whole Tao family was delighted.

It has been four years since they got married in early 1978. Tao Yushu is finally pregnant. Tao's father and mother are particularly happy.

After celebrating, Lin Chaoyang asked for a few days off from the library on Monday.

He planned to buy a house closer to the Yanjing Municipal Cultural Bureau compound, preferably a few minutes' walk to work, so that Tao Yushu would not have to worry about going to and from get off work in the future.

The Cultural Bureau compound is on West Chang'an Avenue, and Lin Chaoyang will definitely look for a house along this area.

Although he has been in Yanjing for three or four years, he has been active outside the Third Ring Road most of the time. He is familiar with some landmark buildings, but if he wants to walk around the streets, he needs to find two people born and raised in Yanjing, so he pulled Li Tuo and Chen Jiangong along.

"You want to buy a house, what does it have to do with us? You're just messing with us."

The two were dragged out of bed by Lin Chaoyang early in the morning, and they couldn't help complaining a few words.

After graduation, Chen Jiangong was assigned to the Yanjing Literary Association to become a professional writer. From then on, he let himself go, and his work and rest time was basically daytime and nighttime.

Such a work and rest schedule is certainly not for pleasure, but for creation.

Most of the writers around Lin Chaoyang have this problem. They are used to creating at night, and even he himself is no exception. Everyone generally responds that when night falls, the inspiration for creation is much stronger than during the day.

"A few days ago, when we went to our house for dinner, others came with things, but you two were empty-handed.

You were active during the meal, so why can't I help you a little?"

Lin Chaoyang blocked their complaints with two sentences.

Since Deng Xiaoping made an important speech on housing issues in 1980, the domestic real estate market has gradually loosened up, and cities such as Guangzhou, Xi'an, Liuzhou, and Nanning have taken the lead in implementing pilot projects for commercial housing.

The real estate market in Yanjing City has also changed a lot. Last year, the first batch of commercial residential buildings were launched in Tuanjiehu, which were sold to all citizens without any conditions and at 180 yuan per square meter.

That place is on the East Third Ring Road. If it weren't for the fact that it was too far away from his living and working circles, Lin Chaoyang would have wanted to buy one.

In addition to the construction of commercial housing, private housing transactions in Yanjing City have gradually become active in the past two years.

Many people sell their private houses for various purposes, many of which are old courtyard houses.

At this time, whether buying a house or not, most people rely on relatives and friends to mobilize interpersonal relationships to find the right person, or make some small advertisements and post them everywhere. This method is easy to be caught and educated by the aunt of the neighborhood committee, and they will also be fined.

There are also those who are not short of money and run to advertise in the newspaper, but these are generally in a hurry to use money.

Li Tuo and Chen Jiangong had already helped to mobilize relatives and friends, but Lin Chaoyang was anxious to buy a house, so he took the two of them to look around West Chang'an Street and ask if there were any people who wanted to sell their houses.

He also planned to buy a courtyard house this time, one for Tao Yushu's work, and the other for investment.

For pregnant women, living in a courtyard house and an apartment building have their own advantages and disadvantages.

It is inconvenient to take a bath and go to the toilet in a courtyard house, and it is also inconvenient to go up and down the stairs in an apartment building.

This area of ​​West Chang'an Street used to belong to the emperor's feet. A little further east is the Zhongnan Sea, and further east is the Forbidden City, the central axis of Yanjing.

So it is definitely not possible to go east, only the three directions of west, south and north, and it can't be too far.

In early spring, the sky in Yanjing is blue and blue. There is no wind and sand these two days, which is a rare good weather.

In the small alleys beside Chang'an Street, the spring scenery is more intense than on Chang'an Street.

The three of them walked around the alley for a long time and found out that there were two houses for sale. Unfortunately, they were selling by the room, not by the yard. Such houses naturally could not meet Lin Chaoyang's needs.

"It's really hard to choose a house with you."

"No way, who let them be rich?"

After walking outside for a whole morning, Li Tuo and Chen Jiangong, two usually lazy guys, started talking strangely again. When Lin Chaoyang invited them to have a meal at noon, their attitudes immediately changed. In the afternoon, they were as attentive as agents.

In the morning, the three of them walked around the north side of West Chang'an Street, and in the afternoon, they walked around the south side of West Chang'an Street. The Daliubukou Street here is almost opposite Tao Yushu's unit.

After more than half an hour of searching along Daliubukou Street, the three of them really found a house for sale, in Xiaoliubukou Hutong.

The yard is a three-courtyard quadrangle, which was newly built during the Republic of China. It is less than 60 years old now, which is considered young among the quadrangle courtyards in Yanjing City.

The courtyard faces south and is composed of two courtyards, east and west. The main gate is located in the southeast corner. There is a screen wall at the entrance. There is a back house in the front yard. There are main houses and east and west wing rooms in the middle yard. There are main houses, east and west wing rooms and east and west ear rooms in the back yard.

The houses in the east yard have been demolished and modified, and the original appearance is hard to find. The houses in the west yard are well preserved.

The first and third courtyards are traditional quadrangle buildings, while the second courtyard is a building in the Republic of China period. It also incorporates Western architectural decoration techniques and has Western characteristics. The doors and windows are all brick arched.

After walking around the courtyard, Lin Chaoyang was more and more satisfied.

This courtyard has both the charm of traditional quadrangle and the architectural style of the Republic of China period. It is rare among the quadrangle courtyards preserved in Yanjing today.

Especially in the second courtyard, there are two sturdy French plane trees. If it is midsummer, the lush branches and leaves may cover half of the courtyard under the shade of the trees, which is quite literary.

The old lady who received Lin Chaoyang and his two companions was named Cheng. She was over 60 years old this year. Her husband's surname was Hu. It was said that this yard was built by her father-in-law.

The old man had studied abroad and returned to China to serve the country through industry. His business was booming and he had two factories in Tianjin.

During the Anti-Japanese War, the Hu family's Tianjin factory was forcibly occupied by the Japanese. The Hu family had no choice but to move to Hong Kong, leaving the old lady's family in Yanjing to guard the house and the few industries.

During the period of the war, the old lady's family was hit and her husband died. In the past two years, she contacted her family in Hong Kong, and her son and grandson went to Hong Kong one after another.

Now that the children and grandchildren have established a foothold in Hong Kong, they are thinking about taking the old lady over, so they are thinking about getting rid of this house.

"You are so lucky, your children and grandchildren are so filial." After looking at the yard and listening to the old lady's story about the yard and the history of their family, Lin Chaoyang complimented her.

"What filial piety? You said you were going to take me to enjoy life. In fact, you were just thinking about selling this yard and buying a house in Hong Kong.

Houses there are expensive. Selling this ancestral home to buy a house, ah..."

The old lady sighed helplessly when she said this.

Lin Chaoyang couldn't continue to praise her, so he could only get back to the point, "How much do you plan to sell this yard for?"

"Twenty thousand yuan."

The old lady compared the numbers, and almost shocked Chen Jiangong and Li Tuo.

"Old lady, your yard is really well built. There are three courtyards in the east and west, which is much larger than the general three-courtyard.

But look at your east courtyard, what has it become? Twenty thousand yuan is not worth it."

The old lady's yard was occupied in the 1960s. More than a dozen families lived in the east courtyard. The original buildings have been ruined. The west courtyard is actually the most valuable.

After the buzz, their family finally got the East Courtyard back because their overseas relatives called the government several times.

A good three-courtyard courtyard in Yanjing City now costs only 18,000 yuan. The old lady's courtyard is new, and it has east and west courtyards. It is a bit expensive to pay 20,000 yuan, but it is also within a reasonable range.

However, the buildings in the East Courtyard are in a mess now, so the value will naturally be discounted.

And if Lin Chaoyang buys the courtyard, it will cost a lot to restore the buildings in the East Courtyard.

"Our courtyard is not the only one in Yanjing City, but at least it is the only one in Xicheng.

When my father-in-law built it, he was aiming for four generations to live together and a century-old family business, and the materials used were all good things.

Let alone, look at the hanging flower gate and the pillars..."

The two talked for a long time, and the old lady reduced Lin Chaoyang's price by 3,000 yuan, and she refused to agree to reduce it again.

"Old lady, I really want to buy it, and it's not easy for you to find a buyer.

How about this, you, discuss it with your son and grandson.

I'll offer 15,000 yuan, and I can get some money right away. If your family is willing, please contact me later, if not, forget it."

After negotiating the price with the old lady, Lin Chaoyang took Li Tuo and Chen Jiangong out of the yard.

When they came to the street, the two of them sighed. They couldn't say anything in the yard just now, but now they sighed.

Spending 15,000 yuan to buy a courtyard house, looking at the friends around them, only Lin Chaoyang has the ability to do so.

"Chaoyang, this house is too expensive. After buying it, you have to clean it up. It will take more than 20,000 yuan, right?" Chen Jiangong asked.

"I guess the money for repairs is enough to buy another courtyard house with three entrances." Lin Chaoyang said.

"Then why are you still buying it?"

"This courtyard has a rare style, and it's next to the Western style. Even if it's 20,000 yuan, I want to buy it.

Besides, it's so close to Yushu's workplace, so it will be very convenient to go to and from get off work in the future!"

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Chen Jiangong felt that his values ​​and money were greatly impacted.

Spending 20,000 yuan to buy a courtyard house, just to be close to work?

Oh, no, I have to add one more thing: Money can't buy my happiness!