There is Room for Rebirth in the 1950’s

Follow Aunt Wang around the shortcut. After a while, he came to the gate of the courtyard. It is indeed an ordinary small courtyard as Aunt Wang said, it does not occupy a large area, and the neighbors' courtyards on both sides are just a little distance away.

Aunt Wang knocked on the door, and an old man with white hair and kind eyebrows came out. The other party was still holding an ancient book in his hand, and he was quite old, probably in his 70s. Wearing clean clothes, no patches on the whole body, and a ruddy complexion, it doesn't look like the economy is worrying and needs to sell the house. The old man is very healthy and not deaf. It was a surprise to see them standing outside the door.

The old man asked strangely: Comrade Wang, did you bring them to see the house? Didn't you bring your female family to see this comrade?

Zhou Xiaozheng replied to him: As long as my son-in-law takes a fancy to this yard, it's fine. The main reason is that my daughter and son-in-law live with their newborn grandson. My daughter is still in confinement, and her mother takes care of her. We are husband and wife. Soldiers, I usually don’t have time. If it’s suitable, we can settle it. Sir, is it convenient to look at the house?”

The old man smiled and nodded, and made way, Come in. We are planning to sell and move to the eldest son. We usually live in the house with the old couple. You can see the house yourself, and I will ask my wife to come over and introduce it to you.

As soon as Zhou Xiaozheng entered the courtyard, he nodded secretly. Don't look ordinary on the outside, the inside is full of good materials. It seems that the old man had a solid family back then, and he spent a lot of thought on building this yard. He is a smart man. Except for the high wall made of clay and stones, the main house and the east wing in the courtyard are all brick and tile houses.

The yard is not big, and there is a flower bed in the corner of the right wall. The whole yard is empty except for the land near the flower bed, and the ground is paved with small stones.

Just entered the remodeled living room of the main house. Zhang Guoqing and his father-in-law looked at each other, feeling each other's surprise. Both of them could see that the family didn't look like they were going to sell the yard.

It seems that there is no change from the outbuildings of ordinary people, but the wood of the tables and chairs in the living room is not simple.

In addition to the mahogany Eight Immortals table and a few chairs placed in front, there are also a few ordinary-looking grand master chairs, and a set of tea sets on the coffee table in the middle.

It seems that the furniture in the living room is old and old. Those who don't know the goods may think that these broken tables and chairs are useless at all. But in Zhou Xiaozheng's eyes, these furniture are good things. The material also exudes a slight fragrance. Especially those few grand master chairs are a complete set.

The old man asked the old lady to take Zhou Xiaozheng and Weng and his son-in-law to look at the house, and he took Aunt Wang to sit down and chat. It seems that they deliberately avoid the other party to visit the room.

The two rooms on the left are connected. The outer room is elegantly furnished as a study. There is no kangqin quilt on the earthen kang by the window, only a special go table with a chess game on it. There are two rows of bookcases against the wall opposite the kang, which are full of various books when opened. There is a large book table in the room, there are still undone calligraphy and paintings on it, and a cursive script hangs on the wall, revealing the background of a scholarly family everywhere.

In the adjacent bedroom, there are still unfolded quilts on the kang. It seems that the old lady just got off the kang. There are two thick quilts on the kangqin, all of which are made of silk and fine cotton. There is an old-fashioned wardrobe against the wall opposite the Kang. Not far in front is a round table and two large back chairs. A complete set of furniture, with the same wood and style, is harmoniously placed in the room.

A trace of worry flashed across Zhou Xiaozheng's eyes, it seemed that this old man was not a simple person. He had observed carefully just now, no matter how simple the style of the study and bedroom furniture was, there were precious woods under the paint.

From the moment he entered the yard, he found that except for the warehouse and the mud houses on the right wall, everything else seemed ordinary, but the painstaking efforts and money spent were definitely not small.

Listening to the old lady's introduction, he asked a few questions intentionally or unintentionally. After a while, my heart relaxed slightly. The family situation of the other party has nothing to do with him, as long as the buyer and seller are voluntary.

There are two rooms on the right side of the living room, one is a guest room with heated kang, and the other room is neatly tidied up. Old quilts and mattresses are neatly placed on top of the wardrobe. The wardrobe against the wall is obviously newly made in recent years, and the wood is ordinary. I heard from the old lady that there are out-of-season clothes of the old couple and some old materials stored in it. It seems that this old couple is very good at living and has high requirements for the quality of life.

After leaving the main room, the east wing should have three rooms based on the area. Among them, the two outer rooms were directly converted into a large kitchen, which became the two rooms that Aunt Wang said.

Their family should pay more attention to diet and dining. In addition to the ordinary clay stove, there is also a hearth converted from a briquette stove, and things are still being stewed on the briquette stove. There are two stoves, the earthen stove is next to the next room, and it is connected to the earthen kang in the next room. The briquette stove supplies the kitchen fire wall. There is also a pressurized water well in the corner of the kitchen entrance, and a large water tank against the wall.

There are traces of a row of jars under the window. Although it has been cleaned up now, the air still smells of sauerkraut and miso. There is a big table in the middle of the kitchen. It is estimated that the elderly and children often come to eat. The cabinets and tables and stools against the wall at the back are very tidy, and it can be seen that they are often taken care of.

The old lady opened the hidden cellar door at the back of the kitchen, and went in to see that this was not a cellar. It should be called a cellar rather than a cellar. The basement is very tidy, and the surrounding frame has just been cleaned with soil. Usually rations and dry goods are placed, but now it is empty inside. I heard from the old lady that there is a cellar in the yard, which is used to store Chinese cabbage and white radish in winter.

There is an empty room next to the kitchen, which has a heated kang. Except for Kangqin, there is nothing else, and the ground is clean. I heard from the old lady that this is the aunt's room that I invited at the beginning.

The old lady led them to the right side of the yard near the corner of the flower bed, where three mud huts were half covered by piles of firewood. Except for one of the thatched huts which doubles as a bathroom, the rest of the rooms are used to store farm tools for planting flowers, as well as a lot of baskets of sundries and a small amount of briquettes. The remaining outermost room is the old couple's useless warehouse.

Finally, after the old lady showed them the cellar and well outside the house, she laughed and said that the two east wing rooms were built to allow the servants to live alone, and to avoid the oily smoke in the main room. Now that there is no servant, the old couple will occasionally order noodles directly in the living room of the main house.

Weng and son-in-law already have a bottom line in their hearts. The whole courtyard is five rooms plus two rooms. Zhou Xiaozheng just discovered that there is a firewall in the innermost wall of the main room, and nodded after asking about the heating of the main room and the kitchen.

The owner of this house is a wise man. In addition to the conspicuous heated kang, the main room hides the fire wall. The converted earthen stove in the living room has a large capacity, is hygienic and safe, and serves as a fire wall for the main room. He wasn't afraid of high overall heating bills. However, ordinary people could not afford to use this yard, so it made him cheap.