A layman in the courtyard

Chapter 11 The Millionaire
Some people don't have glory in their lives. It doesn't mean that they can't be brilliant.It's because they don't have brilliant thoughts in their minds, or they don't know how to be brilliant.

Cao Zhihua is a common person, a bad person, who does not have much ideals and ambitions, and just wants to enjoy life.

In today's era of dedication, hard work and self-reliance.

Cao Zhihua knows the importance of money better than anyone in the country, and he also knows better what money can bring.

With the methods and channels to make money, Cao Zhihua didn't know what it was like to be tired during this period. He repeatedly collected grain, sold grain, settled accounts, and distributed money.

In just over two months, 6000 tons of flour were provided to the steel rolling mill.

These hard but happy days passed very quickly, and November 1953 arrived inadvertently.

It’s already very cold in Beijing in November. Cao Zhihua walked to the steel rolling mill today and officially planned to stop the flour business.

Because Cao Zhihua directly collected all the grain stocks in the eight villages surrounding Hongxing Village.

A total of 6000 tons of flour were sold, and the total sales amount was 156 million yuan.

With so much money, in this era, except for state institutions, only Lou Bancheng in the Fourth and Nine Cities can easily come up with it.

This amount, Cao Zhihua estimates, may only be Lou Bancheng's profit for one month.

A total of more than 1411 million kilograms of wheat was purchased, with a cost of 42.3.The commission distributed to the uncles was 1.27 yuan, and the uncles immediately became rich.

Seeing Cao Zhihua now is like seeing the God of Wealth, who is closer than his own son.

Cao Zhihua worked hard for two months and became a millionaire. His total net worth is more than 112 million yuan, and all of it is in cash.

Today, Cao Zhihua specially came to the steel rolling mill to communicate with Lou Bancheng about the suspension of the flour business. He also communicated with Lou Bancheng about going to work in the factory on the sixth day of the new year.

Cao Zhihua entered the factory early to go to work. First, the money-making matters went smoothly. After going to work, Cao Zhihua has a clear source of income in this era and can integrate into normal life. This is inconspicuous and can be quiet. Waiting for adulthood.

Second, the public-private partnership began in February 1954. If we didn’t enter the factory in advance, we were afraid that it would not be so easy to enter the factory after the partnership.

After communicating with Lou Bancheng, Cao Zhihua walked out of the gate of Lou's Steel Rolling Mill and quickly put on his tiger head hat, inserted his hands into his sleeves, lowered his head and walked to his home in the courtyard house at No. 95 Nanluogu Lane.

Although Cao Zhihua's heart is hot now.

But I also wonder how the protagonists in the past life books could ride a bicycle around Sijiu City in November and February. They are even stronger than the Iron Man Wang Jinxi. They are really not afraid of the cold or freezing, and they will not die from the cold.

During this time, every home in the courtyard has almost become a hotel.

In nearly three months, Cao Zhihua went back three times, mainly to give his younger brothers and sisters money and put some food at home to prevent them from going hungry.

Now that I have made my first pot of gold, I plan to go back and have a good rest for two days before starting the next plan.

When he was about to get home, he passed by the vegetable market. Cao Zhihua thought that the vegetables would not spoil easily that day, so he planned to buy more vegetables and go back.

Cao Zhihua went around the vegetable market and bought a pair of pork legs, 3 pounds of pork, 5 pounds of mutton, a big goose, two chickens, 3 pounds of peppers, ginger, onion, garlic, cinnamon and star anise, and he went home with both hands full. .

In the winter in Sijiu City, the north wind blows loudly, and it is really cold.

Stepping through the gate of the courtyard, the neighbors in the courtyard are probably all warming up by the fire at home, so it is deserted.

Cao Zhihua opened the door of his home and found that his three younger siblings did not go to school today. They were all sitting on the sofa, warming themselves by the fire and turning over flower ropes.

Seeing Cao Zhihua suddenly come back, the three little ones were overjoyed and rushed over to hug Cao Zhihua.

"Brother, big brother, we miss you so much"

"Brother, why did you come back today? I miss you so much."

"Brother, brother, do you miss me? I miss you so much."

Cao Zhihua was holding the vegetables in both hands and was hugged tightly by the three little ones. He couldn't shake the three little ones away hard, so he could only
"Okay, okay, be good. Big brother misses you too. Quickly let go of big brother and see what big brother has bought."

"Wow, brother, do you want to eat goose stewed in an iron pot today?"

My sister was unhappy when she heard her second brother Cao Zhiguo talk about eating big goose. "I don't, I don't, brother, I want to eat big fat meat. I haven't eaten big fat meat in a long time."

Cao Zhihua looked at the three little ones a little speechlessly. They hadn't come back for so long. They didn't care about themselves. They only cared about food. But he wasn't as fussy as a few kids. He said dotingly.

"Okay, okay, eat, eat, whatever you want to eat today, do it."

The three little ones were so happy when their elder brother said they could eat whatever they wanted, they immediately jumped up and down.

Cao Zhihua was also very happy when he saw this

"Come on, come on, hurry up and put the dishes in."

The three little ones hurriedly took the dishes from Cao Zhihua's hand.

"Okay, brother, you go warm yourself by the fire first, we'll be right back."

Cao Zhihua sat on the sofa and stretched his hands to the stove to warm himself. The fire on the stove was quite bright.

Cao Zhihua looked at the stove and felt awkward while warming himself.

Cao Zhihua was a southerner in his previous life. Southerners use wood to make a square or rectangular cage to make a fire, put the stove inside the cage, and put a quilt on top of the cage. In this way, when people put their feet on the fire cage, the heat will not be lost. It is very comfortable for people to lie down or lean on it like this.In this way, the feet are warmed up immediately, and the whole body is warm, not cold at all.

Cao Zhihua thought for a while and decided that a fire cage was better. Making one was very simple.

Anyway, it’s still early, so it’s better to act than to move your heart. Cao Zhihua stood up and said to the three little ones:
"Big Gouzi and Er Gouzi, I'm going to get something from Master Zhang Dezhu in the alley next door. You guys can play at home first. If you need anything, you can go to Master Zhang's house to find me. I'll be back later."

"Brother, brother, can you bring me White Rabbit toffee when you come back?"

"Okay, when I come back, big brother will buy White Rabbit toffee for Xiaoyu to eat."

Xiaoyu immediately said happily, "That's great, big brother, that's great. I have White Rabbit toffee to eat."

Cao Zhihua shook his head with a smile and walked out of the room.

Master Zhang's house is in the alley next door, and Cao Zhihua is just a few steps away.

I saw Master Zhang and his family warming themselves by the fire at home.say hello

"Master Zhang, are you busy now?"

"I'm not busy. Why did you come to see me today?"

"I want to build something with you. Do you have any extra wood here?"

“With wood, what are you going to build?”

"Preparing to build a fire cage to warm the fire"

"What kind of fire cage?"

"Do you have a pen and paper? How about I draw it for you?"

Master Zhang was a little curious and went into the inner room and took out a pencil and notebook. "Here, show me your drawing."

Cao Zhihua drew a few drawings based on the fire cage used for roasting in the south.

"Master Zhang, look at it. It's very simple. It's just a cage with the upper and lower sides empty and surrounded by wooden boards."

"It's just that the top of the cage is a little more troublesome. We need to make a lid with a small frame on it. The four corners of the cage are made of wooden boards to make clips. This way, you can put your feet on the lid and cover it to make a fire. It's also very convenient to change the coal. The lid can be replaced just by picking it up.”

Master Zhang looked at Cao Zhihua in surprise when he saw the design of this stove, "How did you come up with it? This design is great, very suitable for warming up in winter."

"Haha, I came up with it accidentally on a whim. Do you think this is easy to do?"

"This is very simple to do. I can do it for you in three hours."

"That's good. How much does it cost to contract labor and materials together?"

Master Zhang calculated the materials needed, and then said
"What do you think of 3 yuan?"

Cao Zhihua didn't think much about it. He took out 3 yuan from the space and handed it to Master Zhang.

"No problem, Master Zhang. I'll go back first. When I'm done, how about you go to my house and ask me to come and get it?"

Master Zhang took the money and said, "It's okay if you go back first. I'll just send it to you when it's done. It's not far."

Cao Zhihua said happily, "Thank you very much."

"It's okay, it's just a few steps, you can go back first."

Cao Zhihua said goodbye, "Then I'll leave first, and then I'll have to work hard for Master Zhang."

"It's okay, you can go to work"

Cao Zhihua walked out of the alley, thought for a moment and went directly to the grocery store.

There is no such thing as commercial facades in Beijing today. They are all facade houses, which are houses facing the road or alley with a door open and business done inside.

The grocery store in Nanluogu Lane is located in the alley, one of a row of one-story brick and stone houses. Although there is only one door open, there are two rooms connected inside, so the space is quite large.

There was a boss in the store guarding the counter, "Boss, please, please give me 5 jins of melon seeds, 5 jins of peanuts, and 5 jins of white rabbit toffee."

The boss quickly weighed it, put it in a bag and handed it over, "a total of 10 yuan."

After Cao Zhihua ordered the money and handed it to the boss, he picked up his things and walked home.

When they got home, the three children saw Cao Zhihua coming back with so many snacks and screamed happily.

The noisy Cao Zhihua’s head was buzzing, so he frightened the three little ones.
"Stop barking now. Are you going to call all the neighbors over and share all your snacks?"

The three little ones immediately covered their mouths, rushed to Cao Zhihua, took the snacks, and started chattering excitedly while discussing where to put the things and how much to eat in a day.

Cao Zhihua looked at the carefree childhood life of the three little ones and felt a little pained. If he had no other choice, he really didn't want to bring three troublesome spirits with him.

I didn't want to talk much, so I sat alone on the sofa warming myself by the fire in a daze.

(End of this chapter)