Chapter 2: Three‑Courtyard Siheyuan

Lu Cheng shoved the remaining fried dough stick into his mouth in one bite, then wiped his oily hand on Li Huiying's clothes twice.

"You…" Li Huiying swallowed the words she was about to say, still pointing at the recruitment quota she had secured; she couldn't erupt now, so she could only complain with a pat.

"Are you going to give it to me or not? As a male Comrade, can you be straightforward?"

Lu Cheng gulped down the fried dough stick with effort, let out a belch, and then spoke.

"I could give it to you, but before I go down to the countryside for the labor team, I want to get you."

Li Huiying widened her eyes: "You… in broad daylight, what kind of rogue talk is that?"

No wonder the neighboring residents all say Lu Cheng is a street slicker; she would never marry a man like that.

Lu Cheng shrugged: "If you don't want it, that's fine, but trying to trade my recruitment quota for a single fried dough stick is way too easy; I'm not that casual."

Li Huiying looked at him in disbelief: how is Lu Cheng acting like a different person today?

It hadn't always been like this; he had always obeyed her word—when she said go east, Lu Cheng never dared go west.

He also often stole the family's grain coupons, sold them on the black market for cash, and treated her to movies.

He had always been extremely protective of her.

Whenever she sensed Lu Cheng wanted to distance himself, Li Huiying would timely act coquettish, and Lu Cheng would dutifully come back.

Right, act coquettish!

Li Huiying took the initiative to grab his arm, swaying it while plaintively calling, "Brother Lu Cheng, just give it to me, I'm begging you, can't you? Lu Cheng brother…"

Lu Cheng shivered all over at the sound.

He's still a person who's lived a few extra decades; a few coquettish words shouldn't disturb his mind.

Lu Cheng's goal was also very clear.

"The same request: I want to get you. Go with me to the back mountain now."

Lu Cheng knew that in today's era, directly demanding a woman's body crosses her bottom line.

Although he usually likes to flirt, it's limited to holding hands and a little bite.

Obviously, this directly hits Li Huiying's bottom line; she never intended to marry Lu Cheng, and if she gave him her body, how could she marry anyone later?

"Lu Cheng, you promised me; how can you renege?"

Lu Cheng sneered: "Heh, are you trying to bait me here?"

"Don't think I don't know; your mother found you a high‑official's son, but they despise you for being unemployed. Once I give you the recruitment quota, you'll have to marry someone else later."

Li Huiying widened her eyes: "You, how do you know?"

No one besides the mother knows about this.

Lu Cheng, of course, only learned it in a previous life.

"Lu Cheng, did you hear someone gossiping? It's not what you heard; you've misunderstood. I'm truly sincere toward you."

"Honestly, I even want to pour my heart out for you to see."

Lu Cheng, too lazy for more chatter, grabbed Li Huiying's chin with one hand and said coldly,

"Shut your stinky mouth! You're treating me like a hot‑pot ingredient? I tell you, Li Huiying, the farther you are, the farther you should crawl back to me."

"If I see that filthy face of yours again, I'll slash you."

Li Huiying jumped in fright, then became angry and embarrassed, pushing Lu Cheng's hand away forcefully.

She stopped pretending.

"Lu Cheng, what rogue games are you playing in broad daylight? Believe it or not, I'll go to the Street Office and report you."

"Go ahead! If I were scared of you, I wouldn't even be named Lu."

Lu Cheng turned away without looking back, leaving Li Huiying alone, stamping her foot.

"Bastard…"

……

Lu Cheng walked along, taking in the side‑goods store, cinema, Xinhua Bookstore, State-owned Store, State-run Hotel, Liubiju…

All the buildings matched the characteristics of this era.

Oh right, there's also the theater courtyard Guangde Lou; many years later, a man named Lao Guo will be performing crosstalk there.

Lu Cheng walked slowly, and returning to this era again, his heart couldn't help but stir.

After a little over an hour, he finally turned east off Wangfujing Big Sister, entered Ganyu Hu Tong, and to the south lay the bustling Dong'an Shichang.

Ganyu Hu Tong stretches over two hundred meters in length, four to five meters wide; in the Ming era it was called Qianyu Hu Tong, and only in the mid‑Qing was it renamed the more elegant 'Ganyu Hu Tong', implying sweet rain after a long drought.

During the Republic era, many cultural luminaries and official‑merchant families lived here; the writer Bing Xin once resided there.

Lu Cheng's Siheyuan was near the west entrance; after the 1990s redevelopment of Wangfujing Big Sister, his home was demolished and requisitioned.

He received a hefty demolition compensation and two apartments within the second ring.

Even if in his later life he became a minor department head with modest salary, he still lived quite comfortably.

The main gate stood open, and Lu Cheng walked in.

It was a three‑courtyard Siheyuan; on the west side, near Hu Tong, a row of Daozuo Houses stood, inhabited by a few families who had fled famine before liberation.

Daozuo Houses are the poorest rooms in a Siheyuan, facing south‑to‑north; because they never receive sunlight, they're hot in summer, cold in winter, and even burning coal is ineffective.

Just as he was about to proceed further inside, a beautiful woman emerged from a Daozuo House, carrying a basin of dirty clothes.

She is Sun Yan Hong, full‑figured and curvy, nicknamed the 'Tofu Beauty', also called Sun the Widow; after her husband died of illness a few years ago, she had to drag two children alone, which was not easy.

Fortunately, the tofu factory of the Street Office's enterprise hired her, preventing her three‑person family from starving, though they still lived very frugally.

Seeing Lu Cheng return, Sun Yan Hong's face showed urgency: "Lu Cheng, where have you gone again? I see your parents are firing up in the inner courtyard; you'd better get out quickly, lest they beat you again."

Lu Cheng opened his mouth with a grin: "No problem, Sister Yan Hong, you know I've been hardened since I was a kid; letting the old couple stretch their muscles is fine."

Sun Yan Hong rolled her eyes, carrying the laundry basin toward the water tank: "You, Lu San'er, day after day you're just a useless freeloader, only your mouth remains."

"Sister Yan Hong, there's nothing wrong with that; I'm just good at talking, everyone who's tried says it's fine."

"Splash—" a sound, Sun Yan Hong splashed water over.

Fortunately Lu Cheng dodged quickly, so he wasn't affected.

"That rascal, still messing jokes with your Yan Hong sister," Sun Yan Hong kept splashing water, feeling a tickle inside.

At this moment, Big Aunt, who lives in Daozuo House, also came out carrying a wash basin.

"It's not that rascal; you know the first two children of the old Lu family were all very sensible, but this third one is a shameless rascal, only knows how to loaf on the street, does nothing, and will end up in prison sooner or later."

Hearing this, Lu Cheng, who had just stepped into Chuihua Gate, turned around again.

"I say, Big Aunt, stop chewing your tongue every day; all the matters in our Grand Courtyard are arranged by you. If you like to talk, we can go to the Security Department of Cotton Factory No. 2 and say it."

Big Aunt works at Cotton Factory No. 2, close to the water, and usually the scrapped yarn bundles and fabrics from the factory are often secretly taken home by workers.

As long as no one reports, the factory leaders just turn a blind eye, since scrapped items are scrapped anyway, they treat it as welfare for the workers.

Big Aunt naturally had taken them, and immediately dared not make a sound.

Actually Lu Cheng was just intimidating them a bit, after all his mother Chen Xianglan also works at Cotton Factory No. 2, and has often taken things home.

It's also unavoidable; if you don't take, he doesn't take, so how can the higher‑ups take.

Seeing the usually formidable Big Aunt, they were stunned into silence by Lu Cheng's intimidation, and Sun Yan Hong laughed.

"I say, Big Aunt, why provoke him? Everyone knows Lu San'er is not only sharp‑tongued but also skilled in martial arts; even the people from the Street Office dare not tangle with him…"