Chapter 728: A Song Startles the Late Spring

Yan Bugui sat there with a worried look on his face, and after a long while, he squeezed out a sentence: "Yang Ruihua, you say Wang Zhifu's family tore down their house; will our house become a target for everyone?"

Yang Ruihua curled her lip, not taking it seriously at all: "I heard from Jia Zhangshi that the Wang family had conditions for tearing down their house—He Yuzhu promised to allocate them two rooms."

Yan Bugui was stunned: "That can't be, right? Wang Shucheng is a Deputy General Manager at He Ji Spicy Hot Pot; since when do private enterprises allocate housing?"

Yang Ruihua sneered: "Have you forgotten? That Qin Jingru is involved with He Yuzhu in an unclear way, and Wang Shucheng just likes being a cuckold."

Yan Bugui widened his eyes: "Yang Ruihua, don't go around saying things like that all the time! Our family is getting more and more at odds with the old He family; what good does that do you?"

Yang Ruihua sheepishly shrank her neck: "How would I dare say that outside? I'm just chatting with you."

On the other side, in the makeshift house of the Yan family, Wang Fang leaned toward Yan Jiekuang and lowered her voice: "I went out to ask around; those selling pirated discs all get their stock from one person. But they have conditions—you must buy equipment when you stock up, like tape recorders and headphones. If you don't buy them, you can't sell their cassette tapes!"

"This is a damn bully clause too!" Yan Jiekuang cursed, "Doesn't this mean paying a deposit? Four tape recorders shouldn't be cheap, right?"

Wang Fang held up two fingers: "Two thousand yuan."

Yan Jiekuang shook his head repeatedly: "This is bullying people too much. You spend two thousand yuan on tape recorders first, and what if you can't sell the tapes? Then, wouldn't those few tape recorders be stuck in your own hands?"

Wang Fang said: "If you don't buy them, they won't wholesale those discs to you. This is like Jiang Taigong fishing—the willing take the bait."

Yan Jiekuang thought for a long time, his brows knitted into a ball, and he took several puffs of his cigarette until the butt burned his fingers before asking: "What kind of organization do you think is behind this?"

Wang Fang shook her head: "How would we know that? But every cassette tape they bring out is exactly the same as the original."

"Did you ask? How much can one small stall earn in a month?"

Wang Fang shook her head: "No one is willing to tell the truth. Besides, how they sell, where they sell, and how long they sell for are all different. But I heard that, one way or another, they can earn two or three thousand a month."

Yan Jiekuang calculated for a while, and his eyes lit up: "If that's the case, buying the tape recorders is worth it; there's money to be made."

Wang Fang nodded: "I think we should do it."

Villa 234, Fifth Avenue, Tianjin.

Xu Damao walked in pulling a suitcase.

Hu Yunbin was very happy to see Xu Damao enter: "Damao, are you here to bring me New Year's gifts? Open it quickly and let me see what you've brought me."

Xu Damao pulled the suitcase open—inside was 180,000 in cash neatly stacked, along with Tianfu Hao's braised pork knuckles and Daoxiangcun pastries.

As soon as Hu Yunbin saw the money, his brows immediately furrowed: "Damao, you, you lost everything down to your underwear last time; where did this money come from?"

Xu Damao chuckled: "Siqiang, I did lose everything last time, but your Apprentice isn't a pushover. In these few months, I managed to earn the money back, and not only did I earn it back, I also bought three houses in Si Jiu Cheng."

The corners of Hu Yunbin's mouth moved, revealing a knowing smile: "Damao, I really didn't misjudge you; you kid really has strong survival skills."

Cui Dazhi felt a bit embarrassed and asked: "Damao, what kind of business are you doing? You earned so much money in just a few short months?"

Xu Damao acted mysterious: "Flipping antique paintings."

Cui Dazhi didn't believe him: "A painting only sells for ten thousand or eight thousand at most nowadays; how many paintings would you have to flip to earn this much money?"

Xu Damao chuckled: "Senior Brother, you haven't been in this line of work for a long time, so you don't know the current situation. Countless rich people have come from Hong Kong, and when they see these old things, they buy them like crazy."

Hu Yunbin knew Xu Damao wasn't telling the truth, but he didn't want to get to the bottom of it, so he just waved his hand: "Damao, take this money back. Since I, your Siqiang, gave it to you, it's yours. You've made a lot of progress and understand the ways of the world now."

Xu Damao said: "Hey, Siqiang, I'm almost fifty; how could I still be ignorant? When I was young, I didn't understand anything and thought I was smarter than others. And, I often lied to you."

Hu Yunbin laughed heartily: "Hey, that's all in the past, let's not mention it. Damao, I'm telling you, I really am giving this money to you. But I'm still quite happy in my heart that you could bring this money back to your Siqiang."

Xu Damao pushed it away for a long time, and seeing that Hu Yunbin really didn't want it, he happily accepted it.

Cui Dazhi said: "Damao, keep this money in Tianjin. You're a flirt, and you let your wife manage the money; if you provoke her one day and she kicks you out of the house, you won't even have a chance to make a comeback."

Xu Damao nodded: "Senior Brother's reminder is right; I really do need to be careful. Liu Sanmei is good to me, but her two older brothers and one younger brother are very fierce. If I really did something to wrong her, they could beat me to death."

Hu Yunbin laughed heartily: "Damao, you've finally found someone who can keep you in check."

It was the New Year.

Everyone in the courtyard who had a television stayed huddled in their own homes to watch.

Those without televisions almost all crowded into He Yuzhu's East Cross Courtyard.

It was cold, so He Yuzhu had built a shed in the courtyard and lit a stove inside, making it warm and cozy. His television was a 20-inch large color TV.

The Spring Festival Gala broadcast began.

He Yushui, Xiaomi, Dahua, Xiaoqi, Ding Li, Bang Geng's family, Xiaodang, Huaihua, He Yulu, He Zheng, He Jia, Yi Xiaotian's family, as well as Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, the Second Aunt... were all squeezed into the East Cross Courtyard watching TV.

Xiaomi and the others ran over, not because they didn't have a TV at home, but because they wanted to watch their teacher Zhang Shuying's performance.

Everyone chatted while watching, and the courtyard was very lively.

Chen Xueru kept serving everyone snacks like peanuts and melon seeds.

When the Spring Festival Gala was halfway through, after much anticipation, Zhang Shuying finally appeared.

He Yushui and the others took the lead in applauding, startling the drowsy He Yuzhu awake.

Zhang Shuying wore a white long dress and walked slowly onto the stage.

She was nearly fifty, but she looked like she was in her early thirties; time was exceptionally partial to her.

The music started, and she opened her mouth to sing: "The Great Wall stretches for ten thousand miles..."

Every word and every sentence was about the mountains, rivers, and the nation.

After the song was finished, the atmosphere at the venue was very enthusiastic, and everyone stood up to applaud; Zhang Shuying had no choice but to return for an encore. Of course, this was all planned.

But in the East Cross Courtyard, He Yushui and the others cheered spontaneously, the shrieks almost bringing the roof down.

The lyrics and music for Zhang Shuying's second song were cobbled together by He Yuzhu. He actually couldn't remember the complete lyrics of that song from his previous life, only a few lines, but the melody was still in his head.

He managed to piece it together based on his memory and named it "Rivers and Mountains Accompany Me on My Journey."

The prelude sounded, with the Beijing opera fiddle mixed with Western string instruments; the music was very immersive and could instantly pull people into a sense of patriotism.

"A fold of opera, the Great Wall rises and falls..."

As soon as Zhang Shuying opened her mouth, her transition between real and falsetto voices was very smooth, and her operatic singing style was high, bright, and full of penetrating power.

He Yushui's eyes widened, and the melon seeds in her hand fell.

Xiaoqi shouted at the top of her lungs: "Can you sing like this too?"

The chorus began, and she sang: "Though lowly, I dare not forget to worry for the country, even if no one knows me; the people offstage pass by, but I do not change my old colors..."

This wasn't Peking Opera, nor was it a pop song; it was a flavor kneaded out of the two.

As the song ended, the shed was silent for two seconds, and then, applause erupted like thunder.

He Yushui turned her head to glare at her brother, her eyes full of "resentment": "Brother, you're biased! Why didn't you give this song to me first?"

He Yuzhu laughed, "If you go to this evening party tomorrow, I'll give you an even better song."