Lu De Min hadn't spoken yet when Xiao Zhu, the enthusiastic clerk, smiled and said, "Comrade Xiao Lu's house is in the backyard, two rooms in total. One main room and one side room."
Yan Bu Gui was delighted upon hearing this. There were currently three vacant rooms in the courtyard: one in the front yard and two in the backyard—a main room and a side room.
There were stories behind these three vacant rooms.
Many neighbors had their eyes on these three empty rooms.
Among them were Yan Bu Gui and the Jia family from the middle courtyard.
Jia Dong Xu, the son of the Jia family, had married a wife a few months ago. Now his wife was pregnant and her belly was growing bigger. They lived in a small room with his mother, Jia Zhang Shi. The space was becoming increasingly cramped. The Jia family wanted to use this as an excuse to take over the empty room in the backyard. They had repeatedly applied to the Red Star Military Management Station, but were rejected.
Even though Yan Bu Gui also had his eye on the two rooms, he knew he couldn't compete with the Jia family. He had even quarreled with them over this matter and would frown whenever he saw them. Now, hearing that the two rooms had been given to Lu De Min, he was happy that the Jia family wouldn't get them. He enthusiastically accompanied Lu De Min to the backyard.
Accompanied by Xiao Zhu and Yan Bu Gui, Lu De Min walked into the middle courtyard.
A young woman with a big belly stood by the water faucet in the middle of the courtyard. She had big eyes, fair skin, and delicate features.
Lu De Min immediately recognized her as Qin Huai Ru in her younger days.
Qin Huai Ru was washing clothes at the moment. In front of the room to her right, a young man around fifteen or sixteen years old was stealing glances at her. When he saw Lu De Min and the others walking in, he quickly averted his gaze in fright.
Lu De Min also recognized the young man as Sha Zhu.
Haha! It turned out that Sha Zhu was already smitten with Qin Huai Ru at such a young age, which led him to be bled dry by her for the rest of his life after she became a widow.
However, Qin Huai Ru was not within Lu De Min's standards of beauty. She wasn't particularly beautiful, just decent. But because he recognized her, he took another curious look.
Seeing how tall and handsome Lu De Min was, staring at her, Qin Huai Ru let out a soft gasp and shyly turned away.
This scene was witnessed by Jia Dong Xu, who was coming out of the house. "You scoundrel! How dare you harass my wife!" He immediately turned black with anger, about to unleash his fury, but then he noticed Xiao Zhu, wearing a military uniform, standing beside Lu De Min. He immediately suppressed his anger and thought to himself:
"That guy is just lusting after my wife's beauty. He didn't do anything physically. My wife hasn't suffered any harm."
The reason for Jia Dong Xu's change in attitude was his complete understanding of the "AQ spirit" because Xiao Zhu was talking to Lu De Min in a friendly manner, introducing him to the situation of the courtyard.
Even if Jia Dong Xu didn't know Xiao Zhu, he recognized the military uniform he was wearing. This meant that Xiao Zhu was from the Military Management Committee.
The Military Management Committee now controlled everything in Beijing. They had immense power.
Jia Dong Xu, an ordinary worker at the Hongxing Lou Shi Steel Mill, who had lost his father, dared not provoke these military personnel.
Sha Zhu, standing nearby, was also curiously sizing up Lu De Min.
This was the first time he had seen someone in the courtyard who was "taller and more handsome" than him.
…
After passing through the middle courtyard, Lu De Min and the others walked into the backyard.
Jia Dong Xu asked, "Who is that guy?"
A neighbor said, "He seems to be our new resident. The Military Management Committee assigned the two rooms in the backyard to him."
"How can this be! That's my house! How can it be given to someone else!" Jia Dong Xu's face immediately turned sour. He was very unhappy.
Qin Huai Ru also frowned. Since marrying into the Jia family, she had been living in the same room with her husband and mother-in-law. It was very inconvenient. They had to be cautious even during intimacy, like corpses, afraid of making any noise. The feeling was truly unbearable. After seeing the vacant room in the backyard, she had encouraged her husband to claim it.
But now, a new player had entered the game, making her feel very uncomfortable.
The couple walked into the backyard.
Sha Zhu stole a glance at Qin Huai Ru's rear end and followed behind them.
Some of the aunts and uncles, who knew that the Jia family wanted the rooms in the backyard, were secretly pleased to see that they had been given to the newcomer. They also followed behind to watch the show.