Chapter 420: Come Out, Siheyuan

Chapter 420: Come Out, Siheyuan

The capital city.

A private room at Lai Fu Restaurant.

The reason why Pei Mu (Pei's mother) insisted on holding the wedding in the capital was not to make things difficult for the groom's family, nor was it because she looked down on the groom's family being from the countryside. Instead, it was because their family, the Pei family, had high social standing, and they would invite guests of noble status. Asking these guests to travel such a long distance to Guangxi, a remote countryside,, participate in a wedding would indeed be inappropriate.

Mainly, it was too far. A round trip plus the wedding itself would take at least three days, even with the convenience of air travel. If the flight schedules didn't match, the days would extend even more.

Who had so much free time to spend so much time attending a wedding?

But if the wedding were held in the capital, it would be different. Attaining the wedding would only take a couple of hours, this way, if the relationship was good, the guests invited by the Pei family would surely come for the sake of face.

After this request was made, Pei fu (Pei's father) and Pei mu looked at Deng Shirong, mainly because they were afraid he wouldn't be willing.

After all, customs and habits differed from place to place. Although Pei mu didn't think her request was excessive, she had to consider the groom's family's wishes. If the groom's family agreed, it would naturally be a cause for celebration. If they didn't, they wouldn't force it.

At worst, when the daughter got married, the family could attend the wedding themselves.

It was only in this era that Pei mu would be hesitant about where to hold the wedding. In later times, many couples would hold two or even three weddings: one at the groom's home, one at the bride's home, and another at their workplace, each with different guests.

The benefit of this was that it was convenient for most guests, allowing them to attend the wedding nearby without having to travel long distances.

The downside was that it was exhausting, with the bride and groom tiring themselves out after three weddings.

Deng Shirong originally thought the bride's family would make some difficult demands, but it turned out to be this?

He immediately and without hesitation agreed, "No problem, then let's have the wedding in the capital!"

Seeing this, Pei fu and Pei mu both smiled. It seemed that their future in-laws were quite reasonable and didn't use customs as an excuse.

After Deng Shirong agreed, he continued, "Relatives, do you have any requests regarding the dowry?"

Pei mu smiled and said, "regarding the dowry, we have no requests. Our family lacks nothing, just follow the customary amount."

D Deng Shirong nodded and then said, "Since the wedding will be held in the capital, I'll need to find someone to renovate a house there. This will take some time, and it's already August. If we choose to get married this year, the schedule will be tight. I suggest we set the wedding for next year. What do you think, relatives?"

Pei mu was surprised, "Relatives, you have a house in the capital?"

This statement not only piqued the curiosity of the Pei family but also Deng Yunsong, who truly didn't know his family had a house in the capital.

Deng Shirong smiled and said, "Yes, I bought a house in the capital a few years ago. Once I have it renovated, I'll leave it to Xiao Song and Xiao Pei."

Pei mu and Pei fu exchanged a glance. They had already discussed it. If the groom's family agreed to hold the wedding in the capital, they would set the venue at their family's Old siheyuan, inviting a few important guests.

But they didn't expect the groom's family to have a house in the capital, making it difficult to set the wedding at their Family's old Si Heyuan.

Although their Family's old Si heyuan was a spacious two-courtyard Si Heyuan, suitable for a wedding, they also had to consider the groom's family's face. Traditionally, unless it was a marriage into the bride's family, the wedding was primarily held at the groom's family's place. They couldn't ignore this rule just because their family's situation was better than the groom's family.

If it really couldn't be helped, they would set the wedding venue at a restaurant!

Thinking this, Pei mu said, "Relatives, since you have a house in the capital, let's have you host the wedding."

deng shirong smiled and said, "we can discuss these details later. Relatives, feel free to suggest anything. Our goal is the same, to give them a good wedding."

pei fu and pei mu felt very comfortable hearing this attitude.

In the end, after discussion, Deng Yunsong and Pei Qinghua's wedding was tentatively set for May of next year, with the specific date to be chosen by a fortune-teller.

Once the auspicious date was set, both sides would discuss the guest list.

After this meal, both sides had discussed things thoroughly.

Deng Shirong had his son settle the bill, while he handed over cigarettes, alcohol, tea, and three kinds of preserved foods he made himself to Pei fu and Pei mu, smiling, "Relatives, these cigarettes, alcohol, and tea are specialties of our Bobai County, and these preserved foods are made by myself. Please take them back and taste them."

Pai Fu and Pai Mu declined a few times before finally accepting the gifts.

After some more polite conversation, both families parted ways.

This Lai Fu Restaurant was not far from the residential compound where the Pai family lived; it was just a few minutes' walk away.

After the Pai family of three brought the gifts home, Pai Mu couldn't help but say, "It seems we've underestimated Xiao Song's father."

Pai Fu added, "His vision and insight are indeed extraordinary!"

Pai Mu looked at her daughter and asked, "Qinghua, has Xiao Song ever told you what his father does?"

Pai Qinghua shook her head and said, "I only know that Uncle Deng is in business, but I've never asked what kind of business he does."

Pai Mu glanced at her, "Why didn't you ask?"

Pai Qinghua blinked, "What's the point of asking? As long as I know Uncle Deng is in business and they have enough money, why ask in such detail? I've been with Yun Song for so long, even to the point of deciding to be a couple, and he never asked what you do either. If you hadn't invited him to dinner, he wouldn't even know that Dad is the head of this place!"

"It seems our Qinghua is going to be a representative of modern women and free love!"

Pai Fu first teased, then praised, "But, it's also good that your feelings are pure."

...

On the other side, Deng Yunsong asked, "Dad, when did you buy a house in the capital?"

Deng Shirong smiled, "I bought it when your second brother was studying in the capital. The house price was reasonable at the time, and I didn't know if your second brother would live in the capital in the future, so I bought it when I found a suitable one. Now, you can use it, right?"

Deng Yunsong widened his eyes, "Dad, you really can keep secrets. You've had the house for so many years, and you never told us."

Deng Shirong said, "After you and your second brother started working, you both had houses provided by your units. Since you didn't need this house, there was no point in telling you about it."

Deng Yunsong nodded, "That makes sense. What kind of house did you buy, Dad?"

Deng Shirong smiled, "It's a siheyuan. How about I take you to see it? This house will be yours in the future. You can discuss with Qinghua what kind of renovation you want, and then I'll hire someone to do it."

Deng Yunsong was surprised, "A siheyuan? How many courtyards?"

Deng Shirong replied, "Three courtyards."

"Three courtyards?!"

Deng Yunsong was genuinely shocked. Although siheyuans were not as comfortable as the apartment buildings provided by their units in this era, siheyuans had their own advantages, especially a three-courtyard siheyuan, which was very spacious.

In ancient times, only wealthy and powerful families could afford to live in a three-courtyard siheyuan.

He never thought his father had bought a three-courtyard siheyuan in the capital so many years ago. This foresight was truly remarkable.

Seeing his son's surprised expression, Deng Shirong laughed, "It's just a three-courtyard siheyuan. I didn't pay much for it at the time, but with the country's development, the value of the house will definitely increase. After all, this is the capital. In the future, this siheyuan might be worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions."

"Worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions?"

Deng Yunsong drew a sharp breath, stunned by his father's prediction.

In this era, no one with foresight would dare make such an outrageous prediction. For a three-courtyard siheyuan to be worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions, how advanced would the country have to become?

Recalling the growing international influence of his country before his reincarnation, Deng Shirong smiled, "It's just a bold guess based on our country's rise. As long as our country becomes strong again, the value of the house will naturally increase."

"It would be great if that day really comes!"

"It will definitely come. Our Chinese nation has a history of thousands of years, and for most of that time, we have stood at the pinnacle of the world. The periods of decline have been brief. I believe we will rise again soon."

...

A siheyuan is a traditional courtyard-style building unique to China, with a history of over 3,000 years.

A complete siheyuan consists of three courtyards. The first courtyard is a narrow courtyard in front of the flower gate formed by the inverted seat houses. The second courtyard is composed of side houses, the main house, and a walkway. The main house and side houses can also have attached rooms. The third courtyard is the back house behind the main house, with a door on the east side of the main house's attached room connecting the second and third courtyards.

In the entire compound, the elderly live in the north house (upper house), the middle is the large living room (hall), the eldest son lives in the east side house, the second son in the west side house, servants live in the inverted seat houses, and daughters live in the back yard, all without interfering with each other.

Deng Yunsong followed his father through the main gate and was greeted by a screen wall.

The screen wall serves to block the view of outsiders, ensuring that even with the gate open, outsiders cannot see inside the compound. It also enhances the atmosphere and adds to the grandeur of the residence.

A screen wall that is straight and placed inside the main gate is called a straight screen wall. Some are independent between the side houses or partition walls, known as independent screen walls, while others are built directly on the side houses' gable walls with a small wall cap, known as a gable screen wall.

The screen wall in front of them was a "Yanwing" screen wall, a type of screen wall that stands opposite the entrance of a courtyard, forming a "V" shape. Its main purpose was to show off the family's wealth and extravagance, essentially saying, "We are rich and can afford to be extravagant!"

The screen wall in front of Deng Shirong and Deng Yunsong was a Yanwing screen wall.

Deng Yunsong had studied in the capital for four years and worked there for another year, so he was no stranger to siheyuans. However, the siheyuans he had seen before were either super-large ones like the Forbidden City, ultra-luxurious ones like the mansions of princes, or single-courtyard siheyuans.

This was the first time he had seen a complete three-courtyard siheyuan.

After taking in the impressive Yanwing screen wall, the father and son walked toward the Chuihua Gate, which is the gate between the first and second courtyards. It is the most beautiful and grand gate in the entire siheyuan.

In the famous novel "Dream of the Red Chamber," Lin Daiyu's first entry into the Jia family's residence is described as follows: "The old women surrounded her and carried her to the Chuihua Gate, where the young servants withdrew. The old women lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, and Lin Daiyu was helped out. She held the old women's hands, entered the Chuihua Gate, and saw on both sides the covered walkways, with a central hall where a large marble screen on a rosewood stand was placed."

Due to its structure, the two front columns of the Chuihua Gate do not touch the ground but hang in the air, with the column heads carved into shapes like lotus petals, beads, or pomegranate heads, resembling a pair of flower buds about to bloom. These short columns are called "Chuilian columns," and the Chuihua Gate is named after them.

Most Chuihua Gates have a "one hall, one roll" roof style, which means the part outside the gate is a gable roof, and the part inside is a barrel vault roof, connected together. The space under the roof is like a small house, with doors in front and back and connecting covered walkways on the sides.

A Chuihua Gate almost encapsulates all the elements of traditional Chinese architecture.

"Truly beautiful!" Deng Yunsong marveled.

The door of the Chuihua Gate facing the courtyard is usually a set of four green-painted doors, which are usually closed. This is known as the "second gate," and in the past, it was said that wealthy young ladies "never stepped out of the second gate," meaning they never left the Chuihua Gate to go outside.

After passing through the Chuihua Gate, one enters the second courtyard. In rainy or snowy weather, or when there are no important events, the Chuihua Gate does not need to be opened. To enter the main courtyard, one would use the covered walkways. These walkways run along the outer perimeter of the inner courtyard, connecting the Chuihua Gate to the east and west side houses, leading directly to the main house. They are named for their shape, which resembles a person's hands held together.

In addition to the main inner and outer courtyards, a siheyuan may have smaller courtyards, such as the small courtyards in front of the side rooms of the main house or the small courtyards separated by screen doors in the outer courtyard. The inner courtyards usually have a north-south cross path, and the residents often planted trees in the courtyards. Except for pine, cypress, and poplar trees, which were traditionally planted in graveyards and thus avoided, other trees were commonly planted.

There was a saying in old Beijing: "Mulberry, pine, cypress, pear, and locust trees do not enter the residences of nobles and princes," referring to the taboos of planting certain trees in courtyards.

Commonly planted trees include jujube and pomegranate trees, while flowers and shrubs include peonies, peonies, magnolias, lilacs, crabapples, wisteria, and pomegranates. Jujube and pomegranate trees symbolize early childbirth and many descendants, while pomegranate trees represent good fortune. Planting lilacs and crabapples indicates the owner's status and cultural refinement.

After touring the entire siheyuan, Deng Yunsong remarked, "Truly worthy of a wealthy family's residence, it is indeed grand."

Deng Shirong said, "Now, living in a siheyuan is not very convenient. I plan to hire people to install modern facilities without changing the architectural style and layout. At the very least, we need to install underfloor heating, running water, a bathroom, and lighting to make it comfortable to live in. We also need to repair any areas that need it. When you have time, discuss with Xiao Pei and let me know if you have any ideas."

Deng Yunsong shook his head and said, "Dad, you've already thought of everything."

...

After deciding to renovate the siheyuan, Deng Shirong contacted a skilled renovation team through his connections with the head of the Nanning Architectural Design Institute, Mr. Huang. He asked them to repair and renovate the seven siheyuans in the capital according to his requirements.

Yes, since they were renovating, it made sense to renovate all seven siheyuans, not just one.

Because the third son's siheyuan would be used for the wedding, it was the first to be renovated.

After giving clear instructions, Deng Shirong informed his third son and then boarded the infamous K3 international train.

This K3 train was the first international train to operate after the founding of the People's Republic of China, starting in 1960. It runs from the capital, through Mongolia, and finally arrives in Moscow. The entire journey is 7,826 kilometers long and takes 130 hours and 41 minutes, making it the longest train route in China, known as the "First Train of China."

The reason this train became notorious in later times was due to a shocking incident that occurred on May 1993. Three groups of bandits took turns robbing passengers on the train, and several women were subjected to unspeakable acts. Many people were injured or stabbed, and some were even killed.

In fact, before this incident, various robberies and other heinous crimes had already been frequent, tarnishing the train's reputation.

Many Chinese travelers traveling between the capital and Moscow used iron chains to lock their compartment doors, eating, drinking, and sleeping inside for six days and nights without opening the door even once.

Despite the extreme danger of the train, countless traders still chose to take it to Moscow. This was because the profit from trading goods between the two cities was incredibly high, and the substantial returns made them willing to take any risk.

At this time, the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse, and many traders were already shuttling between the two cities to trade goods.

The train was filled with goods carried by these traders, and passengers like Deng Shirong, who only carried a single suitcase, were rare.

After boarding the train, Deng Shirong began to ponder his Moscow trip, trying to decide what he could plunder to make a fortune without leaving a trace.

After much deliberation, Deng Shirong settled on several targets: gold, jewels, US dollars, oil, grain, fine wine, poultry, livestock, cooking oil, seafood, steel, cement, and rare earth elements.

These were all items that were difficult to trace, and he could safely store them in his space. As long as he acquired enough, they would amount to a huge fortune.

He could also take a small amount of industrial equipment.

With this in mind, Deng Shirong felt confident. He would act opportunistically, specifically targeting state assets and the wealth of high-ranking officials, while leaving the assets of ordinary people and small traders alone.

...

The journey was uneventful, and six days later, Deng Shirong arrived in Moscow safely.

Over the next one and a half months, Deng Shirong transformed into the world's most formidable thief, continually plundering the wealth of the Soviet Union.

He did not plunder indiscriminately but started with the most hidden and hard-to-discover riches, such as gold, jewels, and US dollars stored in vaults and safes. These items, if lost, would go unnoticed for a long time unless someone happened to open them.

He also targeted grain, fine wine, cooking oil, steel, cement, and rare earth elements stored in warehouses.

These items would only be discovered when they were needed.

Once he had collected these hidden riches, he began targeting the more easily discoverable items.

By then, a month had passed, and the discovery of these missing items soon caused significant unrest, exacerbating the already unstable situation in the Soviet Union.

Just as Moscow began to "quake," Deng Shirong, satisfied with his haul, boarded the return train.

This Moscow trip had been incredibly profitable, achieving his goal of becoming immensely wealthy.

Without counting other items, Deng Shirong had acquired over 50 tons of gold, several tons of jewels, over 10 million US dollars, 10,000 tons of oil, 100,000 tons of steel, and 80,000 tons of cement.

The quantities of other items he had collected were also staggering.

In short, if the wealth he had harvested were converted into RMB, it would be an astronomical sum.

Of course, Deng Shirong would not use this ill-gotten wealth in the short term.

Although there were no surveillance cameras in this era and his methods were mysterious, selling these items too quickly would attract unwanted attention due to the scale of the operation.

However, by spreading out the sale of these goods over a longer period, he could act without drawing notice.

Back in the capital, Deng Shirong first checked on the progress of the siheyuan renovation. He was pleased to see that the work was progressing well, and he estimated that the renovation of his third son's siheyuan would be completed in about a month.

As for the other siheyuans, there was no rush to renovate them, as his other children would not be living in the capital in the near future, and the renovated siheyuans would remain vacant.

Having not been in touch with his children for a long time, Deng Shirong called each of them to ensure they were not worried.

The others were all fine, but his youngest daughter, Deng Yunzhu, shared an expected piece of news.

Deng Yunzhu said, "Dad, Uncle Zhou wants to visit you to discuss the wedding between Hai Dong and me."

Deng Shirong asked, "Aizhu, you and Hai Dong have been dating for some time. How do you feel about it?"

Deng Yunzhu replied, "So far, it's going well."

Deng Shirong said, "Alright, I understand. We'll talk more when I return to Nanning."

...

PS: Dear relatives, it's the end of the month. If you still have monthly votes, please use them before they expire. ^_^

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end