Half an hour later, after completing the housing exchange procedures, the two went their separate ways!
Xu Damao hurried along, rushing like the wind to the sub-district office. With the house exchanged, the next step was renovation. Once the wall was built and the house redecorated, his future days would be quite leisurely.
"Stop right there! Do you know where this is, barging in so carelessly?" Suddenly, a deep voice rang out. Xu Damao looked in the direction of the voice and saw an old man staring at him with a stern face!
Xu Damao's heart tightened. He understood the old man's identity, and Xu Damao felt somewhat unaccustomed to it; it was a mental adjustment!
"Uncle, I'm truly sorry. I was in too much of a hurry, so I was momentarily negligent and didn't greet you. I'm here specifically to see the Director of the sub-district office about something!" Xu Damao said.
The gate guard uncle scrutinized Xu Damao for a moment, his tone still stern: "Even if you're looking for someone, you can't just rush in. Come over and register before you go in. Also, do you know which room Director Zhang is in?"
Xu Damao nodded, smiling: "Yes, Uncle, thank you!"
With that, Xu Damao ran to the gatehouse, picked up a pen, and carefully signed his name.
Seeing that Xu Damao was quite well-behaved, the gate guard uncle waved his hand and said, "Alright, go on in!"
After receiving permission, Xu Damao, as if pardoned, thanked the gate guard uncle profusely before walking into the sub-district office. After walking a distance, Xu Damao couldn't help but take a deep breath.
The gate guard uncles of this era were truly formidable. They looked harmless, but who knew how many powerful connections they had behind them? They were not to be trifled with.
No matter how unaccustomed Xu Damao was, he didn't want to cause trouble. He could only force himself to adapt to the current environment as quickly as possible, integrate into the era, and then, after the reform and opening up, he would be free as a bird.
As for running away to Hong Kong now?
Xu Damao had never considered it. Although Hong Kong was free, it was still in the 'black gold' era at the moment.
Xu Damao treated this world as a vacation and just wanted to relax and enjoy life!
"Knock, knock, knock!!!"
Arriving at the Director's office door, Xu Damao gently knocked.
"Come in!"
Opening the door, what greeted him was a middle-aged woman dressed simply. The woman had a smile on her face, appearing kind and amiable!
"Director Zhang, hello, I am Xu Damao from Nanluoguxiang No. 95 Courtyard!"
"Oh? So it's Xu Damao. Have you returned from your film screening?"
Xu Damao was very famous in this generation. He already had an enviable job and married Lou Bancheng's daughter. What was even more famous was that Xu Damao was framed by Sha Zhu and had to divorce Lou Xiao'e.
After Lou Bancheng's daughter ran away, countless people secretly sympathized with Xu Damao!
Director Zhang had only recently taken office and was aware of Xu Damao's predicament. The reason for the cover-up and explosion of secrets by the three uncles in Nanluoguxiang No. 95 Courtyard was partly due to Xu Damao.
Of course, Xu Damao hadn't done anything wrong, and Director Zhang felt some sympathy for this young comrade in front of her!
"Yes, I just returned yesterday. Today, I'm not here for nothing; I have something I need your help with!" Xu Damao said with a grin.
Hearing this, Director Zhang frowned and asked, "Did something happen again in your Courtyard?"
Xu Damao waved his hand and said, "Director Zhang, you've misunderstood. It's not about the Courtyard; it's about my own matters..."
Xu Damao briefly explained the house exchange to Director Zhang and then asked, "Director Zhang, you see, I'm the only one left in my family. I'm thinking of building a wall, and while I'm at it, renovating the house, building a small toilet in the Courtyard, getting running water, and a separate electricity meter. What kind of procedures do I need to follow for all this?"
Director Zhang didn't respond immediately. Instead, she took out the residence registration map and looked at it carefully. After a long while, she finally replied, "There's no problem. All those houses of yours are private property. When building the wall, you're not allowed to take up too much space. Come over and register, and I'll stamp it, and it'll be done!" With that, Director Zhang deftly pulled out a form from her drawer and gently placed it on the table, pushing it towards Xu Damao.
Xu Damao took the form, picked up a pen, and quickly filled it out, then handed it back to Director Zhang.
Director Zhang took it and carefully checked it. After confirming everything was correct, she picked up the stamp and firmly pressed it onto the form. Then she looked up at Xu Damao and asked, "Little Xu, have you found suitable people to help with your work yet?"
"Not yet, Director Zhang. I just returned yesterday, and I came to you for approval first! Do you have a good recommendation?" Xu Damao asked.
Director Zhang said, "How about this, you go to No. 31 Zhima Hutong and find Master Zhao. Master Zhao and his team are skilled. Just tell him I introduced you, and he definitely won't treat you unfairly!"
"That's great! Thank you so much, Director Zhang! I'll go find Master Zhao right away!" Xu Damao, with a smile on his face, bid farewell to Director Zhang, carefully put away the approved procedure documents, and quickly walked out of the sub-district office!
Xu Damao left the sub-district office. Seeing that it was still early, he bought two meat buns at the intersection for breakfast.
Half an hour later, Xu Damao had arrived at No. 31 Zhima Hutong. This was an independent small Courtyard, unlike a Siheyuan (Courtyard) where dozens of households lived in one Courtyard.
Soon after Xu Damao knocked, a woman opened the door.
"Who are you looking for?"
"Hello, is Master Zhao living here? I need to renovate my Courtyard. Director Zhang from the sub-district office introduced me!" Xu Damao said with a smile.
"Lao Zhao, someone's looking for you!"
"Young man, come in first!"
Xu Damao walked into the Courtyard and saw a middle-aged man, about fifty years old, walk out of the house. Xu Damao said, "You must be Master Zhao, right? Director Zhang from the sub-district office introduced me. I'd like to renovate my Courtyard. Would you mind coming to take a look with me first?"
"Alright, young man, let's go!" Master Zhao replied.
Xu Damao and Master Zhao left the Courtyard and walked towards Nanluoguxiang. Soon, the two arrived at Nanluoguxiang No. 95 Courtyard.
Passing through the front and middle Courtyards, Xu Damao said, "Master Zhao, look, it's here. I plan to build a wall here, and the ear room next to the wall will be the kitchen and bathroom. The roof tiles that need replacing will be replaced..."
Master Zhao made a simple design sketch according to Xu Damao's ideas. Xu Damao's requirements were quite high: the exterior should look old but new, and the interior should be exquisite and comfortable. Besides the bathroom, all houses needed to have lofts built, the electrical circuits needed to be redone, and even a cellar had to be dug.
Although the Courtyard was not large, it was quite a major project according to Xu Damao's requirements.
On my Patreon, I have several advance chapters available if you're interested in more than 100: For $1, you get 20 fewer chapters than the $2.50 tier. For $2.50, you get 40 fewer chapters than the $4 tier. And for $4, you get them all.
The number of chapters is updated every 7 days and increases by 7 to 8 chapters.
My Patren: paroncom/FanTranslator