Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

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But since they were all his women, He Yuzhu didn't want to do this business alone without them.

Chen Xueru asked curiously, "What can you do?"

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "You don't know that a few days ago our 5th District got a glass bottle production line that can produce saline bottles and wine bottles."

The area around Qianmen belongs to District 7, so information doesn't flow smoothly between the two sides. That glass bottle production line was obviously provided by He Yuzhu.

"Given your connections in the neighborhood, you should be able to buy some canning jars."

He Yuzhu shook his head and said, "The risk of doing this is too great. I don't plan for us to do it alone. Instead, I want to bring the streets into the project as well."

"What? You want to involve the government too?"

Chapter 188 Huizhi: Is she pregnant?

“Yes, with the street office handling the paperwork, everything is much easier for us. If we bypass them, even if we succeed, someone will eventually steal our business, and we'll only be able to do business once.”

Upon hearing He Yuzhu's suggestion, Chen Xueru nodded in agreement.

"That's true, it's good to take shelter under a big tree. But all they have is the capacity to produce canning jars. Are we going to open a cannery too?"

"Of course not, the cannery is also called a street-run factory."

He Yuzhu had this idea before, otherwise he wouldn't have requested a separate production line for glass bottles when he was in Moscow.

Canned food is an extremely simple product to produce; procurement, cutting, and canning can all be done manually.

In other words, the final step requires steaming and sterilization, which requires certain equipment, such as a pressure cooker, which is easy to do.

Even if the canned goods produced cannot be exported, there is sufficient domestic consumption capacity.

It wasn't until the 90s, with the increasing maturity of long-distance transportation technology for various fruits, that the demand for canned fruit gradually decreased.

Even in the 1970s and 80s, giving two bottles of canned yellow peaches or canned oranges as a gift was considered a very prestigious present.

Therefore, He Yuzhu proposed at this time to smuggle canned goods to Russia. If it succeeded, they would make a lot of money. If it failed, they would not cheat anyone. Even if they only sold them domestically, they could still guarantee profits.

“Alright, let’s run this cannery in partnership with the neighborhood committee.”

He Yuzhu didn't need to ask to know that Li Hongying would agree. There was simply no money left on the street, otherwise they wouldn't have used houses, furniture, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings to pay for the equipment.

After discussing it, the three of them finalized the matter, and then He Yuzhu went to talk to Li Hongying.

After finishing his business, He Yuzhu went straight home.

Upon entering the house, they saw Xu Zhaodi there as well, and the three women were gathered together eating yellow-fleshed watermelon.

He Yuzhu said, somewhat speechless, "Hey, you surnamed Xu, what brings you here again?"

After Xu Zhaodi settled down, she quickly became familiar with Huizhen and would visit her neighbor every few days, making He Yuzhu regret that he hadn't arranged the marriage for them.

Xu Zhaodi pouted and said, "I just had a fight with that guy surnamed He. I get angry just looking at him. Can't I come here to hide for a while? Besides, I brought this watermelon. Come and try it. It's very sweet."

He Yuzhu frowned: "Why are you two arguing again?"

Although Xu Zhaodi stopped causing trouble, her life with He Yongqiang was not perfect. The two of them had a small argument every three days and a big fight every five days. They could have a big argument over the slightest thing.

He Yongqiang is the kind of person who has a mind of his own, is stubborn, and doesn't listen to other people's advice or opinions.

It was Huizhi's gentle and unassuming nature that made it possible for her to live with him.

If it were Xu Zhaodi instead, she would also have a bad temper. Although she was the eldest sister at home, she was also the one who had the final say. Like the old people in Beijing, she was quite gossipy and sarcastic, and she looked down on He Yongqiang, this country bumpkin.

The two of them were like a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment. Old He was so annoyed the first day, but after getting used to it, whenever he saw them arguing, he would close the door and go out to find some peace and quiet.

After arguing, Xu Zhaodi ran to the neighboring yard and was happy to see He Yuzhu.

Xu Zhaodi muttered, "Isn't it because he secretly added water to the wine? I've told him 800 times that the wine shouldn't be diluted with water. Although we earn less per pound, we get more customers!"

Xu Huizhen nodded and said, "Yes, by only selling undiluted wine, we can build up our reputation and attract more customers, making the tavern more lively. Although we don't make much from the wine itself, with the side dishes, we can earn just as much as we would from undiluted wine."

Xu Zhaodi said, "Yes, that's what I think too, but neither of the two people surnamed He will listen to me."

Old He was too shrewd in business. Some of his liquor was diluted with water, and some was not. He sold the diluted liquor to the laborers.

Only people of high status could get undiluted liquor when they came to drink, such as Master Niu, Xu Hesheng, and Fan Jinyou.

Of course, when He Yuzhu went to drink, it was always good wine that wasn't diluted with water.

“Then I’ll go talk to him, and then you can go back home, so you don’t have to come to my house every day.”

"I'm coming! You silly Zhu, have you forgotten that I gave you candy when we were little?"

Don't give me that. Who ate your candy?

He Yuzhu and Xu Zhaodi argued for a bit, then He Yuzhu went out and talked to He Yongqiang, and then sent Xu Zhaodi back.

Xu Huizhen then asked, "Has the bill been settled?"

He Yuzhu nodded. Although Huizhi was also there, he said directly, "After deducting expenses, each person received less than 80,000 yuan."

"Brother-in-law, so many?" Huizhi asked in surprise.

He Yuzhu reached out and pinched her small nose: "Isn't your brother-in-law amazing?"

I invested 2 yuan before, and although this trip took a long time, I made a lot of money.

Before, I made braised meat, and after a year of hard work, I only made a little over 20,000 yuan.

"Brother-in-law is amazing," Huizhi said happily.

Xu Huizhen rolled her eyes at her younger sister. This little girl had no opinions of her own and only knew how to fawn over her brother-in-law.

However, although this time the profit is large, the risk is still considerable.

"Although this business is profitable, it's in a foreign country after all, so let's not do it."

He Yuzhu said, "We can no longer do the silk business even if we want to. The relevant departments have seen the huge business opportunities it contains and are preparing to do this business in the name of the collective."

"However, I discovered another business opportunity."

"What is it? Can you really make so much money?" Huizhi asked.

"They sell canned goods."

He Yuzhu introduced the fruit shortage in Moscow, and then mentioned that a glass bottle production line had been set up on the streets.

So I'm planning to start a canned fruit business, whether it's selling to Moscow or locally, it's a very profitable business.

"But now that public-private partnerships have started, how long can they keep going?"

He Yuzhu said, "So I plan to cooperate with Director Li of the neighborhood committee to transform his glass factory into a cannery."

"That's great! We can produce canning jars directly and then make canned goods," Huizhi exclaimed happily.

"Yes, Huizhi is so smart," He Yuzhu praised, making Huizhi very happy.

"Will this work? We already have a lot of money, why are you making such a fuss? You might as well just do it at home."

He Yuzhu blurted out, "What's the point of making a fuss at home? You two are both pregnant, so I can only make a fuss outside."

"What? I'm pregnant?" Huizhi exclaimed in surprise.

Huizhen was somewhat better off, but she couldn't help asking, "I don't even know myself, how do you know?"

"Didn't I tell you before that I can take a pulse?"

Even without taking their pulses, He Yuzhu knew that both women were pregnant, but Xu Huizhen was pregnant earlier and Huizhi was pregnant later.

"Really?" Xu Huizhen was still somewhat incredulous.

"Of course it's true. Don't you remember? I was the one who found out first when you were pregnant last time."

The three of them were overjoyed; this was truly a double celebration. That evening, He Yuzhu cooked several of their favorite dishes to celebrate.

Sleeping at night became a problem, but Huizhen still took Xiuer back with her.

He Yuzhu served the mother and daughter, then returned to the side room.

When I came in, I saw Huizhi lying on the headboard looking rather sullen. I went over and asked, "What's wrong? You're not happy even though you're pregnant?"

"Of course I'm happy to be pregnant, but... but how am I going to explain this to my neighbors once my belly gets big?"

"Silly girl, don't worry, I'll take care of everything for you."

Huizhi perked up and asked, "What are your plans?"

"Isn't this a simple matter? I'll find you a place to stay, hire a maid to take care of you, and then I'll visit you every few days."

"where?"

“Just buy a courtyard outside the city. When the time comes, we’ll say that we’re marrying you off to the south. We’ll send some things back to your hometown and say that we’re going to the south to get married.”

"Is this okay?"

"No problem. Your hometown is so far away, no one else knows. Just spread the word that you'll come back after you give birth."

Xu Huizhi thought about it and realized that this was indeed a good idea.

As long as you tell others that you've gotten married, no one will investigate further. After a year or two, you can simply say that your husband has died and that you've returned home with your child.

She will still be her brother-in-law's sister-in-law, and if she stays with him, she can still live in this courtyard.

"Well, I listen to you."

This was his biggest worry, but his brother-in-law resolved it with just a few words, which made him very happy.