This was Chen Zikun's first time having his picture taken. Xiong Xiling had the butler take him to a photo studio called "Meifang" near the front gate, where he stood in front of a large camera amidst a backdrop of pavilions and towers. Chen Zikun felt somewhat at a loss, but under the photographer's guidance, he put on a fake Western-style collar and sat properly in the chair.

  The master buried his head in the black cloth, pressed the shutter release, and with a "poof" sound, the magnesium lamp emitted a dazzling light, emitting a burst of white smoke, and the photo was taken.

  The receipt for the photo was handed over to the housekeeper of the Xiong's mansion, and they would take care of sending the photos and letters. Chen Zikun returned directly to the cart factory, and when he arrived at the backyard, he saw that half of the yard was filled with rolls of iron wire mesh. He entered the main room and found Zhao Dahan and his wife sitting there drinking tea.

  "Big Brother Hai is here, you sit down and don't get up, your injury isn't fully healed yet." Chen Zikun greeted.

  Zhao Dahai still stood up: "Dajunzi, you underestimate me, this little injury is nothing, I've been lively and energetic for a long time." As he spoke, he patted his chest, took a horse stance, and threw two punches, indeed still vigorous and full of energy.

  "Big Brother Hai's body is really sturdy, like a locomotive," said Chen Zikun. "Alright, no more idle chatter. You two are free to help me with something recently."

  "Don't be polite, just say it." Da Hai's wife is also a straightforward person, speaking quickly and to the point.

  "You've seen all the stuff piled up in our courtyard, right? I had them collected from Dong'an Market. In two days, these things will go up in price, and then we'll make a profit by selling them."

  Zhao Dahai muttered: "Isn't it just some iron mesh? This thing is commonly seen on the market, do you have any inside information?"

  Chen Zikun said: "The heavenly machine cannot be leaked, in short, you help me continue to buy back is, can buy how much is how much."

  Zhao Dahai said: "Iron mesh is commonly used to prevent mosquitoes in summer, now it's common on the market, but the season is not right, businesses will not stock too much goods. But if you want to buy all the iron mesh in the city, I estimate it would cost several hundred, or even over a thousand yuan. Da Kezi, can you afford that?"

  Chen Zikun said: "I couldn't get it out, so I let Uncle Xue take all the rickshaws to the pawnshop."

  "What's going on?" Zhao Dahan and his wife exclaimed in unison. Da Kui was always doing things that shocked people, and this time was no exception. His wife couldn't help but glance at her husband, thinking to herself that usually she thought her own man was already unpredictable enough, but now it seemed there was someone even more unpredictable than him.

  Zhao Dahai thought the same way, pawning his bicycle to get some cash, although he would have to pay a hefty fee to redeem it later. Since Da Kuanzi had the guts to do this, he must be confident of winning.

  "Alright, I'll help you." Zhao Dahan and his wife exchanged a glance and agreed.

  ……

  For the past two days, Chen Zikun had been busy buying up iron mesh. He mobilized all the rickshaw men from the Zigong Car Factory and everyone else he could muster to sweep the streets of Beijing clean of iron mesh, just as Zhao Dahan had predicted. Due to seasonal reasons, there wasn't much stock of iron mesh available, but Chen Zikun still had to use all his strength to get it done. Even selling off all the rickshaws wouldn't be enough, so Zhao Dahan secretly pawned his own silver pocket watch to help raise funds for him.

  After a round of purchases, the front and back yards of Ziguang Car Factory were filled with iron mesh. Chen Zikun bought a large amount of wood and several baskets of iron nails, and led everyone to start woodworking in the yard, making window frames, door frames and two types of window frames. The wooden frame was stretched with iron mesh, although the craftsmanship was simple, but the workload was really too big, besides mobilizing the car workers under his hand, Chen Zikun also pulled in the neighbors from Dajian Yard.

  The once quiet courtyard has turned into a bustling factory, with the sound of sawing wood and pounding nails blending together in a symphony of labor. Under Chen Zikun's coordination and organization, everyone is divided into different teams, some cutting iron mesh, others sawing wooden strips, and others hammering nails, forming a production line that greatly improves labor efficiency. In addition, there is also a strong logistics team providing meals for everyone, with each meal consisting of either meat-filled dumplings or steamed buns with braised pork, while Xiang'er carries a teapot around, urging everyone to drink water and not get tired.

  Chen Zikong returned from outside, just stepped into the yard, suddenly a little boy carrying a small hammer passed in front of him, almost tripping over, and was caught by Chen Zikong: "Dog leftover, what are you doing."

  Gou Sheng is Zhao Dahan's six-and-a-half-year-old son, giggling and saying: "I'm helping Dad with work."

  "Son, you're being naughty again." Zhao Dahi walked over and put his son on his shoulder, looking back at the pile of window frames and said with some concern: "Daxiongzi, your investment is not small, what if..."

  "Hehe, no need to worry, take a look." Chen Zikun handed the Morning Post in his hand to Zhao Dahai, with the black title very eye-catching "Beijing Municipal Health Bureau Temporary Regulations on Public Toilets Released"

  "Wow, you're a god, knowing everything before it happens!" Zhao Dahai scanned the newspaper and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. The Beijing Municipal Health Bureau had launched a compulsory sanitation maintenance campaign for all public toilets in the city, including installing iron mesh doors and windows to prevent mosquito breeding, spraying disinfectant, regular cleaning, and assigning special personnel for maintenance. For convenience, the division of labor was handled according to the old rules of the toilet industry, meaning that the expenses would be borne by those in charge of the toilets.

  Chen Zikun smiled and said, "Dahai Ge, it's not that I have foreknowledge, but this rule was actually set by me. Although the health department made some minor changes, the specific clauses are basically unchanged. I thought about taking advantage of this opportunity to get some real benefits for everyone, so I took the liberty of doing it myself. To prevent the news from leaking out, I kept it secret from everyone. Don't mind, okay?"

  "You little scamp, you've got a set!" Zhao Dahi excitedly punched Chen Zikong on the shoulder, looking back at the increasingly high pile of window frames, feeling delighted in his heart, this time he could make a big profit.

  After the newspaper published the provisional regulations, apart from Yu De-shun taking it as a matter of course, other toilet bosses just sneered at it. However, the newspaper caused a great stir in society, with all walks of life expressing strong support. A university professor even published a poem in the newspaper, calling the street toilets "a poisonous tumor on the beautiful body of Beijing". It is said that President Xu Shi-chang also made a statement, instructing to do a good job in sanitation.

  The Health Bureau received support from all walks of life and was determined to do a good job, but by then the owners of the feces industry had woken up and were hastily purchasing various sanitary equipment, such as iron screens, fly swatters, quicklime powder, and disinfectant. However, all these things had risen in price overnight, especially the iron screens for preventing mosquitoes, which had become scarce on the Beijing market, and even with a large amount of money, they could not be bought.

  This is going to cost lives, although iron mesh isn't worth much, but there are no factories producing this within or outside of Beijing city, if you want to order it, you have to go to factories in Hankou and Shanghai, how can that be done on time? The health bureau has already issued a statement, if you can't do the job well, then don't do it, there are plenty of people waiting to take over the contract for the sewers...

  A sense of crisis has arrived, and the bosses are scrambling to buy these life-saving goods. They really found them at a car factory inside Xuanwumen that specializes in selling iron mesh windows and doors, which just so happen to match the size specifications of the government's toilets. All of them have sturdy wooden frames with iron mesh screens nailed on, and they're very well-made. The iron doors even come with an old bicycle inner tube with plenty of elasticity, allowing the door to automatically close.

  Almost overnight, all the iron gates and windows made by Ziguang Factory were sold out, including the leftover materials of iron mesh. Not only did they recover their costs, but they also made a huge profit. The pawned foreign cars and watches were redeemed, and Chen Zikun gave each participant a big red envelope as a reward, not even leaving out Dog Leftover.

  The carters took the money and went to a small restaurant to drink happily, the apricot family usually didn't have a proper business, this time relying on helping Chen Zikun earned a lot of money, each person got a thick red envelope, Chen Sanpi's wine money was settled, Guoer's book fees also had a solution, and Apricot mother and daughter were so happy that they couldn't close their mouths.

  "Big brother, we have a house now and a family business too, it's time for you to get married." said Xing Er's mother.

  Xing Er's face turned red secretly on one side.

  "I'm still young, no rush." Chen Zikong said carelessly.

  Xing Er stamped her foot and left. Xing Er's mother sighed, knowing that her daughter was thinking deeply about something. To be honest, Da Kui Zi was a good young man in every way except for being an orphan; he had a handsome appearance, good character, and knew how to make money. Such a great son-in-law would be hard to find even with a lantern. Unfortunately, it seemed that Da Kui Zi didn't have any romantic feelings towards Xing Er.

  There's no need to rush this matter, let's take it slow. A woman chasing after a man is like being separated by a thin layer of silk - there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Xing Er's mother is full of confidence.

  ……

  The next day, Xiong Xiling suddenly sent a steward to invite Chen Zikun over. Chen Zikun went back to his room, grabbed a bundle and followed the steward away.

  Arriving at Xiong's living room, Xiong Xiling's face looked somewhat strange today, seemingly in a bad mood, and said faintly: "Sit down."

  Chen Zikong, with his majestic horse and golden sword, sat down, his eyes gleaming: "Did Old Bear call me here for the sake of reforming the feces industry?"

  "That matter, let's not mention it for now. I received a call from the police department today, saying that someone is hoarding and speculating in my name." A hint of regret and anger was hidden in Xiong Xiling's tone.

  Chen Zikun smiled: "This is nonsense, I had expected that there would be some scoundrels who would do such a despicable thing."

  Xiong Xiling said: "You've been sweeping the iron mesh of Beijing for several days, and you've recruited a batch of workers to rush through the night to make window screens and door screens. You're taking advantage of the public toilet management rules to reap huge profits. Is all this not true?"

  Chen Zikun was calm and unruffled: "It's all true."

  "Alas... you've disappointed me greatly." Xiong Xiling picked up his tea cup, unwilling to say more.

  The housekeeper shouted loudly at the door: "See off the guest~~~"

  Chen Zikong did not leave with a sense of shame, but instead burst out laughing loudly.

  Xiong Xiling asked in surprise: "What makes you laugh?"

  Chen Zikong said: "I laugh at Xiong Lao's lifelong reputation, but he has been blinded by petty people."

  Xiong Xiling looked even more puzzled: "What do you mean by this?"

  Chen Zikun said: "I have been hoarding, but I have not profiteered. Everything I do is for the environmental sanitation of Beijing and the livelihood of the underclass."