Courtyard House: Starting as an engineer, crushing a yard full of poultry

And promotions and raises are inevitable.

When Yan Bugui returned home, he started thinking about how to get the cucumbers out of Li Xiangdong's hands.

Just as Yan Bugui was thinking of going to talk to Li Xiangdong, he saw Yu Li push her bicycle in.

Yan Bugui's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. His mind immediately started racing.

"Hehe, so they've come back to find Jie Cheng. That's good, that's good. Since they've come back to find Jie Cheng, then when they get married, they can't give a bride price. Their family will have to give more dowry."

"But what did the matchmaker say about her going to talk to Yu Li's family? She was scolded and forced to leave."

"Never mind, never mind. Let's deal with Yu Li's matter first."

These thoughts flashed through Yan Bugui's mind for only a second or two. Yan Bugui hurriedly walked over, grabbed Yu Li's handlebars, and said with a smile:

"Hehe, Yu Li, you're here to see Yan Jiecheng, right? Just give me the car. Tsk tsk, this car is a women's model."

"If you've thought it through, then you're marrying into our family; you're climbing the social ladder."

"Given the current situation, our Yan family can't give a bride price. Your family still has to provide this car as part of the dowry, and some other things..."

"You old bastard, how dare you harass my daughter!" Yu Dajiang entered the courtyard, grabbed Yan Bugui by the collar, and slapped Yan Bugui's lean, angular face.

The slap sent Yan Bugui's glasses flying off.

"Aww, you dare hit me? You dare hit me?" Yan Bugui yelled, and half of his face quickly became swollen.

"Hitting you is too lenient, damn it, let's go to the police station!"

Yu Dajiang said angrily.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong were watching from the sidelines, completely oblivious. Now they finally understand.

"Master Yu, wait a minute! Master Yu, wait a minute!" Yi Zhonghai hurriedly stepped forward.

"Master Yi, what's the matter?" Yu Dajiang asked angrily.

“Um, it’s like this. I’m an old man in the courtyard…” Yi Zhonghai said.

"Yi Zhonghai, who are you? Say it again!" Yu Dajiang rolled up his sleeves.

During lunch with Yu Li, Li Xiangdong gave her a general overview of the compound. Yu Li, of course, told her father.

Yu Dajiang knew Yi Zhonghai was a scoundrel even back in the factory. Liu Haizhong had long given the impression of being a crazy bureaucrat, unlike Yi Zhonghai who had just revealed his true colors.

Yu Dajiang hated Yan Bugui even more; that matchmaker had spun the Yan family up to the heavens. But later, when Yu Li went back and told him, Yu Dajiang finally found out what kind of oddball Yan Bugui really was.

That's why Yu Dajiang took the opportunity to give Yan Bugui a large sum of money.

Who knew that someone would jump out and block their way, even claiming to be a big shot. Yu Dajiang, of course, wanted to slap Yi Zhonghai's family twice to wake them up.

Yi Zhonghai was startled and hurriedly said, "I am the mediator of the compound, but what are you doing in our compound, Master Yi?"

"How did this compound become yours, Yi Zhonghai's?" Li Huaide sneered as he walked in. He couldn't miss this opportunity to suppress Yi Zhonghai; suppressing Yi Zhonghai would be smearing Director Yang's reputation.

"Um, this... Factory Director Li... Hello, Factory Director Li!"

Yi Zhonghai hurriedly greeted him, while secretly cursing his bad luck in his heart.

"This compound belongs to the steel rolling mill, so how did it become yours, Yi Zhonghai? And why are you asking what other people are doing here? As long as they're not coming into your home, why do you care what they're doing here?"

"Who the hell gave you the right to interrogate other people? The street? I'll have to go ask them..."

Yi Zhonghai panicked: "No, no. I was just expressing my concern. Master Yu is also an employee of our steel rolling mill, and he had a conflict with Yan Bugui. I just wanted to ask..."

"Is it any of your business?" Li Huaide sneered. "This Yan Bugui is being unreasonable and harassing this young lady. I think we should report this to his workplace."

Yan Bugui felt a chill run down his spine. If this were reported, and he was accused of harassing a young woman for no reason, would he lose his job?

"Director Li, Director Li, I apologize. Isn't Yu Li my son Yan Jiecheng's girlfriend?" Yan Bugui said hurriedly.

"Go to hell, you're still talking nonsense!" Yu Dajiang slapped him again.

Chapter 44 The Misunderstanding Between the Yan Family Father and Son (Seeking flowers and votes!)

"My daughter didn't even like your son, so how did she become your son's girlfriend?" Yu Dajiang said angrily, "What the hell are you?!"

"A family that even divides pickled vegetables by the root, is truly a ghost story."

"If it weren't for Zhang the matchmaker's nonsense, would my daughter have been able to go on a blind date with your son? You're dreaming."

Li Huaide said calmly, "Yan Bugui, you're a primary school teacher, right? You can't just spout nonsense like that!"

Yan Bugui felt a chill run down his spine. Hongxing Primary School was a primary school affiliated with the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. Most of its students were children of workers at the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill doesn't really manage its affiliated primary school; that's been left to the education department. But as the one paying for it, it would be easy for Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill to take over if it wanted to.

Factory Director Li's casual remark to Yan Bugui made Yan Bugui nervous. If this got back to the school, Yan Bugui would be in deep trouble.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I deserve to be slapped. I'm so sorry, Master Yu!"

Yan Bugui bowed respectfully to Yu Dajiang to apologize.

"Oh ho, it's quite lively here." Li Xiangdong pretended not to notice and came out of his house: "Factory Director Li invited me to have some tea!"

Li Huaide, of course, understood what Li Xiangdong meant. He smiled and said, "Wait a bit, I just came to have a drink with you, and I'm also checking on the employees' housing allocation."

"Okay, An, I'll treat you to some mutton soup tonight," Li Xiangdong said with a smile.

Li Huaide, Yu Dajiang, and Yu Li all know that Li Xiangdong doesn't want to make his relationship with Yu Li public right now; he's doing this for Yu Li's sake.

Yu Li, a young woman, had just gone on a blind date with Yan Jiecheng, but they didn't like each other and she left. But she couldn't just turn around and start dating Li Xiangdong right away.

It should take a few days, giving Li Xiangdong time to pursue Yu Li, or time to find a matchmaker, otherwise it will affect Yu Li's reputation.

Now that they live in this large compound, Li Xiangdong and Yu Li are openly meeting. That gives them a chance to hit it off.

As for Zhao Dafa and his gang at the factory, they already knew. Knowing and making it public are two different things. Besides, those beasts have vicious tongues; we can't let them have any room to maneuver.

"Then I'll go with Director Li to take a look."

Li Xiangdong found a plausible excuse. He then followed Li Huaide to the back.

Just then, Yan Jiecheng returned, looking exhausted. He had found a job carrying heavy loads at the grain station that day. He was exhausted after a long day, but it wasn't too bad; he had earned a dollar and a pound of flour, which he carried home.

Seeing Yu Li and a group of people at his doorstep, Yan Jiecheng didn't think much of it. He assumed Yu Li had come to see him. In Yan Jiecheng's mind, Yu Li would definitely be happy with his conditions. Heaven must have made some misunderstanding.

It seems the misunderstanding has been cleared up, and Yu Li has come to find him.

Yu Li's family lives in Zuojiazhuang, which is in the suburbs of Beijing, but it's still a rural area! Yu Li definitely wants to move to the city.

Yan Jiecheng frequently went to Zuojiazhuang to exchange corn and sweet potatoes. He took a liking to Yu Li immediately upon meeting her; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to find a matchmaker.

Yan Bugui agreed because he knew the people of Zuojiazhuang lived well. At least they had enough food, so after Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li got married, they could go to Yu Li's house to get some food.

For the sake of profit, shamelessness simply doesn't exist in Yan Bugui's mind.

Yan Jiecheng exclaimed excitedly when he saw Yu Li, "Yu Li, you've finally come to your senses? Look, I have some flour here, I'll make noodles for you tonight!"

Yu Li was furious. She glared at Yan Jiecheng and said, "What nonsense are you spouting? What do you mean I've figured it out? I'm here today because my house was allocated here."

“I’m an employee of the steel rolling mill! I have absolutely nothing to do with you, Yan Jiecheng. If you keep spouting nonsense, I’ll take you to the police station and make you pay!”

Yan Jiecheng was completely dumbfounded and still couldn't figure out what was going on.

Li Xiangdong and his group went to the backyard. As they passed the middle courtyard, Jia Zhangshi, like an old sow standing upright, leaned against the doorway, watching them walk away.

There are eight rear-facing rooms in total. The three rooms to be allocated to Yu Li are on the far west side, with a small kitchen built next to them.

Upon opening the doors to the three rooms, it became clear that they were not connected. Two of the rooms were separated by a partition, forming a living room and a bedroom.

This room, less than thirty square meters, became even smaller when divided up. It was empty, containing only some old furniture—tables, chairs, and the like, many of which were missing parts. There wasn't even a bed.

“Perfect, perfect! Lily, you’ll have your own room, and your mom and I will share one. Your three younger brothers will share one room.” Yu Dajiang said with delight, “We just need to put white paper on the walls.”

"Then hurry up. Go find two laborers to unload the furniture from the truck and bring it in. We can take our time with putting up the white paper later. I estimate we can move in tomorrow!" Li Xiangdong said.

"Um, tomorrow won't work. We can only move in next Monday," Yu Dajiang said. "Our matters over there won't be settled until next Monday."

Everything's settled with Yu Dajiang. We just have to wait until Monday to move in, because Li Xiangdong said he'd come to their house on Sunday.

Of course, Yu Dajiang wanted to brag about this to his fellow villagers. How could he not show off having found a son-in-law like Li Xiangdong?

They quickly moved the things inside, and the missing or damaged furniture was left outside to be used as firewood.

When the furniture was moved in, quite a few people came to watch the spectacle. Among them was Yan Jiecheng, who was still determined to see what would happen.

Once everything was over and the other party was locking up to leave, the onlookers dispersed in a flurry.

But Xu Damao, like a lapdog, kept circling around Li Huaide and Li Xiangdong.

"Let's go, Director Li, I'll treat you to hot pot." Li Xiangdong said with a smile, "There's a pretty good one right at the end of this alley."

"I'll treat you to this. Thank you for your help, leaders. It's too much trouble for you to treat us."

Yu Dajiang hurriedly and formally said.

Li Xiangdong remained silent and led Li Huaide forward. After Yu Dajiang's words, Xu Damao felt embarrassed to follow.

"Master Yu, I'll take care of it. It's my treat tonight," Xu Damao said hurriedly.

Xu Damao aspires to a leadership position, but for some reason, his father-in-law refuses to say a word in his defense. Xu Damao has no choice but to find his own opportunity.

"No need, Xu Damao, maybe next time." Li Xiangdong frowned and said, "Go back and be with your wife."

Yan Jiecheng returned home and hurriedly jumped up and down.