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

Yan Bugui had originally wanted the bicycle, but then realized the chances were slim. He decided against asking, lest it provoke a fierce backlash from Li Xiangdong, and he might miss out on getting the big fish.

With Li Xiangdong's connections, Yan Jiecheng should hurry up and propose marriage. A girl like Yu Li, with a job and a house, shouldn't be let go.

Sha Zhu looked excited and wanted to speak, while Liu Guangqi and Liu Guangtian were also about to jump out.

Li Xiangdong snorted coldly, "Go to hell! You two old bastards just spew filth the moment you open your mouths!"

"Yi Zhonghai, who do you think you are? You're the one who gets to define morality?"

"Yu Li didn't like Yan Jiecheng at first sight, so why can't Yu Li get married? Is Yan Jiecheng the emperor or something?"

"You're expressing dissatisfaction with the freedom of marriage advocated by the state!"

Yi Zhonghai immediately lost his temper, wishing he could slap himself. How could he have been so focused on making Li Xiangdong suffer that he forgot to consider who was in the right?

"Uh, I'm sorry! It was my fault!"

Yi Zhonghai's prompt apology was a timely way to cut his losses and extricate himself from the situation. Otherwise, who knows what Li Xiangdong would have done later.

"An apology is all it takes?" Li Xiangdong sneered. "Yi Zhonghai, you wait, this isn't over! And Yan Bugui, weren't you trying to blackmail me?"

"Okay, I'll go to the police station now!"

Yan Bugui was stunned. He felt like he had the upper hand. How could he be in trouble so suddenly?

"No, no, we can't call the police! We should resolve things here in the compound."

Yi Zhonghai hurriedly said.

"Yi Zhonghai, you're talking nonsense! Matters within the compound should be resolved within the compound! What, are you trying to turn yourself into a local tyrant behind closed doors?" Li Xiangdong said coldly, "This place is not under the jurisdiction of the state; it's your private property, Yi Zhonghai..."

"No, no! I mean, we shouldn't affect the evaluation of the advanced institutes..." Yi Zhonghai said hurriedly.

"Advanced institutions are built through real achievements, not through deception and cover-ups. Tsk tsk, Yi Zhonghai, you're blatantly deceiving the organization," Li Xiangdong sneered.

"I...I..."

Yi Zhonghai was so angry that his face turned ashen, and he felt like he was about to spit out a mouthful of blood. But he still took a deep breath and said, "It was my fault. I shouldn't have gotten involved in this matter."

"Of course it's your fault. You're just a level 17 veteran worker. You also have the identity of a community mediator. You can only mediate if you're needed; otherwise, your meddling is just nonsense," Li Xiangdong said calmly.

Li Xiangdong's goal was to strip these three so-called "big shots" of their facade and show everyone what they really were.

Yan Bugui was furious when he saw this; he had been accused of extortion. Moreover, everyone present had heard him asking for the item.

If the police were to investigate, Xu Damao would be the first to jump out and testify.

"I admit my mistake, I admit my mistake." Yan Bugui also said decisively, "I'm sorry, I was just talking nonsense."

Yan Bugui bowed properly to Li Xiangdong.

"Alright, that's settled then. I don't have time to deal with you guys today," Li Xiangdong said. "If you ever fall into my hands again, I'll settle the score with you too."

After saying that, Li Xiangdong pushed the cart out the gate and left.

"What...what kind of mess is this?" Yi Zhonghai trembled with anger. "They have no respect for their elders at all. Sigh...we have to put up with it!"

Yan Bugui's face was gloomy; he had once again lost face and been trampled on.

The onlookers dispersed in a panic, and for some reason, they felt a surge of joy at seeing Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui's humiliation.

Chapter 52 Proposing Marriage at Yu Li's House (Thanks to everyone who voted and threw flowers!)

Li Xiangdong went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought two packs of Red Peony cigarettes. These didn't come with filters back then, but they were wrapped in tin foil. That made them seem very high-end.

This stuff costs 52 cents a pack, so two packs would be 10.04 yuan!

I bought three pounds of fruit candy and one pound of White Rabbit milk candy.

One pound of fruit candy was placed to the side. This was part of Li Xiangdong's quirky hobby of scattering candy as soon as he entered the village.

As for the liquor, it was just a case of Fenjiu, the kind that costs 2.5 yuan a bottle. The case of twenty bottles was strapped to the back seat of the bike. Li Xiangdong checked the time and it was already 8:30, so he hurriedly rode his bike towards Zuojiazhuang.

As they approached Zuojiazhuang, they saw that the fields on both sides were deserted. A thought struck them, and they hung two large pieces of pork belly on the handlebars of the cart.

After another ten minutes or so of cycling, we arrived at the entrance of Zuojiazhuang village. In the distance, we saw a slender figure waiting expectantly at the village entrance.

A large group of children were playing in the wheat-drying ground at the edge of the village. There were no electronic devices back then.

The boys played with spinning tops, and also played shuttlecock and toss iron tablets. A large group of children were shouting and yelling as they played card games. The girls played jump rope, juggling, and other similar games.

Seeing Li Xiangdong approaching from afar, Yu Li hurriedly ran to greet him.

"I'm a little late, will you wait a while?" Li Xiangdong jumped out of the car and looked at Yu Li's flushed face.

"No, I just arrived!" Yu Li felt flustered under Li Xiangdong's gaze: "By the way, why did you buy so much stuff?"

Looking at all this stuff, Yu Li felt a pang of heartache. She knew that she and Li Xiangdong would need money for everything in their future life together.

“I’ve made some money before. And my salary is quite high now,” Li Xiangdong said with a smile. “This is to make you look good, so don’t worry about the money.”

As they spoke, the two arrived at the edge of the village, where all the children playing there looked over.

Li Xiangdong reached into his cloth bag and pulled out a handful of candy, scattering it at the children. The children excitedly scrambled to grab it.

"Let's go quickly!" Yu Li said helplessly.

Li Xiangdong followed Yu Li into the village. Along the way, Yu Li greeted the villagers with a touch of pride. When they arrived at Yu Li's house, the small courtyard was packed with her extended family members.

Now these people are staring intently at Li Xiangdong and the things in his car.

Yu Dajiang and Huang Guihua were a little flustered. Li Xiangdong had said he would come here at eight o'clock. They calculated that it had already been more than half an hour longer than expected.

The two men couldn't help but start whispering among themselves.

They were terrified that something might go wrong with Li Xiangdong. Because Li Xiangdong's looks, job, and income were all top-notch.

If a girl with better qualities finds Li Xiangdong, then Yu Li's hopes will be dashed.

After all, Li Xiangdong and Yu Li were not engaged, so there were no restrictions between them.

Seeing Li Xiangdong arrive, the two men breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly went to greet him.

“Xiangdong, you bought so much stuff. You can’t do this again! You only earn 180 yuan a month, but you can’t spend it like this. You two will have to live together as a couple. When you go back, take most of these things with you.”

"Yu Dajiang said loudly. Yu Dajiang really wanted Li Xiangdong to take more. Otherwise, he would be too ungrateful."

Yu Dajiang also spoke loudly, just to let everyone present know that his son-in-law earned 180 yuan a month.

The contents of Li Xiangdong's car had already shocked everyone present. Now, upon hearing about the monthly salary of 180 yuan, the crowd erupted in disbelief.

"One hundred and eighty yuan a month! Tsk tsk, how can anyone spend all that money?"

"Yeah, and he's handsome too. Yu Li is incredibly lucky."

"Yes, yes. Look at those two pieces of meat, they must weigh at least ten pounds."

"Yeah, and there's a case of Fenjiu liquor too. That stuff costs fifty yuan, and you need a receipt!"

"That's Peony cigarettes! Only our town's Party Secretary smokes Peony cigarettes!"

……

A chorus of envious voices.

Li Xiangdong wasn't shy at all and took out some fruit candies for Yu Li to distribute to everyone. The prepared pound of fruit candies was quickly distributed.

Yu Dajiang and Huang Guihua unloaded the meat, fish, and wine from the bicycle. Li Xiangdong hurriedly handed them the heavy schoolbag.

"What else did Dong-ge bring?" Yu Li asked.

Yu Li's three younger brothers, their mouths stuffed with fruit candies, were all beaming with joy.

"Two catties of white sugar and two catties of brown sugar. There are also some fruit candies and White Rabbit milk candies!" Li Xiangdong said casually.

Huang Guihua didn't show the candy to anyone; instead, she went into the room with her yellow schoolbag.

Yu Li's house is one of the best in the village. After all, Yu Dajiang works at a steel rolling mill. This makes them much better off than families who only farm the land in the village.

After everyone was seated in the main room, the village chief and several other important figures from the village were given a Red Peony cigarette and then told the onlookers to disperse.

After everyone left, only Yu Li's family and her uncle's family of five remained at home. These were their closest relatives, and they were supposed to have lunch together.

Yu Dahai is Yu Dajiang's older brother. He has three sons, the eldest being twenty years old and the youngest eighteen. The family has no shortage of labor.

Yu Dajiang and Yu Dahai agreed that Huang Guihua and her three sons' work points would be bought from their family. After all, their family had a lot of labor.

If you buy basic work points, you can receive grain and various benefits in the village.

Of course, Yu Dajiang doesn't actually need to pay anything, because the house is for Yu Dahai's family to use.

This is a large tiled house with blue bricks all the way to the top! The rent for a year can be equivalent to a lot of work points.

I cooked five pounds of pork and ten pounds of potatoes in a big pot for lunch, and also cooked a bighead carp. Those two dishes were enough, plus a lot of cornbread dumplings. Soaked in the fish broth, they were absolutely delicious.

Yu Li's three younger brothers ate until their bellies were round.

"I wish we could have food like this every day from now on," Yu Wen said with a sigh.

"Yes, I still want to eat more," Yu Wu said, letting out a burp.

“From now on, we’ll live in the same courtyard as my brother-in-law. If they have something delicious, we’ll go over there to eat.” Yu Bin is a clever little devil.

“Listen up, you three,” Huang Guihua said sternly. “Your sister married your brother-in-law, so she’s a member of the Li family. We’re just relatives with them.” “Visiting relatives is fine, but who visits relatives all the time? So you better behave yourselves.”

"What kind of life your sister's family lives is none of your business. If you want to eat well, study hard, go to university, and earn money like your brother-in-law. So, what do you want to eat?"

Chapter 53 Yan Jiecheng cried out of jealousy (Seeking flowers and votes!)