Courtyard houses: Those who are capable are rewarded, and many children bring many blessings.

Xu Damao reached out and smeared the coal dust on Shazhu's face. Shazhu, not to be outdone, grabbed Xu Damao and smeared it on his face in return…

"Heh heh, these young men are so energetic!" Niu Youliang came over, a pipe dangling from his lips. After all, Niu Youliang was the deputy head of the security department at the steel rolling mill.

Xu Damao and his companion immediately stopped arguing. They greeted each other in unison, "Uncle Niu Dazhuang is here!"

Inside the room, on the kang (heated brick bed), sat Niu Youliang, Niu Dazhuang, Xu Damao, and Shazhu. Outside, there were Da Xiong, who didn't drink, along with the Qin Huairu sisters.

The appetizers were quite good: minced meat stewed with tofu, scrambled eggs with toon leaves, stir-fried mung bean sprouts with vinegar, a plate of peanuts, a cold pork offal salad, and finally, pork stew with vermicelli and tofu.

These are the only vegetables available in spring. It's not that Qin Xueru wants to save money; it's just that even if she had the money, there's nowhere to buy vegetables.

After three cups, Xu Damao raised his glass first: "Uncle Niu, this is the first time we've ever drunk together. I'll drink three, and you can drink one!"

Niu Dazhuang thought to himself, "Xu Damao has already developed a drinking routine of 'three times three equals nine'!"

After eating half a pound, I lost consciousness and had to be carried back.

After resting for a while at noon, Niu Youliang came over again.

"Dazhuang, come with me to visit some relatives. Daxiong and the other two can't always be hanging around on the streets!"

The old man bought a box of pastries and had Niu Dazhuang carry it to Yanzhi Hutong in the southern part of the city. It was also a large, crowded courtyard.

"Niu Zhengen, are you there?" Niu Youliang asked the middle-aged woman who was sewing shoe soles in the yard.

The woman turned to the main house and called out, "Director Niu, someone is looking for you."

A man in his thirties stood at the doorway, lifting the curtain, and asked, "Who is it?"

"Zhengen, why don't I recognize him anymore?"

"Hey! Brother, I didn't know it was you. Come inside quickly." Niu Zhengen rushed out to greet Niu Youliang as soon as he saw him.

Niu Youliang was introducing Niu Dazhuang and Niu Youliang to each other when a seven or eight-year-old boy carrying a little girl walked in.

"Cheng Guo, come here and greet your grandpa! This is your older brother!"

The little boy was very polite. After putting the little girl on his back down, he started calling out to Niu Dazhuang and Niu Youliang.

The little girl had a small pigtail sticking up on her head, and with her fair skin and delicate features, she ran towards Niu Zhengen with her little arms tied up.

Needless to say, Niu Zhengen, Niu's biological father, is also liked by Niu Dazhuang.

Niu Zhengen was afraid she would fall, so he quickly stepped forward and picked her up.

"Brother Zhengen, you're so lucky to have both a son and a daughter. What's your little sister's name?"

"Her nickname is Rongrong, and her formal name is Shurong!"

Niu Dazhuang took out two pieces of candy from his pocket and gave one to the little girl in each hand.

Niu Zhengen: "Put the little girl down. Cheng Guo, take your sister out to play!"

Niu Dazhuang appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly he was in turmoil. In his past life, he had watched a TV series because of a female celebrity—a war between two women—and because of this same female celebrity, he had also watched "The Young Marshal."

Especially after watching her portrayal of the cousin-in-law in "The Young Marshal," I immediately wanted to kick that young marshal aside and take his place.

If Niu Shurong is already married, how far away is Zhao Xinmei? It just means we'll have to wait another ten years or so.

Waiting for more than ten years to finally hold Zhao Xinmei in my arms is totally worth it!

For the rest of the time, Niu Dazhuang didn't listen to a single word; he just kept daydreaming.

After the father and son left the tenement courtyard

"Dazhuang, are you still half asleep? Why are you always spacing out? And grinning like an idiot!" Niu Youliang said, displeased.

"You can talk to Brother Zhengen."

"Who are you suggesting we give this job to?"

"Let's draw lots! I have no objections."

"It's not a great job, so I think we shouldn't draw lots. Let's just give it to Dayong! He's trained for a few years and he's always out there, so we don't mind."

"Alright."

Niu Dazhuang told Niu Youliang to go back alone first. He turned a corner, went to the farmers' market, bought two large hens, and spent another 50 cents to buy two chicken coops.

Niu Dazhuang behaved himself that night. It wasn't that he didn't want to go out and have fun anymore; it was because Elena had clearly stated last night that she was surrendering and needed to rest for two days.

Li Xueru was even worse than Elena; she withdrew from the battle a night earlier.

I don't want to go to the Ye sisters' place either; let them calm down for a while first.

"Hey! Xue Ru, come quick! Da Zhuang really bought two big hens. We won't have to spend money on eggs anymore!" Qin Huai Ru shouted happily into the house.

These two big hens were the sisters' treasures, and Niu Dazhuang didn't even bother to pay attention to them. He was busy finding a food bowl, feeding them water, and scattering some corn kernels.

"Dazhuang, let's not cook dinner tonight. We can just reheat what we had for lunch. Don't worry about eating it; my sister and I didn't eat much this afternoon, so we're not hungry yet!"

When Niu Dazhuang got home, he acted like a big shot, the kind who wouldn't even pick up a fallen oil bottle. He was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), idly flipping through a newspaper.

I saw a newspaper article saying how a certain Soviet expert sincerely taught our workers skills, and it even included a picture.

Niu Dazhuang thought of Elena again. Since they had already had a deep and pleasant exchange, he figured they would definitely become black marketeers in the mid-to-late 1980s. Language, yes, language. Niu Dazhuang found himself something to do.

After dinner, Xue Ru was quite surprised to see that Niu Dazhuang didn't seem to be going out: "Why are you being so well-behaved tonight?"

"I want to spend more time with you, why aren't you happy about it!"

"What does it matter whether I'm willing or not? I'd like you to stay with me every night. Can you do that?"

"That's not possible."

"Then what else did you say?"

Although it was still a bit cold outside, it was warm enough to stay indoors. The two sisters each took a small stool and went to the central courtyard to chat.

They left Niu Dazhuang alone at home.

"Hey! This little wench, even I have my lonely moments." In a fit of anger, he pulled the blanket over his head and tried to sleep, but the more he did that, the less he could fall asleep. After tossing and turning a few times, he simply took a stool and went to the middle courtyard.

The courtyard was divided into several groups: one group of middle-aged women, one group of young women and wives, one group of middle-aged men, and one group of young people.

Niu Dazhuang naturally went to the group of young people.

"Brother Niu, you know, why didn't you call me? I work much harder than Xu Damao." This was Yan Jiecheng.

Niu Dazhuang turned his head and looked around: "Where's Xu Damao? Is he still asleep?"

"He's going to be up early tomorrow. He blacks out whenever he drinks, and he especially loves to drink!" Yan Jiecheng knew this because he had drunk with Yan Jiecheng a few times.

"Yan Jiecheng, you're at work now, shouldn't you treat your buddy to a meal?" Sha Zhu teased Yan Jiecheng.

"Silly Zhu, my life is so hard! I'm not making money, I'm risking my life for it! With my small frame, loading and unloading several tons of goods a day is killing me! Once I get a permanent position, I promise I'll treat you guys to a good drink!"

Niu Dazhuang asked, "Where do you work?"

"The South Freight Yard is right next to your workplace; we might even bump into each other on our way to work."