Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Lin Yan, leading his "cousin Lin Gang" and "cousin's wife Wang Cuihua," stopped in front of the Nanluoguxiang Subdistrict Office. After greeting the gatekeeper, they easily found Director Wang's office again.

"Director Wang, we're back." Lin Yan, with a tired but relaxed smile on his face, presented all the materials with both hands—a job acceptance letter from the food factory, a family visit letter from Xinxiang, Henan, and even a marriage certificate for "Lin Gang" and "Wang Cuihua" that had been prepared locally. Everything was complete and flawless.

After carefully checking, Director Wang nodded in satisfaction: "The documents are complete, no problem. I'll process your household registration transfer right away." As she spoke, she took out Lin Yan's household registration book, skillfully added the names "Lin Gang" and "Wang Cuihua" to it, and stamped it with a bright red official seal.

From this moment on, "Lin Gang" and "Wang Cuihua," two characters transformed from puppets, officially became legal residents of Beijing with household registration and employment.

"Thank you so much, Director Wang! You've really gone to so much trouble!" Lin Yan thanked him repeatedly, adopting a very humble attitude.

"Alright, go back now and settle in. Work hard from now on and look out for each other," Director Wang gently instructed.

As the three walked out of the neighborhood office, Lin Yan immediately took out the pastries he had bought in advance from his storage ring, divided them into two portions, and gave them to his "cousin and sister-in-law" to carry. He then conjured up two bulging, patched bundles for each of them to carry on their backs, stuffed with some light old clothes as a mere formality. He himself then circulated his internal energy again, forcing his face to turn pale, his back slightly hunched, and his breathing rapid, as if he had just finished a long journey and his body was about to give way.

The three of them returned to the courtyard house, looking travel-worn. Just as they entered the front yard and were about to head towards the east wing, a sharp shout came from the side:

"Hey! Who are you? Who are you looking for? Why are you just barging into the yard like that? Show us your letter of introduction!"

It was Yang Ruihua, the third aunt. She was sitting at her doorstep picking vegetables when she saw three unfamiliar people carrying large and small bags walking straight in. She immediately became alert and assumed the posture of a "gatekeeper" for the courtyard house.

Lin Yan stopped and slowly turned around, his breath unsteady as he said, "Third...Third Aunt, it's...it's me, Lin Yan..."

The three women squinted and looked closely before recognizing that the hunched-over, pale-faced boy was indeed Lin Yan. He seemed... he seemed a little taller and stronger than when he went out before? But his sickly appearance hadn't changed.

"Oh, it's Lin Yan? Where have you come from? And who are these two?" The third aunt put down the vegetables in her hand and looked "Lin Gang" and "Wang Cuihua" up and down, her eyes full of scrutiny and calculation.

Lin Yan took a deep breath and explained, "Auntie, this is my cousin Lin Gang and his wife Wang Cuihua, who are from Xinxiang, Henan. I sent my father's ashes back to my hometown for burial and brought my cousin and his wife here. My cousin is taking over my father's job at the food factory, and my cousin's wife... she can take care of me too. Their household registration was just completed at the neighborhood office today."

After saying that, he seemed to be unable to hold on any longer. He nodded to the third aunt and gestured for his "cousin" to take out the key and open the door to the east wing. The three of them went into the room, leaving the third aunt standing there in a daze.

Upon hearing these words, Aunt Yang Ruihua's expression instantly changed from scrutiny to astonishment, and then quickly transformed into deep resentment and frustration!

Job opening! Need someone to cover my shift!

Her mind went blank, and she was filled with regret! How could she not have thought of this?! Lin Yan was too sick to go to work, but he could have given up his job to someone else! If she had known this would happen, her family would have found a way to spend some money and buy the job for her son! That would have been so much better! She could have kept a close eye on him, in case this sickly guy passed away one day… then what would happen to her two rooms and her remaining savings…?

But now, it's all over! Old Lin's own relatives have come, registered their household registration, and are perfectly legitimate! Our family has no chance at all!

The old woman felt a surge of anger rush to her head, stuck in her chest, unbearable and agonizing. She lost all interest in picking vegetables and cooking, threw down the vegetables in her hands, turned around angrily, went back into the house, lay down on the bed, feeling both regret and resentment, and groaned in anger.

Inside the house, Lin Yan scanned the outside with his divine sense and sensed the reaction of the third aunt. A smile appeared on his lips. This girl definitely hadn't thought things through.

At noon, he went into the space to rest for a while and ate some spiritual fruit to replenish his strength.

In the afternoon, he went out again, went straight to the bank, and withdrew all the remaining two thousand yuan in his passbook. He felt more at ease having the cash in his hand.

He went to the neighborhood office again and found Director Wang, who was about to leave work.

"Director Wang, there's another matter I'd like to trouble you with." Lin Yan's face showed just the right amount of difficulty. "My cousin and his wife are visiting, and we only have two rooms, so we're really short of room. We don't want to rent a place, so we were wondering if we could renovate or decorate our own house a little?"

He explained his plan in detail: "We want to add a floor to the room, dividing it into two small bedrooms, one for me and one for my cousin and his wife. Downstairs, we'll rearrange the rooms to create a small kitchen, a toilet/bathroom, and a small dining room. Ideally, we could connect the tap water from the yard to the bathroom, that would be more convenient and save me from constantly going to the middle yard to fetch water. My health… sigh…"

Director Wang found the suggestion reasonable, especially considering Lin Yan's health condition; improving his living conditions was perfectly justifiable. While connecting to running water was a bit unusual, it wasn't a major issue. After thinking for a moment, she gave Lin Yan a note allowing him to hire a construction team designated by the street office to carry out renovations without damaging the building's main structure, and she specifically approved his application to connect to the sewer system.

"Thank you so much, Director Wang! You've really helped our family a lot!" Lin Yan was extremely grateful, and then made another request: "Director Wang, I have another favor to ask. You see, my cousin and his wife just arrived, and they don't know the neighbors in the courtyard. If you have some free time after get off work tonight, could you come to our courtyard and help us explain the situation to everyone? That way, we can avoid any misunderstandings. The main thing is that the renovation work is going to be noisy, and it would be good to let the neighbors know in advance."

Director Wang thought the boy was quite thoughtful, so he agreed: "Okay, I'll go over there tonight."

This was exactly what Lin Yan wanted! He knew the nature of these beasts in the courtyard all too well. If he mentioned the renovations privately, who knew how many people would jump out to cause trouble, take advantage of him, or even extort him? But with the street office director personally announcing it at a meeting, it was an official declaration, and anyone who wanted to cause trouble would have to think twice.

This is called cutting off the fuel supply from under the pot, leaving no room for the beasts to argue.

With everything arranged, Lin Yan felt much more at ease holding the approval slip. Now, all he had to do was wait for Director Wang to arrive that evening and see the show begin.