Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Zhang Dabiao was stunned. Not washing his face or brushing his teeth in the morning was nothing unusual; in his later life, after breaking up with his girlfriend, it was perfectly normal for him to not brush his teeth for a week. Although it sounded bad, not brushing his teeth or washing his feet for several days... was really normal.

You're boiling water and cooking for me so early in the morning? There's no water heater and no natural gas... What time did you get up?

You're only 12 years old!

Zhang Dabiao felt a real sense of guilt.

How about... a raise?

Even Xu Damao couldn't help but sigh, "Biaozi, you know, they're both cousins, so how come Qin Huairu and Qin Jingru are so different?"

"You should marry Qin Jingru in a few years. She's the perfect wife; she's really great!"

"..."

Zhang Dabiao rolled his eyes at him.

Your wife is gone! I told you! Nobody could stop me!

Xu Damao also whispered to Zhang Dabiao, "Anyway, whoever you marry, don't marry Mu Wanqing next door."

"Her family background is alright, but her identity is a bit sensitive. Her mother is also sickly. There will be too many troubles in the future. You don't need to create trouble for yourself, do you?"

Zhang Dabiao suspected that Xu Damao had taken a liking to Mu Wanqing, so he squinted and stared at him sideways.

"Damn it, Biaozi, what's with that expression? I'm really doing this for your own good!"

"Her mother went into a huge debt and starvation to pay for her medical treatment. The debt collectors would come to her door to cause trouble every few days."

"Besides, Mu Wanqing is too beautiful. I heard that some students at school even fought and got bloodied over her. She's definitely a femme fatale!"

"We ordinary folks, with our small arms and legs, shouldn't get involved in this kind of fun."

The more Xu Damao said this, the more interested Zhang Dabiao became.

【You, Xu Damao, are the kind of guy who dares to marry a capitalist's daughter, what are you afraid of?】

These days, if someone says your wife is a capitalist's daughter, it can be interpreted as envy, jealousy, or resentment.

But saying your wife is a "foreign porridge slave" or your mother-in-law is from the Eight Great Hutongs is definitely an insult.

"Alright, alright, I'm only 16, why are you telling me all this? Why am I in such a hurry?"

"But what about you? Didn't your dad say he wanted you to see a few more girls? How's that going?"

Xu Damao looked miserable: "What else can I do? The doctor said I need to recover slowly and go back for a check-up every month. I'm not even cured yet, who am I supposed to marry?"

"If you're lucky, it can be cured in six months to a year; if you're unlucky..."

Xu Damao didn't continue. He wasn't married yet and wasn't being pressured by his elders to have children, so he didn't feel that kind of urgency.

But I also understand how terrible it is to have no offspring.

Look at Yi Zhonghai, always making a fuss in the yard. What's he doing this for? It's because he doesn't have any children and wants to find someone to take care of him in his old age.

"What's wrong? Is it difficult to treat?"

"The medicinal herbs are hard to obtain. The doctor said the treatment plan aims to tonify the kidneys and replenish essence, nourish yin and strengthen yang. The main herbs are deer antler, wolfberry, ginseng, cordyceps..."

"And what about other things I've never even heard of, like dodder seed, astragalus seed, epimedium, polygonatum, he shou wu, mulberry..."

"It is used to treat symptoms such as soreness and weakness of the lower back and knees, dizziness and tinnitus, fatigue and weakness caused by kidney yang deficiency, as well as male infertility, oligospermia, asthenospermia, and semen non-liquefaction."

"But where the hell am I supposed to get all this stuff?"

The most Xu Damao could get his hands on was ginseng. Tongrentang had some of the other medicinal herbs, but they were extremely expensive.

And medicines like Cordyceps sinensis, Epimedium, and Polygonum multiflorum are also out of stock in pharmacies.

He now feels that Sha Zhu didn't pay enough back then.

We should join forces with Yan Jiecheng to kick Sha Zhu out of the family line as well, so that we can all become childless together!

This is what you call fair!

"Sperm production? Low sperm count?"

Zhang Dabiao pondered for a while. In later generations, there were many young people in their 30s who couldn't have children. One of his classmates was one of them. In the end, how did he recover? In addition to taking Chinese medicine, he ate chive pancakes and stir-fried eggs with chives every day. He also bought oysters online, palm-sized oysters, and ate six at a time, every day!

It's to supplement zinc.

Six months later, he was finally cured! The following year, his wife gave birth to a big, healthy baby boy, and he was overjoyed. He treated everyone to a meal—and most importantly, he collected money as gifts to make up for some of the loss.

Men are generally aware of this kind of thing to some extent.

Traditional Chinese medicine to regulate the body + exercise + quitting smoking and alcohol + dietary regulation.

If that doesn't work, then you can have surgery.

"I have a friend..."

As soon as Zhang Dabiao said it, he realized it was like he was trying to hide something obvious, so he decided to leave it at that and not explain further.

He's a 16-year-old third-grade elementary school student, and he has no friends who are in the same situation.

"I heard my dad say that eating more chives will help you recover faster! Chives are an aphrodisiac."

"Why don't you give it a try? We can keep gathering the medicinal herbs slowly, and chives should be easy to get, right?"

Xu Damao frowned and pondered, "There is such a saying, but do leeks really have aphrodisiac properties?"

"Whether it's true or not, eating chives won't kill you, right? Just eat them like leafy greens."

Xu Damao scratched his head and said, "But those are fresh vegetables, only available in spring and autumn. They are not commonly grown in the fields, so you have to be lucky and go early to buy them."

"Let's talk about it when we get back. I'll see if I can find some medicinal herbs for you then. But you need to take care of your health, so you have to quit smoking and drinking." Zhang Dabiao remembered that there were American ginseng slices, red ginseng slices, Ningxia wolfberries, black wolfberries, and mulberries in the small house—that was all the other medicinal herbs.

We'll gather some together and have Xu Damao take it to the doctor to see if it's usable. You can't just take any medicine you need.

But chives?

There's a bag of four chive pancakes in the fridge, keep refreshing! Plenty!

"We'll see. For people in our line of work, is it necessary to quit smoking and drinking?"

"You dare not drink when you're having dinner with your boss? What a joke." Xu Damao didn't take it seriously. He wasn't in a hurry to have a child, and his father was planning to use his connections to get him a permanent position, which was the perfect time to have dinner with his boss.

Talking about quitting smoking and drinking at this time? Isn't that just crazy?

The two chatted as they ate, and after finishing their breakfast, the team leader called the villagers over to sell "local specialties".

------------

In fact, this had already been collected by purchasing agents from the supply and marketing cooperatives and state-owned food companies. This was a planned task and a unified purchase, such as "each household shall deliver one pig and each person shall deliver half a catty of eggs", depending on the situation of the brigade.

After the purchasing agent arrives at the production team, the team leader organizes the members to gather the supplies. The purchasing agent is responsible for quality inspection, grading, weighing, and issuing invoices. For example, live pigs are graded according to their fatness, and different grades have different prices.

Purchasing agents would pay the production team in cash, but this money went into a collective account and was then distributed as dividends to members at the end of the year based on their work points. Most importantly, they received coupons; for example, selling a pig would earn them a certain number of cloth coupons, industrial coupons, or sugar coupons. This was an extremely valuable form of compensation for farmers who had almost no access to daily necessities.

Purchasing staff from other factories simply come in different areas to pick and choose, hoping for a lucky break – they just look for bargains.

Before Zhang Dabiao left, the factory gave him 20 yuan, some receipts, and a uniformly set "price list". They didn't assign him any quotas or tasks because he was a temporary purchasing agent.

We'll take as much as we can. These days, everyone's struggling to make ends meet, and we can't expect a 16-year-old kid like him to support the whole factory.

But the things I received today...

It really doesn't feel right.