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

Jia Dongxu was dumbfounded.

He waited for so long! Yi Zhonghai even went with him to the street office to check the queue list before, and he really was second in line!

The other people in the courtyard were on the waiting list for renting rooms, their names already stretching to countless pages.

He and Yi Zhonghai had repeatedly confirmed that they had seen the names of Yan Jiecheng and Liu Gen Da Tou Hu Zi, but they had not seen Zhang Da Biao.

Why should that be?

Zhang Dabiao cut in line!

He's morally corrupt and got in through connections!

I'm going to report this to the police!

Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu were both so angry they were huffing and puffing!

Jia Dongxu, along with Sha Zhu and several young people queuing for rooms in the courtyard, went up and stopped the four of them.

"Don't move it! Is there no justice in this world? Is there no law?"

"You, Zhang Dabiao, colluded with Director Wang to cut in line! You falsified the rental queue list! I'm reporting you to the police!"

"Isn't this robbery?"

Zhang Dabiao and Liu Guangqi chuckled at his exasperated appearance, wondering if he was about to lose his temper.

Liu Guangqi patted Zhang Dabiao on the shoulder: "Dabiao, you should just tell them, so that the police don't make a wasted trip and upset Director Wang. They might arrest you and give you a lecture again."

Zhang Dabiao was at a loss. He genuinely hoped Jia Dongxu would run off and cause another blunder, but Guang Qi had already gone this far—

We can't let the police station end up causing trouble for the neighborhood committee, can we?

Wouldn't Director Wang tear me apart then?

At that point, Director Wang will strangle them both to death with one hand each, then dig a hole and bury them.

Forget it, there's no more fun.

So he went back inside, put his schoolbag on, and took out a house deed from it—

"Look everyone, this side room and this small courtyard—I didn't rent them, nor did I cut in line; they're my Zhang family's private property!"

"I have the property deed as proof!"

Sha Zhu, Liu Pangpang, and Jia Dongxu both leaned over to examine it closely. Yes, it had the official seal of the street office and the signature of Director Wang, the person in charge. But—

"Zhang Dabiao, didn't your family already have two houses? Why did you buy another one?"

Yi Zhonghai was also anxious. His godson's family of five was crammed into a single room, and this problem had to be solved. It seemed like things were almost settled, so how did Zhang Dabiao manage to buy it?

Isn't this deliberately going against us?

"Zhang Dabiao, this house is registered under the name of the subdistrict office; it's a state-owned property, and it's not allowed to be bought or sold now! Even Director Wang wouldn't dare to do that!"

"Furthermore, if you already own a house and still buy another one, that's taking more than your share, and that's not allowed!"

"So this property deed of yours must be fake! Fake!"

"You forged the property deed; you've broken the law!"

"Call the police! Arrest him! Arrest him!"

Yi Zhonghai was thrilled. He saw the light at the end of the tunnel. He had finally caught Zhang Dabiao red-handed. It hadn't been easy!

Does anyone know how hard this kid has been living lately?

My family was almost destroyed!

So Yi Zhonghai was so happy he almost cried!

Zhang Dabiao grinned slyly: "Fine, go ahead and sue me..."

But Liu Guangtian patted him on the shoulder helplessly: "That's enough, stop messing around."

Zhang Dabiao might go crazy, but he wouldn't dare. If he did, the police station and the neighborhood committee would be summoned, and the courtyard would be in chaos. He wanted to move into the side room with his wife as soon as possible.

"It's boring." Zhang Dabiao said helplessly, slowly explaining to everyone—

"These side rooms and courtyards weren't actually bought by me; they were exchanged for my two side rooms."

"There was no buying or selling, and there was no illegal or unethical back-door dealing, understand?"

"If you don't believe me, you can check with the local neighborhood committee. Anyway, I can't run away, can I?"

Everyone fell silent.

Yi Zhonghai asked resentfully, "Zhang Dabiao, when did you change rooms?"

"none of your business?"

"Do I need to report to you just to move? Who do you think you are?"

Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to shut up...

Everyone was thinking about this again—you can't buy a house, you can't occupy more than your share, and you can't rent a place even if you own a house (it's okay to rent near the workplace if it's far away, but you have to write an application to the neighborhood office explaining the situation)...

Zhang Dabiao's situation involved a property swap, a house exchange...

That seems... quite reasonable.

It's neither against regulations nor illegal, and it's reasonable and well-founded.

Is this even possible?

The side room, plus the small courtyard, was about the same size as his original two side rooms, and the lighting was worse. In the end, Zhang Dabiao was at a disadvantage.

"Zhang Dabiao, why did you switch to the side room? This side room is surrounded by the main room, side rooms, and covered corridors. The lighting is terrible, it's dark and damp."

"Living here for too long will give you rheumatism," Sha Zhu asked.

Zhang Dabiao blurted out, "I don't want to be neighbors with the Jia family. They're so noisy at night, it happens every ten minutes, and only once..."

Sha Zhu's eyes lit up—wait, why does this situation feel so familiar?

Jia Dongxu immediately panicked and brayed like a donkey: "Ah—ah—ah—"

"Since you've moved, your new place belongs to the neighborhood committee. According to the rental waiting list, it's now part of the Jia family's property!"

He suddenly made a sharp turn, diverting everyone's attention!

Oh right! Now that he's switched, what about Zhang Dabiao's original two side rooms...?

The Jia family rented one room, and there's one left?!

So everyone quickly ran to the west wing, secured it, and then went to the neighborhood office to inquire about the situation!

Who cares if I get to queue or not, I'll just grab this spot first!

Hands are fast, hands are slow!

but--

When everyone ran over, they saw the three Liu brothers huffing and puffing as they carried the quilts, enamel basins, and thermos flasks used for their wedding into the side room!

Jia Dongxu was furious!

"Liu Guangtian, I'll kill you!"

"That's mine, our Jia family's house! Get out here!"

One by one, they're all bullying my Jia family! Jia Dongxu is about to explode with anger!

Qin Jingru and Yushui helped tidy up the room, while Zhang Dabiao went to the original side room to join in the fun.

Liu Pangpang was dumbfounded. What was going on? First, Zhang Dabiao moved to the side room, and then his eldest son, Guangqi, directly occupied Zhang Dabiao's two side rooms.

Wait, I finally get it! Guangqi and Dabiao are playing some kind of game, right?

[Is the housing problem solved just like that?]

[He truly deserves to be called the eldest son of the Liu family!]

[Your brain works really well!]

Then Liu Pangpang just stood there laughing without saying a word.

Liu Guangqi went straight to the point and produced his lease agreement with Zhang Dabiao.

"I rented the house from Zhang Dabiao on the eleventh day of the first lunar month, not from the neighborhood committee, so I don't need to queue."

Everyone looked at the contract... and couldn't find anything wrong with it, but—

"Guangqi, why are you renting a house with Dabiao?"

"I'm married but I don't have a place to live, so I have to rent one. Da Biao and I are good friends, so he's willing to rent one to me."

"If you rented it, why is Da Biao still living in the old house?"

"He won't be able to find a place anytime soon, so let's wait until he finds one before moving."

"Then you've wasted almost half a month's rent?"

"Da Biao is my brother, I'm willing, I'm happy! It's just a few dollars."

"..."

"When did Da Biao go through the neighborhood committee to change his house?"

"The twelfth day of the first lunar month!"

Alright—the case is solved.