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

The comprehensive utilization plant urged Zhang Dabiao to make another purchase, promising to buy at twice the market price.

So at the beginning and middle of the month, Zhang Dabiao made two trips, but each time he didn't collect much. However, with the rice, noodles, pork, and chicken in his "little nest," he could earn more than 30 yuan per trip. Firstly, he could only refresh so many supplies, and secondly, he didn't dare to go too far.

The "little nest" contains 50 jin of rice, 3 tubes of noodles, 8 jin of pork, 5 jin of chicken breast, and 2 jin of chicken wings.

The sheer volume of these items alone is enough for him to live comfortably for a week; he can accumulate four or five hundred catties of grain and meat every week! And that doesn't even include other things like roasted chicken, seafood balls, roasted fish, instant noodles, ham sausages, biscuits, and bread.

It's understandable to have extravagant supplies during the Lunar New Year, as everyone wants to have some nice things for the holiday. But after the first month of the lunar calendar, people really do tone it down.

所以他现在的"工资"是一趟30*2再加李怀德那边每周一个代加工蛋糕5*4，总计80块！

That's almost the salary of a level 6 worker!

Compared to his predecessors who were also transmigrators, his income was relatively low.

However, by comparison, he was also considered frivolous and shameless, because he kept switching between speculation and goods of unknown origin (suspected to be spies).

The suspicion of him being a spy was dismissed because his identity was too innocent. He only became slightly more normal after his mind cleared up on New Year's Day, but he was still like a firecracker, easily ignited, and still in the third grade of elementary school. Even if a secret service agency were to recruit people, wouldn't they at least need to find a worker? Why would they need a hot-tempered, third-grade idiot?

The suspicion of speculation was dismissed because of the temporary purchasing permits. In those days, purchasing agents, cooks, butchers, projectionists—including drivers—would not lack food and drink. Not to mention that Zhang Dabiao now had two exclusive purchasing points—Qinjiatun in Xingshou Commune, Changping, and Zhangjiatun in Zhangzhen, Shunyi. It was not a problem for him to eat and drink his fill.

The problem of excessive eating and drinking – this person is still growing, yet he can eat three or four kilograms of noodles right in front of you, like a glutton. The neighborhood committee even issued him a certificate, and Director Li of the steel rolling mill and others helped him sign the certificate.

The source of the large sum of money used to buy the courtyard was unclear—no one in the courtyard talked about it, because they all knew it was compensation given to him by someone who had tried to take advantage of him. Yi Zhonghai and the Jia family alone had paid him a lot in compensation.

So now no one is blind enough to report him. First, there's nothing wrong with him, and second, haven't you seen what happened to Yi Zhonghai, the deaf old woman, Sha Zhu, Yan Bugui, and the Jia family? Anyone who's not afraid of death can go ahead, he still has Zhangjiatun behind him.

So now, life is uneventful.

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November 11;

Suitable for: marriage matching, engagement, signing contracts, transactions, groundbreaking, bed installation, machinery installation, burial, moving coffin, erecting tombstone, and breaking ground;

Taboo: Weddings, building stoves, consecrating objects.

The Zhang family settled the job arrangements for their two cousins, chose a date, and also handled the adoption within the clan. They even selected a burial site, re-engraved the tombstones, and came to the city well in advance, just waiting for this day to move the graves.

He also brought Zhang Dabiao a lot of mountain produce, which he exchanged for refined rice, planning to exchange it for cornmeal when they returned to Zhangzhen.

Early in the morning, everyone went to the cemetery, completed the formalities, and brought out Zhang Banxian's ashes. His stepson Zhang Maoshan carried the urn, while his son Zhang Dabiao carried the portrait. The group then took a tractor back to Zhangjiatun in Shunyi.

They managed to rebury Zhang Banxian before the auspicious time.

No one in the village had any objections to this, because the supplies exchanged for those mountain goods were not from any one family, but were the life-saving food for the entire Zhang family in the village.

Regardless of past grievances, the primary task now is to ensure we have enough to eat and survive.

As for the fact that Uncle Zhang's family benefited greatly this time, with both of his sons becoming formal workers—they genuinely adopted a son to Zhang Banxian, so no matter how envious you are, there's nothing you can do, not to mention that Zhang Dabiao is originally part of their family.

Besides, there's also his third uncle keeping things under control, so he can't cause any trouble.

However, from now on, Zhang Dabiao should call Zhang Maoshan "brother" instead of "cousin," but it's all the same.

Looking at the list of names on the tombstone, including "Beloved Father: Zhang Qianshan", "Filial Sons: Zhang Maoshan, Zhang Dabiao", "Nephews: Zhang Maosheng, Zhang...", Zhang Dabiao breathed a sigh of relief and kowtowed several times to his father.

My father's last wish was to return to his roots, and his soul has now returned to his hometown, which can be considered a fulfillment.

This area is full of Zhang's family. During festivals and when they worship, they also give Zhang Banxian some incense and burn some paper money, so there's no shortage of offerings. Now Zhang Dabiao can rest assured.

That night, Zhang Dabiao stayed in the village. His second uncle had still kept the two tile-roofed houses for him, so he would have a place to stay when he came back for holidays. If things didn't go well for him in the city, he could come back; the Zhang family was his home.

"root"?

Although Zhang Dabiao was somewhat moved, his roots were in Hubei, and his parents hadn't even been born yet. He would have to go back and visit them in the 80s or 90s.

The next morning, after a reluctant farewell from Old Zhang's family, Zhang Dabiao took a bus back to Beijing from the town.

Zhang Dabiao didn't get back to the courtyard house until six or seven in the evening. Transportation was extremely inconvenient these days, and it was too much of a hassle.

Without saying a word, Qin Jingru quickly made him some noodles and also prepared half a pound of cured meat. Zhang Dabiao ate his fill and then went to sleep, huffing and puffing.

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

The next day, March 13th, happened to be a Sunday. In the morning, Zhang Dabiao slept in late and then went to the public bathhouse for a bath.

On the way back to the courtyard house, I ran into Mu Wanqing in the alley. She was arguing with a male classmate. What were they arguing about?

"Wanqing, how can you just say you won't take the exam?"

"Didn't we make a promise to take the entrance exam for the Beijing Art Academy together?"

That guy—he was refined and well-mannered, even wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and dressed very appropriately. He was much more normal than Zhang Dabiao, who had a mixed-and-matched style. He looked like a well-off, cultured scoundrel.

Mu Wanqing, however, laughed angrily: "Ye Liangshen, who made a promise with you?"

"Please don't confuse the facts when you speak, okay? The teachers were asking everyone if they wanted to go to university, and which university they wanted to go to."

"So when I mentioned the Beijing Art Academy, I wanted to study music and performance. I was just answering the teacher's question."

"You said you wanted to take the exam, and several classmates did too. It was just that we all had the same goal, not an agreement."

(The predecessor of the 49 City Art Academy was the 49 City Art Teachers College, which was established in 1956. In 1960, the school was renamed the 49 City Art Academy, and in the same year, the Department of Performing Arts and the Department of Directing were added.)

As the first higher art normal college established after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it adopted a unique "major and minor subject system" teaching model, requiring art students to take basic music courses and music students to take basic art courses.

However, the college closed in 1964. After its closure, its art department merged into the Beijing Normal College (now Capital Normal University), becoming an important origin of the university's art discipline.

"I don't want to take the exam anymore, what's it to you? We didn't agree to anything, okay?"

"If you want to apply to this university, then go ahead and apply. It has nothing to do with me."

After Mu Wanqing put it this way, Zhang Dabiao understood that it was just that guy named Ye Liangshen who was being presumptuous.

Ye Liangshen? Is it the "Shen" of Heshen or the "Sheng" of "ascending to heaven"?

Why don't you call yourself Ye Liangchen? Or Noragami?

"Ke Wanqing, it's precisely because you wanted to apply to this university that I chose this university as well."

"If you suddenly stop taking the exam, my life and all my efforts will have been meaningless."

Zhang Dabiao suddenly got goosebumps all over his body—

Holy crap, that's so cheesy!