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

These words made Mu Wanqing so embarrassed that she punched Zhang Dabiao repeatedly!

"I told you not to talk nonsense! I told you not to talk nonsense!"

Zhang Dabiao completely ruined the atmosphere of tragedy and ambiguity!

"Hahahaha, don't hit me, don't hit me..." Zhang Dabiao laughed as he dodged, completely carefree.

But Mu Wanqing suddenly stopped and did not chase after him.

"Zhang Dabiao, thank you."

"I like you too, but—"

"I'm not good enough for you."

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face. Her experiences with her mother remained a thorn in her heart.

Zhang Dabiao also stopped, looking somewhat at a loss.

You said you were going to confess your feelings, fine, but why are you suddenly saying you're not good enough for me? I'm not royalty.

How am I supposed to respond to that?

You've never experienced anything like this before?

He scratched his head and walked over.

"Mu Wanqing, are those gossipy old women in the alley spreading rumors again?"

"Don't pay attention to what they say. Just focus on living your own life well. Why bother with them?"

"Well, I like you a little too, but to be honest, I like all beautiful women." Zhang Dabiao didn't want to settle down so early. In his later life, he lost his wife because of issues with buying a house and working, so he didn't dare to be so promiscuous.

Moreover, I haven't thought it through or understood it yet.

You need to graduate from high school, right? You need at least two or three main rooms, right?

Honestly, he's a bit hesitant about other people's "confessions" now; he doesn't know if he's ready.

After the three years of natural disasters, there will be another ten years of turmoil ahead...

He dared not make any promises to the other party.

So he didn't agree directly, but instead tactfully changed the subject.

"It's hard to say what the future holds, but you should focus on getting into university first."

"After you get into university, no matter what happens to us in the future, at least your life and future job will be secure."

"It's a good thing for both you and Aunt Mu. Don't you think so?"

Mu Wanqing stared into his eyes, making Zhang Dabiao feel embarrassed, before he took a deep breath.

"Okay, for me and for my mom, I'll go to college."

"but--"

Mu Wanqing suddenly leaned forward and kissed Zhang Dabiao on the cheek!

They kissed?!

Zhang Dabiao was stunned and didn't react at all!

[What the hell?! You have no sportsmanship, you attacked me from behind?!]

[If you're going to ambush someone, at least give them a kiss!]

[I have to pay this back! It's the rule of the game! An eye for an eye! A kiss for a kiss!]

As a result, Mu Wanqing had already run quite far away: "Zhang Dabiao, I don't care what happens in the future."

"In this life, I, Mu Wanqing, belong to you."

"Once it's stamped, you can't escape!"

Zhang Dabiao stood there, speechless.

[Would this be considered being reverse-pushed?]

Let's just take it one step at a time.

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

The next day, Aunt Mu went to work at the "Nanluoguxiang Food Processing Shop". The shop was full of old ladies from Nanluoguxiang, and they could chat all day long, so Aunt Mu was naturally much happier.

Mu Wanqing's spirits have improved a lot, and she goes to school actively every day. However, there is one problem—she considers herself half the mistress of the Zhang family and comes to school almost every afternoon after school.

She worked with Qin Jingru to research recipes and cook for Zhang Dabiao, and helped Zhang Dabiao take care of the crops and plants in the courtyard...

He Yushui also frequently came over to study the Sichuan cuisine recipes left behind by He Daqing with Qin Jingru...

Yan Jiecheng, who was helping out in the fields outside the courtyard, noticed the three girls working busily and went over to Zhang Dabiao to ask, "Dabiao, what's going on here?"

Zhang Dabiao was also helpless: "You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"

Yan Jiecheng chuckled slyly at the end: "Da Biao, not bad! Three! Three!"

Zhang Dabiao waved his hand dismissively: "Get lost, get lost, go do your work."

"You still have the nerve to care about me? What's going on between you and Yu Li?"

Speaking of this, Yan Jiecheng also looked worried: "My job problem has been solved. I'll be officially employed in six months."

"But Yu Li hasn't found a job, and even if we wanted to get married, we couldn't afford a house."

"In the past two years, there have been many people fleeing famine, and the food problem is also tight. The streets do not have extra money to repair houses."

"If you're married, you can queue up to rent a place, but there are no houses available for rent on the street right now."

"Even if you have a house, you still have to follow the waiting list. The Jia family has been waiting for several years and they are still second in line."

"Even their family couldn't find a place to rent, let alone me."

Zhang Dabiao took out a cigarette and tossed one to Yan Jiecheng, who then took out a match and lit it for Zhang Dabiao.

"As for Yu Li, she should go work at the food processing plant first. If she works hard, she should be able to earn a few dozen yuan a month."

"Whether I can get a permanent job in the factory later, we'll see."

Yan Jiecheng was a little confused: "Da Biao, didn't they say they only needed ten people? Isn't that already full?"

"Director Wang put me in charge, but I was too lazy to manage it. I had the final say on the selection, but at the time I only gave one spot to Aunt Mu."

"But Lou Xiao'e provided the initial funding, while the secret formula is mine. You didn't contact me before, otherwise I would have arranged it already."

"It's no big deal to squeeze one more in now, since they're not permanent employees anyway."

"You can ask me or Lou Xiao'e, why didn't you come sooner?"

Zhang Dabiao said disdainfully, "Young people all aim to get into factories. It's too embarrassing to work with some old ladies in some 'service club'."

However, the "Nanluoguxiang Food Processing Shop" still has a lot of orders and is short of manpower. As long as you work hard, you can earn more than ten yuan a month, which is equivalent to Yan Jiecheng's previous temporary work as a porter at the grain station.

It's hard to say whether it can be converted into a formal food processing plant in the future, but having a temporary place to stay is better than staying at home, right?

There are more and more unemployed people in the city these days.

Yan Jiecheng nodded: "Okay, I'll talk to Yu Li in a bit. If that's alright, I'll have her go tomorrow?"

"Have her come to see me tomorrow, and I'll take her to see Director Wang and then to the processing plant."

"As for the house..."

Have you considered those few rear-facing rooms in the outer courtyard?

Zhang Dabiao was referring to the six rooms in the outer courtyard of No. 95, five on the left, one on the right, with a passageway in the middle.

"The outer courtyard's rear buildings? Four of them are temporary dormitories for the neighborhood committee staff, and the two on the far left have huge holes in their roofs, with many tiles missing. They're completely uninhabitable!"

Yan Jiecheng thought for a while and said that those four rooms were temporary dormitories for the street office, the kind where four people shared bunk beds in one room. There was a high turnover of people, and the people outside the compound basically didn't interact with the people inside the No. 95 compound.

Why is Zhang Dabiao bringing this up now?

"Da Biao, are you talking about those two innermost rooms? The ones with the roof all leaking out?"

Zhang Dabiao nodded: "Director Wang said last time that the subdistrict office doesn't have the money to repair the buildings. But if you pay for the repairs yourself, you can get priority in renting a place, because it's like you're helping the subdistrict pay for the repairs."

"Our Youth Mutual Aid Association's provident fund has more than 700 yuan left after we spent some money on food."

"You and Yu Li could consider borrowing money to repair the house, and then renting a place to live there first."

"Whether this is worthwhile or not, you can do the math yourselves. But I'll remind you of something: why don't you wait a few years and wait for the city's population to be further reduced, and see if there are any extra houses available?"

"Either grit your teeth, pay for the house repairs, and then rent it out. Getting married as soon as possible is the most important thing."

Yan Jiecheng frowned, then put the hoe aside: "Alright, Da Biao, I'll go talk to Yu Li first."

Those two rooms need repairing, which will cost at least two or three hundred yuan. This is a big deal, so he needs to discuss it with Yu Li.

After all, when it comes time to repay the money, the couple will have to do it together.