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

At the end of May, nothing major happened in the hospital; people went to work or school as usual.

Madam Jia was not in the courtyard, and the courtyard was very quiet.

Yi Zhonghai took Jia Dongxu around looking for a house, but unfortunately, they couldn't find one.

There are only two private houses on the side of Mao'er Hutong that face the street and are privately owned. You can discuss it with someone there.

But it's too far from No. 95 Courtyard. Yi Zhonghai's goal is to keep Jia Dongxu by his side to take care of him in his old age. If he runs away, wouldn't he lose everything?

So after going around in circles, I ended up back at No. 95 Courtyard.

But there really aren't any extra houses left in the yard.

Finally, they set their sights on the leftmost room in the front courtyard, which belonged to Peng Tao, a level-two electrician at the steel rolling mill.

He's single, hasn't gotten married yet, and is already 37 years old, so he hasn't joined the mutual aid society and can't play with these kids.

Yi Zhonghai came directly to him, and his request was straightforward: he wanted Peng Tao to transfer his residency rights in the house to Jia Dongxu and provide a written certificate. Since both were factory workers and factory housing, it was relatively easy to arrange. Yi Zhonghai would handle the factory affairs; all Peng Tao needed to do was agree.

Then he gave Peng Tao 300 yuan. He went to Mao'er Hutong to inquire, and people there were willing to sell, but they were asking for 250 yuan per room for a single room.

Both the main hall on this side and the back room on that side are 12.6 square meters, so Peng Tao wouldn't lose out in this exchange.

But Peng Tao's eyes lit up—

250 per room, there are two rooms over there.

Yi Zhonghai's additional 300 yuan seems reasonable, but—

I've lived in this courtyard for over ten years; these neighbors are all my beloved family and friends!

You have to pay more!

He wants 400 yuan!

This infuriated Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu.

I'll give you money to buy a private house!

Is this your public housing?!

What the hell are you not satisfied with?!

Yi Zhonghai naturally refused; wouldn't that be making a fool of himself?

So he then found Zhang Hongqi, who lived in the first room on the right. He was 42 years old and lived in the same room with his wife. Their child lived with his maternal grandfather in Daxing and had already started working.

After hearing about this, he asked for 500!

We want it to be even higher!

He wanted to just buy those two rear-facing rooms so that his child would have a place to stay when he came home for the Chinese New Year.

Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu wanted to kill someone!

So they had to go back to Peng Tao, and finally got the matter done for 380 yuan. They wrote a voluntary transfer agreement in person, which basically meant that Jia Dongxu would live in his house and pay his rent.

The factory's housing management department will give you a heads-up, and then there will be an agreement, which will serve as proof in case of any future issues.

Without saying a word, Peng Tao added some money and bought the two back-facing rooms in Mao'er Hutong.

Then I came back and gave Zhang Hongqi 40 yuan.

This move baffled Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu. What are you doing?

"Hongqi is my buddy! You only came back to me because he offered a higher price, so this extra 80, we'll split it 50/50!"

"..."

—Pfft—

Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu both coughed up blood!

That is, Peng Tao's target price is 340!

340 should be enough! Or even less!

We've been wronged!

However, they finally managed to get the house.

Peng Tao's room is the leftmost passageway in the front yard, with a small courtyard to the north, and then the Jia family's side room.

To his south was a small courtyard, followed by the Yan family's three side rooms.

Jia Dongxu also had a beautiful idea: he would build a fence around the side room and the main hall, and then build a side door for the side room and seal off the original door.

The entrance to the main hall, which originally faced the front yard, was also sealed off, and a door was built on the back window facing the middle yard.

The central courtyard has an open space of 2*4.5=9 square meters. We'll build a shed there, and everyone will pass through the fence gate on the central courtyard side.

He didn't dare occupy the small open space in the front yard, because he had already occupied the small courtyard in the middle yard, which was between his two houses, so it was understandable.

The main hall is 12.6 square meters, the side rooms are 14.85 square meters, and the courtyard is 9 square meters—the Jia family's total area is 36.45 square meters, which is also our Jia family's area!

Yi Zhonghai also breathed a sigh of relief. It was small, but it would be convenient to set up a shed in the courtyard as a kitchen or for the children to do their homework. If there were two rooms, the young couple and Jia Zhangshi could live separately and still squeeze in.

Now that Jia Dongxu has stopped causing trouble, he can be said to have been relieved of a heavy burden.

To save money, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu didn't hire Mr. Lei from the neighborhood committee to knock on the door and build it, because it was too expensive. Instead, they hired a few bricklayers from the street to knock down the wall, bought some bricks, and continued to use the unbroken bricks and the door. This is like riding a shared bicycle to a bar – saving money where possible and spending money where necessary.

Yi Zhonghai is indeed broke. His salary as a level 4 worker is not high to begin with, and he has to give half of it to Liu Cuilan every month. He also lost 10,000 yuan in compensation. He also has to take care of his godson's family and manage the daily life of the old deaf man in the backyard. He is really having a hard time!

However, he spent money to buy some good quality wood for the wooden fence, and also bought some paint, intending to paint it himself.

It's more meaningful to be self-reliant in your godson's little courtyard, isn't it?

Jia Dongxu was even more moved!

Recently, Jia Dongxu has been showing him more concern and care, and Banggeng has been constantly calling him "Grandpa" around him.

A loving father, a filial son, and a mischievous grandson!

Yi Zhonghai felt that life was full of hope!

Then, on the day when the doors to the houses on both sides of the yard were opened and sealed, Director Wang arrived.

"Who gave you permission to fence off the yard? Who gave you permission to alter the house structure?"

Yi Zhonghai, Jia Dongxu, and Qin Huairu were all stunned.

Especially Jia Dongxu, he didn't understand what was going on.

"Director Wang, these two rooms are where our family lives. There is no other household in this area. The two rooms over there in the main hall belong to the Zhong family. Their front door faces the front yard."

"My fence isn't bothering anyone, is it?"

Director Wang looked speechless: "These two rooms in your house are factory-owned housing, and this open space is public land, managed by the street office. Even if no one else is using it, and even if all the neighbors tacitly agree that you're using it, this is still public space!"

"No one has the right to fence this off without permission! Tear this fence down!"

"If anyone can just grab land at will, what will become of these courtyard houses?!"

Director Wang pointed to the wooden fence, and the street office staff went forward to dismantle it.

Yi Zhonghai dared not speak, because whatever he did was wrong, and the neighborhood committee still remembered all the bad things he had done before, so he hid to the side.

But Jia Dongxu protested, "Director Wang, this isn't fair! Then why is Zhang Dabiao allowed to fence off the small courtyard?!"

"He exchanged two side rooms for two auxiliary rooms, and the courtyard area was given to him as compensation for the price difference! The courtyard is his private area, so of course he can build a small courtyard there!"

Everyone nodded in agreement. The side room was larger than the wing room, with a higher ceiling and better lighting. It was only right for the neighborhood committee to compensate him for the lost space. That would be fair, and there was really no question about it.

"Then why is Yan Jiecheng also allowed to enclose a small courtyard?!"

"That's land owned by the subdistrict office. They can fence it off and collect more rent. Yan Jiecheng has also expressed his willingness to cover the cost. Is there any problem?"

"Whether our neighborhood committee builds a compound or not depends on your approval, Jia Dongxu, right?"

"Could that be your Jia family's property?"