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

On the day of the college entrance examination, when Tian Liugen left home, Zhang Dabiao patted him hard on the shoulder.

"Six Senses, do well on the exam!"

"Brother Biao, I'll lend you some luck. I've done some calculations, and I'm certain you'll win this year!"

"I'll treat you to a meal when you come back from high school!"

The neighbors always thought that Zhang Dabiao knew a few tricks of the Taoist magic of Zhang Bansian. What kind of father wouldn't pass on a few special skills to his son? That would be a waste of talent.

As for whether "calculating with one's fingers" is feudal superstition, it was just something said casually, not a curse, so it was just a joke between neighbors and no one took it too seriously.

After being slapped by Zhang Dabiao, Liu Gen immediately calmed down.

"Da Biao, then I'll take your good wishes!"

As Liu Gen left the courtyard, Yan Bugui saw his enthusiastic appearance and Zhang Dabiao's words, "I'll lend you some luck" and "I'll do some calculations," so he muttered a few words.

"It would be a miracle if you could pass the Six Senses exam."

"No, if he passes the exam, then Zhang Dabiao is promoting feudal superstition!"

"If he fails the exam, I win; if he succeeds, I'll report him for promoting feudal superstition!"

But Yan Bugui turned around and looked around; no one paid any attention to him.

And since no one bet with him, isn't this a huge opportunity that he's just wasting?

Should we ask the Tian family to make a bet?

But if I bet on his kid failing the exam now, will I get beaten up?

Finally, Yan Bugui shook his head and went to work.

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Zhang Dabiao went to the neighborhood office to inquire about his father's "hidden dangers" regarding his family background.

Director Wang was somewhat disappointed when he learned that Mu Wanqing's application had failed the review.

"Da Biao, you were adopted, but you were in a social welfare institution. Mu Wanqing was also adopted, but she was sold to that kind of place. The social environment and the complexity of the social relationships between the two are completely different."

"Moreover, your father's feudal and superstitious personal conduct is an internal contradiction among our people, not to mention that your father is a worker."

"And you have so many awards, including ministerial, district, and school-level ones, and you've also joined the Communist Youth League, so if it's not a sensitive key university, you shouldn't have much trouble with the certification review."

"We all know that Mu Wanqing has nothing to do with us, but we dare not and cannot help her."

"I guess this child just has bad luck..."

Director Wang shook her head. If it were Zhang Dabiao in this situation, the street office could easily help issue a certificate or something, since Zhang Dabiao had many honors.

Putting everything else aside, just the "Heroic Act" banner from that police station made many things much easier to handle, not to mention that he also helped the city bureau crack a major usury case.

But risking her life to write a certificate for Mu Wanqing would not only be useless but could also easily lead to trouble, so Director Wang didn't dare to do it.

Zhang Dabiao nodded, indicating that he understood.

"As for Mu Wanqing, let her look for a job first. Given her condition and the employment situation this year, there's a high chance the school won't assign her anything good. Let her look for a job first, and if that doesn't work, then come to the neighborhood office to see if there's any suitable work for her."

After thinking it over, Zhang Dabiao realized that this was the only option.

Within two days, the school's arrangements were finalized.

She wasn't assigned any work at all.

Not only her, but most high school graduates were not assigned jobs, and they were even encouraged to go to the countryside.

So they have no choice but to look for jobs on their own, but the city is still downsizing its workforce, so where are the jobs coming from?

As a result, another batch of street thugs appeared.

The six-root exam was over, and everyone was waiting for news at home. Since primary and secondary schools were on summer vacation, everyone had nothing to do.

Let's go fishing!

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In Zhang Dabiao's stable, there were quite a few cured fish and cured meat hanging there. The main source of the fish was the ones that everyone would catch on weekends. Every Sunday, everyone could make some fresh fish soup or braised fish. The rest were raised in the pond in the small courtyard. When they were big enough, they would be made into salted fish and cured fish, and occasionally some would be sent to the food processing company and the comprehensive utilization plant.

It is also a major source of protein for everyone. As for the salt used for pickling, Zhang Dabiao already has two large bags in his small house, which is enough for daily use. There is also cooking wine, peppercorns and soy sauce. He also frequently takes out some pork belly from the refrigerator to make cured meat.

So far, the stable has stored four to five hundred catties of cured fish and cured meat.

Food is scarce in the market, but the Youth Mutual Aid Association of No. 95 Courtyard has plenty. Everyone can exchange coarse grains, wild vegetables, and fish they catch.

Even Director Wang and Li Huaide would occasionally come over to freeload, but they would only give money and food coupons, which was considered a form of government procurement. This was one of the main sources of Zhang Dabiao's receipts.

The vegetables planted in the small courtyard have already been harvested twice. After seeing this, the neighbors in the courtyard also learned to use wooden boxes, flower pots and other containers to grow vegetables in the corners of their courtyards and in front of their own doors. Although they can't grow many, they have nothing else to do, and two or three pounds of vegetables a month is a good harvest.

As for the mushrooms in the stable, Zhang Dabiao didn't specifically inoculate or cultivate them. With careful attention to the three rotten logs, and by monitoring the temperature and humidity, they could produce a considerable amount of oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and wood ear mushrooms every one to two weeks, though the yield was inconsistent, but enough for his own consumption.

Zhang Dabiao didn't think about promotion because it was too troublesome.

Director Wang was quite envious of this, but Zhang Dabiao refused to do it. He insisted that anyone who wanted to pick it should cultivate it themselves; this stuff was too troublesome, and if they accidentally picked poisonous mushrooms, Zhang Dabiao couldn't afford the consequences.

Besides, this kind of thing should be handled by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Why are you asking me, a recent elementary school graduate, for something like this?

I won't do it if there's no benefit to it!

So now he spends his days fishing and farming, waiting for the results of the six-root test. Zhang Dabiao has decided to go to the countryside again to collect supplies, and also take advantage of the summer vacation to learn kung fu from the brigade leader of Qinjiatun.

Today's fishing trip was pretty good. Although it wasn't as big as the fish Xu Damao caught the other day, I still caught more than a dozen fish weighing three to five pounds each. I can have a nice sauerkraut fish hot pot when I get home.

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On the way back, they encountered troublemakers; someone blocked their way.

Firstly, because they had too many fish; secondly, because they had many girls, and Mu Wanqing was so beautiful that she attracted the covetous eyes of the street urchins.

The other side consisted of three or five young thugs, who looked to be no more than 22 years old and had just graduated from high school. They were carrying crowbars and bicycle chains, wearing hats askew, and smoking cigarettes. They had backpacks around their necks, which probably contained bricks, and they had completely blocked the only way back for the group.

They set a condition: leave half of the fish behind, and the girls can stay and play with the boys, so everyone can make friends.

Without saying a word, Zhang Dabiao grabbed a stick and started hitting people—"Robbing and harassing girls on the road, you probably don't know what death means."

This demonstrates the benefits of teamwork. When going out fishing or picking wild vegetables, the entire Youth Mutual Aid Association of Courtyard No. 95 mobilizes. Apart from those who go to work, such as Guang Qi, Damao, Jie Cheng, and Sha Zhu, there are about ten others left.

Led by Zhang Dabiao, Liu Guangtian, and Liu Gen, each of them was incredibly powerful in combat! Liu Guangfu, Yan Jiefang, and Yan Jiekuang, along with Zhong Xiaohu and the others, although young, were not afraid of trouble. Seeing their older brothers rush forward, they would also take the opportunity to stab them a few times from the sidelines.

Besides, these days, fighting over meat—that's practically killing them!

You want my life!

I'll take your life first!