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

Everyone stared at Jia Zhangshi, and no one uttered a sound.

Suddenly, Sha Zhu slapped his forehead: "I know this one!"

"Pour cold water on it!"

Director Wang glared at Sha Zhu: "Go away, go away, he just fainted from a sudden attack of anger. He'll be fine after a rest."

"She's old. If you splash cold water on her in this freezing weather, you might cause her harm, and you'll have to pay for the Jia family's life."

Director Wang was speechless. How come none of these young people from number 95 knew their place?

Zhang Dabiao, Xu Damao, Shazhu...

None of them are any good!

"Jia Dongxu, what do you think of this wall—"

"Should we knock it off or not?"

Director Wang pointed to the south wall of the side room and asked Jia Dongxu, "No matter what, the problem with this wall still needs to be solved."

Otherwise, if they keep playing weird music here, not to mention the Jia family, even the director of the neighborhood office would find it unbearable.

You can't just ignore problems and phenomena related to "feudal superstition" that appear in your jurisdiction.

Jia Dongxu hugged his mother, then looked helplessly at the wall. Beside him were Qin Huairu and Banggeng, who were trembling. Finally, he looked at his godfather Yi Zhonghai for help.

Yi Zhonghai could only nod – let's demolish it.

His wallet is going to be even emptier now.

And so, our Zhang the Foolish Daredevil, Invulnerable to All Evils, Red Successor, Iron Fist of Justice, Da Biaozi, is back on stage!

They picked up a sledgehammer borrowed from a street office worker and, amidst shouts of "Eighty! Eighty! Eighty!", began smashing the wall with all their might!

Just as they were getting into the swing of smashing things, Sha Zhu suddenly asked a question: "Da Biao, why do you shout 'eighty' every time you smash something?"

Zhang Dabiao...

How the hell do I explain this?

"A large sledgehammer costs 80 yuan, a small sledgehammer costs 40 yuan; that's the industry standard."

"Because, or... while smashing it, they're shouting 'eighty'..."

"Feels great?"

This was the only reason Zhang Dabiao could come up with.

Sha Zhu touched his beardless chin and suddenly asked a question out of the blue—

"How about I give it a try?"

Zhang Dabiao – [Huh?!]

This can be!

Then you see Sha Zhu waving his sledgehammer and yelling "Eighty-eighty!"

It really felt good; I vented all the anger I felt at Jia Zhangshi's place today!

After smashing it, he stood the hammer upright on the ground and shouted, "Awesome!"

"It should be eighty!"

Sha Zhu didn't know what "eighty" represented. You can't make eighty dollars just by striking a blow, can you? But with this "eighty", he felt inexplicably pleased.

Da Biao is honest, he didn't lie to me!

The Jia family was devastated. Their house had another huge hole in it, and the neighborhood committee officials had searched the entire place, even finding Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu's private savings, but they still couldn't find a radio or telegraph device.

Then the truckload of broken bricks was hauled away.

Fortunately, the eerie sound disappeared after the smashing was finished.

Jia Dongxu suddenly had an idea, but he didn't know whether he should say it or not—

If Zhang Dabiao has already found the point where the sound came out, or rather, that brick.

Can't we just smash that brick?

Why did you have to tear down the entire wall (the part where you used to make a hole for a door and then seal it up)?

But since everything's already smashed, isn't it a bit too late to think about this now?

After all that fuss, even on a cold winter night, a white mist rose from Sha Zhu's body, and he felt refreshed and relaxed.

He waved his hand dismissively: "Jia Dongxu, no need to thank me. It's only right for neighbors to help each other!"

"I'm going back to sleep!"

"I have to go to work tomorrow morning!"

……

Jia Dongxu was practically spitting blood—[I thank your ancestors for eighteen generations!]

As for how crowded the Jia family's house will be tonight, that's not something Zhang Dabiao and the others need to worry about. They should all go home, lock their doors, and go to sleep.

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

The next day, Zhang Dabiao went to Hong Kong; he still needed to go there every day or two to keep an eye on the business.

With the food crisis resolved, Zhang Dabiao didn't care too much about the tea stall business, as long as it could operate normally.

As soon as I stepped out of my village house early in the morning, I ran into an older woman who pointed at the house and asked, "Why are people living in this house?"

Zhang Dabiao looked back in confusion, then said, "It's my house. Is there a problem with me moving in?"

"Your house?"

"Isn't this the house that Boss Lou bought? Who are you?"

"I am Roy Cheung."

The two of them checked the messages and then understood what was going on.

This older woman was arranged by Lou Yufan. She was a nanny hired by Lou's Trading Company in Hong Kong. She would come to clean for one day at the beginning of each month and would be paid 5 yuan per month for cleaning.

This monthly cleaning has been going on for more than two years. The cleaning was done around the 10th of last month, but Zhang Dabiao came later that month, so we just happened to be off-peak.

Zhang Dabiao also revealed that he was "Zhang Yaoyang" and that the house was a gift from Boss Lou. He added that since he was already there, the auntie no longer needed to come and clean.

With the ID card as proof, the aunt didn't press the matter further; she just needed to tell Mr. Lou when she got back.

Zhang Dabiao also asked for the address and phone number of Lou's Trading Company, planning to visit them again when he had time.

Going there now would be too abrupt, not to mention what we'd say.

Need money?

Since this matter was facilitated by Lou Bancheng, we should naturally ask him first to clarify things before proceeding, otherwise it would be too impolite.

And how do you explain who you are and how you came to Hong Kong?

It’s hard to say.

Forget it, I'll go ask Lou Bancheng this afternoon.

In the morning, Zhang Dabiao, A Xiang, and two women from the village were busy at the tea stall. Patrolman A Long came over and took a cream bread and a chocolate donut, and informed Zhang Dabiao that starting this month, on the 10th of each month, Zhang Dabiao's tea stall would have to pay a tribute of 70 yuan. Additional charges would apply for random checks during holidays.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dabiao thought it wasn't excessive, because they had inquired around and found out that there were standards for how much "tribute" a 200-square-foot tea stall like theirs should charge.

No matter how corrupt the police force is, they won't arbitrarily change the unified standards, otherwise the entire main street would be in chaos.

Without saying a word, Zhang Dabiao first slammed the money on the table, then quickly packed up several cream breads and donuts and handed them over.

"Brother Long! Thank you so much for your kindness! Don't worry, we'll pay every penny we owe you and won't cause you any trouble!"

Don't even think about things you shouldn't have paid.

"Our little tea stall doesn't have much to offer, but our butter is pretty good! Brother Long, since you're here, the meal has to be on the house! From now on, just let us know if you need anything, and we'll definitely get it done perfectly!"

Don't ask for things you can't do.

That's what Zhang Dabiao meant. Those who understand, understand. Brother Long, you decide what to do.

After hearing this, patrolman Ah Long grinned and patted him on the shoulder: "You're pretty savvy, kid."

He knew exactly what was going on; who wouldn't see through the merchant's little scheme? There was still a long road ahead, and as long as the due respects were given without fail, there was no need to argue with a stranger from the mainland.

The proper thing to do is to steadily and honestly accept filial piety gifts.

However, Zhang Dabiao's attitude displeased him somewhat—Fine, just wait, when the police conduct a surprise inspection tomorrow, we'll teach him a lesson!

What do you mean by "give me whatever you want"? It depends on my mood! I want a certain amount, and you'd better hand over that amount obediently!