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

"How about this, our neighborhood office is converted from a villa of a prince's mansion, but it still has some cultural artifacts, calligraphy and paintings, antique furniture and the like. Most of them were taken to antique shops, and some are piled up in the warehouse. Why don't you go and see if they're worth anything?"

"You can have them all?"

Zhang Dabiao leaned back tactically—"Aunt Wang, are you trying to entrap me on purpose?"

"Those are public property!"

Director Wang waved his hand: "It's not public property. It's not on the inventory list of the courtyard that our subdistrict office took over. It's garbage that was cleared out by the antique shop. There are handover procedures."

"Besides, didn't you ask Master Lei to gather these things for you? You really don't want them?"

Zhang Dabiao shuddered in fright: "Did Master Lei tell you?"

"Holy crap, didn't this old guy say he was going to keep it a secret?"

Director Wang looked completely bewildered: "Keep it a secret? Why do we need to keep it a secret?"

"These things only cost a few yuan to a dozen or a hundred yuan each in antique shops, they're not anything very valuable."

It was only then that Zhang Dabiao realized that it was 60, not yet time to "break the fourth uncle's name." He could just go to an antique shop to buy and sell cultural relics and antiques, which was perfectly legitimate.

He has no reason to worry.

"As for why Master Lei told me? He asked me to help collect some too. Oh, by the way—he's my in-law."

Zhang Dabiao then understood.

Then, after a long silence, I realized that it was no wonder that Master Lei appeared in all the fanfiction about courtyard houses. So that's where the root of the problem lies.

Why didn't you say so sooner!

"Okay, I'll go take a look with you first."

Without seeing the actual product, Zhang Dabiao couldn't say anything.

A little while later, Zhang Dabiao arrived at the street office on his tricycle with Director Wang. It was already dark. When the gatekeeper saw that it was Director Wang bringing people over, he muttered a few words and then left it at that.

In a storage shed, the two men shone their flashlights and saw a pile of junk—it was truly dilapidated, much of it rotten and weathered.

Zhang Dabiao didn't recognize these things either, but he felt it was a pity that such fine cultural relics and paintings had been ruined like this.

If you say take them, it feels like a loss; they're all defective products, and I don't know if they can be repaired—Zhang Dabiao certainly doesn't have the ability. If you say don't take them, the neighborhood committee doesn't have anything good left.

Looking at Director Wang's pitiful and pleading expression, Zhang Dabiao didn't know what to say.

"They're all genuine, absolutely guaranteed authentic. Even the experts at the antique shop said when they were selecting items that all the calligraphy, paintings, and cultural relics in this villa were genuine! There are no fakes!"

"But..."

Director Wang looked at the pile of garbage and didn't know what to say.

She felt guilty about exchanging these for remittance certificates.

But what could Zhang Dabiao say?

Since we're already here—

right?

Then take it with you. We can't just make a wasted trip, can we?

Even if you find gold in the shit, what if you stumble upon a bargain?

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now. I'll take this pile of junk. If you and Master Lei find anything good in the future, you'll have to save it for me."

"Also, keep that piece of land, that two-courtyard house, for me too. We can talk about it later if there's an opportunity."

Director Wang immediately assured him, "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on things for you. I'll make sure you get some compensation; I can't let you suffer a loss, right?"

So Zhang Dabiao started moving boxes and odds and ends, but while he was moving them, he felt that the boxes...

Something just doesn't feel right.

Zhang Dabiao quietly moved the items back first, planning to deal with them later.

"Aunt Wang, you said it yourself, I really mean it." When it's time to "destroy the fourth uncle", the neighborhood office will destroy a portion of the "fourth uncles". If Director Wang keeps her word, they might be able to save a lot of treasures.

Director Wang immediately agreed: "Don't worry, Aunt Wang, I'm a woman of my word! If I say I'll make it up to you, then I will!"

Then her expression turned dejected again: "Da Biao, don't blame Aunt Wang for bothering you every day. You're the only one in our neighborhood who has the ability to help everyone out."

"Aunt Wang, I'm being shameless, I just want fewer people to die in our neighborhood... These days... sigh..."

Zhang Dabiao remained silent. The reasons for this year's poor harvest were multifaceted, not just due to natural disasters. In any case, it was none of his business to complain about or interfere with.

The two arrived at the courtyard house. After moving the tricycle into the small courtyard, Zhang Dabiao brought two suitcases to Director Wang.

"Aunt Wang, there are 5 yuan in remittance certificates in a suitcase."

"The two suitcases contained a total of 10 yuan in cash. I donated them to the neighborhood committee. Would you like to count them?"

"I'll keep the rest for myself; I have relatives and friends to take care of."

Director Wang immediately beamed, "What are you saying? Of course I believe you!"

"Even if it's a little more or less, it's just that you miscounted. It's too late, so I won't count it here anymore. I'll go back and count it carefully before giving you an accurate number."

"This still needs to be registered. Don't worry, the neighborhood committee will give you an explanation later."

Under the cover of night, Zhang Dabiao took Director Wang back. He was worried about her carrying the 100,000 yuan remittance certificates back to the street office alone, so he specially asked Qin Mancang to come with her.

Director Wang returned to the subdistrict office, found several staff members, and worked through the night to register and compile a list. He even locked it in a safe and arranged for someone to guard it.

Zhang Dabiao packed 100,000 yuan worth of remittance certificates in two leather suitcases and left them in the wooden house. Wasn't he afraid they would be stolen?

After seeing Director Wang back to the cabin, Zhang Dabiao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now the majority of the money was going to the street office, a whole 100,000 yuan in remittance certificates. Everyone's attention would be drawn to that office, and even if he became famous again, he wouldn't have many remittance certificates left.

It's a win-win situation, with the neighborhood helping to share their burden.

In this situation, it would be truly shameless for other departments to try and take advantage of you.

But there's still $72 left! After converting that into RMB, how many remittance certificates will I receive as a reward?

Eh...

Having too much money can also be a headache.

I still need to urge Lou Bancheng. He's trying to swindle my money, I'll kill him!

Back inside, Zhang Dabiao tapped the box containing the antique paintings and calligraphy. The weight wasn't an issue, but it seemed…

Is the bottom somewhat hollow?

Does it have a hidden layer?

Zhang Dabiao took the tools and started disassembling...

It contained thick Xuan paper, thin wooden boards, plant ash, lime powder, camphor balls, pepper packets, waxed paper bags...

Inside were three ancient paintings, also wrapped up in layers.

Zhang Dabiao opened the scroll and looked at it carefully.

It should be genuine, right?

Look how carefully he preserved it?

He didn't recognize what kind of painting it was, but Zhang Dabiao did know a little about the seals, signatures, and inscriptions.

Songxuezhai? This is by that Zhao Mengfu, Zhao Zi'ang!

The Layman of Six Likenesses – Tang Yin, Tang Bohu!

March 19th is a strange date, but Zhang Dabiao learned about it when he took an introduction to art—it's Bada Shanren! Zhu Da!

Zhang Dabiao's hands were trembling slightly...

Holy crap, they found real gold while panning for it?!