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

"But I also want to give you a piece of advice: Hong Kong is British territory, and it's not very peaceful there."

"If you don't have any relatives there, going there might not be a good thing."

This is the truth. These second-generation descendants of the old regime are too weak to lift a finger. What would they do in Hong Kong?

Joining a gang as cannon fodder is pointless, and being a worker isn't physically feasible either.

Are you suggesting I open a tea stall in Hong Kong?

Zhang Dabiao's eyes lit up when the topic of opening a tea stall came up.

"By the way, Lao Jin, what are your three sons good at?"

At this moment, Lao Jin was still pondering whether or not to send the children to Hong Kong when Zhang Dabiao suddenly asked him this question.

"what?"

"What skills do your sons have? What are you planning to have them do in Hong Kong?"

"My eldest son, Jin Youlai, graduated from Yenching University. He is fluent in English and knows a little bit about everything, but he is an excellent accountant. He helps me organize our family's accounts."

"My second son, Jin Youwu, stopped studying after graduating from high school. He had excellent grades in high school and was interested in law and economics, but he failed the political review and had no chance to pursue further studies."

"My third son, Jin Yousheng, likes to draw, and he's a little bit about things like cockfighting and dog walking. He also often goes with me to collect goods, but... like me, he became a stay-at-home dad after graduating from high school..."

Old Jin values ​​his child's education highly, but unfortunately, this background...

There's nothing we can do.

Zhang Dabiao frowned. These three people...

It seems like they're all useful?

If Hong Kong arranges a portion and the mainland arranges a portion, creating checks and balances, and Lao Jin also works for himself.

Can you guarantee their loyalty?

Housekeeping, accounting, translation, and law are all useful skills.

As for the youngest son, he likes to draw—we can use someone like that to draw comics in the future.

They can all be put to good use.

But you can't just say it directly, you can't just tell them what you want to do and then arrange things for them directly. Nobody wants someone who's eager to be hired.

Zhang Dabiao continued, "Old Jin, you're getting old. You still need some of your children to stay with you. Also, if your other children go to Hong Kong and can't make it, go to Shau Kei Wan Main Street and find a shop called Mixue Ice Cream. I know people there, and they won't refuse to help if they can."

Old Jin nodded silently, his thoughts unknown.

Then, with Master Lei as guarantor and witness, the property deed was given to Zhang Dabiao, and just like Lou Bancheng's side, a mortgage contract was signed, including the fingerprints of Lao Jin's three sons.

It's difficult to take possession of the house now, so Lao Jin is still living here, helping Zhang Dabiao look after the house.

Incidentally, this place also serves as a collection and appraisal center for antiques, calligraphy, and paintings.

Old Jin returned to his old ways, helping Zhang Dabiao collect goods within their circle of former officials and their descendants, using grain and money as payment. He could settle wages in either grain or cash.

Zhang Dabiao would come once a month to collect the goods and leave some grain there.

The entire price of 9000 was managed to be negotiated down by Zhang Dabiao with 1000 yuan, 1000 remittance certificates, and 1000 jin of grain.

It's not about how much you want, but how much I'm willing to give.

I can choose not to buy, but if you're unwilling to sell, who has enough grain to take over your yard these days?

It's a buyer's market now.

2000 jin of grain sounds like a lot, but there are 12 people in the Jin family, so each person gets less than 100 jin, which is only enough for two or three months.

As for milk powder, Zhang Dabiao bought it in one trip to Shau Kei Street.

Upon seeing that it was an imported product with foreign writing on it, Old Jin was terrified. This Boss Biao was incredibly powerful!

As for the antiques and collectibles in those three rooms, Zhang Dabiao told Master Lei and Lao Jin to take their families out for a good meal and take advantage of the time to move everything out, and then leave some food behind.

Before Lao Jin and his group returned, they took out some antiques and cultural artifacts from the basement of the Xiangjiang Village House and left them with Lao Jin for appraisal, planning to move them away next time they came.

After explaining a few things, Zhang Dabiao returned to the courtyard house. On the way back, he also calculated the properties he now owned.

1. Courtyard No. 95, with two side rooms in the central courtyard (plus a small courtyard with a skylight) + east side courtyard (stables, small wooden house, vegetable garden, small fish pond) - Grain Reserve Center;

2. The three-courtyard house given by Lou Bancheng – not used for the time being;

3. Old Jin's three-courtyard house – a transit point for antiques and collectibles, and a transit point for grain;

4. Teahouse and log cabin in Lishuiqiao Village – a transit point for antiques and collectibles, and for grain;

5. The log cabin at the Qinjiatun Brigade Headquarters – not in use for the time being;

6. Village houses in Ah Kung Ngan Village, Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong – Antique and cultural artifact storage center, grain storage center;

7. Mixue Ice Cream & Tea (with a small wooden cabin in the backyard) in a tenement building on Shau Kei Wan Main Street – a grain transfer point and cash flow financial center;

8. The three shops used by Lou Yufan to offset debt (shares) - not used for the time being.

9. It is said that the Zhang family has left him an old house with a large tiled roof in the village, but his household registration cannot be transferred there. It can only be said that the family members accept this.

This is called distributed deployment, and it's secure!

Zhang Dabiao doesn't have a strong need for the house right now. He'll take it from Master Lei and Lao Jin if the opportunity arises; there's no need to rush.

Having too many houses these days is really not a good thing.

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

As February arrived, the weather grew even colder, but it still didn't snow.

Zhang Dabiao took out all the wolf skins and had Aunt Mu make them into coats. Aunt Mu, Mu Wanqing, Qin Jingru, He Yushui, Xiao Dang, Qin Mancang, and even Liu Guangqi's daughter Liu Xiaoqing all got one, which was even warmer than a cotton-padded coat.

Moreover, Aunt Mu was very skilled and made wolf skin hats and gloves for everyone.

The old deaf woman in the backyard was incredibly envious. In this horrific winter, if she could make a blanket out of wolf pelt, her chronic leg pain would be cured.

But she had no face with Zhang Dabiao; Zhang Dabiao wouldn't sell to her.

In the end, Sha Zhu helped the old deaf man find a wolf pelt on the black market, which cost him a small yellow croaker.

The old deaf man cursed Zhang Dabiao for being heartless while looking at the wolf pelt with delight, and hurried off to find someone to make a mattress for him.

As for Zhang Dabiao, why doesn't he make money if he has it?

Because I was afraid of being reported for speculation and profiteering if I did business with the old deaf man, I was worried that it would be a losing proposition.

The Jia family also wanted to "borrow" the wolf skin and grain, but Zhang Dabiao completely ignored them, saying, "If you dare to cause trouble, I'll smash your windows!"

Bang Geng cried and made a fuss, and finally, having no other choice, snatched Xiao Dang's wolf fur coat and hat, and also took away Xiao Dang's snacks.

This infuriated Qin Jingru and Qin Mancang. In the freezing cold, they pulled down Bang Geng's pants, hung him up, and beat him until he screamed in pain!

One is the aunt, and the other is the uncle. It's only natural for them to beat their nephews and nieces!

Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu tried to stop them, but they couldn't hit the old woman Jia Zhangshi.

When Jia Dongxu returned to the courtyard house, he naturally wanted to settle accounts with Qin Jingru and Qin Mancang, so he decided to beat them up together again.

Anyway, there's nothing to do in the dead of winter, so fighting is a good way to exercise.

Yi Zhonghai? He might say a few words at most; that's someone else's family matter, and it's not convenient for him to get involved.

The Qin family attacked the Jia family, and even the Zhang family, who were relatives, did not intervene. How can someone surnamed Yi morally blackmail them?

Believe it or not, if he intervenes today, the Qin family will send someone to beat him up within a week. He still remembers the beating he received for no reason last time.

In conclusion, the courtyard was quite a joyful place.

However, Zhang Dabiao discovered a problem.

Jia Dongxu is getting thinner and thinner.