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

The bonuses were paid out one after another, and the total amount from several departments was a little more than he had casually estimated.

However, all that's added up is only a thousand or so yuan, which isn't even as much as the interest he gets from a month's bank deposit. It's better than nothing.

After taking the money, Zhang Dabiao went to Lao Jin's place to see what kind of goods he had recently acquired.

Old Jin recently handled two items, both in good condition: a bronze ink box from the Republican era and a pair of antique porcelain bowls, both in excellent condition and heavy in the hand. Zhang Dabiao glanced at them, decided to buy them, and didn't haggle.

Then, as usual, Lao Jin took his youngest son and his family out to a state-run restaurant for a good meal, while Zhang Dabiao huffed and puffed as he transported the treasures Lao Jin had recently collected to the basement of the Xiangjiang Village House through the "little nest".

When Lao Jin and the others returned from their meal, Zhang Dabiao had already left some money and a batch of grain and went to the teahouse in Lishuiqiao Village to continue trading the grain.

Life went on simply and unpretentiously, and the money, gold bars, food, and antiques in his hands kept increasing. But now he could only hoard them; he dared not expand further. The lessons of his predecessors were still there.

However, in Hong Kong, besides Mixue Ice Cream and the two newspapers, Zhang Dabiao—also known as "Zhang Yaoyang"—did something else. He gave Lou Yufan a 12-month priority right to the universal wheel authorization letter, along with related design drawings, using the design and authorization as equity investment to acquire a 15% stake in Lou's "Yufan Plastics Factory." A dedicated production line was set up to produce trolley cases, strollers, flatbed carts, and so on.

What can be done by authorized domestic manufacturers, Yufan Plastics Factory can also do.

However, firstly, Zhang Yaoyang owned 15% of Yu Fan Plastics Factory's shares, and secondly, the licensing fee for each wheel was $1, which still had to be paid. In the end, Lou Yu Fan ended up working for Zhang Yaoyang.

When it came time to sign the contract, Lou Yufan regretted his decision and was furious.

If they hadn't been greedy for Zhang Dabiao's money back then, the Lou family would have had 20% of the patents afterwards! They would have made pure profit sitting back!

Like now, the business looks booming, but we're just working for the Zhang brothers, Yaoyang and Zhang Dabiao!

Although there's some profit to be made, we still have to pay back Zhang Dabiao at the end of the year... and we also have to share the profits with Zhang Yaoyang, plus a $1 licensing fee per wheel?!

Lou Yufan experienced both pain and pleasure; this was all he could do.

He strongly suspected that if Zhang Dabiao's debts weren't settled soon, given Zhang Yaoyang's ability to make money out of thin air, in a few years, wouldn't the two brothers take over Yufan Plastics Factory or Xiangjiang Lou's Trading Company and become the largest shareholders?

Dad, when are you coming to Hong Kong? I'm getting a little too excited.

But the old man can't escape the mainland until the debts are paid off. To pay off the debts quickly, he has to rely on the technology and patents of the "two brothers," Zhang Dabiao and Zhang Yaoyang, as investment...

This is a complete paradox!

Is this business going to crash in my hands?

You, Roy Cheung, are even more capitalist than me, a capitalist!

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

In addition, Director Wang came to visit. It was early November, a cloudy day, the north wind was howling, and sycamore leaves were falling everywhere in the alley.

She came in without beating around the bush and went straight to the piece of land she had kept an eye on for Zhang Dabiao last time—an abandoned two-courtyard house in Sesame Alley, sandwiched between two rows of old houses. It used to house several families, but they moved away one after another, and it had been empty for several years. Most of the doors and windows were dilapidated, but the walls hadn't collapsed, and the framework was still holding it up.

"If you don't move soon, they'll be requisitioned by the government, and then you won't be able to buy any more."

Zhang Dabiao followed her around that day, walking through two courtyards. He peered into the courtyards from the doorframes, looked at the roof beams, stomped his foot, but didn't say anything. He came out the way he came and stood at the courtyard gate for a few seconds.

"purchase."

Director Wang opened his notebook, removed the cap from his pen, and prepared to write down a name: "Then I'll write it down for you—"

"Write Mu Wanqing's name; Mu Wanqing is the head of the household."

Director Wang paused for a moment, looked up at him, glanced at him, wrote down his name, stamped it, and left without asking a single question.

If it were anyone else, Director Wang might try to persuade them, but Zhang Dabiao has over 40 yuan in bank savings!

What's the big deal about buying a house for your fiancée?

It's none of anyone else's business.

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

Aunt Mu found out first.

Zhang Dabiao went to the tenement on his way and told her about it, his tone almost as if he were saying, "I bought two jin of pork today."

Aunt Mu froze, remaining motionless for almost a minute.

Then she lowered her head and cried, not a wail, but a suppressed, soft sob. She raised her hand and wiped the corner of her eye with her sleeve, then wiped it again, but it wouldn't get clean.

She had lived most of her life and had seen all kinds of human relationships and comings and goings, but she had never seen anyone do something so simple and straightforward, like giving you a little thing you picked up on the street, saying, "Here, take it," and then turning around and leaving.

This is actually the kind that's hardest to repay.

When Mu Wanqing returned in the afternoon, she saw that her adoptive mother's eyes were red. She asked her for a long time, and at first, Aunt Mu only said, "It's nothing, it's just the wind in my eyes." But when she was pressed, she whispered a few words.

Mu Wanqing sat there, motionless, without speaking for a long time.

Later, after Zhang Dabiao lit the lights in the small courtyard, she entered courtyard number 95 and paused at the entrance. Once inside, she kept her voice very low—

"I don't want to."

There was a hint of grievance in his voice.

Zhang Dabiao leaned against the doorframe, didn't turn around, and casually replied:

"If you don't want it, I'll have someone demolish it. We can keep the land to grow vegetables; it's not far away anyway."

Mu Wanqing looked up at him.

He had already turned and gone into the inner room, holding a blueprint in his hand. He flipped it over and held it up to the light.

"Grow some of the vegetables we like to eat. With this area for growing vegetables and vertical farming, we can harvest a lot of grain every year."

Mu Wanqing stood there, opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.

She understood what he meant, of course—once the abandoned courtyard was demolished, there would only be one plot of land, and if they actually grew vegetables, it would just be an ordinary plot of land in thirty or fifty years. By saying "growing vegetables," he was deliberately downplaying the importance of the matter.

But because of this, the thing pressing on my chest felt even heavier.

She felt like crying, and when Zhang Dabiao realized things had gotten out of hand, he hugged her tightly and whispered words of comfort.

"Consider this my advance dowry to your family. If you're willing, we can build a house; if not, we can level the land and grow vegetables. Anyway, we'll keep that land for the children."

"Every little bit helps."

He's a straight man and doesn't know how to charm a girl.

But leaving the house and land to the children is a deeply ingrained belief among Chinese people.

In the end, Mu Wanqing had no choice but to accept it. The land deed had already been taken out, and Mu Wanqing's name was written on it. What else could she do?

She owed Zhang Dabiao a debt she could never repay, and she was now his fiancée, Zhang Dabiao's woman. So be it.

But when the residents of the tenement and No. 95 courtyard heard the news, they were all in an uproar.

I'm so envious and jealous!