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

The deaf old woman chewed on mushy noodles and remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he put down his chopsticks and spoke in a low voice.

"Zhonghai, listen to the old lady's advice."

"That Zhang family kid is too tough; you can't touch him."

"If we can't afford to mess with them, we can at least avoid them."

Yi Zhonghai nodded sullenly, his initial resentment having been largely worn away.

Forget it, just mind your own business and keep Sha Zhu in check. As for Zhang Dabiao—

Just pretend he doesn't exist.

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

Bang Geng's days at school weren't easy either.

His classmates all know he loves to steal, and now he's been caught with a sack over his head. People call him "thief" and "whistleblower" every day.

He was stubborn and got into a fight with someone.

This time the beating was severe; he had a large gash on his forehead, and a large piece of his cotton-padded jacket sleeve was torn off.

However, the other party wasn't much better off; he got his head smashed open by a brick thrown by Banggeng. Kids fight without any sense of restraint, which is why Zhang Dabiao used to run away first when surrounded by elementary school students.

Qin Huairu was called to school by her homeroom teacher, and the other parent was relentless, berating the Jia family for being ill-mannered.

Qin Huairu usually pretends to be weak, but she's truly willing to go all out for her son. Even when her son was called a thief and had a cut on his forehead, what did she care about? She immediately started arguing with the other parent.

Things have become very ugly.

Back at the steel rolling mill, the workshop director called Qin Huairu into his office and slammed his fist on the table as a warning.

"Qin Huairu, you've been taking leave every day to go to school these past few days, and your production output is at the bottom of the entire workshop!"

"Do you still want this job?"

"If this continues to disrupt production, you'll be reassigned to cleaning toilets next month!"

Qin Huairu bowed repeatedly in apology, tears welling in her eyes, her heart filled with bitterness.

She just couldn't understand why the stick-shaped dog had turned out like this.

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

It's already the end of April.

The steel rolling mill has ushered in its annual worker-level assessment.

This is a big deal, as it concerns the wages and benefits of every worker.

Yi Zhonghai had been holding back his anger for over a year, waiting for this day to turn the tables.

After being demoted to a fourth-grade worker, he lost all face and dignity. This time, he was determined to succeed, spending every day in the workshop personally teaching his five sixth-grade apprentices.

He was so tired that his back ached, but he gritted his teeth and persevered.

People in the courtyard saw him leaving early and returning late, and they all gossiped behind his back.

"Old Yi is using his apprentice as a ladder to climb back to the level of an eighth-grade worker."

"With his character, he'd be lucky to even get back to work if the factory didn't give him the time of day."

On the day of the assessment, Yi Zhonghai was so nervous that his palms were sweating.

Fortunately, the five apprentices lived up to expectations. Although the process was bumpy, they all passed the Level 7 assessment in the end.

According to the factory's regulations, Yi Zhonghai was qualified to participate in the assessment after training five workers to level seven.

Then his luck turned around, and he started from level 5 and went straight to level 8, and even passed!

Liu Haizhong failed to reach level 8, but the others were about the same. Once you reach a high level, it's too difficult to level up another level.

When the factory office handed the new work permit to Yi Zhonghai, he almost burst into tears.

But this time he learned his lesson.

There was no grand banquet in the courtyard, nor did he act like an old man.

He was all too aware of the current environment; if something else went wrong and he was eliminated, his life would be completely over.

So he chose to keep a low profile, even walking close to the wall.

Some are happy, some are sad.

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

On the other hand, Sha Zhu also ushered in the highlight of his life.

Although He Daqing has a bad temper, he has been in the catering industry for many years and has connections.

He used his old connections to get Sha Zhu a job at the Sijiucheng Catering Service Company's industry assessment.

Sha Zhu's skills in cooking Tan family cuisine are no joke; he's an expert in Sichuan and Shandong cuisines.

At the assessment site, as soon as several hearty dishes were served, the judges nodded repeatedly in approval.

The decision was made on the spot, and the city directly granted him a Level 3 chef certification.

Online, he's a chef who's served state banquets, but Sha Zhu isn't that skilled yet.

When the news reached the steel rolling mill, Director Yang was overjoyed.

The factory could only offer the highest level of pay for a cook, but Director Yang gave him the maximum.

Sha Zhu's monthly salary jumped from 27.5 yuan to 55 yuan in an instant!

This salary is definitely considered middle-to-high income in a courtyard house.

Director Yang even intended to make him the head of the third canteen, with a monthly allowance of two yuan.

As a result, Sha Zhu became stubborn.

"Factory manager, I'm good at cooking, but I can't manage people."

"Those middle-aged women chatter on and on all day long, I find it annoying, so I quit."

Factory Director Yang pointed at him and cursed him a few times for being "ungrateful," then let him be.

The day the payslip for fifty-five yuan was posted, the courtyard was filled with a sour smell.

Qin Huairu was washing clothes in the Intermediate People's Court when she heard people talking about Sha Zhu's salary increase, and she stopped washing her clothes with a washing mallet.

She went back into the room and looked at Banggeng, who was sitting on the corner of the bed in a daze.

She secretly wiped away her tears.

She wanted to leech off Sha Zhu, but she also felt that with Sha Zhu's high salary, she, as a widow, was probably losing control of him.

Xu Damao was the most furious.

Xu Damao always felt that his job as a projectionist was respectable. Although the salary was only 35.5 yuan, he received extra subsidies when he went to the countryside, as well as local specialties from the farmers. Therefore, he always felt superior to Shazhu.

Now that Sha Zhu has turned his life around and become a chef earning fifty-five yuan a month, how can he swallow this insult?

The next day at the factory, Xu Damao took the opportunity of going to the canteen to get food to start spraying feces in front of everyone.

He's starting to act like a jerk.

"Hey, isn't this Chef He Yuzhu, a level six master chef!"

"Your salary has gone up, how come you're still single?"

"Oh right, I forgot, everyone at the Manzhouli Steel Plant knows that He Yuzhu's blind dates always fall through."

"With your stupid, clueless look, no girl would even want you for a hundred bucks!"

Sha Zhu was chopping vegetables in the back kitchen when he heard this, so he grabbed a large ladle and rushed out.

"Xu Damao! You bastard! I'll kill you today!"

The two started fighting right there at the cafeteria's food serving window.

The vegetable bowl overturned, and steamed buns rolled all over the floor.

Xu Damao grabbed Shazhu's hair, and Shazhu punched Xu Damao in the nose.

The two men were covered in blood from their fight, and it was only when the security personnel arrived that they were forcibly separated.

I go back to the courtyard after get off work in the evening.

The two entered one after the other, their clothes torn to shreds and their faces bruised.

Zhang Dabiao was squatting at the entrance of the east courtyard, slurping down a bowl of noodles with soybean paste that Qin Jingru had just made.

Seeing the miserable state of the two guys, Zhang Dabiao swallowed the noodles in his mouth and pursed his lips.

"You two, were you husband and wife in your past lives?"

"When you can't see them, you miss them; when you do see them, you fight them."

"This life is more exciting than anything you can watch on a theatrical box."

Xu Damao and Sha Zhu were speechless after hearing this comment.

The two were stunned for a long time, unable to find a word to refute it.

Finally, the two looked at each other.

"snort!"

"Pooh!"

The two turned to each other and went home.

Zhang Dabiao shook his head, picked up the bowl, and turned to walk into the yard.

He was even thinking, why don't we each give them a machete and you two just fight it out?

One hundred.