Courtyard House: The Road to an Industrial Power

Sha Zhu gritted his teeth, took out a cloth bag from his pocket, counted out twenty yuan, and followed Lin Weidong to the courtyard house.

At this moment, Qin Huairu was standing hesitating at the courtyard gate, while the matchmaker went in first to talk to the Jia family.

Lin Weidong and Sha Zhu had just arrived at the gate when they saw Qin Huairu standing there.

Lin Weidong spoke first: "Sister Qin, let me introduce you. This is Brother Shazhu, the cook at the steel mill's canteen. He's an excellent cook; you can eat meat every day!"

Sha Zhu blushed and scratched his head: "Comrade Qin... Qin Huairu, my name is He Yuzhu, everyone calls me Sha Zhu. I have two private houses, I have no parents, I give you my salary, and I can even give you twenty yuan as a bride price."

Qin Huairu was taken aback. Twenty yuan was not a small amount of money at the time. Moreover, Sha Zhu had no parents, did not have to serve his parents-in-law, and had his own savings. His conditions were much better than Jia Dongxu's.

Lin Weidong noticed her interest and pressed his advantage: "Sister Qin, Jia Dongxu's mother, Jia Zhangshi, is mean-spirited and always trying to take advantage of you. If you marry her, you'll not only have to serve her, but also save money for her retirement. Life will definitely be tough. Silly Zhu is honest and kind to you. If you're with him, you won't suffer."

Qin Huairu quickly considered the situation and realized that Lin Weidong's words made perfect sense. Her family wasn't well-off, and her parents needed money. Sha Zhu was indeed much better off than Jia Dongxu, even though he looked a bit older. She gritted her teeth, looked up at Sha Zhu, and said, "Comrade He Yuzhu, I'm willing to date you."

Sha Zhu was overjoyed and quickly stuffed twenty yuan into Qin Huairu's hand: "Great! Take this money and tell your parents the good news first."

Qin Huairu took the money, nodded to Sha Zhu, and turned to leave the courtyard. Back home, she told her parents what had happened, then took out another twenty yuan. Her parents' eyes widened in astonishment.

Qin's father exclaimed excitedly, "Shazhu has two private rooms? No parents? And he's a cook in the cafeteria? These conditions are amazing! A hundred times better than Jia Dongxu's!"

Qin's mother smiled and said, "Yes, the cook gets to eat meat every day and doesn't have to serve his parents-in-law. Huairu, you've found the right person this time!"

Qin's mother suddenly said worriedly, "But I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the matchmaker."

Qin Dashan waved his hand: "If there's anything hard to explain, just give her an extra 50 cents and everything will be fine."

Two days later, Qin Huairu and Sha Zhu went to the neighborhood office to get their marriage certificate.

When the news reached the Hongxing Courtyard, Madam Jia exploded in anger, slapping her thigh and wailing in the courtyard, "Qin Huairu, you ungrateful wretch! I already arranged everything with the matchmaker, how could you run off with that scoundrel Sha Zhu? My dowry! My daughter-in-law!"

Jia Dongxu was also furious, his face turning ashen, but he was helpless and could only smoke in silence.

Meanwhile, in Lin Weidong's mind, the system's mechanical voice sounded precisely on time: [Host, by facilitating a happy marriage and preventing Qin Huairu from falling into an unhappy union, and by striking at the scheming Jia family, you are rewarded with a lead on an enemy agent: Suspicious individuals have been active near the steel mill recently. Their characteristics include being left-handed, frequently wearing a gray Zhongshan suit, and habitually carrying a hard object at their waist.]

Lin Weidong's heart skipped a beat. Enemy spy clues! In this era, enemy spies were extremely dangerous. This clue was a chance to make a great contribution. He quickly memorized the clues and planned to report them when the time was right.

After Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu got their marriage certificate, they held a banquet at the courtyard house, inviting a few close neighbors. Unexpectedly, Xu Damao, having somehow heard the news, went to the Jia family to stir up trouble: "Brother Dongxu, you're such a coward! Your girlfriend was stolen by Sha Zhu, and you're not even going to settle accounts with him? If this gets out, how will you save face in the courtyard?"

Jia Zhangshi was already furious, and Xu Damao's instigation only fueled her anger. She dragged Jia Dongxu to Sha Zhu's banquet table and overturned it, yelling, "Sha Zhu! Qin Huairu! You two adulterers, how dare you steal my son's girlfriend! I'll fight you to the death!"

Jia Dongxu, his eyes red, lunged at Sha Zhu. Sha Zhu was no pushover either, and a fight immediately broke out between them. Qin Huairu's two older brothers, who had just arrived for the banquet, saw the Jia family mother and son causing a scene and immediately stepped in to help, beating up Jia Dongxu and Jia Zhangshi.

In an instant, the courtyard was in chaos, with chickens and dogs running wild, tables and chairs overturned, and cries, curses, and fighting sounds mixed together, attracting the attention of everyone in the courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong rushed over upon hearing the news. Yi Zhonghai had a plan in mind: he wanted to use the opportunity of breaking up the fight to side with the Jia family, both to curry favor with Jia Dongxu and to suppress Sha Zhu and the Lin family. So he pretended to shout, "Stop fighting! Stop fighting! We're all neighbors, let's talk this out!"

As he shouted, he moved closer to Sha Zhu and deliberately bumped him with his elbow. Sha Zhu lost his balance and was almost knocked over by Jia Dongxu.

Lin Weidong stood in the crowd, seeing everything clearly, and sneered inwardly. Taking advantage of the chaos, he quietly circled behind Yi Zhonghai, seized the opportunity, and kicked him hard in the back of the knee!

Yi Zhonghai was caught off guard by a sneak attack. His legs buckled and he fell to the ground with a thud. His face hit the corner of the overturned bench with a sharp crack, and two of his front teeth fell out on the spot, blood streaming from his mouth.

"Ouch! My tooth!" Yi Zhonghai clutched his mouth, writhing in pain, his face deathly pale.

Seeing this, Liu Haizhong was so frightened that he immediately stopped fighting, no longer daring to take sides. Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu were also startled by this sudden turn of events and ceased their fighting.

Just then, Zhao Xiulan arrived after hearing the commotion and shouted sternly, "Stop it, all of you! Fighting in broad daylight, do you have no respect for the law?"

In an instant, everyone fell silent. She glanced at the mess on the ground, then at Yi Zhonghai, who was covering his mouth, and Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu, whose faces were bruised and swollen, and said in a deep voice, "Jia Zhangshi, Qin Huairu and Shazhu are already legally married. They are a legal couple. You come here to cause trouble and beat people. Do you want to go to jail?"

Madam Jia Zhang tried to argue, "They stole my daughter-in-law!"

"What do you mean, 'your daughter-in-law'? Marriage is a matter of personal choice. Qin Huairu can be with whomever she wants. What right do you have to interfere? Besides, the conditions you offered the matchmaker back then were nowhere near as good as what Sha Zhu offered. If you really care about Dongxu, you should find someone who truly loves him, instead of throwing a tantrum here!"

Zhao Xiulan finally looked at Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu: "Sha Zhu, Qin Huairu, live your lives well from now on, and don't stoop to the level of the Jia family. Let's leave it at that for today. If anyone dares to cause trouble again, I'll call the police!"

Qin Huairu's brothers also said, "If the Jia family dares to cause trouble again, we brothers will not let them get away with it!"

Seeing Zhao Xiulan's stern face and glancing at Qin Huairu's brothers, Jia Zhangshi felt intimidated and could only help Jia Dongxu, slinking home in shame. Yi Zhonghai was also helped back to his house by Liu Haizhong, grumbling all the way, his heart itching with hatred for Lin Weidong, but he had no evidence that he had kicked him.