Siheyuan (courtyard house): My father, Li Yunlong!

Jia Dongxu's voice was filled with surprise and disbelief.

Inside the house, Jia Zhangshi was sitting by the stove, watching the braised pork bubbling and steaming in the pot, her face beaming with undisguised pride.

Banggeng squatted down beside him, drooling almost dripping onto the ground.

Qin Huairu silently peeled garlic on the side, her eyes somewhat unfocused.

"Hmph, it's all because your wife is capable!"

Jia Zhangshi pursed her lips and pointed at Qin Huairu with her chin.

"I got it from that kid surnamed Li in the backyard!"

The smile on Jia Dongxu's face froze instantly, turning into confusion, and then his expression darkened.

He looked at Qin Huairu, his brows furrowed.

"You got it from him? How did you get it? Why would he give us meat for no reason?"

Qin Huairu's heart tightened. She lowered her head and repeated the same words she had spoken to Jia Zhangshi in a weak voice.

"I...I begged him for ages, promising to do his laundry and clean his house for a month before he'd give me this little bit of money..."

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu did not erupt in anger as Qin Huairu had expected regarding her contact with Li Zhenhua. Instead, he slammed his hand on the table, his face filled with disappointment and anger.

"You spendthrift woman! Is your brain filled with mush?"

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi were both startled by his reaction.

Jia Dongxu pointed at Qin Huairu's nose and cursed.

"One month! In exchange for just this one piece of meat? How can you be so short-sighted! Who is Li Zhenhua? He's a cadre! His family certainly doesn't lack food! Since you asked, and he agreed, what does that mean? It means that even a little bit he squeezes out from between his fingers is enough for our family to eat!"

He became increasingly angry as he spoke, spitting as he spoke.

"What's wrong with doing laundry and cleaning? You're just idling at home anyway, aren't you? How much more stuff can you get by working a month more? Can't you ask for a little more? Even just a little more cornmeal would be nice! You're incredibly stupid! You've wasted such a good opportunity!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Jia realized her son was right and immediately echoed his words.

"Exactly! Dongxu is right! Qin Huairu, you're so stubborn! Tomorrow! Tomorrow you go see him again and say that it's too unfair to earn so little for a month's work, he should at least give you another five jin... no, ten jin of flour!"

Looking at her husband and mother-in-law who were criticizing her, Qin Huairu felt a chill in her heart, and at the same time, a sense of absurd sorrow welled up inside her.

She had been worried that Dongxu would get angry because of the humiliation, but she didn't expect that he would be concerned about "not getting enough".

She nodded silently, not daring to refute, but in her heart she had a deeper understanding of Li Zhenhua's words about "price".

In this home, her labor and dignity seemed so cheap in the face of real food.

In the backyard, Li Zhenhua made a simple dinner with the remaining ingredients, ate it, closed the door, and then his consciousness sank into the Pinduoduo e-commerce system.

After activating the system and successfully recharging, making money to improve life and accumulating capital becomes the top priority.

He firmly believed that, regardless of the era, the economic base determines the superstructure.

He first clicked on the "Today's Flash Sale" section.

Sure enough, there was another surprise.

Premium Northeast Rice, 20kg Pack, now only 1 RMB!

Without hesitation, Li Zhenhua clicked to buy, and the heavy 20-pound rice was instantly stored in the system space.

Looking at the bag of crystal-clear rice in the space, and comparing it with the coarse grain buns that ordinary people in this era eat, Li Zhenhua became even more determined to make use of the system's advantages.

"In this era, the most reliable thing is always food."

Li Zhenhua pondered to himself. He recalled some vague memories of his predecessor and the background of this era, knowing that a "black market" for privately trading goods existed.

The prices there were much higher than through official channels, making it an ideal place to dispose of the large amount of supplies he had.

There are risks, but the rewards are greater.

Moreover, his position as the head of the security department was itself a good cover.

Just do it.

Li Zhenhua began browsing the online store.

Cooking oil, meat, and refined grains have always been the hard currency on the black market.

He carefully calculated and chose the items with the best cost performance.

Soybean oil: 100 jin (50 catties), the unit price is much lower than any other channel in this era, the total cost is about 500 yuan.

Pork: 100 jin (50 catties), choose the cut with the most fat, which is the most popular at this time, the total cost is about 800 yuan.

White flour: 500 jin, top-grade snowflake powder, total cost approximately 700 yuan. A total of 2000 yuan of system currency was instantly deducted, and the corresponding materials were neatly stacked in his 100-cubic-meter system space.

Looking at the mountain of "hard stuff" piled up in the space, Li Zhenhua felt very confident.

Preparations are complete; now all we need to do is wait.

In the dead of night, the courtyard was immersed in the deathly silence unique to the early morning, with only the occasional chirping of insects and the faint barking of dogs in the distance.

Li Zhenhua, dressed neatly in dark casual clothes, quietly opened the door to the small house in the backyard.

His movements were slow and deliberate, like a shadow blending into the night, preparing to disappear into the deeper darkness on his way to the black market.

However, just as he stepped out of the house and his gaze habitually swept across the moon gate leading from the middle courtyard to the front courtyard, several furtive figures caught his attention.

At the moon gate, three figures were gathered together, exchanging a few words in hushed tones. Then, they carefully and quietly crossed the front yard and disappeared outside the gate.

With the help of the faint moonlight and his keen eyesight honed by years of military training, Li Zhenhua recognized the three men at a glance: Yi Zhonghai, Sha Zhu, and Jia Dongxu!

"The three of them? What are they doing sneaking out so late?"

Suspicion immediately arose in Li Zhenhua's mind.

Recalling that today was the day of the weekly market fair he remembered, he instantly understood.

It seems that the food shortage in this courtyard is far more than what he "knows" about; even skilled workers like Yi Zhonghai and canteen cooks like Sha Zhu have to secretly go to the black market to make up for it.

Needless to say, Jia Dongxu's family was in a similar situation.

"Perfect, I'll follow them, save myself the trouble of finding my way."

With a sudden thought, Li Zhenhua immediately hoisted himself up from a distance.

He had received professional tracking training, so tracking three distracted ordinary people in the quiet of the early morning was a piece of cake for him.

Yi Zhonghai and his two companions were clearly very familiar with the route. They deliberately chose to travel through secluded alleys, making several turns and walking for about half an hour before arriving at an abandoned old warehouse area near the city wall.

This place is far from residential areas and is usually deserted.

At the entrance of what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse, a faint light shone through, and two burly men stood shadowy at the entrance, seemingly keeping watch.

Yi Zhonghai stepped forward, seemed to whisper something to the two men, and took something out of his pocket. The two men nodded and stepped aside to let Yi Zhonghai and his two companions in.

Li Zhenhua observed all of this from the shadows in a corner not far away.

After Yi Zhonghai and the other two went inside, he leisurely straightened his clothes, pretended to be an ordinary market visitor, and walked out of the shadows, heading straight for the warehouse entrance.