Courtyard House: The Long-Lost Eldest Son Returns with Military Merit

Thinking of all the twists and turns in the courtyard, he chimed in, "It seems this courtyard won't be peaceful from now on."

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao recalled the shady dealings of certain individuals, and his mood immediately improved. He smiled and waved to Yan Bugui, "Third Uncle, I'll go home and pack up first, we'll talk later!"

Pushing his bicycle to the central courtyard, Xu Damao noticed that the gate to the other courtyard was open. He glanced inside and saw Jia Zhangshi sitting in the courtyard.

He immediately thought of Qin Huairu's slender figure and muttered to himself, "I originally wanted to exchange some steamed buns for some benefits from Qin Huairu, but who knew that Jia Dongxu would suddenly show up as an older brother."

It seems the Jia family is about to turn their fortunes around.

Around 7 PM, just as Jia Dongming finished dinner, Yan Jiekuang rushed in from outside shouting, "Brother Jia! Aunt Zhang! My dad wants you to go to a meeting at the Intermediate People's Court!"

Upon hearing the sound, Jia Dongming got up from the bamboo chair, went inside, picked up a basket of eggs that he had prepared beforehand, and walked towards the central courtyard.

Upon seeing Jia Dongming carrying eggs, Liu Haizhong hurriedly greeted him warmly, "Section Chief Jia, you've arrived! I had Guangtian bring you a chair, please sit here."

Jia Dongming thanked him, but Liu Haizhong waved his hand repeatedly, saying, "Section Chief Jia, you're too kind. This is nothing."

"Brother Dongming, these eggs are really big! Where did you get them?"

Sha Zhu stared at the eggs in the basket and asked with a curious expression.

Jia Dongming wasn't surprised by Sha Zhu's question; after all, the other person was a chef, so it was normal for him to care about this.

He explained with a smile, "Zhu Zi, I have a comrade who works at the Jiaodaokou Supply and Marketing Cooperative. I asked him to help me buy these eggs."

"You must be Section Chief Jia?"

Just then, a fawning voice came from the side.

Jia Dongming turned his head and saw the long, horse-like face. He immediately guessed that this person was Xu Damao, Shazhu's old nemesis.

Xu Damao is a complex character. He is selfish, seemingly upright, jealous, hard-hearted, greedy, lustful, cowardly, and a complete villain. He is also the "first blood expert" in the storyline of the hospital.

Jia Dongming sized up Xu Damao, who was all smiles, and asked, "Comrade, who are you...?"

"Brother Dongming, this is Xu Damao, who lives in the backyard. He's the projectionist for our factory."

But this kid is no good.

Just as Xu Damao was about to introduce himself, Sha Zhu interrupted him and bluntly exposed his past.

Seeing Sha Zhu belittle him in front of Jia Dongming, Xu Damao's face darkened, and he angrily questioned, "Sha Zhu! What gives you the right to spout nonsense in front of Section Chief Jia?"

Seeing Xu Damao's anger, Sha Zhu sneered disdainfully, "Xu Damao, you're always getting involved with those young wives at the factory, and when you go to the countryside to show movies, you take the opportunity to ask the villagers for things. What else could you be but a scoundrel?"

"Xu Damao! Is what Sha Zhu said true? Are you really having an affair with those young wives at the factory?"

Just as Xu Damao was about to retort, his ear suddenly hurt, and then he heard Lou Xiao'e's angry question.

Xu Damao winced in pain and quickly protested, "E'zi! Be gentle, be gentle! Don't listen to Sha Zhu's nonsense! Let go!"

"Lou Xiao'e! What are you doing? Don't you have any respect for us three stewards?"

Seeing Lou Xiao'e publicly punish Xu Damao, Liu Haizhong felt he had lost face in front of Jia Dongming and immediately put on airs and scolded her.

Lou Xiao'e then realized that the occasion was inappropriate; this was the central courtyard, not her own backyard.

Seeing the neighbors' amused expressions, Lou Xiao'e finally released her grip on Xu Damao's ear and angrily shouted at him, "Xu Damao! You wait, I'll settle the score with you when we get home!"

Xu Damao, who always valued his reputation above all else, was now utterly humiliated by Lou Xiao'e's blatant disregard for him in front of Jia Dongming. He was furious and roared at Lou Xiao'e, "Lou Xiao'e! You're just a hen that crows but doesn't lay eggs! You believe even Sha Zhu's nonsense, but you don't believe me, Xu Damao! Do you really think I, Xu Damao, am a pushover, someone you can bully at will?"

Looking at Lou Xiao'e, whose eyes were red, Jia Dongming couldn't help but recall her experiences in the original story.

Although Jia Dongming also shared the surname Jia and was a member of the Jia family, he knew perfectly well that the most honest and kind-hearted person in the entire courtyard was probably Lou Xiao'e, whose eyes were red with tears.

Lou Xiao'e, the daughter of capitalist Lou Bancheng.

Because of her family background, she had no choice but to marry Xu Damao, the son of her family's servant.

Unfortunately, before the marriage, Lou Zhenhua was so eager to find a good family background for his daughter that he didn't carefully inquire about Xu Damao's character. He pushed Lou Xiao'e into a pit of fire, which also laid the groundwork for the family to have to leave for a distant place in the future.

After getting married, Xu Damao took advantage of the opportunity to show movies in the countryside to have affairs with the widows in the village. He even often stole Lou Xiao'e's dowry to squander, while Lou Xiao'e remained completely unaware of it.

Later, because Xu Damao himself was infertile, Lou Xiao'e was instead labeled a "barren hen."

The black pot.

Because they had never had children, Xu Damao would often beat Lou Xiao'e, but Lou Xiao'e truly believed she couldn't have children and silently endured many grievances.

Later, the atmosphere changed. In order to sever ties with the Lou family, Xu Damao found an excuse to divorce Lou Xiao'e and even reported the Lou family, which led to the confiscation of Lou Xiao'e's family property and her parents being imprisoned.

Later, with the help of the deaf old lady, Sha Zhu asked a high-ranking leader for help and rescued Lou Xiao'e's parents.

Lou Xiao'e was grateful for Sha Zhu's help, and with the deaf old lady's support from behind, she finally managed to transform Sha Zhu from an ignorant boy into a real man on the eve of leaving Beijing.

After the reform and opening up, Lou Xiao'e wanted to prove that it wasn't her infertility that was the problem, but rather that Xu Damao was the one with the problem. She also wanted to use the child to keep Shazhu with her so that he would go to Hong Kong with her. So she took the child back to the courtyard house.

But by this time, Sha Zhu had already fallen deeply into Qin Huairu's trap of tenderness, and with Yi Zhonghai's intentional or unintentional obstruction, Lou Xiao'e ultimately failed to be with Sha Zhu.

Seeing that Sha Zhu was not having a good life, Lou Xiao'e gave him money to open a restaurant.

Unexpectedly, Qin Huairu discovered this and then, along with her two daughters, started crying and making a scene. In the end, the entire ward gathered around Lou Xiao'e and began sucking her blood.

Sitting at the octagonal table, Yi Zhonghai saw Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e arguing fiercely in public, and his face immediately showed displeasure. He sternly reminded the couple, "Xu Damao! Lou Xiao'e! The reason we are holding this meeting today is to welcome Section Chief Jia Dongming to move into our compound, and also to celebrate his reunion with his wife and son."

"If you two want to argue, go home after the meeting and close the door to argue all you want."

"Now everyone sit down, let's begin the meeting."

Xu Damao dared to scold Lou Xiao'e for not laying eggs in front of the whole hospital just now, completely blinded by his male chauvinism, and for a moment he forgot that Jia Dongming was sitting next to him.

Hearing Yi Zhonghai say that the meeting was for Jia Dongming, Xu Damao naturally dared not cause any more trouble, but he still refused to back down and yelled at Lou Xiao'e, "Lou Xiao'e! Today, for the sake of Section Chief Jia, I won't hold it against you."

After saying this, Xu Damao's face instantly lit up with a fawning smile, and he respectfully introduced himself to Jia Dongming: "Section Chief Jia! Hello! I am Xu Damao, who lives in the backyard, and I work as a film projectionist at the steel rolling mill."

"It is my greatest blessing, Xu Damao, to be your neighbor."

Upon hearing Xu Damao's words and seeing his obsequious demeanor, Jia Dongming stood up from his chair and replied in a gentle manner, "Hello, Comrade Xu Damao! It's a pleasure to meet you."

Seeing that Jia Dongming was so approachable, Xu Damao thought that this leader should be easy to get along with. In order to build rapport, he quickly said, "Section Chief Jia! To welcome you to our compound, I'll be hosting a dinner party tomorrow night. Please do me the honor of coming and have a few drinks at my house."

Jia Dongming initially wanted to decline Xu Damao's invitation, but then he thought that this person might be useful in the future, so he smiled and agreed: "Okay, then I'll take the trouble to bother you."

Xu Damao was overjoyed to see Jia Dongming agree and quickly said, "Section Chief Jia! Then it's settled!"

Sitting at the octagonal table, Liu Haizhong saw Jia Dongming accept Xu Damao's invitation and secretly regretted not thinking of this move, and instead invited Jia Dongming to dinner first in order to take the opportunity to build a relationship.

Just as Liu Haizhong was secretly annoyed, Yi Zhonghai spoke up, "Alright, everyone's here now, let's start the meeting!"

Upon hearing Yi Zhonghai's words, Liu Haizhong finally snapped out of his regret.

In an attempt to impress Jia Dongming, he immediately interrupted, "Dear residents of the compound, I'm sure you've all heard that a new resident moved in yesterday—Comrade Jia Dongming, the newly appointed head of security at the steel rolling mill!"

"Now, let's give a warm round of applause to welcome our Section Chief Jia!"

Before Liu Haizhong could finish speaking, he took the lead and clapped enthusiastically.

The residents of the compound heard from the third auntie this morning that Jia Dongming plans to return all the money that everyone has donated to the Jia family over the years.

Therefore, everyone was naturally very enthusiastic about Jia Dongming.

When the neighbors heard Liu Haizhong's words and saw the full basket of eggs in front of Jia Dongming, they all clapped enthusiastically.

After hearing Liu Haizhong's words, Jia Dongming stood up from his chair and addressed all the neighbors in the courtyard: "Fellow neighbors! It's a pleasure to meet you! I am Jia Dongming, the eldest son of the Jia family who was lost many years ago. On behalf of my Jia family, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to you all for your care over the years."

After a slight pause, Jia Dongming continued, "Knowing that everyone is facing difficulties in the present situation, I have decided to return all the donations that you have given to the Jia family in the past, and also prepare a small gift, offering five eggs to each family, as a token of my appreciation."

At this point, Jia Dongming took out a wad of banknotes from his pocket, picked up the eggs that were on the ground, walked to the square table, and said with a smile to the three managers, "Gentlemen! This is the money that should be refunded, and these eggs. Please distribute them to everyone."

When Yan Bugui saw the money and valuables on the table, a glint of light flashed in his eyes. Before Zhong Hai and Liu Haizhong could speak, he immediately replied with a smile, "Section Chief Jia, please rest assured, we will return every penny to each household without fail."

"Ding! The daily check-in system has been activated. Would you like to check in now?"

The next morning around 7 a.m., Jia Dongming woke up from his sleep and suddenly heard a system notification in his mind.

Still half-asleep, Jia Dongming immediately opened his eyes upon hearing the question and replied telepathically, "Sign in!"

"Ding! Sign-in successful! You have been awarded master-level skills and a special bait that has an extremely strong attraction effect on all kinds of fish and beasts; you also receive ten catties of oranges, ten catties of apples, ten catties of bananas, ten catties of grapes, and ten yuan in cash."

Are you willing to receive instruction in master-level techniques?

Just the day before, Jia Dongming was still thinking about how to obtain meat for the Security Section to restore its former fighting strength. Unexpectedly, only one day later, the system delivered this surprise.

Upon receiving the information from the perception system, Jia Dongming's face lit up with delight, and he silently murmured, "Received the transmission!"

Immediately, a massive amount of information was poured into Jia Dongming's mind through the system, making him feel like a seasoned veteran for a short time.

Thinking back to the training plan he proposed to the Security Department on his first day in office, Jia Dongming thought to himself: After the pig from Changping Company arrives, I will ask the Security Department for a rifle and go hunting in the mountains and fields near Beijing.

This would not only generate some additional income but also subtly increase the benefits for the security department.

"Uncle! Are you up yet? Mother has prepared breakfast and is calling you to eat."

Just as he was pondering this, a shout came from outside the door.

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongming grabbed his clothes and replied as he put them on, "Bang Geng, Uncle is already up and getting dressed."

Dressed neatly, Jia Dongming took his toiletries to the water trough in the courtyard to clean himself up, and then entered the main room, where he found Jia Zhangshi already sitting at the dining table waiting for him.

Seeing this, Jia Dongming was slightly surprised and asked, "Mom! Why are you up so early this morning?"