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

Upon hearing the question, Madam Jia, wanting to know the reason for waking up so early, said with a helpless expression, "It's all because of that little girl, Huaihua. She cried and fussed because she was hungry early this morning, which woke me up."

Upon hearing this complaint, Jia Dongming noticed Xiao Huaihua in Qin Huairu's arms. He immediately stepped forward and said gently with a kind face, "Xiao Huaihua is such a good girl, knowing to wake up her sleepy grandmother early."

We should continue to do this, helping Grandma break her habit of sleeping in.

At this time, Huaihua was only one and a half years old. Although she could recognize people, she could only call out "Mama".

,"elder sister"

Only.

When Xiao Huaihua heard Jia Dongming call her name, she looked up and saw him. Her innocent face broke into a smile, and she babbled, but it was impossible to understand what she was saying.

Seeing Qin Huairu feeding him locust flower porridge with a soup spoon, Jia Dongming instructed, "Huairu! Locust flowers need nutrition right now. I'll try to buy some milk powder in the next couple of days."

Starting tomorrow, boil one egg for each person in the household, and steam a bowl of egg custard for each person with locust flowers.

In Qin Huairu's heart, her three children are everything.

Jia Dongming instructed that eggs be prepared for the children every day, which pleased Qin Huairu. However, considering the rarity of eggs, she politely said, "Uncle! Eggs are hard to buy these days, so let's give up on that."

What might be hard to come by for others, Jia Dongming could easily obtain simply by signing in every day.

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongming calmly replied, "Huai Ru! I have a comrade-in-arms who works at a supply and marketing cooperative. If your family is short of eggs, just tell me and I can ask him to buy them for you."

Upon hearing this, Qin Huairu nodded and replied, "Uncle! I understand."

Starting tomorrow morning, I will boil an egg for each child at breakfast.

After breakfast, Jia Dongming first went back to his room to get two cartons of cigarettes, then pushed his bicycle and left the hospital with his cigarette holder.

When the neighbors in the courtyard saw Jia Dongming, they all greeted him warmly.

"Section Chief Jia! Good morning!"

"Section Chief Jia! Are you taking Bang Geng to school?"

"Section Chief Jia! Have you had breakfast yet?"

When Jia Dongming encountered residents who greeted him, he did not adopt any leadership posture at all, but instead responded to the residents in the courtyard with exceptional kindness.

Banggeng followed Jia Dongming closely, watching the neighbors in the courtyard warmly greeting Jia Dongming, which made him feel honored, and his gaze towards Jia Dongming was full of admiration.

After Jia Dongming took Banggeng to school on his bicycle, he handed Banggeng a dime, just like yesterday, and said, "Banggeng! Here's a dime for you today. Make sure you study hard at school."

Banggeng was overjoyed to receive the one cent from Jia Dongming. He quickly promised Jia Dongming, "Uncle! Don't worry, I will study hard and become a person who contributes to society in the future."

Hearing Banggeng's assurance, Jia Dongming patted Banggeng's round head approvingly and said, "Alright, go inside now!"

After Banggeng entered the school gate, Jia Dongming got on his bicycle and headed towards the steel rolling mill.

"Section Chief! The vehicles are ready, and we plan to depart immediately."

As soon as Jia Dongming arrived at his workplace, he saw a truck parked in front of the security department building. When Zhang Guoping saw Jia Dongming arrive, he immediately went up to him to report.

Jia Dongming greeted Zhang Guoping as he approached, handed him two packs of Peony cigarettes he had brought from home, and said with a smile, "Comrade Guoping! My comrade-in-arms is a long-time smoker. When you see him at Changping Commune, remember to give him these two packs of cigarettes for me."

Zhang Guoping accepted the order and immediately replied, "Section Chief! Don't worry, I will definitely get it done."

Jia Dongming nodded in satisfaction at Zhang Guoping's response and gently instructed, "Okay! Then you can set off! If you encounter any problems along the way, remember to call the department immediately."

Around 3 p.m., a peculiar scene unfolded outside the steel rolling mill gate: dozens of security personnel gathered at the gate, their eyes all fixed on the road in front of them, as if waiting for a leader to come and inspect the work.

"Old Zheng! What exactly did Section Chief Zhang say on the phone? Why haven't they arrived yet?"

A security guard, around thirty-five or thirty-six years old, looked at the bustling street in front of him and asked his colleague with a hopeful expression.

When Old Zheng heard the middle-aged man's question, a hint of impatience appeared on his face. He complained, "Old Guo! It's been less than twenty minutes since we got to the door, and you've already asked me the same question four times. Aren't you annoyed? I'm getting a little annoyed myself."

After Lao Zheng pointed it out, Lao Guo realized that he had indeed asked repeatedly, and an embarrassed look immediately appeared on his face. He quickly explained to Lao Zheng, "Lao Zheng! I was just a little anxious about eating meat, so I kept asking."

"Brother Zheng! You said before that the pigs that Section Chief Zhang and his team brought back weighed over 250 jin (125 kg), is that true?"

Another young security guard overheard their conversation and, remembering the weight of the pig, quickly asked Lao Zheng for confirmation.

When Lao Zheng heard his young colleague's question, he nodded very firmly and replied, "Absolutely true! If we divide it equally among the people in our security department, each person can get at least half a pound of meat."

"The car's here! Section Chief Zhang and the others are back!"

No sooner had Old Zheng finished speaking than someone in the crowd shouted, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

Upon hearing the sound, everyone looked towards the road and immediately spotted a large truck heading towards the steel mill in the distance.

Seeing the car approaching in the distance, Old Zheng excitedly shouted to the security guards at the gate, "Old Wang! Open the gate quickly, the truck carrying pigs is back!"

Sitting in the cab of the truck, Zhang Guoping saw his security colleagues gathered at the factory gate and immediately instructed the driver, "Master Zhao! Please stop at the gate of the steel rolling mill."

The large truck quickly came to a stop outside the steel mill gate. Zhang Guoping leaned out of the window, looked at the crowd gathered at the gate, and asked jokingly, "Wow! Everyone's made such a big fuss, did you come here specifically to welcome me?"

When Lao Zheng heard Zhang Guoping's question, he pretended to be disgusted and replied, "Section Chief Zhang! I didn't realize you were so shameless! Everyone's welcoming the treasure in the back of the truck, not you."

"Section Chief! Section Chief Zheng and the others have brought the pigs back. The trucks transporting the pigs are already at our factory gate."

Upon receiving news of Zhang Guoping's return, the security personnel responsible for relaying the message immediately ran to Jia Dongming's office to report.

Upon learning of Zhang Guoping's return, Jia Dongming immediately stood up from behind his desk and said with a smile, "Chen Bin! Let's go! Let's go take a look together."

Jia Dongming and Chen Bin quickly arrived at the security department building, where they saw a large truck driving towards the building from the direction of the factory gate.

A short while later, the truck came to a stop in front of the security department's small canteen. Zhang Guoping saw Jia Dongming, ran up to him quickly, and excitedly reported, "Section Chief! We've done our job, we've brought the big fat pig back!"

After listening to Zhang Guoping's report, Jia Dongming quickly walked to the back of the truck, glanced at the tightly bound fat pig, and said to Zhang Guoping in a friendly tone, "Comrade Guoping! You must be tired from your journey. Quickly arrange for someone to carry the pig down and ask the canteen chef to slaughter it."

Remember to bring two lunchboxes to work tomorrow. Each person can get two meat and vegetable dishes from the cafeteria to take home and have with their family.

Although the security team members had heard about it yesterday, everyone present could not hide their joy when Jia Dongming officially announced the decision.

As Jia Dongming observed the reactions of his team members, a slight smile appeared on his lips, and a knowing glint flashed in his eyes—he understood that from this moment on, the newly appointed head of the security department had won the approval of most people in the department.

Soon, several team members stepped forward and worked together to lift the fat pig off the truck.

Zhang Guoping took a cloth bag from the driver's cab, walked quickly to Jia Dongming, and respectfully reported, "Section Chief, this is some local products that Deputy Director Xiao asked me to bring you."

Jia Dongming took the cloth bag, opened it, and glanced inside.

Upon seeing the mushrooms and sausages inside, he couldn't help but shake his head and laugh, "That old Xiao, I clearly told him on the phone not to bring anything, but there's just no way to deal with him."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jia Dongming suddenly remembered that he also planned to go hunting in the mountains in a few days, so he added to Zhang Guoping: "Comrade Guoping, good things should be shared by everyone."

"In a little while, give some meal vouchers to the drivers in the convoy and ask them to come to the security department's canteen tomorrow at noon to collect a meat dish."

"I plan to go into the mountains in a while to see if I can hunt some wild game. I'll need to borrow a car from the convoy then."

We can't just think of ourselves; we have to let others benefit too.

When Zhang Guoping heard that Jia Dongming was going into the mountains, he couldn't help but remind him, "Section Chief, the mountains aren't safe. You'll have to be extra careful when you go in."

Jia Dongming, however, looked relaxed and replied with a smile: "Don't worry, back when we were fighting, we were surrounded on the mountain for more than a month, and we survived only because of the wild animals in the mountains."

I have experience in this area.

Seeing that Jia Dongming said this, Zhang Guoping stopped trying to persuade him and respectfully replied, "Section Chief, I will go and arrange for Chef Yang from the canteen to handle the pork."

In addition, Deputy Director Xiao asked me to convey his invitation that you should definitely visit Changping Commune when you have time.

Around 5 p.m., Jia Dongming pushed his bicycle back to the courtyard and saw Yan Bugui watering the flowers in the front yard. He greeted him politely, "Uncle, are you busy? You've taken very good care of these flowers."

Yan Bugui's gaze immediately stopped when he saw the cloth bag on the back rack of Jia Dongming's car.

Hearing Jia Dongming's greeting, he snapped out of his reverie and replied with a smile, "Section Chief Jia, you're off work? I'm just tending to the flowers and plants to pass the time."

Seeing Yan Bugui's smug expression, Jia Dongming suddenly had a funny idea.

A look of regret crossed his face. He shook his head at the flowers and plants in front of him and muttered to himself, "What a pity, what a real pity."

Yan Bugui was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Section Chief Jia, what's a pity? Did I plant these flowers incorrectly?"

Jia Dongming knew that Yan Bugui was always shrewd and calculating. If Yan Bugui understood the meaning behind his words, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep soundly tonight.

So he replied mysteriously, "Uncle, these flowers and plants are only good for decoration."

"If you had grown vegetables back then, wouldn't your family have saved a lot of money on groceries every year?"

Yan Bugui paused for a moment, then looked annoyed and slapped his thigh, saying, "Why didn't I think of growing vegetables! That would save at least ten yuan a year, and a hundred yuan in ten years!"

Seeing Yan Bugui slapping his thigh in regret, Jia Dongming smiled and said, "Third Uncle, you go ahead with your work, I'll head back now."

After Jia Dongming pushed the cart through the moon gate and left, Yan Bugui remained standing there, muttering to himself, "What a loss, what a huge loss!"

Hearing the commotion, the third aunt, who was preparing dinner in the kitchen, grabbed a spatula and went to the door. Seeing Yan Bugui looking dejected, she asked in confusion, "Husband, what's wrong? What did you lose?"

Yan Bugui sighed and said, "Wife, why did I only think about planting flowers and not about growing vegetables in these pots? If we had grown vegetables, we could have saved so much money on groceries every year! Isn't this a huge loss?"

Upon hearing this, the three aunties agreed, saying, "That's right! If you had thought of this earlier, our family might have saved over a hundred yuan over the years!"

When Yan Bugui heard the third aunt mention the hundred-plus yuan, his heart clenched, and he quickly clutched his chest, muttering in frustration, "My money! How long will it take me to save up that hundred-plus yuan?"

Jia Dongming pushed his bicycle into the courtyard. Little Dang, who was playing nearby, immediately ran up to him and said softly, "Uncle! Uncle! Little Dang wants to ride the bicycle!"

"Little Dang! Slow down, don't fall!"

When Jia Dongming saw Xiao Dang running towards him, a gentle smile appeared on his face. Once she was in front of him, he picked her up and placed her on the crossbar of the cart, pushing it as he said, "Let's ride in the cart!"

Banggeng, who was doing his homework inside, heard Jia Dongming's voice and immediately ran out, excitedly shouting, "Uncle! You're back?"

Jia Dongming responded, then noticed that Jia Zhangshi, who usually did needlework in the courtyard, was not there, so he asked Banggeng, "Where is she?"