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

Hearing Qin Huairu's pleading and seeing the earnest look in her eyes, Jia Dongming stopped what he was doing, slowly withdrew his hand from inside her clothes, and smiled awkwardly: "Alright, considering how well you've done tonight, I, Old Sun, will let you off this time."

Upon hearing Jia Dongming's mention, Qin Huairu's fair cheeks flushed red, and a sweet and satisfied smile unconsciously appeared on her lips.

Like a little bird nestled against Jia Dongming's warm, broad chest, she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressed her softly against his chest, and whispered, "Brother Dongming, it's so good to have you here."

Listening to Qin Huairu's words and seeing the happiness on her face, Jia Dongming gently wrapped his arms around her slender waist and replied firmly, "Huairu, don't worry, with me here, the Jia family's life will only get better and better!"

Fearing that Jia Dongming might do something else, Qin Huairu did not stay in his room that night, but dragged her tired body back to her own room.

"Ding!"

"The daily check-in feature is now activated. Would you like to check in now?"

At 7:00 a.m. the next morning, while Jia Dongming was still fast asleep, a system notification suddenly sounded in his mind.

To prove his abilities, Jia Dongming fought two opponents alone last night, expending a great deal of energy, and didn't lie down to rest until after 4 a.m.

Normally, Jia Dongming would wake up immediately upon hearing the system notification to sign in, but he was too sleepy at the moment, so he closed his eyes and silently recited in his mind, "Sign in!"

"Ding!"

"Congratulations, host, on obtaining your first offspring in this world and completing the hidden system mission ahead of schedule. Hereby, you are rewarded with: a courtyard house with a shop facing the street at the entrance of Xiaojing Hutong on Gulou East Street, ten pregnancy-preserving pills, ten postpartum conditioning pills, ten pure gold longevity locks, and ten yuan in cash."

Just as Jia Dongming was about to fall back asleep, he received this message and learned that he was about to become a father. He immediately opened his eyes, sat up abruptly in bed, and communicated with the system using his consciousness: "System! You said I'm going to have a child? Is it Qin Huairu who's pregnant, or Lou Xiao'e?"

"Host, Qin Huairu took birth control measures a year ago, so it is impossible for her to be pregnant with your child."

The pregnant woman is Lou Xiao'e. Please have her take the pregnancy-preserving pills within 30 to 90 days after conception. This will benefit the healthy development of the fetus.

The system's reply delighted Jia Dongming, who couldn't wait to run to Xu Damao's house to tell her the news that Lou Xiao'e was pregnant.

But just as Jia Dongming was about to get dressed and go out, he suddenly remembered where Lou Xiao'e was and had to put the idea aside for the time being.

After abandoning his plan to go to her house, Jia Dongming remembered the property he had been rewarded with by the system and quickly asked the system, "System, houses are not allowed to be bought and sold now. Can you explain the origin of this house you gave me?"

If the system possessed intelligence, it might have given Jia Dongming a speechless response to his doubts.

The system then replied, "Please rest assured, host, all items rewarded by the system have a legitimate source."

This evening, someone will come to the courtyard to inform the host to go to the street office to complete the property inheritance procedures.

Around seven o'clock in the morning, Jia Zhangshi, who had been waiting outside the door, saw Jia Dongming come out of the house. She quickly pulled him aside and asked in a low voice, "Dongming! What exactly happened between you and Lou Xiao'e? How did you get involved with her?"

When Jia Dongming heard Jia Zhangshi ask this, he was taken aback and asked in return, "Mom, how do you know that I have a relationship with Lou Xiao'e?"

When Jia Zhangshi heard him ask this, she remembered the noise she had overheard outside his room when she got up to use the bathroom last night, and complained irritably, "Dongming! You made such a racket last night, how could I not hear you? Luckily, only our family lives in this courtyard, otherwise there would have been a real mess."

At this point, Madam Jia remembered the question from earlier and pressed, "Dongming! You still haven't answered me. When did you and her start dating? Let me warn you, Xu Damao's father, Xu Fugui, is not someone to be trifled with. You'd better be careful."

Jia Zhangshi's reminder made Jia Dongming suddenly realize that this was an era that was extremely strict about the conduct of men and women.

In his excitement, he forgot that his house was not as soundproof as it is in later times.

Faced with his mother's questioning, Jia Dongming had no choice but to tell the truth: "Mom, Xu Damao is infertile, and Lou Xiao'e wants a child, so she asked me for help."

"What! Dongming, what did you say? Xu Damao can't have children? Doesn't that mean he's like Yi Zhonghai, childless?"

When Jia Zhangshi heard the news that Xu Damao was infertile, she was shocked and quickly asked Jia Dongming for confirmation.

Seeing her strong reaction, Jia Dongming immediately reminded her, "Mom, keep your voice down! Lou Xiao'e went to the hospital for a checkup, and the doctor said she is very healthy and has a particularly easy constitution."

She wanted revenge on Xu Damao, which is why she came to me.

When Jia Dongming mentioned this, he remembered that Lou Xiao'e was pregnant. To prevent Jia Zhangshi from accidentally revealing that Xu Damao was infertile, he specifically instructed Jia Zhangshi: "Mom, although Lou Xiao'e is Xu Damao's wife, if she is pregnant, then the child will be of our Jia family bloodline."

Therefore, you must keep Xu Damao's infertility a secret and never let outsiders know.

Upon hearing Jia Dongming's words, Madam Jia, thinking of Lou Xiao'e's family background, had a sudden flash of inspiration. Her face filled with lust as she muttered to herself, "Lou Xiao'e is the Lou family's daughter. If she becomes pregnant with our Jia family's child, wouldn't the Lou family's entire fortune become ours?"

Thinking of "Lou Bancheng"

Overjoyed at this title, Madam Jia repeatedly assured Jia Dongming, "Don't worry, Dongming, I will never utter a word about Xu Damao's inability to have children."

"Spend more time with Lou Xiao'e these days, and get her pregnant with your child as soon as possible."

Upon hearing Jia Zhangshi's reminder and considering that Lou Xiao'e was already pregnant, Jia Dongming immediately replied, "Don't worry, Mom. I estimate that within a month at most, Lou Xiao'e will definitely have a child from our Jia family in her belly."

Having received this promise, Madam Jia, thinking of the Lou family's vast wealth, couldn't help but show a longing expression on her face. She hurriedly said to Jia Dongming, "Dongming, today I'll pay for it. I'll go to the market later to see if there are any old hens. If there are, I'll buy one to nourish you."

Jia Dongming was quite surprised to see his mother, who was always stingy with money, willing to spend money on chicken. He jokingly said, "Mom, you've always valued money more than life itself. Why are you spending money on nourishing my body today?"

When her son said that, Jia Zhangshi glared at him angrily and complained, "Dongming, how can you talk to your own mother like that? I used to hold onto my retirement money tightly because I was worried about where it would go."

Now that you earn a good amount each month, and the house is ours, why should Mom worry about retirement?

"Besides, Lou Xiao'e is the daughter of a capitalist, while our Jia family has been farmers for generations."

Now you can get a capitalist's daughter to willingly have your child, which is a great honor for your ancestors.

"Of course Mom will give you some nourishing food so you can work harder and help Lou Xiao'e get pregnant soon."

At this point, Madam Jia suddenly remembered something and added, "Dongming, remember to stay with Lou Xiao'e these days."

"After Qin Huairu gave birth to Huaihua, I forced her to get an IUD. No matter how much you give her, she still can't get pregnant."

"When the time is right, if you really want her to have the baby, Mom will have her go to the hospital to get it."

Jia Dongming was shocked to find that Madam Jia Zhang actually intended to have Qin Huairu bear his child. He quickly reminded her, "Mom, Huairu is Dongxu's wife after all. It's already against the proper order for us to be like this."

If we let her have another child, it could cause a huge scandal if word got out.

Madam Jia Zhang, however, remained unconcerned and said, "Dongming, there was an old custom of marrying one's brother's widow after his death."

"Your brother is gone, and Qin Huairu is still so young. We can't let her live a life of widowhood forever, can we?"

"Besides, judging from Qin Huairu's seductive nature, she definitely wants to have a son or daughter with you."

I forced her to get an IUD because I was afraid she wouldn't be able to keep it and would get pregnant with someone else's illegitimate child.

Now that she's with you, even if she gets pregnant, it will be a member of the Jia family, and Mom naturally won't stop her."

After hearing these words, Jia Dongming finally understood where Jia Zhangshi's strange ideas came from—ultimately, they were influenced by old-fashioned ideas, which led her to have so many bizarre thoughts.

"Mom! Dongming! Breakfast is ready."

No sooner had Madam Jia finished speaking than Qin Huairu came out of the main room and called out to the two of them.

Hearing the shouts, Madam Jia Zhang quickly walked to the door of the main room and instructed Qin Huairu, "Huairu, it's okay to call him Brother Dongming at home, but remember to call him Uncle when you're out."

As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something and added, "Also, if you have some free time these days, go to Xu Damao's house in the backyard and invite Lou Xiao'e to come to our house for a visit."

Although Dongming can't give her a formal title, she's still one of Dongming's women.

Upon hearing this, Qin Huairu's face immediately showed astonishment. She turned her gaze to Jia Dongming beside her, as if asking him how Jia Zhangshi knew about his relationship with Lou Xiao'e.

Seeing her look, Jia Dongming shrugged helplessly, leaned close to her ear and whispered, "You're riding high on your success! Mom heard you when she got up in the middle of the night."

The Jia family only had one room. In the past, when Qin Huairu and Jia Dongxu lived as husband and wife, they would either take the children out during the day or draw a curtain in the room at night.

Although she was used to Jia Zhangshi being around, Qin Huairu was still so ashamed that she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear when she thought about how she and Lou Xiao'e dealt with Jia Dongming last night.

After Jia Dongming finished breakfast, he was pushing his cart to go to work when Master Lei led several apprentices into the yard.

When Master Lei saw Jia Dongming, he stepped forward and said, "Master, the weather is nice today, so we plan to open a small gate for you in the yard first."

Where do you think would be a good place to put this door?

After listening to Master Lei's explanation, Jia Dongming glanced at the courtyard wall, then pointed to the center of the wall and said with a smile, "Master Lei, let's put the small gate in the middle. It will look more harmonious that way."

Master Lei looked in the direction he was pointing and immediately replied, "Boss, okay."

We first cut a hole in the wall according to the size of the door frame, installed the door leaf, and then fixed it with cement.

Once the cement dries completely, the door will be ready to use.

Jia Dongming smiled, took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket, stuffed it into Master Lei's hand, and said, "Master Lei, please take these cigarettes and share them with the workers."

"Thank you all for your hard work on this chore."

Having spent these past few days together, Master Lei had become familiar with Jia Dongming's temperament. Without much hesitation, he accepted the cigarette and thanked him, saying, "Master, then I thank you on behalf of my apprentices."

As Jia Dongming pushed his bicycle out of the hospital gate, he ran into Yi Zhonghai, who was on his way to work.

Despite knowing that the other person was a hypocrite who appeared respectable on the surface, he still greeted him politely, "Good morning, sir."

Are we going to the factory?

When Yi Zhonghai saw Jia Dongming pushing the cart with Qin Huairu and Banggeng, he showed his usual amiable expression and replied, "Director Jia, Huairu, good morning."

Are you sending a baseball bat to school?

In Qin Huairu's past impression, although Yi Zhonghai planned to let the Jia family take care of him in his old age, he also took good care of the Jia family in the courtyard and could be considered a pillar of the family.

Last night, I heard Jia Dongming recount the past and learned that Yi Zhonghai had schemed to get rid of He Daqing in order to provide for his old age. He even embezzled the living expenses that He Daqing sent to Sha Zhu and his sister, deliberately making the He family father and son enemies.

This incident alone is enough to show how ruthless he is.

Therefore, Qin Huairu is now more wary of Yi Zhonghai, and replied with a smile: "Uncle, ever since Banggeng was driven by his uncle on a bicycle once, he has been pestering me to ride it."

His uncle saw that we were going the same way, so he gave me a ride to the factory.