Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

No sooner had Yang Chengyi left than Lou Xiao'e entered the house: "Zhu Zi, Yu Shui has earned two more yuan these past few days."

"Quick hands and a silver tongue, born to make a living, you can't learn that."

"So... what can I do?"

"You can have children."

Lou Xiao'e blushed and spat lightly, "You scoundrel..."

Time flies like water; in the blink of an eye, a week has passed.

In this assessment, Qin Huairu was the only one in the courtyard to be promoted—to Level 2 Fitter, with a monthly salary of 36.5 yuan; Yi Zhonghai remained at Level 7, and Liu Haizhong remained at Level 5, without any change.

At the canteen, Ma Hua and Liu Songgui were both promoted to level eight cooks, earning 27.50 dollars a month.

As soon as the lunch break bell rang, He Yuzhu stepped out of the workshop and saw Jia Zhangshi striding forward with her head held high and arms swinging, her steps brisk and her mouth almost reaching her ears in a wide grin. Her smugness was as if she had just been appointed as the head of a street-level work group.

After finishing two bowls of rice with Lou Xiao'e in the factory canteen, he casually brought back a plate of braised pork for He Yushui—glistening with oil, trembling slightly, perfectly marbled with fat and lean meat, its aroma filling his nostrils. He planned to take a break before returning to the workshop, since the afternoon's work wasn't too strenuous.

School starts in a few days. I'll give He Yushui her living expenses all at once then, so she won't have to carry her lunchbox back and forth every day. From now on, when she comes back in the evenings, I'll just cook a couple of hot dishes for the old lady; the two of them will continue to eat in the cafeteria, but I'll pay a little more so that He Yushui can have meat every meal at school and eat comfortably.

Taking a day off occasionally, stewing some meat to satisfy a craving, is enough.

Just as they were pondering this, a sudden commotion erupted in the front yard, a buzzing and clamoring sound, like a hornet's nest had been stirred up. He Yuzhu dragged Lou Xiao'e along, excitedly squeezing over to join the fun.

Director Hong of the neighborhood committee, accompanied by two police officers and two assistants, stood in front of Yan Bugui's house, their faces ashen.

Everyone crowded around outside, craning their necks and whispering amongst themselves:

"Tsk, so they've really messed up this time?"

"I heard they got caught selling fish!"

"Old Yan is usually such an honest person..."

Before he could finish speaking, the door creaked open, and Uncle Yan Bugui sauntered out, his face sallow, his lips pale, and his forehead beaded with cold sweat. He could barely stand.

Director Hong stepped forward, his voice low but forceful: "Comrade Yan Bugui, the public has filed a formal complaint against you for engaging in speculation and profiteering. Please come with us to the Public Security Bureau to cooperate with the investigation."

Yan Bugui's throat bobbed as he tried to speak, but only managed a few dry, breathy sounds. Inside, several children huddled behind the door, their little shoulders trembling, sobbing but afraid to cry out loud.

The second aunt rushed forward, her hands trembling: "Sir, you have to investigate this thoroughly! Old Yan is a teacher, he's lived an honest life, how could he do such a thing?"

Director Hong didn't even lift his eyelids: "The witnesses and physical evidence are all waiting at the station. I came with the police—don't give me that nonsense."

As soon as he finished speaking, two policemen stepped forward, grabbed Yan Bugui's arms on either side, and led him out, half-supporting and half-pushing him.

Hong Jingqiu had actually been secretly planning this for several days.

After returning from her parents' home, she saw Yan Bugui leaving with an empty bucket for several days in a row, returning with water dripping from the rim and fish scales stuck to his sleeves. Given his penchant for getting cheap fish, Hong Jingqiu immediately became suspicious. She asked Xu Damao to call Wang Sanzi, instructing him to stake out the path Yan Bugui took on his return journey, pretending to buy fish; she also enlisted a neighbor wearing a red armband to follow and identify him on the way—killing two birds with one stone, clean and efficient.

Wang Sanzi was also very puzzled that day: Xu Damao gave him money to buy fish for no reason, and even treated him to a meal after the deal was done. What was he after?

The moment the fish was in his hands, the man in the red armband stalked him like a shadow, following him into his yard, figuring out the house number, and then turning around to call the police. Caught red-handed, Wang Sanzi was stunned and kept proclaiming his innocence.

The interrogation room at the police station was filled with smoke.

The police officer pushed up his glasses: "Tell me, this isn't the first time, is it?"

Wang Sanzi's throat tightened: "Comrade, it's a real injustice! Xu Damao forced me to do it, I can't even stand the smell of fish!"

The police officer sneered, "We've questioned Xu Damao—he said you've been in cahoots for a while. Last time at the movie theater, you extorted fifty yuan from him; today you're trying to rip him off for ten yuan. Still trying to renege?"

Wang Sanzi's face stiffened, and he opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't dare to say anything more. If he revealed the truth, he'd probably be in jail for at least six months.

He abruptly changed his story: "It's borrowed! It really is borrowed! This is the first time I've bought fish like this; you can verify it if you don't believe me!"

The police immediately ordered someone to bring Xu Damao in.

Upon seeing him, Wang Sanzi's eyes turned red: "Xu Damao! The money I borrowed from you, and you're turning around and accusing me of swindling you? And that fifty yuan, don't you know what you're talking about?"

One is speculation and profiteering, which might only warrant a 15-day detention; the other is instigating fights and intentionally causing injury—the two are worlds apart in nature.

Xu Damao's face turned deathly pale—he understood Wang Sanzi's unspoken message: If you try to bite me, I'll expose everything about how you instructed him to block Sha Zhu.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he quickly interjected, "Officer, I misremembered! It's a loan! It's purely a loan!"

Seeing that the two were arguing back and forth, the police decided to question them separately and verify each point one by one.

After the matter between the two was clarified, Yan Bugui was also taken to the police station.

Although he was educated, he came from a clean family background, with no history of wrongdoing. In the end, he was only fined five yuan, and his fishing rod and wooden bucket were confiscated before he was released to go home. Director Hong kept a stern face throughout the entire ordeal, scolding him all the way to the gate of the courtyard house, his words cutting to the heart.

Wang Sanzi wasn't so lucky. The neighbors secretly cursed him, saying he was "good-for-nothing," idle and good-for-nothing who did nothing but commit immoral acts, and he was directly sentenced to three months of re-education through labor.

Xu Damao hummed a little tune as he returned to the courtyard house, rushed inside, and whispered endlessly with Hong Jingqiu behind closed doors.

The murmurs in the courtyard hadn't died down when Yan Bugui, head bowed, followed closely behind Director Hong, his back hunched, looking just like a primary school student being scolded by his teacher back in the day.

Director Hong cleared his throat and said in a loud voice, "Today's incident, considering it's his first offense, will not be investigated further. But it must serve as a warning—speculation and profiteering are undermining socialism! Everyone must not follow Yan Bugui's example! Tomorrow I will personally go to the school to make him give a self-criticism in front of the entire school! Alright, everyone disperse. Those who need to go to work, go to work. Don't crowd around here watching the spectacle!"

He Yuzhu pushed his bicycle, and Lou Xiao'e carried a cloth bag. The two walked side by side, chatting as they went.

Lou Xiao'e tilted her head and asked, "Do you think Second Uncle will get kicked out of school by the principal tomorrow?"

He Yuzhu shook his head: "It won't be that bad. At most, I'll clean toilets for three months; consider it a mental exercise."

Lou Xiao'e sighed, "He's the same. Wouldn't it be better to just catch a couple of fish himself, steam, boil, or stew them? Why does he have to sell them for money?"

He Yuzhu rubbed his chin: "I'm afraid the food stamps aren't enough, so they're trying to get subsidies to supplement their food rations."

The two talked as they turned the corner of the alley and arrived at the factory gate.

When Yang Chengyi returned from selling wine at noon, he saw a crowd gathered in the front yard from afar. His heart skipped a beat, but thankfully they weren't there for him.

But then I thought about it again, and something seemed off—had the person who bought the fish lost their mind? Reporting themselves?

Yan Bugui is selling fish, it's not like it's the first time, why doesn't he know to avoid people?

There's a high chance they've been "marked" and are being watched closely.

From now on, we need to be careful not only inside the courtyard, but also outside.

Although they didn't touch him this time, those twenty-five catties of liquor were worth a full ten yuan!

He earned fifteen yuan in eight days, much more than the salary his father had painstakingly secured for a permanent job. He made two mao (0.2 yuan) per jin (500g) of liquor, selling a steady twenty jin a day with ease; his fourteen regular customers were always there, buying twenty jin without fail, earning him ten yuan. Once he had some money, he planned to stock up on a few more jin and visit four or five more individual customers, hoping to earn a few more mao (0.05 yuan) each time.

Yang Chunfa just started junior high school this year. At the beginning of the year, he knelt in front of the workshop director, with his three children following behind him, and patted his chest, promising that he would work hard and never slack off. The director saw that he had indeed transformed himself in the past year, and considering that his two children were young and his family was really struggling, he finally agreed to give him a permanent position.

Years ago, Yang Chunfa was notorious for his inconsistent work ethic; getting drunk and acting arrogantly at the factory was a common occurrence. If it weren't for his father's close relationship with the deputy factory director, and the deputy director's constant cover-ups for him, based on those misdeeds alone—he would have been fired long ago, let alone given a permanent position.

Yan Bugui's shoulders slumped as soon as he stepped into the courtyard, his eyes reddened, his throat choked, and he could barely speak—this time he was truly stuck in a quagmire from which he couldn't get up. He would have to make a public apology at the school assembly tomorrow morning; his face would have been thrown into the stinking ditch of Wuligou, soaked until it was soft and rotten, and there would be no way to retrieve it.

The second aunt clutched the corner of her apron, her voice trembling, "Husband, what should we do now?"

Yan Bugui slumped on the stool, his hands trembling: "You're asking me? I almost broke my belt, and I was even worried the principal would tear up my transfer order on the spot!"

The house suddenly became so quiet you could hear the paint peeling off the walls. Auntie Er hadn't even lit the stove; the pot was cold, the stove was deserted—who would have the heart to cook?

Liu Haizhong didn't even bother going under the big locust tree today. As soon as he entered the yard, he slammed the door and smashed the cabinets. Enamel mugs and basins flew out, making a clattering noise. An old woman huddled at the doorway of the main room, not daring to even breathe loudly, let alone ask what had happened.

He simply couldn't swallow this insult—a level-five fitter, a primary school graduate, and had worked in the workshop for over a decade, how could he not catch the director's eye? He took half a day off, squatted in the yard, and drank heavily in silence, churning his grievances with the alcohol. The more he drank, the more frustrated he became, and the more frustrated he became, the more he wanted to smash things.

As soon as Xu Damao arrived at work in the afternoon, he went straight to the third workshop and chatted with the workshop director until the bell was about to ring before getting up. No one heard what the two whispered about; all that was noticed was that he had a very high smile on his face when he left.

After work, he accompanied the director to the state-run restaurant, where they ordered two bottles of Red Star Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor). Once their glasses clinked, they started talking non-stop. They chatted intimately and happily, like long-lost brothers reunited.

As He Yuzhu and Lou Xiao'e stepped into the courtyard, their eyes swept over the Yan family's house—the door was tightly shut, the chimney was as cold as an iron rod, and not a wisp of smoke was coming out. This incident was probably a blow to Second Uncle that was heavier than being hit on the head with a club.