Courtyard Houses: The Great Masters of a Nation Hidden Within

Gao Jianguo reached into his pocket, pulled out more than a dozen White Rabbit milk candies, and handed them to Xiao Fang.

"Here you go, Xiaofang, take this, it's sweet."

Xiao Fang's face was full of longing, but she didn't reach out her hand. She turned her head to look at Wan Yueying.

Wan Yueying laughed.

"It's alright, take it and eat it. From now on, just accept anything your Uncle Gao gives you."

She turned her head and spoke to Gao Jianguo.

"You really spoil the kid; this kind of thing is hard to deal with these days."

Gao Jianguo smiled.

"It's alright, I actually have some connections in these kinds of things. I'm not married or have children right now, so if I don't care about Xiaofang, who do you think I should care about?"

Wang Tiezhu burst out laughing.

"That's true. Your sister-in-law is a primary school teacher. We can ask her to find you a partner at the school, then you'll have someone of your own."

Wan Yueying nodded in agreement.

Gao Jianguo didn't mince words.

"Then I'll thank you in advance, sister-in-law."

Wan Yueying turned and walked towards the stove.

"You two keep chatting, I'll go get the food. Xiaofang, come give me a hand."

The remaining two men chatted about the old days amidst the sounds of Wan Yueying chopping vegetables and mincing meat.

Wan Yueying was very quick and efficient; in less than half an hour, three dishes and a soup were on the table, including both meat and vegetables.

In this day and age, dual-income households with regular jobs generally live a pretty good life.

Gao Jianguo took out a bottle of Moutai in an earthenware jar from his satchel and placed it on the table.

"Let's drink this today."

Wang Tiezhu's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Old platoon leader, are you tired of this? You can make all the good stuff here."

"Doing this every day can't go on, and I don't have much of this stuff anyway. But today's special, right? Come on, fill it up."

The three of them, along with Xiaofang, enjoyed their meal and drinks, having a very pleasant time.

After eating and chatting to their hearts' content, Gao Jianguo left the compound amidst the pleas of Wang Tiezhu's family to stay, and walked happily toward No. 95 Nanluoguxiang.

Xiao Fang's sweet, childlike voice came from behind.

"Uncle Gao, you must come visit Xiaofang often."

Upon arriving at the courtyard house, Gao Jianguo took the key from his third uncle, went back to his room, and spread out his bedding.

Still feeling the effects of the alcohol, I fell asleep.

The first night after moving into the courtyard house was a bit quiet inside, but I felt comfortable.

The next day, Friday, around six o'clock in the morning, just as dawn was breaking, Gao Jianguo woke up.

He first sneaked into another side room and unleashed a series of punches.

This style of boxing isn't some kind of qigong secret technique; it's just a set of Bajiquan that I learned from a soldier from Cangzhou in my platoon back when I was in the army.

From the day he learned to fight, Gao Jianguo never stopped, treating it as a way to toughen up his body.

Coupled with his enhanced physique, he has become quite a formidable fighter over the years, displaying impressive skill and prowess.

After finishing his boxing routine, Gao Jianguo turned on the stove to boil water, then brushed his teeth and washed his face.

The coal ball was the same one that opened its mouth to the third uncle when it got the keys yesterday.

Uncle San wasn't worried at all that this college student, who was so quick to get things done and so generous with his money, would end up being a waste of his money.

After tidying up, Gao Jianguo produced a carton of milk and two loaves of bread, making do with breakfast.

When he went to the factory to report for duty the first day, he took two days off, saying it was to handle the household registration matter.

Unexpectedly, they ran into Wang Tiezhu, and things went smoothly. Most of the work that was originally planned to be done on Friday and Saturday was finished on Thursday afternoon.

With the remaining two days, he would have time to prepare the daily necessities such as firewood, rice, oil, and salt.

If he keeps withdrawing money from the system every day, the neighbors will stop seeing him buying things and only seeing him bringing them home. In less than half a month, a letter of complaint will be handed to Wang Tiezhu.

Seeing Wang Tiezhu was a happy thing, but Gao Jianguo was not happy about going to see him for this reason.

After tidying up, Gao Jianguo began to think about the first important thing he needed to do today.

First, figure out how to use the wingman.

This courtyard house truly produces talented people.

In his past life, when he was watching TV dramas, there were a ton of characters with names and surnames.

Sha Zhu, the invincible war god who has defeated everyone in the entire academy.

A master thief who never leaves empty-handed, a legendary figure.

The succubus who can bewitch people completely, Qin Huairu.

Xu Damao, a wandering poet who travels around showing films.

Jia Zhangshi is a necromancer who can bring her deceased mother-in-law back at any time.

An old man, a sabotaged experimental subject who traded his fertility for a level-eight fitter's skill.

The Third Uncle is a goblin merchant who's incredibly stingy but can still squeeze every last drop of profit from a penny-pincher.

But when it comes to playing support and getting assists, no one can compare to the one in the backyard.

The courtyard's top wingman, the deaf old lady.

The old lady had lived for seventy or eighty years; she had more experience than most people. Given her age, she held a moral high ground, and no one in the courtyard dared to challenge her.

The key point is, she really did it.

In the original series, this old lady was the only one who never held Sha Zhu back and helped him a lot.

What did the old lady want? Just some good food and a sense of comfort.

She's already this old, and Gao Jianguo feels heartbroken just thinking about it.

The first person I had to get on board was this old lady.

To be honest, in Gao Jianguo's mindset, which hasn't yet been hardened by society, this old lady is not associated with the word "bad" at all.

On the contrary, he still has a bit of the childlike energy of an old man.

Targeting this old lady for no reason will not only bring you no benefit, but will also likely backfire.

Furthermore, Gao Jianguo believed the old deaf woman had once delivered shoes to the army.

In the drama, the deaf old woman mentioned to Lou Xiao'e that Xiao'e's father had secretly given money to the 18th Group Army back then.

Even Lou Xiao'e herself didn't know about this.

The deaf old woman who knew this background must have been more than just an ordinary, lonely old woman back then.

As a great man once said, make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible.

With these words leading the way, how could Gao Jianguo possibly go wrong by following them?

The fact that one is a descendant of a martyr and that of the deaf old woman gives them an inherent advantage.

Besides, this old lady is really good to her own people.

In his previous life, he had also seen people gossiping, saying that the deaf old woman was not a good person, saying that she locked Lou Xiao'e and Sha Zhu in a room without asking whether Lou Xiao'e was willing or not.

If you really think about it, if you actually managed to get out of that dilapidated house, that lock would be nothing more than decoration.

Why didn't the two of them come out? You'll have to ask them yourself.

As Gao Jianguo thought about these things, he took out two jin of high-gluten flour and one jin of white flour, grabbed them, and went out the door.

They passed through the main courtyard where the old man, Sha Zhu, and the Jia family lived, and headed towards the back.

The main house in the backyard was where the deaf old woman lived.

The door is closed.

Gao Jianguo walked up and gently knocked twice.

Which one?

A voice came from inside, old and hoarse, and footsteps dragged along the ground as they slowly made their way to the door.

The door creaked open, and the old lady poked half her head out, her eyes scrutinizing her.

Gao Jianguo laughed before he could even speak, his voice quite loud.

"Grandma, my name is Gao Jianguo. I was just assigned here from the steel rolling mill. The factory settled me in the front yard, and I only moved in yesterday. Hearing that you, my pillar of strength, were here, the first thing I did was come to meet you."

The deaf old woman heard clearly, and the wary look on her face relaxed a lot. She moved aside.

"Wow, the God of Literature has come to see this old woman! Come in, come in and sit down."