Courtyard House: In this life, I have a new home!

Qin Huairu gritted her teeth: "We have to think of a way to ruin this."

Although Sha Zhu can no longer bring vegetables from the factory, he can still earn money by taking on side jobs. He can earn at least a few yuan and a few boxes of meat and vegetables every time he goes out.

Madam Jia said fiercely, "That's right! You'd better think of something right now. He can forget about getting married! The baby isn't even fully grown yet, and he wants to start a family? No way!"

While working, Li Weidong asked Yan Jiefang, "How's your relationship going?"

Yan Jiefang's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement: "It's all settled! I took her home yesterday and ran into her parents. I immediately made an appointment with Xiaojuan, and we agreed to go out together tomorrow."

"Okay, hurry up."

Li Weidong smiled and said, "Whether you're rich or poor, getting a wife is the best way to celebrate the New Year."

"It's still a long way from the Chinese New Year. I should be able to save up enough salary for a few months."

Yan Jiefang pondered, "I'll add those things later, I really can't afford them now."

"Once you get married, I'll help you get your wife a job at the factory too."

Li Weidong patted him on the shoulder, "Keep it up."

"Brother Li, thank you so much!"

Yan Jiefang was incredibly excited. With this condition, Xiao Juan was definitely going to be with him.

The two were busy when Li Huaide entered the yard carrying a small bag.

Liu Haizhong, who was sitting at the door enjoying the cool air, suddenly jumped up and rushed over, pushing Yi Zhonghai, who was following Li Huaide, aside.

"Deputy Factory Director Li, are you looking for Chief Engineer Li? He's doing some carpentry work!"

His face was beaming with smiles.

Yi Zhonghai was furious, but he couldn't do anything to Liu Haizhong. In the past, he would have taught Liu Haizhong a lesson long ago.

Li Weidong put down his work and said with a smile, "Director Li, please come in and have a seat. Xiaorou, make two cups of tea."

He led Li Huaide into the living room. The electric fan overhead was whirring.

Before entering the house, Li Huaide turned around and glared fiercely at Liu Haizhong, cursing in his heart: "I'm the deputy factory director, do I need you to remind me every day?"

Liu Haizhong was bewildered by the glare, wondering what he had done to offend Li Huaide. Had he made a mistake in his approach?

He scratched his head and went home.

Yi Zhonghai could only shake his head and leave. He wanted to curry favor with Li Huaide, as the assessment was next Monday. Although he was somewhat confident, he was afraid that Li Weidong would cause trouble.

If we could get on Li Huaide's good side, things would be much easier.

Li Huaide handed the small package to Li Weidong: "All ten are here. See how many pills you can get? If you're still short, keep looking over there."

"That's enough. We can get at least a hundred."

Li Weidong smiled.

That's not enough.

Li Huaide chuckled and said, "I'll get you another hundred over there. Your tea is really good. I didn't know Chief Engineer Li could also do carpentry."

"It's always good to have more skills, so you don't starve to death one day."

Li Weidong said with a smile, "Come earlier, I still have some good food here."

"I can smell it, it smells like seafood."

Li Huaide sniffed. "But this stuff is easy to get; it's very convenient to transport it from Tianjin."

"I'll bring you some ribbonfish or something later."

Li Weidong waved his hand: "Don't be so polite, I have my own connections."

"Hey, you helped the factory deal with that thing last time."

Li Huaide lowered his voice: "Can you get any beef or mutton?"

"The workers' canteen can't afford that stuff. They'd be lucky to get pork."

Li Weidong smiled.

"For entertaining guests."

Li Huaide explained, "We're constantly welcoming and seeing off guests, and we don't have enough meat. We can't keep using our powerful connections for such trivial matters."

"One cow, one sheep, one donkey—let's test the waters?"

Li Weidong wanted to test the waters.

The system warehouse is overflowing with stuff, it's just sitting there unused. Why not cash it out and stock up on gold bars and antiques?

"Great! That's awesome! They can even get donkey meat!"

Li Huaide slapped his thigh: "I'll settle the bill with the market price."

"When will you arrive?"

Li Huaide didn't even ask about the source of the goods.

"Tuesday, I'll drive there to pick it up. Just get the truck ready."

"No problem, it's settled then. I won't keep you from getting back to work."

Li Huaide got up to take his leave.

Liu Haizhong returned home and began to ponder. His large head, with its walnut-sized brain, made thinking difficult.

"Old man, what are you worried about?"

Zhang Cuihua came closer.

"What else could it be? Why did Deputy Factory Director Li give me the cold shoulder just now?"

He touched his round belly in his bangs.

"It's normal for the factory manager to glare at you when you barge in so recklessly."

Zhang Cuihua pouted.

"That's right, we should remember this lesson from now on."

Liu Haizhong noted this down: "By the way, someone's treating me to drinks tomorrow at noon... Hehe, that's the perk of being an official!"

"You'd be truly capable if you could become a director."

Zhang Cuihua had a dreamy expression on her face.

"Yes, it will. It definitely will."

Liu Haizhong patted his chest and boasted, "Shan Dahai's skill level is even lower than mine. Once I get to know Director Li, I'll kick him out of there!"

The next day, Li Weidong got up very early to go fishing. He had made an appointment with Old Man Li.

"Brother Dong, come back early. Lao Qian and the others can finish work by noon."

Lin Yurou gave a word of advice.

It's only 5:30.

"Why get up so early? It's cool in the morning, sleep a little longer."

Li Weidong pinched Lin Yurou's cheek.

Lin Yurou was so frightened that she took a few steps back and pressed her back against the wall.

Seeing her face turn completely red, Li Weidong shook his head, smiled, and went out the door.

Last night, Lin Yurou and He Yushui slept in the east wing room. They plan to use it as a study in the future.

Xiao Xi insisted on sharing a bed with Li Weidong, pouting that this would only happen on Sundays. Right now, she was sprawled out in bed, sleeping like a little pig.

As soon as Li Weidong got up to leave, Lin Yurou blushed. She touched her cheek, wondering to herself, "Will Brother Dong be unhappy that I dodged just now?"

"Next time, no matter what he does, I definitely won't hide."

Lin Yurou secretly made up her mind.

Although Li Weidong's body was only in his early twenties, his soul was already over forty. He definitely had those kinds of thoughts, especially since he never lacked girlfriends when he was the executive chef at a five-star hotel.

They were all beautiful girls.

She was dreaming of being affectionate with someone when she suddenly woke up with a start. She got up and went to the yard to stretch her legs. Lin Yurou heard the noise and woke up as well.

Li Weidong was pushing the cart, thinking to himself, "System, sign in."

"Check-in complete. Host has received a batch of supplies."

"Obtain 10 jin of sildenafil citrate."

That was all, and there was no further movement. What this thing is, those who know will know, and Li Weidong certainly knew perfectly well.

These aren't ready-made pills; they're pure raw materials!

"Hey, this thing..."

Li Weidong was a little confused.

Yesterday, Li Huaide asked him to make some pills, and today he signed for this.

"Okay, I'll put it together when I get back tonight."

Li Weidong thought to himself, "Using this formula is much easier than preparing traditional Chinese medicine."

Just as I reached the front gate of the yard, I saw Yan Bugui pushing his well-worn bicycle out the door. He was carrying a fishing rod, clearly going fishing.

Yan Bugui's eyes lit up when he saw Li Weidong: "Master Li... Dr. Li, is that alright? I have something to tell you!"

Li Weidong pushed the cart away, and Yan Bugui hurriedly chased after him, shouting, "Give me some groundbait and bait, and we'll split the fish we catch in half, okay?"

"roll!"

Li Weidong uttered this single word, started the engine, twisted the throttle, and shot off.

Yan Bugui stood there, his face as black as the bottom of a pot, his heart seething with hatred.

"Damn it, that bastard is a real piece of trash, he doesn't give the neighbors any face at all!"

Yan Bugui cursed inwardly, "I gave you some bait and even shared half the fish with you, and you're still not happy about making a fortune. What a despicable person, unable to bear seeing his neighbor do well."

Yan Bugui's fishing has been going well these past two days. The weather is nice, and the fish are biting the hook.

Yesterday morning he caught a carp weighing over a pound and five large crucian carp, which he sold. The smaller whitebait, however, were taken by someone else.

Just as Li Weidong finished setting up his fishing gear, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw Old Man Li approaching with a smile.

"Hurry up, give me some of the bait."

The old man stretched out his hand, his tone anything but polite, "Today I'm bringing up a big one, it has to outshine you somehow."

Li Weidong smiled and wasn't in a hurry.

"Don't rush me, let me prepare a nest first."

He squatted down, took a small basin, stirred a bunch of bait, kneaded it into two large balls, and threw them out at the water's surface. The two balls landed in different places, splashing up a small patch of water.

Then he started mixing the bait.

Old Li stood to the side, rubbing his hands together, his eyes fixed on Li Weidong's movements, while his mouth never stopped: "You did a good job this time, kid. The higher-ups are planning to reward you. That thing you made is already being tested, and I heard the results are fantastic."

He paused for a moment, then his tone turned serious: "And that... grenade, if we had had one back in the day, I don't know how many more of our old brothers could have lived."

Li Weidong didn't reply, his hands continuing their work. After a few seconds, he finally spoke: "I'll make another design later. It's just that the materials... are a bit of a hassle, I'll have to start from scratch."

He had the complete blueprints for the Type 81 rifle in his mind, so drawing them wouldn't be a problem. But the steel for that rifle couldn't be just any piece of iron.

Upon hearing this, Old Man Li slapped his forehead: "I didn't think this through. I should have gotten you some real stuff to look at; at least the material samples and documents should be complete. I'll have someone prepare them on Monday and send them to you this afternoon."

He thought for a moment, then changed his mind: "No, let someone pack it up today and send it over on Monday."

Li Weidong nodded and casually broke off a large piece from the bait pile and handed it over.

"That's enough, that's enough."

Old Li waved his hand, "I'm just having a little fun, I have to leave soon."

He took the fishing rod and found a place to sit down.

Just then, Yan Bugui arrived, panting. He saw that Li Weidong and Old Man Li had already cast their lines and were pulling the lines and baiting the hooks back and forth with practiced ease.

He thought it over in his mind, then brazenly took a few steps toward Li Weidong and tried to stop and sit down when he was about two meters away.

Li Weidong looked up at him and immediately retorted with three sentences: "Yan Bugui, are you really shameless? Don't you know you should keep a five-meter distance? Who taught you that?"

Yan Bugui smiled apologetically: "Weidong, I'll be careful and I'll make sure the threads don't get tangled."

"roll."

One word, spoken with a tone as cold as ice.

Yan Bugui's face immediately fell, and he moved to the side, his face turning pale, retreating no more than four meters. He didn't want to go far, but the current rule was something everyone tacitly accepted, and he didn't have the face to defy it.