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

Xu Damao's eyes were practically bleeding. He used to be the most comfortable person in the whole hospital, but who knew that in the blink of an eye, he himself would become a cripple.

Xu Damao finally saw the truth—the root of all these problems was Li Weidong's behind-the-scenes machinations.

Even the matter of Lou Xiao'e divorcing him was inseparable from that guy's involvement.

"Damn, that son of a bitch eats fish and meat every day, and when he can't finish it all, he gives it away to other people."

Xu Damao cursed inwardly, "I have over five thousand yuan in my pocket, but I don't even dare to spend it recklessly."

He also planned to find another woman to settle down with, as he would need money for many things in the future. As for work, Xu Damao wasn't too worried.

"Last time I gave Li Huaide a big yellow croaker, and he didn't get anything done for me. He should at least help me keep my job as a projectionist, right?"

"Li Weidong, you just wait, I refuse to believe I won't get a chance to deal with you!"

Yan Jiefang took the large fish from Li Weidong and deftly began cleaning it with a knife. On the small table beside him were pork, tofu, green peppers, potatoes, and bok choy.

Yan Jiecheng approached at this moment, still wanting to borrow Yan Jiefang's bicycle. It was almost dinnertime, and he needed to ride out to find Yu Li.

Upon seeing the table piled high with delicious dishes, Yan Jiecheng's mouth watered.

Yi Zhonghai's banquet was indeed lavish, but there were too many people. Each person only had one chopstickful of meat and vegetables before the dishes were gone... Besides, he wouldn't even get a seat.

"Second brother, can I borrow the car for a bit? I'll return it to you when I get back."

Yan Jiecheng spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Yan Jiecheng, haven't you figured it out yet? We separated a long time ago!"

Yan Jiefang sneered, "My things, I won't lend them. Get lost!"

"Then I'll pay for the rent, okay? Here's a dime!"

Yan Jiecheng gritted his teeth and went all in. For Yu Li's sake, he was willing to pay even a penny.

"Get lost! I don't care about your worthless penny!"

Yan Jiefang was amused and laughed.

Today, Li Weidong gave him two hundred yuan. He spent over one hundred and fifty yuan on that Forever 28-inch motorcycle, and he still had forty-odd yuan left. Adding what he had saved before, he had a total of over fifty yuan.

Yan Jiefang and Xiao Juan have already discussed it and decided to get married before the new year. With a few months' salary, they'll have more than enough money for a decent wedding. Besides, they already own bicycles.

Yan Jiecheng was so angry that his face turned green. Under the mocking gazes of Yan Jiefang and Liu Guangtian, he turned and left.

But as soon as he turned around, he saw his beloved goddess, Yu Li, standing there.

Yan Jiecheng thought he was seeing things, so he quickly rubbed his eyes and looked again. This time he saw clearly—it really was Yu Li, he wasn't dreaming.

"Yu Li, you came to see me? That's great! I knew it was us..."

Yan Jiecheng was so excited that he could hardly speak.

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

Yu Li's face darkened. "We only went on one blind date, and then we bumped into each other again. I'm not interested in you, is that clear?"

"If you bother me again, I'll call the police."

Yan Jiecheng stood there, stunned, unable to understand why people nowadays would so readily resort to calling the police.

"If you didn't come here for me, what are you doing here?"

"Get lost!"

Yu Li walked straight ahead and immediately saw Li Weidong standing in the corridor.

Yu Li was followed closely by a girl of about fifteen or sixteen, pushing a slightly worn bicycle.

"Hello, Section Chief Li!"

Yu Li greeted him politely on the surface, but her big eyes were full of tenderness.

"Brother Dong, who is this?"

Lin Yurou led Xiaoxi out. As soon as she saw Yu Li, Lin Yurou immediately became alert.

"This is my colleague Yu Li. Yu Li, please come in and have a seat. And this is?"

Li Weidong looked at the girl who was about fifteen or sixteen years old. He could roughly guess that this girl was quite eye-catching, but her figure was as flat as a washboard, and she must be Yu Haitang.

"My younger sister, Yu Haitang, came with me."

Yu Li was a little embarrassed.

"It's alright, it's alright, come in and have a seat."

Li Weidong said with a smile, "It's really hot today."

"I'll go get some herbal tea for my two older sisters!"

Xiao Xi pulled her hand away from Lin Yurou's. "Brother, it's not that I wanted to drink it!"

"Brother Dong, please help the guests to sit down."

Lin Yurou adopted the demeanor of the lady of the house.

Yu Li and Yu Haitang sat down in the living room and looked around at the furnishings and furniture. They immediately felt that the room was truly exceptional.

Xiao Xi struggled to carry over a small tin bucket. The bucket contained herbal tea, which had originally been placed in a basin in the corner.

"Brother, here you go!"

Xiao Xi struggled to lift the small bucket onto the small table. "I'll go get the small bowl! Can I have a small bowl too?"

"You're too small, you can only have a sip. Your stomach won't be able to handle it if you drink too much."

Li Weidong was quite helpless. He had absolutely no way to deal with this adorable little guy.

"Hey, Haitang, what brings you here?"

He Yushui walked in carrying several small bowls and was pleasantly surprised to see Yu Haitang.

"I came with my sister."

Yu Haitang also stood up. "What are you doing here?"

"This is Dong Ge's house. I live here."

He Yushui said smugly, "You should try this herbal tea. I brewed it; it's really refreshing in the summer!"

He Yushui ladled a bowl of herbal tea for each of them. Seeing that Xiaoxi was holding her small bowl high, she could only ladle a spoonful for her.

Xiao Xi sat down to the side with her bowl, taking small sips slowly.

Yu Li put down her teacup and said, "Section Chief Li, our supply and marketing department has assigned me a task. We need to gather one hundred chickens and one thousand catties of pork."

She paused, then added, "The section chief said that if this matter is successfully handled, I will be promoted to team leader."

Li Weidong raised an eyebrow slightly after hearing this. He was just thinking about selling off the batch of meat he had to free up space in the system's warehouse. Now, this was a perfect opportunity.

"Okay, I'll help you make the contact."

Li Weidong said in a calm tone, "Let's not talk about anything else for now. Come to my office tomorrow when you come to work."

Yu Li nodded and got up to take Yu Haitang away.

"Since you're all here, let's talk after dinner."

Li Weidong called out, "I'll have Yushui cook a couple more dishes."

In the kitchen, He Yushui was steaming rice. Lin Yurou was squatting in front of the stove adding firewood, and the seafood in the pot was steaming.

Li Weidong pushed open the door and went in: "Rainwater, stir-fry the beef tongue in half. Open one can of beef and one can of pig's head. Cut a plate of braised eggs, and cook a braised crucian carp with scallions."

"Okay, Dong-ge."

He Yushui responded crisply.

Lin Yurou was a little reluctant: "Brother Dong, are you going to such lengths to entertain them?"

"It's okay, Yu Li can help me make money."

Li Weidong said something.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yurou's slight displeasure immediately vanished.

Yan Jiefang returned to the central courtyard in a huff. Three large tables of food and drink had already been set up in the courtyard, with eight cold dishes on each round table.

Of the eight dishes, only two contained meat: a pig's ear and a plate of braised crucian carp. The rest were all things like smashed cucumber, cold tofu salad, and cold eggplant salad. There were also two bottles of loose liquor on the table, enough for Yi Zhonghai.

Anyway, it's cheap stuff.

However, Sha Zhu's cooking skills are not bad; his cold dishes are quite popular.

Yi Zhonghai was inviting his relatives and neighbors to sit down. At his table sat himself, the deaf old woman, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui, and the rest were Yu Mei's relatives—six or seven Manchus, each with their heads held high and looking very proud.

Yan Bugui thought to himself, "They're all washed up, yet they act all high and mighty. Judging by their attitude, they probably won't even be able to afford cornbread anymore."

His thinking wasn't without reason. Those Manchus looked arrogant, but their eyes kept glancing at the table, and they were practically drooling.

Yi Zhonghai, of course, knew the true nature of these relatives. They were the kind of people who were obsessed with saving face and suffered for it. They had been quite generous when they delivered birthday gifts earlier, with jade pendants and silver nuggets.

I don't know where I got it from.

When the Qing Dynasty fell, these people were already teenagers. Later, Yuan Shikai treated them well and they weren't purged. They had some money left over and continued to live a life of extravagance.

As time went on, things changed drastically.

Especially after the country changed its rules, ordinary people became masters of their own destiny. Those who couldn't lift a finger, couldn't do any work, and only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun all day long lived a miserable life.

"Come on, everyone, fill your cups!"

Yi Zhonghai stood up, holding a wine glass, a smile plastered on his face.

"Today is my little birthday. I just want to have a good time with everyone."

A roar of cheers erupted from below, and the banquet began.

Sha Zhu was busy at the stove, bringing out dishes one after another. They were just things like stir-fried vegetables with pork cracklings and shrimp and tofu.

The four meat dishes should be served in turn; they cannot all be brought out at once.

This time, we're serving braised pork belly.

Each table was given only a small bowl, and each person could only get one piece at most.

The meat was gone in the blink of an eye as soon as it was served.

Yan Bugui was a cunning man. Before anyone could react, he stuffed the meat into his mouth and then snatched the empty bowl containing the meat to his own side.

There was still some broth left at the bottom of the bowl. It was a bit salty, but it was still flavorful and delicious. He thought about adding some water and stirring it up, and then it would be a bowl of meat broth.

With meat in his mouth, he was about to get up to pour water when the bowl was snatched from his hand.

The man who snatched the bowl was a man in his fifties with hair that almost reached his shoulders. He was quite conspicuous and had a long beard on his chin.

"What are you doing? This bowl is mine!"

Yan Bugui got anxious and raised his voice.

"Yours or mine? Whoever puts it in their mouth owns it!"

With her long hair tilted her head back and gulped down the soup at the bottom of the bowl.

"Wow, this is incredibly salty! They're going to turn me into a dried bat!"

As he spoke, he downed three glasses of wine in a row, wiped the grease off his beard, and contentedly picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of tofu, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Yan Bugui felt incredibly frustrated.

A perfectly good bowl of meat soup, and someone just snatched it away.

In his haste, he couldn't help but cry out, and the piece of braised pork he had been holding in his mouth for so long, reluctant to swallow, fell to the ground without him noticing.

Actually, the dishes on every table were pretty much the same, and they were all devoured as soon as they were served. Whether it was a cold dish or a hot dish, there was never any left over.

Yi Zhonghai specially picked up three pieces of meat for the deaf old lady and placed them in the small bowl in front of her.

Yan Bugui noticed this scene.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt he had lost out, and he had to make up for it somehow.

"What's wrong, Yan Bugui? You're eyeing the meat in my bowl now?"

The deaf old woman held her chin up, looking incredibly arrogant. She still thought of herself as the matriarch of this courtyard house.