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

Yan Jiecheng had been wanting to see Yu Li, but he just couldn't bear to spend money on anything. He had saved up almost a hundred yuan, but he didn't want to spend a single penny. Now, seeing this piece of salted meat, he felt a surge of joy, as if God had specially prepared it for him.

"Get lost, don't go looking for trouble!"

Yan Jiefang was furious with these two. They actually thought they could come here and take advantage of him?

"Liberation, that's a very harsh thing to say..."

Yan Bugui still wanted to act like a father and at least get a free meal.

"Let me just say it again, forget about the five yuan a month."

Yan Jiefang grabbed Yan Bugui by the groin.

"Uh, this...this...it's settled, let's go back."

Yan Bugui was perfectly clear-headed and turned to leave.

Across the street, Liu Haizhong was already drinking at the door. Zhang Cuihua had already prepared the food. Liu Guangfu, as usual, ate cornbread and ate corn porridge with some pickled vegetables, which was his meal. He only took a small bite of the plate of stir-fried green peppers and potatoes.

Liu Haizhong and Liu Guangqi were eating scrambled eggs and deep-fried silkworm pupae, along with some loose liquor—it was incredibly satisfying.

Liu Guangfu finished his meal in a daze, then stood up and left without a word.

"Where are you going again, kid? Why didn't you go cicada catching today?"

Liu Haizhong complained, "Isn't there enough room for you in this house?"

"They've almost all been caught."

Liu Guangfu replied in a muffled voice.

"Then you go catch fish tomorrow. I refuse to believe that you can't even catch a fish in the ditch."

Liu Haizhong's fleshy face twitched. "I'm treating everyone to dinner tomorrow. Bring back a few fish; that'll count as a dish."

Liu Guangfu gritted his teeth and replied, "Okay, I'll go look for a place tomorrow morning."

Liu Da Nao was muttering to Liu Haizhong, "That Liu Guangtian has gotten his hands on some good stuff again, but he doesn't even bother to send some home."

"Forget it, just pretend I never had this son."

Liu Haizhong tilted his head back and downed a glass of wine.

"Hey, why is Li Weidong messing around with those screws? They look like he wants to eat them."

Liu Da Nao asked, shaking his big head.

"Never mind him. Let's keep drinking... Hey, Officer Zhang!"

Liu Haizhong saw a young man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old leading a man with a watermelon-shaped haircut into the backyard. The man with the watermelon-shaped haircut was carrying two rolls of luggage.

"Officer Zhang, what's going on here?"

Liu Haizhong quickly went to greet him.

Officer Zhang roared, "That side room assigned to Cui Dake, it's piled full of stuff? Who put it there?"

He completely ignored Liu Haizhong. What's a team leader anyway!

Liu Haizhong quickly replied, "We put some in our house, Old Zhao, your house has some too, right?"

This side room is next to Old Zhao's house on the south side. It's only about sixteen or seventeen square meters, but it's much better than living in a dormitory.

Old Zhao looked displeased: "Fine, fine, I'll move out now."

Both Liu Haizhong's and Old Zhao's families coveted this small side room, but their applications were never approved. So they simply stuffed some odds and ends inside.

"Clean this up right now! This house isn't yours. Who gave you permission to pile things up like this? You're all pretty capable, aren't you?"

Officer Zhang had a stern face and spoke in a very harsh tone.

Liu Haizhong shouted anxiously, "Guangqi, come and lend a hand! Liu Guangfu, where the hell have you been?"

He's busy climbing the corporate ladder, so he can't afford to leave a bad impression on his boss over something so trivial.

As Zhang looked up, he saw Li Weidong busy in his own corridor. He quickly jogged over.

"Hello, Chief Engineer Li!"

Officer Zhang greeted them with a bow and scrape.

Li Weidong casually asked, "Xiao Zhang, why did you give this small house to Cui Dake?"

"Yes, it was ordered by our section chief."

Xiao Zhang quickly replied. He was quick-witted and immediately realized that Li Weidong didn't like this matter.

"Okay, I understand. You can go ahead and get back to work."

Li Weidong nodded.

When Cui Dake saw that Li Weidong also lived in this courtyard, his face fell. He cursed inwardly, "Damn it, I shouldn't have given Section Chief Yang that fifty yuan."

Section Chief Yang is the head of the Housing Management Section.

Cui Dake still had some savings; he had dug up gold bars in the countryside before. Otherwise, how could a farmer like him suddenly become a worker? Sending a pig to the branch factory alone wouldn't be enough.

He still has three large yellow croakers and five small yellow croakers hidden in his luggage.

In no time, the small room was tidied up. Inside was a bed, a table, and two stools; it would do for tonight.

Xu Damao pushed the wheelchair over: "Cui Dake, what are you doing here? Got a house allocated to you?"

They met at the factory, and they could tell from each other's scent that they were kindred spirits.

Cui Dake said with a smile, "Yeah, Lao Xu, you live right across the street? Shall we have a drink? I just bought some pig's head meat, a box of braised pork, and a bottle of Erguotou."

"Sure, I'll have a couple of drinks with you then."

Xu Damao hadn't had a drink for days and was itching to get some. "I'm going back to get some steamed buns and open a can of food."

He returned to his front door and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Mom, bring out my jar of canned yellow peaches and give me four steamed buns!"

Tian Guifen came out of the house carrying a bowl, her face full of worry, muttering, "You still have the leisure to drink? Your father went out to show movies, and we haven't heard a word from him yet."

"He's been in this line of work for so many years, what could possibly happen to him?"

Xu Damao took the things and turned back. Cui Dake had already set up a small table at the door and was pouring wine into glasses, so the two of them sat down together and started drinking.

At this moment, Lin Yurou came out of the main room, and Li Weidong had just put down the screwdriver in his hand. He had already cut all the wire clips and handed over the cooking to He Yushui.

Lin Yurou carried the basin of snails to the kitchen, with Xiao Xi following closely behind, trying to get closer.

Cui Dake looked up and his eyes immediately went blank.

Xu Damao grinned at his expression and said, "How about it? Pretty, right? That's Li Weidong's sister."

He lowered his voice, his eyes darting around, and that wicked thought resurfaced: "Once you get her, you'll be untouchable in this steel mill area."

"That's interesting."

Cui Dake snapped out of his daze and muttered, "Then I'll have to think about it carefully."

He dared to have this idea not because he lacked confidence. First, he came from a poor peasant family and was a legitimate worker; second, the few large and small yellow croakers in his pocket gave him a strong backbone.

Cui Dake had already planned to go to the street tomorrow to buy some good fabric, a couple of sets of clothes, and give them to Lin Yurou. He had clearly seen that the girl's clothes were patched upon patched, and it seemed that Li Weidong, as her older brother, hadn't really taken care of her.

"Damn it, you stole Ding Qiunan, so I'll kidnap your sister. Then you'll be my brother-in-law, and we'll see how you treat me then."

On Cui Dake's rough face, the smile stretched crookedly.

Xu Damao drank with his head down, secretly chuckling to himself. He knew that if Cui Dake made a move, he'd surely suffer a crushing defeat. But so what? It had nothing to do with him, Xu Damao.

Liu Haizhong watched from his doorstep, his eyes blazing with fury. This Cui Dake was just an ordinary worker in the workshop. Inviting someone to dinner, he actually invited Xu Damao but not him; he clearly didn't respect him, the team leader.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He slammed his chopsticks on the table, stood up, and came over.

"Cui Dake, do you even know who I am?"

Liu Haizhong stood with his hands behind his back, chin raised, and nostrils pointing at Cui Dake.

"Who are you? What do you have to do with me?"

Cui Dake glanced at him, knowing perfectly well that this guy was here to cause trouble. Since he arrived, there's been nowhere to put Liu Haizhong's pile of junk, and it's still blocking the doorway.

"I'm the team leader! The team leader of Team 3 in Workshop 1 of the forging workshop!"

Liu Haizhong's voice suddenly rose, "What do you mean by that! Stand up and speak! Don't you have any manners?"

"Wow, I thought you were the workshop foreman. You think you're so capable."

Cui Dake spat beside him, "So you're just a team leader. Even if you're the workshop foreman and I'm just a fitter, you can't control me. What are you trying to prove here? What a piece of trash."

"Isn't being a team leader a bit too low a rank?"

Liu Haizhong's old face turned red with anger. The status and position he valued most were completely disregarded by the other party, which completely broke his defenses.

"Fine, you just wait and see, I'm not done with you!"

Liu Haizhong gritted his teeth and roared, "You wait, I'll go to your workplace and talk to the boss tomorrow!"

Cui Dake waved his hand dismissively and said, "Sure, but you'd better hurry up and not delay."

Liu Haizhong nearly fainted and staggered as he walked away.

Xu Damao, standing to the side, curled his lip and said, "Look at him, just a careerist. He's always thinking about climbing the ladder, doesn't he realize he's almost retired? What kind of pipe dream is he having?"

Just then, an indescribable aroma wafted from Li Weidong's kitchen.

The smell was so strong it went straight into your nose, making your mouth water.

Li Weidong was stir-frying snails in a pot, adding fermented bean paste and some hot pot base from later generations. The combination of these two ingredients created an absolutely amazing aroma.

Banggeng was munching on a white steamed bun, with fried tofu and a bowl of lard soup in front of him. But as soon as the aroma wafted over, he couldn't swallow the bun in his hand.

Qin Huairu's family sat around the table eating. Only Jia Zhangshi and Banggeng got to eat white flour steamed buns, while Qin Huairu and her two daughters ate cornmeal steamed buns.

Cornmeal steamed buns are fermented, making them fluffy and soft. They are completely different from unfermented cornbread.

Unfermented steamed buns are firm and filling, saving on food.

Xiao Dang and Huaihua ate cornbread buns with vegetable soup, without even touching the stir-fried tofu, stuffing them into their mouths in big bites.

"Bang Geng, if you don't want to eat it, there's nothing I can do."

Qin Huairu sighed and said, "Our family's meals are already considered good compared to others in the neighborhood."

"Mom, I'm going to go see what they're doing."

Bang Geng became much more obedient because he discovered that his biggest backer, Jia Zhangshi, was completely controlled by Qin Huairu.

Madam Jia Zhang was deflated. She glanced at Qin Huairu and said to Banggeng, "Then let's go together, mother and daughter. We won't go to that little brat for food, we'll just see what he's made."

Qin Huairu was exhausted and ignored them, focusing on eating. She still had to study after finishing her meal, otherwise it would be troublesome to take the vocational exam later.

Jia Zhangshi and Banggeng, like two big rats, quietly slipped into the backyard.

At this moment, Lin Yurou carried a large plate of stir-fried snails to the door of the main room, and the aroma became even stronger.

"Grandma, it's snails! They're eating snails!"

Banggeng's eyes, mostly black with little white, stared wide-eyed.

"Oh, it's just snails. These things aren't worth much."