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

Everyone then turned around and saw Li Weidong standing behind them.

"Dongxu, let's go, let's go back and braise pig's head."

Yi Zhonghai's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He turned and left, carrying a pig's head weighing about ten pounds in his hand.

With a smile plastered on his face, Liu Haizhong wanted to lean in and say something. Yan Bugui spoke first: "Weidong, I knew you were destined for greatness! You bought such a big chicken, shouldn't you invite the three of us old men to celebrate?"

Li Weidong gave him a cold look: "I'm your grandpa! You stingy and wicked bastard, you think you can take advantage of me?"

After saying that, he pushed his bicycle and walked forward.

"Old Yan, you know Wei Dong hates people who act like elders, why do you have to provoke him?"

Liu Haizhong complained from behind.

"Tch, Lao Liu, it's too late for you to try and curry favor now."

Yan Bugui sneered, "He's the section chief, but that's the medical department. You're just a blacksmith; do you really expect him to promote you to doctor?"

"Pah! What do you know? Leaders should be respected."

Liu Haizhong walked home with her pregnant belly sticking out.

He was secretly eager to climb the corporate ladder. As someone obsessed with advancement, he would never let go of any opportunity to rise in rank. Liu Haizhong wondered if he could ask Li Weidong to put in a good word for him with the factory director, even if it was just to get him a small team leader position.

Li Weidong pushed the bike into the backyard without looking to the side. Just as he finished setting it up, Xiao Xi rushed out, followed by Lin Yurou and He Yushui.

"Brother, you bought so much fabric! I need to make new clothes!"

Xiao Xi jumped for joy.

Lin Yurou quickly reached out and took the two bolts of cloth, while He Yushui picked up the rooster and potatoes.

"Dong-ge, you bought so much fabric, just buy yourself a few clothes. Why did you buy chicken? We can't eat meat every day."

Lin Yurou looked distressed.

"Why can't we eat it every day?"

Li Weidong waved his hand confidently, "I have money!"

"But we need tickets. If we eat like this, the tickets will run out quickly. If we have to buy more food, that would cost a lot of money. It's not worth it for a meal."

Lin Yurou shook her head.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you get your share of the hostages."

Li Weidong rubbed his nose. "How about I think of something? Maybe we can go hunting or fishing."

"Anyway, you'll be getting plenty of meat from now on. Xiaoxi, how about eating chicken legs every day?"

Xiao Xi jumped up and down, shouting, "Yes, yes! I want to eat a big chicken leg!"

Li Weidong smiled and looked at Lin Yurou: "Look, it's settled then. We'll braise the chicken and potatoes together, and then cook rice with it."

"Brother Dong, what are you going to do with all this bamboo?"

He Yushui asked curiously.

"Get me a recliner, and make a bamboo bed for Xiaoxi."

Li Weidong laughed and said, "It must be so stuffy sleeping with the three of you all crammed together."

"Brother, are you really going to make me a bed?"

Xiao Xi's eyes lit up, and she jumped for joy, "You're so great!"

"Okay, now you can eat the canned food. I'll go open it for you."

Li Weidong patted Xiaoxi's head.

"One is enough..."

Lin Yurou wanted to save some money, but before she could finish speaking, Li Weidong had already deftly pried open four cans of yellow peaches.

The four of them sat at the table in the main room eating canned food, with the electric fan whirring and making it incredibly cool.

"It's delicious!"

Xiao Xi picked up a piece of yellow peach with a chopstick and ate it, getting juice all over her face.

"Brother Dong, you can also do bamboo weaving?"

He Yushui stared at Li Weidong curiously.

Lin Yurou watched from the side, feeling a strange pang of jealousy, even though the yellow peach in her mouth was sickeningly sweet.

"Of course, it's a basic skill in carpentry."

Li Weidong said, "You guys start cooking, I'll get right to it."

After saying that, he drank the soup in the can in one gulp, turned around and went into the bedroom, where he took out a saw and a cleaver.

Li Weidong pulled out two bamboo stalks from a large bundle of bamboo. He had dozens of these, perfect for making fishing rods.

Even in later generations, compared to fiberglass and carbon fiber rods, this bamboo fishing rod would still be considered a high-end product.

Exported to the United States, one can sell for one hundred US dollars.

Li Weidong quickly shaped the two bamboo poles, one about eight meters long and the other about five meters long, into the basic form of a fishing rod.

I'll buy some fishing line and hooks tomorrow, then I can use them.

These two bamboo stalks are several years old; they can withstand not only catching a 50-pound fish, but also any heavy fish.

Xiao Xi sat on a small stool in the corridor, holding a can of food, eating while watching her brother work.

The noise Li Weidong made while sawing bamboo attracted Liu Haizhong and his three sons. Seeing this, they knew Li Weidong was up to something.

"Weidong, you also know bamboo craftsmanship?"

Liu Haizhong stepped forward, his face beaming with smiles.

He glanced at the sharp bamboo knife beside him and was secretly amazed.

Since the person asked so politely, Li Weidong couldn't be rude, so he just gave a soft "hmm".

He let out a sound and continued his work. In no time, the entire bamboo stalk was sawed into several sections.

The deaf old lady also moved a stool and sat down to watch the excitement.

Lou Xiao'e also came over, looking puzzled: "Wei Dong, you didn't even use a ruler, you just sawed like that?"

"Da Mao's family, you don't understand. Wei Dong's skills are impeccable! Let alone handling bamboo, even repairing those small parts on an electric fan, he doesn't need a micrometer."

Liu Haizhong interjected,

"Wei Dong's craftsmanship is even better than that of an eighth-grade craftsman."

Liu Haizhong was a level seven blacksmith. When he saw Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu coming over, he deliberately spoke the last sentence very loudly, just to embarrass Yi Zhonghai.

As soon as they get off work, everyone is bored and gathers around to watch the slightest commotion.

Yi Zhonghai's face turned pale at Liu Haizhong's words, but he suppressed his anger and kept telling himself, "I'm here to get closer to Li Weidong, there's no need to argue with that old man."

Li Weidong pushed the saw across the bamboo a few times, quickly cutting small grooves. The bamboo bent gently, saving him the trouble of roasting it over a fire.

Before long, the frame of a reclining chair was erected. He then picked up a bamboo knife and began splitting bamboo strips, preparing to weave the chair seat.

Yan Bugui's eyes reddened as he watched. He had long wanted to get a bamboo recliner, but had always been reluctant to spend the money. Now, seeing how skillfully Li Weidong had crafted it, his interest immediately took off.

"Wei Dong, your cooking skills are really good."

Yi Zhonghai, all smiles, leaned closer: "If your father were still alive, seeing how successful you've become—"

Li Weidong didn't even look up, interrupting him directly: "Just say what you have to say. We're all old foxes, so stop pretending with those ghost stories."

Yi Zhonghai was speechless, his face turning purple. He understood perfectly well that Li Weidong had directly exposed his thoughts—don't try to fool anyone, and don't treat anyone like a fool.

"Rainwater? What are you doing here?"

Sha Zhu turned his head and saw He Yushui coming out of the kitchen.

He Yushui is only fifteen years old, but her cooking skills are quite good. She made that roast chicken.

Li Weidong has been here for almost two days and hasn't shown off his culinary skills yet. If this were in later times, he would be a proper executive chef.

"Brother, you just remembered you have a younger sister?"

He Yushui's smile was somewhat bitter.

"How old are you? Do I still have to coax you?"

Sha Zhu waved his hand dismissively: "Oh right, give me the old braising liquid, I'm going to braise a pig's head tonight. Don't take the spice packet."

These days, it's considered good if you have a bottle of soy sauce and vinegar at home. Where do you get spices? But braised pig's head without spices tastes drastically different.

Sha Zhu didn't go to work today, so he couldn't bring back any spices from the factory canteen. Besides, even if he could get some star anise and bay leaves, it wouldn't be as complete as what Li Weidong had.

Just by smelling the aroma of the braised food last night, Sha Zhu knew that there were at least twenty kinds of ingredients in that spice packet, though he could only recognize seven or eight at most.

"What are you talking about? What in this house is mine?"

He Yushui pouted: "Brother, you've got the wrong person."

"Hey Li Weidong, can I borrow your old broth from when you braised pork?"

Sha Zhu's face turned red from holding back, and he forced himself to speak.

Li Weidong didn't stop working, nor did he look up: "No way. You're in the same business, don't you know how much my material bag is worth? If you steal my skills, I'll be at a huge loss."

"However—I can give you a bowl of soup."

"This is based on the rainwater surface; remember that."

He Yushui's eyes welled up with tears as she listened. Comparing her own brother and Dong Ge, she realized they were worlds apart.

Sha Zhu's face twitched, turning from red to purple, like a pig's liver. He understood that Li Weidong was right. If anyone tried to steal his secret recipe, he would immediately turn on them.

Sha Zhu didn't say anything more, turned around and went back into the house to get a bowl. Having a bowl is better than having none.

Qin Huairu led Banggeng over to join in the fun, and Li Weidong had already prepared the recliner.

Xiao Xi was squatting with Xiao Dang and Huaihua, eating canned yellow peaches. No one knew when the two little girls had arrived, but the three of them were happily munching away, each taking a spoonful.

"Xiao Xi, come and try this chair!"

Li Weidong gave a shout and then continued preparing to weave a bamboo bed.

The deaf old lady's eyes welled up with tears. This recliner was much more comfortable than the stool; she wanted one too.

"Here you are, brother."

Xiao Xi answered crisply, first tilting her head back to gulp down the remaining sugar water in the jar, then handing it to Xiao Dang: "This is for you two to drink."

After saying that, she ran over and flopped onto the big recliner, looking both cute and cuddly.

"It feels so good, so cool and refreshing!"

Xiao Xi giggled.

"Okay, I'll weave you a little bed in a bit, it'll be cooler that way."

Li Weidong said with a smile.

"I want canned food!"

Banggeng spotted the bottles in Xiaodang and Huaihua's hands, and the two were taking turns drinking sugar water. He immediately exploded.

"Little Dang, save some for your brother!"

Qin Huairu quickly called out.

Xiao Dang glanced at the bottom of the bottle with reluctance; there was only a mouthful of sugar water left, so she had no choice but to hand it over.

Banggeng tilted his head back and chugged the bottle, then his face fell. "That's all? Not even a peach. Xiaodang, go get me a whole bottle."

"That's all! Xiaoxi ate it all."

Xiao Dang's lips trembled with grievance.

Just then, the aroma of braised chicken wafted from the kitchen.

The moment the stalk of the stalk smelled it, its eyes lit up.

"Stop fooling around, there'll be pork head meat to eat later."

Qin Huairu was in a real bind.

Sha Zhu came over carrying a large bowl, and He Yushui, with a dark face, filled the bowl to the brine.

"Weidong, this recliner is nice of yours. The old lady is so old; as her junior, we should at least show some filial piety, shouldn't we?"

Yi Zhonghai spoke with a troubled expression, his words full of the sarcastic tone of an old man, and his accent full of animalistic slang.

Li Weidong looked up, his eyes full of disdain: "Yi Zhonghai, get this straight. Filial piety is something you do with your own family members' elders. Outsiders have no such obligation."