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

Liu Guangtian shook his head. "It's already good enough that they didn't give a gift, let alone expect to eat at their place?"

He took a bite of cornbread and swallowed it with a stiff bite: "Once I've learned the skill and made money, you wait, I'll buy you a whole bunch of delicious food."

Xiao Dang and Huaihua are still eating at Li Weidong's house.

One person held a bowl of white rice topped with several pieces of glistening braised pork, the broth poured over the rice, making the grains shine. The two girls didn't even look up, their chopsticks moving rapidly through the rice.

Xiao Xi held her big bowl, shoveling rice into her mouth while secretly glancing at her brother. She felt a warm glow inside: It's so nice to have a brother, he really loves me and makes me so much good food every day.

"Xiao Xi, I'll take you to buy a pair of plastic sandals later."

Li Weidong put down his bowl and chopsticks. "Yushui and Xiaorou also have some."

Lin Yurou opened her mouth: "I don't need to at home..."

"Yes, everything is arranged."

Li Weidong waved his hand.

Xiao Dang and Huaihua watched longingly, feeling envious, but they were already content to have a full meal here. They were still wearing straw sandals woven by Qin Huairu.

"How much will this cost...?"

Lin Yurou's heart pounded; she really couldn't handle such a lavish lifestyle.

"If you can spend, you can earn."

Li Weidong laughed, "I earn 300 yuan a month now, and that's after I turned down 100 yuan; otherwise, it would be 400."

He Yushui's eyes lit up: "Brother Dong, you earn more by yourself than all three of you combined!"

"So don't worry about money. I have a lot of skills up my sleeve, so I'll always be able to make money."

Li Weidong stood up. "You guys take your time eating. I'll go get back to work."

In half an hour, Li Weidong had finished weaving the bamboo basket. He clipped it onto the back rack of his bicycle, and it fit perfectly. He clapped his hands in satisfaction.

"Brother Dong, your skills are amazing! It would take anyone else at least a day to make this."

Liu Guangtian came closer, his face beaming with smiles.

"Think about it carefully yourself."

Li Weidong said, "Let's give it a try. I'm sure someone will want it. I can make at least a dollar or two from each one."

"Alright, alright, I'll go buy bamboo and bamboo knives right now."

Liu Guangtian rubbed his hands excitedly, "If there's anything I don't understand, Brother Dong, you'll have to give me some pointers."

"No problem, if you want to learn, I can teach you a few more things, like weaving bamboo trays and baskets."

Liu Guangtian ran home like he was on fire. He only had six yuan on him, his savings accumulated over several years, and he was going to throw it all in this time.

"Where do you think you're going? Stay put! Your dad'll beat you to a pulp when he gets back!"

Zhang Cuihua called from behind.

Liu Guangtian had already disappeared.

When Li Weidong pushed the cart out the door, Xiao Xi was already asleep on the reed mat in the main room, with Huaihua and Xiao Dang lying next to her. The three girls were huddled under the ceiling fan, looking incredibly content. Huaihua and Xiao Dang had almost forgotten that they still had to go home.

When he returned after making his rounds, his two bamboo baskets were overflowing with contents—ten enamel basins, five copper basins, and plenty of toothbrushes and toothpaste.

There are also four pairs of plastic sandals: the smallest one belongs to Xiaoxi, two light blue pairs are for Lin Yurou and He Yushui, and one green pair is for himself.

Ten towels and ten bars of soap were stuffed into the canvas bag under the bar.

These things were all provided by the system; he didn't spend a single penny of his money.

As Li Weidong pushed his bicycle through the gate of the courtyard house, he saw Yan Bugui still sitting in the passageway.

"Weidong, you must have spent a lot of money on this trip, right? Did you bring the entire supply and marketing cooperative back with you?"

Yan Bugui sprang up from the stool, his eyes fixed on the copper basin in the bamboo basket on the back seat of the cart. "My family is short of a vegetable washing basin, and you have all of these..."

He rubbed his hands together as he spoke.

Li Weidong was truly exasperated with this old man. He had already fallen out with the people in the courtyard, yet this guy could still pretend nothing had happened and come up to try and take a copper basin for free.

"Yan Bugui, you've lost face."

Li Weidong sneered.

Just as he finished speaking, a young woman's laughter rang out, but she suddenly choked up halfway through.

Li Weidong turned around and saw Yan Bugui's eldest son, Yan Jiecheng, leading a pretty young woman to the door. The woman covered her mouth, but the smile on her face was impossible to hide.

"Yu Li, let's go inside."

Yan Jiecheng quickly pulled the man away, feeling incredibly embarrassed. His father was about to lose face in front of the person who was visiting for the first time.

"Are you... are you even speaking human language?"

Yan Bugui's face turned bright red.

Upon hearing the name, Li Weidong immediately understood that the girl was Yu Li, who would marry Yan Jiecheng. However, now that Li Weidong was here, he was determined not to let this girl jump into this pit of beasts.

"Did I say something wrong? You're just an elementary school teacher, blocking the doorway all day long, taking advantage of your position as a mediator to gain any benefit you can."

Li Weidong said coldly, "I understand that you only earn twenty-odd yuan a month and have to support a whole family."

"But you can't just take advantage of anyone. You're such a calculating person, you can't stand not scheming. It has nothing to do with whether you have money or not!"

"Your family even divides pickled vegetables among the people, and Yan Jiecheng has to pay for food and rent every month. Tsk tsk, you're really good at calculating."

Yu Li's pretty face turned pale instantly.

Yan Jiecheng was extremely anxious. It was the first time he had managed to get Yu Li to come out, and he had finally managed to lure her to his doorstep. He was just waiting to go inside when Li Weidong ruined everything.

Yan Bugui's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "You...you..."

"What do you mean, 'you'? As a teacher, you don't even understand the saying 'Don't refrain from doing good because it's small, and don't do evil because it's small'?"

Li Weidong continued, "The neighbor to the east takes a scallion, the neighbor to the west takes a clove of garlic. It may seem like a minor problem, but you've corrupted the entire neighborhood's atmosphere. Calling you a beast wouldn't be an exaggeration."

"Someone like you calls yourself a scholar? You'd struggle to even teach second grade!"

After saying that, Li Weidong tossed his head and pushed the cart away.

"I...I absolutely have to hold a big meeting and criticize you..."

Yan Bugui shouted from behind.

But he swallowed his words before he could finish. He knew perfectly well that Li Weidong didn't take the three of them seriously at all, and he couldn't do anything to Li Weidong on his own.

Yu Li ran faster than a rabbit, rushing out of the yard without looking back.

Yan Jiecheng chased after him for a few steps before stopping, stamping his feet in anger. He knew that even if he caught up, what could he do? The person had vanished without a trace.

He turned and went back into the house, yelling at Yan Bugui, "Dad, what are you doing? I finally managed to coax her back, and here you are, stingy and miserly! Now look what happened, the prize that was almost in our hands has flown away!"

Yan Bugui kicked him, yelling, "You worthless piece of trash! All my scheming and plotting, wasn't it all for this family?"

"We're having a big meeting tonight, and we absolutely have to talk about this!"

Yan Bugui said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, yes, Yu Li ran away, she definitely won't fall for it again."

Yan Jiecheng rubbed his hands together. "He has to compensate me with a wife. Lin Yurou is quite good. If I can marry her, Li Weidong's monthly salary of three hundred yuan..."

As he spoke, Yan Jiecheng's mouth was practically watering.

Yan Bugui's eyes widened: "Wasn't it 260? How did it become 300?"

"It just went up today."

Yan Jiecheng looked on with envy, "If he hadn't refused, it would have been four hundred yuan."

Yan Jiecheng works as an apprentice at a steel rolling mill, earning only sixteen yuan a month. He specifically took the afternoon off this year because he wanted to settle things with Yu Li as soon as possible.

His dad ruined everything.

Yan Bugui was completely dumbfounded: "You pushed back a hundred yuan? ......"

His monthly salary was only 27.5 yuan. The portion that Li Weidong didn't want was almost four times his income.

Then he thought about how someone else earned 300 yuan a month, which was almost a year's salary for him. Yan Bugui felt a tightness in his chest and couldn't breathe properly.

"No, absolutely not!"

He was so anxious he was jumping around like a monkey, thinking, "I have to get something out of his house no matter what."

"Yes, he ruined my girlfriend, he has to pay me back."

Yan Jiecheng said fiercely, "Pay me a bicycle!"

"Are you dreaming?"

Yan Bugui scoffed, "How much does it cost to get a wife? You want a car too?"

These days, if you go to the countryside to find a wife, the bride price is only five yuan. A dinner party? Forget about it. The disaster has just passed, and the country is still advocating thrift.

Even if you have money, you can't buy food and drinks without a ticket.

Of course, it's now fashionable to give money as a gift, and you also have to give a ticket.

"Then make him pay fifty yuan!"

Yan Jiecheng was stunned for a long time before finally managing to utter a sentence.

Yan Bugui chuckled and patted his chest: "You want to get money from Li Weidong? That'll depend on my skills. I'll get him to install an engine in my car, and he'll definitely agree. That way, I can go fishing further away."

He figured that asking for money directly was definitely out of the question, but it shouldn't be difficult to ask Li Weidong for one of the little gadgets he had gathered from scrap materials.

Yan Jiecheng frowned upon hearing this: "So this has nothing to do with me?"

"What could you possibly lose? Just go back and coax Yu Li a bit, say a few sweet words and it'll be fine."

Yan Bugui waved his hand, feeling increasingly pleased that he could soon get some benefits from Li Weidong.

Yan Jiecheng was seething with anger, hating not only Li Weidong but also Yan Bugui. If it weren't for these two interfering, he and Yu Li would have already gotten things done.

Today, Yang Yuhua took Yan Jiedi back to her parents' home, and Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang went with her. Yan Jiecheng originally planned to take this opportunity to get married to Yu Li, making it a fait accompli, and then it would be easy to marry her off with a dowry of three or five yuan, which Yu Li herself would be too embarrassed to ask for more.

As Li Weidong pushed his bicycle into the courtyard, he saw Jia Zhangshi acting crazy at the gate, like a dog frolicking in the snow.

She jumped around wildly, as if someone was dancing with her. But her pig-like figure made her movements clumsy and ugly, it was simply an eyesore.

Li Weidong was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized—this was because he had eaten Boletus luridus and the poison had taken effect.

Then he saw Banggeng grinning foolishly, his eyes glazed over: "Hey, you little people are interesting. I want to become colorful too. Wait for me..."

Banggeng stared into the void, startling the onlookers around him.

Even Yan Bugui came over to join in the fun.

Qin Huairu was tidying up her things inside when she heard a commotion outside and rushed out. When she saw Banggeng's appearance, she turned pale with fright and hugged her son tightly.

"Bang Geng, Bang Geng, what's wrong with you?"

Qin Huairu's voice trembled, and tears streamed down her face. This time, she looked genuinely crying, not faking it.

As for Jia Zhangshi, she hadn't had a chance to look at her yet.

"What... what's going on? Li Weidong, aren't you a doctor...?"