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

Jia Zhangshi held her rice bowl, glancing sideways at Qin Huairu, muttering to herself.

"You'd better learn your lesson from now on, and don't be foolish enough to let others take advantage of you."

She took a bite of the cornbread, chewing it loudly, and said, "If someone really succeeds, your body won't be so precious anymore."

These words were quite meaningful. Jia Zhangshi had raised Jia Dongxu all by herself, and she knew all the ins and outs of it.

When Qin Huairu returned home, she set out the bowls and plates on the table. Just as she filled a bowl with white rice, Jia Zhangshi reached out and snatched the plate of braised pork. She first ate most of it for Bang Geng, and then put the rest into her own bowl.

There was only a little oily soup left at the bottom of the plate.

Qin Huairu twitched the corners of her mouth, said nothing, and poured all the soup into her rice. It was still some oil and broth, after all; she couldn't waste it.

Jia Zhangshi and Bang Geng had their heads almost buried in their bowls, slurping their food with gusto.

The deaf old woman sat inside, eagerly waiting for Sha Zhu to bring her food. She thought to herself, "If I had plain white rice with braised pork, I wouldn't even care about watermelon."

"Grandma, dinner's ready!"

Sha Zhu came in carrying a tray with cornbread buns, a plate of stir-fried eggplant with green peppers, and a large bowl of soy sauce soup.

The food wasn't actually that bad; at least there was one dish and one soup.

The deaf old woman's eyes widened: "My dear grandson, where's my braised pork? Where's my white rice? Grandma's teeth aren't good, so I have to eat soft food!"

"This...this is for Sister Qin to nourish her body."

Sha Zhu scratched his head. "I'll buy meat for Grandma when I get my salary."

"You brain-dead idiot!"

The deaf old woman trembled with anger. "That's someone else's daughter-in-law! Why are you giving her all the good things?"

"We've given her all those lunchboxes already; this can't go on!"

"Grandma, Sister Qin is a good person. It's worth it for me to be good to her."

Sha Zhu had a smile on his face, and his eyes were shining.

As for this grandma, let's step aside for now.

The deaf old woman nearly fainted. Having no other choice, she could only soak her cornbread in soy sauce soup and eat it. Surprisingly, it was even oilier than the food delivered by Yi Zhonghai's family.

"Where's your grandpa?"

The deaf old woman asked.

"I fell and hit my head, so I went to the hospital for stitches."

Sha Zhu didn't seem to care. "It's nothing serious, Grandma, would you like some more?"

"You idiot Zhu!"

The deaf old woman stood up, shook her head, and walked away.

Watching the old woman's retreating figure, Sha Zhu sneered inwardly: "You old hag, you still want to eat white rice and braised pork? Dream on."

If it weren't for your house, and if you weren't able to support me, I wouldn't even be able to afford a cornbread.

The deaf old woman stormed into the backyard, where a delicious aroma of meat wafted towards her.

Li Weidong was teaching He Yushui how to make braised goose in an iron pot. The goose meat in the pot was sizzling and dripping with oil, and the aroma was so enticing that it filled the air.

"Yes, just like that, don't add any water."

Li Weidong directed, "Pour in the beer."

He Yushui picked up two large bottles of beer and poured them all into the pot.

"Simmer over low heat, you must use the lowest heat to let the flavors in."

Li Weidong spoke eloquently and logically.

Lin Yurou was cooking rice on a coal stove.

Put rice and water in an aluminum pot, bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer. The aroma of rice mixed with the smell of meat wafts through the backyard.

Li Weidong said to Lin Yurou, "This rice looks simple, but it really takes some skill to make."

"If the heat isn't right, it'll be undercooked; if you add too much water, it'll turn into porridge."

Fortunately, Lin Yurou is indeed a skilled cook, and she cooks with just the right amount of heat.

Xiao Xi, Xiao Dang, and Huai Hua huddled together, heads down, flipping through comic books.

The three little heads huddled together, occasionally letting out a silly laugh.

They couldn't actually understand what was written in the book, but they just thought it was fun.

Just as Li Weidong was about to go over and tease Xiaoxi, he looked up and saw Liu Guangtian carrying a big rooster walking this way.

Liu Guangtian didn't even go home; he went straight to Li Weidong's place.

"Brother Dong, this rooster is a gift from me to you."

Liu Guangtian's face was full of smiles. "Today I wove a bamboo basket and made three car seats. I took them to Pigeon Market and sold them all."

"Car seats are the best-selling item; I'll order a few more later!"

Li Weidong nodded: "Okay, I won't teach you anything else yet. Let you practice these two until you're proficient."

He glanced at the rooster and said, "Take this chicken back with you."

He knew in his heart that Liu Guangtian wasn't very bright, but he was easy to use and perfect as a tool.

"Brother Dong, please don't stand on ceremony with me, this is my heartfelt gift."

Liu Guangtian threw the rooster with its legs tied to the ground, turned around and ran home.

Li Weidong muttered to himself, "I need to get a chicken coop first, then kill the chickens and eat them tomorrow."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a scream, like a pig being slaughtered, came from Liu Haizhong's house.

It's no surprise that Liu Haizhong pulled out his Seven Wolves belt again.

When the father saw that his son was still alive, he whipped his belt loudly.

Liu Haizhong truly loved his second and third sons deeply.

At 7 p.m., just after Li Weidong finished eating, a loud shout, like a broken gong, came from the Intermediate Court.

"Meetings every day, it's never-ending."

Li Weidong shook his head.

Lin Yurou said softly, "Dong-ge, if you don't want to go, I'll go in your place."

"No need, you stay at home."

Li Weidong waved his hand, "Those people are all cunning; if you go, they'll definitely scheme against you."

Xiao Xi jumped up from the mat and shouted, "Brother, brother, I want to go with you too!"

She, Xiaodang, and Huaihua were just reading a comic book.

Li Weidong said, "The three of you can stay home and play; it'll be much cooler with the fan blowing."

"The Intermediate Court is as hot as a steamer right now."

He grabbed a banana leaf fan, picked up a stool, and went out the door.

As soon as he stepped outside, he bumped into Xu Damao, who was also carrying a stool and a fan and heading out.

Xu Damao smiled and leaned closer: "Weidong, I have something to tell you."

"Can I have an engine installed in my car too?"

"This way, I can save a lot of effort when I go to the countryside to show movies."

Li Weidong raised an eyebrow and said directly, "Fine, give me fifty yuan. Where are you going to get gasoline? Even Pigeon City doesn't sell it; you need ration coupons!"

Xu Damao said nonchalantly, "That thing doesn't use much gas. I'll ask my father-in-law for it; he has the receipts. Otherwise, how could that car even move?"

"Okay, come find me at the infirmary tomorrow."

Li Weidong nodded. "Also, you'll need to get a spark plug, and the battery will need to be ground down as well."

The two walked into the courtyard together, which was already packed with people. They found seats in the last row.

Xu Damao glanced at it and lowered his voice: "Hey, this guy is acting like nothing happened, he's having a lot of fun."

Banggeng was running around playing hide-and-seek with a few kids.

Xu Damao leaned closer and lowered his voice even further: "You have no idea, the banquet at noon was really shabby. That old woman Jia Zhangshi is shrewd to the core."

"The whole table was full of vegetarian dishes, with only a plate of tofu considered a main dish. There were two tables in total, each with a bottle of loose liquor. Each person also got a cornbread bun. After everyone finished eating, they all had to go home and have another meal to eat."

Li Weidong sneered: "Isn't this kind of despicable behavior standard practice in the Jia family? There's bound to be some excitement in the backyard."

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai slammed a large enamel mug onto the table.

"Quiet down, the meeting is starting!"

Yi Zhonghai shouted at the top of his lungs.

Li Weidong was just here to watch the fun; otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered coming at all.

Yi Zhonghai sat in the middle, with Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui on either side of him. This time, the rattan chair wasn't placed behind him, so it seemed the deaf old lady didn't intend to show herself.

Once everyone had quieted down, Yi Zhonghai cleared his throat: "I have two things to say today. First, I must commend everyone. Everyone contributed their efforts and worked hard to handle Dongxu's funeral arrangements very well."

Xu Damao grinned dismissively and whispered to Li Weidong, "The next step should be to bring up the donation."

Li Weidong smiled, waving his worn-out banana leaf fan. Lin Yurou had sewn a strip of cloth around the edge of the fan.

There were six or seven thin thorns, like embroidery needles, about a centimeter long, sewn together at the seams of the cloth strips. They were cactus thorns.

"Damn, if anyone tries to cause trouble later, they'll be sorry."

Li Weidong thought to himself, "The Little Li Flying Dagger is too conspicuous, but the Little Li Flying Needle should be no problem."

There are a few cacti in the corner of the yard, planted in broken pots and casually left by the roadside; some of them have already bloomed.

If bamboo thorns were used, it would easily remind people of him. If cactus thorns were used, no one would suspect that it was Li Weidong who did it.

"Yes, there's one more thing. Zhu Zi has worked really hard this time, running around doing everything."

Yi Zhonghai continued, "Our institute needs this kind of spirit to be like a family..."

Those who understood were secretly laughing, while those who didn't were just nodding along foolishly.

Sha Zhu grinned, looking honest and simple.

The atmosphere in the courtyard suddenly became subtle.

Sha Zhu cursed inwardly, muttering to himself: If it weren't for Sister Qin's sake, who would bother with you? Yi Zhonghai, do you think I'm a fool? We'll see who suffers in the end.

Madam Jia shouted at the top of her lungs, "Old Yi, stop dawdling! It's only natural for Sha Zhu to help our Jia family!"

"Get to the point!"

Yi Zhonghai glared at Jia Zhangshi. He'd almost ruined a perfectly good game of chess because of that old woman. Had she lost her mind?

He was also furious: Bah, if it weren't for that brat Banggeng, what would I care about the fate of your Jia family?

Qin Huairu, sitting at the front, clearly saw the anger on Yi Zhonghai's face. She quickly grabbed Jia Zhangshi, who was about to get up, and whispered, "..."

"Mom, stop it! This is a hospital-wide meeting. Let's hear what Uncle has to say first!"

Seeing Jia Zhangshi's wide, puffy eyes, Yi Zhonghai knew that if he didn't bring up the donation, this woman would definitely explode. And then things would get out of control.

"There's one more thing. The Jia family has lost its pillar of support and is struggling financially. Everyone, please lend a hand and donate as much money as you can."

Yi Zhonghai cleared his throat. "I know everyone is struggling financially, but it's just a matter of cutting back on food; we can manage by squeezing it out!"

"Especially those who eat meat every day, they should think about their neighbors. They should share some more..."

Li Weidong hadn't planned to speak, but the words were clearly directed at him, practically calling him by name. If he kept quiet, would he even be human?

"Yi Zhonghai, what utter nonsense are you spouting!"

Li Weidong stood up abruptly, sneered, "You know perfectly well that everyone is having a hard time, so why should they eat less?"

"What's wrong with me eating meat? I earned it through my own hard work! It's my money, and it's none of your business how I spend it!"