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

Secretary Zhang walked over with a stern face.

Liu Haizhong and Yi Zhonghai originally wanted to say a few words, but seeing this, they immediately shut their mouths tightly.

"Secretary Zhang, look at this! Li Weidong has only been working for a few days. Why is he getting four hundred yuan? His salary is only three hundred. It doesn't even amount to a month's salary..."

Sha Zhu was so angry that he kept shouting.

"Shut your mouth!"

Secretary Zhang roared, "Including Chief Engineer Li's allowance, that's four hundred yuan. He gets his full month's salary because he's made a huge contribution to the factory!"

"What are you complaining about, you idiot Zhu? Tell me!"

Yi Zhonghai quickly pulled Sha Zhu outside, saying as they walked, "Secretary Zhang, don't take it to heart. Zhu can get stuck on things sometimes, but he's figured it out now."

Li Weidong shook his head, said goodbye to Secretary Zhang, and rode his bicycle home.

When he arrived at the entrance of courtyard number 86 in Nanluoguxiang, he got off his bike and pushed it inside. In the canvas bag under the bike's frame were several ribbonfish and four swimming crabs. The crabs were still lively and jumping around, tightly bound with straw rope.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, Yan Bugui rushed over. He was carrying two palm-sized salted fish, which looked like they had hair growing on them.

"Weidong, I heard you've become the chief engineer. These two salted fish are for you!"

Yan Bugui looked pained. "This stuff is absolutely delicious when used to braise meat."

Li Weidong didn't say anything, but bent down and lifted the lid of the canvas bag under the bicycle frame.

Inside lay four ribbonfish, each about the width of a palm, and four crabs, each as big as Yan Bugui's face.

"Old Yan, who can hide your little schemes from?"

Li Weidong curled his lip, his face full of disdain, "You two stinky salted fish, go cool off somewhere else."

After saying that, he pushed the cart and turned to leave.

Yan Bugui stood there, his face flushing red and then turning pale, his eyes filled with resentment.

Li Weidong knew perfectly well why Yan Bugui was giving gifts—the steel rolling mill was hiring, and these were highly sought-after jobs. Yan Bugui's eldest son, Yan Jiecheng, was still doing odd jobs here and there.

Unfortunately, Yan Bugui didn't even get a chance to open his mouth; Li Weidong didn't give him a chance at all.

Just as I was getting angry, Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Sha Zhu came back together.

Yan Bugui grabbed Yi Zhonghai: "Old Yi, you have to reserve a position for my son when your factory is hiring!"

"Old Yan, you're giving me too much credit."

Yi Zhonghai shook his head with a wry smile, "We only recruited a hundred people in total, and the spots have already been snapped up by those people at the top."

"Li Weidong definitely has a quota! He doesn't have any relatives there, so he can't possibly use it all!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Haizhong realized what was going on: "Not only are there job openings, but his family also has two empty workstations."

"With so many good spots, they should be shared with everyone!"

Sha Zhu rolled his eyes and said, "Fine, if you're so capable, go ask him for it yourself."

Liu Haizhong shrank his neck and immediately fell silent.

"Let's hold a hospital-wide meeting tonight and put pressure on him together."

Yan Bugui's small eyes darted around, and he had an idea. "Normally, nobody's willing to donate money. But this is a freebie, so everyone's definitely on my side. I don't believe it..."

"You take the lead, I'm not getting involved."

Yi Zhonghai's words are very true.

Besides, Yi Zhonghai is childless and has no children, so the recruitment quota is useless to him.

"Alright, let's hold a college-wide meeting tonight and get the spot he has first."

Yan Bugui gritted his teeth and said, "As for how to divide it, Lao Liu, we'll discuss it slowly."

"No problem. My eldest son doesn't have a proper job yet, so he's not confident about dating or getting married."

Liu Haizhong nodded.

"Hey, where's Sister Qin?"

Sha Zhu looked around.

No sooner had she finished speaking than Qin Huairu turned deathly pale and entered the courtyard one after the other with Jia Zhangshi. Jia Zhangshi was walking with a limp.

"Sister Qin, where did you all go?"

Sha Zhu leaned closer, looking concerned. "Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling unwell?"

As soon as Sha Zhu got close to Qin Huairu, Jia Zhangshi rushed over like a wild boar and shoved him aside.

"Hey, Sha Zhu, move away from where you're talking. Why are you standing so close?"

Jia Zhangshi was spitting, and a foul, fishy smell was hitting people's faces.

Sha Zhu wanted to slap her, but he forced a smile and said, "I brought a lunchbox, so Sister Qin can have a taste."

"The dishes today are good, very oily, with braised pork with potatoes and braised eggplant."

Madam Jia curled her lip, her face full of disdain: "That's it? Not even a big piece of braised pork? To be honest, braised pork with potatoes is mostly potatoes with very little meat. How many pieces of meat can you even find?"

He said that, but his hand had already reached out and grabbed the net bag from Sha Zhu's hand. Inside were two large lunchboxes.

"Hey, save one for me."

Sha Zhu held on tightly to the net bag, not letting go.

"Zhu Zi, it's inconvenient for you to eat at the factory, don't fight with the kids for food."

Qin Huairu walked over to get the net bag, her fingers inadvertently brushing against Sha Zhu's hand.

"Okay, you can have them all."

Sha Zhu grinned foolishly and loosened his grip.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law received the lunchboxes and, without wasting a moment, turned around and went back into the house.

Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong exchanged a glance, shook their heads, and simultaneously thought: **!

Yi Zhonghai watched with satisfaction and slowly walked home. Yu Mei, who had a mark on her forehead, was already waiting for him at the door.

As soon as Qin Huairu entered the room, she plopped down on a stool. Her face contorted with pain, she grabbed a water glass and gulped it down in one go.

Jia Zhangshi insisted on getting an IUD, and later Qin Huairu came to her senses. She knew she couldn't keep her own body, so an IUD would save her the trouble.

"It hurts this much just from getting an IUD? Okay, I'll go heat up some steamed buns."

Madam Jia spat disdainfully, "She's got the body of a maid but the fate of a servant!"

"Hey, where's my eldest grandson?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Banggeng led Xiaodang and Huaihua through the door. The three children smelled strongly of cooking, mixed with the aroma of roasted meat. Jia Zhangshi recognized it immediately as roast chicken.

She recognized the taste because she had done it before. She used to take Banggeng out to play, and when she saw a chicken wandering in the street, she would twist it to death, find a secluded spot to roast it, and then she and Banggeng would eat it all before coming back.

Madam Jia knew perfectly well that the three children had definitely gone out to roast chicken again, and it must have been Bang Geng's idea.

"Where have you been?"

Qin Huairu also sensed that something was wrong.

"Go wash your faces and hands, and change your clothes."

Madam Jia quickly instructed, "If anyone asks about the chickens, you must say you know nothing about it."

Banggeng wiped his mouth, looking smug: "Grandma, let me tell you, while that little bastard was out, I took that big rooster out of his coop and roasted it."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi's eyes lit up: "You're something else! But why didn't you leave me any? You were just sneaking some with those two brats!"

"Grandma, this isn't the time to talk about that. The important thing is that Banggeng can't steal things."

Qin Huairu frowned and tried to persuade her.

Madam Jia immediately exploded: "How can you talk like that, you mother? What do you mean by 'steal'? That little bastard took our sewing machine, and he still gets so much money, not helping us at all! What's wrong with Banggeng going to his house to take a few things?"

Xiao Dang and Huaihua huddled in the corner, terrified of Jia Zhangshi, barely daring to breathe. Xiao Dang secretly gritted her teeth, vowing in her heart: "When I grow up, I'll make you pay!"

"Alright, let's eat."

Qin Huairu sighed.

"I don't want to eat."

Banggeng let out a burp.

The three of them ate the entire six-pound rooster, their bellies bulging with hunger. It was a whole chicken, all meat!

Jia Zhangshi snatched the lunchbox, placed the braised pork with potatoes in front of herself, and tossed the braised eggplant to Qin Huairu. Qin Huairu, like a starving sow, buried her head and began to devour the food.

Qin Huairu felt bitter inside: how could she have been so blind as to marry into the Jia family?

Li Weidong had just arrived home and hadn't even properly set up his bicycle when Xiao Xi ran out.

"Brother! Brother! Our rooster has been stolen!"

Xiao Xi's face turned bright red with anxiety.

"What? It was stolen?"

Li Weidong was stunned, and a thought popped into his mind—Bang Geng stole the chicken, and Sha Zhu took the blame?

But that doesn't make sense. Shouldn't they be stealing from Xu Damao's house? And the timing is wrong too.

"We went out for driving lessons in the afternoon, and the chicken was gone in no time."

Lin Yurou also came out and said, "By the way, Dong-ge, your uncle and cousin are here."

"My uncle and cousin?"

Li Weidong was a little confused, as his predecessor had a rather vague impression of these two people.

As they were talking, two people came out of the main room. One was a man in his forties, and the other was a young man of about seventeen or eighteen.

Upon seeing them, a flood of images suddenly rushed through Li Weidong's mind: the days of catching fish and shrimp in the river in the countryside, running around in his uncle's yard—it all came back to him. His memories of his past life had finally returned in full.

"Uncle, cousin, you've arrived."

Li Weidong was a little excited, "How have you been these past few years?"

Before he turned sixteen, he would go to his uncle's house for a few days during winter and summer vacations. He always brought a lot of things with him, so his uncle's family treated him very well. Later, he went to study in Guangzhou and lost contact with them. His uncle and cousin were illiterate and couldn't send letters.

Meng Guangshan said with a wry smile, "What can we do in a year of great famine? We should be grateful if we don't go hungry."

Having not seen Li Weidong for four years, both uncle and nephew stared at him intently.

"Uncle, come inside and let's talk."

Li Weidong turned around and called out, "Xiaorou, you and Yushui unload those ribbonfish and crabs from the car."

He gripped the handlebars, a thought suddenly occurring to him. He quietly slipped two more swimming crabs, three large fish, and three pounds of pork belly into his canvas bag.

He Yushui's eyes lit up: "Brother Dong, how much delicious food did you buy?"

"My uncle is here just in time. Let's make braised ribbonfish, steamed crab, pork belly, and stir-fried vegetables."

Li Weidong said to He Yushui.

He Yushui's cooking skills are really good, so why not use them?

Li Weidong sat down in the main room. Xiao Xi nestled in his arms, clutching a hawthorn in her hand. The fan overhead whirred, and several basins of water were placed on the floor, making the room quite cool.

Meng Guangshan looked him over and said, "Weidong, you're doing pretty well. Seeing you like this makes me feel relieved. My sister..."

Before she could finish speaking, tears began to fall.

Li Weidong advised, "Uncle, don't be sad. You have to look forward."

The original owner of this body cared a lot about this uncle, but the current Li Weidong doesn't feel much about it.

Meng Guangjun chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes. There's not much good stuff in the countryside. I brought some vegetables and some potatoes."

Li Weidong knew in his heart that potatoes were not a vegetable in the countryside, but a staple food to fill people's stomachs.

"Why are you being so polite? Life in the countryside isn't easy either."