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

"Three hundred jin, two hundred and ten yuan!"

Li Weidong said, "You won't be shortchanged by a single point on the scale."

"Alright, everyone knows you, Boss Li, are straightforward and honest."

The man smiled generously. "My name is Wang Dapeng, a purchasing agent at Hongxing Repair Shop. If you need anything else in the future—"

"Let's talk about it another day, another day."

Li Weidong quickly waved his hand.

Hongxing Repair Shop is the son of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, and I heard that it is going to be converted into an electric fan factory.

Li Weidong turned and left.

The purchasing staff at the factory are so arrogant; they dare to name people directly in broad daylight.

He also has over a hundred pigs, cattle, and sheep, and about a hundred chickens, ducks, and geese stored in his system warehouse. If he were to sell them all here, he would have more money than he could count.

"It's more reliable to keep the supplies."

Li Weidong thought to himself, "I'll sell it when I'm really short of money."

Today I'm only selling one pig, just testing the waters.

Speaking of money, the system gave him a hundred ten-yuan bills and two small yellow croakers for the last sign-in.

He strolled around the market and found that the most common items for sale were food, followed by clothing and fabrics.

Li Weidong was very disappointed when he didn't see the antique jade he was looking for.

He figured he should find someone knowledgeable to ask about the situation.

I rode my bike back, and it was already midnight when I arrived at the courtyard house.

The dilapidated gate in the courtyard had long been locked and bolted shut.

Yan Bugui lived in the back room of the front yard, and he was in charge of opening and closing the door.

If anyone comes home late, you have to knock on their window to call for help.

Yan Bugui receives a subsidy of five yuan a month, enough for one person to eat for a month.

Li Weidong raised his hand and knocked on the window.

Everyone in the compound knew that if you came back after 10 p.m., you had to knock on Yan Bugui's window.

If anyone knocks on the window, Yan Bugui will definitely try to get something out of that person the next day.

Li Weidong knocked for a long time, but there was no response from inside the house.

This is not right. Yan Bugui usually wishes someone would knock on his window so he could find an opportunity to plot something.

It's unusually quiet today.

Li Weidong immediately understood.

It must have been that Yi Zhonghai spoke with Yan Bugui after returning, and deliberately didn't open the door, wanting to embarrass him.

"Damn it, they really think they're something special."

Li Weidong snorted at the window.

He knew Yan Bugui was awake, and these words were meant for him.

Lying in bed, Yan Bugui smugly thought, "Heh, let's see how you get in! Serves you right for not treating steamed buns like dry rations."

Yan Bugui was just figuring out how to deal with Li Weidong when Yi Zhonghai delivered a message saying that someone would be there soon.

He was already hatching a plan in his mind, intending to use the matter of closing the courtyard gate as an excuse to teach Li Weidong a lesson.

Just as they were feeling smug, a loud bang suddenly came from the front gate.

Everyone in the front and middle yards was awakened.

The broken wooden door, with its worn-out bolt, couldn't withstand a single kick from Li Weidong.

With a snap, the bolt broke, and the door sprang open.

Li Yiming pushed his bicycle into the courtyard, and when he reached the middle courtyard, Yan Bugui angrily chased after him from behind.

"Li Weidong, you kicked the door down? What do you mean by this?"

Yan Bugui's voice was high-pitched and thin, and could be heard throughout the entire courtyard.

"What do you mean? I'm going home."

Li Weidong's tone was as cold as ice.

"You can't kick down the door just because you're home, can you? This is the main gate of the whole compound, not just your own house."

Yi Zhonghai came out of the house with a serious expression on his face.

"Not yours? Then who locked the door? People who work the night shift come home and knock on the window but no one answers. What kind of nonsense is this? Yi Zhonghai, you're really something, always finding ways to annoy me, aren't you?"

Li Weidong sneered and then said, "Fine, let's see who makes whom unhappy."

Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat.

He knew perfectly well that he could at most cause Li Weidong some minor trouble. But if Li Weidong wanted to deal with him, he would definitely go all out.

"No matter what, you broke the door, so you have to pay for it and make a public apology in front of the entire hospital."

Yan Bugui shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Who do you think you are? Yan Bugui, have you forgotten who you are?"

Li Weidong scoffed, "Even if this door isn't closed properly and I broke it, the neighborhood committee should be coming to me. Who are you to spout nonsense here?"

"You'll pay me back? Do you even deserve it?"

"Everyone else in the courtyard doesn't lock their gates, but you're making a fuss. You've thrown away all your dignity for five yuan. You took the money, but did you do anything?"

"That old bastard Yi Zhonghai just said one thing and you became his pawn. You call yourself a scholar, but how many pages of books have you actually read?"

"Try closing the gate again next time."

"That's the rule of the compound."

Yi Zhonghai was so angry that his face turned blue.

"The rules of the compound? You made those rules, didn't you? You say you won't lock your doors at night, and that no one is allowed to lock their doors, but you keep your gates locked tight."

Li Weidong said coldly, "Are you afraid you can't keep this a secret? You, Yi Zhonghai, are just a shoddy, second-rate worker, nothing more. What are you pretending to be?"

"You should focus on your technical skills. I'll apply for a reassessment of my work grade later. Don't drop from grade eight to grade seven and embarrass yourself."

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

After being scolded, Yan Bugui suddenly cleared his mind, turned around, and quietly went back to his room.

Yi Zhonghai was so angry he was trembling, but there was nothing he could do.

He watched helplessly as Li Weidong gradually destroyed the little bit of prestige he had just built in the courtyard. He was powerless to do anything about it.

Yi Zhonghai felt a growing sense of unease, and his hands began to tremble violently.

He knew his own limitations. Over the years, he had been so focused on cultivating good relationships and finding an apprentice who could support him in his old age that he hadn't seriously put in the effort to hone his craft.

With my current skills, let alone improvement, I'm not even as good as I was back when I was promoted to the eighth grade worker.

Seeing him shivering by the bedside, Na Yumei sighed and slowly said, "Old Yi, how old are you? Why are you arguing with a young man?"

"Whether it's ability or position, how can you compare to them? All this fuss is just asking for embarrassment."

Yi Zhonghai muttered, "Yeah, yeah, I can't beat him on the surface."

Na Yumei lowered her voice even further, with a sinister undertone: "Then you play the submissive role to him, and lower his guard first. When the time is right, bite down on his throat."

Yi Zhonghai nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, I did take the wrong turn. I don't know why that kid was so wary of me."

"If I had known it would turn out this way, I should have tried a different approach."

Na Yumei sighed, her wrinkles deepening: "If Li Weidong could take care of us in our old age, that would be truly a good life. Recognizing him as our godson is a hundred times better than Sha Zhu, not to mention that short-lived Jia Dongxu."

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth and cursed, "Dream on! That little beast is full of tricks, but he's all cunning."

Li Weidong pushed open the door to return home, and the light in the main room was still on.

Lin Yurou sat at the table waiting for him, her face filled with tenderness.

Li Weidong pushed the bicycle inside the house, not daring to leave it outside.

He was afraid someone might be tempted to remove the wheels. He admired Sha Zhu's skill in the original story.

Lin Yurou stood up and asked softly, "There's hot water in the kettle, shall I pour you some?"

Li Weidong reached out and touched her face: "Alright, alright, go to sleep. I can do it myself."

Her face was as fair and delicate as an eighteen-year-old fairy's, full of collagen. Her eyes were a little bigger than a fairy's, and she had an extra touch of gentle and graceful charm.

Lin Yurou blushed, and only after he had squeezed her hand enough and put it down did she blush and go back to her room.

After Li Weidong finished tidying up and returned to his room, he checked the time and it was already 12:30.

He stood by the bed and silently said, "System, sign in."

That emotionless voice is still in my head.

"Check-in successful. You have received the following items."

"Grenade manufacturing blueprints".

Li Weidong was taken aback: "That's it? Nothing else?"

The system went completely silent.

"This thing..."

He stared at the blueprints that popped into his mind, his expression somewhat complicated.

Li Weidong stared at the blueprints, his fingers rubbing back and forth on his chin. He knew this thing all too well—it was the grenade launcher that those people in later generations with a severe case of insufficient firepower phobia had tinkered with.

If one person can't carry a cannon, then a squad will have to carry two.

"It's not difficult to manufacture, really not difficult, it's just that the process of loading the explosives takes some thought. Fortunately, the formula has been provided."

He muttered to himself, "Should I just make one myself?"

The materials should be able to be gathered. The steel mill supplies raw materials to the arsenal, so getting some shouldn't be difficult.

"I wish I could get the blueprints for the August 1st Steel Team someday..."

In his previous life, he loved looking at blueprints for airplanes and cannons, but he rarely looked at weapon blueprints.

"They said they wouldn't give out skill books anymore, but these blueprints are just as valuable."

Li Weidong thought to himself, "One serving a day will suffice."

The next day, before dawn, he woke up at exactly five o'clock. Having strong mental energy is a good thing; four hours of sleep is enough.

He tiptoed out to wash his face and brush his teeth, and when he came back, he flipped through the stamp album that Yan Jiefang had given him.

"It's still there after all."

Li Weidong's lips curled into a smile. "Large Dragon stamps!"

In later generations, even a single one of these could be worth millions. He flipped through the stamps, then suddenly remembered something: "Oh dear, where's my stamp album? I didn't take it with me back then."

There was a noise outside, and when I checked my watch, it was six o'clock. Lin Yurou and He Yushui were squatting by the sink brushing their teeth.

"Xiaorou, I didn't take my stamp album with me when I left. Did my dad throw it away?"

Li Weidong asked.

"I didn't throw it away, I'm keeping it for you. Shall we go get it now?"

Lin Yurou's voice was soft.

"No rush, I can give it to you tonight."

Li Weidong waved his hand, "I'm off today, I'm going fishing. You fill the tank with more water, I'll bring the fish back at noon to keep them alive."

"Make me two packets of pickled cabbage and beef noodles for breakfast."

He packed up his fishing rods, carrying both on his back. Two bamboo baskets were tied to the back of his bicycle, filled with tin buckets.

Soon, the aroma of instant noodles wafted through the air. Lin Yurou put two braised eggs in the bowl, worried that he wouldn't have enough to eat.

Li Weidong was slurping his food when the bedroom door opened, and Xiao Xi came out rubbing her eyes.

"Brother, I want some too."

The little guy was still walking unsteadily, his eyelids not fully open, clearly woken up by the smell of instant noodles.

"What's the rush? I'll get it done for you. Go wash your face and brush your teeth first."

Lin Yurou shoved the toothbrush into Xiaoxi's hand.

Xiao Xi sat up abruptly, her eyes sparkling: "Brother, are you still going to work?"

"I'm not going anymore, I'm going fishing. I'll make you some sauerkraut fish for lunch, okay?"

Li Weidong slammed the bowl and chopsticks down on the table.

"Yes, yes, I love pickled fish the most!"

Xiao Xi clapped her hands, overjoyed.