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

Qin Huairu replied, "Shazhu is working overtime tonight. He hasn't finished the work at the new workshop yet, so he won't be back until midnight."

"Can't you just send the lunchbox back first? Are you trying to starve us to death?"

Madam Jia Zhang muttered curses under her breath, growing angrier with each word.

Li Weidong and Lao Qian went to the backyard and pushed open the doors to the two rooms that the deaf old woman used to occupy.

"Old Qian, the walls need to be scraped again."

Li Weidong gestured and said, "Let's fix the ceiling too. How many days do you think it will take to finish?"

"These bricks on the ground need to be replaced too. Or I can get some cement and just pave the floor. Old Qian? Come in."

Li Weidong turned around and saw Old Qian standing at the door, completely stunned, his mouth agape. His eyes were fixed on the four signs above the door.

Li Weidong called out again, and Lao Qian finally came to his senses.

"These four signs...are they yours?"

Old Qian's voice changed, filled with respect.

Li Weidong nodded: "Otherwise, why would you hang it on my door?"

Old Qian gave a thumbs up: "Impressive! Your place is amazing! Whatever you want to do, I'll get it done for you quickly, efficiently, and economically."

Li Weidong stated his requirements.

"Remove all the plaster from the walls and re-plaster them."

Old Qian patted his chest and said, "The ceiling will be redone too. We can finish all three rooms in one day."

He paused, then lowered his voice: "For laying cement flooring... I have some good material on hand, I wonder if you..."

Old Qian hesitated again as he spoke, glancing at the three rooms and the adjacent side room.

"Just say what you have to say."

Li Weidong urged him on.

"I have a few gold bricks at home, enough for you. That's much better than a cement floor."

Old Qian lowered his voice, "These are things used in the palace before. They're just... a bit pricey."

Li Weidong narrowed his eyes: "Gold bricks? Where did you get them? I can't do illegal things."

"It's not illegal; if anything is illegal, it's against the Empress Dowager's laws."

Old Qian quickly waved his hand, "Our family has worked for the palace for generations. So, my grandfather and father... took some things out of the palace during their spare time."

"They're just bricklayers; at most, they can get you some gold bricks."

"Oh, I understand. So how do I calculate the price?"

Li Weidong asked.

Old Qian gritted his teeth: "Fifty cents a dollar! In the past, you couldn't get one for less than a dollar. But now... sigh, I need the money urgently."

"Okay, no problem."

Li Weidong nodded, his heart leaping with joy. This thing was passed down from the Qing Dynasty; wouldn't it be worth tens of thousands of yuan in the future?

"Then I'll bring some people over to do it tomorrow."

Old Qian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"You provide both labor and materials, and we'll settle the payment after the job is done."

Li Weidong said, "I'll prepay you three hundred yuan."

"We can't use it all, you've given us too much!"

Old Qian quickly waved his hand.

"Once these three are finished, there are three more next door."

Li Weidong smiled and made the decision, "It's settled then."

Old Qian took the thirty black ten bills that Li Weidong pulled out of his pocket and wondered to himself: His pocket looked flat just now, how did he manage to stuff these thirty bills in there?

After Lao Qian left, Li Weidong stopped Yan Jiefang and Liu Guangtian, who were about to leave for work, and asked them to move their family's eight-immortal table into the empty room.

Xu Damao stood at his doorstep, watching with a clear understanding in his mind—Li Weidong was definitely going to hold a banquet.

In the past, he would have already gone to him. But this morning, Li Weidong embarrassed him, and he still can't figure out what he did to offend him.

"Da Mao, dinner's ready!"

Lou Xiao'e called from inside the house.

Xu Damao's family just installed a ceiling fan, which, needless to say, he must have taken it from the factory again.

"Eating this stuff again?"

Xu Damao looked disgusted.

On the table were stir-fried vegetables with pork cracklings and stir-fried tofu with green peppers, all cooked with lard. Next to them were several steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat and water, and two bowls of thick rice porridge.

This food would be top-notch for any family.

"You want to eat meat every day?"

Lou Xiao'e said irritably, "You're lucky to have any food at all. Your forty yuan isn't enough to live on, and it's all because of me..."

"Alright, alright, you spendthrift woman! Forty yuan isn't enough for you?"

Xu Damao got angry. "How can it not be enough if you buy fewer snacks and clothes?"

Did you eat less of the snacks I bought?

Lou Xiao'e took a bite of the steamed bun.

Just then, the aroma of meat wafted over—no need to ask, Li Weidong's family was eating meat again.

"How come Li Weidong eats meat every day?!"

Xu Damao was furious.

"If you earn four hundred yuan a month, you can eat meat every meal without any problem."

Lou Xiao'e replied sarcastically. The more she looked at Xu Damao's long face, the more annoyed she became.

Looking at that long face again, and then thinking about Li Weidong's handsome face, Lou Xiao'e felt a tightness in her chest.

"By the way, why don't you go and check on Li Weidong?"

Xu Damao quickly changed the subject, "Isn't his medical skill amazing? Maybe he can cure your illness, and we can have a son next year!"

"this……"

Lou Xiao'e was a little embarrassed.

Xu Damao mumbled indistinctly as he chewed his food, "Whatever it is, I'll go see him after I finish eating. I'll eat less; I have to go toast the boss when he comes later."

Lou Xiao'e glared at him irritably: "Can't you just shut up? I don't care if you're drunk. If you want to see Li Weidong, go tomorrow."

"They're having a feast today, they must be so busy they'll be running around like crazy."

At that moment, a strong aroma of oil wafted from the kitchen. Li Weidong and Xiao Xi sat in the living room enjoying the breeze. Lin Yurou was squatting in front of the coal stove, rendering lard. The lard in the small pot slowly melted, sizzling and bubbling.

He Yushui was busy at the stove, blanching chunks of meat in boiling water. Two stoves in the kitchen were both running, with a large pot bubbling away, simmering pig's head and offal.

A floor fan was placed at the kitchen doorway, blowing directly at He Yushui.

Li Weidong wanted to lend a hand, but Lin Yurou refused. She muttered that Li Weidong was already tired enough earning a living outside, how could he come home and keep busy with the kitchen?

Xiao Xi drooled, staring longingly at the kitchen: "Brother, I want to eat fried pork cracklings, they smell so good!"

Li Weidong patted her head: "Wait, once the oil is ready, I'll mix some sugar in for you."

In Liu Haizhong's courtyard, the family of four were eating around a small table. On the table were plates of fried cicadas. Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu each sat on one side, while Liu Guangqi sat at the top.

Liu Guangfu caught more than thirty cicadas today, which is quite a bumper harvest.

After returning home, he plucked the cicadas' wings and soaked them in salt water for a while. Once the water had drained, he poured a thin layer of oil into a pan, without actually frying them. After the oil was hot, he added the cicadas and stir-fried them, resulting in a final product that was almost like deep-fried cicadas.

Just before it's done cooking, drizzle some soy sauce on top, and the aroma immediately fills the air, making your mouth water.

Liu Guangqi, beaming with pride, held his wine glass and tossed a cicada into his mouth, chewing it with a loud crunch. Liu Guangfu watched, his eyes turning red.

Liu Haizhong chewed on a cicada, smacked his lips, and said, "Not bad, we caught quite a lot today. Guangfu, let's go again tomorrow."

Liu Guangfu said dejectedly, "It's impossible. I finally found a secluded grove of trees today, but when I came back with this bag of cicadas, everyone saw me."

Liu Haizhong's face darkened, and he was about to scold his son when he suddenly saw Director Yang, Secretary Zhang, Director Li, and Director Wang walking over together, with Yi Zhonghai following beside Director Yang, his face all smiles.

Liu Guangtian sprang up from the stool with a thud, his chubby body suddenly becoming incredibly agile, as if there were springs under his buttocks.

Xu Damao also quickly ran out.

With a fawning expression, Yi Zhonghai approached Li Weidong and said, "Weidong, the factory director and the Party Secretary are here."

The old fan in the corner of the room was spinning its head, blowing air.

Water had just been sprinkled on the floor, and the damp marks hadn't completely dried yet. Several enamel basins sat in the corner, filled with ice-cold well water. When the wind blew, the whole room felt cool and not stuffy at all.

On the coffee table sat a large pot of chilled tea, brewed by Li Weidong himself. It contained some herbal roots, was dark brown in color, and had a slightly bitter-sweet aroma.

"Come and try it, it's my recipe."

Li Weidong picked up the kettle and poured a bowl for everyone. "Drink this in the summer to cool down and prevent heatstroke."

Director Yang picked up the bowl, took a sip, his eyes lit up, and he gulped down the whole bowl in a few mouthfuls.

Secretary Zhang, Factory Director Li, and Director Wang didn't stand on ceremony and finished their drinks in one go.

"It's really good. After drinking it, the tightness in my chest completely disappeared, and I feel much better."

Secretary Zhang wiped his mouth and gave a compliment.

"Brother, I want more!"

Xiao Xi, holding her little bowl, followed happily behind Li Weidong.

Li Weidong looked down at her, smiled and shook his head: "You can't drink too much of this, it's cooling. You're small, if you drink too much you'll get a stomachache."

Xiao Xi pouted and frowned, asking, "How long will it take before I'm considered grown up?"

"Little brat."

Li Weidong reached out and ruffled her hair, then gestured towards the inner room, "Go check with Sister Yushui, the braised pig's head should be ready. Ask her to give you three pig tails to gnaw on."

Turning around, I saw that Xiao Dang and Huaihua had also slipped into the backyard and were peeking over here.

Xiao Xi's eyes darted around, and she looked up and said, "Then give me another bowl, I'll share it with Xiao Dang and Huaihua."

Li Weidong pinched her cheek: "Are you trying to take this opportunity to get a few more bites?"

He poured half a bowl for Xiaoxi anyway. This herbal tea had hawthorn in it, so it was sweet and sour; no wonder the girl was craving it.

Xiao Xi ran over with her bowl, and the three of them—Xiao Dang, Huai Hua, and Xiao Xi—took turns drinking, each taking a sip and enjoying it immensely.

Xu Damao, Yi Zhonghai, and Liu Zhonghai stood at the door, and Li Weidong made no move to invite them in. This meal wasn't for them.

Xu Damao's eyes darted around, then he turned and headed home. He still had a few bottles of wine hidden in his cupboard, but it wasn't the right time to take them out now. He'd have to wait until all the dishes were served and the wine was ready to be drunk before taking them over.

Just in time to arrive, pour everyone a drink, and you can easily sit down.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Zhonghai exchanged a glance, feeling incredibly frustrated. The people inside didn't even bother to look at them; if they continued standing there, they would only embarrass themselves.

The two slunk back to Liu Zhonghai's house, their faces as black as ink.

"That little brat doesn't take us seriously at all."

Liu Zhonghai gritted his teeth, slammed his hand on the table, and said, "We accept that he's the chief engineer at the factory, but back in the compound, he's just an ordinary resident, and we should be in charge!"

Forget it.

Yi Zhonghai sneered, "In his eyes, you, my second uncle, and I, his uncle, are nothing."