Courtyard House: My Time Travel is a Bit Too Strong

Lin Quan nodded, picked up his wine glass and swirled it: "Uncle, Yuzhu, come on, let's have a drink."

After a satisfying meal, Auntie Yi, He Tieshui, Qin Jingru, and Qin Huairu rolled up their sleeves and started clearing away the dishes.

Lin Quan sat at the He family's house until the sun was setting before strolling back to his own room.

Before half a cup of tea had been brewed, Qin Jingru and Qin Huairu pushed open the door one after the other and entered.

Lin Quan turned and went into the bathroom, filling the tub halfway with hot water with a "splash".

Electricity has been available in the city for a long time, but natural gas is still nowhere to be seen.

The house has an electric water heater; when you turn on the tap, hot steam rises straight up.

More than an hour later, Qin Huairu stepped into the Jia family courtyard, feeling refreshed.

Jia Zhangshi lowered her voice: "You two be careful, don't let anyone see you."

"Mom?" Qin Huairu's heart skipped a beat.

"My eyes are not blind, and my mind is not muddled." Madam Jia frowned.

Qin Huairu paused for two seconds, then took out a wad of banknotes from her bosom and gently placed them on the table: "Mom, please keep this."

"Oh, so many?" Jia Zhangshi paused, pointing.

"Take it, buy whatever you want, don't deprive yourself." Qin Huairu's tone was flat, but very sincere.

"Sigh..." Madam Jia sighed and reached out to gather it.

The next morning at eight o'clock, Lin Quan, Qin Huairu, and Qin Jingru were already squatting under the willow trees on the riverbank casting their fishing rods.

Qin Huairu spoke softly, "A-Quan, my mother knows everything."

Lin Quan's fingers tightened, and she hurriedly asked, "What did she say?"

"She didn't ask many questions, just told us to bring more people." Qin Huairu lowered her eyes.

"That's good." Lin Quan's shoulders relaxed—if things really escalated to the compound, he would either fight to the bitter end or pack his bags and run away.

He spent the whole day watching the water, his fish basket heavy with fish, and sold them for a little over three hundred yuan. He picked out a plump silver carp to keep for himself.

Lin Quan counted out one hundred yuan and stuffed it into Qin Huairu's hand.

When He Yuzhu returned from work, he was given the task of cooking the fish.

Jia Zhangshi continued to feign ignorance, which Lin Quan couldn't be happier with.

Sometimes he would carry two pounds of apples, and sometimes he would carry a few pieces of osmanthus cake.

After several visits, Madam Jia not only turned a blind eye, but also offered a few words of advice to anyone loitering at the courtyard gate.

That morning, Lin Quan sat alone in his room, and on a whim, he stepped back onto Earth.

He tested his arm strength and almost burst out laughing.

"Now I can lift 3,000 jin (1,500 kg) by myself."

He put down the can of glue beside him and then practiced the Yi Jin Jing, Duan Gu Jing, and Xi Sui Jing several times.

"Those who are skilled in martial arts have big appetites, but fortunately, Sister Qin is there to lend a hand."

After wandering around for most of the hour, he picked out a few essential items and carried them all back to Earth.

"Neither Jingru nor Huairu had much formal education... wait until things calm down..."

"When I start a factory or a company in the future, I will always need a few reliable people around me."

The thought had barely crossed Lin Quan's mind when he made up his mind: he had to help them up.

From then on, every night after he pushed the rice bowl aside, he would spread out paper and pen to teach the two of them to read.

The teacher was approachable, and the students were relaxed.

As the days slipped by, by the end of the twelfth lunar month, Qin Jingru and Qin Huairu knew at least seven or eight thousand characters.

Lin Quan herself blushed when she read through their short essays.

Her handwriting is more elegant than his, and her storytelling is more vivid.

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Yan Bugui brought out a square table and long benches, and laid out writing brushes, inkstones, and ink sticks.

"Uncle, please give me a couplet for the Spring Festival." Xu Damao handed over two cents and then placed three bright red papers on the table.

"Good!" Yan Bugui replied readily, ground the ink, picked up the brush, and finished the work in one stroke.

"Uncle, in the whole compound, your calligraphy is the most presentable." Xu Damao glanced at the still-wet ink on the couplet, and couldn't help but smile.

"Da Mao, when is the wedding banquet?" Yan Bugui asked, putting down his pen.

"The fifth day of the first lunar month." Xu Damao smiled, his eyes crinkling with wrinkles.

"Has the chef been decided yet?" Yan Bugui asked again.

"It was booked a long time ago, by Master Nan Yi from the branch factory," Xu Damao patted his chest.

"Why didn't you ask Factory Director He to come forward?" Yan Bugui grinned, his words tinged with a hint of teasing.

"Uncle, you really know how to rub salt in the wound." Xu Damao raised an eyelid and gave him a disgruntled look.

After becoming the head of the investigation team, Xu Damao was not only hardworking but also knew how to navigate interpersonal relationships. In less than two months, he was quickly promoted to deputy director.

Even after becoming the deputy director of the machinery factory, he still relentlessly pursued Yu Haitang.

Last month, Yu Haitang finally nodded and agreed to marry him.

They chose an auspicious day and decided to hold their wedding banquet on the fifth day of the first lunar month.

Yu Haitang's older sister, Yu Li, is the wife of Yan Jiecheng, the eldest son of Yan Bugui.

When Xu Damao married Yu Haitang, the two families became proper relatives.

They were about to become in-laws, chatting happily.

At this moment, Lin Quan walked into the front yard clutching a piece of red paper and laughed loudly, "Third Uncle, busy at work?"

Upon seeing the bright red, Yan Bugui immediately broke into a wide smile and asked in a mocking tone, "Ah Quan, here to write Spring Festival couplets?"

"I'll trouble you to write this, Uncle." Lin Quan handed over a dollar.

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all!" Yan Bugui quickly waved his hand. "I can take money from anyone else, but I can't take yours—paying for writing a couplet? Won't people call me a cheapskate behind my back?"

"Then I won't refuse," Lin Quan replied with a smile.

Thanks to his connections, the three aunts, Yan Jiecheng, Yu Li, Yan Jiekuang, and Yan Jiefang all got jobs at the food factory.

The courtyard house had about twenty households, and apart from Xu Damao, almost every family owed him a favor.

Even the lowest-level workers in the food factory earn thirty yuan a month.

Of the seven members of the Yan family, only Yan Jiedi is still in school; the other six are all employed and earning wages.

Xu Damao warmly invited, "Ah Quan, Haitang and I are having our wedding on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. You absolutely must come over for a couple of drinks!"

"Okay!" Lin Quan readily agreed, and the backyard to the front yard was just a short walk away.

"Uncle, your whole family is here," Xu Damao added.

"Leave it to me!" Yan Bugui patted his chest happily. The family hadn't even separated their kitchens yet, and the two yuan gift would be enough to cover the cost just by eating meat.

Lin Quan took the Spring Festival couplets that Yan Bugui had just written back to his own courtyard.

After Qin Jingru finished making the paste, the two of them worked together to carefully paste the bright red couplets on.

"We need to prepare some incense, candles, and paper money, and buy some firecrackers," Lin Quan said.

"Mm." Qin Jingru nodded.

"Ah Quan, Jing Ru, where are we going?" Qin Huairu asked, peeking out of her mouth.

"Sister, go buy incense, paper money, and firecrackers," Qin Jingru replied readily.

"I'll go too," Qin Huairu said with a smile, rolling up her sleeves.

Lin Quan drove his Jeep out, taking Jingru and the others with him, and they bought a lot of things.

Qin Jingru works at the Ximen Supply and Marketing Cooperative, which makes it convenient for her to buy anything.

On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, the residents of the Zhongyuan Courtyard gathered together as usual to stay up all night to welcome the New Year.

He Tiezhu was in charge of cooking, with Auntie Yi and Jia Zhangshi assisting him.

It was almost midnight, and the table was already laden with chicken, duck, fish, and meat, glistening with oil and smelling delicious.

Apart from the children who are in school and the elderly in their seventies and eighties, the residents of the compound either work in machinery factories or food factories. They are no longer single people supporting their entire families, and they all have some spare change in their pockets.