Courtyard House: Starting as an engineer, crushing a yard full of poultry

When Li Xiangdong got off work, he invited Li Huaide, Factory Director Yang, and Secretary Zhang to his home for a couple of drinks.

"Go back and get ready first. We'll go home and pack up before we head over," Factory Director Yang said with a smile. "I'll bring some wine, so you don't need to prepare any."

“Then I’ll bring it…” Li Huaide said with a smile.

"No need, no need. You don't need to bring anything." Li Xiangdong hurriedly said, "If you bring anything, I won't let you in."

After laughing it off, Li Xiangdong rode away on his bicycle.

On my way home, I went to the supply and marketing cooperative. I bought fluorescent tubes and installed them as soon as I got home. This is much more efficient than using incandescent bulbs. The fluorescent tubes still emit white light, but when started with a ballast, the ballast makes a buzzing sound.

Li Xiangdong had pasted white paper all over the walls. There were still several tons of these large sheets of white paper in the labor protection warehouse.

It's too cold to renovate, so we can only use large white sheets of paper to cover it up.

Even just pasting plain white paper on the wall is considered high-end. Most people use old newspapers. That can't compare to plain white paper.

There was wallpaper in the warehouse, but Li Xiangdong would never dare to stick it on the wall.

The coal stove was burning brightly, and the room was very warm.

Li Xiangdong took three boxes of canned beef for hot pot and poured them into a cast iron pot. He planned to boil it on the stove and serve it directly when the guests arrived.

Li Xiangdong went to the kitchen and cooked a bighead carp, using beer instead of water. In another pot, he poured in braised pork belly, added potato chunks and some glass noodles.

The cold dishes consist of spiced beef and cucumber with dipping sauce.

Li Xiangdong quickly prepared the dishes. The aroma wafted through the courtyard.

A pig-like scream came from the Jia family compound in the middle courtyard, and Bang Geng rolled on the ground.

"I want to eat meat! I want to eat fish!" Bang Geng howled.

"That little beast, living the high life, doesn't even help our family!" Madam Jia's eyes were filled with venom. "He deserves to be struck by lightning!"

"Qin Huairu, go and ask for some back. Those heartless parents! Can't they see my precious grandson crying like this?"

Qin Huairu said calmly, "Forget it, let's not go there and make him hate us!"

"Hey Banggeng, wait a minute. Your silly uncle is going out to cook for someone tonight, he'll definitely bring back some meat."

"Qin Huairu, what kind of talk is this? Are you afraid of being disliked by that little beast?" Madam Jia Zhangshi snapped wildly, "Do you want to remarry him?"

"That kid would never be interested in you. You're pregnant, and if you wrong Dongxu, I can make you..."

"What are you saying, Mother-in-law!" Qin Huairu said angrily, "He's a leading cadre. If he dislikes me, how can I possibly stay in the steel mill?"

"Watch your mouth. You're being so inappropriate. If someone hears you, I won't be able to stop them from dealing with you!"

Chapter Thirty-Three: Silly Pillar Gets Caught in the Trap (Thanks to everyone who voted and threw flowers!)

Jia Zhangshi shrank back, remembering the slap that had terrified him.

"That little beast has no compassion at all. How did he become a cadre?" Jia Zhangshi kept spewing filth, though her voice was much quieter.

Xu Damao smelled the delicious aroma in the backyard, and with a quick glance, he said to Lou Xiao'e, "Wife, let's go. Let's go to Section Chief Li's for a free meal!"

"Da Mao, you should just give up!" Lou Xiao'e shook her head and said, "They invited you to dinner last time out of politeness. Since they didn't invite you this time, don't push your luck."

“I’m not going there to freeload. I’m bringing two bottles of Moutai with me.” Xu Damao pulled out two bottles of liquor and said, “If I get on his good side, getting an official position will definitely be no problem in the future.”

"The position of deputy head of our publicity department has been vacant for a long time!"

Lou Xiao'e shook her head again and said, "Then you go, I'm not going!"

Lou Xiao'e has a rather large head, and with her short mushroom haircut, it looks even bigger. But she has good skin, and Xiong Da and Xiong Er aren't small either. Their butts are also quite large!

"Okay, okay, I'll go take a look!" Xu Damao hurriedly left.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to take a picture of Lou Xiao'e's large breasts. They had only been married for a few months and were still deeply in love.

Xu Damao had just arrived at the front yard when Sha Zhu entered the main gate and left the gatehouse.

The factory didn't host a dinner party this afternoon, so Sha Zhu slipped away before leaving get off work. He ended up preparing for a birthday banquet and hurriedly returned with three lunchboxes.

Sha Zhu was thinking about Qin Huairu, so he promised to bring her leftovers from the cafeteria. Of course, if they were leftovers, they wouldn't actually be leftovers from someone else.

When he wasn't doing extra work, he would also think about bringing some good food for his sister Qin.

This kind of thing had already started. Jia Dongxu didn't take it to heart at the time, knowing that Qin Huairu wouldn't be interested in Sha Zhu and wouldn't cheat on him. Qin Huairu's goal was to get rid of Sha Zhu.

"Hey, Xu Damao, you know I brought back some good food, so you're bringing out Moutai now?" Sha Zhu said with a sly grin.

He knew perfectly well that Xu Damao would never give him Moutai liquor; he'd be lucky if he didn't give him a bottle of urine.

"You think you can drink Moutai? Do you even have a mouth?" Xu Damao said disdainfully.

"Tsk tsk, all you know is how to suck up to the boss! You lapdog!" Sha Zhu said angrily, "But what's the use? You're just a projectionist!"

"What's wrong with projectionists? They're serving the people too!"

A voice sounded behind Shazhu.

"Who? You think you're so great..." Sha Zhu turned around angrily, then froze when he saw the person behind him.

Xu Damao rushed over, bowing and scraping: "Hello, Secretary Zhang. Oh, Director Yang, Director Li, hello, hello."

Factory Director Yang and Li Huaide had just come out of the gatehouse.

Sha Zhu trembled inwardly. He wasn't afraid of Li Huaide, but he had great respect for Secretary Zhang.

"Secretary Zhang, I didn't know it was you, otherwise I would never dare to speak like this."

Sha Zhu hurriedly nodded and bowed.

"Alright, alright. Be more careful next time, and speak politely to everyone!" Secretary Zhang waved his hand and said, "Old Yang, Old Li, do you know which house Section Chief Li lives in?"

“Secretary Zhang, Factory Director Yang, Factory Director Li, this way, this way, Section Chief Li lives here,” Xu Damao said hurriedly.

Xu Damao was incredibly excited. Needless to say, this situation meant Section Chief Li was treating several factory leaders to dinner. And here he was, caught in the middle of it all.

Watching Xu Damao, like a lapdog, lead the three leaders to Li Xiangdong's house, Sha Zhu spat viciously, "Damn it, that lapdog!"

Yan Bugui was watching from his own doorstep, originally hoping to get some benefits. He never expected three high-ranking officials to walk in.

"Is Sha Zhu the one who killed the three top leaders of the steel mill?" Yan Bugui asked excitedly.

"They are Secretary Zhang and Director Yang from the steel rolling mill," Sha Zhu said with a hint of pride. "Director Yang and the others love my cooking the most..."

"Since you have a good relationship with him, could you give Jie Cheng a job..." Yan Bugui asked with a look of surprise.

"Oh my god, this is a big deal. I can't handle it. You should go find an old man."

Sha Zhu immediately shook his head.

Sha Zhu knew what was important; he couldn't handle such a big matter. Even if he could, he wouldn't have let Yan Bugui do it.

Such a big deal, and you just talk about it so casually. How could you expect to do nothing?

“Old Yi is a level seven fitter, but his apprenticeship quota has been cancelled. You know only level eight can…” Yan Bugui rambled on.

"Then we'll wait until Grandpa is re-evaluated and reaches level eight next year."

Sha Zhu shook his head and said, "Let's go, let's go. Let's go back and have a couple of drinks to warm up."

“Zhu Zi, wait a minute, wait a minute. You brought back a lot of good food today, didn’t you? I also have some treasured local liquor here. How about we have a drink together? Bring the lunchbox in and heat it up…” Yan Bugui’s eyes lit up as he started making plans.

"Forget it," Sha Zhu said with a disdainful smile. "Your family... if I go in, will I even get anything to eat? Trying to take advantage of me? You've got the wrong person."

At this moment, Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang both came out.

Seeing Sha Zhu turn to leave, Yan Bugui still persisted, saying, "Zhu Zi, Zhu Zi, how about this, I'll bring some local liquor to your house to drink."

Sha Zhu shook his head and walked away quickly, leaving behind a sentence: "Third Uncle, forget about it. Your watered-down wine gave me a stomachache!"

Watching Sha Zhu's retreating figure, Yan Bugui clicked his tongue in regret.

Just as Sha Zhu passed through the hanging flower gate, he saw Qin Huairu come out of the house. Her big eyes were fixed on him as she walked quickly towards him.

"What delicious food did Zhuzi bring back?" Qin Huairu's voice was almost hoarse. Hearing this, even the silly Zhuzi felt weak in the knees.

"Sister Qin, look! This box is braised pork with potatoes. Most of it is meat!" Sha Zhu said proudly. "This box is braised fish, and this box is braised tofu with pork cracklings."

"Thank you, Zhuzi." Qin Huairu reached out to grab the nylon mesh bag containing the lunchbox.

However, Qin Huairu seemed to have grabbed the wrong hand and ended up grabbing Sha Zhu's hand instead.

Sha Zhu's hand was grabbed by that soft little hand, making him laugh so hard that all he could see were those yellowed teeth. He couldn't see anything else at all.

"Sister Qin, don't grab it, don't grab it!" Sha Zhu put his other hand on Qin Huairu's thick waist: "I'll give you a box of tofu and a box of braised pork with potatoes. I'm taking that fish back with me for a couple of drinks!"

"Bang Geng has been drooling with envy for ages, Zhu Zi, you're such a grown-up. Why are you fighting with a kid for food!" Qin Huairu rolled her eyes at silly Zhu and said, "Wait, I'll go get you some peanuts."

As Qin Huairu spoke, she bumped Sha Zhu with her plump buttocks. That one bump sent Sha Zhu completely numbing. He watched as Qin Huairu walked away carrying the nylon net bag.

"Hehe, hehe." Sha Zhu chuckled lewdly.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Li Xiangdong Treats Me to a Meal (Please give me flowers and votes!)

When Qin Huairu turned around, her face was filled with disgust. She felt a surge of nausea.

She was disgusted by Sha Zhu. His old face and the stench he reeked were truly unbearable for Qin Huairu. But to earn some money for her child, she had to suppress her nausea and continue arguing with Sha Zhu.

Sha Zhu is getting bolder and bolder. Before, a mere touch of her hand would make him ecstatic. Now he even dares to touch her waist.

"Once he learns his lesson, I'll teach him a lesson next time," Qin Huairu thought to herself. "But I can't fall out with Sha Zhu yet."