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

"What, trying to rob me?" Wang Laosan sneered. "Scarface, you better behave yourself."

"Fine, fine, you can eat all by yourself. Aren't you afraid of choking to death?" Scarface said resentfully. "Second brother, third brother, let's go."

Watching Scarface and his gang leave, Wang Laosan said to Li Xiangdong, "Sir, please be careful. Those three are capable of anything. There are many people around, so they won't dare. But..."

"Okay, I understand. I'm leaving."

Li Xiangdong walked straight through the grove of trees and left.

Li Xiangdong didn't want to buy anything. He had plenty of things in his secret space. He really didn't lack anything. He could just get some tickets when he got married later.

They hadn't gone far after leaving the grove when three people caught up with them. It was Scarface and his two companions.

Li Xiangdong coldly stared at the three of them; the surroundings were now empty and deserted.

"Boy, hand over everything you have, or else... See this knife? I'll go in with a white knife and come out with a red one!" the scarred man said menacingly.

Li Xiangdong was wrapped in a cotton-padded coat, so the three men assumed he must have something valuable on him. The watch Wang Laosan sold made their eyes water.

Li Xiangdong wanted to test the power of his Bajiquan. Ever since the two bodies' energy was combined in this body, Li Xiangdong wanted to test the power of Bajiquan.

Now that he'd found a sitting duck, Li Xiangdong naturally wasn't going to hold back.

A fierce, mountain-leaning strike came crashing down, and before Scarface could even thrust his knife, he was sent flying by a powerful force, losing consciousness mid-air.

Scarface was thrown three meters away, rolling around on the ground. The second and third brothers stared wide-eyed, quickly throwing their knives far away and obediently raising their hands.

Even as thugs, they had a good eye. Seeing that Scarface had been knocked flying in one move, rolling several times on the ground before losing consciousness, the two thugs knew this kid was truly skilled.

"Sir, sir! We were blind, we were blind..."

The second brother said hurriedly. He was afraid that this kid would make another move.

"Hand over everything you have. Don't make me do anything," Li Xiangdong said in a low voice. His voice was distinctive, making it instantly memorable.

Li Xiangdong possessed strong mental power, making it easy for him to control the muscles around his throat and alter his voice. When he made the deal with Wang Laosan, his voice was always disguised.

The second and third brothers, of course, knew what Li Xiangdong wanted. They took the canvas backpack he tossed over and threw all their money and tickets inside. They dared not gamble with a single penny, otherwise, if this kid found out, they would be in big trouble.

The second brother even took all the things off Scarface's body, who was lying on the ground. At this moment, Scarface woke up and let out a low groan.

Li Xiangdong snorted coldly and strode away, shaking off the people as he ran towards the courtyard house.

It was only around nine o'clock. Li Xiangdong saw that the gate was not closed, so he didn't jump over the wall and entered the courtyard through the gate.

As soon as they entered the gatehouse, they were met by Yan Bugui.

"Hehe, Section Chief Li, I've always kept the door open for you." Yan Bugui said with a fawning smile, "I'll always leave the door open for you whenever you go out."

"Hehe, are you going to give me money?" Li Xiangdong sneered.

Opening and closing the gate was also one of Yan Bugui's ways to make money. Those who went out to the black market at night had to give Yan Bugui some reward when they came back. Otherwise, if Yan Bugui wouldn't open the gate for them, things would get really messy.

"No need, no need. Just give me two cucumbers."

Yan Bugui's small eyes were filled with smugness.

Chapter 47 Yan Bugui's Plans Fail (Seeking flowers, votes, and support from my fellow fans!)

Yan Bugui's abacus was clattering loudly.

He figured there was a good chance he'd get the cucumbers from Li Xiangdong this way. After getting the cucumbers, should he ask Principal Zhang for money?

"I'll still take the money. If I can give him more cucumbers, that would be a huge favor," Yan Bugui thought to himself. "I'll just take one yuan from him."

Li Xiangdong snorted coldly and said, "Pah! You're really asking for money even when you're in a coffin! How dare you ask for this money!"

"Who says the gate has to be closed at 9 p.m.? You have to pay me to keep it open!"

"Whether you open or close the gate sooner or later, the people in the compound will still give you a share of the money! Heh heh, try locking me out next time!"

After saying that, Li Xiangdong turned and left, not wanting to pay any attention to these beasts.

As for reporting it to the neighborhood committee, these beasts are very secretive; either the matter isn't serious, or there's no evidence. At most, they'll get a reprimand, but they can't be seriously harmed. Li Xiangdong plans to teach them a lesson later.

Yan Bugui realized this wasn't going to work; it wasn't about closing down the shop anymore. He needed to get a couple of cucumbers.

"Section Chief Li, how about this, I'll pay for your cucumbers..." Yan Bugui said through gritted teeth.

Li Xiangdong completely ignored Yan Bugui, walked through the screen door, and arrived at the door of his main room. He unlocked the padlock and went inside.

Yan Bugui stood at the entrance of the screen door, not daring to follow him inside.

Li Xiangdong opened the door, and a warm, comforting breeze wafted out. This made Li Xiangdong nod in satisfaction. The stove he had made was truly excellent.

Li Xiangdong added some smokeless coal to the stove. Then he prepared to wash up and go to bed.

"Oh, right, I remember that the labor protection factory got back more than a hundred tons of smokeless coal when they were collecting their debts." Li Xiangdong thought to himself, "They just dumped it in an empty house in the back. That way, I won't have to worry about burning coal."

Selling coal requires coupons, and I don't have that many. Besides, I can't keep going to the factory to get more. If I had some in this mysterious space, I could just throw some out when it's almost burned out without attracting attention.

After washing up with the hot water from the coal stove, Li Xiangdong entered a mysterious space with a single thought after getting into bed. He was only wearing a pair of briefs.

The temperature here was around 28 or 29 degrees Celsius. Wearing only shorts and flip-flops, Li Xiangdong arrived in front of a row of small houses at the back.

"Wow, there really is so much coal. And this is a supermarket's leftover stock, which Old Bao's company also got back to collect debts from."

"These things are worthless in later generations, and there's no place to put them. But in this era, they are extraordinary."

Li Xiangdong rummaged around and found two large steamers. They were steamers with two layers of steaming racks. Having these would make steaming buns much easier.

This thing is perfect for use on the stove that Li Xiangdong made.

There were also some socks and very old-fashioned wool sweaters, the machine-knitted kind, of course. Li Xiangdong found some suitable ones for Yu Li to wear and left some at the villa. He planned to give them to Yu Li when the opportunity arose.

The thermal underwear Li Xiangdong was wearing was one he had bought himself before. He still had several sets in the villa, enough for him to wear.

The next morning, Li Xiangdong ate breakfast in the mysterious space again. Seeing that it was almost time, he locked the door, pushed his cart, and left.

As soon as he arrived at the gatehouse, he saw Yan Bugui standing at the door waiting for him.

"Section Chief Li, please wait a minute. It's not that I want to ask you for cucumbers. It's just that an old man is sick and has been longing for a cucumber. Please, just give him one..."

Yan Bugui pleaded as soon as he came up.

"What does that have to do with me? There are plenty of other people who want to eat cucumbers." Li Xiangdong sneered, "Get out of the way!"

"I really don't know if you're stupid or just plain stupid! You're actually using such an excuse to morally blackmail me!"

After finishing his sentence, Li Xiangdong walked away.

Watching Li Xiangdong ride away, Yan Bugui inwardly groaned. He regretted his boasting. Even if he had, he couldn't have said it was a gift from a relative. He should have said he bought it on the black market and that it was a great item! That way, Principal Zhang wouldn't try to get anything from him.

"I have no choice but to offend the principal and say that my relatives don't have any more either. What the hell is this?" Yan Bugui slapped himself.

Of course, Yan Bugui couldn't bear to slap himself hard.

For the next two days, Li Xiangdong went to work and came home. In his spare time, he chatted with Yu Li, and also told her about what was happening in the courtyard house.

These past two days, the beasts haven't bothered Li Xiangdong, which has made him somewhat uneasy. Ever since Li Xiangdong transmigrated, he's been constantly fighting against these beasts.

It was Saturday afternoon, and as soon as Yu Li and Yu Dajiang got off work, they took the bus back to Zuojiazhuang.

Tomorrow morning is when Li Xiangdong goes to their house.

Li Xiangdong rode his bicycle back to the yard, a large rooster hanging from the handlebars. He planned to make a big plate of chicken, have a couple of drinks that night, and go to bed early, as he was going to Yu Li's house the next morning.

Yan Bugui stood motionless at the door, watching people come and go. Whenever there was even the slightest chance, he'd try to take advantage of them. Nothing big, just small gains that weren't worth getting angry with or turning against him for.

Yan Bugui's expression was as if he wanted to taste the saltiness of the manure cart as it passed by him!

"Tsk tsk, the chicken that Section Chief Li bought is huge!" Yan Bugui stared intently at the rooster. "Shall we eat it tonight?"

"How about I kill the chicken for you? I'm an expert at killing chickens!"

Li Xiangdong had to admit he admired Yan Bugui. Despite the deep-seated grudge between them, Yan Bugui acted as if it never existed, all for the sake of gaining an advantage.

Li Xiangdong knew that if he let Yan Bugui kill the chicken, all the chicken blood and internal organs would disappear without a trace. He might be able to dig some chicken meat out of it.

"Fuck off!"

Li Xiangdong didn't want to say another word to this beast. He dragged the cart home, killed the chicken, scalded it with hot water to remove the feathers and clean it, and gutted it, keeping only the liver, heart, and gizzard. He threw away the rest of the internal organs and feathers.

He threw it on the garbage heap outside. Yan Bugui muttered, "They really don't know how to eat. Chicken feathers can be sold for money, and the chicken intestines should be cleaned and stir-fried quickly; the texture and taste... tsk tsk!"

But as a teacher, his pride wouldn't allow him to go to the garbage dump and retrieve those things. In truth, even if he wanted to, it would be impossible; stray dogs would have already stolen them!

Soon, the aroma of chicken filled the courtyard. This brought varying degrees of joy and sorrow to each family.

But then a piglet came out of the intermediate court screaming like a pig being slaughtered: "I want chicken! I just want chicken! Get it to me right now, or I'm not getting up!"

Chapter Forty-Eight: Qin Huairu's Methods (Seeking flowers and votes!)

Qin Huairu looked helplessly at the rag doll rolling on the ground, feeling utterly disgusted. Of course, she didn't hate the rag doll; she hated Jia Zhangshi.

The reason Banggeng is like this is because he learned it perfectly from Jia Zhangshi.

"Qin Huairu, why don't you go find him and get some meat?" Jia Zhangshi swallowed hard and said, "Look how much Banggeng is crying."

"Mother-in-law, look at our family and his situation, do you think we can get any meat?" Qin Huairu said helplessly.