Courtyard houses: Those who are capable are rewarded, and many children bring many blessings.

Su Ting is now both looking forward to Niu Dazhuang's arrival and fearing his arrival. She likes the feeling of floating around when he comes.

This floating feeling is irresistible, incredibly captivating, and makes one unable to extricate themselves from it.

It's probably because this Niu Dazhuang is too disobedient. Every time he makes me faint, he still won't stop, and as a result, I walk with my feet turned upside down for several days.

Sigh, no one is perfect. The obedient ones are not reliable, and the reliable ones are not obedient.

Niu Dazhuang didn't go into Su Ting's bedroom, knowing that Xiao Qinling was still sleeping inside. The two of them went through the open door to Su Wan's side.

Niu Dazhuang really liked Su Ting. After their first time, this little girl was as limp as a noodle; there was nothing she couldn't do...

Another exciting hour or so...

The two of them slept in the outer room.

The next morning, Su Wan woke me up early again.

After the autumn harvest, fresh cornmeal and sweet potato flour became available on the black market. Without food coupons, they bought five tons, or ten thousand catties, of potatoes for five cents each.

Corn kernels bought directly were really expensive without ration coupons—two cents a pound. A ton would cost 400 yuan.

Niu Dazhuang gritted his teeth and bought two tons. This was his last chance. He had to buy it. He had enough refined grains and meat, but he couldn't do without whole grains.

To get those six tons of coarse grains, Niu Dazhuang practically scoured the black market all over Beijing.

Xu Huizhen and Chen Xueru were both very proactive. After Niu Dazhuang told them, they went to the black market almost every night.

The two of them were like two busy little bees, never buying more than they needed. But they were both so diligent!

They were all people who had experienced hunger, and seeing bags of food in the house gave them a nameless sense of security.

Unlike Niu Dazhuang, who was a complete idiot and only knew how to buy fine grains and meat, they could keep whatever they wanted and buy whatever they wanted.

I also bought some refined grains and cured meat. These made up a small portion of my purchase. Most of my purchase consisted of rice, the kind that hasn't been hulled, rice, millet, dried corn kernels, and wheat.

These are all unpeeled. Unlike the tons of sweet potatoes and potatoes that Niu Dazhuang bought, they didn't buy many because these things have a high water content and won't keep well.

In order to buy more brown sugar, the two of them used all their connections, and Chen Xueru even went to the Soviet embassy several times.

Through the diplomat Vladimir, the two of them managed to buy 100 jin (50 kg) of white sugar each. The price was cheaper than on the black market; you practically couldn't buy that much on the black market, not even if you had the money.

Sugar is a strategic resource reserve of the country; it's not something you can buy just with money.

Vladimir still had some gentlemanly manners; he not only bought sugar for the two of them but also used his company jeep to deliver them to the tavern.

Social interactions are still necessary, so Xu Huizhen waived Vladimir's bill at the tavern that evening.

Xu Huizhen will make up for this money later. Now that it's a public-private partnership, you can host a dinner party, but you have to make up the difference yourself.

Xu Huizhen and Chen Xueru are both intelligent women. They both tacitly value their reputations. Apart from drinking with Niu Dazhuang, they have never drunk alone with other men.

All of this was prepared, and it was already late autumn.

That evening, the two of them drank together again.

"That donkey hasn't come over for days," Chen Xueru said with dissatisfaction.

"You're so blunt. What's wrong? You're missing him?"

"You don't want to?"

"I think so too. We need to come up with a solution. We can't let things get so bad that we die of drought in times of drought and flood in times of flood! There used to be some regularity, but ever since I started attending that training course, it's become unpredictable."

"Come on, have a drink. If I'd known he was so unreliable, I wouldn't have..."

"What else can you say? He's made your appetite so big, you can't think of anything else. It's just that we sisters are so unlucky."

"That's true. I've already eaten the Manchu Han Imperial Feast. I really wouldn't be interested in eating small fish and shrimp."

"Let's not talk about that heartless guy anymore, it's making me really curious. Huizhen, do you think his information is reliable? If it is, shouldn't we stock up on more food, then..."

"No way! This isn't like before liberation. Everyone else is starving. You're trying to profit from this national crisis. Do you think we'll end up well?"

"Sigh, you're right. If this had happened before liberation, we could have built a big courtyard house in a year. We could even have bought a few maids."

"Xueru, you can't say things like that outside."

"I know, don't worry! I know what I'm doing. Why did Vladimir look at you so strangely today?"

"Come on, I think the way he's looking at you is really weird."

"Hehe, of course the way he looks at me is wrong. I had Dazhuang put a bright green hat on him, so it would be strange if he looked at me the right way."

"Could Vladimir and Elena's breakup be because of Da Zhuang?!"

"Who knows? Anyway, Elena's been completely subdued. She even brought Yusupova along this year, and Da Zhuang has her completely under his thumb."

Don't let their robust appearance fool you; they're not as strong as us. They look alright at first glance, but up close, you'll see their large pores and body odor. Especially after they've sweated, without perfume, the whole room becomes unbearable.

"You're really something! You think there aren't enough of us sisters, so you introduce him to two gorgeous foreign women!"

"Don't worry about that. He was only interested in them the first couple of times. If I hadn't tricked him, Dazhuang wouldn't have bothered with them anymore."

"She even schemed against her own man to make money; there's really no one like her."

"Sigh! To tell you the truth, at first, I was angry with you, and secondly, I was genuinely craving men around that time. That's why I got together with Dazhuang. In the beginning, it was just for the novelty; I didn't intend to get entangled with him for too long."

"He's not my only man. Anyway, he'll sleep with other women the same way. Introducing him to a couple of foreign women won't make a difference. He'll see the world, and I'll make money. We'll both be happy."

"And now?"

"I'm a little reluctant to part with it now. They say familiarity breeds fondness, and that's absolutely true!"

"Yeah, I was just like you at first, and in the end I went around in circles and came back. That stuff is addictive. I'm planning to have two kids with him, how about we do it together?"

"Fine, we'll go together then. Anyway, I can't handle him alone. When he comes next time, we'll make sure he goes out on crutches."

"Hehehe... You're always bragging. You're always the one who gives in first."

"You still have the nerve to laugh at me? I may verbally surrender, but every single time, you're the one who faints first!"

"You fainted quite a few times too!"

"So there's absolutely no other way?"

"When you're drunk and your head's spinning, your fighting ability might be a little stronger. But if you're clear-headed, I don't think you have a chance at all. The current Dazhuang is not the Dazhuang of the past."

"It's a real rip-off! You could say it's a rip-off, but it's incredibly agile, like Sun Wukong inside Princess Iron Fan's belly, somersaulting and causing chaos. Even Princess Iron Fan couldn't withstand it, let alone us!" Xu Huizhen cursed.