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

Niu Dazhuang looked at Qin Huairu warily.

"Why are you looking at me like that? If you don't want to, then forget it." With that, Qin Huairu turned and left.

Niu Dazhuang reacted quickly, grabbing her arm and pulling her into a dead end.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Better safe than sorry."

People occasionally walked by the alley entrance, turned their heads to look, and assumed it was just a young couple having a fight, so they didn't stop.

The two began whispering to each other. "Why are you so reluctant to part with me?"

Qin Huairu patted his lower back and scolded playfully, "You're so annoying, are you doing this on purpose?"

"So what do you suggest we do from now on? We can't just end up like Pan Jinlian!"

"You're so mean! How am I Pan Jinlian? You're more like Ximen Qing—a perfect match for Pan, Donkey, Deng, Xiao, and Xian!"

"Wow! Huai Ru, you even know that! Looks like you've been reading a lot!"

"Stop with the nonsense, what are your plans?"

"Which aspect are you asking about?"

"Tell me about everything, no matter what it is. I've lived in Beijing for several years now, so I should know it better than you. Making money in Beijing isn't as easy as you think!"

"What are you afraid of not making money? You'll go back in a few days!" Niu Dazhuang asked jokingly.

"What, you've only been here one day and you're already missing my sister? Thinking about going back? Have some self-respect! Let me tell you, if you don't show up, you won't make any money."

"Life won't be easy from now on. But if you're capable, I guarantee you'll live a more comfortable life than the old landlords!"

"Then what do you want me to do?" Niu Dazhuang wanted to see if Qin Huairu now was like the Qin Huairu who would become a widow many years later, with the attributes of a pure and innocent woman.

"You, a grown man, are asking me? How would I know? I think you should discuss it with your uncle. After all, he was in the army and is now the deputy head of the security department at the steel mill. I'm just worried that you might not know the situation."

Those who are all talk and no action lose heart after a few days of trying and slunk back home.

"Who says we don't know the depth? We just measured it last night!"

"Ugh, I'm talking to you about serious matters, why can't you understand!" Niu Dazhuang deliberately joked, making Qin Huairu stomp her feet in anger.

Niu Dazhuang particularly enjoyed seeing Qin Huairu's girlish demeanor. "Hehe... I'm just teasing you. I'll ask my uncle to help me find a job first. In the meantime, I'll take the time to explore Beijing."

"Yes, working in a factory is another option, and it should be enough to support a family. I'm just worrying unnecessarily. Once we're in a courtyard house, it'll be much easier for us to talk!" Qin Huairu reminded her.

"Understood, let's agree on a code."

Qin Huairu said discontentedly, "What's the use of that? Give me some of the sleeping potion you made me drink at the beginning."

Niu Dazhuang still stubbornly insisted, "When did I drug you?"

"Fine, don't think about it then. You heartless bastard, you drugged me and Xue Ru the first night we stayed at your house. If I hadn't been so weak at the time..."

"I can't even open my eyes. How could you, you heartless little devil, get away with it so easily! Now that we're in this state, you still won't tell me the truth, you're really something!" Qin Huairu said angrily.

"That stuff, if you drink too much of it, it's bad for your brain. I'm really out of stock right now, but I'll make some for you in a couple of days."

"Well, we can't do it too often, twice a week is enough," Qin Huairu said shyly, her head down.

Niu Dazhuang suddenly remembered a detail from the TV series: "Huai Ru, did your mother-in-law used to smoke opium?"

Qin Huairu thought for a moment and then said, "She probably smoked it before, but not to such an extent. My mother-in-law has a chronic back pain problem. Before Liberation, she smoked that stuff to relieve the pain, but after Liberation, she switched to painkillers. How is this related to your medicine?"

"Hmm, that's somewhat related. If your mother-in-law has been taking painkillers for years, she might have developed a resistance to this medicine, so we'd have to increase the dosage for it to be effective. Let's try it out first."

Qin Huairu then asked, "Will it have any effect on the child?"

"Eating it once or twice won't have any effect, but you absolutely shouldn't eat it too often or frequently. It's best to avoid it altogether!"

"Understood. Let's go!"

Niu Dazhuang followed behind her, gazing at her alluring waist, then looking down, and tsk tsk...

Qin Huairu seemed to know that Niu Dazhuang was watching her, and she swayed her slender waist even more enthusiastically as she walked.

As they approached the entrance to Nanluoguxiang Hutong, Qin Huairu stopped and said proudly, "I've been looking all along, and I still haven't had enough."

"We're almost home. You can go in later. That way, those gossipy women won't have anything to say."

"Understood, you go back first, I'll wander around a bit more."

As soon as Qin Huairu entered the gate, she was spotted by the third aunt: "Oh! Huairu is back. You've been staying at your parents' house for quite a while this time."

"That's right, I stayed for more than a month. If it weren't for that heavy snow that blocked the mountain before the New Year, I would have come back on the third day of the Lunar New Year." As she spoke, Qin Huairu turned through the hanging flower gate in the front yard and entered Zhongyuan.

Seeing Xiaobanggeng running and playing in the yard, Qin Huairu quickly stepped forward and held the child in her arms: "Banggeng, did you miss your mother?"

The little stick looked at her with the eyes of someone looking at a stranger, then turned its head to look at its own grandmother.

"Huai Ru, you haven't been back for over a month, and Xiao Bang Geng'er is already wary of you," Aunt Qi explained from the side.

Qin Huairu's hatred for Jia Zhangshi intensified... She thought to herself that she would bring up the matter of housekeeping when Jia Dongxu returned.

As for Niu Dazhuang, after parting ways with Qin Huairu, he immediately went to Dongwang Hutong to find Ye Chunmei.

This young woman was quite a beauty, Niu Dazhuang couldn't help but think back to the cave on the way last year.

As expected of the famously strong White Tiger Leaping Gorge Body, her fighting power alone is equivalent to that of Qin Huairu and her sister.

That big millstone was shaking like a rattle drum...

My wild thoughts have finally come to an end!

"Damn! The door's locked." I found a two-meat restaurant nearby and decided to fill my stomach first.

After finishing his meal, he counted his pitiful eight yuan and two mao. The family hadn't had much money left after he got married and built a house. He left his wife fifty yuan before leaving, and also took out the meat from his storage space under various pretexts, turning it into cured meat.

All that's left in the room is some half-cold meat that wasn't finished, and a little over eight yuan in his hand. That's all the wealth Niu Dazhuang has now.

After eating and smoking a cigarette, I grabbed a stool and sat across from Ye Chunmei's house, waiting for her to get off work.

It was past lunchtime, and all the customers at the meat stall had left. The owner glanced at Niu Dazhuang sitting by the door and struck up a conversation.

"Did you come to the city to stay with relatives?"

"Even if that's true, hey, shopkeeper, where did you get this scum from? And this noodle? Doesn't it cost two tickets?"

"What are you doing here?" the shopkeeper asked Niu Dazhuang warily.

"Don't be so nervous, shopkeeper. This is my brigade's letter of introduction. I'm just an ordinary citizen, we're just discussing innate abilities!"