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

More than a year has passed since the divorce, and Xu Huizhen's loneliness and helplessness have gradually subsided with the passage of time.

Today, Xu Huizhen clearly sensed Niu Dazhuang's hobby. This stirred up unease within the newly appointed Xu Huizhen.

He started comparing Niu Dazhuang and Cai Quanwu in his mind.

"What's wrong with me today? People only came all this way to say these things because they thought we knew each other. How could you have such unrealistic ideas? But—this Niu Dazhuang is really something. He's younger and better looking than Cai Quanwu, and he's quite strong too. And his words aren't as pleasant as Cai Quanwu's..."

While talking to herself, Xu Huizhen fell asleep.

As for Niu Dazhuang, after leaving the tavern, he headed towards Qianmen. Not far from the freight yard of Qianmen Railway Station, people started setting up street stalls.

Look at the people coming here, they've all covered themselves up completely, leaving only their eyes showing.

Niu Dazhuang, being inexperienced, quickly raised his arm to block his mouth. Better than nothing, I suppose.

Niu Dazhuang first took a general look around. Perhaps because it was the early stage, the ghost market was not very large. It only took about ten minutes to walk from east to west. It mainly sold food, and there was everything for sale, including meat, chicken, eggs, and grain.

Niu Dazhuang squatted down in front of a street stall selling cornmeal.

He reached out and grabbed a handful, then squeezed it. "It's not too dry, is it?"

The stall owner wasn't happy with what he heard: "That's how it is. Take it or leave it. If you're so capable, go buy it from the state-run grain station. They sell dry grain there."

"Don't be so impatient! How much is it per pound?"

"2 cents, no bargaining."

How much do you have?

"Just this much, we don't have any more."

"What about sweet potato starch?"

"Are you buying or not? Sweet potato noodles are 15 cents each."

Niu Dazhuang got up and left. After asking around at a few more places, he roughly figured out the market situation. There was a huge difference between having tickets and not having tickets.

Just take the two coupons for fine grains, one pound of grain can be sold for two cents, and coarse grains are cheaper, but can still be sold for one cent.

Grain without ration coupons was sold at market price with the coupons added on top. That was manageable, but industrial coupons were extremely sought after, especially for bicycles, sewing machines, and watches.

After we finished looking around here, we went straight home. It's a bit far to walk to Zhushikou, but we weren't in a hurry anyway.

Gently pushing open the gate of the courtyard house, I tiptoed towards the central courtyard. Just past the hanging flower gate, I saw several dark figures lurking below the window of Jia Dongxu's house.

When one of the figures saw someone approaching, he quickly stood up and gestured for silence.

Before Niu Dazhuang could react, he was pulled over, his shoulders were held down, and he was made to squat down with them under the window.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn has passed, and Niu Dazhuang still hasn't heard anything.

Xu Damao, who didn't have a beard, gestured to everyone, and the four of them slowly left the window of Jia Dongxu's house.

He ran to He Yuzhu's house, and Niu Dazhuang, curious, followed him in.

"Hehe... What's wrong with Jia Dongxu? He only had three takes this time and had to rest?" said Yan Jiecheng, still a young and inexperienced man.

"Hey, who are you?" Xu Damao was quick-witted. He noticed that Niu Dazhuang was an outsider.

Using the moonlight streaming through the window, He Yuzhu looked at Niu Dazhuang: "This is Niu Youliang's nephew from your backyard. I've seen him before when he came over. Kid, don't tell anyone about tonight's events, or else..."

Niu Dazhuang only realized now that these guys had been listening to Jia Dongxu's advice.

"What's the big deal? It's just eavesdropping. Maybe they're even hoping you'll go!"

All four of them had their eyes light up at the same time. "Oh, tell us about it?"

"Think about it, there's only a window separating you. If you can hear what's going on inside, then of course they can hear what's going on with you too. Why wouldn't they expose you?"

Liu Guangqi, being rather shrewd, said, "Don't listen to this kid's nonsense. He's busy inside; he doesn't have time to listen to what's going on outside. It's alright, you can go now."

Niu Dazhuang was too lazy to get involved with them, thinking to himself, "I've already measured the people, and you're still eavesdropping?"

He smiled and left.

"Hey, Sha Zhu, what did that smile of his mean?" Xu Damao chimed in, stirring things up.

"He can mean whatever he wants, as long as he doesn't tell anyone about today's events! Yan Jiecheng, what's the date today? Are you staying here?"

"Hehe, got it!" Yan Jiecheng chuckled slyly.

"Have you noticed that this time is different from usual? We only heard Jia Dongxu's movements?" Xu Damao was a little dissatisfied with the results of today's eavesdropping.

"Hey, you're the clever one. It seems so. Old Qi's place is much more lively than this."

"It's lively enough, but just thinking about Qi Dazhi's wife... tsk tsk..." Liu Guangqi smacked his lips and continued, "It's not quite there yet."

"That's right, I dare say Jia Dongxu's wife is one of the best in our alley," Yan Jiecheng said excitedly.

The four of them had a pleasant chat.

As the protagonist of tonight, Jia Dongxu wasn't feeling so happy.

"Honey, what's wrong with you tonight? You seem so distracted. And also, what's wrong with you...?"

Before Jia Dongxu could voice his doubts, Qin Huairu quickly interrupted him, feigning guilt. She pretended to be angry and said, "I'm annoyed, go to sleep!"

"What are you bothered about? Now that you're in charge, what's there to be bothered about?" Jia Dongxu said in a low voice.

"Do you think I want to run this household? You only have that meager salary each month, barely enough to get by. You have to budget every penny you buy, and we hardly ever see any meat all year round."

Qin Huairu stayed at Qin Xueru's house for a few days and her taste buds became quite picky. She ate sesame seed cakes rolled with ham every day, which not only filled her up but also satisfied her cravings. Before she knew it, she had overeaten.

Now, all that effort has been wasted. But I can't say it outright, how can I not be angry!

"Wife, you weren't like this before. Why are you so demanding after visiting your parents? Our family's living conditions are quite good compared to other families in this neighborhood."

"Hmph! You know we're in this tenement, huh? I won't say anything else, but this fall you'll get promoted again. A fourth-grade fitter's monthly salary is..."

"43.2," Jia Dongxu quickly added.

"Yes, 43.2 is more than ten yuan more than I earn every month now, then I can improve my life every month."

Jia Dongxu immediately felt immense pressure: "Honey, passing the CET-4 isn't easy..."

Qin Huairu successfully pulled Jia Dongxu's thoughts back, so she didn't bother with him anymore, turned her body away, gave him her back, and went to sleep.

He fell asleep in the inner room, and Jia Zhangshi in the outer room also slept soundly.

The next morning, Qin Huairu got up early, picked up her chamber pot, and hurriedly went to a public place outside.

The spring chill lingered in the air. Niu Dazhuang wrapped his coat tighter around himself, muttering under his breath, "Damn it, I have to wait in line to use the outhouse!"