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

The feel of his hands, the physique—perfect. Niu Dazhuang suddenly understood. This was a side effect of practicing that kind of martial art. He hadn't been doing anything productive for the past few days, and had just let himself have these wild thoughts.

Having just dealt with that little vixen over a hundred times, he felt refreshed and had long since forgotten his unhappiness.

"Old Niu, Qinling and I are about the same age, so it's normal that we get along well. Ever since we came back from Hong Kong Island, we've been visiting each other a lot. Why aren't you happy? Ah... you old ox, you're as mighty as ever..."

"You make me sound so old. A man is in his prime at forty, and I'm just blossoming now, in the prime of my life."

"The more I talk, the more excited you get. Wait until Qinling comes, and then we'll see how my sisters deal with you."

"In Hong Kong Island, I wouldn't be afraid of ten or eight of you. Let alone two little cats like you..."

With Zhao Xinmei, there's no need to worry about being disturbed along the way, nor about making too much noise and disturbing the children.

There's no need to be polite, just do what you want and get to it...

When the gate to Qinling was opened, it was Niu Dazhuang who carried Zhao Xinmei there.

"My goodness, you guys are crazy! Aren't you afraid of being seen?" Qin Ling quickly closed the door.

What follows is a scene that is not suitable for children...

"It's the middle of the night, Qinling, you shouldn't go back," Niu Dazhuang said, stroking her smooth back.

"I do want to go back, but I need to be able to walk! Xinmei and I are discussing starting some money-making businesses."

"You two are planning to go into business? One of you cooks in the kitchen of a company, and the other is a top-notch performer in a song and dance troupe!"

"Don't look down on us. We've come up with two plans. One is based on my approach. Now that we're talking about a market economy, we'll go down to the grassroots level to contact performance venues. Once we have a sponsor, we'll come back and contact the performance venues. We'll earn a little extra for our hard work."

"The second option, I'll suggest, is to contact my mentor, who is also your old flame, Qin Huairu, and we'll open a restaurant together. You won't even need to put up any money; the rest of us sisters can easily scrape together enough to open a restaurant."

"Yes, we've already decided on the company we'll be affiliated with."

Although it was already the latter half of 1980, individual businesses had not yet become popular. If you wanted to do something on your own, it was still easier to be affiliated with a collective unit, especially for things like opening a restaurant.

Although grain policies have been relaxed, the unified purchase and distribution system still accounts for the majority of grain purchases. It's also cheaper than buying from the market.

"You don't want your job anymore?"

"With you backing us up, it doesn't matter whether we have jobs or not. In the end, you can't let us starve anyway."

"That's true. Let's start with a small restaurant to gain some management experience. In a couple of years, when the policies become clearer, I'll open a full-fledged restaurant for you."

Speaking of opening a restaurant, Niu Dazhuang thought of Lou Xiao'e again. Her family used to run restaurants, and now he had tricked her into opening a factory in the special economic zone.

"Qinling, Cheng Yan has taken over. How's he doing?"

"I haven't seen him for half a year either, so there shouldn't be any problem, since I have my aunt's connections."

"Oh, tell him to come over when he has time."

"You still care about your own son; we're still outsiders." Zhao Xinmei was just looking for trouble again.

"You've only had a few good days, and you're already jealous of my son? Looks like you needed to be taught a lesson earlier."

"No, no, please, it was my fault earlier. It's really no good, the front door isn't even blocking the wind anymore..."

People have to keep pushing themselves. Sure enough, the next day Niu Dazhuang was back to his old self, all his frustration gone.

He came back to this place, which he hadn't visited for more than half a year.

The tavern has reopened, but Xu Huizhen isn't focusing much on it now, since it's still jointly operated with the street.

Xu Huizhen will buy back the joint venture shares when the business goes bankrupt. Right now, Xu Huizhen is just hoping the tavern goes out of business.

The same situation applies to Chen Xueru's silk shop.

Xu Huizhen, Bai Hongyan, and the other two sisters were the only ones who didn't go to Hong Kong Island.

Niu Dazhuang knew why Xu Huizhen didn't go to Hong Kong Island. He had ruined someone else's daughter, even though Xu Jingli had offered herself to him. He had still ruined someone else's daughter.

Niu Dazhuang was deliberately trying to provoke her.

"Little Xu, you have your brilliant plans, but I have my countermeasures. I'm not the same person I used to be. This is a way of avenging myself for the trouble you caused me back then. Haha..."

"You greedy old ox who never gets enough of taking advantage of others, you were the one who took advantage of others back then, and you've held a grudge for half your life."

Chen Xueru, always eager for drama, exclaimed, "Oh! So Huizhen was the one who initiated it the first time!"

"Xue Ru, don't talk about me like that. It's not like you weren't the one who took the initiative. I don't know who it was, but she just came to Lao Niu to relieve her boredom, and then she developed feelings for him."

The two sisters' revolutionary friendship of more than ten years capsized just like that.

"I know Jingli got messed up by Lao Niu, and you're in a bad mood. I won't hold it against you. I'll make room for you." With that, she wiggled her big butt and walked away.

"What are you doing here? I sent Jingli'er to the courtyard near Dongzhimen. Go find her there!"

Niu Dazhuang stopped teasing her and put an arm around her waist: "I'm a sentimental person. I want new people, but I still like the old ones."

"You're really shameless, making your insatiable greed sound so refined and elegant." Even so, Xu Huizhen still leaned her head on Niu Dazhuang's shoulder.

After wandering around for two days, Niu Dazhuang returned to Niujia Hutong humming a little tune.

Qin Xueru had already prepared the gifts for visiting the Zhu family and was just waiting for Niu Dazhuang to return.

Since it concerned his eldest son's life-changing event, Niu Dazhuang had to bite the bullet and step up.

Niu Chengqun even gave his unreliable father a piece of advice: "Dad, when we get to Linlin's house, no matter how nasty her parents say, just listen to them. At worst, we'll stick to the second plan. Just don't fall out with them on the spot!"

"I know, I know, I can't stand it anymore, I'll just come out, okay? Hurry up."

Niu Dazhuang rode his old, dilapidated bicycle again, the handlebars and the back seat covered with gifts he had bought for the Zhu family.

Niu Chengqun had Linlin on the back seat, and the two were chatting and laughing.

Niu Dazhuang wasn't happy to watch anymore, so he waited a few laps and rode ahead of them.

At this time, there was no such thing as refusing to hit a smiling face. Niu Dazhuang and his son, carrying large and small bags, entered the Zhu family's house with smiles on their faces.

The elderly couple, upon seeing it was them, turned around with sullen faces and went inside. They didn't even say a polite word.

The father and son were prepared, and shamelessly left all their belongings at the door.

"Since you're already here, come in and talk!" Linlin's father still gave the two of them a way out.

The elderly couple from the Zhu family sat on the Spring and Autumn chairs in the living room. Niu Dazhuang found a stool and sat down as well, while Niu Chengqun and Linlin stood at the doorway.