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

After having dinner at home, Niu Dazhuang didn't stay at home either. He had been teased and got angry in the afternoon, so he needed to find an outlet for his anger in the evening.

Even though Ye Chunmei possessed the White Treasure Cauldron, she couldn't withstand the relentless forging by the tireless blacksmith Niu Dazhuang...

On Saturday, Niu Dazhuang went home full of energy to tidy up the house, while Ye Chunmei was still unable to get out of bed.

"Second sister, don't be so reserved, help me out. Anyway, you're not planning on finding another man," Ye Chunmei said weakly, lying on the kang (heated brick bed).

"You shameless brat, stop pretending with me and get up right now. You were full of energy the next day last time, why aren't you up to it this time?"

"Last time, Dazhuang taught me martial arts. Last night, he probably got some kind of shock outside, because he sped up right away, making it hard to even catch my breath. I couldn't take his abuse like that."

"No way, I heard you from over there..."

"Second sister! How can I put it? The first half was great, but flying all the time isn't good for your body! I'm not even jealous, second sister, why are you still holding back?" Ye Chunmei said, seeing that Chunlan remained silent.

She continued, "Second sister, you're not still thinking about going back to being a capitalist wife, are you?"

"You brat, are you trying to stab me in the back? Are you deliberately trying to provoke me? I've told you about what happened before."

"What's the big deal? That guy surnamed Ma is back looking for you now, isn't he? What man doesn't like young and beautiful women?"

"What do you know? I can't have children now. How many more years can Ma Xingbang keep jumping around? Without a son to rely on, they'll eat me to pieces!"

Don't provoke me. Let me think about it some more. You can rest; you don't need to go to work today. Breakfast is on the table; eat it yourself later.

"Second sister, you're really being foolish. Forget it, think about it."

For people in northern China today, a heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) with even heating and a pleasantly emitting smoke from its chimney is extremely important.

Niu Dazhuang and the three little ones were fiddling with the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove), and the east wing was filled with smoke and fumes from their activity.

"Ahem!"

"Brother, this won't do. I think we should just tear it all down." Dayong ran out, bent over.

"Ahem!"

Then the three of them ran out as well. Niu Dazhuang even stood on tiptoe to look at the chimney outside.

"Who among you knows how to build a kang (heated brick bed)?"

The three little ones all shook their heads.

"Hey! Professionals should be left to professionals. Let's go back to the backyard and check your homework from the past few days."

The four men handed a map of the area near Sun Yibo's house to Niu Dazhuang.

Niu Dazhuang looked at them carefully: "Hmm, not bad, Big Bear's is the best. Any new discoveries?"

"No, the man is very quiet and goes straight home after work. The woman rarely goes out either, and they only have nodding acquaintances with the neighbors," Da Xiong said seriously.

"Alright, you don't need to keep an eye on them anymore. After dinner, let's go to the Qianmen Ghost Market."

"Hehe, I know the ghost market well, big brother. I used to go there often when I was at Yonghe Temple," Da Yu said with a chuckle.

"Have you been back to the Yonghe Temple these past two days?"

"What are you going there for?"

"It's alright, go check back in a few days to see if anyone's still there."

"Oh. Big brother, what are we going to the ghost market for?" Big Bear asked.

"There are many ghost markets. Keep an eye on the prices of food at a few of them. Write it down in your notebook when you get back. Write down the price of anything edible."

"Okay. I guarantee I'll complete the task."

"Alright, that's all for today. I'm going to find a craftsman who knows how to build a kang (heated brick bed)."

The kang (heated brick bed) was dismantled and rebuilt. Then came the ash filling the kang hole and the flue being rearranged. The whole morning was spent working on this. In the afternoon, the kang still needed to be heated. First, we would check if it was working properly, and then we would check where the kang was still emitting smoke. We would seal the areas that were emitting smoke with mud.

After testing everything, heat the kang (heated brick bed) to dry the damp mud on it.

Everything was ready, and the money for the kang (heated brick bed) installer would have to come from the money the old man had left in the kang cabinet. After seeing the kang installer off, Niu Dazhuang didn't want to stay at home for a moment longer. It was too hard to be penniless. He grabbed a military green satchel and went to find Chen Xueru.

In those days, the layout of nearby shops was pretty much the same; generally, the shop was in the front and people lived in the back.

Ordinary people are not allowed to enter the backyard. The doorman announced that Chen Xueru was in the backyard, and Chen Xueru personally came out to greet him.

"This is my cousin. He can come in directly if he wants to see me in the future, without having to go through all this trouble!" Chen Xueru greeted the employee at the store and told him loudly.

At this moment, a man with a regular face and a rather muscular build stepped forward and said, "Manager Chen, we need to have a meeting this afternoon, and we need your attendance."

"Why are there meetings every day? We just had one a couple of days ago!" Chen Xueru complained, annoyed.

"The summary meeting was held a couple of days ago, and today is the awards ceremony..." Liao Yucheng wanted to continue, but Chen Xueru interrupted him.

"Alright, I know. It's such a trivial matter, yet you call a meeting." He then turned to Niu Dazhuang and said in a friendly tone, "Come in!"

After walking around the counter and out of the back door of the store, Chen Xueru pointed to the main gate in the courtyard and said, "Next time you come, come through the main gate."

"Oh." I thought to myself, I wouldn't dare come if I didn't have to.

As soon as Niu Dazhuang entered Chen Xueru's room, a faint sandalwood scent wafted into his nose.

Although the layout remained the same—entering the main hall and having bedrooms on either side—the furnishings inside the main hall were completely different from Xu Huizhen's home. It was entirely Western-style, with a large mural hanging on the north wall, seemingly depicting a Western mythological theme.

Below the huge painting was a long cabinet, on which a row of glasses were placed upside down.

Anyway, Niu Dazhuang didn't understand either. There was a row of wine cabinets on the east wall, a leather sofa on the west wall, and a floor-to-ceiling cabinet in the northwest corner, covered with a piece of pink silk. Judging from its shape, it should be a phonograph.

There is a large coffee table in the middle.

At this moment, wisps of smoke were still rising from the large coffee table.

"Don't just stand there, sit down. We have last year's Longjing tea and jasmine tea. What would you like to drink?"

"I'll drink anything," Niu Dazhuang said, sitting down on the sofa.

Chen Xueru turned around and took out a can of tea from the cabinet in the northwest corner: "Brew it yourself, I'm going to change my clothes."

Without giving Niu Dazhuang a chance to speak, she put down the tea canister, swayed her hips, and went into the east bedroom.

"Hey sister, is this really necessary?" Niu Dazhuang said loudly, turning his head.

"I didn't change them especially for you. I got my clothes dirty at lunch and didn't have time to change. Come back after Qingming Festival and I'll let you try authentic pre-Qingming Longjing tea."

There were only the two of them in the room. If Niu Dazhuang's hearing were any better, he could hear Chen Xueru changing clothes in the east room.