Courtyard House: Starting as a mediocre engineer

Name: Zhuang Zhongchen

Age: 19

[Level: Third Tier (1330/10000)]

【技能：语言lv1；驾驶lv1；厨艺lv0；射击lv0；钓鱼lv0；野外生存lv0；狩猎lv0】

Skill Points: 3

考虑了一会儿，庄中尘就使用了2技能点。厨艺lv0→厨艺lv1；钓鱼lv0→钓鱼lv1。

There are quite a few lakes and waterways in Beijing, so fishing skills are somewhat useful. At least you can occasionally have a catch, just like Uncle Yan Fugui. As for hunting skills, they're not very meaningful. There aren't any large game animals around Beijing, are there? Unless you go all the way to Dongzhimen to find that Third Prince (the zoo).

Upgrade your cooking skills? There's no takeout these days, and I'm single. With my instant noodle-making skills, I'll starve to death sooner or later, won't I?

Although my cooking skill level 1 isn't very high, barely enough to cook some everyday dishes, it still improves my quality of life quite a bit, right?

Once the system reaches the third level, there are three options: upgrade the food shop, upgrade the intelligence center, or open the skill shop.

Without a second thought, they would definitely choose the food stall. The people of our great foodie empire simply crave that one delicious bite.

Food stall → Daily necessities supermarket

Sure enough, the selection at the general store was much wider. Although it was a small supermarket that mainly sold everyday items, it also had household goods in addition to food.

From this moment on, they finally escaped the primitive life and entered modern society. Putting everything else aside, at least there's soda here! Seeing the soda on the shelf, Zhuang Zhongchen was so happy he almost cried…

"Bang bang bang!"

Suddenly, he heard someone knocking on the window. Zhuang Zhongchen looked up and saw Lou Xiao'e looking around curiously.

After welcoming Lou Xiao'e into the house, Zhuang Zhongchen asked with a smile, "Lou Zi, were you with the old lady just now?"

"That's right! Now that Sister Qin is at work, there's no one chatting in the yard."

Where's your Da Mao?

"He's going to the countryside to show movies, and he said he wouldn't be coming home this weekend. By the way, do you know about Sha Zhu's blind date? The one that an old man introduced him to."

"What's wrong?"

"Silly Zhu didn't fancy that girl. He even said she was Pigsy's second aunt? Hahaha!"

"Really? That sounds a bit hurtful."

"Exactly. I heard that girl's older brother is going to settle scores with Sha Zhu. Hahaha!"

"Louzi, now you should understand, right? Shazhu just wants to find a pretty girl; other conditions don't matter."

"And what about you, Chenzi? What kind of person are you looking for?"

"No way! With my mountain of debt, who would be blind enough to jump into a fire pit willingly? Oh, right, I still owe you 100 yuan. Let me have a few months, I promise I'll pay you back."

"I don't need to worry about my money. The main thing is, you're already of marriageable age, right? Maybe you'll find a blind man. Hehe."

Zhuang Zhongchen finally understood. The rich and beautiful woman in front of him was just bored out of her mind. She was always looking for people to brag and joke around with.

"And then? The blind sparrow tricked me into coming to my house, and she immediately said 'Auntie'?"

"Aunt Flo?"

Zhuang Zhongchen suddenly realized that in this era, there was no such term as "Aunt Flo"; it was usually referred to more subtly as "Old Friend."

"Uh... that's not important. Let's not discuss this. What else can we do? Let's just remain single, even if it means enduring a bittersweet slump!"

Lou Xiao'e laughed loudly: "Actually, you're not bad off; at least you're popular with girls. If that doesn't work out, you can always marry into the family, right?"

"That's the problem, isn't it? I don't really care about marrying into the family. But my family also needs to carry on the family line. It would be great if I had a few more brothers."

"That's true. You're still the only son in your family. We can't let the family line die out, can we?"

"hehe."

"..."

……

Don't say that money gives heroes courage!

After receiving this windfall, Zhuang Zhongchen became extravagant. He spent another 5 shopping vouchers to buy information: a family was preparing to dispose of all their ancestral books.

"Hey buddy, are you selling these used books?"

"Oh, feel free to pick whatever you like. Ah, if it weren't for the fact that the house is too small and I need to find a wife for my son, I wouldn't be able to part with these books. Back when my uncle was alive, he treasured all these books."

"I'll take these books. Name your price?"

"Take whatever you want! I was going to send it to the scrap metal yard anyway."

"Oh? That's such a pity! Couldn't you just sell them as used books?"

"Didn't all the used bookstores in Pigeon Market close down?"

"Hey! You should go to Qianmen; there's a state-run antiquarian bookstore there. They'll buy a lot of your books. I'll take these few; how about 20 yuan?"

"Wow! You're so generous. Thanks, buddy."

"hehe."

"..."

It's a pity that the entire cart was filled with books, including many ancient ones. That man's uncle must have been a voracious reader. It's just that his descendants weren't very successful.

Zhuang Zhongchen also couldn't afford the whole set, so he only chose a three-volume set of scientific and technical English dictionaries, along with a few other miscellaneous books. This could be considered a decent outcome. These scientific and technical English dictionaries later became very important reference books in his translation work.

However, out of kindness, Zhuang Zhongchen pointed out a possible way. If they sold them to an antiquarian bookstore, at least most of the ancient books could be preserved. That person could also get more money.

However, this act of kindness brought an unexpected surprise: the reward was five shopping vouchers, so it was a break-even situation. This must be the reward for protecting ancient books!

Now that he had received an unexpected windfall, Zhuang Zhongchen once again went on a spending spree, making a large purchase at the general store...

……

Under the lights, Zhuang Zhongchen was eating hot pot with Qin Huairu and Lou Xiao'e, and each of them was already eating with their mouths full of oil.

"Chenzi, where did all this mutton come from? There must be several pounds of it here, right?"

"Don't ask, I just don't know."

"Hmph, what a character. Oh, right, I was thinking of saving some for my hamster."

"I've prepared everything for you, and there's another one for the old lady. Sister Qin, I promised to treat you today, and Louzi even contributed a can of luncheon meat. If it weren't for the fact that it's inconvenient for Louzi and me to eat alone, I wouldn't have had the chance to invite you!"

"Huh? So I'm just a hostess?"

The three men burst into laughter: "Sister Qin, you finally understand your place, don't you?"

"I understand, I understand. I'm just a third wheel! Hahaha!"

"Ugh! Even mutton can't shut your mouth."

"Hey, have some decency! I'm still a young lad."

"Hahaha--!"

Amidst the laughter, Qin Huairu secretly exchanged flirtatious glances. In truth, Bai Lianhua knew perfectly well that these hotpots were specially prepared for her. This scoundrel actually has a conscience! Humph—!