Courtyard House: Starting as a mediocre engineer

Just as Zhuang Zhongchen was counting his spoils, the system suddenly beeped a few times.

Trigger the side quest:

[The Demonic Thoughts of a Thug]

Have a proper meal at the Xinqiao Hotel. Duration: Five days.

Reward: 5 shopping vouchers, 1 skill point. Penalty for failure: 10 shopping vouchers, 3 skill points.

Automatic triggering, rejection is not allowed.

Trigger the side quest:

[Eliminate evil completely]

The criminal gang entrenched in this street is the Iron Leopard Gang. This theft gang is also Iron Leopard's subordinate. In order to have a safe living environment, we must completely eliminate or severely cripple the Iron Leopard Gang.

Duration: One year. The standard for severe damage is the arrest of over 70% of the gang's core members and the destruction of over 70% of the gang's assets.

Current progress: One key member of the gang has been arrested. 10% of the gang's assets have been destroyed.

奖励：如果刬除的话，1张一次性升级卡、50张购物券、15技能点。如果重创的话，25张购物券、7技能点。如果没有完成，惩罚：100张购物券、40技能点。

Automatic triggering, rejection is not allowed.

This is truly unexpected; I didn't expect to trigger a side quest. And two at once?

This made Zhuang Zhongchen thoughtful. If he explored the entire street, there might be many side quests waiting for him to open treasure chests.

However, Zhuang Zhongchen discovered a few new developments.

First, there's the independence of side quests. They're not really related to the main quests. You can think of it this way: the main quests are like dungeons, and side quests are like the monsters within those dungeons.

Secondly, the rewards and punishments are now clearly defined. Unlike before, when the "task completion settlement" was rather vague.

Here, completion is completion, and incompleteness is incompleteness. The standards are very clear.

The rewards for previous task completion assessments might be lower or higher than expected, so the outcome is quite flexible.

As for which is better or worse? Well, it's a trade-off; each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Finally, there's the setting of "automatic trigger, no rejection allowed".

Since there are "no refusal allowed", there must also be "refusal allowed". How exactly it will work will need to be explored gradually in the future.

Putting everything else aside, Zhuang Zhongchen began to carefully study the two side quests. After some research, he was somewhat confused.

The first one, "the devilish thoughts of a petty thug," is far too simple, isn't it? It's just about going to the New York Hotel for a meal, right?

The second requirement, "to eradicate evil completely," is just too difficult, isn't it?

Whether in work or in life, Zhuang Zhongchen had absolutely no connection with this gang of thugs. You could say they were from completely different worlds.

If I were to force myself to get involved? Aside from the possibility of arousing suspicion, would I really become a clandestine detective hiding in the shadows? Wouldn't that be a waste of time and energy?

In Beijing during this period, ordinary hoodlums were simply called "hoodlums," or sometimes "street thugs." The big hoodlums were called "stubborn masters." Older, washed-up hoodlums were called "old guns."

Without a doubt, Tie Bao was a troublemaker. And the leader of that theft gang was Tie Bao's core member.

Should we let Zhuang Zhongchen take on the whole group by himself? Or... let's calm down first! Anyway, there's still a whole year left, we'll talk about it then!

……

On a sunny Sunday, Zhuang Zhongchen and Wen Yumei went on a date.

"Hey, you rascal, where are we going to play?" Wen Yumei came running over excitedly.

"Come on! I have a gift for you."

"What?"

"Keep it a secret!"

"That's unacceptable! I don't want that! Hehehe."

However, upon arriving at the watch shop, Wen Yumei was overjoyed to discover that Zhuang Zhongchen had purchased a pair of couple watches.

"Brother Chen, isn't this too much of a waste?"

"What's the big deal? We haven't even given each other a token of our affection yet."

"Hmph. Don't be so conceited. Who would even want you?" But after seeing the price of the watch, Wen Yumei still felt a pang of heartache. "Brother Chen, brother, it's too expensive! We need to... well, we still need to be frugal!"

"Don't worry, when you get married, I guarantee you'll have the 'three turns and one sound' (referring to a specific type of equipment, such as a watch, a radio, and a bicycle), so you'll have a grand and prestigious wedding."

"Hehehe. I'm ignoring you now!"

These two watches are Rolexes, and the price wasn't "very expensive," costing only 592 yuan.

Because domestically produced watches have only recently achieved localization and production volume is still relatively low, they travel to Europe every year to import large quantities of machinery, vehicles, and watches.

Unlike later on, when watches seemed to have become a luxury item, they are actually quite important timekeeping tools. Without them, life would be unbearable.

Therefore, in the early 60s, domestic watch shops carried a large number of European brands, such as Rolex, Enicar, and Titoni. It wasn't until the early 70s that domestic watch brands like Shanghai dominated the market.

Of course, domestic brands are just over 100 yuan. But these Rolex watches are almost 600 yuan.

However, Zhuang Zhongchen didn't care at all about spending money on his sister. After all, he had just made a fortune through ill-gotten gains.

The small yellow croakers and silver dollars will definitely be kept at home. Those ration coupons will be sold to scalpers if necessary, and kept for personal use. Adding the royalties I just received, I've almost bought a pair of Rolex watches.

According to the agreement between the two families, Zhuang Zhongchen and Wen Yumei's wedding will be held around the Spring Festival of the year after next. That is, there is still more than a year until Wen Yumei turns 18.

Therefore, there is enough time. It guarantees that I will be able to buy the three-wheeled vehicle and the sound system.

However, Wen Yumei showed no awareness of being a bride-to-be. She remained playful and carefree, maintaining a girlish mentality.

"Brother Chen, where are you taking me?"

"Let's go to Xinqiao and have a nice meal to celebrate."

"No way? You're wasting money again?"

"It's just once in a while! I'm just worried about you, right?"

"Pah! Forget it! Just this once! No wonder my mom told me that you can't keep money around a man. You guys need to keep a close eye on yourselves. Hmph."

As one of the 17 high-end hotels in Beijing, the Xinqiao Hotel was also fully open to the public. Like the Mogao Hotel, the Xinqiao Hotel's Western restaurant was also quite famous. It's just that later on, there were relatively more children of high-ranking officials in Beijing's elite circles, and literary works always referred to "Mogao," making it seem as if only Mogao existed.

Because it is a Western restaurant, it is quite particular about Western restaurant etiquette.

And the waiters these days weren't to be trifled with. They really would openly mock you—"Hey country bumpkin, with the way you eat, why don't you go eat some flatbread or fried dough sticks across the street? Are you out of your mind coming into our Western restaurant?"

You have money? If you do, I won't serve you. Get out of here! Anyway, our restaurant is state-owned, so I won't lose a single penny of my salary.

Okay! You can't beat up customers without cause! That's a bit of an exaggeration. Do you really think people won't smother you on your way home from get off work? But directly making sarcastic remarks in a Western restaurant is definitely unavoidable.