The Courtyard House: He Yuzhu Returns with Boundless Hatred for Revenge

He Yuzhu lay on the bed, tossing and turning, carefully considering his future path.

Having been reborn, revenge is one aspect, but life still goes on. Of course, I can't be as pathetic as I was in my previous life, just a cook, continuing the He family line. I need better conditions to pave the way for my future children and sisters, at least ensuring they have enough to eat and wear and live a carefree life. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a joke that God paid such a high price to give me this second chance?

Thinking about future plans, He Yuzhu also had a headache, because there really weren't many good options these days.

Doing business? That's suicide. Public-private partnerships have long been completed, and the individual economy is strictly controlled. Any attempt to swindle or speculate is a serious crime in this era. To exchange the glorious status of three generations of farmers for a small business owner's status that would be subject to supervision and reform is something only a fool would do.

Besides, money won't be as important in the next few years. The rationing system has already been implemented, and later, with the rationing, you won't be able to buy anything even if you have money. Various ration coupons will become the real hard currency. If you only have money but no coupons, you can't even buy two ounces of meat.

The problem is, having that much money doesn't benefit you at all. Having your own space means you won't lack basic necessities; if you need more, you can just go to the factory's small warehouse or the grain store. Only a fool would go into business to make money.

As for the idea of ​​acquiring gold and antiques and becoming incredibly wealthy after the market is liberalized, sorry, I'm only concerned with the present. What do I care about the future decades from now?

Forget about literary creation. He Yuzhu knew perfectly well that once the storm rose, all those great writers would suffer. Those who wrote books, painted, sang operas, wrote lyrics for revolutionary songs—anyone involved in the arts would meet a bad end. Some would jump into lakes, some would hang themselves, and countless others would be branded as "XX," denounced and discredited. Although he had absorbed fragments of consciousness from those parallel worlds and possessed a considerable amount of information from later generations, writing it down? That would be courting death.

Hunting is also unreliable. If you think you can gain your superiors' favor by hunting large quantities of wild game and meat, and then become a cadre in the purchasing department, that's pure fantasy. It's the most self-destructive path you can take.

Occasionally catching a rabbit or pheasant and claiming it was just good luck might fool you. But frequently bringing back large quantities of game would immediately arouse suspicion. These days, every village has militia, with checkpoints at every turn. How did you manage to get so much game through so many villages without being intercepted? Why did they let you pass? You need to explain.

You can store your prey in your spatial storage and return from the mountains with just a letter of introduction; the militia won't stop you. They might not bother you a few times, but if it happens too often, they'll definitely investigate. If they compare the two sides, and the villagers there say you went alone, without any belongings, or they've never even seen you before, while you enter the city with a large quantity of prey, then things will get really interesting.

You have to understand, back then, "demons and monsters" didn't just refer to feudal superstition. Anything that couldn't be explained by common sense could be attributed to them. If you couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation—no, no, they didn't even need a reasonable explanation—they'd just condemn you outright. You'd either be treated like a spy or branded a monster. Did they think some government departments were playing a joke on you?

The more He Yuzhu thought about it, the more he felt that this era was full of pitfalls.

So, where does the road lead?

After much thought, I realized I still had to rely on my cooking skills.

He Yuzhu sat up on the bed, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and his thoughts gradually became clearer.

The path of culinary skills is the least risky in this era. No matter which way the wind blows, people still need to eat. Especially those leaders, which one doesn't want to eat well? In my previous life, I became the head of the canteen and even got to know a high-ranking leader just by relying on my culinary skills. Although I was eventually schemed against and left with nothing by those beasts like Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu, at least it proved that this path is viable.

His family's culinary skills, combined with the magical spring water, were his greatest assets. He considered that he could market his dishes as medicinal cuisine. The He family's ancestors were originally from the Tan family cuisine, which emphasizes refined and nourishing dishes. He could claim that his ancestors had passed down some gentle and nourishing recipes, and then he could integrate and innovate them to create medicinal dishes that would be beneficial to the body. No one could find fault with that.

These days, leaders have heavy workloads, and most of them came from the war years. Who doesn't have some health problems? If they can improve their health through their own medicinal diet, that would be a great favor.

He Yuzhu's consciousness sank into the space, gazing at the spring that continuously gushed forth clear water. Even as a reborn individual whose power had been multiplied countless times by the spatial rift, drinking that water would significantly boost his spirits. If this water were used to cook for an ordinary person, the effects would undoubtedly be astonishing.

With the appreciation and reliance of the leaders, the position of canteen director is just a piece of cake.

Becoming an official allows you to cover up many things, especially those beasts in the courtyard house. If you were just an ordinary cook, they could easily find a reason to report you to the neighborhood committee or police station, and the police and neighborhood committee officials could search your house. But if you're an official, even just a factory worker-turned-cadre, they don't have that right; they have to report to their superiors. Searching an ordinary worker and searching an official have completely different procedures and consequences. This official position is the best shield.

Not to mention the other benefits of becoming a cadre: housing allocation, special access to supplies, and the right to choose schools for one's children. These are all tangible advantages.

The more He Yuzhu thought about it, the more reliable this path seemed.

This official position must be held, and the higher the rank, the better.

Stop spouting this high-minded nonsense. You can't stand this or that, you're just going along with it. You've already died once, why would you care about these things? As long as you're not committing murder, arson, or disregarding human life, you've already done right by your conscience.

In his past life, he pretended to be high-minded, but what was the result? He was fooled like an idiot and eventually froze to death in a bridge hole.

As for who to side with, that was also a headache for He Yuzhu. In this day and age, choosing the wrong side could affect the fortunes of the entire family, even three generations.

The current head of the steel rolling mill is Director Yang. He seems like a decent person, quite upright, and kind to the workers. But He Yuzhu knows that in a few years, when things get turbulent, Director Yang was almost killed. Following him would only lead to a worse fate for him.

Li Huaide is currently the logistics director and will be promoted to factory director later. During those ten years of upheaval, he truly held absolute power in the steel rolling mill, able to eliminate whomever he pleased and being generous to those around him. But what happened ten years later? He ultimately fell from grace. Those who followed him all became cannon fodder, their entire lives and three generations of their families forever condemned to never recover.

Neither of them will do.

He Yuzhu frowned as he thought. The steel rolling mill is so big, there has to be someone who can stay put, right?

His mind raced through memories of his past life.

Suddenly, a name popped into my mind.

He Yuzhu suddenly opened his eyes.

Yes, that's him!