The Beginning of a Courtyard House: Sixty Years of Internal Strength

Zhao Wei picked up a small mirror and looked at himself. Sure enough, the Xiaoyao Sect's kung fu had a beautifying effect.

The young man has become even more handsome. His skin is fair and smooth, but damn, why does he look more and more like a sissy? This change is quite drastic; I hope the neighbors won't notice tomorrow morning.

Forget it, I'll just smear some ash on my face tomorrow morning to disguise it.

Zhao Wei silently recited to himself in front of the mirror, "Li Jianguo, Li Jianguo. From now on, I will be called Li Jianguo. I can't let any accidents happen."

There were still quite a few enemy agents in those days. If someone suspected you of being an enemy agent, even the martial arts of the Free and Unfettered Sect wouldn't be able to withstand machine guns and mortars.

Li Jianguo carefully reviewed his memories; it was during the Korean War. It was a pity he wasn't on the battlefield.

If I were on the battlefield, I could at least do my part with my current fighting strength.

However, there's also the possibility of being discovered and dissected, so it's probably best not to go to the battlefield.

Just donate some money whenever you have a spare moment, as a way to support the martyrs who fought in the Korean War.

The next day, Li Jianguo woke up groggily.

Seeing that it was still early, he smeared some dust on his face, grabbed all his money, locked the door, and dashed out of the yard. Because he left early, he didn't run into any neighbors.

I walked to the steel rolling mill. There are so few bicycles now; they're not something ordinary people can afford.

But the Lunar New Year is almost here. There's not much to do at the factory anymore. I'm just waiting for payday to celebrate the New Year.

Li Jianguo arrived at the purchasing office at the University of Science and Technology and waited. Usually, on the first day of the week, after the department head assigned the purchasing tasks, the purchasing staff didn't need to come in; they just needed to complete the weekly purchasing tasks.

Soon, all the purchasing agents arrived. Since Li Jianguo had only been there for less than a month and wasn't very familiar with everyone, he didn't join in.

Li Jianguo, as usual, stayed by himself. A short while later, the section chief finished assigning tasks, Li Jianguo collected his money, and left the steel rolling mill. Looking at his procurement quota, he thought it wasn't much, not too bad; the task wasn't too heavy. He just needed to complete the procurement of 6 units this week.

We're still using the first set of currency, which is all in units of ten thousand. We'll probably only need to buy a few chickens and some eggs.

Li Jianguo didn't return to the courtyard house; instead, he planned to hide in the space for a week.

Living in a courtyard house makes you feel like you've returned to your hometown. Wait a week, then take a shower and get a haircut to conceal the changes.

Li Jianguo then went directly to the urban-rural goods exchange fair of that era.

At that time, large-scale supply and marketing cooperatives had not yet been established, so seeds could only be purchased through gatherings.

Li Jianguo bought some seeds directly: wheat seeds and corn seeds. He found a secluded spot, stored the five seeds in his spatial storage, and...

However, time flows at a 1:1 ratio, so it will take several more months to mature. One good thing is that there is no winter, so it should be possible to grow it for three seasons.

I bought five roosters and six hens, and carrying two large chicken coops, I left the market. Then I found a corner to put them inside.

After finding a random place and having a meal, Zhao Jianguo entered the space and planted all the seeds there.

He mentally built a chicken coop and put the chicken inside. Only then did Li Jianguo realize that he had forgotten to buy chicken feed; it seemed that in this era, they usually fed the chicken bran or something similar.

Before the market closed, Li Jianguo hurried over and bought five large bags of bran, which should be enough to feed the chickens for a while.

After thinking about it, I also bought a set of pots and pans to put in my space, so I can cook for myself.

It seems there's no water inside the Chaos Pearl. If that's the case, what will the chickens and ducks drink? Water for farming will also be a problem.

They then manipulated the space directly and dug a large pond 10 meters deep.

Li Jianguo took advantage of the darkness to run to the Yongding River. With his internal strength, Li Jianguo could already see in the dark, so the darkness had no effect on him at all. He found a secluded spot and began collecting water from the river until the pond was full. He also managed to collect quite a few fish and put them into the pond. Not bad at all.

For the next few days, I cultivated in the space. When I got hungry, I would go out to find food. I didn't buy anything in the space, and I couldn't cook.

This continued for almost a week until the day was up and it was time to hand in the task. Li Jianguo took the three roosters back to the steel rolling mill. After handing in the task and the chickens to the logistics department, he went to the bathhouse.

He had a thorough scrubbing by the bathhouse attendant, then got a haircut, before leisurely strolling back to the courtyard house.

He bumped into Yan Bugui as soon as he reached the courtyard gate. Even Li Jianguo was taken aback when he saw him. "Jianguo, where have you been these past few days? Why do you suddenly look so fair-skinned?"

"Haha, Teacher Yan, I just went to the bathhouse and had a thorough scrubbing and a haircut. How do I look? I've become much more handsome, haven't I?" Li Jianguo pretended to smooth his hair.

"Oh, Jianguo has indeed become more handsome. I haven't seen you for almost a week, and you've gone to the countryside to buy things again." As he spoke, Yan Bugui began to look him up and down, but when he saw that Jianguo had indeed not brought anything, his enthusiasm immediately faded.

"Yes, there's no other way. The factory has a task, so I have to go to the countryside to purchase supplies. Teacher Yan, you can continue watching the gate. I'll head back now." With that, Li Jianguo went home.

"Hey, what do you mean by that? What do you mean by 'keep guarding the gate'? I'm just watering the flowers here." Yan Bugui shouted at Li Jianguo with dissatisfaction.

Li Jianguo completely ignored him, opened the door, and went inside.

After lighting the stove, they started cooking dinner: cornmeal porridge, steamed corn buns, and pickled vegetables.

The food people eat these days is really terrible. Li Jianguo was too embarrassed to stand out, so he could only make do. After all, he had just transmigrated, so he should just follow the rules.

Li Jianguo was halfway through his dinner when there was a knock on the door. Could it be Qin Huairu? No way, she just married into the family, and I haven't been eating very well. Why would she be begging for food?

When the door was opened, it turned out to be He Yuzhu and He Yushui.

Looking at the two of them, Li Jianguo thought to himself, "This Yi Zhonghai is really a scoundrel. According to my memory, the two of them have already started picking up trash."

"Brother Jianguo, I'm so sorry, we really have nothing to eat at home, we're starving. Could you buy us some food? We'll definitely repay you in the future." He Yuzhu looked at Li Jianguo with tears in his eyes, while He Yushui timidly grabbed He Yuzhu's clothes, not daring to look at Li Jianguo at all.

"Alright, you two come in." With that, Li Jianguo served each of them a bowl of cornmeal porridge and handed them two steamed buns.

The two must have been starving for a long time, as they wolfed down their food without caring about the heat. Even after they finished their cornbread, they still didn't seem full, and it was unclear how many meals they had missed.

Li Jianguo quickly handed over the remaining two, and each of them ate one. Only then did the two breathe a sigh of relief and start drinking their cornmeal porridge.