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

He bought seeds for all kinds of vegetables, and for grains, he only managed to buy wheat and corn seeds, enough to plant 20 mu (approximately 3.3 hectares). He also bought some potatoes and sweet potatoes.

We couldn't buy rice, but we did buy rice seeds. Rice isn't generally grown in the north, but it doesn't matter. The main thing is that we bought eight large bags of bran.

Apple and pear trees, pear trees, jujube trees, pomegranate trees. I also bought a Chinese toon sapling. I plan to plant them all in my online space.

In a year or two, we'll be able to eat fruit. Then I looked at the black soil in the space.

If we always grow crops, I wonder if the soil around Chaos Pearl will become compacted? And if we compost, we don't have that much manure.

It's really troublesome after thinking about it. I'll try planting it for a few seasons first.

Li Jianguo went in and out of the market several times, storing most of the items into his spatial storage.

He left behind some seeds, cabbage, carrots, eggplants, and other miscellaneous things, and then went straight back to the village.

The next day, Li Jianguo picked up a carrying pole and began packing his things.

"Jianguo, you took too little pork. Why did you leave so much for the family? Take all the meat and offal back with you, just leave some pig's head and bones. Don't you have to hand in your assignments too?" Grandma said after looking at the things in the kitchen.

"Keep it for yourselves. You can share some with your uncles later. I've already completed my task. Look, I've collected quite a lot of things. I'll take this meat back to share with my dad and eat it myself. I don't plan to hand it over to the factory." Li Jianguo took twenty catties of clean meat.

"Old woman, just listen to Jianguo. Jianguo, wait a moment, I'll take you there in the donkey cart." Grandpa saw that Li Jianguo had become much fairer and knew that he was doing well in the city, so he didn't insist.

After Grandpa borrowed the donkey cart, he loaded all the things onto it, and the two of them drove the donkey cart toward the county town.

Because Li Jianguo was carrying a lot of things on a shoulder pole, he was charged several hundred yuan more for the bus fare.

It took more than three hours to get to the gate of No. 95 courtyard by car.

It was during working hours, so I shouldn't have run into Yan Bugui, but unexpectedly, Yang Ruihua, the future third aunt, was waiting at the door.

That old couple is really something, taking turns guarding the goal; they can't afford to be missing a single person.

When Yang Ruihua saw Li Jianguo carrying a shoulder pole, she quickly came over and said, "Jianguo, you're back in the village? You must be tired. Let me help you carry it."

"Forget it, I'll do it myself. These are factory goods. If anything goes missing after I handle them, I can't afford to pay for it." Li Jianguo said this and hurriedly went back into the house.

Li Jianguo had just finished eating and wanted to go back to his space to plant something. He had bought seeds and saplings at the market, but hadn't planted them yet. Unexpectedly, an officer came to inform everyone of a meeting that evening.

Li Jianguo didn't waste any time and went straight to the Intermediate People's Court. He recalled that at this time there were no street offices and the military control commission had also withdrawn from the historical stage.

Generally, it's the local police station and residents' committee that coordinate management. Li Jianguo estimates that this so-called residents' committee is the predecessor of the subdistrict office.

Li Jianguo sidled up to Yan Laokou: "Teacher Yan, do you know what's going on here?"

"I don't know, it must be some kind of policy again."

The clerk rambled on for a long time, and it turned out that this year they were going to implement some kind of "Five Antis" campaign.

The first few points have little to do with ordinary people; they are about combating bribery, corruption, and shoddy workmanship. The earlier points are mainly aimed at private business owners, preventing them from hoarding and speculating.

It probably has nothing to do with the ordinary people in the courtyard, but this Yan Bugui seems to be a small business owner. I wonder if he's still doing business now.

The most important point is the last one, which addresses preventing the theft of state secrets, or in other words, preventing espionage.

Residents are welcome to report to the committee, and there are some rewards available. Reports can be made using either your real name or anonymously.

Because Li Jianguo had no prior memory of Teacher Yan.

So I quietly asked from the side, "Teacher Yan, I heard you're a small business owner. Do you still run a shop? This Five-Anti Campaign isn't targeting you, is it?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui's legs immediately went weak, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He quickly began to explain to Li Jianguo.

"Jianguo, don't talk nonsense. I'm a teacher now, and I don't do anything else. My status as a small business owner is just because I used to run a small bookstore. We closed it down a long time ago, and we've never hired anyone. It's all just a side business."

In this day and age, one's background is extremely important. There's a fear that Li Jianguo might misunderstand and report him for embezzlement, fraud, or bribing officials.

"Alright, Teacher Yan, I was just kidding. Of course you're fine. We're all from the same courtyard, neighbors, right? Look how scared you are." Li Jianguo saw that Yan Bugui's face was a little pale and quickly comforted him.

"Jianguo, this joke isn't funny. Don't say things like that again." Yan Bugui wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and continued to look at Li Jianguo with pleading eyes. "Okay, okay, I understand, Teacher Yan, let's continue listening."

The officer explained to everyone in detail the general characteristics of suspicious persons, and that if they encountered a stranger acting suspiciously, they could call the police and have the person disperse.

Unexpectedly, Liu Haizhong jumped out at this moment and eagerly saw the clerk out the door.

Looking at Liu Haizhong's obsequious, sycophantic expression, Li Jianguo shook his head. He hadn't expected this official-obsessed guy to start now; his obsession with officialdom had seeped into his very bones.

At this moment, Xu Damao walked over with a limp.

"Da Mao, what happened?" Li Jianguo thought he had been beaten up by He Yuzhu.

"Brother Jianguo, I stole the wine from home. And when I asked you to drink, I got drunk, and my dad beat me up," Xu Damao explained sheepishly.

"Alright, but you're still Da Mao. You're only fourteen or fifteen years old, and you're already drinking so early. No wonder your dad beats you. You're learning projection technology from your dad now, are you considered an apprentice? Do you get paid? Why don't you buy it yourself?"

"Sigh, I'm not an apprentice, so I don't get paid. I just learn by doing. The steel mill doesn't pay me anything. By the way, Brother Jianguo, do you still have any wine? My butt hurts so much, I want to have a couple of drinks to calm it down," Xu Damao asked cheekily.

Li Jianguo was speechless. He had just been beaten for stealing wine, and now he had to drink again.

"Alright, Da Mao, come with me. Drink less this time, and don't get drunk, or you'll get a beating when you get home."

"Sure, no problem." Xu Damao happily followed Li Jianguo.

He limped into the house, and Li Jianguo took out peanuts and two wine glasses, which he then had Xu Damao pour.

"Da Mao, I think I've been in the countryside for the past couple of days, so there shouldn't be anything going on at the yard, right?"

"Oh, it's nothing. You don't know, He Yuzhu has been completely seduced by Qin Huairu these past two days. He's completely obsessed with her. He keeps getting tricked by her into giving him lunch." Xu Damao curled his lip in disdain.