Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

"Why are you helping me? You should have told me beforehand, I'm out of steamed buns."

"...So what if it's not there? It has nothing to do with cornbread."

"You treated us to dinner last time, and we can't afford to reciprocate, so how about we help you out with something?"

"Besides, my older brother said that we should listen to you at school and do whatever you tell us to do."

"He said he wouldn't lose out by helping you," Yan Jiefang added with a grin.

Isn't that the key point?

You Yan family members are always scheming, aren't you?

Zhang Dabiao was also speechless. These young men from the Yan family, you could say they were enthusiastic, but they were also calculating. Yet, you could also say they were calculating, but they were willing to tell the truth.

This is a real dilemma.

Forget it, I won't think about it anymore.

The three of them chatted while cleaning. Yan Jiekuang and Yan Jiefang betrayed Yan Bugui, revealing all the things he had said at home.

What do you mean Zhang Dabiao is easy to control? He's my student, so he has to respect his teacher. It's one thing for him to be arrogant and domineering in the courtyard, but once he's at school, he has to behave himself. If he wants to smoothly advance to fourth grade, he must follow the proper etiquette. The rules from when Zhang Banxian was around can't be broken! Want to skip a grade? With Zhang Dabiao's brain? In the entire courtyard, only Yan Bugui can control Zhang Dabiao. Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, Teacher! The Zhang family values ​​rules the most!

……

Zhang Dabiao didn't know what to say.

Where does Yan Bugui's inexplicable self-confidence come from?

However, he was right about one thing: at school, Zhang Dabiao was a student, so he couldn't go too far. Of course, this was also when you, Yan Bugui, applied the school's rules to me.

But if you resort to underhanded tactics, and still use the feudalistic, fee-based system, then I won't be polite.

Zhang Dabiao thought for a moment and then asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll retaliate against your father if you talk about him like that?"

Yan Jiekuang and Yan Jiefang were stunned for a moment, then continued sweeping the floor and wiping the table.

"Let him take revenge if he wants. We are us, and he is him."

Zhang Dabiao chuckled. How come all the kids in courtyard number 95 have such rebellious tendencies?

"What if my revenge causes your father to lose his job?"

The two brothers didn't even look up: "What else can we do? Are we going to refuse him even a single steamed bun?"

"Anyway, my family is rich, so we only eat one cornbread per meal. Whether we're poor or not, it's still just one cornbread."

Whether you retaliate or not makes no difference to us.

At this moment, Yan Jiefang said to Zhang Dabiao with a smile, "Dabiao, you don't know, my older brother owes my dad 20 yuan, and that's only after Uncle Da helped Shazhu pay my brother 500 yuan."

"I'm 10 years old and I owe my dad 120 yuan."

"My brother is 9 years old and owes my dad 100 yuan."

"We're still in elementary school! Everyone has their own ledger from birth until now, which they have to pay off when they start working. Since that's the case, why should we care?"

"Whether he has a job or not, whether he has money or not, our family is in the same boat!"

"We don't care anymore."

Zhang Dabiao was stunned. Had Yan Bugui gone mad?

What's even more surprising is that these two brothers really dare to say anything!

Awesome!

But thinking back to my childhood, when I played with my classmates and friends and wanted to gain recognition, I was also willing to say anything, it's the same.

Forget about these family scandals, some people will even brag about their family members' embezzlement and bribery, just to save face and gain recognition in their social circles...

Damn it...

------------

The three of them packed up quickly and returned to the courtyard house after they finished.

Back at the central courtyard, Qin Huairu, the laundry maid, was occupying the pool washing the quilts and sheets that had been soaked by the urine of the quilt maker. She had taken out the inner core and was drying it.

Qin Jingru had already prepared dinner at home. You have to admit, this little girl is very sensible.

Zhang Dabiao didn't assign her any tasks, but she was very self-disciplined. She kept the house spotless, and there was always food waiting for her when she came back, so she didn't have to worry about anything.

Not only that, but she also washed the smelly socks and several pairs of smelly shoes that she had left by the bed yesterday clean and put them up to dry against the wall.

She went to the neighborhood office today and got a lot of matchboxes to paste back together.

Not bad, at least they didn't try to freeload.

Furthermore, it filled the gap that Zhang Dabiao rarely cooked.

There was one thing Zhang Dabiao couldn't persuade her about: when he asked her to use more cured meat and seasonings when cooking, or to add a couple more eggs, she just wouldn't listen.

Each time, a little bit of cured meat and an egg were given to Zhang Dabiao, making Zhang Dabiao very embarrassed.

We ate together, and you cooked, but all the meat and eggs were mine. My bowl was piled high, while yours only had cabbage...

People who don't know better might think I'm abusing my child bride!

It's all my stuff, I don't want to save money, I don't need you to save money, why can't you understand human language?

In the end, Zhang Dabiao had no choice but to force food into her bowl and make her eat it.

After finishing his meal, Zhang Dabiao started reading and memorizing. There was no other way; although the elementary school textbooks were very simple, Zhang Dabiao didn't have the ability to read ten lines at a glance, so he could only memorize them by rote, but it didn't take much effort.

After Qin Jingru finished tidying up, she started pasting matchboxes on the side, waiting to heat the kang (a heated brick bed) for Zhang Dabiao and boil water for him to wash his feet later. Only after she finished all that would she go back to the rain shelter to sleep...

Qin Jingru had already bought the quilts and bedding during the day, and Zhang Dabiao had left her the money and tickets.

I originally didn't want to heat the kang (a traditional heated brick bed) since I was sleeping in the small room, but since I've already done it, I might as well sleep in the side room.

Zhang Dabiao felt that he was now somewhat like an ancient scholar who only wanted to pass the imperial examinations and did not engage in production, while Qin Jingru was a child bride who took care of farming and weaving at home.

This kind of life is so damn decadent...

Around 7 o'clock, Yan Jiecheng sneaked over with his sleeves tucked in.

"Da Biao, I need to talk to you about something. Yi Zhonghai came to my house..."

As he spoke, he glanced at Qin Jingru, who was pasting matchboxes together.

Qin Jingru conscientiously carried the matchbox in a winnowing basket to Yu Shui's house. She had the keys to both houses. She took care of most of the cleaning at Zhang Dabiao and He Yu Shui's house. She couldn't just eat and stay for free, could she?

Yan Jiecheng glanced at Qin Jingru, who had gone to the apartment across the hall, and nodded: "That girl is good; she knows what she's doing."

"Raise her for a few years, and she'll be a good wife for you, Da Biao."

Zhang Dabiao threw a Daqianmen cigarette at him and said, "Get lost. It's none of your business who I marry or whether I get married."

"Speak, what is it?"

Yan Jiecheng chuckled as he took the cigarette and casually picked up a match from the table to light it.

"Yi Zhonghai is plotting against you again. He told my dad to make you drop out of school as soon as possible."

"Why? What does my dropping out of school have to do with Yi Zhonghai?"

"It seems like they're saying that if you drop out of school, you'll have to find a way to get into a factory as soon as possible, otherwise you can't just sit around doing nothing for two years, right?"

"But if you go to the steel rolling mill, isn't that like going to their home turf?"

"That would give Yi Zhonghai, Sha Zhu, and Jia Dongxu a lot more room to maneuver."

Zhang Dabiao also got himself a Daqianmen cigarette, and Yan Jiecheng lit it for him without hesitation.

"That's not right. Even if I fill in early, I'll just be a warehouse clerk. They're either in the workshop or the canteen. No matter what, they can't possibly have their hands on the logistics warehouse, right?"

Zhang Dabiao couldn't think of any way they could get back at him for the time being.

"I don't know about that, but Yi Zhonghai was serious. He even slipped my dad a lot of money, I reckon it was at least 50 yuan!"

Yan Jiecheng replied indifferently.

Zhang Dabiao exhaled a puff of smoke: "50 yuan, Old Dog Yi is really rich?"

"No, we have to deal with him. We have to bankrupt him!"