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

"Come on, that side room is dark, damp, and dilapidated. It's completely uninhabitable, okay? Even the neighborhood committee is too lazy to fix it."

"If you really want to rent it, the neighborhood committee will send a renovation team to help you fix it up, but the room has very poor lighting, and the two rooms together are only 25.2 square meters (the side room is 3 meters wide and 4.2 meters deep). My wife is pregnant again, how will we live there?" Liu Guangqi waved his hand, looking disgusted when he talked about the side room.

"If the lighting is poor, it will be dark and damp, and people will be sick every day. It's not even as good as the back room or the rear room."

"And there's a small courtyard next to it, which is an abandoned livestock shed, full of messy things. That small courtyard was used during the Great Leap Forward last year, but it wasn't cleaned up."

"If they decide to use it again for something, goodness, all those people will be coming and going in front of your door every day, making a racket..."

"Anyway, even if I could afford that side room, I wouldn't dare to take it." Liu Guangqi shook his head. Putting aside the issues of quality of life and size, the lighting and ventilation should at least be better. He wouldn't allow his unborn child to live in that kind of environment.

"Is it interdisciplinary?"

"I want it!" Zhang Dabiao's eyes lit up!

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

So the two of them went out under the cover of night, carrying flashlights.

There was a small door, blocked by firewood. The two of them moved it and squeezed into the east courtyard.

Extending out from the side rooms were the stables, which were quite large, filled with piles of dirt, rotten wood, broken bricks, and all sorts of coal slag and coke from the Great Leap Forward...

The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, making it impossible to walk in many places, and there were also several stinking ditches...

To be honest, it looks terrible. If it were summer, and you were living in the adjacent poorly lit and ventilated side room... the mosquitoes would carry you away.

No wonder everyone blocked the small door with firewood and other debris; out of sight, out of mind. Unless the neighborhood committee launches some kind of patriotic sanitation campaign, they just pretend this courtyard doesn't exist.

After all, this area is said to be as big as the entire Intermediate People's Court, 400 square meters, 20 meters long and wide. You can clean it up, but there are no houses here and you can't use it. Why bother?

The neighborhood committee didn't have the money to repair it, so it just had to be left abandoned. There are quite a few abandoned courtyards and vacant lots like this in Beijing.

But in Zhang Dabiao's eyes, this was a treasure!

He was figuring out how to acquire this land. He couldn't buy a traditional courtyard house because if there were too many rooms, he would have to hand it over to the neighborhood committee for management and rent it out. But he could build a large courtyard house, right?

This land will be valuable in the future!

Seeing that Zhang Dabiao didn't speak, they assumed that he hadn't liked the side room either, since anyone would be annoyed if their neighbor was in such an environment.

But Zhang Dabiao suddenly said, "Guangqi, if we can't buy the house, then I'll use my two side rooms to exchange for these two side rooms, and then buy the small courtyard in front of the side rooms to enclose a small yard."

"Then let's take over this inter-departmental collaboration. Do you think that's feasible?"

Liu Guangqi was stunned: "No, Da Biao, are you serious? That side room really isn't suitable for living in!"

Zhang Dabiao nodded intently: "It's alright, I'm young and full of energy. I'll fix it up when the time comes, and if all else fails, I'll find a way to build one or two rooms in this courtyard."

"I like big courtyards, I like peace and quiet, anyway, I don't want to be neighbors with the Jia family anymore."

Liu Guangqi considered the feasibility: "Swapping houses shouldn't be difficult. These houses are all under the management of the subdistrict office. In fact, the subdistrict office would benefit from the swap, since your two rooms are easy to rent out."

"It's hard to say about this cross-departmental issue; you'll have to ask Director Wang."

Zhang Dabiao continued, "If we can exchange it, if we can buy the courtyard house, my two rooms will essentially be public housing under the management of the neighborhood committee, and we can rent them out. Could you rent them immediately?"

Immediately, Liu Guangqi's eyes widened!

What the hell!

So that's what Zhang Dabiao was planning!

Is he clearing out a room for me?

So, does this mean my wife's job and our house are all solved?!

Liu Guangqi was stunned for a moment, then his eyes suddenly reddened and he burst into tears.

He suddenly hugged Zhang Dabiao tightly, patting Zhang Dabiao's back forcefully, shouting, "Dabiao! Brother!"

"Say no more! From now on, you're my brother, Liu Guangqi's brother!"

"Closer brothers than Guangtian Guangfu!"

Then he grabbed Zhang Dabiao's head and kissed him hard—

—Pop—

Zhang Dabiao was stunned—【I don't write articles!】

Liu Guangqi released Zhang Dabiao and punched him three times in the chest.

"You've gone to such lengths for your brother, so if anyone bullies you in the future, I'll beat them until they're green with envy, as if they've never eaten leeks before!"

"Don't worry about it, I'll definitely get it done for you!"

Zhang Dabiao – [Can I say that I only liked the side room with its courtyard and the east wing? Besides, I really didn't want to be neighbors with the Jia family anymore.]

[If Bang Geng were to steal something from Guang Qi's house in the future... the three Liu brothers would really beat him so badly he'd poop green, right?]

The two returned to the Intermediate People's Court, chatted for a while, and then went home.

But around 10 o'clock, the sound of smashing and looting suddenly came from the Intermediate Court.

"Yi Zhonghai! If I ever believe you again, I, Yan Bugui, am nothing but a dog!"

Zhang Dabiao ran out to see what was happening and found that Yan Bugui and his three children had smashed up Yi Zhonghai's house again. Sha Zhu hurriedly ran to break up the fight.

Zhang Dabiao shook his head and went back to his room to sleep.

Dogs fighting, a mouthful of fur.

Live it!

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

February 7, 1960, the eleventh day of the first lunar month, a Sunday;

Suitable for: praying for blessings, accepting livestock, offering sacrifices, encoffining, putting on mourning clothes, removing mourning clothes, relocating graves, praying for children, and thanking the earth.

Avoid: getting married, traveling, moving to a new house, breaking ground, planting, consecrating, breaking ground, and acupuncture.

The next morning, Liu Guangqi excitedly ran out with dark circles under his eyes; he hadn't slept all night.

It's the weekend today, so I'll go straight to my wife and clear things up!

Then I'll start running around next week, trying to get everything done before the wedding date. I can't afford to delay any longer!

And Zhang Dabiao?

He continued reading in the corridor of the central courtyard, just like a landlord, with his maid Qin Jingru serving him.

"Hey everyone, don't cook lunch. We have something to do tonight at the Yi family, the Jia family, and Old Lady Long's house in the backyard. We'd like to invite you all to dinner."

"Everyone, you must do us the honor of attending this feast!"

"Chef Silly Zhu, don't worry, I'll make sure everyone has a good, satisfying meal!"

Despite his injuries, Yi Zhonghai spoke cheerfully in the courtyard, which puzzled everyone.

What's wrong?

What good thing has happened to those three families?

A neighbor asked, but Yi Zhonghai smiled and remained silent, saying that they would know by noon.

Nobody cared; it was a good thing that someone was treating them!

Why not eat it if it's free?

Xu Damao leaned closer: "Da Biao, do you know what's going on?"

"This old fellow is beaming, he's a little too happy."

"Could it be that his wife is pregnant?"

Zhang Dabiao rolled his eyes: "What nonsense are you talking about? Didn't you see his wife still looks so bitter and resentful?"

"If Aunt Liu (Liu Cuilan, Yi Zhonghai's wife) gets pregnant, she'll be even happier than Yi Zhonghai!"

"So it definitely isn't!"

Xu Damao nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, who cares? We'll find out at lunchtime."

Looking at Yi Zhonghai's radiant face and then at Jia Dongxu, who had just come out of the house with a forced smile, Zhang Dabiao immediately understood what was going on.

It seems the three families have been visiting each other quite a bit these past few days.

We've been waiting for you guys to pull this stunt.