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

Jia Zhangshi stretched out her hand and naturally asked Yi Zhonghai for money.

Yi Zhonghai was stunned. Why are you asking me for money? Do I owe you something?

Madam Jia Zhang said in a serious tone, "Our family is poor. Going to the temple to burn incense costs money."

"Old Yi, you're Dongxu's godfather. This is a matter of life and death; you can't just ignore it!"

Yi Zhonghai was speechless—wait a minute, shouldn't I be the one offering ideas? Why am I paying again?

You could see that Jia Dongxu had dark circles under his eyes and looked pale and weak. Jia Dongxu then said with a helpless smile, "Godfather, our family... really doesn't have any money."

Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to... leave.

He had just taken out a few banknotes and was about to count them when Jia Zhangshi snatched them away.

"There's so little, why bother counting it?"

"You're so stingy when you go to the temple to burn incense, of course the Bodhisattva won't care about you. No wonder you can't have children, Lao Yi, it's because you're not sincere."

Yi Zhonghai felt like he'd been shot through the heart. "Damn it, I paid for this! And someone still managed to stab me in the heart?"

Is there no justice left?

I still need to save some money for living expenses and buying food!

"You guys keep talking, I'll go ask someone first."

As she spoke, Jia Zhangshi ran out in a flash. It's already evening, where are you going to ask?

Actually, Jia Zhangshi used the money to feed herself first. Recently, she had been eating cornbread, cornmeal porridge, and corn gruel every day, which made her stomach churn with acid. Jia Dongxu didn't have any money to begin with. Apart from his monthly pension of 3 yuan, he spent the rest on food.

As for her retirement money, Jia Zhangshi naturally refused to touch it. Today, Yi Zhonghai had spent more than 20 yuan, and Jia Zhangshi immediately went to buy a roast chicken to treat herself – she had to go to the suburbs tomorrow, so she had to eat and drink her fill first.

Today, Jia Zhangshi has finally quieted down, because three days have passed, and chanting spells won't do any good anymore.

Zhang Dabiao finally had some peace and quiet. Anyway, if Jia Zhangshi dared to curse him again or mutter anything about Mu Wanqing, he would either have the walls or windows torn down, and Zhang Dabiao had the money to pay for it.

Master Lei delivered the rosewood tables and chairs during the day; they're good stuff. However, Zhang Dabiao faces a problem—

Insufficient storage space.

For now, gold, silver, jewelry, and some antiques are kept in the master bedroom of the "little nest," while personal computer equipment, clothes, and daily necessities are kept in the second bedroom. The living room is used to temporarily store food for easy transportation.

But as we accumulate more and more things, the little space in our "little nest" really becomes insufficient.

He had previously considered the treasure cave in the back mountain of Qinjiatun, which is in the Yanshan Mountains. Although it is dry and the air is circulating, the air circulation means there are gaps. If a rat or something runs over and destroys the treasure, it would be a loss.

And what if there are earthquakes in the future, and the gap there collapses?

Furthermore, there are elderly people in Qinjiatun who know which treasure cave it is. What if we manage to find it someday?

Therefore, Zhang Dabiao abandoned the idea of ​​using that place as a base.

Let's dig a basement over there in Xiangjiang Village.

I gave Master Lei some instructions: prepare two sets of the complete set of building materials for that log cabin, with mortise and tenon joints that can be assembled.

I won't give you the money; I'll exchange it for remittance certificates.

Also, a friend of mine wants to build a basement. Let's say it's a 150-square-meter space with a height of 2.5 meters. What materials do I need to reinforce it? Wood, steel, or cement, please help me calculate how much material I need and get it for me. Also, could you draw me a diagram showing how to do it?

The complete set of materials for the log cabin, excluding labor, should cost around 150 yuan.

Two sets cost 300 yuan, including stones, bricks, cement, tung oil, paint, window glass, tarpaulin, and tiles.

Reinforcing the basement will require a lot of materials, costing around 400 yuan.

If you exchange it for remittance coupons, it's 1 yuan for 2 yuan worth of remittance coupons.

That means he could exchange a total of 1400 yuan in remittance certificates, which Master Lei was naturally willing to do. He wasn't short of money, and his family had plenty of good stuff. But without the certificates, he couldn't buy grain; the price of grain on the black market in the pigeon market was frighteningly high.

Buying remittance certificates and then spending money to buy goods and food at overseas Chinese stores was much cheaper than buying them on the black market in Pigeon Market.

So when Zhang Dabiao made the suggestion, Master Lei naturally agreed.

In addition, Master Lei also brought over five small yellow croakers that Granny Wang had offered as an apology. Zhang Dabiao had never seen Granny Wang before, but why not accept the small yellow croakers that were offered to him?

Since they've been so polite, the Jia family's matter is considered over. After all, they've already torn down the wall three times, and their anger has been vented.

Most importantly, the person sincerely explained that what they taught the Jia family was purely a money-making scheme and was completely useless.

Before leaving, Master Lei discussed with Zhang Dabiao that some of his friends needed to exchange some remittance certificates or buy some grain and meat from Zhang Dabiao. He asked Zhang Dabiao if he wanted to take over the business.

Zhang Dabiao's eyes darted around. Lei's friend? Those he could call friends were all people who had done house repairs or renovations, and the transactions were not small. Otherwise, why would Lei call them friends?

But if you need remittance certificates, then you can't buy anything even if you have money—

The answer is obvious: the remnants of the old regime.

"Master Lei, I trust you to do things right, but I don't need money. I want small gold coins, gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, and collectibles."

Zhang Dabiao could actually do the same thing now: provide grain and meat directly for trade.

It would be too troublesome and risky to exchange small yellow croakers for grain in Hong Kong and then have Master Lei find someone to transport it out.

The remittance coupons were obtained legally and legitimately by him, and the amount of grain that could be purchased with each hundred-yuan remittance coupon was limited. Even if it was found that the remittances came from Zhang Dabiao, it wouldn't be a big problem.

The answer is that I had too many remittance certificates and gave them away. The recipients thanked me and gave me some gifts in return. I didn't receive any money in the process, so there was no speculation involved. I had hundreds of thousands of remittance certificates, and I could give them away whenever I wanted. Was that illegal?

So after much thought, Zhang Dabiao decided to use remittance certificates for the transaction—it was safer! These things couldn't be deposited in a bank, and if they weren't spent, they had no value.

Before the reform and opening up, all these things had to be used up, right?

Moreover, Master Lei has many connections, so Zhang Dabiao can trust him to act as the middleman, and it's safe for him.

"However, I also have a problem: I don't have anywhere to store it."

Master Lei smiled slyly: "Brother Biao, none of these are problems if you're willing."

"I'll go ask around and see if there are any small courtyards that can be transferred to someone else's name."

As Master Lei was about to leave, Zhang Dabiao slipped him 1000 yuan in remittance certificates, implying that he should take them and use them first. He added that even the emperor wouldn't starve his soldiers, and they had plenty of these things to spare.

We will make up the difference later, with refunds for overpayments and additional payments for underpayments.

Master Lei left with a big smile, taking the remittance certificates without delaying Zhang Dabiao's meal with the girls. Qin Jingru had already prepared the food and was setting the table.