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

Meanwhile, Zhang Dabiao was busy digging tunnels in Hong Kong, so he didn't care about those other trivial matters.

But after digging a few meters deep, he suddenly remembered that Master Lei hadn't delivered the reinforcement materials yet. If it collapsed halfway through, all his work would have been for nothing.

So we packed up, went to Shau Kei Wan Main Street to eat something, and also packed four servings of beef offal hot pot, shark's fin soup, and Hong Kong-style milk tea to take back to the courtyard house.

It was lunchtime, so Qin Jingru wasn't asked to cook anything more. Instead, Mu Wanqing and the four of them had another meal together at the stable.

He Yushui was still asking where all these things came from, especially the milk tea; there's no such thing in Beijing.

"Even delicious food can't shut you up. Eat quickly before it gets cold!"

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

The next morning, the Beijing Daily devoted almost a quarter of its page to Zhang Dabiao, focusing on how Yan Jieyi "shun" the match, how he invented the lighter, how he made a physical prototype with the help of his friends Liu Guangqi and Tian Baocheng, and how he applied for a patent with the encouragement and support of the Ministry of Foreign Trade—and then earned foreign exchange for the country and provided employment opportunities.

Furthermore, they "voluntarily" donated 10 yuan worth of remittance certificates to the subdistrict office to help the families of military personnel, martyrs, and other impoverished people in the subdistrict.

Anyway, according to the newspapers, Zhang Dabiao is a "great philanthropist"!

Zhang Dabiao himself found the cheesy romance utterly disgusting.

Qin Jingru then bought several more newspapers, one of which had to be framed in a glass frame.

When Zhang Dabiao returns to his hometown of Shunyi for the New Year, he will have to burn some more for Zhang Banxian to see if he can help him—we've made it into the newspapers, bringing glory to our ancestors!

Zhang Dabiao was speechless. Oh well, let it be.

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

In addition, Yan Jiecheng also became a celebrity – the joke about him "following the match" was still going strong, and every worker who passed by him at the factory would pat him on the shoulder.

"Yan Jiecheng, these matches are just right!"

"What are you planning to buy this time?"

"Ideally, things should go smoothly so that our factory can start producing what Zhang Dabiao invents!"

"Go for it, Yan Jiecheng!"

Yan Jiecheng's face darkened...

Even when he was leaving get off work, the security guards would keep a close eye on him: "Yan Jiecheng, it's okay if you take Zhang Dabiao's things, you're buddies."

"But things aren't going well at the factory! That's undermining socialism, that's making a mistake!"

Do you have any matches in your pocket today? Can I borrow them?

Yan Jiecheng was furious. "Does she think I'm a thief?"

And the "Nima matchstick" meme is just going to stick around, right?

In a fit of anger, Yan Jiechen turned all his pockets inside out—"Look, look, see if I've taken anything!"

There's nothing else, but there is...

Three boxes of matches?

A total of 6 cents?

Yan Jiecheng was stunned—when the hell was this let in?

The security guard smiled and took a box of matches: "As expected of Yan Jiecheng, the match-stealer, you truly deserve that title! I'll take a box for myself."

"It's nothing serious, but you need to be mindful of the consequences. Okay, let's go."

Yan Jiecheng was on the verge of tears—

I guess I'm not going to get rid of this nickname.

Starting tomorrow!

I won't bring matches or cigarettes!

I'm just here to mooch a cigarette, I'm not bringing anything else!

If you touch another match, I'll chop it up...

Quit smoking!

Tell me, am I ruthless or not?

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

Hong Kong is developing normally, and there aren't many police officers or gangs causing trouble, except that they're "offering" a lot of creamy chocolate bread every day.

The main problem is that small businesses like tea stalls don't really make much money. Zhang Dabiao's tea stall makes fresh cream every day using the most basic recipe, which even bakeries can make, but it's wasteful of ingredients.

Chocolate is even more expensive, while Zhang Dabiao's prices are not high, so his "cost" is naturally higher than other stores.

The police and triads in Shau Kei Wan didn't make things particularly difficult for them. However, during holidays, when it was a police officer's birthday or a triad leader had a happy occasion, they would give them gifts. Cheung Tai-piu's tea stall gave them the same amount as other tea stalls.

Around the middle of the month, Zhang Dabiao paid Ah Xiang and the other two their wages, plus four grain purchases totaling 500 yuan each time...

So by the end of November, after working hard for more than a month, I only had HK$150 left...

That's only enough to buy a medium-sized commercial oven.

Zhang Dabiao wanted to use some more small yellow croakers—the five that Wang Pozi and Master Lei had given him last time.

but……

Although Ah Xiang is a reliable person, there are four people working at this tea stall, and as the owner, I'm often away. Ah Xiang, Ah Hua, and Third Aunt are all from Grandpa Rock Village. What if business gets too good...?

We must be careful.

Without your own people, you're always a little uneasy. It's okay if the business is small, but if it gets a little bigger, all sorts of weirdos and scoundrels will come knocking.

If things were like this on the mainland, imagine how it was in Hong Kong in the 1960s! Back then, the entire police force was corrupt, like the 500 million dollar detective, Lui Lok!

Expecting Hong Kong's law enforcement team in the 60s to be impartial and law-abiding is simply laughable.

Therefore, Zhang Dabiao can only do this for now and dares not expand the scale. He can earn nearly 3000 yuan a month, which can cover the production materials, the wages of 3 people, and after deducting the donations to the police and gangs, he can still purchase 2000 Hong Kong dollars worth of grain (about 3520 catties of grain, half rice and half noodles plus some dried noodles), which is already quite good.

Let's keep a low profile for now and consider the oven and expansion plans around the middle of next month.

In addition, Master Lei has gradually transported the materials for the two log cabins, as well as all the materials for reinforcing the basement, to the small courtyard. He is still in contact with the antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and the small yellow croaker, and there is still no follow-up on the matter of the small courtyard.

The neighbors in the courtyard thought Zhang Dabiao was going to build a house, but after a few days there was no movement and no workers came to the site, so they lost interest in Zhang Dabiao.

A pile of wood, bricks, and cement, neither edible nor drinkable, was simply something Zhang Dabiao had decided to build on a whim, but was stopped halfway through.

Zhang the richest man's extravagant spending had nothing to do with them. Even Jia Zhangshi, who was always gossipy and greedy for small gains, didn't care. She was either beaten or paraded through the streets every day. If she grumbled a little, Zhang Dabiao would come and tear down her doors and windows. She really couldn't stand it anymore.

The materials were gradually transported to the village house in Xiangjiang. It had two floors, an 80-square-meter open space in the yard, and a storage room made of corrugated iron, which made it easy to store things.

Zhang Dabiao slowly dug the cellar and then reinforced it.

He did consider causing trouble for Lou Yufan and asking him about the situation regarding the $72 he received, but that would expose the fact that Lou Yufan could also "connect" with the mainland, so he couldn't do anything about it for the time being.

Even if they wanted to cause trouble, it should have been the mainland department that summoned Lou Bancheng for questioning. It would be best for "Zhang Yaoyang" in Hong Kong to pretend he knew nothing.

However, recently when I go to Shau Kei Wan Main Street, I always feel like I'm being watched, especially since I've vaguely seen the person who took me to meet Lou Yu Fan a few times before.

Are they targeting me?

Damn it, when I get back to Beijing, I'll ask the ministry for backing!

As a result, when he returned to Beijing today, before he even left his courtyard house, Liu Guangqi came running to find him, covered in sweat.

"Da Biao, something terrible has happened—"

"Mancang got beaten up!"

"what?"