The Courtyard House: The story begins with He Yuzhu beating up the White Widow.

Upon entering the room, Qian Bin scanned the surroundings before finally looking at He Yuzhu and asking, "Nephew, the repairs according to your drawing will cost at least three hundred."

Without a second thought, He Yuzhu pulled out two hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to Qian Bin, saying, "Sixth Uncle, here's two hundred yuan. Take it and buy the materials first. We'll settle the rest after the work is finished."

Qian Bin continued, "Zhu Zi, to repair the house and get water into the house, we need a certificate from the Military Control Commission."

He Yuzhu said, "Sixth Uncle, I'll go get the certificate first thing tomorrow morning."

Qian Bin suddenly remembered that He Yuzhu worked at the Military Control Commission, and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll bring people over tomorrow afternoon to transport the materials. It should be all finished in about a week."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Sixth Uncle!" He Yuzhu said, looking at He Daqing. He Daqing replied, "Sixth Brother, I'll go to Baocheng on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year to settle my work. I'll be back by the sixth day at the latest. Please take care of my house."

"Third Brother, we're practically family! If there's nothing else, I'll be going now!" With that, Qian Bin put the money away. After seeing Qian Bin to the door, He Daqing asked, "Zhu Zi, where did you get so much money?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "Of course, it was given by kind people in the courtyard."

He Daqing was taken aback, a puzzled look on his face, and asked, "How come I don't know anyone like that in our compound?!"

He Yushui, standing nearby, couldn't help but laugh out loud, saying, "That good neighbor is Yi Zhonghai." Then, He Yushui recounted to He Daqing how she and her brother had returned from Baocheng and discovered their home had been burglarized. After listening to He Yushui's account, He Daqing muttered involuntarily, "No wonder something felt off after we got back! Turns out, that shrew Jia Zhangshi was missing!"

He Yuzhu sighed and said, "The only pity is that Jia Zhangshi was sentenced too leniently."

Just then, a commotion arose outside the door. He Yushui immediately ran to the door, opened it, and saw Jia Dongxu walking in with a group of people. He Daqing said, "This girl is quite pretty. It's a bit of a waste for her to be with Jia Dongxu." Then He Daqing let out a surprised exclamation.

He Yuzhu asked, "Dad, what's wrong?!"

He Daqing asked, "Have you met Jia Dongxu's wife before?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "I saw her once the day she came to the compound for a blind date." Then he asked, "What happened?!"

He Daqing said, "After all that, it turns out Jia Dongxu actually found a second-hand one."

"Secondhand goods?!" He Yuzhu was immediately dumbfounded and asked, "Dad, how do you know she's secondhand goods?!"

He Daqing said, "Don't let your father's aged appearance fool you; when he was young, what kind of women hadn't he seen? The way an unmarried girl walks is different from that of a young married woman. Other things can be faked, but this can't be. It seems this woman is quite cunning!"

About half an hour later, Jia Dongxu saw all the guests off. Back home, he went straight to bed on the kang (heated brick bed). Qin Huairu walked up to him and said, "Dongxu, we're married. When will you take me to see Mom?!"

Jia Dongxu thought for a moment and said, "I have to go back to work tomorrow. The eighth day of the Lunar New Year is Sunday. I'll have the day off. I'll take you to see her on the eighth day." Then, Jia Dongxu abruptly sat up on the kang (a heated brick bed), quickly got off, and ran to the door. He opened it, peeked out to make sure no one was eavesdropping, immediately closed the door, locked it from the inside, and then ran into the inner room, pulling Qin Huairu directly onto the kang. (Thousands of words omitted here. Who told Jia Dongxu to be so fast?!)

Meanwhile, in the front yard of the Yan family's house.

Yan Bugui sipped the tea he'd started brewing on New Year's Eve, his eyes darting around in their sockets. Yang Ruihua, seeing her husband lost in thought, asked, "Old Yan, what are you thinking about now?!"

Yan Bugui said, "Without Yi Zhonghai's restraint, Jia Dongxu is becoming increasingly lawless. For such a big event as his wedding, even if he doesn't invite everyone in the courtyard to the banquet, he should at least introduce his bride to the family."

Yang Ruihua said dismissively, "Don't you know what kind of person Jia Dongxu is?! He looks respectable on the surface, but he's cunning and deceitful in every way. To put it bluntly, the Jia family's downfall was sealed the day Jia Zhangshi married into the Jia family. It's just that Yi Zhonghai helped them salvage the situation before. Now that Yi Zhonghai is gone, the Jia family is nothing. Does Jia Dongxu really want to take advantage of Zhao Shufen's childless line?! I think he's dreaming."

Yan Bugui sneered, "Yi Zhonghai can keep Jia Dongxu completely under his thumb. Do you think Zhao Shufen is a simple person?! Just you wait and see! Our courtyard is going to be quite a spectacle from now on."

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, after breakfast, He Yuzhu and He Yushui went out. Before long, the siblings arrived at the military control commission. He Yuzhu and He Yushui greeted Grandpa Han warmly, "Grandpa Han, Happy New Year!"

"Okay! Okay! Okay!" Grandpa Han took out a handful of candy and stuffed it into He Yushui's hand, saying, "Keep these candies and eat them slowly!"

"Thank you, Uncle Han!" He Yushui said, then followed He Yuzhu into the gate of the Military Control Commission.

Upon arriving at the cafeteria, He Yuzhu greeted Xu Dali and Zhao Hongdou, leaving He Yushui there before heading to Wang Xia's office. Just as he reached the office, Wang Xia, who was lighting the stove, saw He Yuzhu and asked with a smile, "Zhuzi, what brings you here so early?!"

He Yuzhu said, "Aunt Wang, I want to ask where I need to register for house repairs?"

Wang Xia said, "Just go directly to the housing management department." Then she asked, "You want to repair the house?! Do you have enough money?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "Aunt Wang, we have enough money. And my father is planning to come back from Baocheng."

Wang Xia was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "Your father is coming back?!"

He Yuzhu nodded and told Wang Xia what he knew. After listening to He Yuzhu's account, Wang Xia sighed and said, "It must have been really hard on you."

He Yuzhu smiled dismissively and then asked, "Aunt Wang, does our military control office sell any houses?"

Although Wang Xia understood He Yuzhu's meaning, she still asked, "What?! You want to separate from your father and live alone?!"

He Yuzhu nodded silently and said, "It's better to be prepared."

Wang Xia sighed and said, "Zhu Zi, buying a house costs a lot of money."

He Yuzhu said, "Aunt Wang, you don't need to worry about the money. I have money."

Wang Xia asked curiously, "Zhu Zi, tell me, where did you get so much money?!"

He Yuzhu deliberately put on an embarrassed expression and said, "Back before Liberation, I was selling steamed buns on the street. A wooden box fell off a truck. I reacted quickly, and before anyone around me could react, I carried the box and ran. When I got to a secluded spot, I opened it and found it full of large gold bars. So, before the Lunar New Year, I went to the bank and exchanged two of them." He then showed Wang Xia the bank's receipt for the gold bars, fearing she wouldn't believe him.