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

As He Yuzhu approached the entrance of the Military Control Commission, he sneezed twice in a row, muttering, "Who's talking about me?! Could it be my future wife?!" He then chuckled at his own thought. Shaking his head, He Yuzhu picked up his vegetable basket and a sack full of vegetables and headed into the Military Control Commission.

"Uncle Xu, the groceries are back!" He Yuzhu walked into the canteen, put the groceries on the table, and called out to Xu Dali.

Xu Dali, who was relaxing in a recliner drinking tea, heard He Yuzhu's call and slowly got up. He walked over to He Yuzhu, glanced at the dishes on the table, and said, "These dishes are pretty good today!" Then he asked, "Yuzhu, how much money do we have left for groceries this month?!"

He Yuzhu pulled out a work notebook, flipped to the entry from today's grocery shopping, and said, "Our monthly grocery budget is sixty yuan. There are still ten days left until the end of the month. We have a little over thirty-five yuan left." Then he asked, "Uncle Xu, why did you suddenly ask that today?!"

Xu Dali said, "Director Wu just informed us that higher-ups are coming to inspect our work the day after tomorrow. They asked us to prepare some meat and vegetables."

He Yuzhu asked curiously, "Uncle Xu, what dishes are you planning to cook?"

Xu Dali replied, "I haven't thought about it yet. As for what dish to cook, that's up to you."

He Yuzhu said, "Uncle Xu, you're making things too difficult for me. A pound of meat costs 72 cents. And a pound of meat needs to be cut into 20 pieces. We'd need 20 pounds of meat to eat."

Xu Dali laughed and started acting like a rogue, saying, "You're the purchasing manager for our cafeteria. What you buy and how much you buy is all your business. I'm only responsible for cooking; I don't care about anything else." With that, Xu Dali told the kitchen helpers to start preparing the dishes.

He Yuzhu snorted and turned to leave the cafeteria.

"Zhu Zi!" He Yuzhu had just reached the cafeteria entrance when he saw Wang Xia walking towards him. He Yuzhu quickly went to greet her and asked, "Aunt Wang, what's up?!"

Wang Xia asked, "Zhu Zi, what just happened?!"

He Yuzhu understood what Wang Xia was referring to and said, "Aunt Wang, you'll see when you come with me." With that, He Yuzhu led Wang Xia to the moon gate leading to the courtyard. He Yuzhu took out his key, unlocked the gate, and led Wang Xia inside, saying, "Aunt Wang, those people are such spendthrifts! They not only look at the plants, they also pinch them. Come and see how many seedlings they've killed!!"

Wang Xia walked to the greenhouse door, lifted the curtain, and looked inside. She saw several vegetables trampled and bent over. Many cucumber blossoms were scattered on the ground. Wang Xia lowered the curtain, walked to He Yuzhu, and said, "Yuzhu, don't worry! Those people won't come again."

"That would be wonderful!" He Yuzhu echoed, saying, "Aunt Wang, my dad has found a girlfriend. She's his best friend's sister-in-law."

Wang Xia said, "I already know about this." Then she asked, "What's going on between you and the Yan family?!"

He Yuzhu then told Wang Xia about discovering the enemy spy. After listening to He Yuzhu's account, Wang Xia smiled and said, "No wonder the Public Security Bureau wanted to transfer you there."

He Yuzhu hurriedly said, "Aunt Wang, you can't just abandon me! I don't want to go to the police station!"

"Fine! I won't go then! But the head chef at the police station's canteen is retiring in two weeks. We can't find a suitable chef right now. The higher-ups are planning to merge the police station's canteen into ours."

He Yuzhu said, "Aunt Wang, I'm only in charge of purchasing. For other matters, you need to talk to Grandpa Xu."

"You little rascal!" Wang Xia laughed and poked He Yuzhu's forehead, then asked seriously, "Your dad got married and found a new wife. What are your plans with Yushui?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "What other plans could we have?! We'll just have to take it one step at a time. As long as my father's new wife is good to Yushui, that's all that matters."

After lunch, He Yuzhu, having nothing else to do, told Xu Dali and left the Military Control Commission.

No sooner had He Yuzhu left than a woman arrived. This woman was none other than Wu Yonghua. Wu Yonghua knocked on the door and entered Wu Jiangyong's office with practiced ease. After Wu Jiangyong invited Wu Yonghua to sit down, he asked, "Old Wu, what brings you here today?!" With that, Wu Jiangyong made two cups of tea and handed one to Wu Yonghua.

Wu Yonghua took the teacup and said, "I've heard you were here for a while, but I haven't had time to come. I finally had some free time today, so I came to visit."

Wu Jiangyong said, "Old Wu, we've known each other for more than just a day or two. Do you think I don't know your temper?! Tell me! What do you want from me today?!"

Wu Yonghua said, "I really just came to see an old friend."

"Alright! I'll assume you're here to see me!" With that, Wu Jiangyong sat down next to Wu Yonghua.

Wu Yonghua took a sip of tea and asked, "How many of us from our work team back then are still alive?!"

Wu Jiangyong replied, "There are seven left. Besides the two of us in Beijing, the rest are all in the south. What?! You miss them?!"

"Yes!" Wu Yonghua echoed, saying, "Now that I have some free time at work, I keep thinking about the past." She then asked, "I heard that your military control bureau has a junior purchasing agent?!"

Wu Jiangyong said, "You mean He Yuzhu?! That kid is quite pitiful!" Then, seeing that Wu Yonghua was interested in He Yuzhu, Wu Jiangyong told her about He Yuzhu.

After listening to Wu Jiangyong's account, Wu Yonghua said, "This kid is really good. Anyone else in this situation would have given up long ago. He helped me a lot today."

Wu Jiangyong was taken aback and asked, "You've seen him before?!"

Wu Yonghua replied, "I've seen him. That kid's quite cute. He doesn't want to leave his name when he does good deeds. If the police hadn't known him, we really wouldn't have been able to find him." Then she asked, "Where's He Yuzhu?!"

Wu Jiangyong raised his wrist to check the time on his watch and said, "He's probably already off work and gone home by now."

"Knock! Knock! Knock!" Just then, there was a knock on Wu Jiangyong's office door.

Wu Jiangyong called out, "Come in!"

After receiving permission, Ye Guoliang pushed open the door and entered Wu Jiangyong's office, greeting him with a smile, "Old Wu!" Then, seeing Wu Yonghua sitting next to Wu Jiangyong, he said with a smile, "Oh?! I didn't expect Comrade Wu Yonghua to be here too?!"

Wu Jiangyong asked, "Old Ye, what brings you here?!"

Ye Guoliang said, "In another two weeks, our head chef will retire. We can't find a new chef right away. The higher-ups have approved the merger of our two canteens. So I came to talk to you about how our two canteens can merge!"

Wu Jiangyong said, "Isn't that simple?! Your unit is right next to our military control commission. Just open a door, and the problem will be solved!"