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

A little after 5 p.m., He Yuzhu arrived at a place not far from Beijing. He put away his three-wheeled motorcycle, took out his three-wheeled motorcycle, loaded four baskets of miscellaneous fish into the sidecar, and then took out a handcart, securing the handlebars to the back of the three-wheeled motorcycle. Next, He Yuzhu put about twenty more baskets of fish on the handcart, secured it with ropes, and then slowly rode the three-wheeled motorcycle towards Beijing.

As soon as He Yuzhu entered the city, he was targeted by purchasing agents from several factories. Two of the bolder ones approached him and tried to get close to him. He Yuzhu pretended not to hear them and dealt with them. Half an hour later, He Yuzhu brought the goods to the police station. Ye Guoliang, who was on duty at the station, heard the commotion and ran out of his office. Seeing the mountain of seafood, he asked in surprise, "Zhuzi, where did you get all this stuff?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "Meat is hard to come by these days, and hunting isn't convenient either. Luckily, I know a few fishermen from Tianjin. I had nothing to do today, so I went to Tianjin. Their fishing boats were docked today. I picked out some fresh meat and brought it back." Then he urged, "Uncle Ye, don't just stand there! Quickly get someone to help unload the truck!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Unload the truck!" Ye Guoliang snapped out of his daze and immediately called over a few people who had just returned from patrol to help unload the truck.

After unloading the truck, Ye Guoliang asked, "How much did you spend on all this stuff?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "It didn't cost much, just five cents a pound for the bulk goods. It just took a long time on the road. My butt was numb from all the shaking." He then reminded, "Uncle Ye, we should distribute these things as soon as possible. I ran into quite a few purchasing agents from factories on my way back. I expect someone will call to inquire soon."

Ye Guoliang said, "Once something is in our unit, apart from the branch office, no other unit can even think about it."

"Ring! Ring!" Just as Ye Guoliang finished speaking, the phone on his desk rang. Ye Guoliang and He Yuzhu exchanged a glance, then Ye Guoliang picked up the phone and said, "Nanluoguxiang Police Station, this is Ye Guoliang!"

Zhang Qiang's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Old Ye, I heard Zhu Zi got a lot of seafood?!"

Ye Guoliang chuckled and chimed in, "Old Zhang, your sense of smell is really sharp! Zhu Zi just got back to the station, and you already called because you could smell him?!"

Zhang Qiang said, "Old Ye, in this weather, with so much food, can you guys finish it all?! Don't let it go bad!"

Ye Guoliang said, "Old Zhang, don't worry about that. I pulled some strings a while ago and got a small cold storage room set up at the institute. Today we can use these things to test the cold storage's performance."

Zhang Qiang was taken aback and asked, "You're setting up such a big cold storage facility, why didn't you report it?!"

Ye Guoliang said, "Old Zhang, you've wronged me! I really did report it. The approval document is in my hands right now. It even has your and Director Song's signatures on it."

Zhang Qiang suddenly remembered the house repair application submitted by the Nanluoguxiang Public Security Bureau, and his face instantly turned ugly. He said, "Well, Ye Guoliang! You've learned to play mind games now!"

Ye Guoliang said, "They say you become like the company you keep. I learned that from you!"

"Fine! You win, kid!" Zhang Qiang then changed the subject, saying, "But you can't keep all that stuff anyway."

Ye Guoliang said, "If we can't finish it all at once, we can share it with our colleagues at the institute. We probably won't be able to use it all!"

Zhang Qiang said sternly, "Alright! Old Ye, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. Keep one-third of the stuff for yourself, and store the remaining two-thirds in your institute's cold storage. I'll send someone to pick it up tomorrow. It's settled!" With that, Zhang Qiang hung up the phone without giving Ye Guoliang a chance to speak.

Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Ye Guoliang muttered, "It's true what they say, 'A higher-ranking official can crush you!'"

He Yuzhu said, "Chief, since Director Zhang doesn't know the exact quantity anyway, why don't we just tell the people who are off duty to come back and distribute some of the items first, and then weigh them?"

"That's a great idea!" With that, Ye Guoliang ran out of the office and told the person on duty to call back the people who were going home after get off work.

Seeing that it was getting late, He Yuzhu said goodbye to Ye Guoliang and rode his bicycle home.

Nothing more was said that night. The next morning, after He Yuzhu finished washing up, he was busy cooking seafood noodles in the kitchen when He Daqing, drawn by the aroma, walked in and asked, "Zhuzi, what time did you get back yesterday?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "I got back at eight o'clock in the evening. When I got back, I saw that the lights in your room were off, so I didn't tell you. I went to Tianjin yesterday and brought back some seafood, so I got back late."

"Brother, what delicious food did you make?! I'm getting hungry just from the smell!" Just then, He Yushui and He Yukun walked in from outside, looking disheveled.

He Yuzhu chuckled at their appearance and urged, "If you want to eat, hurry up and wash up!"

"Oh!" He Yushui and He Yukun responded in unison and ran out. Five or six minutes later, He Yushui and He Yukun ran back, sat down at the table, took the bowls handed to them by He Yuzhu, and began to wolf down their food.

After finishing breakfast, He Yuzhu was just getting ready to go to work when Xu Damao, dressed impeccably, appeared before him. He Yuzhu sized Xu Damao up and down, then asked with a smile, "Damao, are you going on a blind date?!"

Xu Damao retorted, "Master Zhu, what do you think of my outfit?!"

He Yuzhu said, "Not bad!" Then, widening her eyes, she looked at Xu Damao and asked, "You're not really going on a blind date, are you?!"

Xu Damao looked around and said, "Yesterday morning, Xiaoling took me to Yu Haitang's house. I happened to see Yu Li getting ready for work. I must say, that girl is quite pretty. I found a matchmaker this afternoon. Yu Li happens to be off today, so we arranged to meet."

He Yuzhu cautioned, "Da Mao, first impressions are very important. Be careful what you say when you meet people. Don't blurt out everything."

Xu Damao said, "Brother Zhu, what kind of people are we?! You just wait and see, you'll be drinking at my wedding!"

"Then I'll wait!" With that, He Yuzhu pushed his bicycle out of the courtyard.

As He Yuzhu arrived at the police station and was about to go inside, he saw a truck pull out. After the truck drove away, He Yuzhu pushed his bicycle through the gate and asked Ma Huaimin, "Old Ma, what happened just now?!"

Ma Huaimin said, "The branch office sent them to pick up the seafood. Luckily, we got some last night. Otherwise, we would have lost a lot today. By the way, Zhu Zi, I've filled out the forms. Take them to the finance department for reimbursement!"