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

Five days passed in the blink of an eye. The commendation for He Yuzhu came down from above. Although He Yuzhu's methods in Gangcheng were somewhat too radical, the result was good. After discussion, He Yuzhu was awarded a third-class merit, plus a reward of two hundred yuan and a bicycle ticket.

Seeing He Yuzhu's dejected look, Ye Guoliang smiled and asked, "What's wrong?! Not satisfied with this reward?!"

"Satisfied! How could I not be satisfied?!" With that, He Yuzhu stuffed the things into his pocket. Ye Guoliang and Yao Qi exchanged a glance and said, "Looks like Zhuzi has quite a bit of resentment in his heart!"

Yao Qi said, "Who wouldn't be angry if a second-class merit was turned into a third-class merit?!"

He Yuzhu complained, "I just went a little too far. But I didn't leave any evidence against me!"

Yao Qi said, "Ultimately, it's because you're too independent. You don't give others a chance to shine."

He Yuzhu said, "Director Yao, it's not that I'm alone. It's just that I have no other choice. I'm unfamiliar with the area. If you were in my shoes, you would have made the same choice as me."

Ye Guoliang advised, "Forget it! Zhu Zi, don't take it to heart. You'll have other opportunities to earn merit in the future!"

He Yuzhu asked, "Uncle Ye, is the truck ready?!"

Ye Guoliang replied, "It's all set! I got your Aunt Wang's help. We'll split the stuff we brought back with her on a 30/70 basis. We'll keep 30%, and they'll get the rest."

He Yuzhu said, "How you divide it is none of my business. I'm only responsible for bringing the things back."

Yao Qi said with some worry, "What if the branch office finds out?!"

He Yuzhu said dismissively, "So what if you know? At worst, we'll just push the blame onto my Aunt Wang."

Ye Guoliang continued, "Don't push it to your Aunt Wang. The branch office has made several trips there recently and brought back quite a bit of stuff. It's just that Lai Changming is too stingy. I guess after a few more trips, they won't be willing to give him anything anymore."

Yao Qi asked, "Zhu Zi, should we send someone to accompany you tomorrow?"

He Yuzhu said, "No need! Too many people would just cause trouble."

Ye Guoliang said, "Be careful on the road tomorrow. Take your weapon with you."

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "Uncle Ye, don't worry! I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat. Besides, I'm going to get my marriage certificate with Xiaoran the day after tomorrow! I'm not ready to lose my life before I've even married her." Then He Yuzhu reminded him, "Uncle Ye, don't forget to get me a letter of introduction!"

Ye Guoliang opened the drawer, took out two pre-written letters of introduction, and handed them to He Yuzhu, saying, "The top one is for purchasing. The bottom one is for your wedding. Don't get them mixed up!"

He Yuzhu took the letter of introduction, glanced at it, and said, "Uncle Ye, you can get other things mixed up, but not this."

Ye Guoliang continued, "Anyway, you're free today. Go back and rest!"

"Okay!" He Yuzhu responded, "Then I'm leaving! Please tell Deputy Director Song for me later."

"Go on!" After sending He Yuzhu away, Ye Guoliang picked up the cigarette case on the table, took out two cigarettes, handed one to Yao Qi, and said, "Old Yao, there were some things you didn't let me say to Zhuzi just now?!"

Yao Qi said, "What's the point of saying it?! It'll only make that kid more unhappy!"

"Knock! Knock! Knock!" Just then, Song Zhaohong knocked on the door and walked into Ye Guoliang's office. Ye Guoliang asked, "Is the meeting over?!"

"Okay!" Song Zhaohong responded, and said, "This year, the branch bureau will not make unified purchases for welfare during the Spring Festival. It will distribute five yuan per person to each police station. The police stations will then make their own purchases."

Yao Qi asked with a puzzled look, "Why did things suddenly change this year?!"

Song Zhaohong said, "The funds allocated from above are limited. Furthermore, the branch office's logistics department can't compete with the big manufacturers for procurement. Therefore, we have to let each police station make its own purchases. Several police stations are planning to directly distribute the money. I'd like to ask, how should our station handle this?!"

Ye Guoliang laughed and said, "Other institutes can't do anything about it. But our Zhu Zi is one of them. Five yuan a person, and the procurement budget allocated to our institute should be around 240 yuan." He then asked, "Xiao Song, how much money is left in our institute's account right now?!"

Song Zhaohong said, "There are still more than seven hundred yuan left."

Ye Guoliang was taken aback and asked, "How come there's still so much left?!"

Song Zhaohong said, "Last time, Zhu Zi led the branch office to the fishing village to purchase seafood. The higher-ups gave us a thousand yuan in funding."

Ye Guoliang said, "Here's what we'll do! Keep five hundred yuan in the account for emergencies, and give the rest, along with the procurement funds issued by the branch office, to Zhuzi. Let him use this money as a standard to purchase the New Year's benefits for our entire station."

Yao Qi reminded him, "Old Ye, don't forget. Zhu Zi is going to the fishing village to buy seafood tomorrow. That's a considerable sum of money!"

Song Zhaohong said, "I gave Zhuzi 500 yuan for tomorrow's purchase. I told him that if it's not enough, he can pay for it first. We'll settle the bill when he gets back."

Ye Guoliang paused for a few seconds, then said, "That's the only way!"

A little after 3 a.m. the next day, He Yuzhu rode his bicycle to the police station. He took the truck keys from Yao Qi, who was on duty, and drove the truck away from the police station. Because it was still dark and there weren't many people on the road, He Yuzhu drove very fast. He was out of town in about twenty minutes. Once outside the city, He Yuzhu found a secluded spot, put the truck into his spatial storage, and transferred to an off-road vehicle from there.

Although the roads outside Beijing were difficult to navigate, the off-road vehicle performed quite well. What would normally be a three-hour journey, He Yuzhu completed in just over two hours. Upon reaching a point not far from Tianjia Village, He Yuzhu packed up the off-road vehicle and switched to the truck he had brought from the police station. However, the truck bed wasn't empty. It contained a ton of mixed flour, over twenty bolts of flawed cloth obtained through connections, two wild boars, and a large amount of scrap metal.

"Beep! Beep!" As they approached the village entrance, He Yuzhu honked the horn twice. The militiamen on guard duty at the entrance perked up at the sound. Tian Gousheng, watching the approaching truck, remarked, "It looks like Comrade He from Beijing!"

Tian Erwa, standing nearby, chimed in, "It really is Comrade He!"

He Yuzhu drove up to the two men, stopped the car, rolled down the window, and asked, "So it's the two of you on guard duty today?!"

Tian Gousheng said, "We made a small mistake a few days ago. Uncle Village Chief punished us by making us stand guard!"

He Yuzhu took out his cigarette case, pulled out two cigarettes, and handed them to the two men, saying, "You two continue standing guard. I'll drive the car to the village committee."

Tian Erwa reminded him, "The Party Secretary is probably already at the village committee office by now."

"Okay! I got it! Thanks!" With that, He Yuzhu drove the car into the village.