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

He Yuzhu drove the truck to the village committee office. Just as he got out and was about to knock on the door, Tian Jiawang appeared behind him and called out, "Zhuzi!"

He Yuzhu turned around abruptly, smiling as he greeted, "Uncle Village Chief!"

Tian Jiawang said, "You're here pretty early, kid!!"

He Yuzhu said, "Well, the New Year is just around the corner. All the colleagues in the office are counting on the fish from our village for their bonuses!" With that, He Yuzhu pulled Tian Jiawang to the truck and said, "Uncle Village Chief, look what's in here?!"

Tian Jiawang looked in the direction He Yuzhu was pointing and his eyes lit up when he saw the two large wild boars in the carriage. He exclaimed, "These wild boars are quite big!"

He Yuzhu said, "Uncle Village Chief, one of these two wild boars is a gift from me to our village. The other one, along with the grain on the cart, will all be used to barter for seafood. Also, don't forget to put the scrap metal on the cart safely in the warehouse!"

Tian Jiawang understood He Yuzhu and knew that He Yuzhu wasn't the type to speak without reason. Tian Jiawang said, "Yuzhu, don't worry! I know what I'm doing!"

He Yuzhu said, "Captain, please find someone to deal with the wild boars. I hunted these two wild boars in the mountains before dawn today. They were brought over as soon as they were done."

"Alright! I'll go get some people right away!" With that, Tian Jiawang prepared to go and fetch them. Just then, several households closer to the village committee heard the commotion and came over. Tian Jiawang hurriedly called out, "Jiacheng! Go and call Uncle Erhu over here."

"Yes!" Tian Jiacheng responded, scurrying off towards the village entrance. Tian Jiawang then said to the others, "Everyone, stop watching! Help unload the truck!"

Hearing the commotion, Tian Shuilai came out of the village committee office. Seeing He Yuzhu, he greeted him with a smile, "Zhuzi's here?! Don't stand outside! Come in!"

"Hey!" He Yuzhu took out his cigarette case, spread out a pack of cigarettes, and followed Tian Shuilai into the village committee.

About twenty minutes later, Tian Jiawang walked in excitedly and said, "Zhuzi, you've really helped us a lot this time."

He Yuzhu said, "Uncle Village Chief, we're all on the same side. You don't need to stand on ceremony with me."

Tian Shuilai asked, "Zhu Zi, did you bring brown sugar this time?!"

"I brought it! It's in the driver's seat! I'll go get it right now!" With that, He Yuzhu ran out of the village committee office. A short while later, He Yuzhu returned carrying two cloth bags. He placed the bags on the table, took out ten half-pound packets of brown sugar wrapped in kraft paper from one of the bags, and said, "Uncle Secretary, here's five pounds of brown sugar. There are also ten pounds of red dates and five pounds of dried longan."

Tian Jiawang grabbed a handful of red dates and said, "These are good stuff!" Then he looked at He Yuzhu and asked, "You're going to exchange all of these?!"

He Yuzhu said, "I'll only exchange eight jin of red dates. You and Uncle Party Secretary's family can each have one jin of the remaining two jin. Exchange three jin of dried longan, and the other two jin will be the same as the red dates." Then, before Tian Jiawang and Tian Shuilai could speak, He Yuzhu said, "Uncle Village Chief! Uncle Party Secretary! Please don't refuse! This is a small token of my appreciation as a junior! If you don't accept it, I won't come again." After saying that, He Yuzhu opened his satchel and took out two packs of cigarettes, two bottles of Lotus liquor, and two packets of one-jin brown sugar. He said, "Uncle Village Chief, Uncle Party Secretary! This is my New Year's gift for you two!" After saying that, He Yuzhu directly divided the gifts for the two of them and then pushed them in front of them.

Tian Jiawang and Tian Shuilai exchanged a glance. Tian Shuilai sighed and said, "Alright! We'll take it!"

"That's right!" He Yuzhu agreed, then asked, "Uncle Village Chief, when will our village's fishing boats be back?!"

Tian Jiawang replied, "I expect to arrive a little earlier today, around ten o'clock. Don't worry! I've saved the best fish and shrimp for you!"

About ten minutes later, Tian Yonglin walked in from outside with a smile and said, "Village chief, Party secretary, Zhuzi brought quite a lot of things this time. Two thousand catties of mixed flour, two wild boars, and some cloth. Anyway, quite a lot of things."

He Yuzhu said, "Uncle Village Chief, I just told you. The biggest one is the one I gave to the village; it's not included in the barter. The smaller one is the one used for bartering."

Tian Yonglin was stunned for a moment, and unconsciously looked at Tian Jiawang.

Tian Jiawang said, "Zhu Zi, don't worry! I haven't told them yet!" Then Tian Jiawang looked at Tian Yonglin and asked, "Has the wild boar been dealt with?"

Tian Yonglin replied, "Grandpa Erhu has already taken care of it. The larger one, after having its fur and internal organs removed, weighs 172 jin (86 catties). The smaller one weighs 158 jin (74 catties)."

Tian Shuilai said, "That evens things out. The larger one is 170 jin, and the smaller one is 160 jin. We'll exchange them for wild boar meat at a ratio of three jin of seafood to one jin of meat. As for the rest, we'll stick to the previous prices!"

Tian Jiawang then asked, "On the other side, how do we divide it?! By number of people, or by household?!"

Tian Shuilai said, "Let's divide it according to the number of people! Three liang for able-bodied men, and two liang for the elderly and children."

Tian Jiawang considered it for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, we'll do it your way! As for the other side, I think we should divide it up too!"

Tian Shuilai nodded silently. Tian Yonglin said, "Then I'll tell Grandpa Erhu to divide the meat properly."

"Wait!" Tian Shuilai called out to Tian Yonglin, who was about to leave, and said, "If we divide it together, the strong laborers will get half a jin, and the elderly and children will get three liang each. The bones that are left over should be given directly to the elderly and children in the village so they can make some soup to nourish themselves."

"Oh!" Tian Yonglin responded and ran out. Tian Jiawang chuckled and teased, "Uncle Party Secretary, why are you being so generous today?! This isn't like you at work!"

Tian Shuilai said, "Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Instead of thinking about that, you should be thinking about how to deal with the people in town!"

He Yuzhu asked, "Uncle Village Chief, what's going on in town?!"

Tian Jiawang said, "Isn't it all because of some seafood?! The higher-ups want to increase the quota."

He Yuzhu asked, "Uncle Village Chief, I'm not trying to stir up trouble. If you agree to increase the quota, what will happen next year?! Are you just going to raise it whenever they say so?! Fishing isn't a simple matter. It's not just about the weather, but also whether the fish, shrimp, and crabs are willing to go into the net."