Courtyard House: Primordial Chaos Pearl

Before the first light of dawn could penetrate the window paper, Lin Dong woke up. He wasn't awakened by the noise in the courtyard, but by the surging chaotic power within his body that broke through his sleepiness—he had actually mastered the first level of the "Chaotic Body Refining Technique" overnight.

He clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking, the muscles in his arm even more defined than yesterday. Walking to the old locust tree in the courtyard, he took a deep breath and threw a punch according to the incantation. The force of the punch, accompanied by a slight whistling sound, slammed heavily against the tree trunk. The old locust tree swayed, a few withered leaves falling, but his fist didn't even leave a red mark.

"Good lad, your strength has increased!" came Sha Zhu's voice from next door. He Yuzhu came out carrying a chamber pot, his eyes widening at the sight. "You weren't this strong when you fought Jia Dongxu yesterday. What good food did you eat?"

Lin Dong smiled, not mentioning the cultivation technique: "I've been sleeping well and eating more lately, so my strength has naturally increased." He took out two fruit candies from his pocket and handed them over, "Brother Zhu, have a taste."

He Yuzhu took the candy and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling, "Don't be too honest. The Jia family holds grudges very well, and they might come looking for trouble again at any time. I spoke up for you at the meeting yesterday, and Qin Huairu even came to me last night complaining about being poor, hoping I would plead for Jia Dongxu."

Lin Dong's eyes turned cold. Qin Huairu was resorting to force when soft tactics failed, trying to take advantage of Sha Zhu's kindness to continue manipulating him. "Brother Zhu, if she comes to you again, just say you can't help," he said in a low voice. "You deliver food and meat to her family every day; it's not easy for you to save up any money. Don't let it all go into a bottomless pit."

He Yuzhu paused, clearly not having considered that possibility. He scratched his head: "I just felt sorry for her, raising three children alone..."

"There's always a reason why someone is pitiful." Lin Dong interrupted him. "Her husband is a worker, and she has her own job. Why do you have to support her every day? If you really cared about the child, you wouldn't be scheming to take advantage of other people's food." These words struck a nerve with He Yuzhu. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he just sighed and carried the chamber pot into the house.

Lin Dong returned to the house and wrapped the copper ingots he had refined the day before in an old cloth. If he sold these two kilograms of copper ingots directly to the scrap yard, they would definitely be questioned about their origin, and he wouldn't get a good price. He remembered that Fatty Wang from the scrap yard had said that he knew a private hardware dealer, and perhaps he could sell them through that channel.

After breakfast, he headed straight for the south of the city with the copper ingots in his pocket. When Fatty Wang saw the copper ingots, his eyes shone even brighter than when he saw refined iron: "Young man, you have quite a lot of treasures! This copper is at least 95% pure, even better than the state-owned factory's!" He rubbed his hands together. "I know a Boss Li who refurbishes farm tools. He's short of copper. I'll get in touch with him for you, and I guarantee you a good price."

Less than half an hour later, a middle-aged man in a gray cloth jacket arrived. He was Wang Pangzi's distant cousin, who ran a small hardware workshop in the suburbs. Boss Li took the copper ingot, bit it with his teeth, examined it for a long time with a magnifying glass, and then said decisively, "Four yuan and fifty cents a pound, these two pounds and three ounces, I'll give you eleven yuan and fifty cents! In the future, if you have any good stuff like this, sell it to me first."

The price was significantly higher than Lin Dong had expected, but he immediately agreed. After the transaction was completed, Boss Li handed him a slip of paper: "This is my address. If you have iron, copper, or aluminum, feel free to come find me anytime. Bulk discounts are available."

Lin Dong, with the money in his pocket, first went to the bookstore and bought a "Hardware Processing Handbook"—he wanted to use the refined iron extracted from the Chaos Pearl to make some small items, such as kitchen knives and sickles, which he could use himself or sell to Boss Li. Passing by the grain store, he also bought ten catties of rice and five catties of flour, paying with grain coupons. This amount of food was enough for him to eat for half a month.

It was already noon when he returned to the courtyard house. As soon as he entered the gate, he saw Qin Huairu standing at the door of his room, holding an enamel bowl in her hand, with a standard "wronged" expression on her face. "Brother Lin Dong, you're finally back." She greeted him, "I made some cabbage and tofu soup, I brought you a bowl to nourish your body."

Lin Dong glanced at the soup in the bowl; it was watery and thin, with only two or three pieces of tofu and the cabbage overcooked. It was obvious that Qin Huairu was deliberately putting on a "poor and shabby" act to evoke his sympathy and then use that as an opportunity to make demands.

"Sister Qin, you're too kind. I bought the groceries myself, so I won't trouble you." He stepped aside, not taking the bowl of soup. Qin Huairu's hand froze in mid-air, her smile faltering. "Brother Lin Dong, are you still angry with me? What happened at the meeting yesterday... I had no choice, my mother-in-law was pressuring me..."

"Sister Qin is joking, I'm not angry." Lin Dong said calmly. "If there's nothing else, I'll go inside first; I still need to unpack my things."

Qin Huairu quickly grabbed him, lowering her voice, "Brother Lin Dong, I heard you know someone who buys metal? You see, your brother Dongxu injured his leg, and his family is struggling financially. He used to learn some skills in a factory and wants to make some small farm tools to sell, but he's short of copper... Could you help me find out where he can buy cheap copper?"

Lin Dong sneered inwardly; this was her true purpose. First, she tested him with the soup, then she used the excuse that Jia Dongxu was making farm tools to try and get information from him about the source of copper, and even wanted him to help "find a channel"—in short, she wanted to take advantage of him, and might even want to steal his things.

"I met him by chance. He's a legitimate business owner and doesn't sell raw materials casually," Lin Dong refused directly. "Besides, copper is a controlled resource, and buying and selling it privately is illegal. If you don't want Brother Jia to lose his job, Sister Qin, you'd better not get involved."

These words struck a nerve with Qin Huairu. Her face paled, and she said awkwardly, "I was just asking... You should keep the soup; it won't taste good when it gets cold."

"No need, I bought pork, we'll stew it for dinner." Lin Dong waved the meat ration coupon in his hand, deliberately provoking her. Qin Huairu's eyes widened instantly as she stared at the meat ration coupon in his hand. Her throat moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't speak, picked up her bowl, and turned to leave.

Lin Dong watched her retreating figure and snorted coldly. The more you back down with this kind of person, the more they'll take advantage. Only by being more assertive than them will they dare not provoke you.

As soon as I entered the house, I heard the loud voice of my second uncle, Liu Haizhong, coming from outside the courtyard gate: "Is Lin Dong home? Come out for a moment!" Liu Haizhong was the group leader of the street office. He loved to show off his official power, and everyone in the courtyard had to give him some face.

Lin Dong frowned, wondering what Liu Haizhong wanted to see him about. He went outside and saw Liu Haizhong standing in the yard with his hands behind his back, accompanied by two men in cadre uniforms. "Second Uncle, you wanted to see me?"

"These are comrades from the district's materials bureau, here to inquire about the situation." Liu Haizhong pointed at the two cadres, his face carrying an air of official authority. "I heard you've been going out frequently lately and have sold quite a bit of metal. You'd better answer their questions honestly."

Lin Dong's heart tightened. Had his business of selling copper ingots been reported? He calmly replied, "Comrade, I'm only selling old items left by my elders, like copper basins and iron kettles. They're all legal, and the purchasing station has them registered."

One of the cadres, who wore glasses, nodded and took out his notebook: "We received a report that someone is illegally mining ore at the abandoned mine in Woniushan. Have you been there recently?"

Lin Dong breathed a sigh of relief. So it was a matter concerning the mine, not the copper ingots. "I went there once, to collect scrap iron, not to mine illegally. The veins there have long since dried up; it's all just useless rubble." He paused, then added, "I also met two steelworkers who can vouch for me."

The official, who had clearly already investigated, nodded: "We've questioned those two workers, and their account matches yours. Just a reminder, abandoned mines are dangerous; don't go there again."

"Thank you for reminding me, comrade. I will never go there again," Lin Dong said quickly.

After the cadre left, Liu Haizhong's face turned somewhat grim. He had originally intended to use the name of the comrade from the Materials Bureau to put Lin Dong in a difficult position, to let him know his power, and incidentally to squeeze some benefits out of him. He hadn't expected that Lin Dong had already made things clear.

"Lin Dong, if anything happens in the future, you must report it to the organization in a timely manner, so as not to cause any misunderstandings," Liu Haizhong said in an official tone.

"Understood, Second Uncle. I'll definitely be more careful in the future," Lin Dong replied outwardly, but inwardly he sneered. Liu Haizhong was just trying to get his attention and take advantage of him since he'd been doing well lately. He'd have to be careful dealing with this kind of person in the future.

After Liu Haizhong left, Lin Dong returned to the room and took out the "Hardware Processing Handbook" to look through it. He wanted to first make a kitchen knife out of refined iron to test his skills and see if the refined iron purified by the Chaos Pearl was any good.

He entered the chaotic space, took out a piece of refined iron ingot, and found a hard stone in the space to use as a cutting board. Following the blueprints in the manual, he used a steel chisel to draw the shape of a kitchen knife on the refined iron, and then hammered it little by little with a claw hammer. The body nourished by the Chaos Pearl greatly increased his strength, and he hammered with ease. Although the refined iron was hard, under his hammering, it slowly turned into the prototype of a kitchen knife.

Halfway through striking it, he remembered that the Chaos Pearl had a "shaping" function, so he quickly chanted "Shaping." The Chaos Pearl emitted a golden light, enveloping the refined iron. After the golden light dissipated, a brand-new kitchen knife appeared before him, its blade smooth as a mirror and its edge incredibly sharp, even better than the kitchen knives sold in the market.

Lin Dong picked up a kitchen knife and chopped at the tree trunk in his spatial dimension. The trunk was instantly severed, the cut clean. "Great!" he exclaimed, clenching his fist in excitement. With the Chaos Pearl's shaping ability, making farm tools and handicrafts would be much easier for him in the future.

Just as Lin Dong put the kitchen knife away, he heard a knock at the door. He opened it and saw his third uncle, Yan Bugui, standing there with an abacus in his hand. "Lin Dong," he said, "can I borrow your salt? We've run out."

Lin Dong knew that Yan Bugui hadn't come to borrow salt at all; he wanted to find out what was going on with him. He turned and went into the house, took a small bag of salt, and handed it to Yan Bugui: "Third Uncle, take this."

Yan Bugui took the salt, but his eyes scanned the room, finally landing on the "Hardware Processing Manual" on the table. His eyes lit up: "Lin Dong, you know about hardware processing? Want to make farm tools to sell?"

"I was just looking around and thinking about things randomly," Lin Dong said vaguely.

"Just thinking about it won't do; you need technical skills." Yan Bugui pushed up his glasses. "My nephew works as a technician in a hardware factory. If you're interested, I can help you get in touch with him, but..." He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear: he wanted to take a cut.

Lin Dong understood immediately; Yan Bugui had spotted a business opportunity and wanted a piece of the pie. He didn't agree immediately, but said, "Third Uncle, I'm just doing this for fun; I haven't planned on doing business yet. I'll ask for your help when I'm ready."

Yan Bugui was somewhat disappointed, but he didn't say much, took the salt, and turned to leave. Lin Dong knew that Yan Bugui definitely wouldn't give up so easily and would surely come looking for him again in the future.

That evening, Lin Dong stewed a pot of pork and cabbage with his newly made cleaver. The aroma wafted out of the house, filling the entire courtyard. Jia Zhangshi stood at her doorway, staring at Lin Dong's door, muttering curses, "That heartless bastard! He eats all by himself, doesn't he know how to help his neighbors!"

Qin Huairu stood beside Jia Zhangshi, holding her child, her eyes filled with jealousy and greed. She hadn't expected Lin Dong to be living so well now, having meat to eat and money to buy supplies, and she felt even more resentful.

Lin Dong heard Jia Zhangshi's cursing but ignored it. He ladled out a bowl of meat and brought it to He Yuzhu next door. "Brother Zhu, try my cooking."

He Yuzhu stared wide-eyed at the meat in the bowl and quickly said, "Thank you, Lin Dong. I'll go get the bowl and chopsticks right away." He was increasingly admiring of Lin Dong and gradually understood what Lin Dong had said before, so he began to distance himself from the Jia family.

The two sat inside eating meat and drinking wine. He Yuzhu exclaimed, "Lin Dong, you're really something! Now you can eat meat whenever you want. I used to send meat to the Jia family every day, and I could barely afford to eat any myself."

"Don't spoil them anymore," Lin Dong said. "Save some money, get married, and live your own life. That's better than anything else."

He Yuzhu nodded: "I understand. If they come looking for me again, I'll just say I have no money and no food."

After dinner, Lin Dong returned to his room and entered the Chaos Space. The vegetables in the space had ripened again, and he harvested a basket of cabbage and a basket of mushrooms, intending to sell them on the black market the next day. At the same time, he was also thinking about his next steps.

Now that he has money, food stamps, and the Chaos Pearl—his golden finger—life is getting better and better. But the troubles in the courtyard house haven't been completely resolved yet. The Jia family, Second Uncle, and Third Uncle are all watching him. He must accumulate enough strength and wealth as soon as possible to completely escape this place of trouble.

He remembered what Boss Li had said about needing a large amount of metal raw materials. Although the Woniu Mountain mine was dangerous, it must contain a lot of valuable ores. He decided that after selling his vegetables tomorrow, he would go to the mine again to collect more ore, refine it, and sell it to Boss Li to quickly accumulate wealth.

At the same time, he also needs to accelerate his cultivation of the "Chaotic Body Refining Technique" to increase his martial prowess. Only with sufficient strength can he deal with various troubles and protect his property and safety.

As night deepened, Lin Dong lay in bed, feeling the chaotic energy slowly flowing through his body, a smile playing on his lips. He knew his future was full of hope; the conflicts in the courtyard were merely minor episodes on his road to success. His goal was to live a brilliant life in this extraordinary era, making everyone who had bullied him pay the price.