Siheyuan (courtyard house): My name is Shazhu!

At 3 p.m., He Yuzhu and his sister brought two bottles of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) and a bag of snacks to their master's house to wish him a Happy New Year.

"Zhu Zi is here. Is this your sister, Yu Shui? Come inside, it's snowing outside and it's cold."

The person who greeted He Yuzhu and his sister was their teacher's wife, Sun Mei. She was unemployed, short in stature, and very warm-hearted.

"Happy New Year, Master's wife. This is my younger sister, Yushui."

"Happy New Year, Auntie." He Yushui was very sweet to outsiders.

"The young lady is very likable. I've heard your master talk about your family. Is there anything you need? Just tell us, don't be so polite."

Your master, along with your fourth and fifth senior brothers, went out to prepare banquets for people. They are serving two banquets today, so they may be back a little late.

The eldest and second eldest sons in the family also work in the catering industry. Life is tough these days, so we need to earn more money.

Your second senior brother, Zhao Ming, also prepares banquets for others. He arrived early this morning, so you should also make arrangements for your own time.

"Your dad's not home, and you don't earn any money. Just come; you don't need to bring anything. Your master earns a high income, and his family doesn't lack anything."

"Happy New Year, Brother Zhuzi! Happy New Year, Sister Yushui!" Master's two youngest daughters came out to offer their New Year's greetings. They even knew He Yushui, which meant that Master had mentioned He Daqing at home.

"Happy New Year, Xiaoqing and Xiaoying."

"..." He Yushui followed up with a greeting.

"Madam, before my father passed away, he left us siblings a lot of money. You know, he wasn't short of money, and we siblings are living quite well."

"I heard about your father leaving money; he wasn't short of money. It's just that your master said some people in your compound are awful, and they've been targeting your family since your father passed away."

Don't indulge them; these people will take advantage of your kindness. Your master is still alive and knows many people; he can stand up for you.

If someone goes too far, let him step in and resolve the issue, and teach this kind of person a lesson. "Master's wife, Sun Mei, also understands ordinary people in today's society very well."

"Right now, I don't need my master to step in. I can still handle it. I'm already the pillar of my family. There are still some things I need to learn, experience some setbacks, and learn from them."

"Two families in our compound have ideas..." He Yuzhu explained with a smile.

"That's good. When you're in charge, you also need to learn about human relationships. No one's life is without its ups and downs. Be careful, get over them, and don't let them trip you up."

The fact that two people who harbor ill intentions towards you are both hospitalized is retribution; Heaven is watching what people do.

Although you are not old and are not truly childless, they have made a mistake in trying to seize your house. Let them try; you can't kill them.

Last year, in the large courtyard in front of us, there lived a 60-year-old man who had no descendants and lived alone. Several neighbors took advantage of his family's wealth.

This angered the single old man, who set fire to three houses that night, killing only two people and twelve others.

When they arrested the old man, he said, "You think you're worthy to eat my bloodline?"

I'm not telling you to go and set fires, but to go find your master or the military control commission if you need anything. They seem different from the soldiers of the past; they're involved in matters concerning ordinary people like us.

Ordinary people, like the soldier's wife, don't know much about our soldiers; their impressions of them are just getting better.

"I won't go to extremes."

After staying at the teacher's wife's house for more than an hour, the brother and sister took two red envelopes and went home.

The brother and sister walked hand in hand on the snowy road, occasionally reaching out to catch the snowflakes falling from the sky.

He Yushui was fully bundled up from head to toe, holding her brother's hand as they skipped and hopped through the snow. She seemed to have forgotten that it was a snowy day, the roads were slippery, and she should be careful.

A playful little girl.

Looking at He Yushui's little face, red from the cold, and the smile on it, He Yuzhu felt that perhaps he was raising her, or perhaps she was silently comforting his lonely heart.

The sky and the ground were covered in snow, and the weather was a bit cold, but my heart was warm.

He Yuzhu smiled unconsciously. This was good; at least in terms of blood ties, the two of them could depend on each other for survival.

On the way back, because He Yushui was having fun, the two of them walked slowly, following her wishes.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, many people were visiting relatives on the street, carrying gifts in their hands. They were chatting and laughing as they walked through the snow, some fast and some slow.

At 5:40, the brother and sister took an hour and a half to get home.

No need to cook, just reheat it in a few minutes. Rest first.

Opening the thick red envelope given to him by his teacher's wife, He Yuzhu felt instantly warmed. Inside were ten 50,000 yuan bills. A total of 500,000 yuan.

Master and Mistress were still worried that they and their siblings would have no money to live on after He Daqing left, so they gave him extra.

I didn't receive a salary as an apprentice. My master's monthly salary was 1.8 million, which included my salary and that of my fifth senior brother. According to the rules, during the apprenticeship period, the master would take all the salary.

The master was worried he wouldn't have enough money but was too embarrassed to ask for a loan. So he gave him five months' salary as a red envelope. The master-disciple relationship is like father and son; perhaps this is true for many masters and disciples.

Compared to people like Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhangshi, they are worlds apart, incomparable.

Returning them is impossible; that would be slapping Master and Mistress in the face. We should repay them if given the chance, and treat them even better now. We don't lack supplies ourselves.

A drop of water in need deserves a spring in return. This saying may be an exaggeration, but repaying even half a bowl of water is still the right thing to do.

He Yuzhu stood up, opened the door and looked at the two families on either side. His hatred for the two families was growing deeper and deeper. Without comparison, there would be no hurt.

Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhangshi were still not discharged from the hospital, and their two families did not start a fight.

He Yuzhu was thinking about how to deal with them again. From now on, he would make it a habit to deal with them while eating and sleeping.

Then I thought of He Daqing, who had been away from Yanjing for more than three months. If he had a job, there was no rush to send money; he would probably write to tell me his work address.

Haven't found a formal job yet? You don't know anyone, and finding a job on your own isn't easy. It's not like you're doing odd jobs or heavy manual labor.

He Daqing had money and took the train to Baocheng. He Yuzhu didn't think anything would happen to him and waited for news.

Then I thought about how winter is almost over and summer is coming. Winter snow and summer rain are natural phenomena. Tonight, I'll smash the tiles on both houses, and preferably smash their rainproof houses as well.

It's to be expected that the room will leak on a rainy day.

A "ding" sound woke He Yuzhu, who was deep in thought.

"System space upgrade, from one acre to ten acres. The next automatic upgrade will be on this day next year, at 6 PM on the first day of the Lunar New Year." The system's mechanical voice entered my mind.

That's not a mature, elegant woman's voice. What a pity!

"System, I have a question. How can I upgrade? Is automatic upgrade the only way?"

"There is only one automatic upgrade method, which is divided into one-year upgrade, two-year upgrade, four-year upgrade, eight-year upgrade, sixteen... The host does not need to do anything, and it will automatically upgrade when the time comes."

After the upgrade, the system's planting area is as follows: Level 2: 10 mu; Level 3: 100 mu; ...; Level 6: 100,000 mu; Level 7: 1 million mu... Each upgrade increases the land area tenfold.

After hearing the system's cold and ruthless voice, He Yuzhu fell into deep thought.

The first few levels don't take too long. It will take another fifteen years to reach level five, thirty-one years to reach level six, and sixty-three years to reach level seven.

He's sixteen this year, and by the time he reaches level seven (seventy-nine years old), he'll be at the maximum age. A million acres isn't a small area either.

"The system upgrade should be based on the next system upgrade or the upgrade in a year, rather than being cumulative."

"Yes, the upgrade standard is based on the time the host acquired this system last year; time accumulation is not required."