Courtyard House: I, the eldest son of the Jia family, have returned from the battlefield.

He didn't finish speaking, but Sha Zhu understood.

Jia Dongming continued, "People need to have a scale in their hearts."

If you really want to find someone handsome, look in the countryside; if you insist on finding someone from the city, you'll have to be more lenient in terms of appearance.

At 28, I'm just hoping to find someone my age who I find pleasing to the eye.

Unlike you, who wants both face and residency.

Sha Zhu stood there, stunned, and remained silent for a long time.

Over the years, they had tried to meet but never succeeded, and he always thought it was just that their time hadn't come yet. But now, as if he had been awakened, his face flushed red and then turned pale.

Lost in thought, I heard the sound of a bicycle bell coming from the other side of the moon gate.

He Yushui pushed the cart in and, seeing Sha Zhu, called out, "Brother! What are you making for dinner?"

As she approached, she noticed Jia Dongming standing beside her and paused slightly, "This comrade... he looks somewhat familiar?"

Madam Jia immediately chimed in, raising her voice: "Yushui, this is Dongxu's older brother, Banggeng's uncle! Our Dongming is now the head of security at the steel rolling mill, earning 135 yuan a month!"

He Yushui blinked and muttered softly, "Isn't the Jia family... just Dongxu-ge?"

Sha Zhu snapped out of his daze and hurriedly explained, "Dongming got separated from his family when he was a child. He later joined the army and was recently demobilized and assigned to the security department of our factory."

After hearing her brother's introduction, He Yushui playfully stuck out her tongue and turned to Jia Dongming apologetically, saying, "Brother Dongming, I'm so sorry! I always thought Aunt Zhang only had Brother Dongxu as her son, I didn't know she had another brother."

Jia Dongming waved his hand, his smile warm: "Yushui, it's not your fault."

I only recently reunited with my mother, so it's perfectly normal that you don't know.

"Rain is back? Did your brother prepare something good for you today? If not, come eat at Sister Qin's!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Qin Huairu pushed her bicycle into the central courtyard and greeted He Yushui with a loud voice.

Hearing this from the side, Sha Zhu deliberately put on a stern face and shouted, "Sister Qin, you're really looking down on me! I specially bought a whole pound of pork belly today to improve our meals during the rainy season—you can ask Brother Dongming if you don't believe me!"

If Qin Huairu had known about this pound of meat before Jia Dongming returned home, she would have undoubtedly tried to find a way to distribute it back to the Jia family under Bang Geng's name.

But now that Jia Dongming is in charge of the Jia family, Qin Huairu has been relieved of all her burdens and no longer has to rack her brains over daily necessities. Naturally, she no longer has to be so shameless in her scheming.

She glanced at Sha Zhu with a smile: "Zhu Zi, I was just concerned about the rain, how did that make me look bad?"

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai walked out of the house upon hearing the sound and interjected gently, "Zhuzi, the old lady was still complaining yesterday that she hadn't eaten meat for a long time."

Now that you've bought the meat, remember to cook some and send some over.

Without hesitation, Sha Zhu replied, "Don't worry, Uncle Yi, I'll bring the stew to the old lady first."

Yi Zhonghai nodded in satisfaction, then carefully instructed, "The old lady has weak teeth, so you must stew it until it's very soft."

After finishing his explanation, he acted as if he had just noticed Jia Dongming, a smile spreading across his face: "Oh, Section Chief Jia is here too?"

If we're talking about who in this courtyard is the most outwardly warm but inwardly cold-hearted, if Yi Zhonghai claims to be second, then no one would dare to claim to be first.

Despite having no offspring of his own, he blamed everything on an older woman, thereby gaining a reputation for being loyal and righteous.

In order to secure his retirement, he first took Jia Dongxu as his apprentice, and then used a scheme to force He Daqing to leave.

To control Sha Zhu, he first sowed discord between Sha Zhu and his master, causing Sha Zhu to resign from his job at Fengzeyuan. He then secretly withheld the living expenses sent by He Daqing, forcing Sha Zhu and his sister to scavenge for a living.

When the two were at their wits' end, he appeared as a savior, pretending to find Sha Zhu an apprenticeship at the steel mill—in reality, it was a formal job that He Daqing had paved for his son before leaving Beijing.

As for Sha Zhu's repeated failures in blind dates, Yi Zhonghai's methods were undoubtedly behind it: fearing that Sha Zhu would escape his control after getting married, he repeatedly used Xu Damao to interfere.

When he took Jia Dongxu as his apprentice, he was planning to rely on him for his old age.

Therefore, he kept his skills to himself, but would occasionally give the Jia family small favors.

After Jia Dongxu died in a work accident, he turned his attention to bringing Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu together, planning to have the couple take on the responsibility of caring for him in his old age.

In the original destiny, Yi Zhonghai's scheme seemed to have succeeded—in the end, Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu were the ones who saw him off, but Sha Zhu, because of Bang Geng's ingratitude, met a tragic end at the bottom of the overpass.

Now, because of "him"

With a gentle flutter of its wings, the chessboard in the courtyard has been quietly transformed.

The Jia family has "him".

With her in charge, she no longer needed to rely on Yi Zhonghai for survival; Qin Huairu was also transferred to the logistics warehouse, completely escaping Yi Zhonghai's control.

Therefore, as long as Yi Zhonghai doesn't provoke him, Jia Dongming is happy to turn a blind eye.

But if the other party still doesn't know what's good for them—Jia Dongming wouldn't mind letting them taste the bitterness of utter disgrace.

Seeing Yi Zhonghai take the initiative to greet him, Jia Dongming just smiled faintly: "Uncle Yi, we ran out of vegetables at home, so I went to the market with Zhuzi after get off work to buy some."

Have you had dinner yet?

Yi Zhonghai smiled and nodded to Jia Dongming: "Since Section Chief Jia came back, the Jia family has been very fortunate. The old lady's complexion is getting better every day, and she is always cheerful to everyone she meets."

Hearing this, Jia Zhangshi, who was standing to the side, straightened her back and raised her voice a few decibels, thinking about the recent situation at home: "Uncle, you don't know, Dongming is now the head of the security department of the steel rolling mill, and his monthly salary is more than a hundred yuan."

We no longer have to worry about food, clothing, or daily necessities at home; he even gives me ten yuan a month for my retirement.

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the curious faces in the courtyard, before continuing, "There's something else—he bought our old house, along with the courtyard where Dongming lives now. It's now Jia's private property."

In a couple of days, I'll go back to my hometown to transfer my household registration. From now on, I won't be afraid of being forced to go back to the countryside anymore.

These words were like a pebble thrown into calm water. Yi Zhonghai was stunned for a moment, and the neighbors around him exchanged glances.

An older woman wearing an apron couldn't help but lean closer and ask, "Auntie, aren't all houses government-owned these days? How did you manage to get one?"

Jia Zhangshi's lips curled up, her expression revealing a hint of pride: "Our Dongming has just joined the factory and has already made a contribution by catching the enemy agent hiding in the factory."

The factory originally wanted to give him several hundred yuan as a bonus, but he refused and instead chose to qualify for a house purchase.

Most of the residents in the compound were employees of the steel rolling mill. They had all heard rumors of arrests at the factory a couple of days ago, but no one expected it to be Jia Dongming's doing.

The gossipy aunties, upon hearing that he had spent money to buy a house instead of cash, felt the calculations were unclear and hurriedly pushed forward to ask, "So, how much did this house... actually cost?"

Madam Jia raised her chin slightly: "The courtyard costs one thousand, the old house five hundred, totaling one thousand five hundred."

The three women clicked their tongues in disbelief, thinking to themselves that the Jia family must be out of their minds to spend such a large sum of money to buy the house they already lived in.

At this moment, Li's wife, who lived in the winter wing of the front yard, glanced thoughtfully at Jia Dongming and asked, "Section Chief Jia, this yard was originally allocated to you by the factory. Why didn't you accept the cash reward and instead chose to buy it yourself? Is there... some special reason behind it?"

Back then, everyone felt that once they lived in the government-allocated housing for a long time, it would become their own; no one was willing to actually spend their own money to buy one.

But Jia Dongming wasn't from this era. He knew how much these houses would be worth in the future, which is why he insisted on putting them in his own name. He even planned to buy two more houses after the storm had passed.

He just hadn't expected that there would be such a shrewd person in the courtyard.

Faced with the questioning from Li's daughter-in-law, Jia Dongming just smiled and said in a normal tone: "Aunt Li, as you probably know, I was separated from my parents when I was a child, and I was always uneasy about it in those years."

Although we've found our family now, in the end, Dongxi, whom we still hold in our own hands, is the most reliable.

I didn't accept the factory's bonus, I just asked for this.

When Li's wife heard him say this, she nodded on the surface, but she had other plans in mind. She planned to wait for her husband to come back and have him go to the neighborhood office to sound him out.

Not wanting everyone to continue talking about the house, Jia Dongming handed a cloth bag to Qin Huairu, who was standing next to him, and said gently, "I went to the market with Zhuzi just now and saw that the river shrimp looked pretty fresh, so I bought some."

Stir-fry it with lard and garlic slices; the kids should love it.

Qin Huairu was quick-witted; she took the cloth bag with a smile and agreed, then turned to He Yushui and said, "Yushui, I'm going back to prepare dinner now. Come visit when you have time."

After saying that, he turned and went into the house with light steps.

As evening fell, Jia Dongming pushed open the door and entered the house, where he saw his mother sitting upright at the octagonal table, her face beaming with undisguised pride.

He recalled his mother's loud and boastful manner in the yard just moments before, and couldn't help but sigh. "Mom,"

He approached the table, his tone tinged with helplessness, "Why bring up our house issue in front of so many people? Isn't that just inviting envy?"

Madam Jia raised her eyelids, curled her lips, and said indifferently, "Dongming, you have no idea."

In the years you were away, who in this courtyard ever gave our family a second glance? Today, I'm going to tell them, "Mingbai, the Jia family is no longer the Jia family it used to be."

Jia Dongming remained silent for a moment.

He could understand his mother's thoughts to some extent, but Yi Zhonghai's gloomy and inscrutable face kept flashing before his eyes.

He lowered his voice and asked, "Aren't you afraid... that Yi Zhonghai might have other ideas?"

Upon hearing the name, Jia Zhangshi snorted lightly, a hint of mockery flashing in her eyes. "Do you really think your mother is senile?"

She leaned forward slightly, her voice low and steady, "Yi Zhonghai and his wife have no children, all they want is to find someone to rely on in their old age, right? When your father passed away, it was just me and Dongxu, a widow and orphan. How could we survive if we didn't find someone to rely on in the courtyard? I saw through his scheme long ago, which is why I had Dongxu become his disciple."

She paused, tapping her finger lightly on the table. "How much does Yi Zhonghai earn a month? Ninety-five yuan."

The elderly couple had saved every penny their entire lives; they had accumulated at least this much money.

She held up her thumb and forefinger and gestured, "He'll still get government money after he retires."

Even if Dongxu takes care of him in his old age, it won't cost us a single penny.

Once they're gone, those two rooms and stacks of banknotes will all belong to the Jia family, won't they? Only a fool would pass up such a sure-fire way to make money.

Jia Dongming was stunned.

He had only heard about his mother's shrewishness and domineering nature from other people, and thought she was just a narrow-minded country woman.

These words, however, were like a thin blade, gently cutting through his preconceived notions.

He suddenly remembered the rumors circulating in the courtyard, about how Sha Zhu was plotted against and killed, and how the Jia family became the ultimate winners... At this moment, he realized that if it came to deep thinking and foresight, probably no one in this courtyard could compare to this seemingly rough and unruly woman in front of him.

He couldn't help but give a thumbs up and sighed, "Mom, since I came back these past few days, I've heard people talking about you, saying that you're unreasonable and ignorant."

After hearing all this today, I finally understand—your "unreasonableness" was to protect our family; your "lack of knowledge" was just for show.

If you ask who in this courtyard has the sharpest eye, you might admit it's second to none.

Jia Zhangshi's lips curved into a smile, and a faint sense of smugness appeared in her eyes.

However, that sense of triumph quickly faded, replaced by a hint of hesitation.

She hesitated for a moment before speaking again: "Dongming, there's something... Mom wants to discuss with you."

Seeing that her expression was different from usual, Jia Dongming said seriously, "Between mother and son, you can just say whatever you want to say."

Jia Zhangshi rubbed her hands together and whispered, "I think... I want Bang Geng to recognize Yi Zhonghai as his godfather."

Jia Dongming was taken aback: "Why did you suddenly have this idea?"

"Yi Zhonghai is now an eighth-grade worker, and his family is well-off."

A glint of light flashed in Jia Zhangshi's eyes. "Ever since you came back, he's been worried that our family won't take care of him in his old age, so his mind has turned to Shazhu."

I was thinking that if Bang Geng recognized him as a relative, his family business would naturally fall into Bang Geng's hands in the future.

Now that you're in charge of the household, Mom wants to know your opinion first.

Jia Dongming pondered for a moment and shook his head: "Mom, I can make decisions about things at home, but Bang Geng is still Huai Ru's child."

You still need to discuss this with her.

She is Bang Geng's biological mother.