Courtyard House: A System Connecting Two Worlds, Resources for the Nation

Back in the modern world, Zhou Feng didn't stay idle either.

In one afternoon, he sorted and packed the purchased food and various supplies, and also bought a high-powered stun gun to put in his pocket for self-defense.

Finally, two oversized outdoor power supplies caught his attention, leading to another round of shopping before he finally felt at ease enough to go home and get a good night's sleep.

The next morning, before dawn, he was woken up by his alarm clock and then quietly appeared at his courtyard house.

"Holy crap?"

Zhou Feng, carrying large and small bags, stood in the middle of the room, somewhat dumbfounded.

Before he left, the room, though not particularly fancy, was still tidy and organized.

But right now, the door panels are all pieced together in pieces, leaning against a broken latch and hanging there crookedly, and the ground is covered with footprints.

Was it burgled?

Zhou Feng's heart tightened, and he quickly walked to the kitchen, but the remaining half bag of rice was still standing there untouched.

That's strange. If a thief enters a house and doesn't steal food, what's he after?

There was no movement in the courtyard until dawn.

Yan Bugui, who was carrying an enamel basin, immediately spotted Zhou Feng, who was still cleaning up the mess inside the house.

"Hey? Zhou Feng, you're back?"

Yan Bugui pushed up his glasses, which had slipped down to the bridge of his nose, a hint of surprise flashing in his small eyes. He then quickly walked to Zhou Feng's door and peeked inside.

"You're back, Third Uncle."

Zhou Feng gestured around helplessly, "Take a look, what kind of deity have we attracted to our house? Or was there an earthquake in just my room last night?"

"You weren't robbed, it was the Intermediate Court yesterday..."

Yan Bugui smacked his lips, about to speak, when he was interrupted by a rude voice.

"I brought the factory's security team with me! So what!"

Sha Zhu swaggered over from the passageway, his hands in his pockets, glancing sideways at Zhou Feng with a smug, arrogant look on his face.

"You little bastard, let me tell you straight, I've got my eye on you! You think you're so capable? You're willing to trade rice and flour for those feudal dregs? I'll give you the chance, and I'll report you!"

After speaking, he simply raised his chin, snorted through his nose, and swaggered out of the courtyard.

He was a proper cook at the steel rolling mill, a proud member of the working class, while Zhou Feng was an unemployed bum, whom he didn't take seriously at all.

"Did he really have someone do this?"

Zhou Feng looked at Yan Bugui with a puzzled expression.

The latter didn't say anything, but just gestured towards the direction of the Central Court.

Zhou Feng understood instantly.

Who else could be the widow from the Jia family who would make Sha Zhu, that tiger-like man, take the initiative to step forward and take responsibility?

It seems I was too lenient with them before. All I did was not give them food, and they still complained about it!

This made Zhou Feng feel uncomfortable. He wasn't Xu Damao, who would put anything dirty or smelly into his pocket.

Thinking about it carefully, if you count everyone in this courtyard, the only one who can be called a good person is probably Lou Xiao'e.

But these days, it's not acceptable to be a traitor like Cao Cao, and winning over E'zi isn't that easy.

If you really try to flirt like those characters in novels, the most likely outcome is that you'll be reported as a pervert.

Children from respectable families wouldn't want to have affairs.

Forget it, let's put Ezi aside for now and focus on making money.

With enough money, I could give up this world of courtyard houses and go back to the modern era to hire a few female celebrities... cough cough, I'm getting ahead of myself.

"No, Zhou Feng, if you can't swallow this, you can report it to the steel mill, but I reckon it won't do much good. They're all from the same factory, and we haven't caught them in the act. It'll just be a lot of back and forth, and we won't be able to clear things up."

Seeing the constant changes in Zhou Feng's expression, Yan Bugui assumed he was angry because he couldn't swallow his anger, so he could only sigh and offer a few words of comfort.

"Don't worry, Uncle, I know what I'm doing. You go ahead with your work."

After exchanging a few polite words with Yan Bugui, Zhou Feng was reminded of something.

The security of his house was really poor; the door was as thin as paper, and anyone could kick it open and force their way in.

He casually flicked at the broken door panel fragments on the ground; they were so thick that he could easily break them himself.

It seems that the most urgent task is not to continue collecting old items, but to get a sturdy door!

"Oh, right, Third Uncle!"

Zhou Feng called out to Yan Bugui's retreating figure, "My door is broken, I need to find a carpenter to make a new one. This time it needs to be sturdy. Can you recommend a reliable one?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui turned around and looked Zhou Feng up and down with an extremely strange look, as if he had said something stupid.

"Third Uncle, what...what's wrong?" Zhou Feng felt a little uncomfortable being stared at.

"Little Zhou."

Yan Bugui sighed and walked back a few steps.

"When it comes to doors, you can make do with what you have. Take this old man's advice, just go to the housing management office and report it, and they'll send someone to repair or replace it."

"Timber is in such short supply right now! Those carpenters around here probably don't have any good pieces left. It's not worth the trouble for you to go through all that trouble for a door!"

With a sigh, Yan Bugui couldn't help but think to himself that this young man was just naive. He had to pull strings and use back channels for such a small matter. If people talked about it, wouldn't that be a case of losing more than he gained?

Zhou Feng slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing, "Oh right! Look at me, I've been so busy these past few days that I completely forgot about it! Thank you for reminding me, I'll go to the housing management office right now!"

Indeed, having an elder in the family is like having a treasure.

Although Yan Bugui was calculating and greedy for small gains, his social skills and survival wisdom did save Zhou Feng a lot of trouble.

These days, although the procedures for getting things done are cumbersome, the overall atmosphere is still quite upright, and there's not much of a corrupt practice of demanding bribes or kickbacks.

Zhou Feng went to the housing management office, explained the situation, and registered it. They then said they would arrange for a carpenter to come and measure and repair the property as soon as possible.

The matter of the door was settled, but Zhou Feng was not the kind of person who would swallow his pride and suffer in silence.

He didn't need to rack his brains to figure out how to deal with Qin Huairu and Sha Zhu.

Ever since he learned about the world he had transmigrated to, he had hundreds of fan fiction novels on his phone.

Although we still need to eliminate those overly speculative and unrealistic solutions based on the actual situation, there are still quite a few reliable ideas left, which is enough for him.

"Hey! Why are you in such a hurry to install a door? I'll have to find a chance to kick it open again later! Installing it now is a waste!"

When Sha Zhu came back from work, he saw Zhou Feng standing in the front yard with a frown, and his smugness returned.

In this courtyard, his closest relatives were Uncle Yi and Sister Qin. Zhou Feng had offended them both badly, and even threatened him with a kitchen knife, making him lose face in front of everyone in the courtyard.

Now that he can humiliate Zhou Feng, how could he let this opportunity pass?

"Comrade!"

Upon hearing this, the carpenter, who was measuring the dimensions of Zhou Feng's house, immediately frowned, snapped the ruler in his hand, and glared sternly at Sha Zhu.

"What are you saying? Deliberately damaging public property is a serious offense!"

Although Sha Zhu was a bit of a rascal, he wasn't stupid. Naturally, he wouldn't admit it in front of outsiders, so he could only stubbornly argue, "Hey! I... I was just saying it casually, just trying to get by! Do you really think I'd kick people's doors every day?"

The carpenter didn't indulge him. He turned to Zhou Feng and earnestly instructed him, "Comrade, I'll use thicker material for this door. If anyone damages it again, don't hesitate to go directly to Director Wang of the neighborhood committee! Have her contact the police officer in charge of the area to come and take a look!"

"When the time comes, we'll have to have a serious discussion about whether this is just a minor internal conflict among the people, or... whether someone is dissatisfied with society and is deliberately causing trouble. We need to make a clear distinction between these two types of issues!"

Good guy!

Listening to what the carpenter said, Zhou Feng could only think of three words: What a talent!