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

Banggeng happily accepted the three yuan, gave one yuan to each of his two younger sisters, and then led them to the front yard of Uncle San's house.

Zhou Feng was still fast asleep when he heard the sound of chopsticks tapping on a bowl coming from the courtyard outside.

Hey!

Why bring beggars into the yard during the Lunar New Year?

Yawning, Zhou Feng had just opened the door a crack when he noticed the children kneeling outside Uncle San's door.

Good heavens, aren't these sticky rice, little dangling rice, and locust flowers?

The romance has run straight into the original storyline!

However, considering how much suffering Sha Zhu and his gang endured before, it's truly remarkable that they still had the mind to stir up trouble.

Looking at my double-gate energy again, it has accumulated to about 50% and is still slowly increasing.

As expected of an upcoming major upgrade, the emotional value required for this 50% increase is almost equal to the total amount required for all previous upgrades.

Before long, Yan Bugui opened the door impatiently, handed out a few bills, and sent the three brats away.

"Hey? Bro, even Uncle San, who's usually so stingy, gave us New Year's money. Why don't we go knock on doors and see what happens?"

Xiao Dang carefully tucked away her New Year's money, then her eyes suddenly lit up as she looked towards Zhou Feng's door.

In the entire courtyard, who doesn't know that Zhou Feng in the front yard is the richest?

The trick that Uncle Sha taught him could even handle the Third Uncle, let alone Zhou Feng, who was already very generous before!

Bang Geng glanced at Zhou Feng's door and suddenly shivered.

"No...no! Mom and Grandma both said before that we shouldn't mess with Zhou Feng, and that we should avoid him when we see him! Uncle Sha also said that Uncle San is enough."

"But today is Chinese New Year! We're going to pay New Year's visits!"

Xiao Dang still looked in the direction of Zhou Feng's house with some resentment. They had already earned two yuan, and if it were Zhou Feng, he might have given them more.

"I...I'm not going, you go if you want! Huaihua, let's go!"

Banggeng hesitated for a second, but still didn't listen to Xiaodang. Instead, he called out to Huaihua.

The latter immediately agreed and obediently went out with his brother.

She didn't know what she could or couldn't mess with, but since following her brother meant she would get good food, she was obedient.

Zhou Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Xiao Dang stomp her feet and leave the courtyard.

If Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai come to him and cause trouble, he won't hesitate to confront them. He won't let them lose face until they've been thoroughly humiliated.

But if it were a little girl like Xiao Dang, who was only a few years old, Zhou Feng really couldn't bring himself to say anything unpleasant to her.

After all, the environment in which they grew up is what it is; they're female and have children, so they've got all the buffs stacked up.

Inside the house, Zhou Feng breathed a sigh of relief, while outside, Sha Zhu wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He thought it was fine for the three kids to disgust Xu Damao and the Third Uncle, but he was afraid they would disgust Zhou Feng!

Although we had already prepared the New Year's Eve dinner for the big boss's family, and it had received high praise from him.

But Zhou Feng is not someone to be trifled with. Who knows if the big boss will choose to support him and go against Zhou Feng?

It's best to avoid provoking others if possible, and focus on getting your own work done first.

He returned home happily, and although he had spent 3 yuan on the three children, Sha Zhu didn't mind.

He was secretly calculating things in his mind.

During this time, he could sense the Jia family's growing distance from him.

If he had said in the past that he knew a high-ranking leader, Qin Huairu would definitely have followed him around asking all sorts of questions.

But now his response is just two "hmm" sounds, without any further interaction.

Although the Jia family treated Yi Zhonghai the same way, Sha Zhu hadn't paid any attention to that.

He was very anxious!

How has he treated the Jia family all these years?

Have we ever deprived them of a single bite to eat?

Take Bang Geng and his two kids, for example, which one of them hasn't eaten his cooking?

The two families used to be as close as one, but now Qin Huairu looks at him differently and talks less.

Even when he offered to help with the work, Qin Huairu kept her distance from him.

Because of the Chinese New Year, the old man organized a family dinner at the Jia family's house. It was the first time he had entered the Jia family's house since he was released.

His name is Sha Zhu, but he's not really stupid.

He knew in his heart that things had turned out this way because he had offended Zhou Feng before, but he couldn't afford to offend Zhou Feng.

So Shazhu came up with this idea: to get Banggeng and the others to speak on his behalf.

As a mother, you should listen to your children to some extent, right?

Sha Zhu didn't get to rest for long before things started getting busy again in the yard.

An old man was waving his hand at the door, organizing things. After everyone had divided up the melon seeds and peanuts, they moved into a courtyard and greeted each other.

Seeing the large plate of melon seeds, Yan Jiecheng quickly stepped forward, grabbed a handful from each side and stuffed them into his pockets, then grabbed another handful and ate them.

Yu Li, who was standing next to him, glanced at him sideways and suddenly felt that the sunflower seeds she was holding didn't taste so good anymore.

Standing next to a man like this is embarrassing enough.

Yan Jiekuang had sharp eyes. As soon as he saw Zhou Feng come out, he immediately moved a stool to his usual seat.

This immediately caused Yi Zhonghai's lips to twitch.

He's already switched sides, so why is he still putting Zhou Feng on the opposite side?

Happy New Year, Uncle Zhou!

Yan Jiedi also ran over and loudly wished Zhou Feng a Happy New Year.

The latter smiled and nodded, then casually grabbed a handful of milk candies from her hand: "Share some with your two brothers."

This immediately elicited a gasp of surprise.

These days, milk candy isn't cheap. The key is that Zhou Feng's milk candy is something none of them have ever seen before. The wrapper is so colorful and pretty!

Not only were the children in the yard staring intently at Yan Jiedi's hands, but even the adults couldn't take their eyes off them.

Liu Guangtian, Liu Guangfu, and Yan Jiecheng, these young men in their twenties, pursed their lips, too embarrassed to go up to Zhou Feng to offer their New Year's greetings.

They could only watch helplessly as Yan Jiedi distributed a few pieces of candy to Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang.

"Hey Jie Di, can you give me two yuan?"

Yan Jiecheng tugged at his sister's coat from behind, but she shook her head and refused crisply.

"Uncle Zhou said it's for my two older brothers, the second and third brothers, not you!"

Who says kids don't hold grudges?

This little girl still remembers what happened to Yan Jiecheng and the others yesterday, Lunar New Year's Eve!

Give it to my second brother, give it to my third brother, but not to him!

She put the milk candy in her mouth, and the sweetness made her eyes crinkle into crescent moons. Yan Jiecheng stood behind her, his teeth itching with hatred.

But with all the neighbors in the courtyard around, he couldn't make a scene. He could only grit his teeth and prepare to snatch two pieces when he got home.

"Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year in 1966!"

Yi Zhonghai chuckled and glanced at his neighbors.

"Hey, hey, hey? Don't miss a word! The first day of the Lunar New Year in 1966."

Sha Zhu interrupted Yi Zhonghai immediately, cracking sunflower seeds and sticking his neck out.

He even emphasized the word "的".

"Don't interrupt!"

Liu Haizhong retorted irritably, and Yan Bugui waved his hand impatiently, "Alright, alright, alright, you're just talking nonsense with your limited knowledge!"

Sha Zhu's face showed a hint of disdain, his neck still stiff, with an air of nonchalance.

Zhou Feng, who was sitting to the side, glanced at him sideways.

When this face appeared in "Twelve Citizens" and "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner", it seemed to have a pretty good public appeal.

Why is it that when it's on Sha Zhu, he's so annoying?

Although Zhou Feng did not directly participate in the New Year's atmosphere and activities in the courtyard, everyone in the courtyard was happy, but this disgusting guy had to stand out!

It's like when everyone gathers together to eat a stew made with pork, someone spits into the big pot.

Even if he doesn't like pork stew and won't touch it, he'll still find this kind of behavior extremely disgusting.

"Alright, alright, today is the first day of the Lunar New Year in 1966!"

Yi Zhonghai didn't take it personally and repeated it with a smile.

Sha Zhu then pretended to nod and shake his head, as if he were agreeing, but his body involuntarily stiffened, as if he were being watched by something.

On this point, his intuition was remarkably sharp, and Zhou Feng, standing to the side, made no attempt to conceal the disgust on his face.

This kind of behavior—deliberately interrupting others or intentionally belittling others to increase one's own sense of presence—usually occurs in children.

A 30-year-old man with the face of a 40-year-old, and a nonchalant attitude, doing such childish things.

Compared to him, everyone else looked much more normal.

Yi Zhonghai continued speaking, his smile growing wider and wider.

He didn't particularly care about Sha Zhu's behavior. After all, he already knew what kind of person the kid was, so he wouldn't care.

But after saying all that, Zhou Feng didn't stand up to refute him, which was what made Yi Zhonghai happy.

After announcing that a New Year's gathering would be held every year from now on, Yi Zhonghai took the lead in bowing to all the neighbors in the courtyard, and he even bowed slightly when he reached Zhou Feng's side.

Zhou Feng nodded in response to indicate that he had received the message.

He's not a mad dog. People keep praising him and bowing down to him, so why would he chase after them and bite them?

After Yi Zhonghai sat down, his second uncle, Liu Haizhong, stood up.

"I'm going to offer my New Year's greetings to everyone, so I'll keep it a bit literary."

"A new year brings a new atmosphere; we joyfully welcome the spring snow; let's discuss the current situation and policies, and pay attention to bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new!"

To be honest, the second uncle's speech was much more refined than the first uncle's, and the parallelism was quite neat.

After saying that, Liu Haizhong herself was incredibly pleased with herself.

The entire hospital staff cheered and applauded.

"Hey! What's so good about it? Stop clapping! What did you smell?"

Sha Zhu stepped forward again, first shouting at the back of the crowd, which stopped everyone's cheers, and then looking at Liu Haizhong.

"The first sentence was a new term, but listen to the second one—it's still feudal superstition. It's not the same thing at all!"

"Still writing, huh? Good heavens!"

Upon hearing what Sha Zhu said, Liu Haizhong's face instantly darkened.

Before he could speak, a voice came from the side.

"You idiot Zhu, are you fucking crazy? Why are you looking for trouble during the New Year? Would you feel better if I beat you up on New Year's Day?"

Putting everything else aside, if it really came down to a fight, Zhou Feng definitely couldn't beat Sha Zhu, but we have the "equalizer" in our defensive midfield position.

This is his greatest source of confidence.

"Huh? You bastard..."

Sha Zhu was about to turn around and curse, but he swallowed his words when he saw Zhou Feng glancing at him sideways.

Xu Damao, who was standing to the side, curled the corners of his mouth upwards.

He had noticed Zhou Feng's expression was off earlier. Although he didn't know where Sha Zhu got his confidence from, he was sure that something bad would happen to him sooner or later.

Seeing that Sha Zhu had been rebuffed by Zhou Feng, the atmosphere in the courtyard became tense. Yan Bugui quickly spoke up: "I think what Second Uncle said is quite good. It makes even this old scholar unable to nitpick over words."

"And what the old man said was also very good; he explained our New Year's gathering very clearly."

Both Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong smiled after being praised.

But the next second, Yan Bugui's tone shifted, becoming stern: "But some people insist on going their own way; aren't they going against us?"

"Who is the Third Uncle referring to?"

"What's wrong?"

"Why are you so stubborn?"

...

While everyone was discussing, someone also went over to ask the third auntie a question.

The third aunt looked indignant and pointed at Sha Zhu.

Yan Bugui stopped keeping him in suspense, sighed softly, and looked at Sha Zhu.

"Well, this morning, just as dawn broke, they brought Qin Huairu's three children to our doorstep, knelt down, and offered their New Year's greetings!"

"Uncle, uncle, you two are the judges. How can I not pay?"

Before Yi Zhonghai and the others could reply, the three older women stepped forward: "So you won't leave if you kneel down? You won't get up unless you get money!"

It's clear that the elderly couple were really furious with them.

Having said all that, Xu Damao stepped forward.

"Uncle, I've had a similar experience. These three brats came in first thing this morning, saying their mothers won't find wives if they don't give them money!"

"Is that how you talk during the Lunar New Year?"

"I gritted my teeth and refused to pay, but Sha Zhu still rushed into our house and beat me up. Look at my back, it's all bruised and battered!"

The courtyard immediately erupted in a flurry of discussion.

Although Xu Damao was speaking to Yan Bugui, his eyes were constantly glancing at Zhou Feng, keeping an eye on his reaction.

Unfortunately, after listening to his words, Zhou Feng maintained the same expression, leaning back in his chair without moving.

Zhou Feng just spoke up against Sha Zhu because that guy is brainless and his words are always offensive.

Now that the plot has reached a certain point, Zhou Feng just wants to sit on the sidelines and watch the show. What does it have to do with him whether Xu Damao feels wronged or not?

Zhou Feng didn't want to get involved, but Liu Haizhong's eyes lit up suddenly after being confronted by Sha Zhu, and he slammed his hand on the table.

"Silly Zhu! Is what Xu Damao and Third Uncle said true?"

"It's true!"

"Why?!"

"Nothing much, the three kids just miss them!"