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

Upon hearing the question, Minister He immediately stood up straight and said, "Reporting to the leader, we did not make any contact with those two comrades without orders from our superiors, but from our observations, they are both soldiers who have received rigorous training."

The elder nodded, his tone tinged with emotion: "They are soldiers from 60 years in the future, our descendants. What were we fighting for by shedding blood and sacrificing our lives to build this land? Wasn't it all for the sake of ensuring a good life for our descendants? Now that our descendants have arrived, is it right for us to turn against them?"

The question immediately made the faces of those in the meeting room who had just suggested controlling them become unnatural.

"My opinion is that we can selectively contact these two comrades from the future, but we must be careful with our attitude. They are not our enemies, not our opponents, not reactionaries, not enemy agents; they are descendants!"

"We are elders, and we should act like elders."

The elder made the final decision, and the atmosphere in the conference room immediately changed.

General Feng was the first to stand up: "Elder, as you know, I'm not good with words, but I have a good heart. I support your idea."

The elder smiled and said, "Sit down, Lao Feng. I know you're doing this for the good of the organization, but we must be reasonable, principled, and, more importantly, humane in our actions."

"yes!"

General Feng sat down obediently, and the others followed suit.

This allowed Minister He to quietly breathe a sigh of relief, finally putting his mind at ease.

His contact with Zhou Feng was second only to Sun Yue's, and he was also the person who least wanted to see a conflict between the two.

On the one hand, he genuinely felt that Zhou Feng was a good comrade and there was no need to escalate tensions between them.

On the other hand, he also knew that if a conflict really broke out, Zhou Feng would not be the one to suffer.

With the Elder's instructions in mind, he knew what to do next.

"Xiao He, let's leave this matter here. Your Special Operations Division has a heavy responsibility; you need to continue to be in charge of specific coordination and report any developments promptly. But remember one thing: show concern and care where needed, but don't treat anyone as a special case."

Minister He snapped to attention: "Yes, sir! Please rest assured, Elder!"

The Grand Elder nodded and began the next topic.

With so many high-level officials gathered together, they certainly can't just discuss this one thing; that would be a huge waste of resources.

Minister He left first, as the only person he could contact at the moment was Zhou Feng.

Apart from Zhou Feng's affairs, he was not qualified to attend such a meeting.

However, when walking down the corridor with Sun Yue, Minister He's movements became much lighter.

Bai Ling was still waiting in the office. He needed to go back and give Zhou Feng a heads-up, and also let him know the organization's attitude towards him.

After leaving the compound, Sun Yue strode off to another unit, where Bai Ling was to take the printed money back with her.

Although most of the money for land purchase, renovation, and materials is recovered by government agencies, the necessary procedures still have to be followed.

"Nearly ten thousand yuan?"

Fortunately, everyone in the compound was educated by Liu Haizhong at the compound-wide meeting; otherwise, Qin Jingru's exclamation might have been heard by many people.

This girl was truly shocked!

She didn't even know what ten thousand yuan meant!

Counting on my fingers, how much are the work points and grain that my parents earned, working from dawn till dusk, worth?

The new house that Feng and Bai Ling are getting married this week is probably more money than the three of them could earn in a lifetime! Let alone ten thousand, she's never even seen a thousand or a hundred.

No, she had seen the hundred-yuan note before; it was given to her by Brother Zhou Feng!

Thinking of this, Qin Jingru suddenly started giggling again, which made Zhou Feng unable to resist ruffling her hair once more.

That's the good thing about this girl; once she's with him, she's devoted to him and knows how to be content.

If it were the actor from the Summer Palace playing the role, he'd probably already be thinking about how to line his own pocket!

The two cuddled together in the room for a while, then heard a commotion outside, guessing that the college-wide meeting had ended.

Qin Jingru found this boring and uninteresting.

She only participated in the entire college assembly once out of curiosity, and had no intention of participating again.

There was an old man sitting in the middle, rambling on and on like he was giving a lecture. Who would want to listen to him?

Instead of wasting time, I'd rather go home and listen to Brother Zhou Feng. He speaks well, makes sense, and broadens my horizons!

Before today, she never imagined that a house could cost tens of thousands of yuan!

"No, Yu Haitang, what are you doing in our yard?"

As soon as the college-wide meeting ended, Xu Damao immediately spotted the person standing by the wall.

Before Xu Damao lost his job, he was also in the factory's publicity department. Although he wasn't familiar with this factory beauty, they could still talk to each other on a regular basis.

Yu Haitang smiled and did not respond.

She really didn't want to appear in this courtyard again. After all, Zhou Feng's rejection was so obvious, and everyone has some pride.

But some things happened at home, which forced her to come to this courtyard to find her sister again. Then, as if by plot twists, she met Sha Zhu and heard the record from him.

Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony.

It sounds impressive, but in reality, they only listen to what others say. If you really asked them to explain themselves, they wouldn't be able to say anything meaningful.

Just like Sha Zhu said, this song is about fate, and he already knows about this fate.

However, for Yu Haitang, this was already an extremely rare experience, so she chose to ask Sha Zhu for lodging.

With He Yushui constantly acting as a wingman and providing assistance, their relationship gradually blossomed.

"Wait, why didn't you greet me before coming to our compound? I'm now the outstanding youth representative in the compound, and I'm also the Third Uncle!"

Xu Damao patted his chest.

In the past, when he introduced himself, he would only mention the projectionist. Now that the projectionist is gone, he can only talk about his status in the courtyard.

Yu Haitang gave him a disgruntled look: "Aren't you no longer in the publicity department? Besides, why should I come to your courtyard to greet you? Go do your thing. I might just marry into your courtyard, then we'll have plenty of time to talk later."

"Married into our compound? Who is it?"

Xu Damao's eyes widened in surprise.

There were only a few eligible young men in this courtyard who weren't married yet, and none of them seemed quite right to him!

"How's Sha Zhu doing!"

???

Xu Damao almost uttered a single curse.

Foolish Pillar?

What gives him the right?

We were all arrested and locked up by those living devils for more than ten days, and we all lost our jobs!

Why did his wife run away, while Sha Zhu ended up with a wife?

She's the most beautiful girl in the steel mill!

"No, Comrade Yu Haitang, could you come outside the courtyard later? I have something I want to discuss with you, it's extremely important!"

Xu Damao said "very" three times in a row, afraid that Yu Haitang would not take what he was about to say seriously.

The latter hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded.

As soon as Xu Damao walked away, Yu Haitang followed him out, and Zhou Feng's eyes lit up instantly.

In the original novel, when this part of the story was filmed, Xu Damao had already approached Qin Jingru and even went to provoke Yu Haitang.

Qin Jingru is right beside him now, and he wants to see if Xu Damao and Yu Haitang can actually get together.

This has nothing to do with sending a girl. Whether it's the actress who plays Yu Haitang or the Yu Haitang in front of him, Zhou Feng can't understand how someone with this kind of looks can be called the factory flower.

Perhaps it really is a matter of one era having one aesthetic!

Following Qin Jingru and Yu Haitang, the two of them, like secret agents, peeked half their heads out of the doorway.

Noticing that Xu Damao and Yu Haitang were talking over there, they pressed themselves against the wall and moved closer.

"Xu Damao, don't stir up trouble. I've already verified this from multiple sources; Sha Zhu and Widow Qin have absolutely no connection!"

As soon as the two approached, they heard Yu Haitang retort to Xu Damao in an annoyed tone.

That's for sure. She's already thinking about marrying Sha Zhu, and you, Xu Damao, come here to speak ill of her. It would be strange if you didn't get roasted.

"Let me tell you, everyone in the factory knows that Xu Damao and Shazhu have always been mortal enemies. The more you talk about him, the more you are insulting yourself, and the more it proves that you have a problem with your character."

"Besides, I'm not tied to Sha Zhu. I'm just observing him to see if he can meet my standards."

Zhou Feng, standing to the side, grimaced at her words.

Why does it have such a strong fairy-like vibe from 60 years later?

Don't come back later saying, "Give me some betrothal gifts to show your sincerity."

Xu Damao's eyes darted around, and he understood Yu Haitang's implied meaning. He immediately grinned.

"Haitang, you're talking about the past. I knew you had a boyfriend, so naturally I kept my distance from you. Now that you've broken up, I think I can get closer to you."

"Don't be like that. I know you're divorced. Lou Xiao'e even ran away with you on her own. I can't afford to mess with her!"

Yu Haitang pouted in annoyance.

If Xu Damao really did divorce Lou Xiao'e, she wouldn't care.

However, Xu Damao was dumped by Lou Xiao'e, which Yu Haitang found hard to accept.

Why should she take over a man that other people don't want?

She's not much worse off than Lou Xiao'e; in fact, if you really think about it, her family's social class is even better!

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't be like that! Come over to my house, I have a really good bottle of wine. I'll open it for you when you get here, and we can drink and chat, how about that?"

Although Xu Damao had always felt that Lou Xiao'e's family had a bad class background and that they treated him badly, he still took advantage of the Lou family quite a bit, taking things home for himself.

Otherwise, as a projectionist who travels to the countryside to show movies, he could easily get a lot of local products, but how would he get good wine and rare items?

Yu Haitang's expression immediately changed.

Good wine…

She did seem a little hesitant, and after a few seconds of hesitation, she nodded.

Seeing that the two were almost done talking, Zhou Feng quickly led Qin Jingru back.

Although he wasn't afraid of Xu Damao, he was still somewhat embarrassed to be caught overhearing someone in the corner.

"No, Xu Damao is really bad. Everyone said they wanted to marry Shazhu, but he still interfered."

Back in her room, Qin Jingru looked somewhat indignant.

Since she didn't have any interaction with Sha Zhu like in the original story, she naturally didn't have much ill feelings towards him.

On the contrary, Qin Jingru felt that Sha Zhu was a good person because he had been helping her cousin's family.

"Didn't Yu Haitang say that everyone knows Xu Damao and Shazhu are mortal enemies? Now that she knows Shazhu might find a wife, it would be strange if she didn't cause trouble?"

Zhou Feng wasn't surprised by this; it wouldn't be surprising if the people in this dilapidated courtyard did something.

On the contrary, he felt that he was too peaceful. Every single person in this courtyard should have a longevity tablet erected for him and be worshipped three times a day.

If you randomly search for fanfiction about courtyard houses on Yangshizi (a Chinese online forum), where the protagonist's "golden finger" (a powerful ability to upgrade based on emotional value) is the most benevolent one, then this forum is probably the most popular.

He didn't break her limbs, he didn't let Jia Zhangshi fall into the toilet, and he didn't let Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai die in the cellar...

He's incredibly kind!

Qin Jingru was unaware of the many thoughts running through his mind; she simply curled her lip and said, "That Xu Damao has a donkey face, and he still wants to steal someone else's wife? He's shameless!"

Seeing her indignant expression, Zhou Feng suddenly smirked and said, "Then go tell your sister to tell Sha Zhu Zi so he can teach him a lesson."

"Huh? Yeah! Sha Zhu was involved, how could he not know?"

Qin Jingru's eyes lit up, and she stood up from Zhou Feng's arms and ran outside.

This girl wasn't standing up for Sha Zhu at all; she was clearly just looking for a show!

Zhou Feng didn't point it out, and instead took out his phone to check if there were any notifications coming from this world.

After finishing what she was doing, Yu Haitang went straight to Xu Damao's house in the backyard and knocked on the door.

The door opened immediately, and they welcomed her inside.

At this moment, Xu Damao managed to prepare three plates of snacks to accompany the drinks, along with a bottle of wine in a glass bottle.

Yu Haitang pretended to sit down and watched Xu Damao open the wine and pour a glass for each of them.

"Xu Damao, let me tell you, I can hold my liquor."

"Who doesn't know that? Even the leaders of our steel rolling mill are no match for you."

Xu Damao noticed Yu Haitang's proud chin-raising gesture and immediately flattered her, making Yu Haitang smile.

As long as Xu Damao doesn't act stubbornly, this kid is still quite good at reading people.

After drinking, Yu Haitang looked around and suddenly realized that Xu Damao's house was even bigger than Sha Zhu's house!

Moreover, the two sides' interior design is really not on the same level!

It's important to remember that when Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e got married, the Lou family hadn't completely lost its influence yet.

Would parents allow their daughters to live in a particularly shabby place?