Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

Upon hearing this, the little girl immediately cowered, obediently clutching the milk candy and turning to go inside to share it.

At this moment, the third uncle also strolled out leisurely, rubbing his hands and smiling broadly: "Oh my, Zhuzi, you're too kind! I just casually taught Yushui a couple of lessons, it's not worth this courtesy... Look, she's much better than my little rascals, she picks things up right away!"

"Hey, sorry to have taken up your time, a few pieces of candy are nothing!" He Yuzhu grinned and gestured with his chin toward the back of the bicycle.

The four bulging lunch boxes weighed down the bike frame slightly, and just looking at them made one's mouth water.

Yan Bugui swallowed hard, nodded repeatedly, and said, "Alright, alright, I won't stand on ceremony with you tonight! Plenty of alcohol, Zhu Zi."

"Don't worry, we'll serve you good wine." He Yuzhu smiled, his eyes narrowing.

The "good wine" that the old man was talking about was, to put it bluntly, pure brew without any water added—but these days, being able to drink a sip of undiluted wine is as rare as celebrating the New Year.

For someone as stingy as him, taking out a bottle of good wine is more painful than cutting off a piece of his flesh.

Inside the house, the children of the third uncle's family, having heard the commotion, were already peeking longingly from the corner, smacking their lips with envy.

But if their father can come and freeload a meal, that's the best they can hope for. How can they expect the whole family to come? No matter how shrewd they are, they can't be shameless. After all, the yard is only so big, and they still have to maintain appearances and keep up appearances.

Furthermore, He Yuzhu's gesture was more than generous—he shared candy and treated people to a meal. If it were someone else, they would be considered to have gone to great lengths to give him two eggs.

The two pushed the cart back, and when they passed Zhongyuan, they bumped into Qin Huairu squatting by the river washing clothes, while Jia Zhangshi was sitting on the threshold sewing shoe soles, her stitches so dense and sharp that it looked as if she was stabbing someone's heart.

Qin Huairu glanced at He Yuzhu out of the corner of her eye and was about to smile and say something.

She knew perfectly well: this silly Zhu was doing well now, so if she got closer to him, she could always get some benefits from him in the future.

She has plenty of ways to deal with this kind of hothead.

Take Xu Damao for example. The way he looked at her when she greeted him was as if he wanted to stick to her.

But upon noticing her mother-in-law's gloomy face, she immediately stopped smiling, lowered her head, and vigorously rubbed her clothes, pretending not to have seen anything.

On the contrary, Madam Jia Zhang didn't even bother to hide her true feelings when she saw He Yuzhu and his sister; her face was full of meanness.

But when her gaze fell on the four heavy lunchboxes on the bicycle, her cloudy eyes froze, and her lips moved rapidly, a silent curse like a viper spitting its tongue.

He Yuzhu didn't want to pay any attention to the old hag at all. He snorted and pushed the cart into his own yard.

Now he has tidied up the house again, cleared out a lot of old and broken furniture, and the space is much more spacious now, with enough room to fit two more bicycles.

Parking your car outside? Don't even dream about it.

No matter how securely it's locked, it's useless. Even if they can't steal it, they can still smash your tires or pull out your valve cores, which will disgust you to death.

Countless eyes in the courtyard were fixed on this "nouveau riche," their eyes already red with envy.

As soon as he entered, He Yuzhu mysteriously rummaged through his pocket. In fact, the item was taken from the system space—two pieces of milk candy were given to He Yushui each day, and the rest were locked in the cabinet.

If we let her eat as much as she wants, she'll be out of food in three days.

As dinnertime approached, the entire alleyway was filled with the irresistible aroma that stirred a restless excitement.

But if we're talking about the most domineering fragrance, it has to be the He family.

The braised pork intestines are fatty but not greasy, and the fried double crispy pork is fragrant and delicious. The aroma seems to have grown legs and sneaks through the cracks in the door and climbs over the courtyard wall. While other rooms are still cooking cabbage and potatoes, this room is already filled with fragrance, making people's souls float away.

The dishes had just been heated up when Uncle San arrived, carrying a bottle of liquor, his face beaming: "Zhu Zi, I brought some peanuts, let's have a drink together!"

"Alright, Uncle, please have a seat. We'll start the feast right away!" He Yuzhu replied with a smile, but his eyes glanced at the so-called "peanuts"—good heavens, as expected of Yan Laoxi, he could count them all. There were only twenty or thirty peanuts in total, sparsely spread out in the paper package, which was both heartbreaking and funny to see.

……

"That little bastard! He treats Old Man Yan to meals every day, with chicken, duck, fish, and meat non-stop. Could he be dealing in black market stuff?"

Sitting at the table, Jia Zhangshi stared at the bowl of grayish-brown cabbage and the plate of oily shredded potatoes in front of her, so angry that her chopsticks trembled.

Why should an orphaned, mentally challenged boy be able to eat and drink well every day, while the Jia family is stuck eating vegetarian food?

Of course she has money.

Her son, Jia Dongxu, gives her three yuan a month as a filial gift, so she doesn't have to pay for household expenses. She can even secretly sell the shoe soles she makes herself. In addition, she has at least three hundred yuan lying around in her hands, thanks to the private savings her husband had accumulated before his death.

But she just couldn't bear to spend money. She would try to stretch every penny to eight pieces. Occasionally, she would buy herself a sesame seed cake to satisfy her craving, but she would have to eat it secretly, for fear of being called a "spendthrift."

At that moment, she gritted her teeth, turned around, and yelled into the house, "Son! When is Yi Zhonghai going to teach this idiot Zhu a lesson? He acts like a tyrant in the yard, doesn't he have any respect for his neighbors? Does he even know how to respect the elderly and care for the young?"

In her eyes, "neighborhood unity" meant serving her the best food; "respect for elders" meant having younger generations kneel and serve her meals.

Unfortunately, this approach didn't work on He Yuzhu.

Madam Jia was deeply resentful. She was unhappy from the bottom of her heart that Dongxu had become Yi Zhonghai's apprentice—she felt as if her son had been forcibly split in two, with one half going to her and the other half being held by Yi Zhonghai.

However, these days Yi Zhonghai kept feeding Dongxu "filial piety" platitudes, saying that respecting elders and listening to one's master is filial piety, which made Dongxu's attitude towards her visibly improve.

She barely managed to swallow her anger and refrained from making a scene.

But as she listened, she began to think that Yi Zhonghai's words made perfect sense—in this courtyard, it was indeed appropriate to worship an elder like her, who was senior and of high rank, as an ancestor!

"There hasn't been a chance to make a move lately... That silly pillar is elusive, leaving early and returning late, never seen again, even Master can't do anything about it."

Jia Dongxu gritted his teeth, his tone full of frustration.

It wasn't that he and Yi Zhonghai didn't want to mess with people; the problem was that the title of "the steward" sounded impressive to outsiders, supposedly for preventing enemy agents and mediating disputes among neighbors, but in reality, it was just a way to scare honest people.

What good is dealing with someone like Sha Zhu, who's fearless and impervious to reason? Completely useless!

Madam Jia sneered, her eyes darkening. "I'll teach him a lesson sooner or later! Let's see if he dares to act up under my nose again!"

While the Jia family mother and son were secretly sharpening their knives, the He family's place was filled with steaming hot food and a fragrant aroma.

Yan Bugui's cheeks flushed and his forehead was sweating as he ate, smacking his lips as he chewed—this wasn't the first time he'd freeloaded a meal, but each time, he felt that Sha Zhu's cooking skills had improved by leaps and bounds!

Although these dishes were past their freshness, he still tasted the flavor of delicacies from land and sea.

He Yushui completely let loose, grabbing food with her hands when she couldn't use chopsticks, eating with grease dripping from her mouth without a care.

The way she looks at He Yuzhu has changed—there's no trace of He Daqing anymore. He's been completely overwhelmed by the delicious food on the table.

Yan Bugui completely forgot to drink, and only came to his senses when his stomach was about to burst. He then chuckled awkwardly, picked up his glass, and clinked it against He Yuzhu's.

"Zhu Zi, the thing you asked me to inquire about last time has been taken care of! That carpenter Huang from East Street used to make several sets of furniture for our courtyard; his craftsmanship is top-notch."

If you have no problem, I'll call him over next Sunday.

Upon hearing this, He Yuzhu immediately realized—it was about making furniture! He promptly raised his glass, grinned, and said, "Alright, Uncle, let me toast you first, thanks!"

"Hey, no problem at all!"

Yan Bugui waved his hand, clinked glasses, and downed the drink in one gulp.

But as soon as he put down his wine glass, he picked up his chopsticks again, his eyes fixed on the remaining food—this stuff was so delicious, he'd be doing himself a disservice if he didn't eat it all! Besides, he'd gotten so much good food from the He family so many times, even if he ate a little more today, he probably wouldn't get diarrhea…

After a frantic sweep, all four boxes of vegetables were completely emptied.

Yan Bugui let out a satisfied burp, patted his round belly, and bid farewell before leaving contentedly.

He Yuzhu was the only one left in the room, shaking his head as he began to clear away the dishes.

He drank quite a bit, but he could control his alcohol tolerance and was very nimble.

While washing the dishes, he suddenly slapped his forehead: "Oh no! I forgot that I'm supposed to accompany my master to visit that senior kung fu teacher next week..."

But then I thought, it's too late to say it now, I might as well mention it tomorrow.

The next morning, He Yuzhu took He Yushui out and casually told Yan Bugui that he might not be free on Sunday.

Unexpectedly, the third uncle waved his hand nonchalantly: "It's alright! I'll have Lao Huang come a few days in advance, after get off work this afternoon."

Huang the carpenter didn't work in a factory; he relied on his skills to take jobs from acquaintances, and his hours were very flexible.

Upon hearing this, He Yuzhu agreed and decided to arrange for the day after get off work to have Uncle San bring his men to his door.

After he walked away, the people in the courtyard also left one after another.

Liu Haizhong left home late that day and bumped into Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu. The three of them then walked together toward the steel rolling mill.

On the way, Yi Zhonghai suddenly spoke up quietly: "Old Liu, have you noticed... that Sha Zhu has been acting a bit strange lately?"

Liu Haizhong glanced at him sideways, his tone indifferent: "His father ran off with someone, how could his personality not change? Old Yi, why are you asking this?"

"Yes, he's changed... but he's becoming more and more unruly!" Yi Zhonghai's voice lowered, but it was filled with anger. "He starts cursing at his elders the moment he sees them. In his eyes, I, an old man, am probably less than a fart..."

Upon hearing this, Liu Hai's heart skipped a beat.

What does he care about most? Power, face, status!

In the courtyard house, Second Uncle was his only title, and the only "official position" he could be proud of.