Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

He Wenhui squatted down and gently wiped the blood from Wentao's face: "Who did this? Why did they hit you?"

Wen Tao gritted his teeth: "They tried to take the dog... I protected it, and they beat me and even trampled the dog to death."

She didn't ask any more questions, took one of her younger brothers in each hand, and helped Liu Jianbin walk home silently.

……

Liu Hongchang just wanted to roll his eyes at this moment—this damn system was forcing him to act like a living bodhisattva and dragging him into a fire pit.

System: "Side quests completed. Two completed, next world is yours to choose from."

Liu Hongchang: "Why didn't you give that medicine to my brother?"

System: "What's the difference between your son and your brother's son? Besides, your wife is carrying twins. Why not hurry up and have a few more? Hou Dunzi's problem is that he 'can't get up,' and the medicine is specifically for that, not for regulating menstruation."

Liu Hongchang: "Next time, could you prioritize my brother?"

System: "Your sister-in-law's fallopian tubes have been blocked for three years, and her hormones are completely out of control—does treating only your brother guarantee she'll have any offspring?"

Liu Hongchang paused for a moment, then asked, "Then... would it be okay to treat my sister-in-law?"

System: "Okay. Prioritize this next time."

Liu Hongchang scratched his head—he'd never even met Hou Dunzi, let alone befriended him. He'd heard Hou Dunzi was working in a coal mine; he should be home by now, at Gao Junling's dormitory…

He turned into the clothing factory area and found the bungalow that Gao Junling had been allocated according to the house number.

He knocked. The door opened, and Hou Dunzi poked half his face out, looking suspicious: "Who are you looking for?"

Liu Hongchang didn't answer, he just stretched out his hand.

Just as Hou Dunzi glanced down and saw the dark pill in his palm, his chin was grabbed and the force was quick and precise—the pill was stuffed into his mouth, his fingers lifted his chin, his Adam's apple bobbed, and the medicine slid down his throat.

Hou Dunzi's eyes widened, his lips trembling: "You...you..."

Liu Hongchang slipped a note over: "The address is here. If you don't come to thank me by tomorrow morning, I'll consider it a waste of my time. I'm also giving you a way to make money; the medicine is a small gift."

Hou Dunzi froze on the spot: This... isn't poison?

Liu Hongchang turned and left. Hou Dunzi slumped on the edge of the bed, his heart pounding, and drank half a bowl of baijiu to calm his nerves.

Just then, Gao Junling came in carrying a grocery basket. The spatula had barely touched the stove when he suddenly felt a heat in his lower abdomen, a tingling sensation in his lower back, and all the blood in his body rushing to one spot—

The place, which had been quiet for three years, suddenly burst into flames!

He paused for two seconds, then reacted more and more violently, grabbing Junling's wrist and dragging her into the house.

An hour later, he was beaming and walking with a brisk pace.

Gao Junling leaned against his chest, her fingertips twirling his shirt buttons, her voice as soft as spring water: "Dunzi, which hospital did you go to? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Hou Dunzi chuckled: "You might not believe it—just now, when you were about to come back, a stranger came over, grabbed my chin without saying a word, forced a pill into my mouth, and told me to come and thank him tomorrow… I was so scared I drank half a jin of strong liquor!"

Gao Junling blinked: "Did he leave an address?"

Hou Dunzi patted his pocket: "He gave me a note and said he'd help me make a lot of money."

She buried her face in his chest, her ears burning, and for the first time felt that there was hope for the future, a sense of security and warmth.

Liu Hongchang pushed open the gate to his own courtyard.

"System, what about the reward?"

"Take it from the space."

He glanced at the storage compartments—boxes of fabric, bundles of ready-made clothes, stacks upon stacks of enamel mugs… His heart leaped with excitement: Buy more stock? Ha, just move it all in.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, Liu Zi clattered into the courtyard on his bicycle. The two of them took a shortcut to the back alley of the department store, and when they saw a guy wearing bell-bottoms and sunglasses, they went up to him: "Hey bro, wanna buy a watch? Made in Shanghai, the movement makes a clanging sound!"

At eight o'clock in the evening, we checked the curtains under the lamp.

Liu Zi sold twelve yuan and handed over one hundred and twenty yuan to Liu Hongchang;

Liu Hongchang sells it for ten yuan, and after deducting costs, he makes a net profit of three hundred and twenty yuan.

Liu Hongchang patted Liu Zi on the shoulder: "Come on, I'll take you to experience something new."

Liu Zi grinned: "Brother, where to?"

Liu Hongchang put his index finger to his lips: "Shh—buy meat."

Liu Zi's eyes lit up: "Where are the tickets?"

Liu Hongchang, too lazy to argue, dragged him around to the back wall of the pork supply station.

Two men were squatting by the wall, with a bulging blue cloth covering their feet, making it impossible to tell what was inside.

Liu Hongchang approached, gestured with three fingers, and the two men immediately stood up, quickly weighed the meat, bagged it, and handed over three yuan and thirty cents, their movements as fast as if they had rehearsed it a hundred times.

Liu Zi, looking quite professional, also brought back three pounds of pork belly with alternating layers of fat and lean meat.

As soon as he turned out of the alley, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up, and his eyes shone like two little suns.

Liu Zi: "Brother, that was absolutely brilliant!"

Liu Hongchang: "How's it going between you and Xiao Li?"

Liu Zi: "It's almost a done deal! You'll definitely be the head chef at the banquet!"

The two waved goodbye and each rode their bicycles home.

……

The couple from Houdunzi carried a heavy gift box worth over a hundred yuan to visit Liu Hongchang. The smile lines on Houdunzi's face never disappeared from the moment he entered the door.

Liu Hongchang waved his hand: "Stop with the formalities, I'm not helping you for that reason—I have something important to ask you."

Hou Dunzi patted his chest and declared, "I'd leap over mountains of knives and seas of fire if you just opened your eyes!"

Liu Hongchang took off his watch and waved it around: "Take a look, how's the condition of this watch?"

Hou Dunzi leaned closer for a closer look: "Pretty impressive, looks energetic!"

Liu Hongchang: "From now on, you can sell these watches. I'll wholesale them to you for ten yuan, and we'll set the price at twenty yuan outside. Come with us this afternoon to see for yourself how to hawk them and how to get orders."

Hou Dunzi slapped his thigh and said, "Okay! I'll wait for you to get off work!"

Liu Hongchang packed Yang Maixiang's lunch into a lunchbox, then stuffed a few odds and ends into the front basket of her bicycle before getting on and heading to work.

Several live sheep arrived at the canteen today. Liu Zi was busy weighing the sheep bones at the kitchen counter. With swift and precise cuts, he made sure each bone was a uniform piece.

At noon, as soon as Liu Zi put down his lunchbox, he immediately stuffed the wrapped lamb bones into Liu Hongchang's hand.

Liu Hongchang carried the oil paper package and ran briskly towards his elder brother's house.

Wang Cuilan frowned upon seeing it: "Why is your own wife not eating it, and you're sending it all to me?"

Liu Hongchang chuckled and shook his head: "She's been eating too much meat lately and has upset her stomach, so she's been eating only bland, watery dishes to nourish her body."

He ate a hot meal with Wang Cuilan, rested for a while, and then hurriedly returned to the canteen.

Before afternoon, Hou Dunzi was already squatting at the entrance of the canteen—munching on a steamed bun while eagerly watching Liu Hongchang's figure as he left work.

The three men, each clutching two watches, plunged into the streets and alleys to hawk their wares. They didn't meet up again until nine o'clock in the evening at the entrance of the second canteen.

Hou Dunzi grinned and pulled out a handful of change: "I've sold all eleven yuan; this is my capital!" Before he finished speaking, he had already stuffed 110 yuan into Liu Hongchang's palm.

Liu Hongchang turned to Liu Zi and said, "Look at him—he paid up right after closing up shop; look at you, I have to chase after you for money every time!"

Liu Zi chuckled and pulled ninety yuan from his pocket: "Here, here, here. It's just for warming up for a little while!"

Hou Dunzi earned two months' wages in just one day. He had it all planned out: first, he would find a temporary job in the city to settle down, working during the day and going out to sell watches in the evening. From then on, Junling would no longer have to live alone in an empty house.

July arrived in the blink of an eye, and Yang Maixiang was wheeled into the delivery room. Soon after, the doctor emerged from behind the curtain.

Doctor: "Mother and babies are safe and sound; they are twins, a boy and a girl."

Wang Cuilan clasped her hands together, her voice trembling, "Heaven has eyes! Heaven has eyes!"

Liu Hongchang carried Yang Maixiang, who had just woken up, on his back and walked home; Wang Cuilan carried her eldest grandson, and Liu Yunchang carried his youngest grandson, following closely on either side.

Wu Xiaoying nudged Liu Yunchang lightly with her elbow—the meaning was clear: it's your turn to speak.

Back in the old house, Yang Maixiang was settled in Liu Hongchang's former room, where she lay panting with her head on a soft blanket.

Wang Cuilan beamed as soon as she entered the door: "Oh my goodness, my eldest grandson, his little face is so handsome, it's like he jumped out of a painting!"

Liu Yunchang cleared his throat: "Brother Hongchang, there's something I need your help with..."

Liu Hongchang: "Speak."

Liu Yunchang's voice lowered, his eyes reddening: "Give me one of your children. The people at the factory always speak to me with barbs because I have no children... I can't stand up straight without a son."

Before he finished speaking, tears streamed down his face; Wu Xiaoying had prepared a handkerchief and kept wiping them away with sobs.

Wang Cuilan looked down at her big, chubby grandson in her arms, then turned to look at the little guy in Liu Yunchang's arms, who was clenching his fists. Her lips moved, but she didn't say anything.

Liu Hongchang shook his head: "No."

Liu Yunchang panicked and knelt down with a thud: "Brother! I'm begging you, isn't that enough?"

Liu Hongchang helped him up, but his tone was as steady as a rock: "They are twins. If you take one away, who wouldn't see the difference? If you want to adopt them, you should raise them both together."

Wu Xiaoying immediately chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes! Let's live well together, let's live a secure life together!"

Wang Cuilan asked hesitantly, "Does Maixiang know about this?"

Liu Hongchang nodded: "We've already discussed it thoroughly."

Wu Xiaoying rushed forward and took the eldest grandson from the old lady's arms, her eyes crinkling with laughter.

The couple looked at each other, their eyes filled with an irrepressible light.

Wang Cuilan then asked, "Have you prepared all the milk powder?"

Wu Xiaoying answered readily: "I already stocked up!"

In fact, as soon as Yang Maixiang became pregnant, the couple secretly started making preparations—regardless of whether Liu Hongchang agreed or not, the children had to have the surname Liu and be raised by them. They bought a whole box of milk powder, but little did they expect it to be twins. Now it probably wouldn't be enough, and they would have to buy more later.

The two of them, holding the baby, happily headed into their room, humming a little tune as they went, so adoring that they wanted to keep the baby close to their bodies.

Wang Cuilan felt a warm glow in her heart—Liu Hongchang's willingness to agree showed that he still valued their brotherhood. Besides, the young couple were still young and could have more children later; if he stubbornly refused, they would have to wait until their next pregnancy to bring it up again.

When Yang Maixiang was in postpartum confinement, Wang Cuilan was worried that Liu Hongchang would be too busy to take good care of her, so she kept thinking about it while she was at work. Now that they've moved in together, she can lend a hand, and her eldest daughter-in-law can also help out, making things much more comfortable.

What was even more unexpected was that Liu Hongchang actually fulfilled the wish that his eldest son's family had been hoping for for half their lives.

Liu Hongchang carried a bowl of piping hot chicken soup into the room. Yang Maixiang leaned against the headboard, her voice as soft as a feather: "The child... really isn't coming?"