Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

"When did I say you were going to fight alone? A joint venture is like two sides setting up a stage for a performance. Someone will fill in the missing piece." Xiao Yao said confidently.

Looking into his calm eyes, Han Chunming felt reassured—last time he was asked to find the two responsible persons, wasn't he also very nervous? And what happened? Xiao Yao was right every time.

"Okay! I'll find the production manager first thing tomorrow morning." Han Chunming put away the money, turned around and left.

"Don't come these next few days—I need to prepare for the college entrance exam." After saying that, Xiao Yao closed the door with a click.

Every time Han Chunming heard Xiao Yao speak, he felt as if a crack had been punched in the forehead: So this is how business can be done.

He casually mentioned that he liked old things, and Xiao Yao immediately gave him a suggestion—

"Go find the scrap collectors, have each of them come to your place every day to check in, and give them a dime for a 'delivery fee'; then have them spread out the old goods they've collected that day, and you pick out the old items you like, paying two cents more per pound than the market price."

"There are at least twenty scrap collectors squatting at the alley entrance waiting for you to pick through your goods before they'll take them back to the factory." Xiao Yao's tone was confident and resolute.

Sure enough, that afternoon, more than twenty scrap collectors gathered at the entrance of the alley, carrying shoulder poles and pushing carts, all eagerly waiting for Han Chunming to inspect their goods; before leaving, they did not forget to reach out their hands to ask for the one-cent "entry fee".

Han Chunming is indeed quick-witted, but he lacks experience and hasn't matured enough. He still needs to hone his skills over the years.

In the blink of an eye, the three-day college entrance examination quietly came to an end. After the snow cleared, Xiao Yao and Su Meng walked slowly up the Great Wall through the thin snow. The north wind was crisp and clear, and the bricks and stones were strong and sturdy. The two leaned against the battlement and gazed into the distance.

"Xiao Yao, you know, this Great Wall has withstood a thousand years of wind and rain and hundreds of battles, and it still stands like this. It's simply a living miracle." Su Man looked at the winding mountain ridge and sighed softly.

"The section built by Qin Shi Huang has long been eroded by time, leaving only a shadow. Later dynasties added bricks and tiles to it—only during the Zhenguan era was it slightly neglected. In other times, which dynasty didn't protect the Great Wall like its own backyard wall? That's why it has lasted until today," Xiao Yao explained with a smile.

Su Man's eyes lit up, and she blurted out: "A thousand-mile letter home just for a wall, why not give him three feet? The Great Wall still stands today, but the First Emperor of Qin is nowhere to be seen."

"Your words are so eloquent, I am truly impressed!" Xiao Yao said jokingly, bowing like a scholar on a theatrical stage.

"Brother, you flatter me. I am truly ashamed." Su Man followed his example, bowing slightly with a smile in her eyes.

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter, their laughter echoing against the snow-covered cliff. Just then, a north wind suddenly rose, whipping up snowflakes that lashed at their faces. They wrapped their cotton-padded coats tighter around themselves and continued walking down the mountain, still laughing and talking. This trip was all thanks to Su Man's mother's workplace: their department had chartered a bus for a day trip and had given the young couple a ride.

……

Cheng Jianjun's secret preparation for the exam was kept secret from everyone except his family. Yet, on the day of the exam, he still bumped into Xiao Yao at the end of the corridor. The two paused, their eyes met briefly, and neither spoke. They simply turned and merged into the flow of people in different exam rooms.

When Xiao Yao returned from the exam, he immediately told Han Chunming about it and encouraged him to sign up and give it a try. Han Chunming waved his hand and laughed heartily, "Don't you always say 'There are 360 ​​professions, and every profession can lead to success'? As long as you do one thing to the best of your ability, you might not lose to college graduates! What I earned this month is more than our factory director's salary for three years combined! Besides, the farmers' market is already in the works—Yili Food Factory and the state-run restaurant have jointly recommended me, and I'll soon be the director of Zhengyang Farmers' Market!"

"Then I must congratulate you in advance!" Xiao Yao patted his shoulder with a smile. "You rascal, I saw it coming long ago. You can carve out a path for yourself wherever you go. As long as you keep your mouth shut and your heart at peace, your future is no worse than anyone else's in our courtyard!"

The college entrance examination had just ended, and the Zhengyang Farmers' Market was bustling with activity as it opened on the open space outside the alley. At first, it was very simple, with a few blue cloth awnings supporting the stalls, which were crowded together, just like an old-fashioned vegetable market; but the stall owners were all officially recruited market employees who went to the rural fields and mountain valleys to connect with the production areas on one hand and supply the fixed quotas of state-owned restaurants and food factories on the other. Only the surplus goods were left for the people to buy and sell freely.

One market supports more than a hundred people. With special approval from above, Zhengyang Agricultural Trade Market completely abolished the use of vouchers and coupons. On the first day of its opening, the crowds were so large that they almost lifted the roof off the market. In less than three hours, a month's worth of goods were sold out.

The news quickly reached the city, and the leaders immediately made a decision: the twenty military trucks retired from the army would be directly assigned to the farmers' market for use; the construction team entered the site that same day and began to lay the foundation, build the frame, and prepare for the construction of the office building.

Many citizens who failed to purchase the goods lingered at the entrance, unwilling to leave, and waited until the afternoon. Han Chunming met with seven or eight groups of leaders in quick succession, each of whom said, "Within a week, the supply of goods must be sorted out and the plan must be implemented," leaving everyone feeling suffocated by the pressure.

Two weeks later, the popularity hadn't waned; on the contrary, it had only grown stronger. Several factory leaders couldn't sit still any longer and approached their superiors, asking, "Could we allocate some of our factory's products to sell at the farmers' market?"

The higher-ups finally gave the final approval: upgrade! Zhengyang Farmers Market was officially renamed "Zhengyang Trade Market". The original site remained unchanged, but it was expanded in four directions, with stalls enlarged, roads leveled, water and electricity connected, and facilities completed one by one.

Han Chunming's shareholding shrank from 50% to 80%; Cai Xiaoli and Taozi each held 10%—yet none of the three showed the slightest disappointment. Han Chunming became the director, and the other two also held deputy positions, which, though nominal, were in fact "junior leaders."

The trade market is now a separate entity, directly under the jurisdiction of the city government. Han Chunming became a cadre overnight, with a rank half a grade higher than the factory managers of Yili and the food factory; yet he still wore an old jacket and cloth shoes, insisting on calling himself "a businessman." For the next ten or twenty years, the path he had set his sights on was still the ups and downs of the business world.

These days, the Jeep pulls up at the alley entrance on time for rush hour, its engine humming, drawing stares from the entire street. Everyone in the courtyard is stunned, even the Su family is getting restless—Grandma Su privately ponders her marriage plans, muttering, "Even if Su Meng gets into university and stays on as a faculty member, it'll probably take her another ten or eight years before she can even touch the door handle of a Jeep; her parents are both university graduates, and they still have to pedal a bicycle themselves!"

The Han family was even more lively: several of his siblings would wait for Han Chunming to get off work every day, hoping to corner him at the door and beg him to let one of them into the trade department. But Han Chunming remained adamant in his refusal.

"Now, I don't have the final say in the market. Sweepers need political background checks, counter staff need at least a high school education, and warehouse managers need to know accounting—if I just randomly put people in, wouldn't everyone else be able to follow suit? Wouldn't this market then revert to the old days where connections were the main draw?"

The eldest brother, Han Chunsong, slammed the door and left, leaving behind the words: "Fine, Chunming, you think you're all grown up now? You think your older brother's words are just going in the wind! If you ever have any trouble, don't ever set foot in my house again!"

The second brother, Han Chunsheng, was even more decisive. He slammed his hand on the table, got up, and left, causing the door to vibrate loudly.

Only my eldest aunt's family, my third aunt's family, my eldest sister, and my second sister were left in the house.

Apart from the second sister, Han Chunyan, everyone else came for work-related matters. Han Chunming suddenly recalled Xiao Yao's words: "Indecisiveness leads to trouble; help in times of emergency, not in times of poverty." — Thinking back over the years, when relatives came to his door, nine times out of ten they asked for money, and not once did anyone think of helping out. It was as if poverty was written on their faces, becoming a natural passport that allowed them to come and skim money from him with a clear conscience.

"I'm telling you this now: there's really no room for any of you at the trade market. But there are a dozen or so cleaning positions available right now, and the neighborhood office is recruiting. Go and sign up yourselves." After saying this, Han Chunming picked up his cotton hat, turned around, and went out the door, heading straight for Xiao Yao's house.

The Han family was in complete uproar—what? They wanted them to sweep the floor? Xiao Wu had just become a leader, and he was already swaggering, completely disregarding his elders! Even if they weren't given a powerful position like supervisor or team leader, they should at least be assigned a respectable job like greeting guests or cashiering, right? Sweeping the floor? Was this job even worthy of their "veteran" status?

The two families argued fiercely around Han's mother, their faces flushed red, almost lifting the roof off the house. But then they thought that they would have to come over often to "mooch resources" in the future, so they suppressed their cursing and only managed to snort and roll their eyes in a sarcastic tone.

Han Chunming pushed open the door with his head drooping and immediately saw Su Meng, Su Man, and Xiao Yao sitting around the table, enjoying their meal. The braised pork was glistening with oil and smelled delicious, and their laughter was so warm that it made the windows fog up.

"Hey bro, you're really not being fair!" Han Chunming grabbed Xiao Yao by the back of the collar with a strong grip. "I always bring you half a pig's trotter when I'm eating pig's trotters, but you leave me out when you're eating braised pork?"

"There's still a half-bowl of food warming on the stove in the kitchen, specially saved for you." Xiao Yao smiled and pulled away, casually stuffing a pair of chopsticks into his hand. "Today is a celebration banquet for the three of us who have passed the imperial examination with flying colors, and we even chipped in to pay for it." Su Meng quickly added.

Han Chunming turned and rushed into the kitchen, returning with a steaming bowl of braised pork. The four of them huddled together, the bowls and chopsticks clattering, and their conversation grew increasingly lively.

"It's so reassuring here... Sigh, I really don't want to step into my house again. I feel like I'm sitting on pins and needles." Han Chunming suddenly slumped his shoulders and let out a long sigh.

"When you're poor, no one cares even in the bustling city; when you're rich, distant relatives come calling even in the deep mountains—if you don't believe me, just look at those toasts at banquets. Every time, isn't it the person with bulging pockets who gets the first toast?" Xiao Yao picked up a piece of meat with alternating layers of fat and lean meat and said slowly, "Now that you've stood up, it's perfectly normal for a few poor relatives to come up to you. Besides, lending a hand won't cost you anything."

"I want to do it too!" Han Chunming slapped his thigh. "But they always ask to be in charge, to sit in an office, and they think sweeping the floor is beneath them. Aren't they just pushing their luck?"