Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

She turned to the third aunt and asked, "Third aunt, has the new bride arrived?"

The three women turned around and saw it was her. Then, noticing the swaddled baby in Qin Huairu's arms, they exclaimed, "Oh dear, Jia Zhangshi, Huairu just got discharged from the hospital? She just gave birth the day before yesterday, right? Is her body able to handle it?"

"My daughter-in-law is very healthy; it's a waste of money for her to be in the hospital," Jia Zhangshi said casually, waving her hand. "She's just as healthy and plump at home, and the money saved can be used to buy oil and salt."

Qin Huairu's teeth ached from listening; she was sure she'd explode with anger if she kept going. She immediately interrupted, "Mom, I'll take Xiaodang back to her room first."

"Go ahead." Madam Jia casually shoved the clothes into her hands, then turned to the third aunt and asked, "Who moved in over there? Tell me."

"Hey, guess what?" the third auntie whispered, "That single man from Old Zhang's family just grabbed the keys, opened the door himself, and started huffing and puffing as he carried the furniture inside!"

"What right does he have?" Madam Jia's eyebrows shot up, her voice suddenly rising. "A bachelor old man, taking up two rooms? Our Jia family's sons are all grown up; they won't even have a place to sleep when they get married!"

The third aunt sighed: "I heard that she swapped rooms with Sha Zhu."

Sha Zhu pulled some strings at the neighborhood committee and got Li Laotai's house, then swapped it with Lao Zhang—now, He Yuzhu has three interconnected large rooms in Zhongyuan all at once!

These words were like a thorn, piercing straight into Jia Zhangshi's lungs.

Sha Zhu's house was already quite large, and now with the addition of another room, it's so spacious you could practically do a boxing match! If you combine the three rooms, six or seven people can live there without feeling cramped.

The key point is that He Yushui will get married sooner or later, and leaving two men to guard such a big house is simply a waste!

"That idiot, why does he get so many advantages? No way! This can't end here!" Jia Zhangshi's face was ashen. Before she finished speaking, she turned and left, her shoes slapping the ground loudly.

She's determined to confront Yi Zhonghai tonight—two people sharing three rooms? Where's the justice?!

As soon as she left, the third aunt sneered and spat behind her back: "Pah! Even if the house were vacant, it wouldn't be for a greedy wretch like you!"

As night fell, the steel mill workers returned home one after another. The wind blew quickly through the yard, and news spread like wildfire.

Old Zhang has already moved in. The lock on the room next to Sha Zhu's has been changed, and all the old furniture has been removed. It's just waiting to be painted and repaired, and it'll be ready to move in anytime.

An unseen storm is brewing quietly in the courtyard.

As for how to clean up the house, He Yuzhu didn't rush to do anything. He simply clicked down a brass lock, closed the door, and that was it.

It's not too late to renovate everything at once after I get married.

But Madam Jia couldn't sit still any longer.

Upon hearing that Old Lady Li's house had fallen into the hands of Sha Zhu, she immediately stormed to Yi Zhonghai's house, her face flushed red, and rattled off the whole story, her tone full of hostility.

But Yi Zhonghai listened without batting an eye, not even lifting his eyelids.

Actually, he had already guessed it—the house was most likely sold to He Yuzhu.

If the neighborhood committee had taken over, they would have sent officials to conduct a door-to-door inventory and registration long ago; how could it have been done so quietly? But he was too lazy to care and even less willing to get involved.

He knew perfectly well what Jia Zhangshi was up to: she wanted to use his name to pressure Sha Zhu and force him to give up his house.

But who would dare to mess with Sha Zhu now? That shout of "Who do you think you are?" from last night still rings in my ears!

The more he thought about it, the more he realized the deaf old woman was right—impulse is the devil.

When I was woken up last night, a surge of anger rose within me, so I went to confront Sha Zhu head-on.

But when you calm down and look at it, what benefits can you get besides being scolded and feeling suffocated with anger?

The neighborhood committee has already agreed to the housing exchange, and he's just a retired worker without a formal position. If he makes a fuss, isn't he just humiliating himself?

"If you really want to talk to someone, go find Old Liu, or Old Yan will do too," Yi Zhonghai said casually, picking up his teacup and blowing on it. "I'm just an ordinary citizen, I can't concern myself with these things."

Before the words were even finished, the person had already turned away, clearly indicating that they were seeing the guest off.

Jia Zhangshi stood there, her face turning pale and then red.

Of course she knew that Lao Liu was very slippery, and Lao Yan was even more cunning; if she really went to him, he might not be willing to stand up for her.

Especially Yan Bugui—his own son isn't even married yet, but his grandchildren are already scrambling to get a house.

She snorted coldly, turned and left, feeling a surge of resentment, like a half-eaten raw egg stuck in her throat, neither going up nor down.

When I got home, I opened the door and saw that the dinner table was already in session! Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu were eating with their heads down. Half of the minced meat and cabbage stew in the dish had been scooped out, and the porridge in the pot was almost gone.

Madam Jia exploded: "Who told you to eat first?! You didn't even wait for your mother, did you? Oh my god, I raised you all with so much hardship, and now there's no place for me at the dinner table! Old Jia, if you're watching from heaven, open your eyes and see if there's any justice in this family—"

Hearing this again, Jia Dongxu's forehead throbbed: "Mom! I saved the food for you! Qin Huairu is weak after giving birth, and I've been busy all day. You just had to rush out during mealtime. We can't expect the whole family to wait for you hungry for two hours, can we?"

It's so annoying to keep bringing up your deceased father all the time!

"Hmph! A bunch of heartless wolves!" Jia Zhangshi sat down with a thud, patted her trouser leg, reached out and pulled the bowl of food in front of her, grabbed half a cornbread and stuffed it into her mouth with a slurping sound, while not forgetting to put some oily bits of meat on Bang Geng's chopsticks.

Today's stewed cabbage with minced meat may seem unremarkable, but in the eyes of this family, it's a rare treat of meat.

Of all the people in the Jia family, only Bang Geng could get Jia Zhangshi to offer him food.

In her words, the stalk of the Jia family is the root of the family and the hope for the future; even her own son, Jia Dongxu, has to be relegated to the back of the list.

Qin Huairu silently lowered her head, holding half a steamed bun made from two kinds of flour in her hand. Looking at the empty vegetable bowl, she sighed softly and swallowed the rest of the dry food with the cooled cornmeal porridge.

In contrast, the Yan family's situation was quite different.

Yan Jiecheng has been working like crazy these past two days. During the day, he runs to the neighborhood office to ask about job openings, and at night he takes odd jobs carrying bricks and cement. His arms are so sore that he can't even lift them.

But he gritted his teeth and persevered—as long as he saved enough money to pay off his father's debts, he could separate from his family and get married sooner.

He had barely stepped inside when he heard someone say: the house he had been hoping for was gone! It had been snatched up by Sha Zhu, and the property rights had been transferred!

He froze on the spot, then a surge of blood rushed to his head, and he roared at his father, "Dad! Didn't you promise to give it to me? How come it's all going to Sha Zhu now?!"

"What are you yelling about!" Yan Bugui said with a dark face. "Old Lady Li sold herself to He Yuzhu willingly. She signed a contract in black and white. Am I supposed to flip the table and take it back? You want me to sue her in court? Or grab a weapon and storm her door?"

When the name "Silly Pillar" was mentioned, he blurted it out without thinking.

He knew He Yuzhu wasn't stupid; he was quite shrewd. But this kid was too ruthless—showing no mercy whatsoever, not even putting him, the third uncle, in his eyes. It was truly disheartening.

What's more, the 4.1% monthly interest rate is gone. How much less money did he collect? It hurts just thinking about it.

Yan Jiecheng slumped into a stool, his voice trembling: "So all my hard work these past few days... was for nothing?"

"Stop thinking about it." Yan Bugui sighed, his eyes suddenly shifting, and his tone became earnest. "Boss, focusing on just one house is too narrow-minded."

Tell me, which is more important, a house or a stable job? If you have a secure job, why worry about finding a place to rent? Why worry about not being able to get married? Think long-term, don't get stuck on this one thing.

His words were so impeccable that Yan Jiecheng opened his mouth, wanting to argue but feeling powerless; he wanted to make a scene but couldn't find fault with them.

Finally, he let out a sigh of relief, slammed the door, went back to his room, collapsed onto the bed, stared at the ceiling beams, and couldn't sleep all night.

"Ha, you still want to talk to me about losses? Don't even mention it, not a chance! Honey, turn off the lights and go to sleep—we used ten extra minutes of electricity today, so we'll turn it off fifteen minutes earlier tomorrow. Let's save some money!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old window of Yan Bugui's house was plunged into darkness.

It's only 7:40, and the heat from dinner hasn't even dissipated yet, but this family's lights always go out 15 minutes earlier than everyone else's.

They were the first family to hide in the darkness in the entire alley.

And what about He Yuzhu? Evenings are his prime time.

He flipped through a few pages of a medical book, his fingertips tracing the words; then he took out a carving knife, and wood shavings flew up like snowflakes.

They carve mountains, water features, flowers, birds, insects, and fish, and occasionally even half-length portraits of leaders—these kinds of portraits are the easiest to sell, and the neighbors are eager to buy them for good luck.

A simple wood carving can be done in half an hour; even the most complex ones will take at most an hour.

For him, it was just a matter of swiftly cutting down a knife.

Woodworking Skill +10

As the last wisp of woody fragrance dissipated, the artwork in my hand came to life.

He glanced at the clock on the wall; it was past eleven. He sheathed his knife, blew out the lamp, and lay down.

The He family's life is getting better and better these days.

He Yuzhu's monthly salary is 87.5 yuan, which doesn't seem like much, but he also has extra income—he has four days off per month and can take on an average of two private chef jobs, earning at least 10 yuan per job, and at least 7 yuan per job.

If you were invited to dinner by a prominent figure like Li Huaide's father-in-law, not only would the red envelope be generous, but you would also receive a bunch of meat and wine vouchers.

He didn't keep any of those tickets; he exchanged them all for real things.

Inside the living space, over 600 kilograms of meat were piled up to the brim: chickens, ducks, pigs, beef, and sheep—all kinds were present.

Some of them were hoarded with money in the early years—back then, there were no coupons, and the prices were cheap, so he bought a lot of them in one go.

Eighty catties of Moutai lay quietly, more than 1,700 catties of grain were neatly stacked, and there was still more than 2,200 yuan in cash on hand.

In terms of wealth, he has already firmly established himself among the top three in the courtyard house.

Only Yi Zhonghai, with his ability to squeeze money out of oil, could barely outdo him.

But these days, money isn't worth much; what's truly valuable are rare, hard-to-obtain, and heirloom-worthy items.

Next, he plans to gradually exchange the banknotes in his hand for hard goods such as stamps and antiques.

You won't even have to wait too long—in another year or two, when supplies are at their most scarce, a pound of flour can be exchanged for a piece of porcelain.

When the time comes, whoever has the goods will be the boss.

The next morning, He Yuzhu rode his old-fashioned bicycle as usual, with his younger sister Yushui on the back, rattling and clanging as he headed to school.