I Have a Lake as I Walk Through the Courtyard

Having made a small profit and earned two months' salary, Lin Feng got a little cocky. After leaving the black market, he spent another 5 cents to come back in and walked to a stall he had already set his sights on.

"Give me 5 jin of each of these two types of oil!"

The vendor saw Lin Feng and quickly pulled out two teapots. "This teapot weighs exactly 5 jin (2.5 catties), but the teapot itself costs extra."

"Okay!" Lin Feng paid the money. Five catties of rapeseed oil and five catties of soybean oil cost him more than 30 yuan. The money he had just earned was gone in an instant.

"No wonder there are so many middlemen here. What's the difference between this and bartering?" Lin Feng thought to himself. Anyone with a bit of a knack for this could thrive here.

As the year draws to a close, the black market is packed with people. Lin Feng wandered around for a while, spending over 100 yuan to buy some vegetable seeds and exchange them for a lot of cotton and cloth coupons before leaving the black market satisfied. Unfortunately, he didn't see any ducklings. With so many loaches in the lake, it would be such a waste not to raise chickens and ducks.

While the quality of life has improved, Lin Feng's assets have shrunk to just over 300. If this were the original owner of the body, he probably wouldn't even be able to celebrate the New Year properly because of the financial loss!

Having just returned from the black market and lain down for less than two or three hours, the secondhand alarm clock he had bought at the recycling station went off. Lin Feng reached out from the cold bed, turned off the alarm, and with a thought, instantly appeared by the lake.

A wave of warmth instantly enveloped him. After jumping into the lake and taking a swim, he was instantly revitalized. After putting on his dirty cotton-padded coat, he slowly left the courtyard house with stars on his head.

"This guy is so careless! He doesn't even keep enough soap at home!" Lin Feng complained as he walked towards his workplace. When he arrived at the recycling station, Old Zhao raised his eyes at the sound, then turned over and went back to sleep.

Today, Lin Feng was well-prepared. He took out the old dough from his space and started fermenting it. After all, when you're doing work, you have to do your best. With the space, Lin Feng's workload was much smaller.

Even kneading dough, a task that takes place in space, can be accomplished with thought, not only kneading it well but also applying force evenly.

Today, the steamed buns were ready almost an hour earlier than usual. As a cook, Lin Feng took one without hesitation. He took a bite and found the soft, fermented dough to be much better than the unleavened dough of the past. It even had a much less harsh feeling in his throat.

After finishing all the work, and with no one else around, I glanced at the clock on the wall in the cafeteria, leaned against the warm stove, and slowly fell asleep.

"Hey kid, wake up, time to get to work!"

Hearing the call, Lin Feng slowly opened his eyes and habitually rubbed them. "Good morning, Grandpa Zhao!"

"Hehe, you little rascal! You're awake now. Same old routine."

"Alright!" Lin Feng quickly took the lunchbox and prepared the rice and cornbread that Grandpa Zhao had ordered.

The old man's nose drooped slightly as he took the cornbread and took a bite. "Hey, you've got some good skills, kid! It's so soft, it's saved my teeth a lot of trouble!"

"As long as it tastes good!"

Grandpa Zhao looked at Lin Feng with eyes full of admiration. "The dough has risen, hasn't it? No wonder you came so early; you must have suffered quite a bit."

"It's alright, it's all for work!"

Today's breakfast satisfied all 10 brothers and sisters. It wasn't that Lin Feng made it particularly delicious, but it was a rare treat compared to previous meals.

Food was scarce, so after all the workers finished their breakfast, they rinsed the soup bowls with clean water, leaving not a drop of soup behind. The enamel bowls became spotless in an instant.

After finishing lunch, the workday quickly came to an end. Looking at the clock on the wall in the cafeteria, it was only 2:30! Lin Feng picked up his lunchbox and leisurely left the cafeteria.

Lin Feng carefully walked through the recycling station area more than a dozen times, but unfortunately he lacked the mental power and the knowledge to turn waste into treasure.

"Little cook! What do you see that you like? Sister Lin will get it for you!"

"Sister Lin! I'd like to repair my house and get some timber!"

"I see! Go find the stationmaster and get a certificate; what kind of good timber can you find here?"

Lin Feng's eyes darted around. "Do you have any huanghuali or sandalwood here?"

Sister Lin glanced at Sister Li beside her, and the two women burst into laughter. "Little cook, you're trying to snag a bargain, aren't you!"

Lin Feng was taken aback, recalling the online novels he had read in his previous life. Wasn't it said that these things were worthless in this era?

"Ladies, isn't it here?"

Sister Lin glanced around and lowered her voice. "Little cook! Although our purchase price for this stuff isn't much, none of our buyers are nice guys. If they had this stuff, they would have taken it to Liulichang to resell it long ago! How could it still be here? What, you like playing with this stuff too?"

Lin Feng quickly shook his head. "That's all feudal dregs, I don't like it at all!"

The two women rolled their eyes. "If you really want it, I'll talk to the buyers and have them reserve it for you, but you'll have to negotiate the price with them yourself!"

"No need, no need!" Lin Feng quickly shook his head. Things would get complicated in a few years; these days, you can't afford to leave any evidence. "I was just curious and asked casually!"

"Really not going to?"

"There's really no need to thank you, ladies."

Lin Feng hurriedly left the scrap metal yard. Online novels are truly a killer. Are there fools these days? Perhaps there are, but there are far more smart people! In Beijing, there are more people who understand and love antiques than in any other city. Not to mention precious wood, even rare and valuable manuscripts cannot escape the sharp eyes of the collectors!

After leaving the scrap metal recycling station, Lin Feng bought a set of fishing gear as planned. In this day and age, suddenly becoming rich requires explaining the source of funds, otherwise there will be endless trouble! This was the best solution Lin Feng could think of.

Leaving the trust store, Lin Feng gripped his fishing rod, his heart pounding with excitement. Good days were beckoning him. Bicycles, watches, house repairs, new clothes, new bedding—there were just so many things he needed to spend money on!

After a flurry of activity, Lin Feng arrived at Shichahai at 3:30 PM. It took him a while to finally find a place to stand. He glanced disdainfully at the old man next to him, who was guarding four fishing rods by himself, with only a dozen or so small fish in his bucket, not even half a pound.

He filled the empty fish bucket with a little water from the kettle, casually placed it on the shore, hastily baited the hook with an earthworm, stretched out his arms, and cast the hook far into the lake.

"Young man, there are no fish around! Look around, there's not even a blade of grass. Don't waste your time!"

Raymond Lam is a polite person, so he naturally responded politely to the kind reminder. "Thanks, bro! I was just playing around..."

Lin Feng focused his mind into the space, and the position of the fishhook was reflected in his mind. He tried to control it to hook a crucian carp weighing more than a pound. After several attempts, he finally succeeded!

The fishing float suddenly sank on the lake surface. Lin Feng pulled it up forcefully, and the old man next to him was so excited that he even pinched his beard hard. This young man was simply wasting a good catch. How could anyone pull a fish like that?