I, Yan Jiefang, will live to 2025 in this courtyard house.

Around six o'clock in the evening, it was already pitch black outside.

The incandescent bulbs hanging from the ceiling inside the state-run hotel emitted a slightly yellowish light.

The two Liu brothers and the two Yan brothers sat at a table.

During difficult times, state-run restaurants didn't have many diners in the evenings; besides their table, there were only two or three other tables of diners.

Before long, the food was served.

Liu Guangtian has a lot of tickets and his current salary isn't too low, so treating this table of guests is a piece of cake.

Although he wanted to order more dishes, supplies were limited.

Finally, only four dishes were served: stir-fried shredded potatoes, fried peanuts, stir-fried cabbage, and stir-fried sliced ​​meat.

Even so, it was considered quite abundant for this period.

None of them had the habit of drinking alcohol, so everyone picked up a bowl of rice and started eating.

During the meal, Liu Guangtian didn't hide anything.

He told Yan Jiefang about his difficulties in finding a wife and asked what it would be like to marry a girl who had fled famine, like Sha Zhu did.

Judging from his expression, Yan Jiefang understood that no matter what advice he gave, Liu Guangtian would probably try to find someone through the neighborhood committee; it was just a matter of time.

Yan Jiefang knew some information about this era and often read national and municipal newspapers.

It is now 62. Unlike 61, the country's food shortage will gradually ease starting this year.

Fewer and fewer people will flee the famine.

Government control will become increasingly strict.

After the New Year, it will be incredibly difficult to find a wife like Sha Zhu did.

Moreover, Liu Guangtian hasn't been officially hired yet and still needs to wait for about half a year. His salary is more than ten yuan less than Sha Zhu's.

Marrying a woman who has fled famine and whose status is uncertain will make life quite difficult.

Yan Jiefang did not hide anything and explained all the pros and cons to Liu Guangtian.

As for how to do it, that's up to him to decide.

After hearing Yan Jiefang's words, Liu Guangtian admired him even more.

As expected of highly educated intellectuals, their understanding of the world is much deeper than that of ordinary people like them.

It seems that his brother Liu Guangqi is not as good as Yan Jiefang.

At the same time, he felt a sense of urgency.

You must get married before the new year!

It doesn't matter if life is difficult; the benefits at the East Suburb Crematorium are good, and the colleagues are very united.

If he can grit his teeth and get through these six months, he can be promoted to a permanent position, and then his salary will increase, and life will be much better.

After finishing their conversation, the group quickly finished their meal and then returned to the courtyard house together.

As they passed the gatehouse, they vaguely heard Sha Zhu kneeling on the ground, trying to please his wife.

But no one paid any attention and went straight home.

The next morning, after returning and borrowing books at the library, Yan Jiefang went directly back to Beiwudian.

The Lunar New Year is just over a month away, and final exams are getting closer and closer.

The schoolwork suddenly became more demanding, and the team's activities decreased significantly.

Yan Jiefang appropriately accelerated his self-study of the second-year curriculum, aiming to finish all the subjects before the final exams.

. . .

In the courtyard, as time went by, He Daqing's wife in the middle courtyard also began to show her pregnancy.

He tried every means to get meat to cook for her and nourish her body.

He Daqing had exhausted all his strength for this wife and child.

Due to the scarcity of ingredients, or for some other reason, not only Sha Zhu, but even He Yushui didn't get to eat a single bite.

He Daqing seemed to be possessed, completely disregarding He Yushui's thoughts.

The aroma of meat wafting from the yard from time to time aroused the envy of many animals.

As for the Jia family diagonally across the street, they were extremely envious.

The two adults, Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu, could tolerate it, but Bang Geng didn't care about such things.

Whenever the He family eats meat, he will sit on the ground and make a scene.

No matter how Qin Huairu fought, it was useless.

Of course, she was just putting on a show by hitting her son, making a huge commotion that could be heard throughout the entire courtyard and even the front and back yards.

In reality, the pheasant didn't have a single scratch.

They were just trying to gain sympathy and see if the He family could spare some meat for their family.

But who is He Daqing?

He doesn't even care about his own daughter, He Yushui, let alone the Jia family.

This trick is purely for show, to impress the blind.

Moreover, since He's wife stays at home every day, Jia's thieving skills are not put to use.

This incident caused the unborn child of Jia Zhangshi and Banggeng, who cursed the He family's daughter-in-law every day, to die in the womb.

Besides the Jia family, the deaf old lady in the backyard was also a glutton.

Every time the He family cooked meat, the deaf old woman would sit at home or at the door and curse.

This year is the year of the curse for traditional courtyard houses.

That day, Jia Zhangshi could no longer stand the bland and watery meals, so she went to the front yard to talk to Yan Bugui, the only remaining steward, about getting the whole yard to donate money to the Jia family.

Yan Bugui was a shrewd strategist who wouldn't get up early for nothing, so how could he possibly agree to something that offered him no benefit whatsoever?

And once this meeting is held, shouldn't he, as the person in charge, take the lead in donating money?

Based on past examples, donating too little is not acceptable.

You should at least donate ten yuan like Yi Zhonghai did, right?

He is still unaware of the matter of Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhangshi splitting the profits.

Besides, he never contributed a single penny to any previous donations, so why is he now expected to give the majority of the money to the Jia family?

Yan Bugui: Do you think I'm a fraud?

Therefore, he refused on the spot.

Helpless, Jia Zhangshi could only explain the tricks of the abacus to the abacus expert.

Yan Bugui was stunned on the spot: Holy crap! Is this even possible? No wonder Yi Zhonghai is so keen on holding donation rallies!

Upon hearing Jia Zhangshi's words, Yan Bugui immediately began to consider how to launch this fundraising conference.

If he comes here once a month, how much extra income can he earn?

He felt that the door to wealth had been opened to him.

When Jia Zhangshi saw that Yan Bugui was ignoring her again, she felt that this guy might be planning to abandon the Jia family and go it alone.

She panicked and immediately roared:

"Old Yan, this idea was mine, and the Jia family should take the lion's share of the donations!"

Yan Bugui quickly looked around and, finding that no one had noticed, pulled Jia Zhangshi into the house and closed the door.

This scene was witnessed by Liu Yuyan, the wife of Shazhu, who had just stepped outside after hearing the noise.

She immediately recalled the time on her wedding night when Jia Zhangshi called the police.

So, she had an idea.

He locked the gatehouse and then quickly left the courtyard.

Yan Bugui is an old lamp, it certainly can't last long, we must speed things up.

Otherwise, by the time she gets back, they'll have already finished!

Wouldn't she have made a wasted trip?

Inside the house, Yan Bugui and Jia Zhangshi were unaware that a major incident was about to occur outside. They were still arguing about the division of profits, neither willing to give an inch.

The nearest police station to Yu'er Hutong is Jiaodaokou Police Station, located at No. 6 Beibingmasi Hutong.

It's about 600 meters away.

Liu Yuyan rushed into the police station, her brow beaded with sweat.

Report directly to the officer on duty that you saw someone engaging in inappropriate relations in the compound!