Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Don't touch my parents!

Yi Zhonghai said with a face full of resentment.

"Master, did you say something unpleasant to He Daqing?"

He seems like a mild-mannered and easy-going person on a normal day.

Don't ask random questions here.

Tomorrow, just go to his house and take a look. When you come back, tell me everything you saw.

Ok.

Li Guihua had no choice but to agree – after all, she had married Yi Zhonghai, a man of his word.

He has always been the one who makes the decisions on everything, big or small, at home.

Moreover, she had been married into the Yi family for so many years without any sign of pregnancy, so she couldn't really stand up for herself in this family.

On the other side, as soon as Jia Laonian stepped into the house, Jia Zhangshi immediately came forward and asked in a low voice:

What kind of good stuff is He Daqing up to tonight, going out so mysteriously?

How would I know!

Jia Laonian replied irritably.

Why didn't you just casually ask him on the street?

Madam Jia immediately glared at him with displeasure.

If I were to stumble upon something good, would I be able to tell you immediately?

Old Jia retorted impatiently to his wife.

That's definitely not possible.

Jia Zhangshi's eyes darted around, and she knew exactly what was going on—if there was anything good, she would definitely keep it to herself and enjoy it herself, how could she possibly tell outsiders?

Alright, alright. If they have the ability to get their hands on something, that's their skill. We don't need to be envious or jealous.

Jia Laonian waved his hand, not wanting to continue the topic.

You might as well just say it outright—you yourself are a useless good-for-nothing, and this family has been supported by me alone from beginning to end!

Madam Jia rolled her eyes, her face filled with contempt and disgust for her husband.

Don't you dare cause any trouble outside!

The He family and the old lady in the backyard are related by blood. The house we live in now is rented from the old lady!

Jia Laonian hurriedly lowered his voice to remind him.

What kind of deep friendship could there be?

They just moved into this courtyard a few years earlier than us. The old lady often goes to their house for a few meals.

Jia Zhangshi curled her lip indifferently.

Actually, she wasn't afraid of the old lady; it was purely because of the reason Jia Laonian mentioned—these days, finding such a cheap, spacious, and bright house is harder than climbing to heaven.

If her family had enough money, she would have shamelessly asked the old lady long ago whether or not to sell the house.

As for the He family, He Daqing leaves early and returns late every day, and Chen Shuxiang is still in confinement after childbirth and can't even get out of bed. What can they do to their family?

At most, he'd just stand at the door and curse a few times to vent his anger.

And then there's He Yuzhu, that kid who's only half a child. She just doesn't believe that she and her son can't handle a little brat.

She had already secretly planned that she must find a suitable excuse to go to the He family tomorrow and squeeze something good out of He Daqing.

She felt uneasy and uncomfortable because she hadn't gained any advantage in the past two days.

The He family eats and drinks well every day, and she is so envious that she wants to rush over and take all the food from the He family's pot back to her own home.

After returning to the side room, He Yuzhu first added a honeycomb briquette to the coal stove to make the fire burn brighter.

He picked up the kettle and sat on the stove to boil water—he planned to soak his feet properly, as he hadn't had a comfortable foot bath in several days.

After a comfortable foot bath, he lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, and began to ponder the plot of the original story.

But the more he thought about it, the more something seemed off: according to what his mother had said before she died, the old lady in the backyard was a legitimate relative of theirs.

Not only did they marry their niece into the Zhongyuan family as the principal wife, but they also recognized him as their own grandson. It's obvious that they treat He Daqing like a son-in-law who has moved into their family.

As a result, once her daughter passed away, her son-in-law wanted to "help others get involved," and the old lady, in her anger, pushed him further, which is somewhat understandable.

But the details here are like a tangled mess that can't be untangled: the old lady has never left the house for so many years, how could she know about these complicated things outside?

Could it be that someone tipped her off before Sha Zhu did?

And what about Yi Zhonghai and his wife, who come to take care of the old lady every day for no apparent reason? What are they after?

Can't He Daqing make his own choice?

Is it so difficult to find a wife for He Daqing who won't be a burden?

It doesn't seem like a difficult task, so why was he, the one with no descendants, chosen?

Even Xu Wangcai in the backyard is much better than him—at most, he only gets what he puts in.

But when it comes to myself, even if I rack my brains, I really can't figure out the reason.

In the end, he could only make wild guesses that this matter might be related to his mother who died young.

The original novel never mentions how He Daqing's wife died or in what year; all the information is completely blank.

Let's talk about Yi Zhonghai. He is indeed quite cunning and scheming, but now is not the time for him to fully reveal his abilities.

Only when the world is completely at peace can we truly see his shrewdness and ability.

These days, only a few families live in this compound, but if you think about it carefully, none of them are easy to mess with or offend.

But as soon as he arrived, he happened to witness Chen Shuxiang's life-or-death ordeal, and he barely managed to survive.

In the days to come, who knows how many more difficulties and obstacles we will encounter.

It seems that I must be careful and cautious in everything I do from now on, and I must not make a mistake or suffer a major setback.

As for what kind of long-term life planning?

Don't joke around. He's only ten years old now, and he has a long life ahead of him. There's no time to talk about any serious plans.

Let's talk about these things when we're a few years older.

He thought and thought, until his head started to ache, but he still couldn't fall asleep at all.

He gritted his teeth and took out the items he had hurriedly brought in last night from his spatial storage.

The situation was urgent, and I was so focused on putting everything away that I didn't have time to examine it carefully.

There were ten corpses in total, and their true identities could not be discerned from their clothing alone.

He simply took action and stripped the corpse of its clothes, leaving it with only a pair of pants.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that five of them were Japanese.

He casually searched the body for its contents: he found ten pistols and ten spare magazines.

There were also more than two hundred loose bullets.

Forget about the Mauser C96, we couldn't even find a decent Nambu pistol.

There were also ten watches and pocket watches, almost one for each person, which made He Yuzhu feel uneasy.

These people are definitely not ordinary; they are certainly not the usual detectives or traitors on the street.

In addition, there were three small yellow croakers, totaling one hundred and fifty-seven silver dollars.

But there wasn't a single cherry blossom coin or military stamp.

It seems these people knew perfectly well that those bills were worthless, so they didn't carry them with them at all.

The items he moved from those two courtyards were of a more diverse variety.

When I entered the courtyard, I quickly glanced around and noticed that the furniture and furnishings inside were not something an ordinary family could afford; each piece was carved with exquisite and intricate patterns.

He casually picked up a chair and felt its heavy weight.

Although he didn't know much about wood, he knew from its weight that it was definitely not made of ordinary wood.

So he decided to go all the way and emptied the two courtyards of all their belongings.

He left behind nothing: cotton quilts and mattresses, rice and flour containers, jars of sealed fine wine, prepared cooked food, three bicycles, and even miscellaneous items like pots and pans.

He didn't intend to use it all himself; since everything had already been moved out, there was no point in keeping the rest.

If the time is right in the future, I will give it to the person who truly needs it.

These days, who cares if something has been used? Many people would want to get such an item, but they might not be able to.

He spent a long time tidying up in the space. When he came out of consciousness, he raised his hand to look at his watch and found that it was already 10 p.m.

He put away his watch, lay down on his back on the bed, covered his head, and went to sleep.

Tomorrow morning, my father will definitely leave early again, and I'll have to come and wake him up.

The next morning, the first thing He Yuzhu did upon opening his eyes was to check the system panel.

Today's check-in was completed smoothly without any delay.

He couldn't help but wonder if the system sometimes had a "stupid" quality.

[Check-in successful: Received one quilt for children aged 0-3, two sets of cotton clothes for children aged 0-1, and one swaddle blanket for children aged 0-1 (the amount of cotton and cotton cloth consumed in the space has been deducted, and disinfection has been completed; the host can use them with confidence)]

He Yuzhu couldn't help but curse under his breath – why can't you give me something that can be used right now?

He is now eagerly hoping that the system will refresh and generate new tasks soon.

Strangely enough, He Daqing didn't come to wake him up today as usual.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes, got dressed, washed up, and headed straight for the main room.

As soon as I stepped into the room, a faint milky fragrance wafted towards me.

The mother was holding her newborn sister, gently rocking and comforting her.

The little girl had just opened her eyes, her big, dark eyes wide open, curiously surveying everything unfamiliar around her without blinking.

"Zhu'er, you're awake? Your father said you were tired yesterday, so he didn't dare wake you up early. There's some warm breakfast for you in the kitchen, go and eat it while it's hot."

"Okay, Mom." He Yuzhu glanced around the room without making a sound, and seeing no sign of the baby bottle or formula can, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

After quickly finishing his breakfast, he returned to the inner room and said to Chen Shuxiang, "Mother, I need to go out today, but I will definitely be back before noon."

"What are you going out to do?" Chen Shuxiang asked hurriedly.

"I was thinking that my sister doesn't even have a decent cotton-padded coat, so I have to go out and buy her one," He Yuzhu explained.

"A cotton-padded coat? The weather is still warm enough; a swaddle blanket is sufficient. Once your father brings back some fabric, I'll take some cotton from the quilts at home and make her one myself, won't I?"