Courtyard House: I Rely on Time-Space Trade to Build a Nation

Old Xu was quick to gather information. The next day, he had a pretty good grasp of the backgrounds of the main households in the courtyard.

"Yi Zhonghai, a fitter—now the factory is closed, and he's idle at home. He and his wife live alone without children."

"Old Jia, I don't know his real name, everyone in the yard calls him Old Jia. He's also a fitter, in the same workshop as Yi Zhonghai. His wife is Jia Zhangshi, and they have a son, Jia Dongxu, who is eighteen years old and as thin as a bean sprout."

"Liu Haizhong is a blacksmith. His family consists of four people: two sons, one 8 years old and the other 6 years old."

"Old Jia, Liu Haizhong, and Yi Zhonghai are all currently living at home."

"Yan Fugui is a small businessman who is literate, but he is currently unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. He has a family of three, with his eldest son being 9 years old."

"Xu Fugui helped out at the Lou family before, and he knows a few words. He's a quick-witted person, and his wife is the Lou family's nanny. They have a son named Xu Damao, who is 11 years old and very mischievous."

"He Daqing's wife died young, leaving behind two children, a boy who is over 13 years old and a girl who is not yet 4 years old."

Old Xu closed his notebook: "These people don't have any proper jobs right now because of martial law."

Yi Zhonghai occasionally took on side jobs, Lao Jia did odd jobs, Liu Haizhong worked as a blacksmith, Yan Fugui occasionally dealt in things, and Xu Fugui looked for work everywhere.

By the way, He Daqing is alright; he's currently a cook at Fengzeyuan Restaurant.

After listening, Zhao Ping'an understood. He scribbled on a piece of paper and quickly came up with a plan.

On the third day, Lou Bancheng's men towed over a wrecked car and parked it in front of the small warehouse they had rented near Nanluoguxiang.

Several old machine tools, an anvil, and a small stove were also transported with the truck—all of which Zhao Ping'an had asked Lou Bancheng to find.

Old Xu and Shuanzi, along with Zhao Ping'an and his two companions, spent a day completely disassembling the wrecked car according to the repair manual Zhao Ping'an provided. They identified which parts were still usable and which were beyond repair. Fortunately, the engine only had carbon buildup in the cylinders, which could be cleaned and reused.

The next day, Lao Xu and Shuanzi went separately to invite people.

Yi Zhonghai was at home cleaning his set of fitter's tools when he heard there was work to be done, a dollar every three days plus meals. He paused, his file in hand: "What kind of work?"

"Car parts." Shuanzi answered as Zhao Ping'an had instructed. "Mr. An's car has some worn-out parts that need to be replaced."

Yi Zhonghai pondered for a moment: "Let's go take a look."

The Jia family had it even easier. Upon hearing that it was one silver dollar every three days, Jia Zhangshi pushed him towards the door, urging, "Hurry, hurry!"

The others, having also heard about the good work, came immediately.

---

In the small warehouse, Zhao Ping'an pointed to the disassembled car and began to speak.

"This car is a bit old, so there are a lot of parts that need to be replaced, but they can't be bought right now. So I've decided to find a few of you fitters and forgemen to make some replacement parts. I also have a repair manual and a few drawings that I need to copy 100 times."

After assigning tasks, Zhao Ping'an said, "Master Liu, you'll be in charge of forging. I'll give you the blueprints for the spring plates, connecting rods, and pins."

Liu Haizhong took the blueprints, his eyes lighting up: "These drawings are so clear! They're much better than the Japanese blueprints in the factory!"

"Master Yi, you and Master Jia will do the machining. Shafts, sleeves, gears, screws and nuts—make whatever's missing." Zhao Ping'an handed Yi Zhonghai a stack of blueprints. "Here are the blueprints."

Yi Zhonghai carefully examined the blueprints and touched the tools Zhao Ping'an handed him, secretly amazed—the precision of these tools was in no way inferior to that used in his factory.

"Mr. Yan, Mr. Xu, could you please help me copy these documents?" Zhao Ping'an brought out a stack of blueprints and several manuals.

After giving a few brief instructions, Zhao Ping'an ignored the others, leaving Shuanzi behind, and departed.

The next day, Zhao Ping'an saw the system notification that he had gained 5 experience points and couldn't help but feel happy. It seemed that Shuanzi was right after all. However, since most of the characters in the story were women and children, it seemed that if he wanted to speed up his experience gain, he would have to focus on eating well.

That evening, after discussing it with Lao Xu, Zhao Ping'an decided that Lao Xu would arrange for He Daqing to come back and cook, and they started preparing a large pot of food in the courtyard.

The dishes are simple, mostly cabbage, radish, or potatoes, with two vegetarian dishes a day, but there's plenty of cornbread.

That evening, Zhao Pingan checked the system panel in his study.

Total number of valid satisfaction survey participants: 19

Experience gain rate: 19 points/day

Current experience points: 31/1000

You get 19 experience points a day, and it will take another 51 days to level up.

Two days later, the news that Lao Xu brought back put Zhao Ping'an at ease.

"Deputy Brigade Commander Zhao and the Sixth Brigade have arrived at the designated area between Beijing and Tianjin, ready to provide support at any time." Old Xu lowered his voice. "As for Regiment Commander Zhao Baoguo, Dazhu has made the necessary arrangements. He has already left the city and met with the brigade commander. More than thirty of his guards have been replaced with our own men, and the specific plan for the uprising is being drafted."

Zhao Ping'an nodded, not asking for further details. Zhao Dongliang and Zhao Baoguo were both veterans; they were more experienced in this kind of thing than he was.

All you need to know is that there is a force outside the city that can be mobilized at any time in critical moments, and a force inside the city that can open the city gates.

After all, Zhao Ping'an didn't want to use his survival skills unless absolutely necessary. A Type 99A tank was absolutely superior in terms of defense, and it would be more than enough to ensure his safe journey from Nanluoguxiang to Zhao Baoguo's location. However, the system cost 1000 million, and as a big guns enthusiast, Zhao Ping'an still preferred 20 122mm howitzers.

A week later, the renovation of the east courtyard was completed.

Old Xu and Shuanzi stood in the courtyard, looking at the renovated house, speechless for a moment. The exterior still looked like the old-fashioned style with blue bricks and gray tiles, but the interior was completely different.

Not to mention the dignified and proper decoration, it also has a toilet, bathroom, heating and boiler.

But the real key was underground. A flap behind the bedroom wardrobe was lifted, revealing a wooden ladder leading to a twenty-square-meter basement. It had brick walls on all four sides, a wooden beam on top, and inside were several boxes of medicine and food, as well as the small diesel generator. Zhao Ping'an pulled the light cord, and the bulb turned on.

"Once the generator is turned on, the whole courtyard will have electricity." He pointed to a wooden cabinet by the wall, opened the cabinet door, pressed a button on the back, and the brick wall slid open to reveal a small hole. "It can be used to hide people if necessary."

Old Xu circled around for a while, then finally asked, "What about Lou Bancheng...?"

"He also gave one away," Zhao Pingan said. "He understands. He knows what to do."

Three days later, the east courtyard was warmly decorated.

Lou Bancheng not only came himself, but also brought two guests. One was Chief Wang of the police station, a short, stout man who spoke with a Tianjin accent;

The other was Deputy Division Commander Zheng of the city's garrison, dressed in a crisp military uniform, with an air of military bearing between his brows.

Lou Bancheng's move perfectly illustrates the principle of "the darkest place is under the lamp."

"Mr. An, Mr. Xu, this is Director Wang, in charge of security in the southern part of the city; this is Commander Zheng, guarding the Xizhimen area." Lou Bancheng said with a smile, "They're all friends, please take care of me in the future."

Zhao Ping'an and Lao Xu greeted each other with clasped hands. The group entered the house and took their seats. He Daqing's dishes were already prepared: eight cold dishes and sixteen hot dishes, each one exquisite.

Commander Zheng took a bite of the sea cucumber, his eyes lighting up: "This cook's skills are superb! We should have him go to the division headquarters and cook for us too!"

He Daqing was serving the dishes when he heard this and said happily, "Commander Zheng is too kind! I'll definitely go tomorrow!"

He readily agreed, completely unaware that this matter would later become a "historical issue".