Courtyard House: From Bloodsucking Jia Zhangshi to Industrial Giant

Chapter 24 Congratulations on Moving!

Xu Damao said sarcastically, "Dafei, you don't know, do you? Jiecheng never attends our courtyard's younger generation gatherings. The fact that he came today is quite a show of respect. By the way, Jiecheng, what did you bring for Dafei?"

Yan Jiecheng usually doesn't participate in gatherings, but he came today because he heard Zhang Chengfei tell Bang Geng to buy pig's head meat to go with the drinks.

Hoping to get a bargain and have some meat, he stole a few large pickled radishes from his house and came over. He intended to take advantage of the situation and, while Liu Guangqi and Shazhu were giving him things, he also gave Zhang Chengfei the radishes he had wrapped in snack paper.

Unexpectedly, Xu Damao's words drew everyone's attention to him.

Seeing that he was hesitant to take out the gift, Sha Zhu grinned mischievously and snatched the paper package from his hand: "Let me see what kind of snacks I brought for Da Fei."

Upon opening the paper package, several dark radish strips appeared before their eyes.

Sha Zhu immediately objected: "Yan Jiecheng, you're really something! Just as stingy as your dad, you use this thing to congratulate Dafei on his housewarming?"

Xu Damao laughed too: "Everyone says that Third Uncle is so salty that even a dung cart would taste it when it passed by. But I interpret that as being more powerful than him. This is the younger generation surpassing the older, completely shoving Third Uncle to the ground!"

Although Liu Guangqi didn't say anything, he placed the gift on the table and opened it: "Brother Dafei, I didn't know what to give you. This is a bed sheet that my grandma wove herself. My mom pieced it together, and it's just enough for one kang (heated brick bed)."

A single sheet on a heated brick bed costs as much as He Yuzhu's tin kettle.

Xu Damao gave a thumbs up: "Guangqi is still the most generous!"

Sha Zhu also said, "Look, look, look! This is what the new generation of young people in Beijing should be like—magnanimous and open-minded!"

Yan Jiecheng stood awkwardly to the side, scratching his toes on the ground and muttering, "I want to too... but my dad won't give it to me... I'll make it up to Brother Dafei when I get my salary after I start work tomorrow."

Xu Damao wouldn't let him off the hook: "We call him Dafei, and you call him Brother Dafei too. Haven't you ever thought that your father still has to call him Third Uncle?"

"Alright, alright, Da Mao, don't make things difficult for Jie Cheng. His life in the courtyard isn't easy either..." The host, Zhang Chengfei, stepped in to smooth things over.

Once everyone was seated, Yan Jiecheng thanked Zhang Chengfei for helping him out of the predicament and praised, "Brother Dafei truly lives up to his reputation as a man of great taste; he's extraordinary."

Sha Zhu grinned mischievously: "It's definitely high-class, I saw it with my own eyes."

Liu Guangqi asked curiously, "You can even watch this? Where did you see it?"

Yan Jiecheng was also confused, but Xu Damao laughed: "Where else can we look? The outhouse!"

The other two then came to their senses and burst into laughter.

A few minutes later, Banggeng knocked on the door and brought over a bunch of braised dishes: pig's head meat, pig intestines, pig ears, and pig large intestines. Plus a few braised donkey meats in salt water.

Zhang Chengfei divided it into two piles. He left the larger pile on the table for the group to enjoy with their drinks. He rewrapped the smaller pile and handed it to Banggeng, saying, "Take this back; you guys can improve your meals too."

Banggeng's eyes sparkled, and he bowed three times, saying, "Thank you, Great-Grandpa." After that, he ran off.

Zhang Chengfei exclaimed, "This kid runs like a rabbit. No wonder he's a master thief."

Sha Zhu chuckled: "I told you Bang Geng was a good kid. Look how polite he is."

Xu Damao sneered: "Silly Zhu, the Jia family is having their food served early today. You can't be a good guy in front of Qin Huairu anymore."

Sha Zhu glanced at Zhang Chengfei and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? I only helped the Jia family out of pity. Now that Da Fei is here, I don't need to worry about them anymore."

Yan Jiecheng seized the opportunity to retaliate: "That sounds nice, what do you mean by not having to worry? It was Qin Huairu who said that she would keep her distance from you in the future and that you should not get too close to her anymore."

He immediately told everyone everything that Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu had said by the pool that morning.

Sha Zhu looked unpleasant. Xu Damao was about to say something sarcastic to him, but then remembered that Zhang Chengfei and Qin Huairu were relatives, so he swallowed his words.

the other side,

Jia Dongxu had been working at his desk since he got home. Qin Huairu brought him a glass of water and asked him what he was writing.

Jia Dongxu looked up and rubbed his eyes: "My third grandfather gave me this task; he asked me to write a report."

"What report should we write?"

"The machine in the factory broke down today, right? My third grandfather was fixing it, and I was his assistant. He asked me to write down what happened..." At this point, Jia Dongxu told Qin Huairu with a little excitement that even his third grandfather hadn't noticed how badly the bearing was worn, and he had to ask him.

"How amazing I am! I spotted the abnormal wear on the bearing at a glance, and I really impressed the leaders!"

Qin Huairu couldn't help but pour cold water on his enthusiasm: "You really believe Third Grandfather can't tell? He's a top student from the Mechanical Engineering Department!"

Jia Dongxu was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

Qin Huairu said with exasperation, "There are over a hundred workers in a workshop, how many of them can actually talk to the workshop director? He's asking you on purpose, so you have a chance to impress the leaders."

Jia Dongxu suddenly realized, and was then deeply moved. "My third grandfather... I'm going to cry my eyes out!!"

"No, I have to stay up all night to finish writing this and hand it in to Third Grandpa first thing tomorrow morning!"

Jia Dongxu didn't consider himself stupid; on the contrary, he thought he was quite smart and quick to learn. He carefully memorized everything his master, Yi Zhonghai, taught him.

But for some reason, despite his hard work, his skills didn't improve quickly. Take last year's performance evaluation, for example. Guo Da Piezi, who joined the factory a year later, was rated as a level two worker, but he was only rated as a level one worker.

Jia Dongxu didn't think it was his master's fault for not teaching him properly; he only felt that he hadn't worked hard enough. Now, with his third grandfather's guidance and his master Yi Zhonghai's help, he felt that he had a good chance of being selected as a second-level worker next year!

Thinking of this, he told Qin Huairu not to call him for dinner later, as he had to work overtime.

Qin Huairu blinked her almond-shaped eyes: "Really not going to eat? But Third Grandfather brought over some pig's head and pig intestines today."

Wow! Pig's head meat? Pig's large intestine?

Jia Dongxu said anxiously, "Well, let's eat first. We'll have the energy to write our work notes after we eat."

He quickly walked to the dining table, only to find that his mother, son, and daughter were not there.

"Where are the others?"

Qin Huairu pouted: "Mom put meat and vegetables in the bowl and took Xiaodang and Banggeng to eat at the front door."

Jia Dongxu: "There are people coming and going at the main gate, what are you doing sitting there?"

Qin Huairu said quietly, "What Mom wants is for people to come and go..."

Ah, this... Jia Dongxu was speechless.

As Qin Huairu began serving rice, he casually grabbed a small bowl and put pieces of pork head meat into it.

Qin Huairu was taken aback: "You're going to eat at the main entrance too?"

"Why would I sit at the main gate? Aren't you ashamed?" Jia Dongxu rolled his eyes at her. "I'm going to deliver some meat to my master."

"Delivering it to an old man?" Qin Huairu's eyes suddenly turned a little strange.