Courtyard House: A Great Musician! Red Songs Resound Worldwide

Otherwise, the Third Uncle wouldn't have been unable to understand the key point...

However, Li Chaoyang didn't need to talk about these things with the people in the courtyard.

He was thinking of closing himself off and living his own quiet life, trying not to have any dealings with the people in the courtyard.

But they've only been living here for two days, and the third uncle is already showering them with attention, which seems suspicious.

Then there's the second uncle, who looked resentful and moved into the courtyard study that was supposed to be given to the middle-level leaders in the factory.

Then it was that bastard Xu Damao again, playing his dirty tricks on him...

If you then think about all those "important" people in this courtyard whom you haven't met yet...

Li Chaoyang immediately sensed that the days ahead were likely to be quite troublesome...

After leaving the house, Li Chaoyang strolled over to the state-run restaurant at the entrance of the alley.

When the waiter saw him come again, he couldn't help but look at him a few more times out of curiosity.

Unaware of this, Li Chaoyang calmly stared at the menu on the blackboard.

The menu for dinner was different from lunch; there were clearly two more meat dishes.

When I came at noon today, they were only serving one meat dish and two vegetable dishes...

Li Chaoyang ordered four dishes: two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, plus half a jin of rice...

I was just about to ask them to pack my food, when I realized I'd forgotten my lunchbox...

Without thinking, Li Chaoyang smiled at the plump woman at the food pick-up point and said...

"Ma'am, I was in such a rush to buy food that I forgot my lunchbox..."

"Could I borrow your tableware for a moment?"

"After I finish eating, I'll wash it and bring it back to you..."

But to everyone's surprise, the plump woman resolutely refused: "No way!"

"We have regulations that pots, pans, and utensils must not be taken out of the store..."

After saying that, she glanced at Li Chaoyang with a strange expression and said in a sarcastic tone.

"Young man, you don't look like someone who's short of dishes or bowls at home."

"You've come twice today, so your home must not be far away. Why don't you just go back and get it?"

"If all else fails, have your family come eat at the restaurant..."

"Uh..." This chubby woman's words were like a machine gun barrage.

This left Li Chaoyang completely stunned...

He was about to argue with the plump woman, but then he looked at the large banner posted on the window...

In the end, I held back...

But Li Chaoyang was too lazy to go back and get his lunchbox, so he could only silently take out a five-jin grain coupon.

"Big sister, how about this, I'll leave my grain coupons here."

"If I don't return it, you can keep this grain coupon. Is that alright with you?"

The plump woman had only glanced casually at the grain coupons in Li Chaoyang's hand, but when she saw that they were light red national grain coupons, her eyes lit up immediately. She quickly wiped her hands on her apron and took them...

He rubbed it a couple of times, then looked up at Li Chaoyang and uttered a single word: "Good!"

The Beijing accent that was just now was suddenly interrupted by a heavy Central Plains accent, which almost made Li Chaoyang laugh.

But then he thought of his own Bincheng dialect, which occasionally carried a hint of local accent, and he had to forcefully swallow it back...

He paid the bill with his meat coupons, grain coupons, and banknotes, then casually found a table to sit at and wait for his food.

There weren't many customers in the restaurant at the moment, and the only waitress had withdrawn her curious gaze, lazily propping her chin up and looking out the window...

Not long after, the plump woman from inside came out carrying a plate.

They even specially brought a clean white cloth to cover it, which surprised Li Chaoyang somewhat...

Don't people usually just put the food down at the food counter and call for someone to come and get it?

Why did this person inside have to go out of their way to bring out the food today...?

But as she got closer, Li Chaoyang seemed to see a burning desire for gossip in her eyes...

Sure enough, the plump woman put the plate on the table and asked with great curiosity.

"Young man, what's going on with you?"

"They come here for meat three times in two days..."

"In your hands, these food coupons and meat coupons are like they're free..."

Li Chaoyang asked, somewhat puzzled, "What's wrong, sister... is there something wrong with my food coupons?"

"Any more questions?" the chubby woman asked dramatically, rolling her eyes.

"This is a big problem!"

But then she lowered her voice and said, "Hey young man, you packed all the cooked food and cold dishes to go yesterday..."

"It was another bowl of minced meat noodles for lunch today... and now it's two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes for dinner..."

"And they even dared to use those national grain coupons to pawn a few broken plates and bowls..."

"I'm really curious about your family... Do you have so much money even with food coupons?"

The plump woman then pulled the ration coupon out of the pocket of her apron...

Li Chaoyang initially thought the older woman had some kind of suspicion... but upon hearing this, he finally understood.

It turns out it was just because I was too high-profile that people became curious...

His heart, which had just been in his throat, relaxed again, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He even rolled his eyes, just like the other man...

"Hey lady, can you please stop panting when you talk?"

"I thought there was something wrong with these food coupons..."

"This is what I traded for all the food I had stored at home before I came to work in the capital..."

"You almost scared me to death when you said there was a problem..."

"I need this to eat before I get my salary..."

But when the plump woman heard that the grain coupons were obtained by exchanging the family's stored grain, she became even more curious.

"Hey... young man, where did you come from?"

"How come there's still food stored at home...?"

Li Chaoyang lifted the white cloth covering the plate and glanced at it, then replied without looking up, "From the Northeast...what's wrong?"

"Oh...so it's the national granary..." the plump woman said, as if she had just realized something.

"No wonder then..."

Chapter Thirty: Oh my god! Where's the braised pork on my table?

Having finally shaken off the overweight woman who was bursting with curiosity and asking all sorts of questions, Li Chaoyang took the food home.

Actually, the story he just told was something he had prepared from the very beginning when he obtained those tickets.

Moreover, he had anticipated encountering the same question from the plump woman earlier.

After all, he had so many coupons, especially grain coupons...

There has to be some explanation...

Fortunately, at that time, Northeast China was the nation's granary.

Every year, many people from all over the country bring their families to the Great Northern Wilderness to reclaim farmland...

The Great Northern Wilderness, the Great Northern Granary—with grain at home, there's no need to panic...

Therefore, it's not surprising that Li Chaoyang, who came from the Northeast, had some grain coupons...

This statement at least silences many ordinary people...

However, I'll have to keep a bit more low-key from now on.

Otherwise, if it attracts the attention of someone with ulterior motives, things could get complicated...

As he walked and pondered, Li Chaoyang returned to his room.

By this time, Jiang Datong had already repaired his creaky, broken bed.

I guess he wasn't there, so he was squatting by the door smoking...

"Looks like they're quite particular..." Li Chaoyang thought to himself, then steadily carried the plate through the archway.

"Master Jiang, I've bought some food..."

"You're just going to grab a bite tonight at my place?"

When Jiang Datong saw Li Chaoyang return, he threw away his cigarette butt and stood up.

Upon hearing this, he looked somewhat surprised: "Section Chief Li... this... how could I possibly accept this!"