As soon as I stepped out of the house, I saw Xu Damao, covered in dust, carrying a bag as he entered the courtyard gate.

Xu Damao also saw Li Chu and greeted him, "Hey, Brother Chu, you've finished settling in and moved back in?"

"That's about it. Just go back to the dorm and get your bedding later." Li Chu then asked, "Da Mao, what's wrong with you?"

"Hey, I've gone to the countryside to show movies. I've been running around for half a month and I'm almost exhausted. I'll talk to you later, Brother Chu. I'm going back to pack up and go to the public bathhouse for a bath."

"Okay, go ahead and do it."

"Brother Chu, I'll cook a couple of dishes when I get off work tomorrow night," he said, lifting the bag he was carrying. "I got some good stuff from my trip to the countryside. Let's have a drink together at my place tomorrow night."

“Okay, I have some wine here, I’ll take it with me.”

"Alright, Brother Chu, see you tomorrow." After saying that, Xu Damao headed towards his house in the backyard.

Li Chu watched Xu Damao's retreating figure, shook his head with a smile, and then left.

I grabbed a quick bite outside and then went back to my dorm to pack my things.

All I had was a roll of bedding, my own change of clothes, a thermos, a washbasin, and so on. I tossed all those odds and ends into my storage space, wrapped the bedding in a sheet, slung it over my shoulder, looked around the room I'd lived in for a month, and went home.

After getting home, I first went to the kitchen to light the stove and boil water. Then I had to go buy coal, both loose coal and honeycomb briquettes.

Nowadays, honeycomb briquettes aren't very popular; they don't burn as well as loose coal. Li Chu doesn't know if the tools for making honeycomb briquettes by hand still exist. He remembers his family had one in his previous life. When he was little, his father would often go to the coal mine to buy coal dust, mixing 20 jin (10 catties) of soil into every 100 jin (50 catties) of dust. Then their small yard would be filled with the honeycomb briquettes his father had pressed out, which could only be put away after drying.

Every time his father made honeycomb briquettes, Li Chu would be bent over playing, getting his whole body covered in black soot, which would then lead to a double whammy of beatings, and the same thing would happen the next time they pressed the briquettes.

Upon arriving at the study, I took out some of the books I had collected in the space and placed them on the bookshelf, categorizing them neatly. As for the ancient books and rare editions left by my master, it would be better to keep them in the space for safekeeping.

After the water boiled and I finished washing up, I went upstairs.

Every morning without fail, I go for a run, then go back home, get ready, and head to work, eating breakfast on the way.

When I was about to leave after breakfast today, I thought about it and bought two more big steamed buns, with meat filling.

The steamed buns were bought for Ding Qiunan. That girl is extremely frugal. She only earns 20 yuan a month, and she doesn't dare to spend money on food or clothes for even a day.

Li Chu had seen her several times that she ate cornbread that she had bought from the canteen the night before for breakfast. The cornbread would get dry and hard after it cooled down, so she would dip it in hot water to eat.

I've told her off several times, and each time she just smiles.

Upon entering the office, Ding Qiunan was already sitting there reading a book. When she saw Li Chu come in, she greeted him with a smile.

Li Chu walked over, placed the steamed buns in front of her, and said, "I bought too many for breakfast this morning and can't finish them. Can you eat them for me?"

Ding Qiunan looked at the steamed buns, then looked up at Li Chu and said, "Dr. Li, thank you. I've already had breakfast."

"Hey, I know how much you eat. Look how thin you are, you must not be full. It's meat filling, hurry up and eat, it'll be a waste if you don't."

When Xiao Ding heard him say that, she rolled her eyes inwardly, thinking, "So what if I can eat? I didn't eat your food. Humph, this guy really doesn't know how to talk." Then she looked down, but her vision was still obstructed; she hadn't lost weight.

She glanced at the steamed bun in front of her, pursed her lips, and finally couldn't resist the temptation. She reached out and took it, saying, "Alright, since you insist, I'll eat it for you." Then she started eating the bun.

At first, she ate in small bites, but then she started taking big bites, and in no time, she had finished two buns. After finishing, she secretly glanced at Li Chu and, finding that he wasn't paying attention to her, she felt relieved. She licked her lips; the meat-filled buns smelled so good!

Li Chu noticed Xiao Ding's actions, but he deliberately avoided looking, afraid that the girl would be embarrassed.

The first feeding attempt was successful.

Several more patients arrived one after another. Now, Li Chu always lets Ding Qiunan make the diagnosis first, and then he reviews it. It's clear that Ding Qiunan has been studying diligently for the past month and has made rapid progress.

As soon as I got home from get off work in the afternoon, Xu Damao came over: "Wow, Brother Chu, you've cleaned this house up nicely." Xu Damao was surprised as soon as he came in.

"How about it? I designed it myself. Not bad, right?" Li Chu said proudly.

"It's more than just okay," Xu Damao said, looking around the house. "Hey, there's a second floor too. Is that where we sleep?"

"Yes, there are two rooms on the second floor, so we can have more space after we get married and have children."

“Brother Chu, our houses are about the same size. Do you think I can tidy up my house like you do?” Xu Damao’s house is in the backyard, a little smaller than Li Chu’s, and also has two rooms. As soon as he heard that there would be enough room for children after marriage, he was immediately tempted.

"Sure, why not? What, you want to pretend like that too?"

Xu Damao was about to say something when he suddenly slapped his forehead: "I came to call you to my place for a drink, how did we end up talking about houses? There's meat stewing on the stove." After saying that, he walked out, saying as he went, "Brother Chu, hurry up and come over, it'll be ready soon. Also, call Brother Jia from the Central Courtyard, I've already told him. I have to rush back to check the pot." He hurriedly ran to his house.

"This guy is so rough around the edges." Li Chu thought for a moment, then took out a bottle of Fenjiu from his spatial storage. Feeling that one bottle might not be enough, he also took out a bottle of Erguotou.

Holding two bottles of wine in his arms, he slowly walked towards the backyard.

Upon arriving at the Intermediate People's Court, they called out towards Jia Dongxu's house, "Dongxu, Jia Dongxu..."

The curtain at Jia Dongxu's house was lifted, and a woman came out—his mother. "Xiao Chu, why did you call Dongxu?"

“Aunt Jia, didn’t Xu Damao invite me to his room for a drink? I just wanted to invite him to come along.”

“We ran out of soy sauce at home, so he went to the alley entrance to buy some. I’ll ask him to come over when he comes back.”

"Alright, Aunt Jia, I'll head over there now." Li Chu turned and walked towards the backyard.