"Hey, isn't this Comrade Liu Haizhong? I thought some high-ranking leader was here to inspect our courtyard. Judging from his tone, he must be at least a department head or above."

Just as Liu Haizhong was boasting to Yi Zhonghai, Sha Zhu ran out and began to mock him.

"Silly Zhu, who are you talking to with such disrespect? Now you need to tell Committee Member Liu, do you know that?" Liu Haizhong didn't have many options when dealing with Silly Zhu.

"What kind of lousy committee member are you? With your level of education, you can barely read a few words. How dare you be a committee member?" Sha Zhu said disdainfully.

“Shazhu, there’s something wrong with your attitude. And let me ask you, what were you listening to at home just now? Was it capitalist stuff?” Liu Haizhong asked.

"That's called a phonograph, you know? What a bumpkin." Sha Zhu scoffed.

"What phonograph? Isn't that something capitalists use? Sha Zhu, let me tell you, we're all from the same compound, you can't keep this thing. I'll let you off the hook today because of Uncle Yi."

"Throw it away right now, or if I see it again, I'll contact your factory's disciplinary team."

At this point, Liu Haizhong didn't have much of a conflict with Sha Zhu, and he remembered that Xu Damao had told him to unite with everyone in the courtyard, so he didn't intend to punish Sha Zhu. He just wanted to show off his leadership.

Unexpectedly, Sha Zhu didn't give them any face at all and started arguing with Liu Haizhong. The argument grew louder and louder, and almost everyone in the middle courtyard came out to watch the commotion, with people also coming from the front and back courtyards.

"Fine, you're biting the hand that feeds you! You silly Zhu, you'll regret this later." Liu Haizhong finished speaking and stormed home. He had originally planned to show off in the front yard, but now he had no desire to.

“Zhu Zi, I think what Lao Liu said makes some sense. It’s not appropriate for you to listen to this right now,” Yi Zhonghai advised, seeing that Liu Haizhong had left in anger and worried that he would retaliate against Sha Zhu.

"Uncle, don't listen to Liu Haizhong's nonsense. It doesn't matter what kind of thing it is; it depends on who uses it. You know, cars were originally for capitalists, but now our leaders at all levels use them too."

"And those radios and telephones, aren't those things capitalists use? We're using them all now, aren't we?" Sha Zhu retorted stubbornly.

“Silly Zhu, instead of wasting your time listening to this nonsense, you should go out and prepare more banquets. Look at my Banggeng, he hasn’t grown in so long,” Jia Zhangshi said from the side.

"You should take a break. You're still preparing a feast? Are you trying to send me off? In this situation, who would dare to prepare a feast?"

Sha Zhu glanced at Jia Zhangshi and felt inexplicably irritated.

Since returning to the courtyard house, Jia Zhangshi's body has been changing like a balloon, and her weight is now almost the same as when she left. Moreover, Jia Zhangshi is no longer causing trouble for others; she is only keeping an eye on Sha Zhu.

Sha Zhu misses the days before Jia Zhangshi came back so much.

“I don’t care. If you don’t go and earn money, how will my family live in the future? Banggeng is about to grow up. He will get married and have children. If you don’t go and earn more money to prepare for them, what will happen to him?” Jia Zhangshi persisted.

Sha Zhu finally realized that marrying Qin Huairu was a huge mistake. He was now going to raise the Jia family's children for the rest of his life and also raise their grandchildren.

But this old woman was watching him every day, making it difficult for him to carry out any of his little schemes.

·····

That night, the brothers Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu sneaked out of their house and headed straight for the Deshengmen black market. But when they arrived near the black market, it was completely silent; they didn't see a single person.

"Brother, isn't this strange? We haven't seen a single person on the road."

"Something's not right. The black market doesn't seem to be open. Where are we supposed to find someone?"

The two continued deeper into the black market, and the same thing happened.

Suddenly, two blinding lights shone over, making them unable to see anything.

"What are you doing? Squat down!" someone said.

"Brother, we were just passing by and got lost because we didn't bring a flashlight at night," Liu Guangtian said.

"Bullshit, you're wearing a hood while you're just passing by?"

Liu Guangfu, who was following behind, was almost scared to death. He thought that the authorities were lying in wait for them.

After recognizing the voices as those of two young children, the people on the other end relaxed and turned off their flashlights. It was then that Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu noticed that the people on the other end were also wearing hoods.

"Brother, is this the black market?" Liu Guangfu asked naively.

Everyone looked at him like he was an idiot.

What are you doing here?

After several childish attempts to probe, the two finally confirmed that the two were indeed antique buyers, and then took out the two paintings and calligraphy pieces they had been carrying.

“These aren’t good enough. They’re from the Qing Dynasty, not by a famous artist, so they’re not worth much. I’ll give you one yuan for both of them together. If it’s okay, great; if not, you can take them back,” one of them said.

Liu Guangtian and his companions had no idea what dynasty or famous figure this was. It was only when they heard that this thing was related to a dynasty that Liu Guangtian realized they hadn't paid attention to these details.

"Brother, we have other things, would you buy them?"

"Yes, we accept them, but we only accept them once a week, right here. Also, bring some nice things next time you come."

After a brief exchange, the other party paid 1 yuan and chased the Liu brothers away.

“Brother, we’ve lost out this time. We traveled such a long way and only earned one yuan,” Liu Guangfu said, completely forgetting that this one yuan was the most extra pocket money they had ever received.

"This time we're just testing the waters. If we have connections here, next time we'll bring more things, including valuable items. Also, next time we should pay more attention to what people mention, noting which items are old."

For them, antiques are definitely becoming more and more valuable.

“There’s plenty of stuff in the warehouse. I plan to grab a few things each time when there are fewer people, and I can accumulate quite a bit in a week. By the way, brother, how should we divide the money? Should it be based on who takes it, or should we put it all together and divide it proportionally?” When it came to dividing the money, Liu Guangfu became shrewd.

"Of course we'll split the money together. If it weren't for me, would you have gotten into the team? Would they have taken you seriously? Also, we need someone to do this job and someone to keep watch outside. We have to work well together. How can one person do it all?"

"I've thought about it, and I can't let you suffer a loss, so let's split it 70/30," Liu Guangtian said.

"Seven Three, thank you, brother. Since you're taking care of me and giving me a bigger share, then I'll go in and steal those things from now on," Liu Guangfu said excitedly.

"You're dreaming! I get 70% and you get 30%. I found the connections and brought the people here. You're lucky if you get 30%," Liu Guangtian cursed.

"How about we split it 50/50? That would be fairer." When it comes to money, even if they are brothers, Liu Guangfu has no intention of backing down.

After much haggling, the two finally settled on a 60/40 split, with Guangtian getting 60% and Guangfu 40%, which was a happy ending for everyone.