Mother Zhao took a sip of tea and groaned, "You said before that the child had a courtyard house?"

"We live in that courtyard house now. It's his house." Lin Minjun nodded.

Suddenly, her mind turned and she understood, "You mean, these people are interested in this house and don't want to pay rent, right?"

Come to think of it, it's quite possible. When we were arguing yesterday, my aunt mentioned that she didn't want to pay rent anymore.

"Minjun, you are still young and may not understand. According to what you said, that is the staff dormitory of the power supply bureau, so the rent should be paid by the power supply bureau. They don't have to pay rent." Mother Zhao shook her head with a smile.

"Why is that? He gets along well with everyone but he won't let go of Erwa." Lin Minjun couldn't figure out the problem the whole night.

"They have a large courtyard house. They must not have been ordinary people before liberation."

Lin Minjun nodded, "His mother is a young lady, and that courtyard was originally her study."

Zhao's mother suddenly raised the corners of her mouth, smiled sarcastically, and kept shaking her head.

Lin Minjun was confused. If it wasn't for rent, then what was it for? There must be a reason.

"Since she is the eldest daughter, she must have a lot of treasures. Those are the truly valuable things. As you said, this child is a hot commodity now, and many people are eyeing her." Mother Zhao said meaningfully.

However, as she was a patient in the advanced stage of cancer, Zhao's mother lost her energy after sitting for a while and kept yawning.

Lin Minjun originally wanted to chat with Zhao's mother for a while, but seeing that she was really sleepy, she quickly stood up and said goodbye, "Auntie, you have a good rest. I'll come to see you later."

"Okay, if you are busy, you don't have to come here specially. You don't have to treat me as a seriously ill patient. Just think of me as going somewhere else to play, okay? I'm very happy to see that you kids are doing well." Mother Zhao said with half-closed eyes.

After helping Zhao's mother onto the bed, covering her with a quilt and closing the door, Lin Minjun quietly walked out of Zhao's house, out of the compound and back to her own home.

While walking on the road, Lin Minjun was thinking about the topic she had just talked about with Zhao's mother.

She remembered what Erwa said last night, that the east room was filled with their family's old things. Since Erwa's mother used to be the eldest daughter of Peking City, she probably had quite a lot of household items. Even if there were no jewelry, the furniture was still good stuff and could be exchanged for money.

I'm afraid that the eldest master's family is eyeing these things? Anyway, they can't take the house away, and the street office won't let them rob Erwa's house. Then there are only old furniture or antique jewelry left over from the past.

This family is really heartless. A ten-year-old child, whose parents are dead and left some relics to the child, and these people are eager to snatch them away.

Thinking of this, Lin Minjun's doubts were resolved.

So this time it was probably not something that happened on a whim. I'm afraid the master and his family had been eyeing the things in the east room for a long time, and took advantage of the lost bacon to make trouble.

Lin Minjun guessed that they did this to ruin Erwa's reputation and then get his things through some means.

This won't do. Since Erwa treats her as an older sister, she can't just watch this happen. She has to let Erwa know about this first so that he can be more vigilant.

Only then can we prepare in advance and win this battle to defend our property!

Well, the next day was Saturday and the school was on holiday, so Lin Minjun rode her tricycle to the vegetable market early in the morning.

Recently, she has been looking for potatoes in the suburbs. The better potatoes nearby have been sold out. If she wants to buy good and cheap ones, she has to go somewhere farther. So Lin Minjun simply found a vegetable seller in the market and made an agreement with him. She would come to pick up the goods every day and settle the bill in cash every day, but the potatoes had to be fresh and without sprouts. The price was a little more expensive than when she went to the suburbs before.

Fortunately, since it is wholesale, it is not that expensive.

However, when Lin Minjun arrived at the stall to get the goods today, she saw something good.

"Boss, are you selling this?"

The stall owner was busy picking potatoes for Lin Minjun and took a glance at them. "This is a dish that is only available in the southwest. It's not cheap."

"I know. How much?"

The stall owner quoted a price that was not cheap, but Lin Minjun thought about it and decided to buy it. She was planning to add new flavors to the stall recently, but she had no ideas, and the pillow was delivered to her while she was dozing off.

I packed the potatoes and went home, and when I got there I found Erwa sitting at the door.

"What are you doing here? It's not time for dinner yet." Lin Minjun got off the tricycle and wiped the sweat off his face.

Erwa got up to help unload the goods. "I'll help you peel potatoes and wash vegetables."

Lin Minjun didn't dare let him take a knife. She gave him a pair of wooden chopsticks and asked him to scrape it bit by bit. The young man worked very efficiently and finished scraping several potatoes in no time.

"I didn't expect you to be so meticulous. Come, help me wash this vegetable. Remove the dirty whiskers and then rinse it thoroughly in water."

When Erwa took the newly bought vegetables and started washing them in water, Lin Minjun took the opportunity to tell him what she had thought of before.

"You should pay attention to the family of the eldest master in the future. I feel like they are eyeing your things, the things in the east wing." Lin Minjun lowered her voice and said, "I'm afraid. They are making trouble this time just to ruin your reputation."

"I knew it a long time ago." Erwa curled his lips.

But he was particularly confident and said, "They can't take it away. Even if I go to school in the future and am not in this yard, they can't take my things."

It sounds like this kid hid the really valuable things?

Since he was so confident, Lin Minjun didn't say anything.

After washing the vegetables, she saw Erwa looking at the new vegetables she bought today with curiosity.

"Do you know what this is?" Lin Minjun asked with a smile.

Erwa shook his head, "What is it?"

Lin Minjun: "This is a kind of vegetable, and it can also be used as a seasoning. It is very popular in my hometown. How about I use this to make some fried potatoes for you to try?"

She did it right away. She heated up the pan and put the potatoes that had just been soaked in water into the pan. Lin Minjun had already done all these things very easily. Soon, a fried potato with a different flavor was ready.

Erwa took a sip and suddenly looked bitter, wanting to spit it out but Lin Minjun covered his mouth with her hands, “Don’t spit it out!”

So the kid chewed and chewed and swallowed it, his face wrinkled and he stuck out his tongue, "It's not tasty, it tastes fishy."

"Hahahaha." Lin Minjun laughed happily, as if she had succeeded in playing a prank. "This is Houttuynia cordata, also known as Houttuynia cordata. It's a flavor from my hometown. I'm planning to add this flavor to my stall tomorrow. What do you think?"

"No wonder it's called Houttuynia cordata, it really smells like fish." Erwa quickly stuck out his tongue and took the bowl of water handed to him by Lin Minjun, his face full of doubt about life.

When he heard that they were going to offer this new flavor, the little boy was shocked. “Does anyone really like this flavor?”

"What do you mean? People who love it love it very much, and people who don't like it, like you, will spit it out after taking a bite. So, that taste was quite stinging in your mouth, right?" Lin Minjun said with a smile.

Erwa had never been out of the North City in his life, and he really didn't believe that anyone would like to eat this kind of flavor. After thinking for a while, he said, "Sister, I will go with you to set up a stall this afternoon."

He wants to see if this can be sold.

The result was just as Erwa had expected. That day the stall only sold one portion with zheergen added. No one was used to the taste.

Fortunately, she didn't buy much, so Lin Minjun planned to save the rest for a cold salad in the evening and to have an extra dish for herself. After leaving Yunnan, the home that didn't belong to her, she felt relieved but also missed the taste of her hometown.

"Comrade, I'm planning to go shopping in Xiushui East Street. I want to buy a bowl of fried potatoes. Could you lend me your bowl so I can take it inside and eat while walking?" A female comrade came to the stall, staring at it eagerly, and it seemed that she was planning to spend money, but was hesitant.

"This..." After all, this was the first time that Lin Minjun had done business in his two lives, and it was also the first time that he had encountered such a situation. He was a little hesitant for a moment.

She set up a stall to do business and bought a lot of porcelain bowls, but these bowls cost a lot of money. If someone borrowed them and didn't return them, she would lose money. She entered Xiushui East Street from this end, and there was another exit where she could leave quietly.

The female comrade quickly said, "I am a formal employee working at the steel mill. I would not borrow money and not return it."

Lin Minjun: "I'm not worried about you. You're obviously not that kind of person, but there's never been an example of this happening on the stall."

At this time, Erwa, who was peeling potatoes nearby, came over and said, "Sister, you just need to ask them for a deposit. One deposit for each bowl, and you will return the deposit when you bring it back."

Originally the female comrade was preparing to leave with regret, but when she heard that a deposit was required, she agreed, and the deal was done.

Lin Minjun touched Erwa's head and said, "Why do I always feel that you think faster than I do?"

"Of course. Now I don't even do my math homework at school, but I always get first place in the class on every test. My classmates can't score higher than me." Erwa had someone to support him, so his temper came out and he smiled proudly.

"Okay, now you've got the information for me. I don't need your help here. Go back and do your homework!" Lin Minjun said in a stern tone.

The potatoes were almost sold out and it was still early, so Lin Minjun hurriedly sent Erwa back to study.

The remaining potatoes were sold out in just over an hour, so she rode her tricycle back to the alley. Just as she entered the house and hadn't cleaned up yet, she heard a commotion at Mrs. Xu's house next door. It was so intense.

"Why don't you let me go out? I'm going out. Today is Saturday and I don't have classes!" This is what Xu Saozi's fifteen-year-old daughter Ding Ling yelled.

Mrs. Xu was also very angry. "Why didn't I let you go out? You are a student, you should do what students should do. It's almost dark now, why are you going out? I want to ask you, where are you going now?"

"Don't bother me. I don't want to stay at home anyway," said Ding Ling.

"Do you think I don't know what you did outside? It's all spread out there! You don't want to stay at home, you just don't want to see me, so who do you want to see?" Mrs. Xu was so angry that her voice was shaking.

Ding Ling was silent for a while. "Anyway, I don't want to stay here! I don't want to stay in this yard. It's uncomfortable for me to stay here!"

"Stop right there." Mrs. Xu slammed the door shut and locked it. "You want to go out and have fun in the middle of the night? The world is in chaos. If I don't stop you, I'm not your mother."

Judging from the sounds, the mother and daughter were arguing with each other, one in the room and the other standing outside.

Lin Minjun did not go out when she heard the noise. She really didn't know what to do. Ding Ling was fifteen years old, which was the rebellious period of adolescence in the words of later generations. She would not listen to anyone's advice at this time.

The last time Aunt Xia came to help persuade Lingling, she retorted and didn’t go to the Xu family for a long time.

Lin Minjun waited until the battle next door was over before she left the room, planning to call Erwa over for dinner.

I felt it was strange when I went there. The doorman had locked the door. It should have been time for dinner, but Erwa was not at home.

Where is he going? Where can he go?

The author has something to say:

I'm late. I'm writing the second update.