Chapter 84 allows each family to receive a larger share.

"You... I really don't know what to say about you."

"As long as you can report the accounts to your employer and don't let the higher-ups find out, it'll be fine."

"So tell me, what price do you want to set?"

The old lady was amused by his appearance and smiled slightly, her tone softening a bit.

"How about doubling it?"

Xu Wangcai acted decisively, revealing his hand directly.

"Then it's your decision."

The old lady knew perfectly well that there was something fishy going on.

But since the other party offered to raise the price, she was happy to go along with it.

Ultimately, the money comes from the sheep, so she's not the one who suffers.

"Alright! Then could you provide a formal lease agreement?"

"How much should I pay?"

"Add another 50% to the number you just mentioned."

Are you sure you can do it?

"Don't come crying to me later when you can't handle the situation anymore."

"I can't afford to offend your big boss."

The old lady stared intently at Xu Wangcai, her gaze filled with scrutiny and a hint of warning.

"Don't worry, as long as you don't say anything, there won't be any problems."

Xu Wangcai patted his chest and made a solemn promise.

He Daqing watched quietly from the side, feeling a pang of envy in his heart.

Isn't this obviously taking kickbacks and accepting benefits?

"Alright, Qing Dynasty, do you have paper and pen at home?"

He Daqing shook his head, indicating that he didn't have any at home.

Unexpectedly, Xu Wangcai was quick and efficient, immediately pulling out several sheets of paper from his pocket.

He then took out a shiny fountain pen from his inner pocket.

"Madam, will you write this document, or should I write it for you?"

"You write it, my old eyes are failing, I can't use this new kind of fountain pen."

"Okay."

"Oh, ma'am, there's one more small matter I need to clarify with you first."

"These tenants are not all alone; they all bring their families with them."

"Otherwise, the factory would have arranged for them to live in the collective dormitories long ago."

"Anyway, it's all about renting. Whether you rent to a single person or a family, there's not much difference."

"However, let me make this clear from the start: if anyone causes trouble inside..."

"I won't be polite; I'll just kick them out."

"Understood, I will definitely explain the rules here to them beforehand."

Xu Wangcai nodded repeatedly, readily agreeing.

"That's fine then."

After Xu Wangcai finished writing the document, the old lady asked again:

"Should we get the neighbors and other residents to sign and affix their fingerprints as witnesses to this contract?"

"No need for that."

"If the landlord decides not to rent it out anymore, I will let you know in advance."

"If they want to renew the lease later, they can come and negotiate with you themselves."

"Alright, then take them to the front yard and settle them in."

"We've already met everyone, so there's no need to introduce them one by one."

As soon as Xu Wangcai stepped out of the He family's house, he saw Yi Zhonghai chatting with several new workers.

We all work at the same factory, so we've seen each other quite often.

Yi Zhonghai was subtly trying to find out the purpose of their visit to the compound.

When Yi Zhonghai learned that they were there to rent a room, he thought it made sense.

But when I heard that the landlord was covering all the rent, I immediately felt a pang of jealousy.

He was a senior technician and a veteran in the factory,

However, they have never enjoyed the benefit of having their rent paid by the government.

However, he also knew that his employer always valued engineers and technicians.

In order to get closer to him, and perhaps learn some real skills along the way,

Yi Zhonghai then thought he should chat a bit more to get closer to Yi Zhonghai.

Zhao Yonghe initially responded politely with a few words.

After listening to some boring gossip, I felt bored and didn't bother to respond.

Just now, He Yuzhu glanced at the new workers in the inner room.

I recognized Old Zhao, who had been shot, at a glance.

This person recovered really quickly; they were able to get out of bed and walk around in just over a month.

His face was still pale, and he hadn't fully recovered.

I don't know what method he used to sneak into the steel rolling mill.

It should be noted that the steel rolling mill at that time was under the "military control" of the Japanese and was heavily guarded.

The front yard was a mess for most of the night, with cleaning and moving things around.

Yi Zhonghai also joined in to help, and even pulled Jia Laonian along to lend a hand.

During the visit, a technician casually asked who lived in the main house of the Intermediate People's Court.

Yi Zhonghai's face immediately showed disdain, and he curled his lip and said:

"Hey, he's just a lucky cook."

Some curious people wondered how he was able to rent such a nice room in the east wing.

This time, Yi Zhonghai didn't mention luck; he only boasted that he got the job because of his employer's connections.

You need a lot of influence to get this kind of thing done.

Others might not understand the meaning behind it, but Zhao Yonghe saw it clearly.

This person was simply jealous of the family living in the main house, and was unhappy about it.

Jia Zhangshi naturally wouldn't help with the work, but she was a gossipy woman who couldn't stay idle.

They especially love to gossip and their mouths never stop moving.

Upon learning that these new tenants wouldn't have to pay their own rent, her "tough love" immediately kicked in.

He was spitting as he spoke, and each word he uttered was more offensive than the last.

The person who had originally intended to strike up a conversation with her stopped in his tracks upon seeing her like this.

They all kept their distance, secretly thinking to themselves:

You should never associate with this kind of person; nothing good will come of it.

Since those people moved into the front yard, He Yuzhu and Xu Damao have almost stopped going there.

They also moved their daily practice to the backyard.

Chen Shuxiang and Li Guihua also rarely appear at the Intermediate People's Court.

Yi Zhonghai, on the other hand, often used chatting as an excuse to run to the front yard.

Every now and then, you can even get a free meal with good wine and food.

Food was already scarce in the courtyard, and life was already difficult.

Thanks to Xu Wangcai's efforts in obtaining a batch of high-priced grain,

This made He Yuzhu give up the idea of ​​using the supplies in the "space".

After all, those things are of dubious origin and cannot be easily revealed to the public.

When the households were buying grain, Jia Zhangshi complained that the price was too high and threw another tantrum.

Xu Wangcai shut him down with a single sentence:

"If you think it's too expensive, then don't eat it. The food rations saved can be distributed to more families."

These words startled Jia Zhangshi.

Her family was really struggling to make ends meet; they were on the verge of running out of food.

This incident also allowed the new residents to fully experience her shrewishness and shamelessness.

No one wants to let a wolf into their house and invite her in for a visit.

Her petty theft tricks were no longer effective, so she could only send her son to deceive the new children.

However, these newcomers were extremely wary of Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu.

He wouldn't let his child play with that mother and son.

With so many people crowding into the front yard, it became very inconvenient for He Yuzhu to go out at night.

He then began to think about other options.

He walked around the entire east and west courtyard, inside and out.

It was discovered that only one outer wall of the east courtyard was adjacent to the main street.

I tried climbing over the wall once, and found it easier than sneaking out the front door.

So they didn't bother to think of any other routes.

Since the system hadn't released any new tasks yet, he decided to take a break for a while.

The commotion caused before was too great, and any further rash actions at this point could easily attract unnecessary attention.

He chose to remain inactive, but some people took the initiative to come to him.

Zhao Yonghe, who lived in the front yard, moved into the compound alone.

After he gets off work every day, he often disappears for a while for no apparent reason, and when he comes back, he is always carrying large bags and small bags.

All of this naturally attracted the attention of someone with ulterior motives—that person was Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai did not suspect that Zhao Yonghe had any secret agent identity.

He was simply curious about where the other person got those things from.

He still had his own agenda, wanting to get a share of the profits and reap some benefits.

After finishing work that day, Yi Zhonghai deliberately didn't go home, but instead hid at the factory gate and waited there.

Zhao Yonghe left work a little later than usual today, not leaving the factory until it was completely dark.

Yi Zhonghai remained calm and quietly followed behind.

At first, there were many people and eyes around the factory area, so Zhao Yonghe did not notice that someone was following him.

After all, many of his colleagues from the same workshop left the factory with him.

But once you leave the crowd and come to a secluded and quiet path.

He immediately sensed that a pair of eyes were staring intently at him from behind.

He was supposed to attend a secret meeting today and even applied to work overtime.

The purpose was to avoid entering and exiting through the main gate of the courtyard house.

Although there weren't many people in the courtyard, most of them were residents of the front yard.

People inevitably see them coming and going, which leads to gossip and speculation.

With the agreed meeting time drawing ever closer, he wanted to quicken his pace.

But the shadow behind him was always there, and he couldn't shake it off no matter what he did.

He could only deliberately slow down and pretend to be taking a leisurely stroll.

As he turned the corner of a dimly lit alley, he glanced sideways in the faint moonlight.

He immediately recognized that the person following him was most likely Yi Zhonghai, and his brows furrowed tightly.

Before moving into the courtyard house, the higher-ups had already sent people to secretly investigate the backgrounds of everyone in the house.

Nothing unusual was found, nor was there any suspicious background.

He was secretly hesitating whether to warn and dissuade the other party or simply get rid of this tail.

Suddenly, a stumbling young man rushed over from a distance.

Upon seeing Zhao Yonghe, the young man abruptly stopped running.

He didn't shout loudly, but just waved frantically at Zhao Yonghe.

He would occasionally look back in a panic, as if someone was chasing him.

If He Yuzhu were here right now, he would definitely recognize him at a glance.

Isn't this the young man who lost his rickshaw a few days ago?

Zhao Yonghe instinctively reached for his gun.

But then he suddenly remembered that entering the factory required undergoing an extremely rigorous body search.

No metal objects could be brought in, so there was no way he could be hiding a gun on his person.

He had just turned around when he decided to turn back along the same route.

But Yi Zhonghai stepped forward first, blocking his way.

"Mr. Zhao, what a coincidence! You just got off work. Where are you headed?"

Yi Zhonghai's face was plastered with a fake smile, pretending that they had met by chance.

"What a coincidence? I think it's bad luck."

"I was planning to go out to buy something, but when I checked my pockets, oh no, I forgot my money. I was just about to go home to get it."

Zhao Yonghe, with a sullen face, gave a perfunctory reply.

"Hey, what are you saying? I have money with me!"

"Could you take me with you when you go shopping? I was just thinking of going out to buy some daily necessities."

"There are so many shops on the street, do you really need me to take you to buy something as simple as a needle and thread?"

Zhao Yonghe frowned impatiently.