Courtyard House: The Thief System of All Realms

Chapter 12 Drunken Ramblings Cause Laughter, System Gifts Seeds for Travel

The sky wasn't completely dark yet; the last rays of the setting sun shone on the eaves of the courtyard house. Neighbors who had finished their meals came out of their homes, gathered in small groups to stroll and digest their food, chatting about everyday life.

Clutching his empty vegetable basket, Yan Bugui kept thinking about the meat dish that Sha Zhu had cooked at Sun Jingyuan's house. He pulled Liu Haizhong along and headed towards Sha Zhu's house, hoping to at least get some leftovers and a taste of meat. But when the two pushed open the door to Sha Zhu's house, they found it empty, with no pots or pans and no one inside. They had come up empty-handed.

"That's strange, where could Sha Zhu have gone?" Yan Bugui scratched his head, then suddenly caught a lingering aroma of meat. He turned his head and headed straight for the backyard, following the scent. "Let's go, follow the smell, we can't go wrong!"

Liu Haizhong immediately followed, and the two of them followed the smell of meat all the way to the door of Sun Jingyuan's west wing. Then, Yi Zhonghai also came over, and several old men from the compound quietly peeked into the room from the door frame.

Inside, the food on the table was still slightly warm. Sha Zhu, his face flushed from drinking, slumped on a stool with two empty Erguotou bottles in front of him. He Yushui sat beside him, holding a shiny glass jar of fruit candies. This was a scarce resource that Sun Jingyuan had saved up earlier. The jar contained a few pieces of milky-flavored fruit candies, which the little girl was eating in small bites, her eyes full of joy.

Despite her slender figure, He Yushui has a surprisingly large appetite. Just now, she ate two full bowls of white rice with the fragrant braised pork and stir-fried pork with scallions. Now, as she eats sweet fruit candy, she looks exceptionally well-behaved.

Sha Zhu, his eyes glazed over from drinking, was completely drunk. His tongue was slurred, and he pounded the table, shouting so loudly it could be heard outside the door: "Sun Jingyuan, you're a real man! A hundred times better than those scheming guys in the yard!"

Sun Jingyuan took a small sip of his wine, raised an eyebrow casually, and replied with a smile, "Oh? What do you mean?"

"So I've made up my mind!" Sha Zhu pounded his chest loudly, completely drunk and disregarding everything else, shouting at the top of his lungs, "From now on, my Yushui will be your wife! You two live a good life together!"

puff--

Sun Jingyuan couldn't hold back the wine he had just taken a sip of and spat it out. His face was full of astonishment, clearly not expecting Sha Zhu to say such nonsense.

"Brother! What nonsense are you spouting! Aren't you ashamed!"

He Yushui was at the age of budding romance, and upon hearing this, she instantly blushed, her ears burning hot. She stomped her foot in embarrassment and anger, almost dropping the candy jar in her hand, and lowered her head, not daring to look at anyone.

"No, no, that's not right. There's a generational difference. People will laugh if word gets out." Sun Jingyuan quickly waved his hand, trying to smooth things over and not wanting to get entangled in the matter any further.

"What do you mean by 'different generations'?" Sha Zhu glared, stubbornly refusing to back down, his drunkenness making him defiant. "You're several years younger than me, do you think you can treat me like a grandpa? Stop making excuses!"

Pfft!

The neighbors who had been watching the commotion from the courtyard gate, who had been holding back their laughter, could no longer contain themselves upon hearing this and burst into laughter on the spot, their whispers drifting into the house.

He Yushui's face turned even redder. She lowered her head and kept fidgeting with the hem of her clothes. Her big, watery eyes couldn't help but steal glances at Sun Jingyuan's face, with a hint of shyness in them.

Sun Jingyuan shook his head helplessly, then teased Sha Zhu, "Look at you, you had to shout out what we were saying in private to everyone. Now look what happened, the whole neighborhood heard it."

"Go to hell! Stop messing with me!" Sha Zhu laughed and cursed at him, but the alcohol made his head spin.

"Come on, stop talking and keep drinking!" Sun Jingyuan picked up his glass and changed the subject.

"Come on...come on!"

Sha Zhu reached for his wine glass, but before he could finish speaking, his head suddenly slumped onto the table with a dull thud, completely drunk and unconscious, falling fast asleep.

Sun Jingyuan looked up at the door and shouted without any hesitation, "Alright, stop watching the show at the door and stop hiding."

Seeing this, the neighbors outside stopped trying to hide and started peeking out. Sun Jingyuan glanced at them and said, "Whoever helps Sha Zhu back to his house, just take the rest of the food off the table. Don't waste time here."

Today's meal was plentiful, with the three of them consuming a full two kilograms of pork. Apart from He Yushui eating quite a bit, he and Shazhu were busy drinking the whole time. There was still more than half of the leftover food on the table, which was quite meaty and delicious. In this era of scarcity, it was truly a good thing.

"Brother Lin, it's such a waste to leave so much food uneaten," He Yushui said softly, looking up with a regretful expression.

"It's alright. I don't like eating leftovers anyway. It's better to share them with the neighbors than to let them go bad," Sun Jingyuan replied casually.

He could actually store the leftovers in his personal thief system space, where items could be kept fresh for a long time. Except for not being able to refrigerate, it was even better than refrigerators in later generations. However, he never liked eating leftovers, so he was too lazy to bother.

"I'll do it! I'll do it!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui's eyes lit up instantly. Without waiting for anyone else to react, he rushed in and, without a word, scooped up the completely drunk Sha Zhu. His eldest son, Yan Jiecheng, who was right behind him, quickly stepped forward to help. The father and son, one on each side, hurriedly supported Sha Zhu and led him out.

Just as the two men helped the person away, Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang, two teenagers, rushed in impatiently, respectfully called out "Brother Lin," and then picked up the leftover food on the table, leaving not a drop of soup or water, and ran home in a flash.

"Oh no! Liberation! Relief!" Liu Haizhong stamped his feet anxiously from behind, quickly calling out to the two children, "Can your family finish all this meat and vegetables? Leave some for your second uncle!"

But the two boys completely ignored him and ran faster than rabbits, disappearing in the blink of an eye, making Liu Haizhong glare angrily.

In those days, resources were extremely scarce. Every household lacked food and clothing, and there was no such thing as leftovers. Anything with meat was considered a precious commodity, and everyone wanted to get their hands on it.

He Yushui paid no attention to the crowd grabbing food. Her gaze fell on the empty glass fruit candy jar on the table. This was the first time she had ever held such an exquisite glass jar. She wanted to keep it to store her little things. Just as she reached out to take it, two figures sneaked in.

It was the brothers Liu Guangfu and Liu Guangtian. The two of them spotted the glass candy jar on the table at a glance, grabbed the jar without saying a word, and ran out. Their movements were ridiculously fast.

"That's mine! Don't you dare take it!"

He Yushui shouted and quickly grabbed the broom from the corner of the wall, then strode out to chase after him.

But the two brothers, Liu Guangfu and Liu Guangtian, were very cunning. They didn't run home at all, but rushed out of the courtyard gate and disappeared into the street. He Yushui chased after them into the street, looked around, but there was no sign of the two of them. She was both angry and aggrieved. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears, and she stomped her feet, feeling resentful.

"You bastard! How could you steal a young lady's things! That's outrageous!"

Upon hearing the news, Liu Haizhong rushed over, stood on the street and pretended to scold his son a couple of times, but his face showed no intention of blaming him. He then turned around, patted his bottom, and leisurely went home, waiting for his two sons to bring back the candy jar they had stolen.

With red eyes and a dejected look, He Yushui returned to the west wing. Without a word, she picked up a broom and silently cleaned up the mess on the table and floor, making the room spotless before lowering her head and silently returning home.

Sun Jingyuan looked at the tidied room, made no extra movements, and lay down on the bed to rest with his eyes closed.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, before Sun Jingyuan had even gotten out of bed, he heard a small figure moving around outside the door, the footsteps so light they were almost inaudible. He immediately called out, "Who's out there?"

"Brother Sun, it's me."

He Yushui's timid voice came from outside the door, sounding somewhat reserved.

"What are you doing here so early in the morning?" Sun Jingyuan got up, opened the door, and looked at He Yushui standing at the door.

The little girl clutched a cloth bag in her hand, walked into the house with her head down, and gently placed the contents on the table—this dining table was one that Sha Zhu had specially moved over yesterday. She opened the bag, revealing two steaming white steamed buns, a rare breakfast in those days.

"I...I brought you breakfast," He Yushui said softly.

Sun Jingyuan looked at the hot buns on the table, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Have you eaten?"

"I...I've already eaten."

No sooner had He Yushui finished speaking than her stomach rumbled loudly and clearly. She blushed instantly, buried her head in her chest, and stood there helplessly.

"Alright, you can have the steamed bun, I'm not hungry." Sun Jingyuan said casually, looking at her embarrassed look. "I drank too much yesterday, my head still hurts a little, I'll lie down for a while longer."

After saying that, he turned around and lay back down on the bed, saying no more.

He Yushui, holding the steamed buns on the table, quietly withdrew and gently closed the door.

Once the room was completely silent, Sun Jingyuan activated the Thief System and entered his personal system space. The space was spacious and clean, with warm lighting. He stood in the center of the space, and the system's mechanical notification sound instantly rang in his mind.

[Host detected to have completed daily gathering interaction, triggering a random thief draw opportunity. Draw now?]

"Extract." Sun Jingyuan responded in his mind without the slightest hesitation.

[Drawing... Successful! Congratulations, host, you have obtained a fruit gift pack of seeds, including common fruit seeds such as apples, pears, peaches, and oranges. These seeds are compatible with the system space for planting and can be directly stored in the space's storage compartment.]

As soon as he finished speaking, a small, neatly packaged packet of seeds appeared directly in his spatial storage compartment. The seeds were plump and clearly of a high-quality variety. Sun Jingyuan glanced at the storage compartment, then carefully put the seeds away, planning to cultivate and plant them in his space later when he had time.

Immediately, he had a thought, so he exited the system space, got up and tidied himself up, took out a stack of receipts that Yang Xugang had personally handed him last time from the drawer, and carefully counted them one by one.

After flipping through it, he couldn't help but sigh to himself that there were quite a lot of different kinds of coupons, including grain coupons, oil coupons, and sugar coupons. The most valuable of them were ten brand-new cloth coupons and a rare Forever brand bicycle coupon.

In this era, bicycles were considered top-tier luxury items. After purchase, they had to be registered and stamped with a unique steel seal by the police. Without this seal, they were considered items of dubious origin, which could result in confiscation on the spot or, in more serious cases, arrest as thieves, leading to endless trouble.

Sun Jingyuan carefully put away the receipts and tucked them into his pocket. His goal for today was clear: first, to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to pick up his bicycle, then to find a few reliable craftsmen to properly repair the dilapidated west wing. If he had enough time, he would also use the cloth coupons to buy himself a few new clothes.

After getting ready, Sun Jingyuan pushed open the door and walked out. Just as he reached the courtyard gate, he heard a soft call.

"Brother Sun!"

He Yushui had been waiting at the door for an unknown amount of time. When she saw him come out, she immediately smiled and quickly walked forward.

"Rainwater? What are you still doing here?" Sun Jingyuan asked, looking surprised.

"I'm waiting for you to wake up here." He Yushui pursed her lips, her eyes filled with curiosity, and asked softly, "Where are you going?"

"Want to come along when we go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things?" Sun Jingyuan casually invited. Traveling alone would be a bit boring, and having this well-behaved little girl with him would save him a lot of trouble.

"Okay!" He Yushui's eyes lit up, and she agreed without hesitation, happily following Sun Jingyuan's side.

The two walked side by side, and just as they passed the Jia family's gate, Sun Jingyuan met a sinister and malicious gaze from behind the door.

Madam Jia huddled behind the door, staring intently at the two figures' backs, and cursed in a low voice, "You damned little beast, eating fish and meat every day, how come you don't choke to death! That little brat He Yushui, she's so old and doesn't know how to be discreet about men and women, always following others around like that, serves you right for your ambiguous relationship..."

She kept her voice very low, thinking no one could hear her, but after Sun Jingyuan merged with the system, his hearing was far superior to that of ordinary people, and he heard every single word.

Sun Jingyuan didn't even pause. He turned his head to look at Jia Zhangshi behind the door, his lips moved slightly, and he silently uttered three words: "A wife destined to bring misfortune to her husband."

After lip-syncing, he grabbed He Yushui's hand, turned around, and walked quickly forward, disappearing from the courtyard in the blink of an eye.

"You little beast! Who are you calling a jinx to your husband?! Come back here right now!"

Jia Zhangshi was instantly struck where it hurt, completely breaking down in anger. She trembled with rage, grabbed a broom from the corner of the wall, and rushed out, but Sun Jingyuan and He Yushui had already run far away and were nowhere to be seen.

"A jinx to husbands? What jinx?"

Hearing the commotion, several middle-aged women who were chatting nearby quickly gathered around. Upon seeing Jia Zhangshi's hysterical state, they instantly understood the reason. They had long heard that Jia Zhangshi had been widowed at a young age and were already wary of her. Seeing her like this, they all took a step back, their faces full of disgust, afraid of being tainted by any bad luck.

"What are you looking at! Get out of here!" Madam Jia Zhang angrily waved her broom and roared at the crowd.

"It's alright, it's alright, we'll be going now." The three women waved their hands in unison, turned around and ran back to their own houses, closed the doors tightly, and didn't want to have anything to do with Jia Zhangshi at all, letting her make a scene in the yard.