My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 42: Inviting Master Lei to Inspect and Renovate the House

After leaving the steel rolling mill, Zhang Lei quickly arrived at the courtyard house where Master Lei of Yangshi Lei lived, following the address given to him by Director Wang of the Subdistrict Office.

He immediately spotted several elderly women chatting at the entrance of the courtyard house.

Zhang Lei quickly stepped forward and politely asked, "Ladies, I'd like to ask if there's a Mr. Lei around here? I'd like to ask him to help repair my house."

When the elderly women heard that Zhang Lei had come to find someone to repair his house, they all nodded. One of them said, "You mean Old Lei? He's in the east wing of the front yard. Just go in and find him."

Zhang Lei quickly thanked him repeatedly, then strode into the courtyard and headed straight for the east wing of the front yard.

As he walked to the door of the side room, he saw a man around fifty years old inside, teaching his apprentice how to work.

Zhang Lei stepped forward, smiling and greeting, "Hello, are you Master Lei?"

Hearing someone calling him, Lei Guangde stopped what he was doing, looked up at Zhang Lei, and asked in confusion, "Who are you?"

Looking at the person in front of him, Zhang Lei quickly explained his purpose, saying, "Hello, Master Lei, my name is Zhang Lei, and I'm a purchasing agent from Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. I was introduced by Director Wang from the neighborhood office, and I'd like to ask you for help repairing my house."

Upon hearing Zhang Lei's purpose, Master Lei immediately smiled and said, "Come, come, please sit down."

He immediately called out into the house, "Old woman, quickly pour a pot of hot water, we have a distinguished guest!"

A response came quickly from inside: "Okay, got it!"

These past two years have been tough on everyone due to the disaster. Building houses or repairing them is out of the question; just having enough to eat is a struggle. Craftsmen like Master Lei, who take on odd jobs, have long since run out of income. So, hearing that Zhang Lei had work coming his way, he was naturally overjoyed.

A moment later, an elderly woman in her forties or fifties came out of the house, carrying a bowl of hot water and handing it to Zhang Lei.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Lei quickly stood up, took the water, and thanked him repeatedly.

Once Zhang Lei sat down, Master Lei got straight to the point, looking at him and asking, "Tell me the specifics. How big is your house, and what kind of repairs are needed?"

Zhang Lei thought for a moment and said seriously, "Master Lei, it's like this, there's an east wing in our yard that I bought, it's about 120 square meters. The original house collapsed a long time ago, and I want to rebuild it directly."

Upon hearing the words "reconstruction," Master Lei's eyes lit up. This was a major job. He immediately said, "How about this, I'll go with you to the site first to see the specific situation, and then we'll determine a plan based on the actual circumstances. Is that alright?"

Zhang Lei immediately nodded in agreement: "Okay, I live in a courtyard house at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang, not far from here. Shall we set off now?"

Master Lei thought for a moment and replied, "Okay, wait for me a moment while I go get some tools."

Soon, Master Lei, carrying a bag with several tools on his back, walked and chatted with Zhang Lei, and they soon arrived at the courtyard house at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang.

Zhang Lei led Master Lei through the front yard, then into the middle yard, and along the corridor next to He Yushui's house, straight towards the entrance of the east courtyard.

By the pond in the courtyard, Qin Huairu was washing clothes with her head down, while an older woman sat at her doorstep picking vegetables. When they saw Zhang Lei bring a stranger into the courtyard, they both looked at them with puzzled expressions.

Zhang Lei noticed their gazes but didn't pay them any mind, continuing to lead Master Lei forward without stopping.

But when Zhang Lei reached the entrance of the east courtyard and saw the padlock on the door, he slapped his forehead, realizing he had forgotten to get the key from the neighborhood committee. However, he quickly thought that the east courtyard was now his, so he turned to Master Lei and said, "Master Lei, do you have any tools in your bag that I can borrow?"

Master Lei asked, puzzled, "What do you need tools for?"

"I forgot my keys, so I'm thinking of breaking the lock," Zhang Lei said frankly.

Upon hearing this, Master Lei immediately looked suspicious. Seeing his expression, Zhang Lei knew he had misunderstood, so he quickly reached into his pocket—actually his personal storage space—and pulled out the deed for the east wing of the house, handing it to him: "Master Lei, look, this is the deed. This house is mine."

Master Lei took the property deed, glanced at it, and looked somewhat embarrassed. He quickly smiled and said, "Master, this is such a small matter, you don't need to do it yourself, I'll take care of it!"

As he spoke, he took out a hammer from his backpack and banged it on the lock two or three times, and the lock opened immediately.

Hearing the noise of things being smashed coming from near the east courtyard, an older woman became suspicious and put down her shopping basket to curiously walk over.

She spotted Master Lei hammering at the lock on the east wing and quickly rushed over to stop him, calling out, "Hey, hey, what are you two doing?"

She then turned to Zhang Lei, her face full of confusion, and asked, "Zhang Lei, who are these people you brought? How can they just break the lock on the east wing?"

Seeing that the visitor was an older woman, Zhang Lei quickly went to greet her and explained, "Auntie, don't worry, this is Master Lei, whom I invited. He's a skilled house repairman. I brought him here so he could take a look at my east wing."

The older woman was even more puzzled, frowning as she pressed, "Zhang Lei, why did you bring people to watch over the east wing? And why did he break the lock?"

Zhang Lei looked at the older woman and said confidently, "Ma'am, this east wing is now my family's property. I invited Master Lei here to see how to renovate it."

An older woman, looking puzzled, pressed, "Yours? Zhang Lei, wasn't this east wing destroyed a long time ago? When did it become yours?"

Without saying a word, Zhang Lei took out the deed for the east courtyard and handed it to her: "It wasn't before, but it is now. Take a look at this."

An older woman glanced at the property deed in Zhang Lei's hand and was about to ask something when Zhang Lei stopped her.

"Auntie, I have things to do right now, so I can't talk to you any longer."

The woman was full of doubts, but looking at the property deed in Zhang Lei's hand, she, being a woman, couldn't say anything more. She planned to tell Yi Zhonghai about it after he got off work and ask him to find out the truth from Zhang Lei.

Zhang Lei turned his head and gave Master Lei a look, signaling him to go in and take a look first.

The moment they pushed open the gate to the east courtyard, a cloud of dust and three half-collapsed houses came into view.

The two first examined the exterior of the three rooms in the east courtyard. Zhang Lei then looked at Master Lei and said, "Master Lei, please take your time looking around. If you have any questions, just let me know."

Master Lei nodded and replied, "Okay."

On the other side, Qin Huairu was rubbing clothes while glancing occasionally in the direction of He Yushui's house around the corner.

She had heard the commotion from the east courtyard, but she hadn't finished washing her clothes, so she didn't go over with the older woman to join in the fun.

While washing, she noticed an older woman returning alone. She immediately put down her work, hurried to Yi Zhonghai's door, and asked, "Auntie, what happened over in the east courtyard just now?"

An older woman saw Qin Huairu and explained with a smile, "Huairu, I just saw Zhang Lei lead some people to the east courtyard and break the lock."

Qin Huairu looked surprised and quickly asked, "What? He broke the lock? What is Zhang Lei trying to do?"

The older woman continued, "Zhang Lei just showed me the property deed, saying that the east wing already belongs to him. Judging from his tone, he brought people here to rebuild those collapsed houses in the east wing."

Qin Huairu's mouth dropped open, and she exclaimed in shock, "What? The east wing is his now, and he's planning to rebuild it?"

Then she looked at the older woman and pressed her for details: "Auntie, do you know how Zhang Lei got the east wing?"

The woman shook her head and said truthfully, "I don't know. Zhang Lei only showed me the property deed and told me the house was his, but he didn't say anything else. Besides, I'm just a woman, and I'm too embarrassed to ask too many questions. I'll have your uncle ask Zhang Lei after he gets off work."

After listening, Qin Huairu nodded quickly, forcing a smile as she said, "Auntie, you're right. Zhang Lei wouldn't tell us too much about this kind of thing."

Despite saying that, Qin Huairu couldn't suppress her curiosity. After all, although the house in the east wing had collapsed, if it could be rebuilt, it would be a rare and wonderful place to live.