Siheyuan: Return to the Era of Prosperity

Chapter 41 Dumplings
Shen Zhiyu was very satisfied with the three new rewards. Although his own system was lazy, the items and skills signed in were very good.

Nowadays, medical conditions are backward, and getting medical skills from the attending physician, or even a general practitioner, can avoid accidents to a great extent.

He also wanted to learn basic identification skills. They were about to enter a special decade, and many national treasures would be destroyed. With this skill, he could collect some works of art. When he arrived in the new world, he could just take out a few pieces, which would be a small goal.

After receiving all the rewards, Shen Zhiyu felt the usefulness of the new knowledge in his mind. There was too much new knowledge, which made his head feel swollen. After a while, he lay on the bed and fell asleep.

Shen Zhiyu slept until after five in the morning before he felt a little better. He quickly put on thick clothes, got up and went to the stove.

My younger brothers and sisters were still staying up to celebrate the New Year, but they were all yawning.

"Brother, you've had enough sleep!" Shen Zhihua handed him a handful of melon seeds.

Shen Zhiyu smiled and replied, "I slept well. Go to sleep for a while. I'll call you when the meal is ready."

Shen Zhihua stretched out his hands and said, "Brother, didn't you notice that something is missing?"

"I know. Yours will be indispensable." Shen Zhiyu said as he took out three red envelopes from his pocket.

"Zhifang, Zhihua, Zhiwen, big brother wishes you a happy new year!" Shen Zhiyu said as he handed red envelopes to the three of them one by one.

"Oh! One dollar. Brother, you are so nice." The younger sister Shen Zhiwen said excitedly.

Shen Zhiyu smiled and said, "Without this dollar, will your brother be in trouble?"

"All good." Shen Zhiwen laughed.

Shen Zhihua and the other two took the red envelopes and went to rest.

Shen Zhiyu took a book on management and sat by the fire to read it.

After a while, it was already dawn.

Some people in the yard had already started setting off firecrackers. Shen Zhiyu put down his book and went out to set off a string of firecrackers.

I went home, added coal to the stove, put on the pot, boiled water and cooked.

This morning we had the traditional northern meal, noodle soup and dumplings. Shen Zhiyu first made the braised pork meatball noodle soup, and then cooked the dumplings he had made yesterday.

"Zhihua, Zhifang, Zhiwen, get up and eat." Shen Zhiyu was using a colander to stir the dumplings in the pot while shouting into the house.

The three knew that they would have to eat dumplings this morning and wake up immediately after sleeping. It was not easy to have a meal of dumplings nowadays.

"Brother, have you ever put coins in the dumplings?" Shen Zhihua asked while eating dumplings.

Shen Zhiyu smiled and said, "It's guaranteed. Whoever eats it gets it."

Eat dumplings on the first day of the first lunar month. Wash coins and wrap them in the dumplings. The person who eats the dumplings with coins in them is predicted to have smooth sailing and great wealth in the new year.

When he heard that it was wrapped with coins, my younger brother Shen Zhihua ate even faster, but unfortunately it still depends on luck.

The youngest sister, Shen Zhiwen, ate the slowest, and ended up eating both coins.

Even Shen Zhiyu was envious, not to mention Shen Zhihua, who was so jealous and really cute.

Little sister Shen Zhiwen smiled and put away the two five-cent coins.

"Zhiwen, just tell me how your second brother treats you?" Shen Zhihua began to deceive.

"Average." The younger sister Shen Zhiwen said concisely.

Shen Zhihua almost choked while eating dumplings, and stared blankly at his younger sister who did not play by the rules.

"Little sister, you are so hurtful." Shen Zhihua swallowed the dumplings in his mouth and said. "If I don't hurt you, you will get my money." Shen Zhiwen said without raising her head.

The conversation between the two made Shen Zhiyu laugh and added a bit of festive atmosphere to the festival.

After breakfast, their school will hold a group party.

The three deposed uncles will probably still be the ones presiding over the meeting. Apart from them, there are no other suitable candidates.

Nowadays, people are not good at talking but are not reliable in doing things. People of Shen Zhiyu's age group cannot get the promotion. The other elderly people either have no jobs and low social status, which leads to no one to choose them. They themselves have no intention of managing the affairs of the hospital.

After counting, it finally fell on the three of them.

Shen Zhiyu guessed that this was one of their purposes. He didn't know whether they had other ideas.

To be honest, Shen Zhiyu was very dissatisfied with the family gathering held in Siheyuan. It felt a bit awkward to gather all the adults and children in the courtyard together in such a cold weather to wish a happy new year to someone who had nothing to do with them.

But these days we value collectivism and cannot be too eccentric.

As long as nothing weird happens at the party, Shen Zhiyu is prepared to turn a blind eye and go with the flow.

Hearing that the Central Courtyard was already bustling with people, Shen Zhiyu and his younger brother and sister went to the Central Courtyard with melon seeds and peanuts in their pockets to see how the group gathering was going.

Today's group gathering was different from the usual hospital-wide meetings. There was only a table and a chair placed in the yard. It seemed that the table was prepared for the deaf old lady to sit on it alone while the others would greet her from below.

When Shen Zhiyu and his sister arrived, most people in the courtyard had already gathered. Young and old were all wearing new clothes, and their usually sad faces were smiling again. They greeted each other and wished each other a happy new year.

Shen Zhiyu took a quick look and found that the only people missing from the yard were the deaf old lady and the aunt, as well as Grandma Luo and her grandson Jinmu from the backyard.

"Shazhu, help your grandmother to the central courtyard, and call Jinmu and his grandmother by the way." Yi Zhonghai ordered.

As a filial son and grandson of Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady, Sha Zhu obeys their every word.

But later, Qin Huairu, a white lotus in her prime, intervened, and Sha Zhu became Qin Huairu's loyal bootlicker, forgetting his identity as a filial son and a good grandson.

Now Sha Zhu still listened to Yi Zhonghai's words and went to the backyard immediately.

After a while, Shazhu and an auntie supported the deaf old lady, and Grandma Luo dragged Jinmu, who had a snotty nose, and the child looked very unhappy.

Shen Zhiyu had just signed in and received the medical book. When he saw Jin Mu's condition, he felt it was not good. He hurried over and touched the child's forehead with his hand, which was very hot.

"Grandma Luo, Jinmu needs to be sent to the hospital immediately. The child has a high fever." Shen Zhiyu said.

Grandma Luo smiled sadly and said, "My in-laws were not good enough. They passed away the day before yesterday. The child's parents went to Shijiazhuang the day before yesterday. They were poor but rich on the road. There is not much money left at home."

Shen Zhiyu said hurriedly: "It's okay, I'll pay for it first and give it to me when Brother Jin comes back."

Grandma Luo said gratefully: "Zhiyu, thank you. You helped Auntie a lot."

"My grandson, is this never going to end? Do we still need to hold a group gathering?" Sha Zhu had been dissatisfied with Shen Zhiyu for a long time. Not only was he beaten last time, but he was also punished to clean the toilet for three months. As a result, he lost the right to cook in his own kitchen and had to burn the boiler for three months.

Shen Zhiyu held Jin Mu in his arms, glanced at Sha Zhu and said, "Get lost."

Then he said to the people at the meeting: "Jinmu has a fever, I will take him to the hospital, you can hold the group party by yourselves."

Grandma Luo's family is kind to others on a daily basis. Although they don't have a high status, they are still quite popular. When everyone in the compound sees that a child is sick, they all know what matters are of primary and secondary importance.

Only the idiot Shazhu is still trying to make his presence known, not knowing that his actions have made most people in the compound dissatisfied and made everyone hate him even more.

The deaf old lady is in her seventies or eighties and has rich social experience. Although she is dissatisfied with the disruption of her family gathering, she also knows that if she insists on holding the gathering now, she will probably become the target of public criticism.

(End of this chapter)