Courtyard House: Drunk and barging into the Xu family's house, I woke up numb.

He Yuzhu stared at Qin Jingru with a smile.

"Of course you look good. If anyone says you don't look good, I'll punch them."

"However, I'm just average, so you'll have to make do if we stand together."

Qin Jingru said.

"Oh, it's okay. My mom said that it's one thing for a man to be good-looking, but he has to be capable."

"If you don't have the ability, no matter how good-looking you are, you're just a pretty face, useless!"

Upon hearing this, He Yuzhu thought to himself, "This girl is really direct. Even if someone is good-looking and capable, they might not necessarily want to marry you."

If he weren't currently down on his luck, Qin Jingru would only be something he was considering, not something he absolutely had to do.

Now that he's fallen from grace, he doesn't have many options left. In any case, Qin Jingru is still better than Liu Yuhua, at least she's more pleasing to the eye.

Liu Yuhua is not bad-looking; most people could do that if they could lose weight.

Seeing that He Yuzhu didn't speak, Qin Jingru asked.

"So, who do you think is prettier, me or my sister?"

He Yuzhu replied without hesitation.

"Your sister is beautiful. When she first came to our compound for blind dates when she was young, she captivated quite a few young men."

"It's a pity she married into the Jia family, otherwise your sister's life would be better than it is now."

He Yuzhu regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. Praising another woman's beauty in front of his blind date was just asking for trouble.

Thinking of this, he quickly tried to smooth things over.

"But that was all in the past. Now your sister has three kids, and she's had her share of mistreatment from that old woman."

"She is no match for you now."

Upon hearing this, Qin Jingru's face broke into a smile again.

"Okay, you have good taste. Whether it's true or not, I'm happy to hear it."

He Yuzhu patted his chest and assured him.

"Of course it's true. I never lie, especially not to women."

Seeing that the house was almost tidied up, He Yuzhu quickly poured a pot of tea and greeted them.

"Sixth Sister, stop working and sit down to rest. It's my first day at my house and I'm already making you do chores. I feel so bad."

Qin Jingru put down her work and said.

"It's okay, I do these chores at home too, I'm used to it."

She sat down at the table, looking at He Yuzhu's two main rooms with a hopeful expression.

"do you know?"

"My biggest dream is to have a home like this in the city. I will definitely keep it clean and tidy, and I will definitely be better at it than my sister."

"Let me tell you, all the women in our Qin family envy my sister. She's the only one in the whole family who married into the capital."

He Yuzhu looked at the room, which had almost completely changed, and laughed.

"I believe you when you say that. You look just like your sister; you're good at managing a household and doing housework."

He Yuzhu paused for a moment at this point.

"Sixth Sister, I think we should change how we address you. From now on, I'll call you Jingru. What do you think?"

Qin Jingru readily agreed.

“Okay, even though my family calls me Xiaoru, Xiaoliu, or Laoliu, I like it when you call me Jingru.”

He Yuzhu nodded, thinking to himself that not only was there a door, but also a window. He should strike while the iron was hot and work hard.

"Okay, then I'll call you Jingru from now on."

"Jingru, what do you like to eat? I mean, what kind of cuisine do you like?"

Qin Jingru asked in confusion.

"Cuisine?"

What is a cuisine?

He Yuzhu suddenly realized that she was just a country girl and didn't understand these official terms. She suggested speaking in plain language instead.

So He Yuzhu began introducing various cuisines to Qin Jingru.

Although he spoke in a lot of colloquial language, Qin Jingru, an outsider who had never seen the world, was still completely bewildered.

"Let me put it this way, even though I'm just a cook, I'm a big shot in the dozen or so factories around here, young and old alike."

"Even though I no longer work at the steel mill, the factory still comes to me for weddings and funerals in this area."

"But with this skill, I will definitely earn no less than I did at the steel rolling mill."

"Don't you believe me? Just during the Spring Festival this year, more than a dozen companies contacted me."

“If it weren’t for the passing of the old lady in our compound, which kept me from leaving the house, I could have earned at least seventy or eighty yuan in just four or five days, which is equivalent to two months’ salary at the steel mill.”

Sha Zhu was obviously exaggerating. Anyway, Qin Jingru didn't know, so he just set up the illusion first.

Besides, although not many people have contacted him these past few days, there have still been five or six, which adds up to more than twenty yuan, not a small amount.

"I wanted to ask, please don't take it personally, is your dad going to live here permanently?"

"These two are connected, which is quite inconvenient."

He Yuzhu understood what Qin Jingru meant and immediately responded.

"Don't worry about that. My dad just got back to Beijing and is already looking for work. He's better at his craft than me, so he'll find a job in a few days."

"He'll move over there then, but this house will still be mine. There's also a side room next door, where my sister lives now."

“My sister will get married and move out after National Day. My dad will stay in that room when he comes back occasionally.”

Qin Jingru was relieved to hear this, and it was no wonder she was overthinking things.

In this day and age, housing resources are scarce, and three generations living together is really common.

But what she wanted was a home of her own; she didn't want to live in the same courtyard as her in-laws, brother-in-law, or other relatives.

Inside the courtyard, Xu Damao listened to the conversation and became increasingly anxious.

That joke is spot on; these two really do hit it off. They've already started talking about houses, so the next step is probably getting engaged.

He couldn't wait any longer; if it dragged on, things would get complicated.

He couldn't bear to watch He Yuzhu marry such a beautiful wife, especially since he had also taken a liking to Qin Jingru.

Just then, he heard someone inside calling that it was time to cook, so he hurriedly ran back to his own home.

Back in the house, he started pacing around trying to figure out how to mess things up and get Qin Jingru under his control.

Just then, he saw Banggeng go to the vegetable cellar in the backyard to get cabbage, and he waved to him.

Banggeng got two yuan from Xu Damao today and was feeling pretty good about it, so he didn't avoid him when Xu Damao greeted him.

"What's up?"

Xu Damao walked up to him and whispered a few words in his ear. Bang Geng then reached out his hand.

"five yuan."

Xu Damao stared wide-eyed at Banggeng.

"You little thief, you're trying to extort me!"

Bang Geng said with an indifferent expression.

"Fine, if you won't give it to me, then I'm leaving."

Xu Damao snorted.

“You think I can’t live without you? I’ll go squat here myself, I don’t believe she won’t come out.”

Banggeng turned around and laughed.

"Waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump, that's a good idea."

"But if I go back and tell the rabbit now, do you think you'll still be alive?"

Waiting? Waiting for what? If he told the rabbit, he'd not only not get to see the rabbit, but he might also get a beating.

"Bang Geng, you're threatening me, aren't you?"

Bang Gengdao.

"Oh, this is hardly a threat; we're cooperating."

Xu Damao gritted his teeth and said.

"make a deal!"

As he spoke, Xu Damao took out five yuan from his pocket and handed it to Banggeng.

"Remember to notify me immediately!"