Courtyard houses: Those who are capable are rewarded, and many children bring many blessings.

Milan stammered, "I...I don't know anything!"

"Hey, this is my fault too. I thought you were still young and wanted to wait a few years before talking to you about these things. Who knew you would be ruined by that bad boy so early?"

I'm not senile yet. I know that if I force your dad to take you there now, you'll definitely resent me. Let's make a gentleman's agreement, okay?

"Grandma, you tell me."

"Didn't you say you wanted to wait until you got your high school diploma? If you count the days, there are still six or seven months left. I won't take care of you during this time. Just take good care of yourself. If you get your high school diploma, no matter what excuse he uses to delay marrying you, you can go find your parents."

Milan was surprised that her grandmother was so open-minded. She had no choice but to agree to the condition she was asked. She couldn't very well say that Niu Dazhuang already had a wife!

Milan was secretly regretting how he had let him succeed so easily.

He nodded in agreement.

"Tell me, what happened back then?"

"Grandma, why are you asking this? It's embarrassing."

"What's there to be shy about? Let me see if this naughty boy is a greenhorn or...

"This must be his first time too!"

"Impossible, my neighbor Aunt Liu told me."

"Since you already know, why are you asking!"

"Silly girl, you still don't share my views. What kind of spell has he cast on you? Forget it, I won't say anything more. If you had half the shrewdness of your grandmother back then, our family wouldn't be in this predicament now. Forget it, I won't say anything more."

"Come here, I'll tell you how we women protect ourselves." The old lady gave her instructions. Milan nodded repeatedly.

"Grandma, this kind of situation you described doesn't seem to have happened to him!"

"How could that be? He's made of iron!"

"Seriously, he's definitely not made of iron; I think he's more like a blacksmith..."

The old lady didn't know what to say anymore.

"Sigh! That's really strange. Keep an eye on things. That's all I have to say. I'm leaving now. Your brother is coming home for lunch. Take care of yourself too."

Having finally overcome the hurdle, Milan sprawled on the bed, exclaiming, "My goodness! I need him to treat me to hot pot to calm my nerves!" Milan stared at the ceiling, planning for the wonderful days to come.

Niu Dazhuang wasn't idle either; he was using his scissors to help Ye Chunlan tidy her long hair...

"You used to really like me like this, why have you changed your tastes today?"

"Hehe, it used to be all about natural beauty, but now I want to see it arranged in an orderly fashion! Let's keep it like this from now on, and remember to trim it when it grows longer!"

"No way! Whatever you like, come and make it yourself! Hurry up, it's freezing cold."

Niu Dazhuang put the scissors away and didn't forget to give them a kiss.

Ye Chunmei was in another room, pacing anxiously. The little guy had just woken up and wouldn't go back to sleep no matter how she tried to coax him.

There was no other way but to switch between them...

Ever since Niu Dazhuang upgraded his combat mode, Ye Chunlan, who was the strongest among the dozen or so women, rolled her eyes in just half an hour.

After putting on a coat, Niu Dazhuang went to the west room with a clanging sound.

"Hurry up and get on the kang (heated brick bed) to warm up. You're such a grown-up, you don't know how to take care of yourself at all." Ye Chunmei said, quickly pulling the quilt away.

Niu Dazhuang crawled into bed and started teasing Ye Lin'an. The little guy was already ten months old. He could climb up very quickly and before you knew it, he had climbed to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

Xiao Lin'an was very shy around this cheap father, and it didn't take long for him to be amused and made to cry.

Ye Chunmei quickly hugged him: "You, as a father, don't even come once a week. When you do come, you just tease us, oh... oh, let's not cry, or we'll hurt Daddy."

Ye Chunmei took Xiao Lin'an's hand and used it to hit Niu Dazhuang.

Niu Dazhuang pretended to be wincing in pain, while Xiao Lin'an, with tears still on her face, smiled again.

Ye Chunmei put the little guy down, found him a tiger-head pillow, and let him play by himself.

Niu Dazhuang lifted the blanket, gesturing for Ye Chunmei to come in.

"No, Xiao An is old enough to understand. We can't keep making a fuss in front of him." Despite saying that, she still crawled into bed.

However, he still kept his back to Niu Dazhuang and faced Xiao Lin'an, afraid that Xiao Lin'an would fall.

"Um……"

"You're getting more and more impressive, taking care of my sister so quickly, oh..."

Little Lin An was attracted by her mother's voice and quickly crawled over to grab Ye Chunmei's face with her little hands.

"Forget it, come over after Xiao An takes a nap at noon."

The little guy was too noisy, so Niu Dazhuang had no choice but to go back to the east room with a lot of clattering.

After lunch, Ye Chunmei finally managed to coax Xiao Lin'an to sleep. Before Niu Dazhuang could come over, Ye Chunmei, her clothes open and trembling, went over...

At 3:10 p.m., Niu Dazhuang finally left the Ye family home, satisfied, and went to the old man's house in the alley behind the house.

Since it was Sunday, the old man was playing chess with a group of neighboring old men at the door.

Someone with good eyesight said, "Old Niu, your nephew has come to visit again. What's a nice meal for him tonight?"

"That brat, he's not here to see me, he's just trying to steal my good cigarettes again." Even though he said that, Niu Dazhuang couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

"Look how pleased you are with yourself. But your nephew is indeed more filial than most sons; he comes to visit you every now and then."

My two good-for-nothing sons, after getting married, only come back to see their father during holidays; I hardly ever see them otherwise.

"That's stingy. If the kids come for the holiday and you still make them eat only cornbread, of course they won't want to come!"

"It's good enough to have something to eat. When we were kids, let alone food, we weren't even sure if we'd see the sun rise tomorrow after we went to bed tonight..."

"Absolutely! The weather's about to freeze, and that means hard times for us ordinary folks are coming. Every winter when it snows, you see, people are sure to freeze to death the next morning..."

Niu Dazhuang walked over and said, "Hello, sir/madam, uncles and grandpas!"

"Why did you come over here by yourself? You didn't even offer to bring my little grandson over so I could see him!"

"Hehe, I forgot, this kid is quite mischievous, I didn't want to bring him here alone!" With that, the father and son went home.

"Oh! There's an older lady here too?"

"It's no good for a bunch of old men to live together. Look, I've only been away for a few days, and your uncle has made a complete mess of the house."

"Yes, ma'am, why don't you just move in with us? If you're hesitant, I'll talk to those two brothers. I'll even let my uncle marry you like a young woman!"

That one sentence made Aunt Zhao laugh. She chuckled and said, "You silly child, you have no manners, even teasing me."

"You're wronging me. No, it's not true. If you're worried that if you marry into the family, those two brothers won't take care of you in your old age, I will."