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

"Xiuru, Meiru, please have some more!" Qin Ningru asked politely.

"Ninth Sister, we've already eaten, you guys go ahead and eat."

Since they were all family, Xiuru and Meiru didn't leave either, but chatted casually with Ningru in the outer room.

The two young ladies had never been to Beijing, and they were particularly interested in what Ningru was saying about what had happened there.

After breakfast, Qin Laowu returned with a dark face, glaring at his two daughters: "What are you still standing here for? Go back and help your mother with the chores."

Everyone knew he was taking his anger out on his daughter. Xiuru, being a grown woman, frowned, tossed her two long braids behind her, and stormed off.

Meiru, however, was not afraid of her father: "It's the New Year, and there's not much work to do at home. I want to play with Ninth Sister for a while."

Qin Laowu said angrily, "Go play by yourself, and don't bother coming home for dinner!" With that, he put his hands behind his back and stormed off.

Qin Meiru is sixteen years old this year, which, in modern terms, is the prime of her rebellious phase. The little flower is about to bloom.

The body curves are just beginning to take shape.

No matter how Qin Laowu schemed, all three daughters still went to school. The two eldest sisters graduated from elementary school, so at least they weren't blind.

"Meiru, Fifth Uncle wants you to go back. Aren't you afraid of getting a beating tonight if you don't go back?" Ningru asked deliberately.

"Hehe, he hit me and I ran away. My dad is just a paper tiger, all he does is have a loud voice. My mom is the one who really hits."

"What a clever little devil! Do you want to go to Beijing? If you go to Beijing, you won't be allowed to come home even once a year. Don't you miss your parents?"

Qin Meiru tilted her head and thought for a moment: "I can't imagine what it feels like to miss my parents. My dad said that if I went to live in Beijing, I wouldn't go hungry and I could eat dry food every meal. I wouldn't have to work in the fields."

The most important thing is to stay away from that brat Jingru. Ninth Sister, you have no idea how infuriating Jingru has been these past two years…”

The two sisters chatted happily.

Before they knew it, it was the morning of the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. Yue Ru pushed her bicycle over to find Ning Ru, and the two sisters went back to the city together.

Back in the city, it was all downhill, and it was just past noon when the two of them arrived at Qin Huairu's place.

During the Lunar New Year, most of the women stay here; the small, detached courtyard is very convenient.

Among the four sisters, Qin Huairu, who had always been the strongest, started complaining when she saw them return.

"If you two had come back two days later, Lao Ba and I would have been crippled. Hurry up and eat, I'm going back to my room to lie down for a while."

"The culprit isn't home!" Qin Yueru asked.

"I ate at home and then went out to hunt some wild game. Ningru, you watch the kids for a bit, I need to go back to sleep too." This was Qin Xueru.

Adults can make do with their food, but Xiao Dang and Qi Jin can't, no matter how late they stay up at night.

I have to feed the kids on time the next morning. Now that both little ones can run around, they can easily bump into things if I'm not careful.

I'm exhausted from being tormented by Dazhuang at night, and I still have to look after the kids during the day!

Ningru looked after the child while Yueru cooked. The two sisters worked together seamlessly, and a hot meal was ready in less than half an hour.

The food was laid out in the outer room. This woke Huai Ru and Xue Ru, who were taking a nap.

At the dinner table, Yue Ru and Ning Ru recounted what had happened at their parents' home. Ultimately, it was Xue Ru who made the decisions.

The three sisters all looked at Qin Xueru.

Out of respect, Qin Xueru still asked Qin Huairu, "Third sister, what do you think?"

"Well... everyone knows what kind of person our family is. Since Xiuru is coming, she'll most likely be staying at my place..." Qin Huairu stopped mid-sentence.

"It's not that I lack tolerance; it all depends on whether our man back then had the ability to support so many people."

"Sister, you don't know yet, do you? Last December, Brother Da Niu delivered a donkey cartload of cornmeal to the village. I heard it weighed over a thousand jin."

"Why don't we just find Xiuru a respectable family to marry into? No matter how many sisters we have, Dazhuang can't break up with women outside anyway."

"Hey! Seventh Brother, it's not as simple as you think. Introducing Xiuru to a worker would be much better for her than marrying into a rural family. But people are afraid of comparisons." Qin Xueru said helplessly.

"Old Eight, you're right. Xiuru married into the city, and we were the ones who brought them together. We're her family, so we'll definitely have to keep in touch."

"She's not one of our own people. If we associate with her too much, she'll definitely find out. And Lao Shi isn't very discreet. Isn't this just creating trouble for us?" Yue Ru understood immediately. She could even apply what she learned to other situations.

"This is really a troublesome matter!" Qin Huairu was also worried.

"Look at Fifth Uncle's posture, he wants Xiuru and Meiru to come together. If these two sisters are dealt with, then there's Jingru coming next."

"Sister, now that's great, all seven of us sisters are still family," Xue Ru said carefree.

"Let's not worry about it. Let Dazhuang decide when he gets back tonight. Doesn't he know how much money he can earn?"

Niu Dazhuang didn't come back that night; instead, he and Su Ting waited outside the obstetrics and gynecology department for Su Wan to give birth.

This child is quite destined to be with Niu Dazhuang. According to Su Wan's plan, she didn't intend to disturb Niu Dazhuang about giving birth. It wasn't her first time giving birth, and she had her younger sister by her side. Her due date was this month, but she didn't expect it to be so early.

On his last day of rest, Niu Dazhuang came to visit Su Wan, who was about to give birth, and also to comfort Su Ting. He had been on vacation for seven or eight days, but he hadn't had a single moment of fun.

Living in a tenement building is better than living in a large courtyard house. Tenement buildings offer much more privacy during the Lunar New Year than large courtyard houses.

It's even more inconvenient for Xiao Qinling to stay at home every day.

Since a real relationship can't happen, the only thing that can be rewarded is with a moral compass.

Su Wan was laughing happily when suddenly her stomach started to hurt...

Generally, babies born earlier than their due date are boys, while those born later are girls. Sure enough, the nurse said that both mother and baby were healthy when she brought the baby out.

They spent the night at the hospital. On the morning of the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Niu Dazhuang finally used a tricycle to take his mother and her two children back to the courtyard house.

Well, when the neighbors saw that Su Wan had given birth, none of her husbands had returned, and it was Niu Dazhuang who managed to bring them back.

People who like to gossip start talking about it.

"This Niu Dazhuang is too good at sucking up to the leaders. He has no backbone at all. He even tries to curry favor with the leaders when it comes to things like the leader having a baby."

"Aunt Qi, Sister Su has been living in our courtyard for a while now, haven't you seen her husband come back?" Aunt Qi was quite shrewd.

"Oh my, you're right! You mean the child isn't Su Wan's husband's?"

"You said it yourself, I didn't say that."

"His third auntie isn't lying. If this gets to Niu Dazhuang's ears, tsk tsk..."

"It wasn't me who said it, it was Aunt Qi who said it!"