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

He bought a house for the three brothers and, taking advantage of the good harvest, helped them find wives, thus fulfilling one of Niu Dazhuang's wishes.

Through this experience, Niu Dazhuang finally understood why landlords in the past would take advantage of famine years to build houses and buy land.

This year was a disaster for ordinary people, but a rare good year for landlords, rich people, and capitalists.

In the past, even if you had money, it wasn't so easy to buy a suitable courtyard house. Otherwise, Niu Dazhuang would still have Qin Huairu and her sisters living in a rented courtyard house.

There's also the two-courtyard siheyuan that Pian'erye bought, which Xu Huizhen and Chen Xueru bought. If it weren't for the famine, Pian'erye certainly wouldn't have sold his family business so easily.

For families like Niu Dazhuang's, which had both grain and money, getting a wife was much easier; perhaps a bag of cornmeal was enough to bring a wife home.

"Brother Da Niu, I'm so envious of how good you are to Da Xiong and the others!" Niu Da Zhuang didn't hide anything from the sisters and told them as soon as he got back.

"Dazhuang, have you lost your mind? We're still renting a place, and you bought each of the three brothers a yard. You're really generous." Qin Yueru always spoke so bluntly.

"Hey, I thought you guys would praise me for being kind and righteous after I told you, but instead I got a bunch of complaints. I should have known better than to tell you."

"Dazhuang, now that there are seven or eight of us living in this small courtyard, it does feel a bit cramped."

"I know all of this. I was thinking of buying a yard here two years ago, but I haven't found a suitable one yet."

Then I thought about it, and realized that buying such a small courtyard house wouldn't be appropriate with so many people living there. Buying a large courtyard house would be too conspicuous.

"Wouldn't it be more conspicuous to buy a yard for the three brothers then?"

"This money was given to me by their grandmaster; it's of impeccable quality. Do you understand?"

After Niu Dazhuang said that, the sisters fell silent.

Everyone can read and do math. How much money do you sisters save in a month? Your family suddenly bought a big courtyard. Where did all that money come from?

If you treat people like fools, then you're the biggest fool of all.

"If you want to live in a spacious place, that's fine too. I'm building a house back in my hometown. Once it's finished, why don't you all go back and live there?"

"I finally made it all the way from the countryside to Beijing, and now that I have a job, I'm not going back," Qin Yueru stated first.

"I can't bear to part with Brother Da Niu! I'm not going back."

"Just kidding, but I have to go back and check on it. See how our big courtyard is coming along."

"You really want to go back to live there?" Xue Ru was a little confused when she heard that he had actually built a house in his hometown.

"It's better to be prepared! At least we'll have a place to stay when we go back!"

"Dazhuang, your Niujiazhuang is only three miles from Qinjiawa!" Qin Huairu reminded him.

"It's not you guys. I have other plans, so I won't tell you. I'm going to work a few shifts and then go back to my hometown for a few days."

Seeing that Niu Dazhuang was unhappy, the sisters all shut up.

At the end of August, Niu Dazhuang first went to the outskirts of Changping East City and bought a courtyard at the foot of the mountain for 600 yuan.

I gave ten pounds of cornmeal to the nearest neighbor and asked him to keep an eye on things and clean up the place while he was at it.

Old houses, if no one takes care of them, will collapse in a few years.

Upon reaching the village entrance, a bag of mixed flour and a piece of cured meat appeared on the back of the bicycle. Chen Xia's house was right at the village entrance.

He reached his arm through the crack in the gate, took out the key hanging behind him, and opened the gate to enter the yard.

I put the things in the kitchen first, just in case Chen Xia was home. If I had known she wasn't home, I wouldn't have gone through all this trouble.

They filled all the grain containers in the kitchen to the brim.

I glanced at my watch; it should be almost time to finish work. I washed my hands and kneaded the dough. The kneaded dough was placed in the porcelain basin to rest.

Then, from the courtyard next door, where Ye Chunmei used to live, he cut a bunch of scallions (now Chen Xia had turned that courtyard into a small vegetable garden).

I picked a white radish. I washed it clean, cut it into pieces, and blanched it in boiling water.

Take a piece of roe deer meat from the wok and cut it into chunks. Heat a spoonful of oil in a wok until it smokes, then add two small red chilies, followed by chopped scallions. Sizzle, then add the roe deer meat and stir-fry briefly. Add water and bring to a boil over high heat.

Remove the two large pieces of firewood and turn the heat down to a simmer. They don't usually have many spices at home, let alone soy sauce; they just have some red chili peppers and salt. Chen Xia also has some white liquor at home.

Add the salt and white wine, then cover the pot. Take a fire poker from the stove and light one for yourself.

"My dear man, you're finally back! I thought you'd forgotten about me." Chen Xia had eaten a big meal and gone home to rest.

Come sit next to me.

"There must be meat stewing in that big pot, it smells so good! Stop messing around, you didn't even send a letter beforehand so I could prepare." With that, she turned and walked out.

"Where are you going?" Niu Dazhuang asked, puzzled.

"I need to take a half-day off!"

"Please take a day off, and also take tomorrow morning off."

"Oh my god, I know!" Chen Xia wiggled her big buttocks and went to ask for leave with a bright smile.

When Chen Xia returned, the two went inside. While she was unconscious, Niu Dazhuang, wearing only his shorts, put radish chunks into the pot.

Then, I made three large pancakes from the risen dough.

More than half an hour had passed, and Chen Xia, wearing an overcoat, leaned against the door frame, watching her husband busy in the yard.

People only truly cherish what they have lost and are easily satisfied when they regain it.

The food cooked in a large pot wasn't very oily, and after all that exercise, I was already feeling hungry.

When you're full, you think about sex; when you're hungry, you have no such thoughts.

A large bowl of stewed roe deer meat with radish chunks was placed on the kang table, along with half a jin of baijiu (Chinese liquor).

This is a wonderful life.

Chen Xia also drank quite a bit. When they first started eating, they sat on opposite sides, but as they drank, they ended up drinking together.

"Hiss... My little man, you've been gone for 153 days. I'm going crazy missing you if you don't come back soon."

"Come on, let's have another drink! I understand. I'll try to come back more often in the future. It's not that I don't want to bring you to the city too. It's just that back home, I need someone who can look after things for me."

"I don't have any extravagant hopes. I'd be content if you could come back and visit me. If there's anything going wrong at home, I'll send you a letter."

"Hmm, do you still have the envelope I left last time?"

"I'm here. Although I can't read, I can still send a letter. Be gentle... no, I won't drink anymore..."

The wisdom passed down from our ancestors teaches us that we can't completely trust anyone. Human nature is the most unreliable thing, and it's also the most vulnerable to temptation.

When they arrived at work in the afternoon and found that Chen Xia hadn't come, they found out that she had taken leave. The women in the village then knew that Niu Dazhuang had returned.

Some were envious, while others were sour.