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

Niu Chengqun stubbornly retorted, "It's not that I'm incompetent! It's that the girls ran away as soon as they found out about our family."

When her son brought this up, Qin Xueru was speechless.

"Your dad's mess. When he comes back, tell him that you're already in your mid-twenties and still can't find a girlfriend. It just shows you're incompetent."

"Mom, let's be reasonable, okay? None of us brothers have found a partner. We're all just held back by our families."

"How come Cheng Run and Cheng Ze both found girlfriends?"

"My goodness! What position do other people's mothers hold? What kind of cadres are their maternal grandfathers and uncles? Can our family compare with them!"

"If I had such a powerful maternal aunt's family as my backing, I would have settled my marriage long ago."

Niu Dazhuang, unable to bear it any longer standing at the gate, coughed lightly and walked in.

He thought to himself, "I'm all the rage outside, but I'm being looked down upon in my own backyard. So what if I have a lot of women? That's because I'm capable."

"You good-for-nothing son, you can't even handle a girl, and you still have the nerve to complain about your parents."

Niu Chengqun, being straightforward, said, "Dad, you're back. I'm not complaining about Mom, I'm complaining about you! Bringing so many stepmothers back for me, what decent girl wouldn't be horrified!"

Niu Dazhuang wasn't angry at all, his back ramrod straight: "Finding you so many stepmothers is something I'm extremely proud of. There's nothing shameful about it. If you had even a tenth of my ability, you wouldn't have trouble finding a wife! You're the one who's stupid, so just say so, and don't blame me."

Niu Chengqun chuckled sheepishly: "You call me an idiot? Well, you're my dad, so what are you?!"

Niu Da lifted his leg to slip on his slippers... By the time he had his own leather shoes in his hand, his eldest son had already run out the door.

"You good-for-nothing, you haven't learned anything good, but you've learned to insult me ​​indirectly."

Qin Xueru went even further: "What kind of father, what kind of son? Who else could it be!"

"He seemed like such a steady and reliable child when he was little, how did he turn out so badly!"

"Get lost! You're the one who's gone astray. What's wrong with my eldest son? He's not ugly either, tall and slender, much better than you." Qin Xueru didn't like hearing Niu Dazhuang's words.

"After the Lunar New Year, I'll send all my kids over 18 to Hong Kong Island to broaden their horizons. We also have a family business there, so they can start from the bottom."

"You've got to be kidding me. I couldn't bear to part with them. Putting everything else aside, they wouldn't understand that Southern accent. If they went to Hong Kong, they'd be waiting to be bullied."

"You're so capable, why don't you open a factory in China and let your kids train there? Wouldn't that be the same?"

Qin Xueru vaguely knew the general situation. For the past ten years or so, her husband had been traveling back and forth between two places, and Niu Dazhuang had also told her that his family had made a lot of money.

Every year before leaving for Hong Kong Island, she would send money home in the tens of thousands. Qin Xueru's own savings amounted to six figures.

With so much money, I worry about hiding it all the time. In the summer, I even have to take it out to air it in the sun, afraid it will get moldy or be eaten by rats.

Deposit it in the bank? That won't do; it wouldn't be good if outsiders found out.

"That will take time. Building a factory is not that easy. Look at the Yannan Petrochemical Plant on the roof. It took four or five years to build."

"Dazhuang, you said last time you came back that the Yannan Petrochemical Plant was donated by our family, is that true? I even went to check it out!"

"It's as big as Changping County! Do we really have that much money?"

"Aren't you heartbroken?"

"Of course I feel sorry for them. If these were our own children, they would have a job."

Now, there are so many educated youth returning from the countryside; it's incredibly difficult to find jobs for their children.

"Haha, why don't you say that this money, left to the children, is enough for them to live on for generations?"

"How can that be? Let's not talk about the distant past, just look at those Manchu bannermen in the past. They relied on their iron stalks and crops, didn't work, and spent their days raising birds in cages. What future could they have? I understand this principle."

As the two were talking, Ningru and Yueru, who lived in the backyard, came over. The youngest child of the sisters was Meiru's daughter, Hexiang, born in 74, who was starting elementary school this year.

The sisters, now free from the burden of children, have finally found some peace and quiet. With so many sisters, they have even more children; the youngest has two, while Meiru, Xiuru, and Xueru all have three.

Xiuru's first two pregnancies were both daughters, and she insisted on having a son, which is why she had her third child.

Xue Ru had two sons and wanted a daughter.

Meiru was different; she was simply the prettiest and most sensible among the sisters, and Niu Dazhuang's favorite. Naturally, he had to take extra care of her.

As her name suggests, while Qin Huairu is charming, Meiru is even more charming than Qin Huairu.

Besides Qin Huairu, there are six sisters. Three of them had two children, making six in total. Three of them had three children, making nine in total. Adding Huaihua, Qin Huairu's daughter, makes 16 of Niu Dazhuang's biological children. And then there's Xiaodang, making 17 children in total.

Qin Huairu continued working, while Huaihua and Xiaodang grew up with their aunts. After they all returned in 74, only Ningru and Yueru went back to their original jobs, while the remaining sisters stayed home to take care of the children.

Jingru is the youngest, 32 this year. Meiru is 34. Xiuru is 36. They are at the peak of their womanhood.

She was also the person Niu Dazhuang took special care of every time he came back. The three sisters and Huai Ru lived in another two-courtyard house in the same alley.

Why didn't you two go to work today?

"It's Sunday today. What kind of work are we on? You're back just in time. I found out there's a large courtyard house with three courtyards for sale in Nanchizi. The price isn't too high. Lao Ba said it's too close to the Forbidden City, and we ordinary people can't afford it, so we don't want to buy it."

"Yueru, don't worry. I think this Shajing Hutong is pretty good. Let's wait a while, and I'll get the government to step in and we can buy the whole hutong. That way, you won't have to buy one place in the north and two places in the east."

"Wow, you have such great skills! Why didn't you use them before!"

"The time is not right. Ten years ago I had the money to buy the whole alley. What era was that? Could I have bought it?"

Timing is everything. Chengzhi, the second son, is twenty this year, right? Has he found a girlfriend yet?

"It's rare that you even know Xiao Zhi is twenty this year. Although we didn't have the same mother, we're about the same age. Xiao Zhi said that his older brother isn't married yet, so he's not in a hurry."

"Ugh! They're all a bunch of cowards. If they had even a tenth of my skills, they wouldn't have trouble finding a wife."

"You've really gone too far! It's all because of you that you've had too many women, almost depleting the Niu family's good fortune in marriage. That's why the children are having trouble finding partners." Yue Ru has always been straightforward and outspoken.

"Did you go to have your child's fortune told again? Don't worry, everyone."

"Let's wait another three years, until the policies are clear. Then we can show off a little wealth, and matchmakers will be lining up to find partners for your son!"