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

"Since you can't sit still, why don't you start with a food processing plant? A few people, take it slow. In a few years, the hiring of domestic workers should be liberalized, and by then you'll have accumulated enough experience. Then you can expand the scale..."

On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Niu family got busy preparing for the Little New Year. The whole family was celebrating together.

Two large pots were set up in the yard, one for steaming buns and the other for stewing meat...

There were also a few small pots, one for frying dough sticks and the other for frying ribbonfish. Sister Qin's youngest child was born in 71 and is now thirteen years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning).

Everyone in Niujia Hutong was happy and bustling with activity.

In a small courtyard on Dongsantiao Street inside Dongzhimen—

"Can't we wait until Chinese New Year to go back?" Linlin asked, dissatisfied.

"Didn't we agree last night that we'd go home early today?"

"I'm not saying Jiajia's grandma is bad. Although she doesn't explicitly pressure me to have a baby, every word she says sounds like she's urging me to. She might as well just say it directly."

"That's because you're feeling guilty. At least in our family, we haven't favored boys over girls, especially during the child-rearing phase. It's not that we're not having children anymore, we just want to wait another year or two. What, do you not want to have children anymore?"

"I don't care anymore."

"Then starting tonight, you won't need to use contraception anymore, and I don't like carrying a condom either."

"Now I'm asking you, can you go back for the New Year? Stop giving me that nonsense."

"It would be so nice to go back; there would be plenty of food and drink ready for us."

"Why aren't you happy about cooking for us, mother and child?"

"My dear aunt, please stop talking nonsense. Since we got married, you used to cook a few meals at first, but I learned how. Have you ever been in the kitchen? Anyway, let's not talk about this. I've been idle for two or three years and I want to find something to do."

"Then I'll go with you."

Niu Chengqun thought to himself, "I'm going out to do some work, but mainly I want to get some peace and quiet. We've been married for three years now, and the initial excitement has long since worn off."

When they first got married, the two of them would close the gate to their small courtyard and often stay indoors for three to five days at a time. Neither of them worked, and their families gave them money. If they ran out of food outside the house, they would go to the market together to buy enough groceries for several days.

They want to stay together as long as they can when they go to the toilet.

When Linlin was pregnant, she didn't exercise for more than three months after finding out she was pregnant, and she also rested for a few days when she was about to give birth.

They replied to each other right after the postpartum period ended...

Excluding pregnancy and postpartum period, it was only eleven months in total. Linlin's interest remained undiminished, while Niu Chengqun lost his initial impulse.

Even the most beautiful woman loses her novelty after three years of being together every day. Niu Chengqun is slowly beginning to understand his father.

Although it's not like when we first got married, where we worked several times a day, at most we'd have to work overtime every other day.

In the past three years, Niu Chengqun has almost lost all his social connections. He has stopped hanging out with his coworkers and friends.

"What are you thinking about?" Linlin asked, noticing that he was lost in thought.

"We need to earn our own money in the future; we can't just wait to take over my dad's job now!"

"I didn't stop you, but I'm not going to stay home by myself. If you don't want to take me with you, then I'll go back to my old workplace by myself."

"What, you want to make movies again?"

"I was in it to become famous back then, but I don't need that anymore. Why would I still make movies? I'd much rather be a nurse than an actor."

"Being a doctor is not bad, at least family members don't have to go to the hospital when they have minor illnesses."

"You're mistaken. A doctor can't heal himself. Doctors generally can't cure their own family members."

"Dress Jiajia up, and we're leaving."

"So all that talk was for nothing."

"We haven't lived at home for a year. If we go back a few days early, I have something to discuss with Dad tonight."

"Not going out to play cards?"

"Not going out to play cards anymore, sigh! I wonder how Cheng Zhi and Cheng Rui are doing. Those two lads have forgotten about their older brother ever since they went to Hong Kong."

If I don't work harder, I don't know how far these two kids will fall behind. By then, they'll be older and more important, and if I don't perform well, well…”

"Then let's hurry up and go." After Niu Chengqun said that, Linlin stopped being coy. This was not a matter of 30,000 to 50,000.

Niu Chengqun drives a Jeep 212. Unlike his father, who still rides that beat-up old bicycle.

He wasn't the only one who owned a car.

Not to mention others, Guan Xiaoma owns a fully imported Mercedes-Benz. Her father went to great lengths to get the car into the yard, not only moving Guan Xiaoma's yard to this one facing the street.

They even renovated and expanded the main gate. Niu Chengqun drove his 212 back, and the car was parked in this yard.

Among all the stepmothers Linlin had, she didn't want to run into this Guan stepmother. Not only was she younger than her, but they were also quite different in terms of upbringing. No matter how young Guan was, Linlin would still have to call her "stepmother" when they met.

As for Guan Jiahui, she felt that she was about the same age as Linlin, so whenever Linlin came back, she would always hold Linlin's arm and talk to her.

The cars are all parked in this yard, so we definitely need to meet the person.

Xiao Guan took the little girl from Linlin's arms: "Wow! Linlin, doesn't this little girl mean she'll call me 'Grandma'?"

"Absolutely. Aunt Guan, you're a young radish that's grown up in the grand scheme of things!"

"You eldest son, you said I loved hearing that!"

One sentence from him left the cows speechless. Linlin suppressed a laugh, thinking to herself, "Serves you right for being so cheeky."

"Where is Jiajia's grandpa?"

"You mean my godfather?" Xiao Guan was still a little unaccustomed to this way of addressing him and wasn't sure.

"right!"

"He thought the house was messy, so he went out. He probably won't be back tonight. Let's go to your mother's courtyard." Xiao Guan carried the little girl, and the three of them went over together.

When Qin Xueru saw that her eldest son's family had returned, she happily took the child from her: "Meiru, you and Qijin go and tidy up the room where they will be staying tonight, and heat up the kang (heated brick bed)."

"Auntie, you go ahead with your work, I can go by myself."

"I'm going with my older brother too..." The younger siblings who were playing at home also went along.

After finishing his own tasks, Niu Chengqun was assigned to deliver some freshly steamed buns, fried ribbonfish, and fried dough sticks to the old man...

When it was time for dinner, Niu Dazhuang came back, staggering along.

Everyone had a happy dinner together. Just as Niu Dazhuang was about to leave, his son stopped him.

"Dad, I've been resting for two or three years now, and I want to get back to work."

"It's good that you want to get things done. I'm planning to build a five-star hotel next year, so you can start working on it from scratch. My friends from Hong Kong Island are coming over in a few days, so you can work with me. It's also time to introduce you to them."

"Oh, now that a five-star hotel is being built, are there any guests staying there?"

"From drawing up the blueprints to completion, at the current work efficiency, it will take at least two or three years..."