Courtyard House: Starting by inheriting the tradition and suppressing the barbarians.

Spring came exceptionally late in 1961, and the sudden cold snap made people shiver.

But this did not dampen the Yan family's enthusiasm for celebrating the wedding.

Or perhaps it was Yan Bugui's passion for amassing wealth.

His son, Yan Jiecheng, is finally getting married; the bride is Yu Li from the next street.

It was a weekend, and Yan Bugui moved the chipped octagonal table to the front yard early in the morning.

A sheet of red paper, passed down through generations, was laid on top, with an abacus and account books placed beside it.

"Third Uncle, congratulations! You've successfully gotten married!"

Congratulations! Everyone come to the wedding! Don't forget to give a wedding gift!

Yan Bugui's face lit up with a smile.

Those small eyes scanned each neighbor who entered the door.

It was as if they were estimating how much profit could be extracted from this person.

In these times when everyone is tightening their belts, weddings are really just a formality.

But Yan Bugui didn't think so.

He was very shrewd in his calculations, thinking:

People usually give a lot as a wedding gift, and this time it certainly won't be any less.

As for the banquet... hehe, since everyone's broke anyway, we can just throw something together and make a profit on the difference.

This is no celebration, it's blatant looting!

Around noon, the bride was brought back.

Yu Li was wearing a borrowed red cotton-padded jacket.

Although he wasn't wearing makeup, his face was fair and handsome, and he had a tall figure.

He stood out conspicuously among the sallow-faced and emaciated crowd.

"Yan Jiecheng is incredibly lucky to have married such a beautiful wife!"

Sha Zhu squatted in the corner and said sourly.

He's single now and envious of everyone who gets married.

The wedding banquet has begun.

Each table had a large bowl of clear soup with a few rotten vegetable leaves floating on top.

A plate of pickled vegetable shreds cut as thin as cicada wings.

Each person also received two steamed buns mixed with a large amount of rice bran.

This is the wedding banquet that Yan Bugui prepared!

Not a single speck of oil can be seen!

"This...this is wedding banquet?"

The neighbors looked at the things on the table and their faces turned green.

"Old Yan, aren't you being way too stingy?"

"We did give a gift!"

"Exactly! I gave you 50 cents! And this is what you give me?"

Jia Zhangshi slammed her chopsticks down and shouted, "I'm not eating! Give me my money back!"

"Give me back my two cents!"

Yan Bugui adjusted his glasses, looking completely self-righteous.

"What's all the noise about! What time is it now? These are difficult times! The country is calling for thrift!"

"You're lucky you even have anything to eat, do you really want to eat dragon meat?"

"Besides, these pickled vegetables are three years old; they're very precious!"

Just when everyone was complaining.

Li Xuan pushed the cart, leading his mother and sister out of the backyard.

Today, Li Xuan was dressed in a clean Zhongshan suit, with an upright posture and extraordinary demeanor.

He was carrying a small net bag.

"Oh, Director Li is here!"

"Xiao Xuan is here!"

All eyes immediately turned to him, especially to the net in his hand.

Yan Bugui's eyes lit up, and he jumped out from behind the table, greeting her with a fawning expression.

"Oh, Xiao Xuan, you've finally arrived!"

Everyone's waiting for you!

"You are the most promising person in our department, both a director and a top scorer."

"Today is a joyous occasion, you must have prepared a generous gift for me, right?"

He had already planned it all out!

Li Xuan's family is so rich, they should at least give five yuan!

Or give me a few pounds of meat!

Li Xuan stopped and smiled faintly.

"Uncle San is right. We're neighbors, and I can't come empty-handed. I'm so glad to have you here."

As he spoke, he handed over the small net bag he was holding.

"This is my congratulatory gift for Brother Jiecheng."

Yan Bugui excitedly took the net bag, but when he looked inside, his smile instantly froze on his face.

Inside are—two eggs!

Although eggs were a precious commodity in those days.

But given Yan Bugui's "expectations" for Li Xuan, this was no different from giving a beggar a handout!

"Just two eggs?"

Yan Bugui's face darkened instantly, and his voice became sharp and sarcastic.

"Li Xuan, aren't you being incredibly stingy?"

"You earn just over a hundred a month, yet your family eats meat every day!"

"We're only going to resolve this one major issue, and you're only giving us two eggs?"

"Who are you looking down on?"

"Even with just an ordinary neighbor, you should at least give them a dollar or two, right?"

"You, a high-ranking official, have the nerve to present this?"

The neighbors thought two eggs were quite a lot.

However, it was also felt that given Li Xuan's wealth, it was indeed a bit "light".

Yu Li stood to the side, looking at Li Xuan's handsome face.

Looking at her father-in-law's greedy face, she felt a little uneasy.

Faced with the accusations, Li Xuan remained calm and his smile widened.

"Not enough?"

"Third Uncle, that's not how you do it."

"Since you insist on settling the score, let's do it properly in front of everyone!"

Li Xuan stepped forward, his aura fully unleashed, his voice booming:

"In the winter of 1956, I had just moved in when you took two large cabbages from my house under the pretext of 'helping to watch the house.'"

"Back then, cabbage cost three cents a pound, so two heads would weigh ten pounds, which was three cents."

"In the spring of 1957, you asked to borrow my bicycle to buy grain, but when you came back, the tire had burst and you couldn't fix it."

"It even scratched the paint, and I spent 50 cents to repair it."

"During the Spring Festival in 1958, you asked Jie Cheng to come to my house to borrow a bottle of soy sauce."

"The bottle still hasn't been returned. The soy sauce and the bottle together cost 45 cents."

"And the year before last..."

Li Xuan knew them all like the back of his hand, and one messy debt after another came out of his mouth.

The time, place, people, and amount are all clearly stated, down to the last detail!

These things were all "borrowed" from Yan Bugui's house when he was away.

"If you add all these odds and ends up together, you've taken advantage of my family by at least five or six yuan, haven't you?"

"Today I'm offering these two eggs; at the black market price, one is 50 cents, so two are a dollar!"

"With all these messy debts wiped clean, isn't this gift generous enough?"

"What? You want me to pay you to do it?"

"boom!"

The whole place burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Li Xuan's memory is amazing!"

"Old Yan, that cunning strategist, has finally gotten himself pecked in the eye by the goose that was hunting him all along!"

"Serves him right! He's always trying to take advantage of others!"

Yan Bugui's face turned a deep purplish-red, and he trembled all over, pointing at Li Xuan for a long time without being able to speak.

"You...you...this is uncivilized! So petty!"

"Same to you."

Li Xuan sneered, "Third Uncle, one should know when to be content."

"I gave you these two eggs because of Brother Jie Cheng."

"If you don't want it, I can take it back now, and you can pay off your previous debt while you're at it?"

"No! No! I want it!"

When Yan Bugui heard that he had to repay the money, he immediately backed down.

She quickly clutched the eggs to her chest, afraid that Li Xuan would snatch them back.

His greedy and cowardly appearance was simply unbearable to look at.

The bride, Yu Li, who had been standing silently to the side, now looked extremely grim.

She looked at her husband, Yan Jiecheng, who was so timid and never dared to say a word in defense of his father-in-law.

Then look at Li Xuan, who was so imposing and left his father-in-law speechless.

Then he glanced at the basin of "dishwater" on the table.

A deep sense of regret and grievance welled up in my heart.

"This is the family I married into? This is the shrewd Third Uncle?"

"This guy is clearly a miser! He's a joke!"

Look at Li Xuan, that's what a real man is, that's what magnanimity is!

At that moment, a seed of discontent was planted deep in Yu Li's heart.

Li Xuan shook his head as he watched the farce unfold at the Yan family's home, then turned and led his family back to the backyard.

"Mom, let's go back and cook for ourselves. We don't need to drink at this wedding banquet."

......