Courtyard House: I, the eldest son of the Jia family, have returned from the battlefield.

When Jia Dongming saw her ask this question, he remembered that the case involving Japanese spies had been completely closed, so he did not deliberately avoid the topic.

Like a storyteller, he began by recounting how he went to report to the steel mill, how he noticed something unusual, and how he followed the clues to find the source of the problem, telling each story in detail.

Lin Qiuyue listened intently, especially when she heard that enemy agents had buried a large amount of explosives in the underground of the special workshop. She couldn't help but clench her fists and secretly worry for the workers inside.

That day was a rest day, and the roller skating rink was packed with people.

Unable to rent skates, the two simply found a set of steps outside the rink to sit down, watching others speed and spin while chatting about everyday matters.

Before we knew it, the sun had risen higher and it was almost noon.

Jia Dongming turned his head and suggested with a smile, "Qiuyue, shall we go eat mutton hot pot?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Qiuyue immediately thought of the price and shook her head, "It's too expensive, Brother Dongming, just eat whatever you like."

Actually, when he left home in the morning, Jia Dongming was already thinking about what to take her to eat.

As he pedaled his bicycle, he mentally went through all the famous restaurants in Beijing today—Donglaishun and Quanjude, names that will remain renowned for decades to come.

After some hesitation, with the autumn winds starting to blow and it being the perfect time to fatten up, mutton naturally became the first choice.

Seeing that Lin Qiuyue was still hesitant, Jia Dongming laughed: "Have you forgotten how much my salary is? It's over a hundred yuan. It's no big deal to have a nice meal once in a while."

Lin Qiuyue lowered her head and did some calculations before she stopped refusing and gently sat on the back of his bicycle.

The two rode along the street toward Wangfujing.

Donglaishun was founded during the Guangxu era. Although it was less than a hundred years old at that time, it was already a well-known brand in the city.

Who would have thought that years later it would become a chain of publicly listed companies?

After parking the car, the two lifted the heavy cotton curtain and went inside.

A waiter approached with a menu, his face expressionless, and immediately asked, "How many?"

Jia Dongming was taken aback by her attitude and couldn't help but compare it to his later experience in the service industry, and couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

Looking up, you can see a sign on the wall that reads, "No hitting customers without cause."

The slogan was suddenly forgotten—these days, waiters are the real "masters."

.

He didn't dwell on it and simply replied, "Two people."

The other person led them to an empty table, slammed the menu on it, and asked in a tone as flat as water, "What do you want to eat?"

Suppressing his discomfort, Jia Dongming picked up the menu and turned to Lin Qiuyue: "What would you like to eat?"

Lin Qiuyue quickly waved her hand: "You can order whatever you want, I'll go with whatever you say."

Jia Dongming stopped being polite, glanced at the yellowed pages, and looked up to say, "Two catties of mutton, mutton shoulder, freshly sliced ​​shank, one plate each of large and small three-pronged mutton, plus a serving of cucumber strips."

The waiter quickly calculated the money, collected it, and said, "Wait here, go get it yourself when it's called."

Then he turned and left.

Seeing her stride away, Jia Dongming smiled and asked Lin Qiuyue, "Is this how it usually is at your supply and marketing cooperative's counter?"

Lin Qiuyue didn't find it strange, and smiled, "It's usually fine, but when I'm in a bad mood, it's about the same."

Apart from the copper pot with the bubbling clear broth that was brought by the waiter, all the other meat and vegetables were taken from the counter by the customers themselves.

This experience left Jia Dongming somewhat frustrated, but he could only tell himself: he had to adapt; times had changed.

After finishing their hot pot meal, the two went to see a movie.

By the time Jia Dongming took Lin Qiuyue home and returned to the courtyard house, the sun was already setting.

He pushed his cart into the front yard, but was taken aback—the usually bustling yard was now quiet and deserted.

"Isn't today a day off?"

He wondered to himself, "Why is the front yard so deserted?"

As Jia Dongming pushed his old bicycle, his mind was a jumbled mess.

The wheels made a monotonous sound as they rolled over the stone pavement. He muttered to himself as he walked through the moon gate, only to find that the central courtyard was already packed with people.

"No wonder the front yard was so quiet."

He stopped in his tracks. "So that's where it was all."

Liu Haizhong was sitting behind the square table. As soon as he saw Jia Dongming push the cart in, he immediately stood up, his face full of an almost ingratiating smile: "Director Jia, you're finally back."

"We're having a hospital-wide meeting right now, discussing the argument between Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li."

After hearing this brief explanation, Jia Dongming already understood seven or eight parts of the meaning.

He smiled and said, "Please continue hosting, gentlemen. I'll put the car back and come right away."

He pushed the cart into the side yard, but soon turned back.

Liu Haizhong, with his sharp eyes, saw him appear and turned to Yan Bugui, who was sitting opposite him, and said, "Old Yan, today's meeting is ultimately about your family's affairs. Why don't you come down and sit down, and give your seat to Director Jia?"

Yan Bugui was already seething with anger, and hearing this only fueled his rage.

Just as he was about to get up, Jia Dongming spoke first: "Second Uncle, this is not a steel rolling mill, it's the compound where we live."

Here, I'm just an ordinary resident; sitting here is perfectly fine.

As he spoke, he walked over to Qin Huairu, picked up Xiaodang from her arms, and sat down on the chair next to her.

He lowered his voice and asked, "Huai Ru, what exactly happened?"

When Qin Huairu saw Jia Dongming asking, she answered softly, "Brother Dongming, here's what happened—yesterday, Yu Li's mother was hospitalized and needed surgery, but they didn't have enough money, so Yu Li asked Yan Jiecheng for money."

Yan Jiecheng had plenty of money in his pocket but refused to take it, and didn't even go to the hospital.

Yu Li and he had a huge fight over this, and now she's demanding a divorce.

Jia Dongming already knew about Yu Li's mother's hospitalization, but he never expected Yan Jiecheng to be so heartless.

It's already wrong of him to refuse to pay for his mother-in-law's medical treatment, but he won't even show his face.

Yu Li's life is truly miserable for marrying such a person.

He then asked, "But this is a matter between the couple; why is the whole hospital suddenly holding a meeting?"

Qin Huairu couldn't help but laugh when she recalled Liu Haizhong's pretentious manner: "When the two of them were arguing, their second uncle happened to come back and saw them."

Upon hearing that divorce was imminent, the second uncle's "burden of officialdom" kicked in, and he insisted on holding a large meeting to "discuss" the matter.

Yi Zhonghai, who was sitting in the main seat, was also taken aback by Liu Haizhong's sudden offer to give up his seat and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Only after Jia Dongming declined did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief and quickly took over the conversation: "Since Dongming is unwilling to sit down, let's continue the meeting."

He turned to Yan Jiecheng, his tone becoming serious: "Jiecheng, our compound has always had a good reputation in the neighborhood committee, emphasizing respect for the elderly and care for the young."

"Yu Li's mother is your mother-in-law. She's sick and hospitalized, and not only are you unwilling to pay for her treatment, you haven't even bothered to visit her. Is that true?"

When Yan Jiecheng was questioned by Yi Zhonghai in public, and saw the neighbors in the courtyard pointing and whispering with disdain, he hurriedly cried out, "Uncle, you know, other people's children can be helped by their parents to find a decent job."

What's my family's situation? I don't have a stable job; I rely on odd jobs to earn a meager living, and I barely have any left at the end of the month.

My dad still wants to charge for food and lodging. After paying all that, I'm completely broke. Where am I supposed to get money for my mother-in-law's medical treatment?

"Besides, I am a son-in-law, not a son."

My mother-in-law has sons of her own, why should I pay for this?

"As for not going to the hospital... it's not that I didn't want to go, it's just that I really couldn't find the time."

I need to find odd jobs to earn money! If I don't work, I won't have any money, and if I don't have money, I won't be able to pay for food and lodging next month.

If I can't pay, my dad will definitely cause me trouble.

"Isn't all this hard work just so that I can have a good life with Yu Li?"

Yu Li stood aside, listening to Yan Jiecheng come up with such a high-sounding excuse for that little bit of money, and a surge of anger rose in her head.

Her face turned cold, and she sneered at Yan Jiecheng, "For our sake, to make our lives better? Yan Jiecheng, listen to this yourself, isn't it absurd?"

"You keep saying it's for both of us, but you're unwilling to give me even a little over twenty yuan."

Is this what you mean by "for our own good"?

In Yan Jiecheng's mind, the face of money is far more precious than the face of a person.

Hearing Yu Li's sarcasm, he immediately put on a more aggrieved expression than anyone else, and protested, "Yu Li! It's not that I don't want to help, I really don't have any! If you don't believe me, search me and see if you can find a single penny!"

The two of them always kept their own accounts, but Yu Li knew exactly how much Yan Jiecheng had and where he hid it.

Seeing Yan Jiecheng's pitiful state, Yu Li felt a surge of anger rising within her.

She no longer cared about the Yan family's reputation; her face was ashen, and she blurted out, "Yan Jiecheng! You say you have no money? Did the fifty-odd yuan stuffed in those old shoes under the bed just blown in by the wind?"

She became increasingly agitated as she spoke, her voice cold and hard: "And you said you were going out to do odd jobs to earn money for our food and lodging, so you didn't have time to visit my mother in the hospital? But ever since I stepped into your Yan family, we've each paid for our own meals! Even when my sister came to stay for a few days, your father said he wanted to pay for her food and lodging, and that came out of my pocket!"

"In this courtyard, which family doesn't have a man supporting the household? But I married you, and now I have to earn my own living."

Relatives have to pay money to come over—you couldn't find another family like your Yan family even if you turned the whole city upside down!

"Your father spends all day working on the abacus, managing to feed six mouths all by himself."

What about you? You're unwilling to even support your own wife.

I must have been out of my mind to marry such an irresponsible person like you!

"You said the Yu family has a son, so why should you pay for the medicine? Did I ask you to cover it all? I went to the grain station to find you this morning and made it very clear: Mother is waiting for surgery, which costs about two hundred yuan in total. The family has almost raised enough, but we are short about twenty yuan."

"You're so nice, the moment you hear I need money, you just throw out a 'no'."

They even told me to borrow it from your father.

Asking me how seriously ill my mother was and whether I needed help going to the hospital—you, as her son-in-law, didn't offer a single word of consideration.

"It wasn't easy for my parents to raise me."

These days, you wouldn't even pay twenty-odd yuan.

This alone is enough to show Mingbai: In your heart, I, Yu Li, am not even worth twenty yuan.

Since that's the case, let's not continue living like this.

Liu Haizhong listened from the side and was speechless.

He never expected Yan Bugui to be so stingy.

But in order to show off his power, as soon as Yu Li mentioned divorce again, he immediately put on airs: "Yu Li! Our compound is an advanced compound that has been awarded a plaque by the neighborhood committee."

"If you two get divorced, the entire hospital's evaluation will be affected! This marriage cannot be dissolved!"

Yan Jiecheng was embarrassed after his shortcomings were exposed in public.

But he cares more about money than saving face.

Thinking of the fifty-odd yuan he'd saved up, his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He gritted his teeth and asked, "Yu Li! Tell me the truth—did you steal my money to pay for your mother's hospital bills?"

Back then, "divorce" was a very common term.

The two words are too heavy for ordinary people to even consider.

Yu Li's return and the scene were simply a way to vent her frustrations.

When Yan Jiecheng suspected her of stealing the fifty yuan, Yu Li suddenly felt that this person was terrifyingly unfamiliar.

Her tone was as indifferent as well water in December: "Yan Jiecheng, don't worry."

I, Yu Li, am not the kind of person who values ​​money above all else.

From now on, you'll just have to live on your fifty dollars.

From now on, you go your way, and I'll go mine.

"Third Uncle! What an eye-opener today! Your family's stinginess is truly inherited from you! In the whole city, charging lodging fees for visiting relatives is probably unique to your Yan family!"

Sha Zhu, who had always disliked the Yan family, grinned and shouted at Yan Bugui after watching the scene.

Normally, when people in the courtyard heard Sha Zhu insulting the Yan family like that, they would just think he was being cheeky.

But today's events have completely exposed the Yan family's true colors.

Almost everyone glanced sideways at the father and son, whispering amongst themselves with disdain.

Yu Li's tirade just now had already torn off the Yan family's dignity and trampled on it several times.

Yan Jiecheng, on the other hand, was still thinking about those fifty yuan at this crucial moment, and immediately turned on his wife.

Even Yan Bugui, who usually loves to scheme and doesn't care much about his reputation, was so ashamed that he wanted to crawl into a crack in the bricks.