Courtyard House: A Leisurely and Contented Life

1971, Beijing.

Yang Jianye carried a pound of pork home with a smile on his face.

This pound of meat with fat can not only satisfy your cravings and make a good meal, but also be used to make some cracklings to keep and enjoy slowly.

These days, if you say you only want lean meat when buying meat, people will think you're a fool. Back in the 1960s, people didn't have much fat in their stomachs, so they had to choose fatty meat, the fatter the better.

The meat in his hand was so fatty that you could squeeze oil out of it; once it was stewed, it would make all the hungry folks in the yard drool.

But the thought of his courtyard house made Yang Jianye's smile disappear.

In the past three months, he had already realized that he had transmigrated into the world of "Full House of Love". The deaf old lady, the three stewards, Qin Huairu, Jia Zhangshi... and that pitiful yet grit-gritting He Shazhu, they were all there.

Before I could even sort out my thoughts, the gate to the compound was right in front of me.

The old man watering the plants in the front yard saw him carrying meat in and his eyes lit up: "Jianye, bought meat? Want to have a couple of drinks tonight? I've got some good wine hidden away, you're getting a good deal today!"

"You think you can get a good deal from me?" Yang Jianye sneered inwardly. "You think you can get a free meal from me with your watered-down fake liquor?"

Perhaps he drank too much fake alcohol.

"Uncle, drinking can lead to trouble, let it go."

He was polite in words, but he didn't stop walking. He went straight from the front yard into the middle yard and headed towards his own home.

The third uncle wanted to say a few more words, but seeing that Yang Jianye didn't turn around, he could only shrug and say dejectedly, "This Yang Jianye doesn't know any manners at all."

The Yang family's house was in the central courtyard, with two adjacent side rooms, totaling about thirty square meters.

Originally, his parents lived with him; the couple shared one room, and he shared another.

When he transmigrated, his father had died in an accident at the factory, and his mother, overwhelmed with grief, also passed away a few days later.

Now that he lives alone, it feels spacious.

These days, it's not uncommon for four people to squeeze into a small side room of just over ten square meters. For a bachelor to have two rooms is considered top-notch in the capital.

With a salary of thirty-seven yuan and fifty cents, being able to occupy a side room and an annex room is already considered exceptional.

Unfortunately, he wasn't clever enough, had an unreliable father, and even ran off with a widow.

He seemed to be surrounded by good people, but actually very few of them genuinely cared about him. He was led astray by a group of "beasts".

If it weren't for the deaf old woman treating him like her own grandson and helping him out, the He family would have truly died out. But this scheme ended up harming Lou Xiao'e...

"What's it to me? Why think so much?" Yang Jianye shook his head self-deprecatingly and carried the meat into the house.

Inside the room was a bed, a rickety wooden table, and two homemade stools. A clay stove was propped up against the wall by the door.

The house was bare, that's all.

But these days, every household is pretty much the same; no one is better off than anyone else.

"The poorer you are, the more glorious you are"? That's something you say to others.

At this moment, under the window of the main room in the central courtyard, Jia Zhangshi's triangular eyes were fixed on Yang Jianye's gate, her jealousy almost overflowing:

"That Yang Jianye, whose parents both died, eats so much meat by himself, isn't he afraid of choking to death? He doesn't even share the meat he buys with our family, he deserves it!"

When Qin Huairu came back after cooking, she felt exhausted. Why couldn't her mother-in-law stand to see others doing well?

Why should someone help you out when they're buying meat?

If people want to eat, they have to be given food. But who in the entire capital doesn't want to eat meat? Can you possibly give enough to go around?

Besides, when Yang Jianye's parents passed away, you didn't ask for anything. Instead, you tried to take their house, completely ruining the already strained relationship.

Are you out of your mind to expect handouts now?

She only dared to mutter these words to herself; life had to go on. "Mom, stop staring, let's eat."

On the table were cabbage stalks, rice porridge, and a few coarse grain buns—that was the Jia family's dinner.

Madam Jia gave him a sarcastic look: "Is this all you're feeding him? Aren't you afraid of ruining my grandson's voice?"

Qin Huairu forced a smile: "Let's see what Sha Zhu can bring back when he comes back."

"That's more like it." Madam Jia hugged her grandson tightly. "You and the good-for-nothing eat first, I'll wait for the silly Zhu with my grandson."

He also cursed, "You idiot, you never come home early, and my grandson is getting so thin from hunger."

The hamster in his arms nodded in agreement. "I'm starving if you don't come back sooner, you idiot."

Qin Huairu lowered her head and ate coarse grains, feeling increasingly resentful: Why did I marry into the Jia family in the first place?

Looking at Yang Jianye's house, the meat had already been rinsed. A thick piece of fat was cut off and set aside, while the rest was cut into chunks and put into a pot. Sichuan peppercorns, bay leaves, and red chili peppers were added and stir-fried. Water was then added and the pot was simmered.

Before long, the aroma of meat filled the entire yard.

As she waited for her meal, Jia Zhangshi swallowed hard, her triangular eyes filled with malice: "That damned Yang Jianye, he eats fish and meat every day, isn't he afraid of dying from overeating? At this rate, he'll be childless sooner or later."

The hungry baby boy in her arms cried out, "Grandma, I want meat! I'm so hungry..."

Madam Jia quickly comforted her, "Oh dear, my dear grandson, don't cry."

Unable to coax him, and feeling hungry himself, he snatched the cornbread from Xiao Dang's hand: "Good grandson, eat the cornbread first, and there will be meat to eat when Sha Zhu comes back."

"No, no, I want to eat meat, meat..." Xiao Dang cried along with her.

The smell of meat was already tempting, but Grandma snatched the cornbread from my hand. I had only taken a couple of bites when I felt even hungrier than if I hadn't eaten at all, and I burst into tears in frustration.

Qin Huairu hugged her daughter tightly, her heart aching. "Mom, what are you doing?"

Madam Jia, with a fierce look in her eyes and a sharp tongue, said, "What will this good-for-nothing eat? As long as she doesn't starve to death. All she does is cry all day long. If you were in another family, you would have starved to death long ago."

Then she coaxed her grandson, "My dear grandson, eat a couple of bites... Oh, my precious grandson."

Qin Huairu was both angry and saddened by her mother-in-law's blatant favoritism, but a sense of "reason" also surfaced in her heart. In the countryside, if a girl didn't starve, it was considered that her parents had a conscience. That's how she herself had grown up.

Daughters will belong to someone else's family sooner or later, so it doesn't matter if they eat a little less; sons should eat more so that they can support you in your old age if they become successful in the future.

Raising children is for old age security, isn't that the idea?

No matter how Jia Zhangshi tried to coax him, Banggeng kept insisting on eating meat, and in the end, he got so angry that he slapped the cornbread away.

Little Dang, sitting in her mother's lap, saw this, wiped away her tears, ran over to pick it up, dusted it off, and stuffed it into her mouth, afraid that her grandmother would come and snatch it away again.

"You good-for-nothing, you've never seen food before, you're a disgrace!" Jia Zhangshi scolded.

"Mom, say less." Qin Huairu said sternly, but Jia Zhangshi immediately turned her attention to her, "You're still sitting there? Didn't you hear my grandson want meat? Go get the meat right now!"

Qin Huairu was both angry and anxious. She had spent all her wages on food, barely enough to feed her family. Where would she find the money to buy meat?

"Can't you just ask for money if you don't have any? You damned Yang Jianye, hurry up! My grandson is crying his eyes out, see how I deal with you!"

"You damned brat, you didn't even send some meat over when you made it! No wonder nobody wants you, you'll be childless sooner or later!"

The noise inside woke up Xiao Huaihua, who was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), and she started crying loudly.

Madam Jia patted the locust blossoms wrapped in the quilt and cursed, "Crying, crying, crying! A bunch of good-for-nothings who only know how to cry!"

He angrily urged, "Aren't you going yet?"

Qin Huairu wiped away her tears and went out, heading towards Yang Jianye's house.

As soon as I arrived at the gate, I saw a stranger in the front yard.

As soon as Aunt Liu entered the courtyard, she heard Jia Zhangshi cursing, and she muttered to herself:

Without elders to keep an eye on him, this is how he behaves...

Upon entering the Intermediate People's Court, he ran into Qin Huairu.

The beautiful widow had three children, but her figure remained unchanged; instead, she gained a touch of mature womanly allure.

Aunt Liu sighed inwardly: This is simply a fox.

"Auntie, what's wrong?" Outside, Qin Huairu was always a virtuous and filial daughter-in-law.

"I'm from the neighborhood committee, looking for Yang Jianye. And you are, young lady?"

Hearing that the neighborhood committee had come to see Yang Jianye, Qin Huairu was overjoyed. Could it be that her mother-in-law's last fuss had worked and they were going to get a side room? That would be wonderful.

She quickly said, "I'm a neighbor in the same compound as Jianye, you go about your business." Then she turned and walked back.

Without thinking much of it, Aunt Liu knocked on the door: "Jianye, are you home?"

The door opened, and Yang Jianye greeted her with a smile: "Aunt Liu is here! I've been waiting for you with some stewed meat!"

Upon hearing that there was meat, Aunt Liu's mouth watered. In this day and age, being able to smell meat once a month was considered a good life.

He looked at Yang Jianye with even more satisfaction: "You're too kind, kid."

The two chatted and laughed as they entered the house.

Qin Huairu, standing at the door, was secretly hoping that Yang Jianye would invite her in for a meal as well.

"Bang!" The door slammed shut.

The aroma of meat filled the air. Qin Huairu swallowed hard and sighed inwardly, "Alas, I was blind back then!"

But it was too late now. She had married into the Jia family and had three children. Life had to go on, and there was no point in saying anything now.

The most important thing right now is to figure out why Aunt Liu came here.

With no one around, the pretty widow tiptoed to the window and pricked up her ears to eavesdrop.

Inside the house, Yang Jianye invited Aunt Liu to sit down, lifted the wooden lid of the pot, scooped out a bowl of meat with a spatula, and served it on the table with the broth. He also picked out some steamed white flour buns from the pot: "Auntie, I didn't prepare anything special, just have some."

Aunt Liu was puzzled. Was this what they called "casual"?

If outsiders heard this, would they even be able to live?

So everyone else is eating pig swill... But since there's meat to eat, she didn't stand on ceremony. She took a white steamed bun, sandwiched a piece of stewed, tender meat between it, and stuffed it into her mouth.

The aroma of the meat exploded in my mouth, making me beam with joy.

"Auntie, you've made some progress on this trip, haven't you?" Yang Jianye also ate, but he was much more refined than Aunt Liu.