Courtyard House: A System Connecting Two Worlds, Resources for the Nation

The two entered the courtyard house one after the other; the courtyard was still relatively quiet.

At this time, the men haven't finished get off work yet, and the women are mostly at home preparing dinner.

This relieved Xu Damao and Qin Huairu, who deliberately slowed their pace, intending to go straight home.

Unexpectedly, just after passing through the hanging flower gate and reaching Zhou Feng's door, there was a loud bang, and Zhou Feng's door suddenly opened. Qin Jingru called out in a clear voice, "Sister! Why did you come back with Xu Damao?"

Qin Huairu's stealthy movements suddenly froze. She and Xu Damao turned around and saw Qin Jingru holding a porcelain plate, peeking out of the window of Zhou Feng's room, her round eyes darting over them.

The plate contained peeled melon seeds and peanuts, and her lips were curved in a half-smile, which infuriated Qin Huairu.

"Jingru, you..."

She was about to say something loud when Xu Damao grabbed her hand.

Qin Jingru is a member of Zhou Feng's family. Even though Qin Huairu is her cousin, she still has to be careful with her words.

Haven't they suffered enough because of Qin Jingru's words today?

How dare you speak to Qin Jingru like that!

After interrupting Qin Huairu, Xu Damao took over the conversation, put his arm around Qin Huairu's shoulder, and smiled at Qin Jingru: "Jingru, what's so strange about your brother-in-law and sister coming back together?"

He finally understood everything on the way.

Now he and Qin Huairu are a family, and Zhou Feng and Qin Jingru are a family.

If he could improve the relationship between Qin Huairu and Qin Jingru, wouldn't Xu Damao be able to get on Zhou Feng's good side?

Putting everything else aside, Xu Damao considered himself quite capable when it came to cultivating connections.

Just like now, he spoke to test Qin Jingru's current attitude towards them.

"whispering sound--"

Qin Jingru curled her lip in disdain, tilting her head to look at Xu Damao: "Hey Xu Damao, you've got some nerve. Weren't you talking about marriage with Yu Haitang yesterday? And now you're my brother-in-law? Fine, fine, brother-in-law, why don't you come in and sit for a bit?"

Xu Damao's smile froze for a moment, but quickly returned to normal.

He definitely wouldn't dare to go into Zhou Feng's room.

After all, Lou Xiao'e is still inside!

Pillow talk has always been the most influential. He would never appear in front of Lou Xiao'e until he helped Qin Huairu repair her relationship with Qin Jingru.

Just as Xu Damao was about to continue speaking, a sharp shout came from the direction of the Intermediate Court: "Qin Huairu! What are you doing with Xu Damao?!"

Jia Zhangshi's voice was like fingernails scraping glass, giving everyone in the courtyard goosebumps.

Xu Damao's hand on Qin Huairu's shoulder trembled and he instinctively let go.

With droopy eye bags, Jia Zhangshi stared intently at Xu Damao and Qin Huairu, who were standing in the center of the front yard. To be precise, she stared at the hand that Xu Damao had just taken off Qin Huairu's shoulder.

"Okay! Okay!"

She tossed aside the vegetables she was picking and rushed over, her fingers almost poking Qin Huairu's face: "I told you I ran into Auntie San in the alley today, and she said you were back! So you went off with that Xu guy? Qin Huairu, have you no shame? Do you even care about this family? Do you have the face to face Banggeng?"

Qin Huairu's eyes instantly reddened after being verbally abused like this, and she lowered her head, stammering, "Mom, please listen to me..."

"What did you say?!"

Madam Jia's voice rose even higher, her teeth clenched, as if she were about to strike: "Dongxu has only been gone a few years, and you're already out there hooking up with other men! Who in the whole neighborhood doesn't know what kind of scum this Xu is? You're getting involved with him!"

A crack was opened in the window of Old Yan's house across from Zhou Feng's, and the third aunt peeked out half her head before pulling it back in, listening intently.

Several middle-aged women from the Intermediate Court also gathered around and stayed in the passageway, their attention focused entirely on the front yard.

Xu Damao coughed and took half a step forward.

He might not be able to speak about Jia Zhangshi's insults towards Qin Huairu.

But now that they're insulting him, he can't just keep pretending not to hear.

"Auntie, don't worry."

As he spoke, he took the bag of steamed rice cakes and fruit candies from Qin Huairu's hand and handed it to Jia Zhangshi, forcing a smile: "Comrade Qin Huairu and I... went to the Civil Affairs Department today, from now on she will be..."

"What is she?"

Jia Zhangshi threw all the pastries and candies that Xu Damao handed her onto the ground, her eyes wide, her lips trembling, and her finger poking Qin Huairu's chest: "You...you tell me! What did you do with him at the Civil Affairs Department?"

Seeing that Jia Zhangshi was showing him no respect, Xu Damao's face also fell. He bent down, picked up the gift, dusted it off, and handed it back to Jia Zhangshi, his tone becoming indifferent.

"Auntie, Qin Huairu and I got our marriage certificate today. She's my wife now. Of course, your relationship with her won't change much, but you still need to be more considerate when you speak to her..."

"Bullshit!"

This time, Madam Jia was truly enraged. She slapped her thighs repeatedly with both hands, her voice shrill and almost cracking: "Qin Huairu! Explain yourself! You got a marriage certificate with this Xu man? You went behind my back and got a marriage certificate with someone else? Do you have any conscience? Did I agree to your remarriage? Where do you put the Jia family? Where do you put our family?"

Qin Huairu's tears streamed down her face.

She took two steps forward, trying to grab Jia Zhangshi's arm, but was slapped away.

"Mom, can I explain this to you when I get home tonight? Something happened today, and if I don't marry Xu Damao, then..."

"So what?" Madam Jia approached, spitting all over Qin Huairu's face. "Are you that desperate for a man? You've been with Dongxu all these years, has my Jia family ever mistreated you? You eat and drink from my Jia family's food, and now you're just going to run off with some random guy?"

"Auntie!"

Xu Damao frowned, his tone turning serious: "Don't put it so harshly. What do you mean by 'wild man'? I, Xu Damao, am a person of some standing in the factory. Qin Huairu and I are legally married, registered with the civil affairs department. If you have any complaints, let's sit down and talk it over. Your loud noise is making us a laughingstock among the neighbors."

"Pah!" Madam Jia spat, her eyes red as she glared at Xu Damao. "Who do you think you are? Let me tell you, Xu Damao, I don't recognize this marriage! My Jia family doesn't recognize it! Qin Huairu is a member of the Jia family, alive and dead. You'd better give up on that idea!"

Xu Damao was embarrassed when she pointed her finger at him and scolded him.

Just as he was about to retort, he heard a "snap" sound behind him.

The three people in the courtyard turned their heads to look. Qin Jingru and Zhou Feng were leaning on the windowsill, each holding a handful of sunflower seeds and slowly cracking them open.

They had already finished eating all the sunflower seeds in the plate, and their eyes were shining as they stared at the courtyard.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I'm not trying to cause trouble, but they've already registered their marriage. If I let someone point their finger at me and insult me ​​like that, I wouldn't be able to stand it."

Zhou Feng spat out a sunflower seed shell and raised an eyebrow at Xu Damao. Qin Jingru giggled beside him, her cheeks puffed out, and she was chewing on a peanut.