I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

"Did Aunt Jia go out?"

Xu Damao was pushing his bicycle when he ran into Jia Zhangshi, who was returning from outside.

"Oh, Da Mao, I just went to the morning market and bought a piece of meat." Jia Zhangshi raised her hand and weighed the meat in her hand. "Look at this, what good meat, such a big piece."

"Aunt Jia, your family is living a truly exceptional life in this courtyard now," Xu Damao said in an exaggerated tone, showering her with compliments.

"Oh, what are you saying?" Madam Jia said politely, but couldn't hide her smugness. "This meat is for a relative. Huairu is off work tomorrow and is going back to her parents' home, so I'll take it back for her."

"Oh my, really? You're so presentable." Xu Damao continued to flatter her, "Sister Qin is going back to her parents' home, and you've prepared so much meat. Let's ask around the area, who can compare to you?"

"Stop praising me, stop praising me." Madam Jia laughed even more. "In the past few years, life was tough, and Huai Ru never went back to her parents' home. Now that we're a bit better off, we can't be stingy, lest the country folk say that we city people are ignorant."

Xu Damao showered Jia Zhangshi with compliments, making her overjoyed.

"Don't talk about me, look at your Da Mao, you're really different now." Madam Jia looked him up and down. "You've got style! I've never seen this fabric before, it must have been expensive, right?"

"Aunt Jia, what kind of style is this?" Xu Damao said modestly, but his eyes couldn't help but glance at himself. "It's just some ordinary clothes, bought with coupons from my father-in-law."

He looked down at his crisp Zhongshan suit, becoming more and more satisfied, and casually flicked the hem of his suit.

"Da Mao, your aunt isn't talking about the clothes," Jia Zhangshi said with a smile and a shake of her head. "It's your demeanor that's so different from an ordinary worker. You're completely different from before."

"Really? Hey, I'm still me. I'm just a worker, working in a different place."

"That's different." Jia Zhangshi lowered her voice. "Huai Ru told me that what you're doing at the guesthouse now is the work of an official."

"Aunt Jia, it's just a coincidence." Xu Damao pretended to be indifferent. "The former director was investigated, and a group of middle-level managers were also removed from their posts. There was no one to fill the position at the guesthouse. Brother Jing'an thought highly of me and asked me to go and lend a hand, so naturally I had to do my best."

"As for whether I'm a cadre or not, I didn't care at all; I was just helping out."

Despite saying that, Xu Damao's mouth was already stretched to his ears in a wide grin. Madam Jia, knowing exactly what was going on, smiled and said:

"Stop pretending with your auntie, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Anyone with eyes can see how much Li Jing'an values ​​you."

"Then I'll take Aunt Jia's good wishes."

"Besides, isn't Sister Qin just like me?"

"Our Huai Ru can't compare to you." Jia Zhangshi waved her hand. "She can only be a class monitor at most. You're educated, you graduated from high school. Your future is different."

"Haha, please don't say that. Thank you for your kind words."

Xu Damao had been in a great mood these past few days, and this morning's enthusiastic praise made him even more delighted.

After parting ways with Jia Zhangshi, he pushed his bicycle, head held high, and walked towards the front yard. Just as he passed Yan Bugui's house, Yan Bugui came out of the house, glanced at him, pretended not to see him, and lowered his head to fiddle with other things.

Xu Damao was surprised that Yan Bugui dared to ignore him, and his good mood immediately turned sour.

He glanced down at his new clothes, then looked up and called out to Yan Bugui:

"Third Uncle."

Seeing that Yan Bugui did not react, Xu Damao raised his voice again:

"Third Uncle!"

Yan Bugui then reluctantly raised his head and answered.

"My dear third uncle, why didn't you answer when I called you?"

"I didn't hear you, I was thinking about something," Yan Bugui explained, then asked, "Da Mao, is something wrong?"

Xu Damao snorted and pointed to the ground in front of the hanging flower gate:

"Hey, Uncle, your house is right in front of your door, why don't you sweep it up? Look how dirty it is, it's all covered in dirt."

As he spoke, he deliberately kicked the dirt on the ground twice.

"Don't you find it disgusting?"

"This land doesn't belong to my family, why should I sweep it?" Yan Bugui muttered indignantly. "So what if it's a little dusty? When in Beijing doesn't it get dusty every day? You're really being picky. Besides, I'm the one who sweeps this area voluntarily, it's not my responsibility at all."

"Uncle, how can you talk like that?" Xu Damao immediately put on a stern face. "I'm just trying to give you some advice, and you're still being stubborn. I sweep every day, and I don't believe there's any dirt left."

He paused:

"Besides, I'm trying to help you raise your moral awareness. You're a teacher, how can you teach students if your awareness is so low?"

Seeing that Yan Bugui was about to retort, Xu Damao immediately cut him off:

"You were so diligent and obedient the other day, it must have been because Brother Jing'an helped Jie Cheng solve the file problem. Now you've shown your true colors, right?"

Fine, I don't expect someone like you to make much progress. With your level of awareness, I sometimes feel ashamed to live in the same courtyard as you. Unambitious and aimless.

Forget it, I can't be bothered with you. Think about it yourself!

After Xu Damao finished speaking, he pushed his bicycle and left the courtyard without looking back.

Yan Bugui was so angry that his face turned pale and then red. He went back into the house in a sullen voice and sat down on a chair, still furious.

The third aunt noticed his expression was off and stepped forward to ask:

"His dad, what's wrong?"

"Nothing much!" Yan Bugui snapped irritably. "Get Jie Cheng up in a bit and sweep the floor in front of the door!"

"Didn't you just sweep it a couple of days ago?" the third aunt asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I ate a couple of days ago, so you're saying I'm not eating today? Stop talking nonsense!"

Yan Bugui grew increasingly agitated as he spoke. He reached for the cup on the table to drink some water, only to find it empty. Enraged, he slammed the cup down on the table with a loud "bang," startling the three women.

"Where's the water? This whole family, not a single one of them is easy to deal with!"

On the other side, the Jia family.

Madam Jia pushed open the door and entered the room. Qin Huairu was picking at the last few mouthfuls of rice in her bowl. Upon seeing the meat in Madam Jia's hand, a smile immediately appeared on her face.

"Wow, this meat is really good, so fatty!"

Qin Huairu felt a surge of joy—bringing so much meat back to her parents' home would definitely make her look good. She hadn't been back in a long time; before, she was too poor to show off, but things were different now.

"That's right, I went to queue up before dawn, and I was the first one to get a cut." Jia Zhangshi put the meat on the table and tentatively began, "Huai Ru, Bang Geng was just saying he wanted to eat meat yesterday..."

Qin Huairu understood immediately; her mother-in-law wanted to keep some of it and was reluctant to let her take it all to her parents' home.

"Mom, when does Banggeng ever not want to eat meat?" Qin Huairu replied with a smile. "When have we ever gone hungry lately? Although we don't have it every day, we stew it every few days. We've spoiled the child a lot. I'll be waiting for the bus at the North Gate first thing tomorrow morning, so don't forget."

Nowadays, the three children won't even touch cornbread or steamed buns; they want to eat refined grains and white flour at every meal.

"Huai Ru, we had no choice before, but now that life is better, we can't be too stingy."

"Mom, fine, you're the good guy and I'm the bad guy, okay?" Qin Huairu smiled helplessly, "Why don't you cut a little bit off from above?"

"Oh, good!" Madam Jia's face immediately lit up with joy. "I'll go right away, just enough for one meal, nothing more."

Qin Huairu watched her mother-in-law's excited figure as she went to cut the meat, and smiled gently.

She was almost unrealistically satisfied with her current life.

Before she got married, this was what she dreamed of living in the city.

While Jia Dongxu was alive, she never had a single day of happiness; now that he's gone, she's finally living the life she always dreamed of.

It's so unpredictable.

Her income has increased recently, and her status at home has risen accordingly. Now, Jia Zhangshi consults with her on everything.