Courtyard House: In this life, I have a new home!

170

Zhou Qingxian, on the other hand, slept little and was very restless.

Now, she can walk.

Holding Wangcai's tail, they slowly strolled into the study.

Wangcai looked utterly dejected, as if he had suffered a tremendous injustice.

Zhou Jimin and Huang Xiaohua exchanged a glance and burst into laughter.

Wangcai looked even more resentful, its tail drooping extremely low.

"You're helping me take care of my kid, and you're giving me attitude?"

Zhou Jimin raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you get some 'spiritual reward'?"

Wangcai's ears perked up and his eyes lit up.

Could it be that the master is going to bestow that divine water as a reward?

Snapped!

The slap landed, landing on the dog's head with just the right amount of force.

Wangcai was completely bewildered.

what's going on?

Where's the promised reward?

Zhou Jimin glanced at the dog at his feet with annoyance.

"Look, your little master's pants are all soaked. Can't you even notice that? What a silly dog."

He pointed to the side, his tone revealing his disdain.

"Go to the side and stay out of the way. I need to change my daughter's clothes."

Wangcai understood its owner's scolding, and with its tail between its legs, it slunk away to a corner.

Zhou Qingxian wouldn't do that.

Just as she was about to chase after him to argue, a large hand lifted her up.

Her father placed her on his lap, her bottom facing up, and gave her a few light pats with his palm.

"Being naughty again?"

Zhou Jimin asked helplessly.

"Why do you have to go swimming?"

The little guy didn't feel any pain, he just felt incredibly wronged.

"I didn't play."

"Why are your pants legs wet?"

"I don't know."

Zhou Jimin was so angry at this innocent look that he had a headache.

I had no choice but to resign myself to changing her into dry pants before letting her continue running around.

The child is almost a year and a half old, and his legs and feet are very nimble.

There are many pets in the house, and with Wangcai and the goldfish keeping an eye on things, there's no fear of anything going wrong.

As long as she doesn't leave the house, these furry kids will protect her.

Not long after, the doorbell rang.

The person who came was Li Yuzhu.

Her purpose was clear: the class was organizing a spring outing outside the city.

In early spring, Beijing experiences frequent rainfall and even flooding, making it impossible to go out.

The weather is sunny and pleasant, neither too hot nor too cold, making it the perfect time for an outing.

The students planned to bring cooking utensils and go to the countryside to enjoy the scenery and cook.

If you're lucky, you might even catch a few fish by the river, which would be perfect.

"I'm not even in your class, so why are you yelling?"

Zhou Jimin was both amused and exasperated, and simply waved his hand in refusal.

"Although I only spent one day in your class, or more precisely, one morning."

Li Yuzhu, however, was exceptionally meticulous.

"They're classmates too."

She argued forcefully, "This isn't just my idea; the other students also hope you can come."

"You may go."

Zhou Jimin pointed to the mess of chicken feathers scattered all over the room, "With these money-devouring beasts in the house, I can't go anywhere."

"It's only been one day, can't you really get away?"

Li Yuzhu didn't believe in superstition.

"This isn't the first or second time you've come to my house."

Zhou Jimin rolled his eyes. "Don't you know these kids? They can't be left alone for even an hour, let alone a whole day."

The voice just fell.

Little Goldfish rushed into the study carrying Zhou Qingxian, who was wailing loudly.

Seeing Zhou Jimin's helpless expression, Li Yuzhu stood there, speechless.

The little girl was crying so hard because she had fallen down.

The little goldfish tried to coax Zhou Qingxian for a long time, but to no avail. Instead, it made Zhou Qingxian feel even more aggrieved.

As soon as I entered the study, tears streamed down my face like beads from a broken string.

Where did you fall?

Zhou Jimin frowned and began to examine the object nervously.

"Your calves? Do they hurt?"

With tears streaming down her face, Zhou Qingxian sobbed even more when she heard her father's concern.

"Don't cry, sweetie."

Zhou Jimin gently blew on the wound, saying tenderly, "Blow on it and it won't hurt anymore."

It is currently the transition from spring to summer.

The little guy was dressed very lightly, and only one pair of pants was made from an old goldfish garment.

However, the clothes are plentiful.

Ding Qiunan sewed several loose-fitting blouses by hand.

Zhou Jimin also bought quite a few ready-made clothes.

In addition to the old clothes left by my sisters, there were enough to last for a while.

After all, this child grows quickly, and I estimate that he'll need new clothes in just a few days.

The crying finally stopped.

The little darling wiped away her tears, turned around, and ran off with her aunt, disappearing from sight.

Days passed, and things were mostly like this.

Whenever Zhou Jimin is home, his daughter will snuggle into his arms the moment she starts to whine.

If her father wasn't around, even if she scraped her skin, this girl would hold back her tears and wouldn't go to the nanny, Huang Xiaohua.

This child is very perceptive; he knows that only his own father will patiently coax him and cherish him.

Li Yuzhu watched in stunned silence, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

At seventeen, one should be running around outside, falling in love, and enjoying youth.

But this young man was willing to imprison himself in this small space, spending his days revolving around the child.

Looking at his cautious demeanor, even Li Yuzhu felt inferior.

The sun was shining brightly.

Zhou Jimin waved his hand and led his whole family out of the city for a spring outing.

He had taken Li Yuzhu's advice to heart.

Instead of staying at home and getting moldy, why not take advantage of your free time to go out and get some fresh air?

Let Huang Xiaohua rest for a few days as well.

With three months' salary in her pocket, Huang Xiaohua happily returned to Huangjia Village.

Pandi and Laidi didn't join in the fun; they were having a great time playing with the goldfish.

Pushing open the door, Huang Xiaohua felt extremely comfortable inside, finding the house spotless and tidy.

"Sis, why did you bring so much back? Did Brother Zhou give it all to you?"

Huang Zhaodi stared wide-eyed at the items in her older sister's basket, her jaw nearly dropping in astonishment.

The three children gathered around at the sound, their mouths watering, eagerly waiting for any snacks.

Whenever the eldest sister returns home, her younger siblings are always the first to surround her.

Because my eldest sister works for the Zhou family, she not only has enough to eat and wear, but she can also bring back some nice things for the family.

White Rabbit milk candy, malted milk powder, sausages... a wide variety of products, mostly food items.

At first, Ding Qiunan forced two bottles of malted milk powder on Huang Xiaohua, but she refused to accept them no matter what.

Unable to refuse the other party's offer, he finally agreed to accept only half a bottle.

Three-year-old Huang Xiaohu had a candy in his mouth and his eyes were squinted into two slits.

The eldest sister patted his head and sent the younger ones out first.

When Huang Zhaodi saw her eldest sister take out fifteen silver dollars, she was stunned: "Second sister, this is the salary I earned from Brother Zhou."

Let's go to the next village today and return the money to Grandpa Qin.

Last autumn, when we were building a mud-brick house, we were so poor that we had to borrow money from Qin Jianguo from the neighboring village.

I always feel uneasy when I'm indebted to others.

Now that I have the money, I'll pay it all off immediately and finally have some peace and quiet.

"Okay, I'll pay it back if my sister says so."

The two sisters moved with lightning speed, heading straight for Qin Family Village.

The moment the debt was settled, I felt a great weight lifted off my shoulders.

A few days later, Zhou Jimin received the crumpled stack of fifteen yuan from Qin Jianguo, his feelings mixed.

After going through many twists and turns, the money returned to his hands.

This is equivalent to Huang Xiaohua working for free at his house for three whole months.

Tourists thronged the area outside the city.

The third brother carried the camera he had bought from a small island in the south, bustling around doing chores.

Click, click, capturing this precious moment for everyone.

Those rolls of film are mostly only taken out to air in the sun during holidays; otherwise, they just gather dust in the drawer.

In those days, very few people dared to press the shutter button.

An ordinary person might save up their entire life savings and only be able to afford a single, luxurious wedding photo on their wedding day.

As for the villagers hidden deep in the mountains, they had never even heard of a camera, let alone what it looked like.

This closed-off situation will only gradually loosen after the millennium.

"eggplant!"

With a command, a crisp click rang out, and the smiling faces of the family of three were captured in a small frame.

There are quite a few tourists strolling around this area on weekends, so it's not difficult to find a passerby to help take photos.

After thanking him, Zhou Jimin took the precious phone and then casually pulled out his cell phone from his pocket.

Using the cover of a large tree nearby, he quietly raised his camera and recorded a video of the crowd.

To be honest, this smartphone is really something.

Even if we look back a few years from now, the operating logic and user experience will still be pretty much the same.

But film rolls are different.

They are prisoners of time; before long, the scene will change.

Zhou Jimin used to look through his junior and senior high school graduation photos with great interest.

When I opened that chipped mooncake tin again after working for more than ten years, the images inside had long since turned yellow and brittle, and were no longer recognizable.

Storing this stuff is harder than climbing to heaven.

Perhaps he just didn't find the right approach?

But in my rural hometown, who has the money to buy a constant temperature and humidity cabinet?

Aren't they all stuffed into old, worn-out mooncake boxes to keep them dry?

Back then, the textbooks did cover similar concepts.

I vaguely remember the teacher mentioning it briefly in a political class when analyzing cases of excessive consumption abroad.

A person took out a loan to buy a house early on, enjoyed the right to live there for decades, and finally paid off the debt in his old age.

Another elderly man in China worked himself to the bone to save up for a down payment.

As soon as they got the keys and were ready to renovate, they discovered that all the cash they had worked so hard to save was wrapped in plastic bags.

Because of dampness and mold, coupled with insect and ant damage, most of the money became waste.

Decades of hard-earned money have gone down the drain!

People in the countryside don't have the money to buy safes, so glass jars, cookie boxes, and mooncake boxes become the cheapest archives.

After recording the footage, Zhou Jimin put his phone back in his pocket and continued strolling around.

As the sun began to set and my stomach started to rumble, it was time to start cooking.

When starting a fire for a picnic, a water source is a crucial factor.

Without water, the stove is just for show.

Just as Zhou Jimin reached the edge of a clear stream, he bumped into an acquaintance.

What a small world! I ran into a female classmate.

Without a doubt, Li Yuzhu is definitely hanging out nearby.

Sure enough, before he could even set up the makeshift stove, Li Yuzhu and a few others followed the smell and came over.

The once quiet beach instantly became lively.

There were more girls than boys this time.

They call it a vacation, but they're really here to be porters and laborers!

Those little girls nicknamed "Little Goldfish" were overjoyed.

With so many beautiful older sisters to keep me company and have fun, how could I not be happy?

The stream babbled, and a group of vibrant young girls led a few little kids, who rolled up their trousers and splashed around in it.

Catching fish and shrimp, their laughter startled the sparrows on the shore.

Zhou Jimin and his male classmates were responsible for starting a fire and cooking on the shore.

Before long, the rich aroma of meat wafted out on the wind, attracting many onlookers.

Families who have the leisure to go on a picnic must have plenty of rice and flour in their granaries.

But meat and fish may not be available.

Several elderly professors who accompanied the group maintained a high-handed attitude and refused to go to the pigeon market or other street stalls to buy ingredients.

They were afraid of being seen, because then they wouldn't be able to explain themselves and their reputation would be ruined.

The stream babbles, but the fragrance along the bank is so strong it's almost overwhelming.