I Have a Lake as I Walk Through the Courtyard

The old lady sat in her seat, watching with interest the raindrops below, which were trembling like quails in fear. The raindrops stubbornly bit their lips, their bodies trembling slightly, but their straight knees refused to kneel down.

"Rain, you kneel down too! The old lady isn't an outsider, don't be stubborn on New Year's Day!"

Her brother's words were like the last straw that broke the camel's back; tears welled up in her eyes instantly. "No!"

"Hurry up, everyone's waiting! Don't delay things." Jia Zhangshi stood to the side, a handful of melon seeds in her plump hands, and a pile of melon seed shells already lay on the ground beside her.

Seeing all this, Lin Feng frowned. He didn't want to cause trouble, but seeing his classmate being bullied made him feel annoyed.

To Yi Zhonghai's astonishment, he casually walked over to Yu Shui. "Didn't you say you had something urgent to discuss with me? Now that the New Year's greetings are over, hurry up and come to my place."

Yu Shui looked at Lin Feng beside her, and it seemed that all the needle-like gaze had disappeared. She breathed a long sigh of relief and followed behind Lin Feng, preparing to leave.

"Lin Feng! What do you mean? This is a matter between my brother and me, why are you interfering?"

Lin Feng squinted at Sha Zhu. "Are you sure you want to cause trouble for me today? Look at your sister! She's not a child anymore!"

Sha Zhu turned to look at the rain, tears streaming down his face, then at Lin Feng, a fleeting look of guilt crossing his face. "That's none of your business. I'm his own brother!"

Lin Feng rolled his eyes, just as he was about to teach this guy a lesson, when the old lady stood up. "Today is a happy day, and it's a new era now. The old ways don't apply anymore. If you don't want to kneel, then don't kneel."

"Grandma..."

The old lady stopped Sha Zhu from speaking, saying, "Harmony is the most important thing, as long as the sentiment is there! You are all good children!" As she spoke, she took out a red envelope from her bosom!

"Rain, you've already paid your respects to the old lady, so I can't accept your gift for nothing! Take it!"

Rain hesitated for a moment, then looked at Lin Feng. Lin Feng nodded to her and lowered his voice, "Why not take it if it's free!"

Rain took the red envelope and sniffed. "Thank you, old lady!" she said, then dragged Lin Feng away from the suffocating place.

The old lady watched the two figures walk away, then looked at her beloved eldest grandson. "You! Girls grow up, they have their own thoughts now, you can't just suppress them like before! You need to find a time to have a good talk with your sister! Understand? She's your only sister, don't ruin your relationship!"

"He's getting more and more immature!" Stubborn Sha Zhu didn't listen to a word, only feeling that he had lost face in front of everyone today.

The old lady glanced at him and shook her head. "Alright, that's enough for the New Year's gathering. Everyone, go about your business as usual. I'm too old to keep you company any longer!"

As soon as the old lady left, the neighbors breathed a sigh of relief, and the atmosphere immediately became more relaxed! Uncle San had already found his spot, with a large bowl of peanuts and melon seeds placed in front of him. Liu Haizhong sat closely next to him, and his own tea mug, which belonged to an advanced worker, was placed in a prominent position on the table.

"See that? This kid needs a beating! If you don't discipline him for three days, he'll be climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles! He won't even listen to his elders in this situation!"

The old man was busy cracking sunflower seeds and making "hmm" sounds, so busy that he didn't even have time to say a complete sentence.

Madam Jia quietly approached her daughter-in-law. "I just saw that money-loser putting something into the house. Why don't you think of something?"

"This isn't a good idea!" Qin Huairu was a little troubled. He wasn't afraid of the rain, but he was afraid of Lin Feng! That guy even dared to beat up Yizhonghai!

"What's wrong with it? I saw it clearly just now. That worthless thing was treated like a treasure; it must be something good! You're like this..."

Qin Huairu's eyes brightened as she listened, but a hint of fear flickered in her gaze as she looked at her mother-in-law. "I understand, I'll go find Sha Zhu!"

At a table, Sha Zhu sat next to Yi Zhonghai, sipping tea in a depressed mood, thinking about his sister's matter earlier. Just as he was lost in thought, a pleasant scent of soap wafted over, and Sha Zhu involuntarily looked up.

"Sister Qin, sit next to me. I saved this seat for you!"

Qin Huai smiled broadly and sat down next to Sha Zhu with a generous air. Her bright smile was like a spring breeze, blowing away all of Sha Zhu's troubles.

"All you ever do is eat and drink! Why don't you care about your sister at all?"

"Sister Qin, what's wrong?" Sha Zhu's heart clenched instantly.

"I just saw Lin Feng deliver something to your sister. That guy's probably up to something with her!"

"He wouldn't dare! My sister is only a vocational school graduate; that guy doesn't even deserve her!"

"Oh dear, you don't understand a girl's feelings at all. Yesterday she treated your sister to dinner, today she gave her a gift, and just now you helped her out. What girl could stand this?"

Sha Zhu grew angrier as he listened, but considering his sister's attitude, he still didn't get up. Qin Huairu's eyes darted around when she saw his cowardly appearance.

"Let me tell you, any boy who gets close to a girl is definitely up to no good. I just saw him give your sister some things; you should go check what they are! Don't let your sister get fooled. How can a girl accept gifts from random people?"

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu immediately lost his composure, his face instantly darkening. "I'm going to go see my sister!"

"I'll go with you! You're such a carefree person..."

Sha Zhu blushed. "Let's go together!"

The two quietly left the table and quickly arrived at Yushui's room. Shazhu knocked on the door, but when no one answered, his face darkened even more!

Impatient Sha Zhu pushed open his sister's door, and Qin Huairu quickly followed behind. Looking at the empty room, Sha Zhu's eyes swept over it like an eagle's!

A small cloth bag was placed on the side of the table, folded neatly. Sha Zhu picked up the bag and shook it open, revealing a small "Lin" character embroidered on it, which was extremely glaring.

"This bag is completely full!"

Sha Zhu felt a tightness in his chest, and his eyes quickly swept over a spot where everything in the room was neat and tidy, except for that one place that looked like it had just been disturbed!

As expected of siblings, Sha Zhu removed the books from the outside, quickly revealing a beautifully packaged gift box inside the cabinet.

"Heh, not bad at all! It's actually one of the Eight Delicacies of Beijing!" As a chef, Sha Zhu quickly recognized the item, picked up the box, and felt a surge of anger rising from the bottom of his heart.

Qin Huairu's eyes lit up like light bulbs! "Is this what they call the Eight Treasures of Beijing? Let me see, I've never seen anything like it before!"

Sha Zhu shoved the "Eight Treasures of Beijing" into Qin Huairu's hands. "This stuff isn't anything special, it's just famous. A box like this costs two or three yuan, and most people can't even buy it. This kid really knows how to spend money!"

"It's so expensive!" Qin Huairu felt a bit burned and hurriedly returned the item to Sha Zhu!

"These are just for kids, you can keep them! I'm going to find this brat!"

"If you don't return it to him, how are you going to find him?"

"You think you can just take what's in my house and expect me to return it? Dream on! You can keep it and use it to treat the kids! My sister's too old for this stuff! It's nice to have, but don't eat too much and you'll ruin yourself!"

Watching Sha Zhu storm out of the house, Qin Huairu, clutching the box in her hands, smiled slightly and ran back home like a rabbit!