Siheyuan: Traveling through three years to gain the power of a palm

"Silly Zhu, calm down. It's just like you said. Not only in the entire city, but even in our country, there's no one with a face as unique as yours."

Yi Zhonghai kept saying nice things to comfort Sha Zhu. At the same time, he secretly cursed himself for being so soft-hearted a few days ago and agreeing to help Sha Zhu find a wife. He really shot himself in the foot.

"Shazhu, you are certainly excellent, but you've been on quite a few blind dates in the past few years, and none of them were successful. Of course, those matchmakers are reluctant to introduce you.

Think about it yourself, if you go out to cook for someone, and after you’ve made the meal, they suddenly say they don’t want to eat anymore and kick you out, you’d feel bad too, wouldn’t you?

It took Yi Zhonghai a lot of persuasion to calm Sha Zhu down.

"Zhu Zi, listen to me. It's not shameful to spend a little more money on this matter. I'll let your aunt look after you and will definitely find you a good one."

"Uncle, this is just you. If it were someone else, I would definitely have a good argument with him. Do you really think I'm stupid?"

Sha Zhu said angrily, without looking for the reason in himself at all. He was an eighth-level chef two years ago and he is still an eighth-level chef now. He doesn't care about upgrading his level.

He also has a foul mouth and poor interpersonal relationships. Otherwise, with his abilities, it wouldn't be impossible for him to move up a level. (I think Shazhu's cooking skills are probably higher than level eight. He even cooked for high-ranking officials and was recognized, although that was years later.)

Seeing Sha Zhu relax, Yi Zhonghai also breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that Sha Zhu would get angry and go to the street office to cause trouble for the matchmaker.

Although it won't cause him any big trouble, it will still be a bit troublesome.

Aunt Wu reported the news that Sha Zhu had raised his price to the street office. Several matchmakers were tempted, but they still did not agree to Aunt Wu's request and just kept making excuses.

Aunt Wu, who was puzzled, pulled a matchmaker aside. This matchmaker was one of the matchmakers who was tempted by the extra money.

"Sister Ding, just tell me, why don't you guys want to take my orders?"

Aunt Wu asked straight to the point.

"Sister, I want to take it too. Who wouldn't want money? But that's Sha Zhu, a well-known poor man.

Since he turned 20, every matchmaker from our street office has come to his house to talk to him and has taken him to meet girls.

But what about him? He knew he was going to meet the girl, but he didn't bother to dress properly, and he didn't even clean up his house. When asked how he felt about the girl, he kept saying she wasn't as good as his sister Qin.

His sister Qin is so capable, why doesn't he go with her sister Qin, and why does he look for us matchmakers?"

Matchmaker Ding said unhappily that she had been a matchmaker since she got married for more than 30 years, but she had never seen anyone like Sha Zhu.

Not only her, but her colleagues also had no good impression of Sha Zhu. How could a person without any parents to support him and with no good conditions ask for so much!

"Sister Ding, if this is the only reason, then no one would be willing to propose marriage to Sha Zhu. There must be something else I don't know."

Aunt Wu shook her head. She guessed that it definitely wasn't just these things. You know, in order to get people to take Sha Zhu's order, she doubled the fee.

And it was obvious that Matchmaker Ding wanted to make money, but she didn't say it explicitly, so there must be some deeper reason.

Chapter 124: The Enemy's Situation

Aunt Wu grabbed matchmaker Ding and wouldn't let her go, as if she wouldn't give up until she got the reason. Today she wanted to find out what made these matchmakers avoid Sha Zhu as if he were a tiger or leopard.

"Chunhua, it's not that I don't want to help, it's really that idiot Zhu's own fault, you know."

Matchmaker Ding said with an embarrassed look on her face that she really wanted to make money, but it was not easy to get the money from Sha Zhu.

"No, Sister Ding, I just don't understand. Why can't we just talk it out? Don't make me guess."

"Chunhua, let me ask you, was the old deaf man in your yard arrested and paraded through the streets a while ago?"

"Yes."

"That's it, that silly Zhu calls that old deaf woman "Grandma." Even though they're not biological children, it still has a bad influence. Who would want to marry a relative of a criminal?

Not to mention, Shazhu has been to prison. If I propose marriage to him, I will be scolded. If the girl knew about it, she would beat me to death.

Matchmaker Ding explained.

Aunt Wu was stunned. She didn't consider this because the old deaf man's affairs had nothing to do with them. This was what Director Zheng and Director Wang said themselves.

The attitude of the people in the courtyard towards them did not change much, but they never expected that the matter would become so serious with the matchmaker in the street office.

She quickly said, "But the matter has been explained clearly. Sha Zhu and Old Long... have nothing to do with the old deaf man's matter. And he has never been in prison. He was just taken away for investigation."

"What's the point of you telling me this? It's not like I want to marry Sha Zhu. The problem is whether the girl believes it or not. I can't hide it from her. It's so conscienceless!"

What Matchmaker Ding said made a lot of sense. In this era, personal morality was very important in marriage. If you had stains on you, such as being a thief, being unfilial to your parents, having connections with enemy spies, etc., it would be difficult for such a person to find a wife or get married.

As for concealing something, it may be temporary, but it won't last forever. It will eventually be exposed. When that happens, it won't make sense for the matchmaker, the middleman, to be beaten.

Aunt Wu returned home frustrated and waited until Yi Zhonghai came home from get off work before telling him about this.

"This damn old deaf guy doesn't do any good things. He even delayed us after he went in!"

Yi Zhonghai was furious. He clenched his trembling right fist and slammed it hard on the table, causing the teacup to vibrate.

There was a reason for him to be angry. Over the years, the couple had been taking care of the old deaf man. Although they received a monthly subsidy and had Sha Zhu's help, they didn't spend much money.

But Aunt Wu actually goes to take care of the old deaf man every day, and Yi Zhonghai has calculated the labor cost very clearly.

Moreover, Yi Zhonghai needs to take care of the old deaf man. He wants to use the old deaf man's age to market himself and create an image of respecting the elderly and loving the young.

At the same time, we can also make use of the old deaf man's more than 70 years of life experience and knowledge to give him advice so that he can better rule the courtyard.

But in the end, nothing was achieved, and he was almost implicated because of his identity as an old deaf man.

"Lao Yi, we are old now, so these things don't affect us much, but what about Sha Zhu?"

Aunt Wu asked with some concern, the reason why Sha Zhu was so nice to the old deaf man was probably because he was influenced by Yi Zhonghai.

You know, when He Daqing was around, the relationship between Sha Zhu and the old deaf man was only average.

"Alas, there's nothing I can do. I can only tell Sha Zhu the truth. This isn't our fault."

Yi Zhonghai sighed. There was nothing he could do about this matter. He could only pin his hopes on Sha Zhu, who was lucky as a fool, and would meet a matchmaker who was greedy for money, or a girl who didn't care about these things in the future.

……

Xu Damao didn't know that Sha Zhu wanted to go on a blind date recently, and Sha Zhu was also wary of him. They grew up together, and they knew each other too well.

Xu Damao was in a very good mood today because when he came back from showing a movie, his colleague from the Propaganda Department told him that Jiang Fan was looking for him and asked him to go to Jiang Fan's house after work to talk in detail.

This made Xu Damao happy for most of the day. Ever since he made up his mind to marry Lou Xiao'e, his life became about making money, getting into trouble, and bullying Sha Zhu.

Now that Jiang Fan told him such good news, how could he not be excited?

Resisting the urge to look for Jiang Fan, Xu Damao waited until the steel mill got off work.

"Brother, tell me quickly, what's going on? What should I do?"

As soon as Xu Damao entered the room, he couldn't wait to speak, his face showing excitement that he couldn't hide.

But it's true, getting married is an exciting thing, not to mention the plot of Xu Damao, a child from a servant's family, marrying the eldest daughter of the master's family.

It’s like you lie at home playing games and watching videos every day, and your family suddenly arranges for you to marry the beautiful and wealthy daughter of a rich man, and you don’t even have to go to her house. Who would dare to imagine this?

"Don't be anxious, Brother Damao, listen to me..."

Jiang Fan told Xu Damao his thoughts, which mainly consisted of two types.

One option was to persuade Lou Zhenhua to publish a newspaper announcement severing ties with Lou Xiao'e and then flee. However, this wasn't realistic. Regardless of Lou Zhenhua's willingness to leave, even if he did, wouldn't he be able to take Lou Xiao'e with him? What was she worth?

"I'm afraid that won't work. My father said that Lou Bancheng is a true Sijiucheng native. He has been around Sijiucheng all his life and probably doesn't want to leave."

Xu Damao shook his head and denied it without thinking. This trick was useless.

"For the second option, the key lies in you, Brother Damao."

"I?"

Xu Damao pointed at himself with a puzzled expression on his face, as if to say, "Are you kidding me?"

"That's right, it's you, Brother Damao. I've thought about it. If we want to save Lou Xiao'e, it won't be a big problem. As long as you..."

Jiang Fan told Xu Damao his idea, which was mainly to make Xu Damao more reputable and make his sweat redder than the blood in Sha Zhu's body.

"Brother Damao, to be honest, this method depends on your luck. If you're lucky, you might even run into enemy spies while walking, and then report them for merit and receive a commendation.

If you're unlucky, you won't encounter one in this lifetime. If your luck is even worse, you might be discovered by enemy spies and then be shot to death by them."

Seeing the cold sweat on Xu Damao's forehead, Jiang Fan said casually, "Of course, they don't have to be enemy spies. As long as you capture a few criminal gangs or something, the effect will be the same."

"My brother, can you please not be so casual when you say this? If I have that ability, how can I be bullied by idiot Zhu?"

Xu Damao sighed, "Besides, if I really ran into a criminal gang, I might not have the courage to catch them."

Jiang Fan widened his eyes slightly and looked at Xu Damao. He didn't expect Xu Damao to say this. Not only did he have self-awareness, he also really wanted to catch a few criminal gangs and make meritorious deeds.

Chapter 125 December

Then Jiang Fan told Xu Damao about the third method, which was to have Xu Damao and Lou Xiaoe get married, and then Lou Zhenhua would ask them to move out of the courtyard.

It would be best if there was a courtyard where only the two of them lived, and then find a decent job for Lou Xiao'e and arrange a job for her so that she could integrate into the workers.

After hearing this, Xu Damao remained silent. This was obviously not what he wanted, especially since he had to move out of the courtyard. Even if he was far away from Sha Zhu, he would not be able to show off in front of him in the future.

"Brother, this one won't work either. I'll choose the second path. I want to make a contribution, I want to be rewarded. I, Xu Damao, will never tolerate evil!"

Xu Damao was full of righteousness, and at this moment the light of righteousness seemed to appear on him.

Jiang Fan nodded. He had guessed that Xu Damao would choose this path. After all, the other two options were not feasible now.

"Brother Damao, I still suggest you discuss this with Uncle Xu. This matter is indeed dangerous."

"I know, but I'll need your help in this matter. But don't worry, you will be my brother's adoptive parent from now on. If you say east, I will never go west! I will do whatever you ask me to do."

Xu Damao expressed his thoughts directly without any hesitation.

Jiang Fan didn't say anything more, but just told Xu Damao to train his physique well, as he might have to fight with others in the future.

Xu Damao patted his chest and said that he was in very good health now and wanted to have a competition with Jiang Fan in arm wrestling.

In order to let Xu Damao have a clear understanding of himself, Jiang Fan casually bent Xu Damao's wrist onto the table.

Xu Damao rubbed his hands and walked away, it was a bit painful.

After opening Jiang Fan's door, Xu Damao turned around and saw Yi Zhonghai going to Sha Zhu's house. He quickly walked to the backyard, then pretended to be calm and leaned against the wall of Sha Zhu's house.

"This damn old deaf woman is so disgusting! She's almost dying, and she's still delaying my chance to get married! Why doesn't she just die sooner?"

Sha Zhu was furious, veins popped out on his face, and he cursed non-stop, greeting the old deaf man's parents and relatives who had been dead for who knows how many years.

After scolding for seven or eight minutes, Sha Zhu seemed to be tired and sat down on the chair, lowering his head and sobbing.

"Uncle, do you think I can't find a partner? I'm already 24 and still not married. What good young man at this age doesn't have a partner?

Jiang Pingan is younger than me and already has a son. Even that bastard Xu Damao has a partner and is about to get married, but I'm still single!

Sha Zhu was very sad. Among the people in the yard who were about his age, some were married and had children, and some were in relationships, but he was still single and didn't even have anyone to propose to him.

"Silly Zhu, you are not alone!"

"Uncle, I'm already very sad, why are you still scolding me?"

Sha Zhu raised his head and looked at Yi Zhonghai angrily.

"Silly Zhu, don't be discouraged. You are still young and your conditions are so good. If you can't find a girl in the city, how can you find a girl in the countryside?

Let's lower our standards a bit, and there will definitely be someone willing to marry you. Look, isn't your sister Qin also from the countryside? Are you still worried that there are no good girls in the countryside?"

Yi Zhonghai patiently persuaded him, and he also knew that Sha Zhu had a good impression of Qin Huairu.

Qin Huairu was 18 years old when she entered the courtyard, and Sha Zhu was only 16. In the naive season of youth, how could one not be moved when meeting such a generous and decent girl?

In addition, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu often praised Qin Huairu, and this seed was planted in Sha Zhu's heart.

"That's right. If I can find a wife like Sister Qin, there's nothing wrong with being in the countryside."

The current Sha Zhu is no longer the thirty-year-old man he was at the beginning of the story. He now thinks highly of himself and would never look down on an ordinary country girl.

"Uncle, please help me find a partner like Sister Qin from the countryside, preferably one who is prettier than Sister Qin."

Shazhu has no other requirements, just one, it looks good.

Yi Zhonghai agreed and thought to himself that he was indeed He Daqing's son. With such a good character, he was truly a biological son.

Although Xu Damao, who was eavesdropping outside the wall, didn't hear it clearly, he vaguely heard some things, such as blind dates, partners, and the countryside.

"Has Shazhu been busy on a blind date lately? It doesn't seem to be going well. My money wasn't wasted then."

Xu Damao laughed heartily, unable to hide the smug look on his face.