Siheyuan: A warm home with wife and children

Sigh, I was so blind back then!

No matter how much she complained, she had already married into the Jia family and had three children.

Life goes on, it's too late to say anything now!

Now, the most important thing is to hear what Aunt Liu has come for.

With no one around, the pretty widow crept to the windowsill and pricked up her ears to eavesdrop.

Yang Jianguo invited Aunt Liu to sit down inside, then lifted the wooden pot lid made of nailed wooden strips and scooped out a bowl of meat with a spatula.

She served the dish, still with the broth, and then picked out the steamed white flour buns from the pot: "Aunt Liu, I didn't prepare anything special, just have some."

Ho!

Hearing this, Aunt Liu thought to herself, "Is this what you call not preparing anything special and just eating whatever?"

If outsiders heard you say that, would they even be able to live?!

So everyone else is eating pig swill...

However, Aunt Liu didn't stand on ceremony when there was meat to eat. She picked up a white steamed bun, put a piece of stewed meat in it, and put it in her mouth.

The aroma of the meat burst in her mouth, and Aunt Liu ate with a beaming smile.

“Auntie, you’ve made progress on this trip.” Yang Jianguo also started eating, but he was much more refined than Aunt Liu.

Riveting is a specialized trade; other trades involve manufacturing sheet metal, profiles, wires, and pipes according to specifications, making them exactly as the drawings show.

The riveter's job is to lay out, assemble, and install these finished products.

That's the supervisor in charge of metal component construction, unlike other trades.

He was a level four riveter, and his monthly salary was seventy-five yuan and eight mao.

If you are promoted two levels to become a level six riveter, your salary will surpass that of an old man who earns ninety-nine yuan.

With the subsidy, he gets 102 yuan, making him a true high-class, rich, and handsome guy.

Chapter Three: Petty-mindedness will never amount to anything.

Hearing his question, Aunt Liu reluctantly put down her chopsticks: "Okay, if everything's alright on your end, we'll meet tomorrow."

"It can be done."

Yang Jianguo nodded and smiled, "Auntie, should I prepare something?"

Aunt Liu wanted to give a few more words of advice, but then she looked at the braised pork on the table marked "eat whatever you want".

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Just prepare some snacks. If you can get some melon seeds and milk candy, put some out too. Girls like those."

"Okay, I understand. I'll ask for leave tomorrow morning and start preparing."

Qin Huairu, who had been drooling under the windowsill, left. Yang Jianguo had asked someone to arrange a marriage for him.

What... what should we do?

Qin Huairu had been thinking about finding an opportunity to ease tensions with Yang Jianguo.

Then introduce him to my cousin from my hometown, so that we can become family and she can help out my family.

Before she could come up with a plan, Yang Jianguo arranged a match for her.

What should we do?

After seeing Aunt Liu off, Yang Jianguo had no idea that he had caught the eye of the pretty widow.

Thinking about the blind date I'm going on tomorrow, and how I'll get married if it works out, I'm actually a little excited.

Having been a bachelor for over thirty years in his previous life, Yang Jianguo wanted to find a wife, have a few children, and live a peaceful life after coming into this world.

As for the mess in this courtyard, what does it have to do with him?

When my parents died, those who could hide in the yard helped out, and those who couldn't.

Yang Jianguo was starving, and no one offered him any help, so their relationship was naturally not good.

Fortunately, he still had the system, which prevented him from becoming the first transmigrator to starve to death and disgracing his predecessors.

Now, I'm living a good life thanks to the system.

There's no need to feign politeness with the beasts in the yard; ignoring each other is just fine.

"Jianguo." Yang Jianguo, who was about to go back into the house, was stopped by someone. He turned around and saw...

Wow, a moral paragon of virtue, an old man, actually came to find me. How rare!

"Yi Gong, what's the matter?"

Yi Zhonghai frowned, thinking to himself, 'This Yang Jianguo, instead of calling me "Grandpa," he calls me "Engineer Yi." Is he deliberately emphasizing our colleague relationship?'

Yi Zhonghai knew perfectly well that this kid harbored resentment.

Old Yang passed away, and then his wife suddenly fell ill. All the compensation money was used to treat his mother.

The person couldn't be saved, but the money was spent.

Yang Jianguo was so poor he couldn't even afford to eat, yet no one offered to help him with anything.

The courtyard did not act properly in this matter, so it's normal to feel some resentment.

But he's made it through now. A grown man should be broad-minded and let go of such a small matter.

"Jianguo! We all overlooked you before. We never expected that your family couldn't even afford to cook. I apologize for this."

“But look at you, you didn’t even say a word when your family ran out of food. If you had asked, no family would have let you go hungry.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Jianguo immediately laughed.

He truly deserves to be called a moral exemplar; with just a few words, he turned the near-starvation into his own fault.

When I paid at the hospital, I emptied my pockets in front of everyone.

My house hasn't been cooked for three days, and not even a wisp of smoke comes out. Is it blind?

He stopped Sha Zhu in the middle courtyard to borrow grain, and Jia Zhangshi made such a commotion to snatch the lunchbox. Was she deaf?

How did this group of deaf and blind idiots survive?

"Yi Gong, if there's nothing else, I'll head back now. I have to work tomorrow!"

Too lazy to waste his breath on that beast, Yang Jianguo went straight into the house and slammed the door shut.

Yi Zhonghai stared at the trembling, broken door, his face terribly grim.

But he still had some pride, so he hesitated, then angrily shook his hand and snorted as he walked home.

"Uncle, who made you angry?" Sha Zhu, who had just returned, asked with a smile when he saw Sha Zhu's gloomy face.

Yi Zhonghai glanced at the lunchbox in Sha Zhu's hand and his expression softened: "Who else but Yang Jianguo? A man with such a petty mind will never amount to anything."

When he mentioned Yang Jianguo, Sha Zhu looked a little embarrassed and said with a forced smile, "Well... Jianguo has had it tough too."

"It's not easy," Yi Zhonghai sneered. "Is it not easy for him to earn 75.8 yuan a month?"

Hearing the old man say that, Sha Zhu felt envious.

The person has only been working for three months, and one month of their work is equivalent to two and a half months of my own work.

"Education is still advantageous. I must make sure my sister finishes her studies; she'll definitely earn more than Yang Jianguo in the future."

Seeing that Sha Zhu didn't respond, Yi Zhonghai also felt bored and sighed, "Alright, you're tired too, go back and rest."

"Hey, take care." Sha Zhu carried his lunchbox home.

As soon as she reached the door, the curtain across the hall was lifted, and Qin Huairu, her face flushed, swayed over.

That seductive demeanor was even more alluring than a ripe peach.

"Shazhu, you're back. What did you bring today?" Qin Huairu glanced at the lunchbox and stared intently at Shazhu.

It's so potent that it completely shuts down even the most foolish person's intelligence.

With just one look, he had her completely under his control...

"Sister Qin, the factory manager treated us to a feast today, and he left behind all the good stuff—fish, chicken, look..."

As I opened the lunchbox, a delicious aroma wafted out.

Normally, Qin Huairu would definitely be drooling.

But after smelling the aroma of freshly stewed braised pork, the leftovers, now cold, suddenly don't smell appetizing anymore.

Chapter Four: Generous Rewards Spread Throughout the Compound

"Silly Zhu, if it weren't for you, I really wouldn't know what to do... I'm going back now."

"Yes, hurry up, it won't taste good if it gets cold. Give the hamburger a good nourishing meal."

After watching Qin Huairu enter the house, Sha Zhu, who had been grinning foolishly, finally turned and walked back.

When I got home, all that was left was some coarse grain cornbread. 'Oh well, I'll just have to make do with that!'

I boiled some cabbage, added two drops of oil, and a little coarse salt.

I stirred it a few times with chopsticks, broke the hard cornbread apart, soaked it in the soup, and slurped it down.

I was full, but the taste was... well, let's just say it wasn't good.

However, Sha Zhu didn't care.

How could a cook like him starve himself?

I'm already full from tasting all the different dishes I cook every day, so I don't need anything else...

Thinking of the half-eaten steamed fish and roast chicken left in the lunchbox.

Sha Zhu swallowed his cigarette saliva, lay down on the bed, and closed his eyes.

What's missing in a dream?

At Qin Huairu's house, Jia Zhangshi and Bang Geng ate with their mouths full of oil.

The half-fish was gone in just a few bites, and Jia Zhangshi even carefully smashed the fish bones clean, leaving not a single scrap of meat.

They sucked on the roast chicken until the bones were almost white before reluctantly putting it down.

"Mommy, Xiaodang wants to eat meat." Xiaodang, who was not full, sucked on his fingers, drool dripping from his mouth.

Suck, suck, suck...

After licking her oily fingers clean, Jia Zhangshi rolled her eyes and said, "What are you eating, you worthless thing... Well, there are still some bones here."

"Mom!" Qin Huairu was furious. This is your own granddaughter! Do you treat her like a dog?

Seeing the anger in Qin Huairu's eyes, Jia Zhangshi finally shut up.

Holding her crying daughter, Qin Huairu comforted her, "Little Dang, Mom will make you chicken soup tomorrow. Chicken bone soup is delicious."

After all that talk, they still couldn't bear to throw away those bones.

Although the bones were sucked clean, they were stewed until tender, and the oil and juice from the bone fragments could still be used to make a pot of soup.

When Xiao Dang heard that there was chicken soup to drink, her mouth watered. She stopped crying and obediently nodded, saying, "Xiao Dang wants to drink chicken soup."

The gluttonous pig, full and with a protruding belly, lay happily on the kang (a heated brick bed) just like its grandmother.

As for my younger sister, I give her some when I have extra food. I barely have enough to eat myself, so how can I give her any more?

It's a money-losing product; eating too much of it is a waste.

This little ingrate has thoroughly learned his grandmother's ideas since he was a child.

After feeding the 'vampire,' things finally calmed down at home.

Nothing was said that night, and they waited for the sun to rise.

News of Yang Jianguo's blind date spread throughout the compound.

Last night, the third aunt ran into Aunt Liu, who was on her way home, and asked her a question. Aunt Liu then told her the truth.

Matchmaking isn't anything shameful; there's nothing to hide about it.

So, the three aunties waited at the door early in the morning.