The strong fisherman in the courtyard

Mother Li shook her head and said, "Okay, I saw that there are crabs today, so I'll make some for you two."

"Old Li, you go buy a bar, and it's just right for your son to benefit from it!"

"Well, I'll go right away. Hehe, it's only natural for me to take advantage of my son!" Father Li didn't mind being talked about. He walked out happily.

A courtyard in Shijia Hutong.

The residents of Shijia Hutong include some famous people in history, such as Zhang Shizhao, Qiao Guanhua, etc. This was once the dormitory area of ​​the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Minister of Water Resources also lived here. In addition, Shijia Hutong has many beautiful three-courtyard houses, which were once the residences of retired senior officials at that time.

For example, No. 51 Shijia Hutong: This is a beautiful three-courtyard house. In the 50s, Zhang Shizhao and his family moved into this courtyard. Later, Qiao Guanhua and Zhang Hanzhi also lived here.

No. 32 Shijia Hutong: This is the dormitory area of ​​the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Minister of Water Resources once lived here.

No. 56 Shijia Hutong: This is the dormitory of the People's Art Theater. The courtyard also has three entrances and there are crabapple trees planted in the courtyard. People are used to calling this place the Crabapple Courtyard. Many old artists of the People's Art Theater, such as Yu Shizhi and Jiao Juyin, have lived here.

No. 53 Shijia Hutong: It is now a hotel and the previous resident was also a celebrity.

No. 24 Shijia Hutong: Now it is the Shijia Hutong Museum. It used to be a famous lady's study in the old city. Its owner was the talented woman Ling Shuhua. Later, Miss Ling went to Europe with her husband and returned to her hometown in her old age. Cao Kun and Sai Jinhua also lived here.

As a retired senior official, Old Man Zhang naturally lives here as well, occupying a three-courtyard house all to himself.

Old man Zhang walked into the yard carrying a bucket and smiling. Although the fish in the bucket weighed only a little over one pound, it did not affect the old man's happiness at all.

Although this courtyard is not small, it is basically inhabited by Old Man Zhang, his son, daughter-in-law and his own precious granddaughter. The others are guards and nannies.

"Dad, how did you harvest today?"

Zhang's daughter-in-law is a full-time housewife. She is responsible for the family's life and work all day long and manages everything in order.

Old Zhang smiled and said, "Hey, I caught two today. Let's stew them tonight."

Zhang's wife looked into the bucket and laughed, "Dad, these two fish are not enough for Old Zhang to eat alone."

"I don't care. I'll just drink the soup." Old Zhang angrily stuffed the bucket into his daughter-in-law's hands and was about to go find his lovely granddaughter.

"Okay, I'll do it for you. Wan'er is reading in the study in the backyard." When Zhang's wife saw this expression, she knew that Old Man Zhang was going to look for his precious granddaughter.

"Okay, okay." Old Zhang waved his hand excitedly and walked towards the backyard.

"Secretary Li, my dad went fishing with his friend again today?" Zhang's mother asked when she saw her father-in-law walking into the central courtyard.

Secretary Li nodded, "Yes, that's right."

Mother Zhang laughed cheerfully, "Introducing your granddaughter again? And it didn't work?"

"You guessed it right." Secretary Li couldn't help laughing when he thought of the scene in the afternoon.

"But this guy is interesting. It would be nice if I could meet him. I didn't expect that even my dad couldn't meet him even with Wan'er's photo. Haha."

"Well, I don't care anymore. Let the grandfather worry about it. I'm going to cook."

After saying this, Zhang's mother went straight back to the kitchen in the front yard and started to prepare dinner with the nanny.

Zhang family’s backyard study.

"Wanwan, grandpa is here to see you!" Old man Zhang called out with a smile, then pushed the door open and entered the house.

Zhang Wan'er sat by the window, the sun shining through the curtains onto her body, she lowered her head to read the book in her hand, quiet and focused. After hearing her grandfather's call, she revealed a helpless smile, closed the book in her hand, and then raised her head.

"Grandpa, are you looking for a partner for me again?" The girl's voice was like the first cry of an oriole, clear and yet with a hint of gentleness.

Old man Zhang touched his head and chuckled, "Yes, but I hit a wall this time, and it was quite severe."

Zhang Wan'er's eyes lit up, and she came to the tea table, made a cup of hot tea for her grandfather and handed it to him, waiting for her grandfather's next words with bright eyes.

Since Zhang Wan'er came of age, there has been an endless stream of people introducing potential partners to her. This is really not an exaggeration. At the peak, there were five waves of matchmakers in one day.

However, Zhang Wan'er didn't like any of them. No matter how impressive her family background was, at most it was exactly the same as their Zhang family. No matter how rich her family was, to be honest, without an official background, it would be easily disbanded.

Moreover, most of the children from these two types of family backgrounds are not considered very outstanding, at least not in Zhang Wan'er's eyes. Although they enjoy relatively superior social status and living conditions, and are more likely to work within the system and enjoy better career development opportunities, but she just looks down on them and there is nothing she can do about it.

Zhang Wan'er is 19 this year, which is almost the average age for marriage in the 50s. Although her family is not in a hurry, her grandfather is! Because not only Zhang Wan'er looks down on those who come to propose marriage, but old man Zhang also looks down on them!

Therefore, the grandfather and grandson were quite eager to talk about this. Ever since Zhang Wan'er knew that Old Man Zhang often recommended her to a fishing friend of his who was much older than him, every time the sales pitch failed, Old Man Zhang would come over and complain, then regroup and continue to sell next time!

This back and forth made Zhang Wan'er feel a little curious about Comrade Li Ming.

Chapter 40 Siheyuan Traditional Preservation Project

"Go ahead and tell me. It's still early for dinner." Zhang Wan'er's clear voice came again.

Old man Zhang picked up the teacup and took a sip, then began to tell Zhang Wan'er about what happened today.

"I brought all your photos over today, full-body photos. I only have a few of your photos. And guess what this guy said to me?"

"what?"

"Well, what did he say? Anyway, he just summed it up and said that you were very good and beautiful."

"I thought it would work, but in the end this bastard said he was not worthy! I was almost pissed off!"

After hearing this, Zhang Wan'er covered her lips lightly, but the smile on her face was as bright as the spring sunshine.

"Grandpa, what exactly did you talk about? How did he praise people?"

Old man Zhang finished his tea and put it on the table. "I forgot at my age! This is normal."

"Wait a minute, I'll call Xiao Li. He will definitely remember it." Old man Zhang found that his granddaughter was curious, so he turned around and went out to find Secretary Li without fear of trouble.

After a while, Old Man Zhang came back with Secretary Li.

"Xiao Li, please tell Wan'er the two fancy words that Li Ming used to praise others. I, an old man, didn't remember them." Old man Zhang felt that he had lost face and couldn't even remember a few words. He was in a bad mood.

"Two curved eyebrows that seem to be frowning but not frowning, a pair of eyes that seem to be happy but not happy and full of affection."

"There is also a line: the graceful waist of a willow is as quiet as a delicate flower reflecting in the water."

"Yeah, yes, yes, that's right, these two sentences. This kid does have some literary talent."

Old man Zhang quickly took over the conversation.

His granddaughter Zhang Wan'er smiled and said, "Grandpa, if you have a chance to meet me next time, please call me. I will go and see how your fishing friend is doing."

"Hehe, great, great! I don't believe that this guy wouldn't be tempted if I moved my granddaughter over there!"

Old man Zhang was like a victorious general. After receiving a positive answer from his granddaughter, he happily left the study.

Comrade Li Ming, who was concentrating on eating in the courtyard, had no idea that someone was plotting against him.

. . . . . .

"Burp~, delicious." After finishing his meal, Li Ming sat down on the chair, found a more comfortable position and began to disappear.

Father Li also put down his chopsticks and said, "It has to be your mother's cooking skills!"

The father and son smiled at each other, they were like-minded people!

"Brother, there's a whole courtyard meeting outside! Uncle Three asked us to come over after dinner." My sister came running in from the courtyard, skipping and jumping, and brought this message.

Well, this is an old tradition of this unfortunate courtyard house. They hold a meeting when there is something to do, and they also hold a meeting when there is nothing to do.

The father and son looked at each other again and said, okay, let’s go.

"Okay, let's digest the food." Li Ming stood up reluctantly and prepared to walk to the yard.

"Then I'll go too, to prevent anyone from bullying my good son!" Father Li was stared at fiercely by Mother Li, so he patted his butt and got up quickly.

"Brother, wait for me, I want to go too." Li Rui shouted.

"Okay, just go and treat it as a show." Li Ming had a nonchalant expression on his face.

Mother Li looked at this lively family with a smile, then she cleared the dishes and went to the sink to wash them. It has become much more convenient since her good son got this big sink. She no longer has to go out to be blown by the cold wind in the winter, which is really great.

The Siheyuan Assembly has retained the traditional old items. According to Comrade Li Ming's observation, there is also an item where He Yuzhu beats Xu Damao and Liu Haizhong beats his son. This is considered a classic must-see piece of the Qinman Siheyuan Assembly.

Li Ming followed Li's father and walked towards the central courtyard without even bringing a stool. He just stood for a while. He actually expected the two of them to sit there and show their support!

What you see is an octagonal table with three well-dressed stewards sitting on it. The one in the middle, who looks energetic and has a kind and smiling face, is Yi Zhonghai, the Lord of Morality. He was a disciple of the Lord of Morality and is good at explaining great principles and guiding people to do good.

This courtyard's advocate of "respecting the elderly and loving the young" is, in simple terms, very good at standing on the moral high ground to point fingers at others, with He Yuzhu being the worst offender.

The ball-shaped object on the left is the second uncle Liu Haizhong, one of the "two fat guys" in the courtyard, a spokesperson for domestic violence, and a well-known "double standard" in the country. He beats his younger son when his eldest son makes a mistake.

He beat his younger son when he was angry, and beat him when his younger son made a mistake.

The daily routine is to eat scrambled eggs, drink wine, and beat my son!

The one on the right who looks like a monkey is the third uncle Yan Fugui. He always kept the saying “If you can eat well and wear well, you will be poor, but if you don’t plan well, you will be poor” throughout his life. He can be said to be a good man who is loyal to one person from beginning to end.

Every day mosquitoes flew past him. If Yan Fugui didn't put the mosquitoes in his mouth to taste them, he would have worked for nothing today! Whenever the manure truck passed by, he would follow it to smell the smell and see which family in the yard had the best food! If he didn't pick up money when he went out, he would lose money today!

Li Ming looked around the courtyard at the other famous "spokespersons" and couldn't help but sigh.

"Son, what's wrong with you?" Father Li asked when he heard his son start to sigh.

Li Ming muttered quietly, "How lucky is our family to be able to live in a courtyard like this!"

Father Li chuckled, "Haha, it's okay, it's okay. These people don't dare to offend us easily."

"That's true, but it makes me sick after seeing so much."

Comrade Li Ming complained a few words, took out a cigarette, handed it to his father, and lit one for himself. The father and son were eagerly waiting for the show to begin. Sister Li Rui walked to the middle courtyard, but was disgusted by the large crowds. Seeing Yan Fugui feeling sick, she turned around and went home.

"Ahem, everyone, stop for a moment. Let me first talk about the main content of our meeting today."

Everyone then stopped and looked at Liu Haizhong, waiting for him to continue comparing.

"It's been hard to buy food recently, so the three uncles in our yard wanted to get everyone together to talk about this matter."

"As for the details, let's ask an old man to tell everyone." After Liu Haizhong finished speaking, he sat down again, picked up the teacup and drank a sip of water, which made it seem like this was the case.

Everyone has become accustomed to the fact that Liu Haizhong is always the first one to speak at every meeting, and no one takes what he says to heart. They are mainly waiting for Yi Zhonghai, the boss of the hospital, to speak.

"Dad, if someone in the yard sets his sights on our family, I'll play the good guy and you'll play the bad guy." Li Ming muttered in a low voice to his father.

Father Li was delighted. This was the first time that his son wanted to cooperate with him in a school-wide meeting. Before, he was alone, or at most he and Mother Li would fight against a group of people alone. However, usually no one would be insolent.

However, food is hard to buy now, and it is estimated that many people in the courtyard are thinking about their Li family. Thinking of this, a hint of cruelty flashed in Li's father's eyes.

Chapter 41 Hospital General Meeting

Uncle Yi Zhonghai also cleared his throat before speaking. Who the hell did he learn this from? If you have phlegm in your throat, why don't you swallow it? Ahem, where's your brother-in-law?

Comrade Li Ming complained in his heart that these neighbors in the courtyard were just unpleasant to the eye!

"In fact, what Second Uncle said just now is very clear. The main reason is that there is not enough food to eat now, and the pressure is too great."

"But our courtyard has been honored as an outstanding courtyard over the years. I have discussed it privately with the other two uncles. We plan to use the managers of the front, middle and back courtyards as the core to provide better assistance to the residents of our courtyard. This is also the purpose of this courtyard-wide meeting. I wonder what everyone thinks?"

"We can all speak freely from now on!"

After listening to what Old Bidden said, Li Ming knew that this old immortal Yi Zhonghai was trying to find a way to increase his reputation so that he could better control the people in the hospital. Moreover, the higher his prestige, the greater the chance that he would tie up Sha Zhu and take care of him in his old age.

At this moment, what Yi Zhonghai was thinking was almost the same as what Li Ming was thinking. In fact, Yi Zhonghai's idea at the beginning was to promote an atmosphere of mutual help in this courtyard with himself as the core. However, given that his own elderly care candidates were all in the middle courtyard, if he took on the responsibility of supporting the front and back courtyards, he would be under more pressure. Moreover, he could not afford to offend the Li family in the front courtyard for the time being, so he had to give up.

"This is a good thing!"

"We don't have much food stored at home recently. This suggestion from the uncle is very good!"

"That's right, let's help each other, and the masters in our hospital are all capable people, and they can help us in more ways!"

"It's easy to deal with your middle yard and back yard, but what about the uncle who is in charge of our front yard? Alas!" sighed Neighbor A from the front yard.

"The old man in your front yard would have to taste the bitterness even if a manure truck passed by, haha!" There are those who like to watch the fun and never mind the trouble.

The father and son of the Li family looked at each other and didn't say much, but they both understood in their hearts that now their Li family would probably be targeted by the people in the front yard.

However, Li Ming was not afraid of trouble. He just had to think of a way to deal with this old man Yi Zhonghai. If he really pushed him to the edge, he would just choke him and throw him into the pigs' food bowl in the breeding space and blanch him!

The three old men sitting around the eight-immortal table were very satisfied with this matter. Needless to say, Yi Zhonghai was satisfied. A win-win situation was rare for him. It was nothing more than a loss of money and food. But if he really had no money and food, he would not help others!

Houyuan Liu Haizhong is more pure, he is a seventh-level fitter and has a more affluent family background. He agreed to Yi Zhonghai's proposal just to show off his power!

As for Yan Fugui, it was even simpler. He just wanted to take advantage of this incident to get some money from the Li family to supplement his family expenses. As for the other families in the front yard, what did that have to do with his Yan family!

"we agree!"

"Yes, we all agree!"

"Uncle is right!"

"Second uncle is right too!"

"Ah, Uncle Three, forget it~"