Comfortable life in Siheyuan

Xu Damao quickly found a courtyard house with two entrances nearby, and after negotiating the price with the owner, he decided to buy it.

Originally, Xu Damao had not thought about having a double courtyard, but when he was looking for a house, he saw Liu Haizhong's house and thought that it was better than his, so after looking around, he finally chose the bigger one.

The third uncle was the first one in the yard to know the news, and he was truly shocked.

"Old Yi, do you know who I saw today?" The third uncle and Yi Zhonghai were sitting in the front yard, chatting around a chess board.

"Who is it? How would I know?" Yi Zhonghai was not that curious. His eyes were still fixed on the movements on the chessboard.

"Xu Damao, I saw Xu Damao!" said the third uncle excitedly!

"So he saw it! What's so strange about seeing Xu Damao? I saw him early in the morning!" Yi Zhonghai looked at the third uncle unhappily. Is it necessary to make a fuss over such a trivial matter?

"No, it's my fault for not explaining it clearly. Remember the bannerman at the end of the alley? Xu Damao bought his house today. I saw it when I passed by! When I was riding my bike in the alley today, I saw him chatting happily with the owner of the house. I also heard them talking about the house!"

The third uncle came up to Yi Zhonghai and spoke mysteriously.

"That yard is not small. Xu Damao is very generous! No wonder he wants to sell the house in the yard!" Yi Zhonghai thought for a while and said calmly.

"The Xu family is really prosperous!" said the third uncle with some envy.

"By the way, Old Yan, what are you doing every day now? I have looked for you several times these days, but you were not here. I asked your Old Yang, but she didn't tell me!" Yi Zhonghai was a little confused. The third uncle was indeed very abnormal recently.

"I was just bored at home, so I rode my bike around. That's how I saw what happened to Xu Damao!" When the third uncle spoke, it was obvious that he lacked confidence, and his eyes were always wandering!

Yi Zhonghai also realized that the third uncle was not telling the truth, but he didn't keep staring at him.

"The backyard of this courtyard will belong to the He family from now on! The Xu family usually leaves, and there is no one else in the backyard!" Yi Zhonghai said with emotion as he looked at He Daqing passing by the door.

"Wasn't the house bought by Liu Qingshan? How did it become He's?" The third aunt came over at this time and happened to hear the conversation between the two.

"Don't you understand? Does Liu Qingshan need to buy a house? The small courtyard of his house is no worse than a siheyuan! It is obvious that Sha Zhu asked him to help buy this house!" The third uncle analyzed to the third aunt with a little pride.

"That's right. Given the relationship between Shazhu and Xu Damao, Xu Damao will definitely not sell this house to him!" the third aunt sighed.

"If this continues, who knows what will happen to this courtyard of ours!" Yi Zhonghai said with some emotion.

"That's not necessary! We both still live here! We won't sell the house, will we?" The third uncle didn't quite agree with this statement. There were still many households in the yard, and there would always be someone who was unwilling to sell.

As they were chatting, Xu Damao suddenly walked in from the doorway. Seeing them, he smiled and greeted them, "Hey! You're all here! Uncle San is at home too! Why didn't you go out to pick up the paper boxes?"

Xu Damao's words made Yan Bugui's face turn red. He thought Xu Damao didn't see him picking up rubbish, but it turned out that this grandson saw everything!

"I just happened to pass by there! It just happened to be my chance!" The third uncle's explanation was a bit far-fetched, and his face looked more and more embarrassed.

Yi Zhonghai noticed that the uncle was uncomfortable and quickly changed the subject, "Da Mao, I heard from your uncle that you bought a big yard. Is that true? Take us to visit it when you have time!"

Sure enough, when Xu Damao heard what Yi Zhonghai said, a smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Uncle, I'm not talking nonsense. That yard is really nice. It's a courtyard with two entrances, only slightly smaller than our quadrangle. I spent a lot of money on it!" Xu Damao raised his chin higher and higher, almost looking down at people with his nose.

"Wow! It's so big? It's much better than Lao Liu's yard!" Yi Zhonghai praised at the right time.

"Of course, my yard was well maintained by the original owner. There's even a fish pond inside!"

"Very good!" Yi Zhonghai said no more. You just need to praise Xu Damao a few times. If you praise him too much, he will become arrogant.

"Then wait until I move and come to my place for dinner!" Xu Damao didn't stay long. He was still planning to discuss with Sun Xiaoyan when to move.

After Xu Damao left, Yi Zhonghai put down the chess piece in his hand and looked at the third uncle, "Old Yan, what's going on with you now? Do you need to pick up waste?"

"Oh! What a sin! What a sin! My children have only come back twice this year. My wife and I have been living off our savings, and the little pension we get each month can't even last a month!" The third uncle covered his face with his hands, he was too ashamed to say these words.

"Ah! You! I told you before, don't be so calculating, don't be so calculating. Now, the children are following your example. Each one of them is more calculating than you. How can we still have some family affection?" Although Yi Zhonghai couldn't stand the character of the third uncle, he still felt uncomfortable at the moment.

"Old Yi, I know my faults. But it's been so many years, how can I change them? In the most difficult times, I had to take care of the expenses of six or seven people in my family with the little money I earned. How could I not make some calculations?

If I hadn't planned, would all the children in my family have been able to go to school? During the years of the Great Famine, many people in our area starved to death. None of the children in my family died. Was this something I planned?"

As the third uncle spoke, he felt more and more aggrieved. Others could say that he was stingy, mean, and took advantage of others, but he did raise several children in the family and sent them to school.

"Yes! You are very good at calculating! Have the children learned it? Then what are you complaining about now!" Yi Zhonghai also knew that Yan Bugui's life was not easy, but he had been like this all the time and regarded calculating as a habit, which was annoying.

"I, ah! I shouldn't have been calculating with my children like this all the time. I calculated their salary when they were working, and I calculated their money for their marriage. Now this is all retribution!" The third uncle lowered his head in annoyance, regretting deeply in his heart.

"It's not too late to understand now!" Yi Zhonghai patted Yan Bugui on the shoulder, "If you really feel sorry for the children, find an opportunity to apologize to them. In the future, don't be calculating! Be nice to yourself and the children."

Yan Bugui raised his head, looked at Yi Zhonghai, and nodded, "Okay, I understand. Old Yi, thank you! I will go back now and apologize to the children in a few days." With that, Yan Bugui stood up and prepared to go home.

Yi Zhonghai looked at Yan Bugui's somewhat lonely back and couldn't help but shook his head, thinking to himself that the Yan family's children were not so easy to change.