Siheyuan: Starting from a Truck Driver

The Yan family does have a jar of brown sugar, but it is only opened twice a year, once on New Year’s Eve and once on the early morning of New Year’s Day. On weekdays, the jar is sealed and cannot be opened.

Yan Bugui's face darkened again, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. He was really reluctant, but for the sake of Yan Jiecheng's marriage, he finally nodded in agreement.

"See what I did? My sister-in-law has a stomachache. Hurry up and make a cup of brown sugar water!" Jia Zhang said with satisfaction while drinking the brown sugar water: "Old Yan, is there anything wrong?"

"Sister-in-law Jia, you can see that Jie Cheng is not young anymore and it's time for him to get married. I looked up the old almanac and the fourth day of next month is an auspicious day. Why not let the children get married?" Yan Bugui suggested.

It turned out that she was plotted by Li Xiaodong, and Jia Zhangshi could understand it. Li Xiaodong, that boy, married such a good wife, which was really enviable.

"Isn't the fourth day of the Chinese New Year next weekend? Isn't this too fast? Although Cuihua has no relatives from her mother's side, she is also an innocent girl and needs to consider her reputation."

As she spoke, Jia Zhang crossed her right leg over her left leg, shook her right foot rhythmically, and supported her hands on her knees, giving a look that said, "You have to pay more."

Knowing that Jia Zhang was about to ask for a high price again, the third aunt hurriedly stopped him and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, you watched Jie Cheng grow up..."

Jia Zhang knew that the introduction fee of two yuan was already a sky-high price, and it was impossible to squeeze more from the Yan family. Moreover, Cuihua's uncle had already promised an introduction fee of ten yuan, and he could earn twelve yuan for each matchmaking. There were probably few people in the whole capital who could compare with her.

"Don't be so nervous. Would I be that kind of person? Let me tell you, I'll go to Cuihua's house in a bit, but I'll have to sit at the main seat at the wedding banquet. Oh, and I'll have to reserve a main seat for my future daughter-in-law."

It is not a custom in Beijing for a family to occupy two main seats at a wedding banquet. However, Yan Bugui still nodded and agreed: "Don't worry, I will let Jie Cheng and Cui Hua toast you a few more times at the wedding banquet."

"Then wait for my good news!" Jia Zhang twisted her butt and left the Yan family.

One has to admire Jia Zhang's efficiency. In less than half an hour, she came back to report that Cuihua's family agreed and the wedding banquet would be held on the fourth day of next month.

Yan Bugui smiled so hard that he couldn't stop. As long as he held a wedding banquet first, Li Xiaodong would win back a point. As for how to save money on the wedding banquet, he already knew it.

The wedding banquet was held in the front yard, and only a few large tables and Shazhu, the cook, were needed. A few hundred kilograms of cabbage and radishes were bought from the market, and if generous, seven or eight kilograms of meat were also bought.

"Look, a table can seat ten people. With a gift of six yuan per person, we can earn five yuan, which means fifty yuan for ten people. If we invite all the neighbors in the courtyard, we can earn at least a hundred or eighty yuan."

After Jia Zhang left, Yan Bugui fiddled with the abacus beads, his eyes narrowed into a thin line with joy.

"...Is six dollars a dowry too much? When the Liu family next door got married, we only gave two dollars." The third aunt was worried.

"How can they be the same? The Liu family does rough work, but I'm a teacher, so our status is different." Yan Bugui glared at her and said, "Don't worry, I'll indicate the amount of the gift money on the invitation. People in our compound care about face, so they won't be stingy with this little money."

The three aunts still felt that something was wrong.

But on second thought, Li Xiaodong earns so much, so it’s not too much for them to accept a gift of a hundred or so yuan, right?

So she said no more and stood up to help Yan Bugui get red paper and pen and ink.

the other side.

Li Xiaodong and Yu Li moved the items back to the backyard. A group of neighbors heard the news and came to watch the fun.

When they learned that these were all dowry from the Yu family, everyone's eyes were filled with jealousy.

Living in the same compound, how come Li Xiaodong is so lucky that he got a wife for free and brought such a large dowry.

What years of hard work it saved!

The most angry person was Xu Damao. When he married Lou Xiao'e, the Lou family did not give him any dowry in order to appear poor.

As for the jewels hidden by the Lou family in his house, Comrade Damao was very worried and did not dare to use them.

Look at Yu Li again, she comes from a privileged family and has supportive parents.

The more Damao thought about it, the angrier he became. Soon, he could no longer hold back and ran home in anger, kicking the door open.

"..."

Well, since Lou Xiao'e is not at her parents' home, forget it.

But the poor elm door could not withstand his angry kicks and was now crumbling.

With a "click", the door panel fell and almost hit Damao.

Damn it, I have to find someone to fix the door.

Damao wanted to cry but had no tears.

Li Xiaodong smiled and sent away the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law who were watching, and he and Yu Li began to tidy up the house.

Scattered items are easy to deal with, just put them in the cabinet or on the table.

But it’s not so easy to place a sewing machine because the space is limited and it doesn’t fit anywhere.

Finally, Yu Li made up her mind and placed the sewing machine in front of the window.

There is plenty of light here and it can be used as a desk for children in the future.

Unconsciously, Yu Li's way of thinking changed.

She used to only think about herself, but now she thinks of her children first.

After placing the sewing machine, Yu Li did not stop. She looked at it carefully for a while and frowned.

Then she picked up the rag and wiped it from top to bottom until it was as shiny as new.

Li Xiaodong couldn't help but laugh at his seriousness. "It's just a sewing machine. Is it necessary to show so much respect for it?"

"You men don't understand..."

Yu Li smiled slightly and continued wiping. She found that some dust on the bottom was difficult to remove, so she changed to a wet cloth.

But he was stopped by Li Xiaodong, who explained: "I don't understand why sewing machines are so important, but I understand the principle of metal parts. If water seeps in, the parts will rust."

"Oh, then I won't do it." Yu Li threw the sackcloth away in panic.

But she was still reluctant to give up the sewing machine, so she took a piece of white silk cloth and continued to work.

Seeing that it was still early, Li Xiaodong did not rush her.

After the fire was lit and a pot of tea was brewed, he watched Yu Li busy herself leisurely.

She spread the fabric with one hand and gently controlled the sewing machine head with the other hand. Her feet were also not idle, like a dancing butterfly.

The black braid on her shoulders kept shaking, as if it were a rein?

An idea suddenly came to Li Xiaodong's mind and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

No need to say much, everything is self-explanatory, galloping on the battlefield, invincible.