Siheyuan: Xu Damao's New Life

Xu Xiaoying changed into new clothes in the inner room and ran out happily and asked, "Dad, brother, do you think the clothes my sister-in-law bought for me are nice?"

"It looks good. My daughter looks good in anything she wears. But have you thanked your sister-in-law?" Xu Fugui said with a smile.

"Thanks. I also gave the scarf I knitted to my sister-in-law."

"Dad, what are you talking about? What's the point of saying thank you or not as a family?" Lou Xiao'e also said with a smile.

"Brother, look, my sister-in-law has prepared a gift for me. Do you have one for me?"

These words made Xu Damao slap his forehead. He had been so busy recently that he really forgot to buy gifts for his family. He only sent some money and some cloth yesterday.

As soon as Xu Xiaoying saw Xu Damao's expression, she knew that he didn't prepare any gift for her. "Well, brother, you forgot your sister after you got married."

"I prepared it, I prepared it, but I forgot it when I was busy." What a joke, there are so many things in the space, just take one of them. Xu Damao stood up and walked to the north room again, took out a blank letter of introduction from the space and walked out.

Xu Damao slapped the folded letter of introduction on the table and said, "Here, this is your gift." Xu Damao saw that his sister's academic performance was not very good and she probably would not be able to get into university, so he decided to help her find a job in advance to save his parents from worrying about her.

Xu Xiaoying picked up the paper on the table and started reading it, then shouted, "Wow! A letter of introduction, and it's from the supply and marketing cooperative! Brother, you are so nice." Xu Xiaoying threw herself into Xu Damao's arms like a swallow flying into the forest.

"Da Mao, where did you get this letter of introduction?" Xu Fugui took the letter of introduction from his daughter and read it. The name space on the letter of introduction was blank, but it was stamped with a bright red official seal. As long as you write your name, you can directly take the letter of introduction to report. In this day and age, salespersons are one of the eight major employees. Not only is the work easy and decent, but the benefits are also very generous. The internal benefits are simply amazing.

There was a sentence in the dictionary in the past, which roughly means: Xiao Ming was admitted to the University of Beijing, and I am a salesperson in the supply and marketing cooperative. We both have bright futures. This shows the status of salespeople.

"The songs I wrote before were noticed by the leaders of the army and they were given to me as rewards." Xu Damao felt helpless. It turned out that one lie required more lies to cover it up.

Xu Fugui nodded, "Are you really giving it to your sister? You won't leave it to your own child?" After saying that, Xu Fugui also felt that something was wrong. The child hasn't been born yet, and it's too early to worry about it. "Okay, then thank you, Dad. My son is really promising."

Xu's mother was also attracted by her daughter's shouting, "Yingzi, come down quickly. It's not good for you to hang on your brother when you are so old."

Xu Xiaoying jumped off Xu Damao's body and said, "Thank you, brother."

"Okay, what are you thanking me for? You are my sister. I'm going to the kitchen to help mom, you come with me." Xu Damao said.

"Okay, brother. I'll go change my clothes." Xu Xiaoying was reluctant to get her new clothes dirty.

The mother and her two children were busy in the kitchen. When they were about to help, the mother-in-law pushed them out of the downstairs door. She had no choice but to sit on the sofa and watch TV. Father Xu didn't want to sit with his daughter-in-law for a long time, so he went out with his hands behind his back to chat with the old neighbors.

By noon, meals were basically ready in every household, and the whole yard was filled with fragrance.

When Xu Damao heard bursts of firecrackers outside, he couldn't hold back any longer. He took out the firecrackers he had bought and went to the yard to start setting them off.

After a burst of crackling sounds, the Xu family sat around the dining table and prepared to eat. Xu Fugui said, "This year is the happiest year for me. Damao is married and has a promising future, Xiao'e is pregnant, Yingzi has grown up and I don't have to worry about her anymore. Our Xu family will have a new baby. I won't say anything else. I wish our Xu family more and more prosperous."

Everyone raised their glasses and drank them all. However, only Xu Damao and Xu Fugui drank wine, while the three women drank the juice that Xu Damao had exchanged for them.

In the center of the table was a braised carp, symbolizing abundance every year; around it were four meat dishes, steamed pork elbow with dipping sauce, stewed lamb chops with radish, stewed pork with vermicelli, and stewed chicken with mushrooms. On the outermost edge were eight dishes, four cold and four hot, a combination of meat and vegetables. Even with such a large table of food, not many people in the city could afford it.

The whole family was very lively. When they were having dinner, they heard a noise coming from the middle courtyard. Xu Damao was now the third uncle in the courtyard, so he had to be there when something happened.

"Mom and Dad, Ezi and Yingzi, you guys eat first, I'll go take a look in front." Xu Damao said.

As soon as Xu Damao went out, he saw Liu Haizhong walking forward with his hands behind his back and a bulging belly. His face was ruddy, obviously he had drunk a lot.

"Uncle, let's go together. We don't know whose family it is, but it's still quiet during the New Year." Xu Damao said.

"Okay, let's go together. They are making it difficult for everyone to have a good New Year. They don't even look down on me, their uncle. I must punish them severely." Liu Haizhong walked in front with a general's step, and people from the backyard followed one after another to watch the fun.

When everyone arrived at the central courtyard, they saw that many people had gathered outside Sha Zhu's main house, watching the fun.

Liu Haizhong walked over and asked, "There are so many people surrounding Sha Zhu's house, what happened?"

When the onlookers heard that it was an old man who came, they all made way for him and talked about the whole thing.

It turned out that this year the Jia, Yi and He families would celebrate the New Year together. He Yushui was very reluctant about the child support, and after Sha Zhu's repeated persuasion, Yushui reluctantly agreed, but her expression looked a little bad.

Seeing He Yushui's sullen face, Jia Zhang started to speak in a foul language, saying things like "you are a money-loser, why are you putting on a sullen face during the New Year's Day?", "you are a man born by a mother but not raised by a father?", "you are a child who brought his own mother to death" and so on. Jia Dongxu couldn't stop him at all.

Listening to Jia Zhang's abuse, Sha Zhu and Yu Shui's faces became darker and darker. Fortunately, Yi Zhonghai came out to mediate and persuaded the two of them. Jia Zhang's voice also became smaller, and she mumbled and couldn't hear what she said clearly.

After waiting for a long time for the meal to start, Yushui and Qin Huairu began to serve the dishes. Jia Zhangshi, like a starving ghost, directly brought a large bowl of braised pork over, poured half into her own bowl, and shared the rest with Jia Dongxu and Banggeng. Jia Zhangshi followed suit with the next meat dish, and did not listen to the persuasion of Yi Zhonghai and her son at all, and continued to do as she pleased.

By the time Sha Zhu, Qin Huairu and He Yushui finished their work and went to the table to prepare for dinner, the meat dishes on the table were basically gone, leaving only some soup, and the vegetarian dishes were untouched.

He Yushui got anxious on the spot, slamming the table and angrily saying, "Jia Zhang, do you still have any shame? You just brought some food here, and now you pour all the meat into your own bowl. How can you let others eat it?"

Jia Zhangshi Tingyushui: How dare a little girl like her say that she has no shame? How could this be tolerated? She started to curse at him on the spot, and the curse was as ugly as it could be.

At this time, Jia Dongxu was still alive, and Sha Zhu's relationship with the Jia family was only slightly better than that of an ordinary neighbor. Seeing Jia Zhang's harsh words, he stood up and said, "Aunt Jia, keep your mouth shut, or I know you, but my fists don't know you!"