Siheyuan: Xu Damao's New Life

"What are you little brats looking at here?" Nan Yi had just returned from the front yard when he saw the four children of Liang Ladi's family crowding in the corner and looking towards the hall.

"Uncle Nan, please keep your voice down. Uncle Zhuzi wants to give my mother a lunch box and my mother doesn't want to. She's talking to Uncle Zhuzi. Come over and take a look." Damao stretched out his hand and made a hushing gesture. They used to live in the staff quarters of the machine repair factory and now they live in the same yard. They are not strangers to each other.

Nan Yi was pulled over by a few children and had to stick his head out to look. He saw Sha Zhu and Liang Ladi talking there. A little further away, Xu Damao was standing there eating melon seeds and watching the fun.

Xu Damao saw Nan Yi coming back at a glance, "Brother Nan, go home and cook, my sister-in-law is hungry!"

Nan Yi had to come out when he heard the shouting, "Then you guys continue, just pretend I don't exist." After saying that, he walked over with some embarrassment.

Sha Zhu was a little embarrassed, so he stuffed the lunch box in Liang Ladi's hand and walked home, saying, "Just give me the lunch box tomorrow morning."

"Hey, you..." Liang Ladi hadn't finished her words when Sha Zhu had already left. She had no choice but to carry the two lunch boxes back home, thinking about how to return the gift. The most important thing in interpersonal relationships is to give and take, and not just take advantage of others.

Liang Ladi's four children had just sneaked back and were already sitting at the table, waiting for dinner to start.

"Did you four just eavesdrop on our conversation?"

"no!"

"no!"

"no!"

"Xiu'er, you speak."

The youngest Xiuer saw her brothers winking at her, but she remembered her mother's words that good children should not lie. "We just watched for a short while."

"I told you, I heard Damao's voice. Let it go this time, but don't lie next time!" Liang Ladi frowned and taught the children a lesson.

"Okay!" the four children said in unison.

"Okay, you guys wait for a while. Mom will heat up the food in the lunch box and then you can eat." Liang Ladi then took the lunch box to the kitchen to heat it up. There were also some extra steamed buns she bought at noon in her lunch box, and that plus the steamed buns that Sha Zhu gave her was enough to heat up for dinner.

Ermao asked, "Brother, why do you think Uncle Zhuzi is so nice to us?"

After all, Da Mao is older and knows more than his brothers and sisters. "Could he like our mom?"

Sanmao said, "No, many people in the courtyard say bad things about Uncle Zhuzi. He is definitely not a good person."

Ermao retorted: "But he often brings us food, so how can he not be a good person?"

Da Mao made the final decision: "So he is neither a good nor a bad person, but we can't let him take my mother away!"

Several little guys nodded in agreement.

Soon, Liang Ladi brought up some steamed buns and wowotou made of half-grain flour, and then turned around and brought over the hot dishes.

"What are you guys talking about? Why don't you eat quickly? Mom will go fry some peanuts and send them to your Uncle Zhuzi."

Liang Ladi let the children eat first, and she directly took out the peanuts she brought back from her mother's house during the Chinese New Year. She heated the oil in a pan, and Liang Ladi saw that the oil at the bottom of the pan was a little less, so she gritted her teeth and put some more in the pan. When the oil was hot, she put in the peanuts and started to stir-fry.

Not long after, Liang Ladi came out with some fried peanuts. "Here, keep some for you to share. Mom will take the rest away."

The children were very sensible and each of them took two and stopped, leaving some for their mothers. Liang Ladi carried the peanuts and went straight out of the house to Sha Zhu's house.

Sha Zhu's life is still pretty good. His sister not only receives a subsidy for college, but also receives food from Xu Damao, so he simply leaves his food and non-staple food books to his brother. Now Sha Zhu has the food ration for two people.

When Sha Zhu got home, he was too lazy to bother anymore, so he just kneaded the dough and made a bowl of noodles. Sha Zhu put the bowl on the table and found the remaining half bottle of wine and wanted to drink some. However, he searched the cloth bag under the bed for a long time but couldn't find any peanuts. Then he remembered that he had eaten all the peanuts last time when he drank.

When Liang Ladi knocked on the door, Sha Zhu was eating noodles without any appetite, and the bottle of wine was placed aside but untouched.

"Coming, coming." Sha Zhu walked to the door and opened it.

"Sister Liang, why are you here? Didn't you say that you can just give me the lunch box tomorrow morning?" Sha Zhu saw Liang Ladi's pretty face at the first sight.

Liang Ladi lifted the plate up so that Sha Zhu could see the greasy peanuts in the plate clearly.

"Fried peanuts!" Sha Zhu chuckled, "Sister Liang really cares about me. She knows that I love this!"

"Okay, stop joking and go back to drink. I haven't eaten yet because I fried peanuts for you." Liang La said with a glare at Sha Zhu.

"Hey, thank you Sister Liang. You can go back and eat." Sha Zhu took the plate and said.

Liang Ladi turned around and went home, while Sha Zhu returned to the table with the peanuts, then happily poured himself a glass of wine and drank it.

Xu Damao and Nan Yi were also drinking in the backyard because it was too hot in the house.

"Brother Nan, are you free on Sunday? My sister is getting engaged this Sunday and I'd like you to prepare the meal." Xu Damao raised his glass and clinked it with Nan Yi.

"Hey, given our relationship, there's no need to talk about whether to hire you or not. It just so happens that I don't have any work this Sunday, so I'll do it for you for free then. But I have to bring some back for your sister-in-law." Nan Yi agreed readily.

"Why bring food? You and your sister-in-law can go together. We will live in Yard 2 where you lived before!" Xu Damao said.

Ding Qiunan asked, "Will I be able to see Xiao'e and the baby when I go?" She hadn't seen Lou Xiao'e for a while, because both of them were too heavy to go out. Besides, even though she was a doctor, it was her first pregnancy, so she wanted to ask Lou Xiao'e for advice.

"Of course you can see it. Moth is also looking forward to you coming over. She is really bored during her confinement period. She is looking forward to you coming over to chat with her."

Nan Yi on the side frowned and said, "I'm fine, but Qiu Nan is too heavy. I'm afraid it's inconvenient for her to go over there."

Ding Qiunan, who was standing by, reached out and touched her belly after hearing what her husband said, "Forget it, let's wait until I'm done with the confinement period before going to find Xiao'e."

"Hey, don't give up. I've thought about this a long time ago. I'll personally drive over to pick you two up on Sunday. My father-in-law's car is guaranteed to be comfortable!"

Ding Qiunan's eyes lit up. This would definitely be fine. "That's great. What do you think, Brother Yi?"

Nan Yi nodded, "Da Mao has already driven the car out, what else can I say? We will wait for you to pick us up on Sunday."

"It's settled. Come on, do another one."

"What dishes will be served on Sunday? How are the ingredients prepared?" No wonder Nan Yi asked this specifically, it's really that the ingredients are not easy to prepare nowadays.

"Don't worry, I used my connections to get a lot of good stuff. I asked Guangfu to deliver it early in the morning. I guarantee it will open your eyes."

"Okay, then I'll wait and see."

After eating, Ding Qiunan sat down to enjoy the cool air and watched the two men chatting. The two men were also drunk and talking nonsense.