Siheyuan: Xu Damao's New Life

Xu Damao did not ruin the warm scene of the two people recognizing each other, but secretly pulled Lou Xiao'e, who was wiping her tears, back home.

Xu Damao first gave his wife a basin of water for her to wash her face, and then he took Lou Xiao'e to tell a story.

"Before I said that the He family has some connection with your family because He Daqing once studied cooking at the Tan family and can cook some excellent Tan family dishes. And you know my mother-in-law's story even if I don't tell you."

Lou Xiao'e nodded. Lou's mother, Tan Yali, was a concubine of the Tan family. Later, because she was a concubine, she married Lou Zhenhua, the eldest son of another big family, the Lou family, as a concubine. But later, the wife of the Lou family died of illness, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the policy changed and only monogamy was allowed. Lou Zhenhua dismissed the other concubines who had no children. Lou's mother was allowed to become a concubine because she gave birth to Lou Xiao'e and her cooking skills were good. Lou Zhenhua's two sons were born to the previous wife and were not very close to their stepmother. Lou Zhenhua had sensed some rumors before, so he let them take part of the family property to develop in Hong Kong.

Xu Damao took out a ruler and measured the length of the place where he planned to place the chairs, and then said to Lou Xiaoe, "See if there is anything else that needs to be replaced. Let's measure it together. Let's go to the Trust Store in the afternoon to see if we can find some old items."

Lou Xiao'e was not dissatisfied with the furniture, after all, it was all new furniture. Instead, she was curious about the earthen bed in the house. Born in a capitalist family, she had never seen an earthen bed before. However, she still raised some opinions, that is, the bed in the north bedroom was too small, and it would be inconvenient for the child to grow up or for guests to come to the house.

Xu Damao patted his forehead. He only wanted to leave the room for the child to live in. He didn't think too much. What if Xu's mother came to visit the child? It would be inconvenient. How about changing it to tatami or bunk beds like in later times?

"Okay, let's take a look at the trust store when the time comes. If there's nothing suitable, we'll make some changes. Now it's time for us to go to Third Uncle's house for dinner." After Xu Damao finished speaking, he took Lou Xiao'e's hand and walked towards Third Uncle's house, pointing to each room and introducing them along the way.

Xu Damao had told her a lot about the situation in the courtyard before, and Lou Xiaoe felt that the people in this courtyard were quite special. Now listening to Xu Damao's on-site explanation, and with the introduction of the three aunts before, Lou Xiaoe matched the impression in her mind with reality one by one, and also deepened a lot of impressions.

The home of the third uncle in the front yard was quite lively. Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang, who had gone out to do odd jobs in the morning, had already returned. The younger Jie Kuang and Jie Di were also sitting on the bed eating melon seeds.

Before Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e entered the house, they were spotted by the sharp-eyed Yan Jiedi, "Dad, Brother Damao brought a beautiful girl here. Is that my sister-in-law?"

Yan Bugui touched his daughter's head and said, "Yes, that is your brother Damao's newly married sister Xiao'e. What are you going to say later?"

Yan Jie Di jumped off the bed, opened the door curtain and shouted, "Hello, sister-in-law Xiao'e. I wish you and my brother Damao a happy marriage and a son soon."

The sudden clear childish voice startled Xu Damao who was about to enter the house. He then reacted and touched Yan Jie Di's head, "Jie Di is so good, brother will give you some candy, okay?"

"Okay, I love candy the most, especially the White Rabbit you gave me before, brother."

Lou Xiao'e also smiled and took out a handful of White Rabbit milk candies from her pocket and put them into Yan Jiedi's pocket.

Yan Jie Di took out a candy, peeled off the candy wrapper and put it in her mouth. Seeing this, the eldest and second oldest of the Yan family were a little tempted but still did not move. However, the third oldest, Yan Jie Kuang, was only nine years old and did not care about that, so he asked his eight-year-old sister for it directly.

Yan Jiedi was somewhat reluctant, "This was given to me by Brother Damao. I wanted to keep it for myself." But seeing how greedy her third brother looked, she still gave him one.

At this time, the third aunt came in with dishes, first put the dishes on the table, then reached out and took the candy out of her daughter's pocket. "You two are just changing your teeth, so don't eat too much. Mom will put it away for you and save it for the New Year."

Yan Jie Di pouted but didn't cry. Xu Damao felt helpless when he saw this scene. Most families nowadays are like this. They don't eat some good things on weekdays, but only eat them when entertaining guests or during the New Year. Who doesn't love their children, but there is nothing they can do about it. It's all because of poverty.

The third aunt was quite skillful, and the food was ready in no time. The third aunt could be said to have watched Xu Damao grow up, so there was no need to be so particular today. The eight people sat around the table and started eating right away.

Today Yan Bugui bought two bottles of Wuliangye, which cost three yuan a bottle. Xifeng costs two yuan and a half, but it was out of stock today.

Yan Jiecheng took the initiative to take on the task of pouring the wine, and also poured himself a glass. He had never drunk such good wine before. Yan Bugui glared at his eldest son but didn't say anything. He originally planned to drink the rest and add some water to save it for later.

The atmosphere at the table was quite harmonious. Yan Bugui drank a lot and was about 60% drunk. He started to talk more. He usually drank water mixed with alcohol, which gave him a headache. How could it compare to the three yuan bottle of Wuliangye?

"Da Mao, your uncle is so miserable. I am a cultured person and I don't want to take advantage of others and be laughed at. But if I don't do this, how can I support my whole family?"

"I have always said that my salary is 27.5 yuan. I am really pretending to be pitiful because I am afraid that others will take advantage of me. Even so, as the third uncle, I still have to donate to the Jia family from time to time. Old Yi is always pretending to be righteous, but in fact, he is the worst person."

"My salary was indeed 27.5 yuan when I was first evaluated, but I was promoted to the next level last year. My salary plus seniority and various subsidies reached yuan, and my life has become better now." (The author speculated based on the plot and Yan Bugui's personality. If his salary had always been , then the Yan family would definitely be considered a poor household. With Yan's calculating personality, he would have applied for subsidies long ago, and he would have even publicized that his family was a poor household.)

Xu Damao nodded as he listened to Yan Bugui's words. Most ordinary people lived in this way, but Yan Bugui had been calculating for a long time and couldn't change it. He also didn't communicate well with his children and didn't educate them well. Since the third uncle was complaining, he would help him today.

"Come on, let's do it together." Xu Damao raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp. "Jiecheng, Jiefang, you two are not young anymore, you should understand how hard life is. How much can you two earn doing odd jobs now? Think about how much your father's salary was before, and how many people are there in your family. Why did he change flour to cornmeal? Why did he change rice to sweet potatoes? Doesn't your father know that rice and flour are delicious? It's all for the purpose of feeding your family of six. I can't control what outsiders say about Third Uncle, but you, as his children, have to understand your father."