Siheyuan, my new life

At this time, Master Yi Zhonghai and his apprentice Jia Dongxu and several workers who worked at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill returned to Courtyard No. 95. The door god Yan Bugui was still guarding the gate diligently.

Jia Dongxu didn't have the heart to waste time talking to Yan Laokou, so he said hello to his master and went back to his home in the central courtyard. As soon as he entered the house, he felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere. His lazy mother was sitting at the dining table with a gloomy face, fiddling with the pair of soles she never finished sewing and mumbling to herself.

Jia Dongxu couldn't help but frowned. He was very serious about hosting the banquet for Yi Zhonghai and his wife tonight, and there must be no unexpected situation. So he asked in a deep voice: "Mom, didn't I tell you a long time ago that I would invite my master and his wife to dinner tonight? What's wrong with you now?"

Jia Zhang also heard her son's bad tone, and quickly said: "Qin Huairu stewed such a big rooster, is it not possible for me to just drink some soup?"

Jia Dongxu was also troubled by his mother. He turned to look at Qin Huairu, who had already begun to cry silently, and asked: "Huairu, don't cry first, what's going on?"

Qin Huairu wiped her tears and whispered, "Dongxu, I bought three pounds of pork this morning for dinner, but when I went out to clean up the rooster, my mother cooked more than two and a half pounds of braised pork. When I came back, I saw my mother and Banggeng eating meat. Xiaodang was lying on the kang crying, but my mother didn't give her any meat, so I had to pick up a piece of meat for Xiaodang. I had just stewed the rooster in the afternoon, and my mother clamored for a bowl of chicken soup to taste it. I had no choice but to serve her a bowl, but my mother disliked me for not serving her chicken, so she came up and slapped me, then pulled two chicken thighs and ate them. I kept telling my mother that it was too important to treat you tonight, but my mother didn't care and ate most of the chicken in a short while, and kept scolding me for being unfilial and only letting her drink some chicken soup. Dongxu, I have no choice. How to make this meal tonight? There is only a little meat left for my mother to stew, and the chicken is almost eaten, only some bones and chicken racks are left."

Jia Dongxu looked at his mother in disbelief. He knew that Jia Zhangshi was unreliable, but he never thought that his mother would be so weird. He gritted his teeth and stared at Jia Zhangshi and asked, "Mom, what are you going to do? I have repeatedly told you how important it is to treat us tonight. Can't you just hold back? Do you really want to see me lose my job to be happy?"

Jia Zhang shrank her neck and whispered, "It's not just me who ate it. Banggeng ate it too. Oh, and that little loser also ate a piece of meat."

Jia Dongxu pointed at Jia Zhang and cursed: "How dare you say that, calling your own granddaughter a money-loser. Aren't you afraid of dying from eating more than two kilograms of pork? Can you eat it if you don't cook it well?"

Jia Zhang sat down on the ground and was about to slap her thigh to call for Old Jia, but she heard Jia Dongxu say coldly: "If you dare to call your soul, I will send you back to the countryside immediately. I mean what I say."

Jia Zhang quickly got up and said with a wry smile: "Dongxu, it's all my fault for being greedy. I was wrong. Please forgive me this time. Please don't send me to the countryside. I'm sick and can't do farm work. Going to the countryside will only lead to my death."

Jia Dongxu said coldly: "If you don't want to go to the countryside, pay immediately, and I'll go out and buy some ready-made braised food."

When she heard that she had to pay, Jia Zhang immediately shook her head and kept saying, "I don't have any money. Besides, a little meat is enough for a meal for that extinct family. Why do we have to ask for big fish and meat? That extinct family doesn't deserve it."

Jia Dongxu gnashed his teeth and growled, "You ruined a well-prepared meal. It's okay if you don't want to pay. Pack your things immediately and take the money to live in the countryside. Huairu, pack your things for mom. I'll send her back to the countryside tonight."

Seeing that her son was really going to chase her away, Jia Zhang was also scared. She quickly took out two big black tens from her underwear, handed them to her son with a smile, and said with a wry smile: "Dongxu, I'll give you money, but please don't chase me back to the countryside!"

Jia Dongxu took the money and said to Qin Huairu: "Huairu, you can cook a few dishes and stew potatoes with the remaining chicken. I will go out to buy some ready-made braised food." After that, he quickly walked out of the house.

Jia Dongxu hurried back home before nightfall. Panting, he handed the oil-paper packages in his hand to Qin Huairu and said weakly, "Huairu, hurry up and put the dishes on the plate. I'll go and invite the master and his wife."

Qin Huairu saw Jia Dongxu's pale face and said with some distress: "Dongxu, drink some water and take a rest first."

Jia Dongxu sighed and said, "Don't worry about me. It's getting late. I'll go and ask the master and the others for help right away." Then he turned around and left.

At Yi Zhonghai's house opposite, Qin Huairu had invited Auntie to come to dinner in the evening, so Auntie Xiuqin only prepared food for the old lady in the backyard tonight and sent it over early. After returning, Auntie brewed a pot of tea and sat at the eight-immortal table to drink tea slowly. In recent years, she often accompanied the deaf old lady to drink tea in the backyard, and she developed the habit of drinking tea over time. Of course, Auntie couldn't buy good tea with her conditions. The tea in the teapot was broken, that is, the tea foam from the complete tea leaves. For ordinary people, drinking a pot of broken tea is already a good enjoyment. Although Yi Zhonghai's income is not low, he needs tea tickets to buy good tea from this year. As a sixth-level fitter, Yi Zhonghai only gets two taels of high-broken tea tickets every month. The deaf old lady in the backyard drinks jasmine tea worth one yuan, and even Auntie doesn't know where the old lady got the tea tickets from.

When Yi Zhonghai walked into the house, he was surprised to see his wife sitting comfortably at the 8-immortals table drinking tea. Usually at this time she would be busy preparing dinner.

The first lady poured a cup of tea for her husband and said with a smile: "This afternoon, Dongxu's wife told me that she would invite us to dinner at home tonight, so I just cooked some food for the old lady and sent it over." At this point, the first lady smiled bitterly and shook her head and said: "Since you accepted Dongxu as your apprentice, you have never seen anything from the Jia family during festivals. Instead, you often come to borrow food and money. For so many years, you have only borrowed but never paid back. I don't want to say more about some things. Anyway, there must be something wrong when things are abnormal. Dongxu suddenly invited us for dinner during the unusual festival. You should have some idea in your mind. I am afraid he doesn't want to borrow money from you, right?"

Yi Zhonghai sat at the eight-immortals table and took a sip of tea. Although the Gaosui had a strong flavor, his mouth was often filled with tea foam. He could only drink it in small sips, which was really troublesome.

Putting down the teacup, Yi Zhonghai smiled and explained in a low voice: "A few nights ago, when those people in the yard surrounded me and forced me to go to the police station to find someone, Jia Dongxu, the traitor, hid behind the window to watch the fun. He watched me being surrounded by so many people, but he, as a disciple, was indifferent."