Siheyuan: I am the Smart Pillar

The neighbors in the courtyard saw that there was nothing exciting to watch, so they went home in twos and threes. Jia Zhang saw that the neighbors in the courtyard ignored her, and her old face was full of black lines. She lowered her head and cursed the people in the courtyard, but it didn't work. The neighbors in the courtyard knew what kind of person he was, so there was no need to care about him.

The warm wind of summer blew over. Summer is much better than winter. There are also a lot of food to eat in summer. Yan Jiekuang, the second son of the Yan family, walked in from the outside of the yard with black mud all over his body. Aunt Liu, who was enjoying the cool air in the front yard and chatting with a few young girls and wives, saw this scene and said jokingly, "Jiekuang, where did you go today?"

Several aunties nearby were also laughing. Ma Xiaoya said, "Hey, aren't you afraid that your mother will hang you up and beat you? You've messed up your clothes like this. Oh, I think you went fishing?" Yang Ruihua, who was cleaning the house, heard the laughter in the yard and came out curiously.

When he saw his second son, who looked like a mud monkey, his face was full of anger. He gritted his teeth and cursed, "Second son, you bastard, where have you been? I must teach you a lesson today."

Picking up the broom placed by the door, Yang Ruihua prepared to take care of her second child today. Is it easy for her to wash clothes? Doing housework every day is already very tiring, and she has to wash clothes for her three naughty monkeys. She is so unhappy in her heart.

Yan Jiekuang naturally couldn't just stand in the yard and let his mother beat him with a broom, so he ran in the yard. The neighbors in the courtyard watched this scene with a lot of expressions on their faces. In this era, there were very few entertainment activities at home, and it was a very happy thing to watch other families educate their sons.

There were also some neighbors who were watching the fun and instigated Yang Ruihua to beat up the second son of the Yan family. But Yan Jiekuang was so angry that he glared at the neighbors in the courtyard with a dark face and said to his mother, "Oh, my mother, please don't beat him. I'm going to catch fish today. You see, we can have a feast tonight."

It would have been fine if she hadn't said this. Once she said this, Yang Ruihua became even more angry. She could see the little fish on the ground, which was as wide as a thumb. Just for such a little fish, the clothes she had worked so hard to sew ended up like this. Yang Ruihua felt that it was not worth it.

Yang Ruihua gritted his teeth, pointed at Yan Jiekuang and said, "You little bastard, a little fish as wide as a thumb has ruined your clothes like this, do you think it's worth it? I must teach you a lesson today and let you know why the flowers are so red. Watch me."

Yan Fugui had just come back from a stroll outside and saw this scene as he walked into the front yard. Yan Fugui frowned and said, "Oh, come on, stop beating the kid." Yang Ruihua stopped and pointed at the second child, Yan Jiekuang, and said, "The kid's father! Look at this little bastard, she messed up my new clothes like this. If we don't teach her a lesson, she will definitely make a scene!"

Yan Fugui sighed, but he also knew that if he really made a fool of himself in the whole courtyard, how could he, the manager, maintain his authority? Yan Fugui pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose and reached out to pick up the small fish that had fallen on the ground.

With the belief that one can have enough food and clothes but not enough planning, he felt that his son had done nothing wrong today! It was just that his clothes were stained. Yan Fugui frowned and said to his second son, "Boy, wash your stained clothes yourself. Today's matter is over, otherwise I will punish you."

Yan Fugui tried to persuade Yang Ruihua next to him. Hearing his wife say this, what else could he, as a daughter-in-law, say? Yan Jiekuang nodded, and hurried to the kitchen, took off his wet clothes and changed into clean ones, planning to take a bath in hot water later.

Yan Fugui asked his wife to cook the small fish, so that the Yan family could have some fish soup. Although the fish was a little small, it was better than nothing. Yang Ruihua only sprinkled a handful of salt in the soup, and was reluctant to add other seasonings, but even so, the children were still looking forward to the taste of the fish soup.

When the fish soup was served on the table, Yan Fugui smiled and distributed a bowl of soup to each of his children. After taking a sip, Yan Jiecheng said unhappily, "Isn't this just boiled water? Are we just going to drink boiled water tonight? Dad, you are too stingy."

Then he glared at Yan Jiekuang, thinking that if it weren't for his second son's meddling, they would have at least eaten half full tonight. Yan Fugui looked at his eldest son with some displeasure, took a sip of the fish soup while holding the steamed bread, and scolded his eldest son, "What do you know? What do you mean by this is boiled water? Use your imagination, you can imagine it as fish soup, and of course you can imagine it as chicken soup."

"You can try it. Squint your eyes and imagine yourself drinking fish soup. Do you think it tastes better?"

Yu Li, who was eating a steamed bun next to her, was stunned. Her father-in-law was really interesting. He could come up with such a trick. Yan Jiecheng smiled bitterly and shook his head and said, "Dad, you are too much. You are treating us like fools. This is chicken soup and this is fish soup. We are not fools. No, do you think this is appropriate?"

Yan Fugui snorted coldly and said, "You are so young, what do you know? I call this the method of spiritual victory. If you imagine this scene in your mind, isn't it the same as us really drinking fish soup and chicken soup?" Yan Jiecheng cursed in his heart that his father was really sick and was fooling them like fools.

But they didn't dare to say anything. They just kept their heads down and continued to drink the so-called fish soup. Although the taste was very light, it was better than boiled water. While eating hard steamed bread, they drank the bland fish soup, and then used the spiritual victory method taught by their father. The family felt that this fish soup, which was almost boiled water, really tasted like fish soup.