Siheyuan: Yan Jiekuang's carefree life

Su Zihui smiled and joked: "You seem to be such a generous person, how come you suddenly become so stingy?!"

Yan Jiekuang replied, "It's not that I'm stingy. I'm just being honest. Besides, stinginess is a family tradition. My father always said, 'You can eat well and wear well, but you will be poor if you don't plan well.' The people in our courtyard openly call him Third Uncle, but secretly call him Old Stingy Yan."

"Pfft!" Su Zihui couldn't help laughing and said, "You're so funny. You actually said that behind your father's back. Are you his biological child?!"

Yan Jiekuang said seriously: "As the old saying goes, three generations of a family will never leave their uncle's house. I am my father's biological child, but I take after my uncle. But my father's stinginess is a thing of the past. Now he is not stingy, but he is a little mean occasionally. Don't have any prejudice against your future father-in-law!"

"What do you think of me?!" Su Zihui replied, and suddenly realized that something was wrong with what he said. After a while, Su Zihui came back to his senses, glared at Yan Jiekuang, and said, "You only know how to bully me."

Yan Jiekuang laughed foolishly and said, "How could I bear to bully you?!"

"By the way! You contributed both wild boars today. What are you going to do about the dinner party tomorrow?!" Su Zihui asked suddenly when they were halfway through the meal.

Yan Jiekuang said: "Today we not only killed two wild boars, but also got a lot of other things. They are all in the backpack."

Su Zihui glanced at the backpack placed in the corner and said, "Tomorrow night, come with me to visit my grandpa and grandma."

"Are you going to meet the parents?!" Yan Jiekuang muttered in his heart, and asked cautiously: "Should I bring anything with me?!"

Su Zihui thought for a moment and said, "I don't know what they are missing either?!"

Yan Jiekuang said, "They are short of everything. I can see that you are not only brave, but also heartless. I don't know how you have survived all these years?!"

Su Zihui replied: "At home, I rely on my parents, and outside, I rely on you. That's how I survived. And I live a pretty comfortable life."

Yan Jiekuang was instantly depressed when he heard Su Zihui's words. Yan Jiekuang suddenly felt like he was on a pirate ship. After staring at Su Zihui for a while, Su Zihui couldn't help but ask, "Why are you looking at me like that?!"

Yan Jiekuang said: "Who made you look so good?"

"Tsk!" Su Zihui smiled and rolled her eyes at Yan Jiekuang, then asked, "Have you packed all your things? Do you want me to help you?!"

Yan Jiekuang replied, "No need. I've already packed everything. Tomorrow morning, I'll ask Carpenter Wu to borrow a cart and make two trips back and forth. It will basically take two hours to complete. By the way, you will live alone with me. Do your parents know?!"

Su Zihui said: "I have written to them and told them about us. They don't object to us being a couple. They just asked me to be careful." When she finished speaking, Su Zihui's voice became as soft as a mosquito.

Yan Jiekuang said: "You can rest assured about this. I, Yan Jiekuang, can still guarantee my own character."

There was no conversation that night. The next morning, after breakfast, Yan Jiekuang went to Carpenter Wu's house to borrow a cart and returned to the educated youth camp. He began to load the furniture onto the cart. The male educated youth in the front yard heard the noise and came to help. Yan Jiekuang ran back and forth three times before he finally moved all of his and Su Zihui's belongings to the new house.

Yan Jiekuang generously cut half a roe deer for the educated youths at the educated youths’ point, as if he and Su Zihui were treating them to a meal. Su Zihui also took out some White Rabbit milk candies and distributed them to the educated youths at the educated youths’ point. Shu Bo took the candies handed over by Su Zihui, opened the wrapper and said with a smile, “Su Zhiqing, this is not the wedding candy for you and Yan Zhiqing, is it?!”

Su Zihui was a little embarrassed by Shu Bo's question. Yan Jiekuang said at this time: "Shu Zhiqing, today's candy is the wedding candy for Su Zhiqing and I to move to a new house. When Su Zhiqing and I really get married, we will give out more wedding candy. But by then, whether you are here or not is another matter."

Shu Bo smiled and agreed: "Then I'll borrow your good words from Yan Zhiqing!"

The educated youth stayed in Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui's new home for a while, and then left one after another. After everyone had left, Yan Jiekuang began to prepare lunch.

Around half past ten, the guests arrived one after another. Yan Jiekuang greeted everyone, smoked a few cigarettes, and went back to the kitchen. Su Zihui acted like a hostess, pouring water for one and getting cigarettes for another. She was busy and having a great time. After about ten minutes, Tian Xiuqin couldn't stand it anymore, so she pulled Su Zihui aside and said, "Let these men chat by themselves, don't bother with them. Let's chat!" After that, Tian Xiuqin pulled Su Zihui over to the female comrades and started chatting.

About twenty minutes later, Yan Jiekuang called out, "Xiaohui, come over and help serve the dishes!"

"I'm here!" Su Zihui responded, said hello to Tian Xiuqin and the others, and ran to the kitchen. Not long after, Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui came out of the kitchen with trays and put all the dishes on the table. Yan Jiekuang said, "Captain uncle, aunt, everyone, don't just sit there, come to the table!" Then Yan Jiekuang took out four jars of ten-jin wine and said, "Everyone, eat and drink well, don't be polite!"

Wu Haiwang's wife Han Yuqin smiled and joked: "Yan Zhiqing, I really didn't realize it! You are not very old, but your craftsmanship is really good!"

Yan Jiekuang said, "Aunt, I have a neighbor who is the heir of authentic official cuisine. I learned all these cooking skills from him. I can only eat them at home."

"Aunties, don't be polite! Use your chopsticks!" After saying that, Su Zihui put a piece of meat in the bowl of everyone at their table.

"Alright! Stop bullying Yan Zhiqing. Everyone, get moving!" Gao Junsong stepped forward to smooth things over, then picked up the bowl in front of him, took a sip of the wine, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said, "Yan Zhiqing, your wine is authentic! It tastes good!"

With Gao Junsong taking the lead, others also started to pick up their chopsticks one after another. After three rounds of wine and five dishes, about an hour later, everyone had almost finished eating. The guests said goodbye and left one after another. Only Gao Junsong, Tian Dazhuang, Wu Haiwang and their wives were left.

Gao Junsong asked his wife to help clean up, and then, under the influence of alcohol, he pulled Yan Jiekuang aside and said, "Yan Zhiqing, we know you are a capable person. What do you think our team can do?!"

Yan Jiekuang stared at Gao Junsong for a few seconds, then looked at Tian Dazhuang and Wu Haiwang. Tian Dazhuang said, "There are more than a dozen brigades under our Shengli Commune. Several of them have started small workshops and made enough money to buy tractors. You have been here for quite a while. You know the situation here. We are not as good as the best, but better than the worst. So we also want to open some small workshops to make some money and improve the living standards of the villagers."

Yan Jiekuang thought for a moment and said, "The project is easy to handle. I want to ask, how many people do you plan to use?!"

Gao Junsong, Tian Dazhuang and Wu Haiwang looked at each other, and finally looked at Yan Jiekuang with a puzzled look.