Golden Color Xiangjiang: A Young Man's Dream in a Siheyuan

After He Yushui left Yi Zhonghai's house, she hummed a cheerful tune and skipped to Zhou Jin's house in the backyard.

She knocked on the door gently, and when she got a response, she pushed it open impatiently.

Zhou Jin also stood up and went back to the kitchen to get dishes and chopsticks for He Yushui.

As soon as He Yushui entered the room, he greeted several people.

"Grandpa and grandma, Xinxin, Happy New Year!"

Zhou Xin hurriedly shouted to He Yushui: "Sister Yushui, come here and sit next to me."

Grandpa Jin and Grandma Yang also responded: "Yushui, come and sit down to eat. Xiaojin has prepared a table full of delicious dishes tonight."

Zhou Jin also came over with bowls and chopsticks.

"Now that everyone is here, I'll go cook the remaining dumplings. Yushui, you eat the vegetables first and see if my cooking skills have improved. We'll all eat dumplings together later and celebrate the New Year."

After saying that, Zhou Jin went back to the kitchen. Because Zhou Jin was not used to eating leeks, he asked a few people before making the dumpling filling. After getting everyone's consent, Zhou Jin made two fillings: mushroom and pork and pork and cabbage.

Zhou Jin considered that everyone had almost finished eating, and He Yushui must have eaten something at Yi Zhonghai's house before coming here, so Zhou Jin only cooked three plates of dumplings, and would cook the rest when they were hungry during the New Year's Eve.

Because the dumplings were all wrapped and the water was boiling, Zhou Jin soon came back with three plates of dumplings. Zhou Xin clapped her hands happily and shouted, "Great, it's time to eat dumplings."

Zhou Xin's cute and adorable look made everyone fall in love with her. They put dumplings into her bowl and she accepted them all. She blew on them while burning her mouth. She was so adorable.

In this way, everyone ate dumplings while watching Zhou Xin act cute. Soon, the three plates of dumplings were finished and everyone was full. Especially Zhou Xin, who lay on the kang, patted her bulging belly, and acted cute to Grandpa Jin, wanting her grandparents to tell her a story.

Zhou Jin and Yu Shui began to clean up the leftovers, wash the dishes, and then clean the house. They worked for about ten minutes and finally finished.

During this New Year's Eve dinner, the entire courtyard was under attack from the gourmet foods of Zhou Jin's family and Yi Zhonghai's family. Most families were of average means, and they would just buy some meat to satisfy their hunger during the New Year. The quantity was not much, and their cooking skills were definitely not as good as Sha Zhu and Zhou Jin's.

Look at the second uncle Liu Haizhong. He passed the work grade assessment in the second half of this year and became a seventh-level blacksmith. Now his salary has surpassed Zhou Jin and Yi Zhonghai and become the highest in the entire courtyard.

In particular, Liu Haizhong’s favorite eldest son, Liu Guangqi, graduated from secondary technical school last year and is now working as a technician in the technical department of a steel rolling mill. He earns 40 to 50 yuan a month, and once the probation period is over, he will be included in the cadre establishment.

The Liu family is now the only dual-income family in the courtyard, and their income is not low, so Liu Haizhong also plans to celebrate well this year, in addition to the New Year's goods distributed by the factory.

Liu Haizhong also bought five kilograms of pork, an old hen and a three-kilogram fish to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner. The level of food in the Siheyuan can be compared with the New Year's Eve dinner of Yi Zhonghai's family.

It’s a pity that the second aunt’s skills are still not as good as Zhou Jin and Sha Zhu. Even if she bought a lot of good things, she couldn’t make the taste of Zhou Yi and his family.

The family of the third uncle Yan Bugui did not have such good food. Although he always said in front of everyone that he earned 27.5 yuan a month, everyone in the hospital knew that this was just Yan Bugui's way of crying poor.

He has been a teacher for twenty or thirty years, and is also a class teacher. Regardless of whether he is a senior teacher or not, based on his years of work and calculated according to Beijing's wage standards, Yan Bugui's monthly salary is at least forty or fifty yuan.

Otherwise, how could he buy the first bicycle and the first TV in the courtyard in the original drama? If he only had a salary of 27.5 yuan, it would be difficult for him to support a family of six.

All this is just because he pursues the life philosophy of having enough food and clothing and not expecting to be poor. After all, only by pretending to be poor can he take advantage of others as a matter of course.

You see, just like before, because of Zhou Jin's initiative to show goodwill, Yan Bugui thought that he could completely control Zhou Jin through Zhou Xin and get more benefits from it.

It’s a pity that Zhou Jin is not one of those people in the courtyard who would let him take advantage of them for nothing. Unexpectedly, taking advantage of him several times directly annoyed Zhou Jin, and the relationship between the two families returned to the freezing point again.

This made Yan Bugui regretful, and he kept blaming himself for being too anxious. If he had been more steady, he could have established a good relationship between the two families first and taken good care of Zhou Xin. Based on Zhou Jin's character, even if he didn't take advantage of him, he would definitely take the initiative to give him benefits, just like the time when the third aunt took Zhou Xin to take a bath.

But there is no way now. The relationship between the two families has broken down again. It is probably difficult to get good things from Zhou Jin again. If he can't get the advantage, he will suffer a loss. This makes Yan Bugui feel that he has suffered a great loss.

After all, no one in Yan Bugui's family worked in the steel rolling mill, so there was no New Year's goods. As for Hongxing Primary School, they only gave out one pound of flour, which was considered good.

So the New Year’s Eve dinner of Yan Bugui’s family was the same as that of everyone else in the compound. They bought two kilograms of pork and added some pickled dried fish. Even though it was New Year’s Eve, the meal still made everyone full.

Time passed minute by minute, and soon it was around ten o'clock in the evening. The people in the courtyard had finished their New Year's Eve dinner, and the children happily took out the firecrackers they had prepared long ago and started setting them off.

For a moment, the entire courtyard was filled with the sound of firecrackers, and loud "bang bang bang" noises could be heard from time to time.

When Zhou Jin heard the lively sound of firecrackers outside, he couldn't contain his joy. He took out a whole string of firecrackers, walked to his door, and lit the fuse.

Zhou Xin, He Yushui, Grandpa Jin and Grandma Yang stood at the door, covering their ears, and excitedly watched the firecrackers explode in the air, making bursts of sounds: "Bang, bang, bang, crackle."

When the other people in the courtyard heard the sound of firecrackers, they all walked out of their homes, wanting to see who was so wealthy that they could afford to buy a whole string of firecrackers to set off.

However, when they heard the sound coming from the backyard, their doubts were immediately dispelled.

After all, there was a deaf old lady living in the backyard, and she was spending the New Year at Yi Zhonghai's house; while Xu Damao went to his parents' house to pay New Year's greetings; as for Liu Haizhong, with his stingy character, he naturally would not spend the money.

As a result, it seemed that Zhou Jin was the only one who could afford to buy and set off a whole string of firecrackers.

After all the firecrackers for this round were set off, Zhou Jin took He Yushui and Zhou Xin to the central courtyard to set off the firecrackers that had been dismantled before, while Grandpa Jin and Grandma Yang stayed at home drinking tea and reading.

Originally, Zhou Jin had no plan to accompany Zhou Xin to set off firecrackers, but then he thought that Xinxin was still young and it would be dangerous for her to set off firecrackers alone. Even if there was rain nearby, Zhou Jin still felt uneasy.

Besides, as a girl, if she held so many firecrackers, she would be easily bullied by other children, especially Bang Geng, so she decided to take Zhou Xin along. It just so happened that He Yushui was there too, so they could set off firecrackers together and have some fun.

Because the central courtyard is the largest in the entire quadrangle, most of the children in the quadrangle play in the central courtyard. The boys set off firecrackers together, while most of the girls play shuttlecock.

Banggeng ran out of Yi Zhonghai's house to set off firecrackers after dinner. Although Jia Dongxu was demoted to an apprentice and only earned 18 yuan a month, Jia Zhang was arrested now, and the biggest glutton in the Jia family was gone.

All of a sudden, the life of the Jia family became better. They usually had lunch boxes for Sha Zhu, and they could get some money and food from Yi Zhonghai from time to time. They also no longer had to give money to Jia Zhangshi for her retirement.

So this year Jia Dongxu also bought a lot of firecrackers for Banggeng. In addition, there was also Shazhu, a coward who had lustful thoughts but no courage, so he didn't dare to show it directly in front of Qin Huairu.

So he prepared to save the situation in a roundabout way and try to please Banggeng first, so he gave Banggeng money to buy firecrackers, but it was not much. After all, except for his own living expenses and He Yushui's tuition and living expenses, all his money was "borrowed" by Qin Huairu for various reasons.

Not long after Zhou Jin brought Zhou Xin and He Yushui to the central courtyard, nearly a dozen firecrackers were set off. Mainly because Zhou Jin was also afraid, he didn't know the power of firecrackers in this era.

So every time I did it in a particularly vulgar way. I would put the firecrackers on the ground first, then take a very long incense stick to light them. As soon as I saw the sparks, I would run away immediately.

Even when he took Zhou Xin to set off firecrackers, the process was the same, except that when he ran behind, he would hold Zhou Xin in his arms.

This scene made He Yushui laugh. Although she was a girl, she had been setting off firecrackers since she was a child, but this was the first time she saw Zhou Jin like this.

However, Zhou Jin didn't care about other people's ridicule. In his mind, safety is the most important thing, especially during the Chinese New Year. He couldn't let everyone have a bad New Year just for a little bit of excitement.

At this time, Banggeng had used up all the firecrackers in his hand, and then he started to set off firecrackers with other children. His sly eyes would definitely be staring at the firecrackers in other children's hands, and once he found an opportunity, he would want to snatch them from others.

But they all grew up together, and these children have long known Banggeng's character. After all, they have been fooled in previous years. So as soon as Banggeng approaches, there are children to block him outside. After trying several times, they still don't find an opportunity.

Just when Bang Geng was about to give up, he saw Zhou Xin holding a stick of incense and setting off firecrackers in the yard, so he immediately ran to Zhou Xin and reached out to snatch the firecrackers from Zhou Xin's hand. Zhou Xin had never encountered such a thing before, and was stunned at the time. He Yushui was setting off firecrackers on the other side and did not notice this side.

However, Zhou Jin had been beside Zhou Xin, keeping an eye on Bang Geng from time to time. Seeing that this kid actually ran over to snatch things, Zhou Jin simply raised his leg and kicked Bang Geng to the ground.

Banggeng immediately burst into tears, imitating his grandmother's behavior, clapping his thighs with his hands and crying loudly. However, he did not learn his grandmother's method of summoning spirits, so he just kept crying.

Zhou Jin must have used some force in this kick. After all, if you dare to steal my sister's things, how can I not teach you a lesson? Bang Geng must remember deeply that my sister Zhou Jin is not someone he can bully.

Of course Zhou Jin did not kill him. After all, Bang Geng was still a child. Even if Zhou Jin really wanted to kill Bang Geng, he could not do it in public.

Banggeng's crying soon attracted the attention of the people in Yi Zhonghai's house, and they all opened the door and came out.

Zhou Jin would not care about those people. Zhou Xin was frightened by Banggeng's behavior just now and now needs comfort. Just at this time, He Yushui heard Banggeng's crying and came over.

As soon as Jia Dongxu went out, he saw his son sitting on the ground, crying heartbrokenly.

He hurried forward, picked up Bang Geng, and then shouted to the crowd.

"Which damn beast dares to bully my son? Get out here right now, apologize and pay compensation." After cursing, Jia Dongxu brushed the dust off Bang Geng's body.

Then he asked: "Bang Geng, tell Dad, which one is it?"

Before Jia Dongxu could finish his words, Zhou Jin handed Zhou Xin over to He Yushui's care.

He walked straight up to Jia Dongxu and slapped him in the face.

"You bastard, if you dare to curse me again, I'll knock all your teeth out."

This slap stunned Jia Dongxu. At this time, Bang Geng pointed at Zhou Jin and said, "Dad, he was the one who hit me. You have to avenge me. Let that little girl give me all the firecrackers. I want to play with them."