Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

Chen Li, Sanmao, and Zhang Linbao, the admission letters of the three people were delivered to the courtyard almost on the same day.

When Aunt Zhang arrived at Wang Dong's house, He Yuzhu and Liang Lazhi had already arrived there, with smiles on their faces, looking very happy.

"Aunt Zhang... Lin Bao's admission letter has also arrived..." Wang Dong smiled and welcomed Aunt Zhang into the house and asked.

"We're here... it's the university that Lin Bao applied for... Let me ask you... how are we going to hold a banquet to celebrate the fact that our courtyard has three college students at once?"

Wang Dong smiled and continued, "I was just discussing this with Zhuzi and his wife."

"Three of us got into college together. We must celebrate this important event. Besides, everyone is better off now, so there should be at least a chicken, a fish, and two pounds of pork on the table..."

"I just did a quick calculation. With the seasoning, vegetables, and steamed buns made from 200g of flour, a table costs about ten yuan."

"There are ten tables in the courtyard, five in the front yard and five in the back yard, and the total cost is one hundred yuan."

Aunt Zhang was obviously very satisfied with the results of the discussion between Wang Dong and He Yuzhu. She immediately took out four big unity notes from her pocket and said, "Director Wang, Zhuzi..."

"I'm just a woman, and I don't have much influence. I can only help out. Most of the banquet matters still depend on your two families. So I will pay 40 yuan out of the 100 yuan, and you two families will each pay 30 yuan. I hope you don't think it's too little..."

The result of the initial discussion between Wang Dong and He Yuzhu was that the two families directly gave one hundred yuan.

Relatively speaking, Aunt Zhang's family conditions are much worse, so it would be best if we could avoid having them pay.

But think about it and forget it.

Zhang Linbao was admitted to university. Aunt Zhang would definitely not agree to not contribute a penny to such an important happy event. After the final discussion, the result was that both families contributed 35 yuan each, and Aunt Zhang wanted to take a slight advantage and only contributed 30 yuan.

Unexpectedly, Aunt Zhang offered forty yuan.

Wang Dong quickly refused: "Aunt Zhang, you only need to pay 30 yuan, and Zhuzi and I will pay the remaining 70 yuan."

"You are the only one earning money in your family, so it doesn't matter if you pay a little less."

"No..." Aunt Zhang refused without hesitation.

"This is the banquet for my Lin Bao to be admitted to university. I absolutely cannot pay less."

"I'm already sorry that I can't help you. If I give less, you'll be looking down on Aunt Zhang."

"I know you want to take care of Aunt Zhang, but it's a good thing that Lin Bao got into college. I'm willing to pay for it and I want to pay for it."

Seeing that Aunt Zhang's face was determined and she had no intention of taking back the ten yuan, Wang Dong had no choice but to accept the forty yuan.

Looking at the two of them, he asked directly: "We agreed at the beginning..."

"Invite all of the people in the Siheyuan to have a meal, but I'm still undecided about the Jia and Yi families. They are also neighbors in the Siheyuan, but their relationship with the three of us is not good. As for whether to invite them or not, you two families can make the decision. I don't care."

"No please..." Aunt Zhang answered without thinking.

He doesn't want to have anything to do with Yi Zhonghai at all now.

After divorcing Yi Zhonghai, her first reaction was despair. Only after she adopted Zhang Linbao as her son did she gradually feel better.

She hated her former husband Yi Zhonghai to the core.

Now that I have finally lived a good life, I will never allow such a person to disturb me.

He Yuzhu now not only hates Qin Huairu to the core, but also hates Yi Zhonghai, the old man who has schemed against him for half his life. Now he is not only married to Liang Lati, but also has a child of his own. His life is getting better and better. He doesn't want Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu, two enemies, to break into his life again.

Like Aunt Zhang, I don’t want to have anything to do with these two families.

Looking at Wang Dong, he answered seriously: "Dongzi, I don't want to invite their two families anyway."

"If we invite them to this banquet, it will be easy for something to go wrong."

"I don't want Sanmao and Chen Li to get into college, which is such a good thing, to be ruined because of the Jia family and the Yi family."

"I will not only feel sorry for the neighbors in the yard, but also for the three college students."

Wang Dong didn't want to invite them, but when he saw that the two of them had reached a consensus and had the same idea as himself, he immediately replied, "Okay... Then it's settled..."

"The banquet will be held at noon the day after tomorrow..."

"I asked Dashan and Longfei to help with the cooking..."

"Zhu Zi, please help borrow a table and benches from the neighbors. Aunt Zhang, find a few neighbors to help wash the dishes and pick the vegetables..."

"I'll try to buy back all the pork, old hens, fish, and other side dishes for the banquet."

…………

The courtyard is particularly lively today. Early in the morning, more than a dozen children are running around in the yard, chasing each other.

Although the living conditions are much better now than they were ten years ago, eating meat to one's heart's content is still a luxury for most of the neighbors in the courtyard. They can only afford to buy two kilograms of meat for their families during the Chinese New Year and other festivals.

In the past, many people in Siheyuan held banquets, but due to limited conditions and insufficient food materials, each family in Siheyuan could only send one person to attend the banquet.

Today, Wang Dong, He Yuzhu, and Aunt Zhang in the backyard... the three families held a graduation banquet together, and prepared a total of ten tables of food. Every neighbor in the courtyard could attend. For the children in the courtyard who rarely had the chance to eat meat, it was even happier than the Chinese New Year.

The front yard is larger than the back yard, and the stove for cooking at noon is set up in front of Wang Dong's house.

The two apprentices, Tang Dashan and Huang Longfei, sat on a chopping board made of door panels, and with a few sharp moves, they cut the ten old hens into pieces.

After chopping the chicken, chop the pork.

Cut most of the 20 pounds of pork into chunks to make braised pork later, and cut the remaining half into thin slices to use for stir-frying later.

The whole carp is cut into pieces and then braised.

The two large pig heads and two pig offal brought back from the meat processing plant have been put into the pot for stewing, ready to be made into cold dishes, stir-fried pig intestines, stir-fried pig liver...

You can smell a very strong meaty aroma from a long distance away.

Under the organization of Aunt Zhang, several sisters and aunts were responsible for making fire, picking vegetables, and washing plates and bowls just borrowed from neighbors. They were talking and laughing, and were busy having a lot of fun.

He Yuzhu stood in the middle of the yard, directing several young people to set up tables and chairs in the yard in preparation for the banquet.

The other neighbors who had nothing to do were standing by the stove chatting, occasionally glancing at the pig's head and offal stewing in the pot, then they couldn't help swallowing their saliva, their faces full of anticipation.

In short, everyone had a smile on their face and was very happy. (End of this chapter)