Siheyuan's Silly Pillar has been replaced by someone else

In the following days, Tang Yanling's two best friends practically treated the courtyard house as their workplace, coming over whenever they had time.

Every time I come here, I eat at Xu Damao's house.

Moreover, Tang Yanling no longer needed to resort to tricks; both of them were very proactive.

This is not without its costs.

The price was that Xu Damao's house had far fewer things.

Tang Yanling appeared unconcerned, but inwardly she began to regret her actions.

She never expected her two best friends to be so shameless, coming so frequently.

The two of them have almost emptied Xu Damao's house.

Tang Yanling had no choice but to run to Xu Damao's house in the morning.

"Uncle Xu, you're up. I had Banggeng buy breakfast; eat it while it's hot."

Tang Yanling placed the breakfast on the table and then sat down beside Xu Damao's bed.

Xu Damao got out of bed: "Help me set up the stove first, it's too cold outside."

"I've already taken care of it for you. It's just that it's too cold outside, and the room heats up too slowly," Tang Yanling said with a smile.

Xu Damao also felt a bit of warmth in the room.

"Thank you."

Xu Damao lifted the blanket and prepared to get dressed.

Tang Yanling diligently fetched clothes for Xu Damao and served him with even more care than she did for Bang Geng.

Xu Damao got dressed and took out a gift box: "This was sent to me by your Uncle Tiezhu last night."

I have plenty at home, you can take them back.

After thanking her, Tang Yanling left the house with a smile.

Compared to Qin Huairu, this aspect of hers is much more pleasant.

If it were Qin Huairu, she would have found a way to smuggle things into the house before Xu Damao even had to ask.

If Tang Yanling had followed Qin Huairu's example, Xu Damao would have stopped letting her into the house long ago.

Everyone has a bottom line – what's mine is mine, and if I don't give it to you, you can't take it.

Qin Huairu is so annoying because she doesn't take this bottom line seriously.

Tang Yanling was much smarter than Qin Huairu. She wouldn't ask for it proactively, or even hint at it.

If you give it to her, she'll take it; if you don't, she won't complain.

Xu Damao is now rich and spends money lavishly. He doesn't care how much money it costs as long as he's happy.

She gained more by doing this than Qin Huairu had painstakingly schemed and plotted.

Xu Damao was happily eating at home when Wu Tiezhu barged in.

"Brother Tiezhu, what's wrong? Is something the company doing?"

Wu Tiezhu sat opposite Xu Damao with a dark expression: "The company is fine, you have a problem."

Xu Damao put down the fried dough stick in his hand: "What's wrong with me?"

Wu Tiezhu snorted: "What have you been up to lately?"

Xu Damao said, "What did I do? I'm out there building relationships every day."

Wu Tiezhu asked angrily, "What were you doing last night?"

Xu Damao understood Wu Tiezhu's meaning and explained, "Aren't these Yanling's two best friends coming over? I'm treating them to dinner."

"Are you just inviting them to dinner?" Wu Tiezhu stared intently at Xu Damao.

Wu Tiezhu has been staying at the construction site recently and hasn't returned, so he doesn't know anything about the courtyard house.

He came back yesterday to deliver some things to Xu Damao and saw what happened at Xu Damao's house.

Tang Yanling's two best friends surrounded Xu Damao on either side, almost sitting in his lap.

After returning home, Chen Xiaofang told him about what had happened in the past few days.

Wu Tiezhu immediately suspected that Xu Damao was up to no good.

In the morning, he saw Tang Yanling running over to light the stove for Xu Damao and bring him breakfast.

This further confirmed his suspicions.

Wu Tiezhu came here this time to demand an explanation.

Fearing that Wu Tiezhu would make a big fuss and Zhang Yan would find out, Xu Damao quickly said, "We really are just having a meal."

"If you don't believe me, you can ask Guangtian and Guangfu. We're always together at meals."

Xu Damao wasn't completely fooled. He was also afraid of being tricked by the Jia family, so he always brought the Liu brothers along when he ate out.

Wu Tiezhu did not believe his explanation.

He knew very well what the Liu brothers were like.

The two of them relied on Xu Damao for their meals, so they would definitely cover for him. "Xu Damao, can't you focus on the important things?"

Xu Damao laughed and said, "How could I not have focused on the important matter?"

Did I cause any delays? No, I don't think so.

I just had a few drinks at home after get off work.

You didn't drink too much, why are you so angry?

Tang Yanling's two best friends came to me, hoping to get some money from me.

I know it all.

Don't treat me like a fool.

"I think you're treating everyone else like fools." Xu Damao remained unrepentant, which made Wu Tiezhu even angrier, and he raised his voice.

Auntie Er heard the commotion and told everyone at home.

Upon hearing this, Liu Guangtian immediately stood up: "I'll go check it out, make sure they don't start fighting."

Liu Guangfu also stopped eating and went to Xu Damao's house.

When they arrived at Xu Damao's house, Liu Guangtian said, "Brother Tiezhu, what are you doing?"

Brother Da Mao didn't do anything either.

To avoid being taken advantage of, he always brought us brothers with him.

Besides, there's still the stick, so nothing happened.

They just wanted to take advantage of the situation, it's no big deal.

Wu Tiezhu was not good with words and hadn't found any fault with Xu Damao, so he didn't want to make too much of a scene. He warned Xu Damao a few times and then went back.

Liu Guangfu said, "Brother Tiezhu is meddling too much."

He's just a wage earner, why is he meddling in so many things?

Xu Damao said, "You should say less. He's my partner now, and he owns shares in the company."

If he doesn't agree to take you with him, there's nothing I can do.

Liu Guangfu immediately shut his mouth.

Liu Guangtian asked curiously, "How did he become your partner?"
Did he invest money in your company?
Does his family have that much money?

Xu Damao simply said "yes" and then refused to say anything more.

Despite how much money he earns, if you really want to calculate it, he might not be able to compete with the Wu family.

Seeing that Xu Damao refused to speak, the two did not dare to ask any further questions.

"From now on, let's not eat in the yard."

My mom said the neighborhood's starting to talk about it.

Xu Damao thought for a moment and then agreed: "Alright, you guys go back and eat first."

We still need to go to the construction site later.

The two left the Xu family home, and Xu Damao continued eating breakfast as if nothing had happened.

On the Jia family's side, Qin Huairu couldn't wait to get her hands on the things Tang Yanling brought back.

"What did Xu Damao give you? Why only one copy?"

It was much less than what he gave Chai Ning and Cui Xin.

Tang Yanling said, "What are you comparing yourself to them for?"

Qin Huai said, "I'm not comparing myself to them, I just feel that Xu Damao did something wrong."

No matter what, we're his neighbors. How can he give more to outsiders than to his neighbors?

Tang Yanling really couldn't be bothered to pay attention to this shallow-minded mother-in-law.

"Besides living in the same courtyard as him, what else do we have in our family?"
Do you know how they got their stuff?

You still want me to learn from them?

Banggeng couldn't sit still any longer.

He had personally witnessed how Chai Ning and his companion obtained the items.

Bang Geng couldn't bear to see his wife do that.

"Mom, can you please stop talking? Haven't we taken enough from Uncle Xu's house already?"

When Qin Huairu saw Bang Geng criticize her, she complained, "I did it all for you."

"We told you to cultivate a relationship with Xu Damao, so all you did was eat and drink with him, but you couldn't even find out how his business was run."

Tang Yanling said, "Is there any need to ask? Uncle Xu and Uncle He are on good terms."

The project was given to him by Uncle He, it's that simple.

Qin Huairu looked around her house and, seeing no one speaking up for her, wisely kept quiet. (End of Chapter)