Siheyuan's Silly Pillar has been replaced by someone else

The three old men in the courtyard were incompetent at doing anything serious, but when it came to causing trouble, no one could match them.

Within a day, the neighborhood began to talk about Xu Damao.

They say Xu Damao is now rich and has become a landlord.

He always had women with him when he ate, embracing them on both sides and even having them feed him.

The imagination of the masses is boundless.

After someone started it, many people projected the ugly faces of those capitalists onto Xu Damao.

Xu Damao already had a bad reputation, but people tolerated him because he became rich.

But this guy, after he got rich, didn't take care of his neighbors. Instead, he showed off in front of them, which made many people dislike him.

Thanks to everyone's concerted efforts, Xu Damao's scandalous news spread throughout Nanluoguxiang.

Yan Bugui wasn't idle either; he strolled over to Xu Fugui's place.

Xu Fugui still lives in his old house and has not moved.

Their old house wasn't big, but it was unique because it was a stand-alone dwelling.

The couple now have money, so they hired someone to renovate their house.

From the outside, the Xu family's house doesn't look very impressive.

But inside, there's a whole world to discover, with all sorts of modern home appliances.

Upon hearing the sound of the door opening, Xu Fugui opened the door.

"Hey, Lao Yan, what are you doing here?"

Yan Bugui pretended to be anxious: "Old Xu, something terrible has happened."

He acted so convincingly that Xu Fugui didn't suspect a thing.

"Don't worry, what happened?"

Yan Bugui remained silent at this point, his meaning quite clear: he wanted to go inside.

Xu Fugui didn't mind and invited him in: "Come on, let's go home and talk."

When Xu's mother came out of the toilet and saw the two of them, she asked, "Why is Old Yan here?"

Xu Fugui said, "Old Yan said something big happened at the courtyard house, and he came to deliver the news."

Mrs. Xu was taken aback, sensing something was amiss. If something had happened at the courtyard house, there was no need for Yan Bugui to come and report it.

Besides, they have a phone at home; they can just tell Xu Damao and he can call directly.

Xu's mother gave Xu Fugui a wink.

After seeing this, Xu Fugui's eyes darted around, and he also noticed the problem.

He said calmly, "Old Yan, you go inside first. I'll tell my wife to ask her to buy some groceries."

Yan Bugui was too greedy. When he heard that Xu Fugui had arranged to buy vegetables, he happily went into the house.

Once inside, seeing all the different appliances, Yan Bugui wished he could take them all home.

Yan Bugui stared intently at something he didn't recognize beneath the color TV.

In the courtyard, Xu Fugui asked, "What did you find?"

Xu's mother whispered, "Not yet, but don't you think something's wrong?"

When something happens in the courtyard house, who can we ask to report it? We can't find Old Yan anywhere.

He's the kind of person who won't get up early for nothing.

Xu Fugui nodded: "You're right. I reckon he's just here to take advantage of me."

That way, I'll prepare some good food for him at noon, and that'll be enough to send him on his way.

Xu's mother was a little worried: "Inviting him to a meal is not a problem."

I'm afraid that once he gets a taste of the benefits, he'll come to our house every day.

Xu Fugui chuckled: "Our home is so far from the courtyard house. If he wants to come here every day, then let him."

I don't believe he can come every day.

Xu's mother thought about it and agreed.

It takes young people more than an hour to walk here from Nanluoguxiang.

At Yan Bugui's age, it would be impossible for him to walk here in less than two hours.

As for taking a car here, Yan Bugui would have to be willing to spend the money.

Xu Fugui walked into the house: "Old Yan, what are you looking at?"

Yan Bugui pointed to something under the color TV and asked, "What is this?"
"Isn't a TV just a matter of connecting an antenna? Why do we need this?"

Xu Fugui explained, "This is a video recorder, used to play movies."

Yan Bugui looked at the video camera in surprise: "That can't be right."

I've seen Da Mao show movies before.

The movie projector is huge!

Xu Fugui said, "That was old equipment. Everything has changed now. This equipment was brought from Hong Kong. It plays videotapes."

As he spoke, Xu Fugui turned on the video recorder to show Yan Bugui the video.

Perfect timing, the movie playing inside is A Better Tomorrow.

Yan Bugui sat on the sofa, looking at the color TV in amazement.

"Wow, this thing is so powerful."

"You're pretty impressive; you even managed to buy something like this."

Xu Fugui said with a smug look on his face, "Zhang Yan brought this back from Hong Kong."

At this moment, Yan Bugui remembered the important matter; his expression changed: "Old Xu, Zhang Yan is a good daughter-in-law."

"Of course." Xu Fugui's face became even more smug.

He personally chose Zhang Yan as his daughter-in-law.

She gave birth to his family's only granddaughter and was also exceptionally good at making money.

Who wouldn't be happy with a daughter-in-law like that?

Yan Bugui felt particularly uncomfortable seeing Xu Fugui's smugness.

Back in the courtyard house, Zhang Yan and Su An were not very well-regarded.

Who could have imagined that reform and opening up would come later, and that everyone would be encouraged to get rich?

If Yan Bugui had known all this earlier, he should have found a more suitable daughter-in-law.

You see, he's a small business owner and knows a lot of people who used to do business.

"Don't get too cocky."

"what happened?"

Yan Bugui revealed the real purpose of his visit: "Do you know that Da Mao is causing trouble again?"

Banggeng's wife's two best friends go to Da Mao's place to drink every day.

Damao was enjoying himself immensely at home, surrounded by women on both sides.

Now the news about Nanluoguxiang has spread far and wide.

If Zhang Yan finds out, will she still be able to remarry Da Mao?

Xu Fugui stared at Yan Bugui in shock: "Are you telling the truth?"

Yan Bugui felt a little guilty, thinking that Yang Ruihua should have spread the rumors by now.

"I've come all this way, would I lie to you?"

I came all this way just in case you didn't know.

After considering Xu Damao's personality, Xu Fugui began to believe Yan Bugui's words.

Even if it's not as serious as Yan Bugui described, there's definitely something wrong with it.

"Old Yan, I really want to thank you. Let's have a few drinks together later, and you can tell me all about it."

Yan Bugui readily agreed. He knew he wouldn't lose money on this trip.

The only headache is that the road is too far.

When Xu's mother returned from grocery shopping, Xu Fugui said, "You watch the movie first, and I'll have my wife cook some good dishes."

Yan Bugui stared at the video camera: "Go ahead."

Xu Fugui went to the kitchen and told his mother what Yan Bugui had said.

At first, Xu's mother was somewhat skeptical. To be fair, Xu Damao had changed a lot in the past two years.

"Is he saying this on purpose just to get a free meal?"

Xu Fugui said, "That's unlikely. If it were fake, it would be easy to spot."

After thinking about it, Xu's mother agreed and said sternly, "It seems that we really should discipline Da Mao properly."

We can't let him do anything to betray Zhang Yan.

Xu Fugui said, "Prepare some good dishes, and I'll ask Old Yan about it later."

Xu's mother nodded, opened the refrigerator, and took out a few large shrimp.

Yan Bugui, having not figured out anything, started watching a movie.

He saw Xu Fugui take a remote control and operate the video recorder.

He took it, studied it briefly, and then pressed it onto the fast forward button.

Yan Bugui was startled and quickly let go.

At that moment, a sentence appeared on the TV: "Officer, I haven't been a big brother for a long time."

Hearing those words again stirred up a storm in Yan Bugui's heart once more.

These words truly expressed his innermost thoughts. (End of Chapter)