Age: My Small World

"Comrade, could you draw one for us? Your drawing skills are truly amazing."

Before Yang Jun could say anything, business had already come knocking on his door.

Yang Jun politely declined the money offered to him.

"It's just a painting, no need to pay. You want to give it to me but you don't dare to accept it, otherwise you might get arrested for speculation."

He made a joke, which made the visitor laugh as well. He then took the money back and never mentioned the matter again.

Yang Jun painted quickly, and soon handed a piece of paper to the young couple who had come to see him. Judging from their satisfied expressions, the painting was of good quality.

To Yang Jun's surprise, people around him gradually started asking him to paint.

So everyone's thinking of getting something for free because he paints such good pictures without charging a fee.

Yang Jun immediately refused them all. He said that agreeing to the first person was out of kindness, and that the others were just trying to take advantage of him.

When we left the square with Xiaoyuer in our hands, the little girl was still overjoyed.

"Brother Xiaoshan, you're really amazing! We almost got surrounded."

"Okay, let's go buy some groceries and then check if the photos are developed yet. If they are, we can take them home."

It's already afternoon; it's time to go back and prepare dinner.

The little girl naturally had no objections.

The two returned to the photo studio, just in time to find that the photos had already been developed.

After receiving the certificate, Xiaoyuer kept staring at the photo, taking it out to look at it every now and then along the way.

"It's so beautiful, why don't you sleep with the photo tonight?" Yang Jun pinched her little cheek.

Cheng Xiaoyu chuckled: "That's impossible, photos can't compare to how warm the real person is."

As the couple returned home, they inevitably attracted whispers from the people in the yard, as the handsome young couple drew everyone's attention.

"Teacher Li, how about we come inside for a drink today?"

Seeing Teacher Li loitering at the door again, Yang Jun finally fulfilled the promise he made last time.

Teacher Li said that maybe we should forget about it, but her expression clearly showed that she was willing to go; it's just that Chinese people traditionally have to be polite.

Yang Jun then took the opportunity to invite her a couple more times, and this time Teacher Li no longer beat around the bush.

"Sure, your aunt just boiled some salted peanuts, I'll bring her a plate to have with our drinks later."

He went inside and brought out a plate of peanuts.

When strangers are around, Little Fish doesn't say anything and just stands quietly by, like a ghost.

The three of them arrived at the backyard, and upon hearing the sounds outside, the old woman came out to greet them.

"Oh, Teacher Li is here too, come in quickly."

The two are actually from the same clan. Although Teacher Li is a bit greedy for small gains, he is also a helpful person. Not long ago, when the Yang family moved, he brought his two sons to help out.

"Young lady, I'm sorry to bother you today." As expected of an elementary school teacher, Ms. Li is quite learned, and her speech became more refined.

Li Xiaohua just smiled.

Yang Jun naturally picked up the conversation.

He invited Teacher Li to dinner today, partly to thank him for his help not long ago, and partly to find out more about the situation in this courtyard, so as to avoid any taboos. While his mother took Xiaoyuer to cook, the two men sat inside and chatted.

Yang Jun didn't hesitate and specially brought out a bottle of Xifeng liquor to pour Teacher Li a full glass.

So the two of them chatted while drinking salted peanuts.

At the small kitchen by the door, Xiaoyuer, who was cooking, finally couldn't resist showing Li Xiaohua the photos she had just brought back.

"Mom, what do you think of the photo of me and Xiaoshan?"

"Brother Xiaoshan also said that he will bring his sister and brother-in-law over to take a family photo at the end of the year, saying that this is what a family portrait is."

"Family photo?"

Li Xiaohua was quite happy to hear this, and after taking the photo and looking at it, she couldn't help but smile.

"You and Xiaoshan look quite good in a picture, just like that Jin-something woman people talk about."

"Mother is talking about the Golden Boy and Jade Girl, right? Then Mother is the fairy mother of the Golden Boy and Jade Girl." The little girl was quite good at praising people, and she made Li Xiaohua beam with joy.

The two of them could chat for a long time about just one photo, and they were still very interested in it. By the time they finished cooking, it was getting dark.

After bringing the food to the two people inside, Li Xiaohua and Xiaoyuer showed no intention of sitting down at the table.

According to current custom, women and children are not allowed to sit at the table when there are guests at home.

Even though Yang Jun didn't care about these things and even argued against them, it was to no avail. So he could only tell his mother and the little girl to leave enough food for them to eat in their own room before continuing his conversation with Teacher Li.

After drinking a bottle of top-quality Xifeng liquor, Teacher Li looked so beautiful that her cheeks turned bright red.

So there was nothing left to say, and she turned around and explained the situation in the courtyard to Yang Jun in detail.

Besides Teacher Li's family, the other family that left a deep impression on Yang Jun was Aunt Huang's family, who lived opposite Teacher Li's house.

There are only three people in this family: Mrs. Huang, her son, and their only granddaughter.

Her daughter-in-law died of illness a few years ago, but there are also rumors that she was overworked to death.

Aunt Huang didn't have a good reputation in the compound. According to Teacher Li, she was a gossip who would talk about every little thing that happened in anyone's home.

The key issue is that she treats her only granddaughter badly, often beating and scolding her. The main reason is that she had been hoping her daughter-in-law would give birth to a grandson, but the child was not a boy, which made her furious. She even abandoned her daughter-in-law for a time.

Keep in mind that at that time, her son was still working, and her daughter-in-law had just given birth. She had to get up and cook and take care of the child by herself, and she was treated even more harshly in the days that followed.

Perhaps it was because she didn't take good care of herself during her postpartum period that her daughter-in-law passed away a few years later. When she died, the old lady even cursed her for being unlucky, without considering how much her daughter-in-law had taken care of her over the years.

Her son was also useless, suffering mistreatment all day without daring to argue back, to the point that he outlived his wife. Everyone in the yard called him a useless good-for-nothing.

In short, Grandma Huang's house was one that Teacher Li advised Yang Jun to avoid; the others were fine.

After hearing these gossips, Yang Jun couldn't help but remark that everyone has their own troubles.

Of course, their own situation is fine; with him supporting them, there won't be any problems.

He continued drinking with Teacher Li, and even brought him a large bowl of rice, which Teacher Li ate clean. He finished most of the meat and fish dishes and most of the bottle of Xifeng liquor on the table, leaving very little for Yang Jun.

Seemingly realizing that her eating manners were somewhat unseemly, Teacher Li kept saying that she would treat Yang Jun to a meal next time, and that she would go to Quanjude. But just take that with a grain of salt.

Yang Jun didn't think much of it, and only returned after dropping the person off at home. (End of Chapter)