Courtyard House: Drunk and barging into the Xu family's house, I woke up numb.

That's what I said, that's what I thought, but plans are subject to change.

He Yuzhu had just stepped out of the gate with his bicycle when he ran into Cao Xu, and he was completely stunned.

After finishing the hotpot, Cao Xu took Xia Jie home, helped her tidy up the house, and then returned to the courtyard house.

Before he even entered the compound, he saw a person carrying a bicycle walking out of the compound.

He initially thought it was a thief taking advantage of the heavy snow to steal something, but when he got closer, he was stunned.

The car thief was none other than He Yuzhu, who had caused quite a commotion tonight.

Cao Xu recognized the bicycle on his shoulder; it was the prized possession of his third uncle, Yan Bugui.

"He Yuzhu, where are you going in the middle of the night carrying your bicycle?"

Chapter 177 Cao Xu's Hint Leaves Yan Bugui Stunned! [Please Subscribe]

He Yuzhu was extremely embarrassed at this moment. He looked at Cao Xu opposite him, scratched his head, and grinned sheepishly.

"Section Chief Cao, where have you been so late at night?"

"Oh, I see, you had your period in the middle of the night, right?"

"It's snowing heavily, you should go back inside quickly, don't catch a cold!"

After saying that, He Yuzhu was about to leave when Cao Xu looked at his cautious manner and laughed.

"Silly Zhu, you forced Liu Guangfu to run naked in the street before dark, making him lose all face."

"What, are you planning to secretly sell Yan Bugui's bicycle right now?"

He Yuzhu stood there, his mind racing. He turned around and smiled bitterly.

"Section Chief Cao, you are also aware of my conflict with the Yan family."

"If I keep holding my anger in, I'll get sick."

"Also, let me clarify, I have no intention of selling his bicycle."

“Grandma Bang was just arrested and sentenced to four years in prison. How could I have made such a mistake?”

"I just wanted to cause him some trouble, to annoy him, and to vent my anger."

Cao Xu looked at his outfit with a meaningful expression.

"Is it really just about causing trouble?"

He Yuzhu nodded vigorously.

"That's right, just causing trouble."

Cao Xu nodded.

"Okay, take your time, I'm heading back now."

He Yuzhu said very politely.

"Section Chief Cao, please take care!"

At this moment, he was completely devoid of the arrogance he had displayed in the evening, and resembled a docile kitten.

Cao Xu took two steps and stopped. He turned around and called out to Sha Zhu, who was about to leave, to stop.

"Silly pillar."

He Yuzhu abruptly stopped his raised foot and forced a smile.

"Section Chief Cao, is there anything else you need?"

Cao Xu took two steps forward and stood in front of He Yuzhu, whispering something.

"Even if you do sell this car, it's none of my business."

“You are a social idler, while Yan Bugui is a primary school teacher.”

“You two have absolutely no connection with the steel rolling mill now, and I, as the head of the security department of the steel rolling mill, have no say in your affairs.”

After saying that, Cao Xu walked back to the courtyard house. When he passed Yan Bugui's house, he couldn't help but sigh.

In the drama, Yan Bugui accepts gifts but does nothing in return, so Sha Zhu retaliates by stealing a whole cart of wheels.

Now look what's happened, he got dragged into this by his third son, and Sha Zhu just had the car taken away.

Yan Bugui's bicycle was truly unlucky, ultimately unable to escape the clutches of Sha Zhu.

I wonder what this silly Zhu will do next. Will he carry it away and sell it, or will he cause some damage as he said?

He'll just have to wait and see; the answer will be revealed first thing tomorrow morning, and it'll surely be quite a spectacle.

Outside the courtyard house, He Yuzhu, carrying his bicycle, walked into the alley next to it.

He looked at the bicycle on his shoulder, but was at a loss.

What did Cao Xu mean by his last words? Was he digging a hole for himself?

Whether to sell or not became a dilemma for He Yuzhu, who leaned against the wall, caught in a difficult situation.

He Yuzhu hesitated for a long time, but finally gritted his teeth and made up his mind. Damn it, that's what I'll do!

............................................................

Daylight broke, and the annual Lantern Festival arrived.

It's well known that the best day to eat in Beijing is during the Spring Festival, but the most lively day is the Lantern Festival.

Starting from Lunar New Year's Eve, the capital city was filled with joy and a lively atmosphere.

The New Year celebrations don't truly end until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Since it's the Lantern Festival, besides eating, we have to go all out and have a blast, just like a carnival these days.

Eating glutinous rice balls, enjoying lantern displays, solving lantern riddles, playing with dragon lanterns, lion dancing, touching door nails, and walking to cure diseases.

Because it snowed last night, most of the people in the courtyard got up earlier than usual and went out to shovel the snow in front of their houses. Yan Bugui was no exception, especially since he had promised his daughter yesterday that he would cook glutinous rice balls for her this morning.

So after getting up early in the morning, he prepared to go out to the street corner to buy some glutinous rice balls to cook.

Of course, he wouldn't buy too many glutinous rice balls for the Lantern Festival. He had already calculated that each person would receive nine, symbolizing peace, happiness, and longevity for the whole family.

To put it bluntly, the old man didn't want to buy more; he wanted to save as much as he could.

Speaking of the Lantern Festival in Beijing, there was a period when it wasn't called Lantern Festival, but Tangtuan.

Elderly people in Beijing sometimes still call it "tangtuan" (glutinous rice ball). The reason it was renamed tangtuan is because the pronunciation of "yuanxiao" (元宵, Lantern Festival) is similar to "yuanxiao" (袁消, meaning "the day of the Lantern Festival").

When Yuan Shikai came to power, he ordered the people of Beijing to stop calling it Yuanxiao and changed the name to Tangyuan, which was popular in the Jiangnan region.

Later, he realized that wasn't good either. The "yuan" in tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) is a homophone for "Yuan" in Chinese, and boiling tangyuan is essentially boiling "Yuan" in water, isn't it?

He then ordered that the name be changed to "Tangtuan" and required that shops selling Yuanxiao (glutinous rice balls) could not display the words "Yuanxiao" on their doors, but instead had to display "Tangtuan".

Legend has it that on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, after Old Yuan returned home, one of his most beloved concubines brought him a bowl of glutinous rice balls.

He said, "Why don't you have a bowl of glutinous rice balls?" This infuriated Old Yuan, who promptly slapped the concubine twice across the face.

Because of this name change, someone once wrote a satirical poem: "The poem sings of glutinous rice balls from the past dynasty, which floated on the water when steamed or boiled. During the reign of Emperor Hongxian, a decree was issued, forbidding people from shouting 'Yuanxiao' (the Lantern Festival) along the streets."

A folk rhyme still circulates today: "The President, a true sage, finds it hardest to sleep on the fifteenth of the first lunar month. His head is pressed against a copper horn. The Lantern Festival has been changed to Tangyuan. After the Lantern Festival next year, who will still call it Tangyuan?"

That being said, ever since Yuan stepped down, shops in the capital have once again put up signs with the huge characters "This shop sells Yuanxiao (sweet rice balls)".

The characters for "Lantern Festival" were written in particularly large characters to signify a joyful and cathartic celebration.

After leaving the house, Yan Bugui hummed a few lines of opera lyrics as usual.

"On September 917th, I was admiring the mountain scenery from the city tower when I heard a commotion outside the city, with banners waving..."

He couldn't sing more than two lines of the Peking Opera.

He rubbed his eyes and looked at the spot under his window where he used to keep his bicycle.

"Huh, that's strange, where did the bicycle go?"

“It snowed yesterday, I remember it clearly, I parked it under the window.”

When the third aunt inside saw Yan Bugui still standing at the door, she lifted the curtain and went up to ask him.

"Old Yan, why aren't you going yet? Hurry up and buy some food to cook for them."

Yan Bugui slapped his thigh and said.

"Why bother cooking glutinous rice balls? Our bicycle is gone!"

The three women headed towards the usual parking spot and saw that the bicycle was indeed gone.

"Don't worry, did you forget to lock your bike again yesterday? Did your eldest son or his wife ride it to work?"

Yan Bugui said anxiously.

"That's impossible. I locked the car as soon as I got home from get off work last night."

"Never mind, I'll go ask the boss first."

Yan Bugui ran straight to the back room where the eldest brother, Yan Jiecheng, lived. After asking some questions, he was completely dumbfounded.