Courtyard houses: Those who are capable are rewarded, and many children bring many blessings.

"Oh! You speak so elegantly, you're quite the cultured person!" Xu Huizhen said playfully.

"I don't deserve such praise. I'm just a cook, I work at a steel rolling mill!"

Seeing how attentive Sha Zhu was, Cai Quanwu began to regret bringing this cheap brother home.

He tugged at Sha Zhu's shirt back: "Brother Zhu and I, let's have a couple of drinks in my room!"

"Go on, drink less, you have things to do tonight!"

He set out a table on the kang (heated brick bed): "Have a seat, I'll go get some snacks to go with the drinks!"

Sha Zhu sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed). After Cai Quanwu left, he looked around the room and examined the furnishings.

A short while later, Cai Quanwu came in carrying a tray with two dishes of peanuts, one dish of pork intestines, and one dish of side dishes. There was also a pot of white wine and two wine cups.

"It's a bit rushed, but let's just have a drink!"

"Hehe, peanuts are all you need. Good taste, your wife is great! You've struck gold!"

Cai said without a hint of pride, "That's right, otherwise I wouldn't be so concerned. Women, especially young married women, are the best..."

After a few drinks, Cai Quanwu started talking.

Today I finally found an outlet for my frustrations. I'm usually quiet and reserved in public, but today, fueled by alcohol, I poured out all my pent-up grievances.

Sha Zhu became my emotional dumping ground, but I tolerated it because the food and drinks were decent...

Sha Zhu returned to the courtyard house reeking of alcohol and lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) to sleep.

As for Niu Dazhuang, after watching the basketball game, he wasn't in a hurry to go home. To learn a foreign language, you have to speak it every day.

After studying every day for over a month, I still haven't mastered the trilled tongue, but I've memorized quite a few words and phrases.

Now, chatting with Bai Hongyan is a mix of Chinese and Russian.

Niu Dazhuang was also speechless about this Director Bai. He was always aloof and distant. If you tried to be attentive, he would avoid you and even jump up to scold you.

You've given up, haven't you? They're taking the initiative to move closer to you again.

This really tormented Niu Dazhuang. He used to get women too easily; women like Ye Chunmei would always come to him willingly.

Although Qin Huairu used some tricks, she didn't act distant after the deed was done!

Most of the time, he's even more proactive than his own wife.

The beauty before him was simply… Niu Dazhuang’s mind suddenly raced.

"You're off tomorrow, what are you going to do?"

"Why do you want to ask me out?"

"I wouldn't dare. I've made plans with Yu Li to go to the movies together."

"I've heard you two are having an affair. Is today your official admission, or are you just showing off to me?"

"Comrade Niu Dazhuang, don't forget, you're a married man. It's not appropriate for you to go to the movies with a young girl!" Bai Hongyan said with a stern face.

"There's nothing inappropriate about it. We're just normal coworkers. What's wrong with going to the movies together? You always say I have dirty thoughts, but why are you being so rude today too!"

Bai Hongyan picked up a notebook from the table and threw it at him: "You're the one who's disgusting. Get out of here and don't come looking for me again."

Niu Dazhuang wasn't angry. He caught the notebook that was thrown at him and put it back on her desk.

"Then I think I'll really leave!"

"roll!"

"Okay!"

Niu Dazhuang used Yu Li to provoke Bai Hongyan. After leaving his workplace, he went to the farmers' market outside Zhengyangmen. It was already May Day, and seasonal vegetables were gradually coming to market.

Finally, we can eat seasonal vegetables again! We don't have to eat pickled vegetables every day anymore.

These past few days, Niu Dazhuang has become a regular at Zhengyang Farmers Market.

Garlic sprouts are 8 cents a pound, water spinach is 5 cents, cabbage is 4 cents, spinach is 3 cents, and onions are also 3 cents.

Niu Dazhuang never haggled over the price, and he never dared to buy too much, always buying only ten or eight jin at a time.

After these few days of nibbling away, each of the aforementioned vegetables now weighs forty to fifty pounds in the space.

I'm still far from my small goal, so I need to keep working hard! I bought ten pounds of garlic sprouts and ten pounds of cabbage, put them in a net bag, and hung it on the handlebars. Before leaving the farmers' market, I found a fishmonger.

I bought two more large carp, strung them together with straw rope, and hung them on the handlebars. After leaving the farmers' market, I found a corner where no one would notice and put the net bag that had been used to carry vegetables into my storage space.

When I got home, all that was left on the handlebars of my bicycle were two big carp. Prices were really affordable back then; vegetables were even cheaper, costing only a few cents per pound.

Large carp are only 50 cents a pound, and small miscellaneous fish are even cheaper, only 25 cents. Nowadays, there's a way of eating them in Kyoto: stewing miscellaneous fish with pickled vegetables. That way, you can at least see some meat.

"(ノ⊙ω⊙)ノ Wow, Dazhuang, is this an improvement in your life?" The third uncle was tidying up his fishing rod at the door.

"I'm craving this! Uncle, you're using up so much sesame oil, are you really going to waste the bait?"

"You've gone astray too, aren't you? Joining them in making fun of Uncle San!"

"Haha, no way, you're busy!"

There were quite a few neighbors like Niu Dazhuang who thought the same thing, but they all bought a bunch of crucian carp slices and lined up next to the tap water pool to have the fish killed and cleaned.

I put the fish back home, went to the backyard, and told Grandpa and Big Bear to come over for dinner that night.

Qin Xueru was experiencing morning sickness and couldn't smell any odors, so Qin Ningru was responsible for cleaning and cooking the fish.

Despite Qin Ningru's usual coquettish behavior in front of Dazhuang, she's actually quite efficient at her work.

Niu Dazhuang sat on a small stool, smoking a cigarette, watching the curdler busily working by the pool.

"Third brother-in-law, you're not getting the treatment you deserve at home!" Niu Dazhuang teased, seeing Jia Dongxu squatting down next to him cleaning fish.

"I'm not as lucky as you, having a sensible and capable sister-in-law! Ningru, I'm your brother-in-law too, help your brother-in-law out!" Jia Dongxu said, shaking the water in his hand and taking a sip of his own water to rest for a bit.

"Go find your sister-in-law, I can't handle this!"

"Your third sister has been writing letters for over a month, but she hasn't come in person or sent a single letter."

"It must be because my eldest uncle disagrees. You have my third sister send fifty yuan back to our parents' home and see how quickly Sister Yueru arrives."

None of the Qin sisters are bad at talking.

Just then, Sha Zhu's door opened, and he was grumpy from just waking up. He had only been lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) dozing off for a while when he heard the commotion outside.

He opened the door, about to shout something, when he saw Qin Ningru bent over washing fish. Her bottomless cleavage blinded him. His Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily, and he swallowed his words.

Holy crap, she's even fairer than Dongxu's wife! No wonder they're cousins. I never noticed before, given her winter clothes, that Qin Ningru was actually quite well-endowed.

Just as he was about to indulge in some fantasies, he felt a heavy punch land on his leg: "You idiot, where are you looking? If you look around again, I'll cripple your eyes!"

I can tell who it is just by their voice

"Hehe, I didn't mean to, it just happened to be a coincidence! By the way, Dazhuang, Cai Quanwu asked me to pass on a message to you: he's getting married to Xu Huizhen tomorrow, and he invites you to attend!"