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

Even though Jia Dongxu didn't say it, he had been incredibly envious of Niu Dazhuang's life these past few months. At first, he also wanted to be like Sha Zhu and the others, knowing nothing. It was his experienced mother who taught him.

He still remembered her exact words: "Why does Ningru's walking posture seem different these past two days compared to when she first arrived? Could it be that Niu Dazhuang really messed her up?"

From that day on, Jia Dongxu kept an eye on them and would occasionally drop by. This girl and Niu Dazhuang talked too casually; if it weren't for Xue Ru being around, making Jia Dongxu think they were a couple, he would have mistaken them for a married couple.

We both married daughters from the Qin family and both have beautiful sisters-in-law, so why can't he be as successful as me?

Today, his sister-in-law arrived, and maybe his dream will come true in a few days. How could Jia Dongxu not be excited!

In the morning, Jia Dongxu even asked Qin Huairu for a dollar to buy a pound of pork.

I've been secretly looking in the direction of the hanging flower gate several times, and finally, the person I've been waiting for has arrived.

Ignoring Niu Dazhuang, she reached out to take the small package Qin Yueru was carrying: "You must have been terribly hot the whole way!"

Unexpectedly, Qin Yueru twisted her waist, cleverly dodging his hand: "Not bad, you didn't even take it while I was home!"

Qin Yueru turned her gaze to her older sister, who was cooking, and her expression immediately turned sour.

She quickly took a few steps forward: "Sister, you rest, I'll do it. You're pregnant too, and you're still serving him food and drink. Why don't you let your husband cook?"

Jia Dongxu said pitifully from behind, "I cook all the time. I even bought a pound of meat for today's visit. Your sister was worried I wouldn't cook it well, so she did it herself. You can ask her if you don't believe me..." When they looked for Niu Dazhuang, he had already pushed his bicycle through the moon gate of the courtyard.

"Cooking isn't strenuous work, it doesn't hurt to move around. Why are you only getting home now?"

"It's Xue Ru's brother-in-law. He was late, making me wait forever. But he's already punished me; he bought me two bottles of soda!"

"Our brother-in-law is good in every way, except that he has no sense of money when it comes to spending it and is very extravagant."

"Oh right, he's not as good at managing money as I am. I gave all my salary to your sister." With that, Jia Dongxu moved the dining table outside.

Lunch was quite substantial: stir-fried pork with garlic shoots, stir-fried pork with green peppers, stir-fried bean sprouts with vinegar, and tofu with scallions.

The staple food is Erhe flatbread.

Qin Yueru watched the food being eaten, ate two pancakes, and then stopped eating.

Qin Huairu also put down her chopsticks: "You guys take your time eating. I'll take Yueru to see Xueru."

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Since I have nothing else to do, I might as well go take a look."

After the two sisters left.

Madam Jia Zhang saw through her son's thoughts. Yue Ru had visited in previous years, and her son had always been hospitable, but never as attentive as he was today. His feelings were practically written all over his face.

"Dongxu, stop having wicked thoughts. You can't even handle Qin Huairu. If I hadn't stopped you, you would have been dead in a woman's belly long ago. You've only been quiet for two days, why are you having wicked thoughts again?" No one knows a son better than his mother.

"Mom, what nonsense are you talking about? Has Banggeng eaten his fill? If you're full, go back to your room and go to sleep!"

"I don't know why your wife called Yue Ru over. Does she want to live like Xue Ru? Our family can't afford to support so many idle people." After only one meal, Jia Zhangshi was already unhappy.

"I don't know either, I just came to play for a few days!" As he spoke, Jia Dongxu moved the table, along with the bowls and chopsticks on it, into the house.

"Mom, why don't you do the dishes? I'll go check on things too."

After saying that, he went to the west courtyard without looking back.

They had finished eating, but Niu Dazhuang's family was still eating. Qin Huairu and her sister were in the inner room, sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). There was an iron box on the kang table, and the two sisters were eating melon seeds.

"Let's have a drink together," Niu Dazhuang invited.

Jia Dongxu glanced at the dishes on the table and felt envious. He usually ate meat and now he was even eating steamed buns made of white flour.

"No, let me ask Yue Ru where the bed frame will be placed tonight."

Before Qin Huairu could even speak, Xueru said, "No need to trouble yourself, everything's set up here. Yueru will be staying at my place from now on, and she'll be eating here too."

"That won't do," Jia Dongxu protested.

At this moment, Qin Huairu from the inner room made the final decision: "You don't need to worry about it. We sisters have already discussed it. Dazhuang will be leaving in a couple of days, and it'll be just the few of us sisters staying here; we'll be comfortable!"

Niu Dazhuang gave Jia Dongxu a helpless look.

Men understand men's minds best. Yue Ru is not bad-looking either. To put it another way, none of the seven beauties of the Qin family are ugly.

Jia Dongxu didn't leave either. Instead, he took out his pipe, squatted outside the door, and lit one.

He started smoking, puffing away.

"Dongxu, if you have nothing else to do, go back. Let's have a chat, sisters!" Qin Huairu started to shoo him away.

At this moment, Niu Dazhuang finished his meal, took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes, and lit one up.

"Let's go, leave some space for the sisters, let's go for a walk."

Having just passed through the moon gate, Jia Dongxu thought, "Where am I supposed to go for a stroll on such a hot day? I might as well go home and take a nap." Helpless, Jia Dongxu went home.

"Hey, you're really unfair." After saying that, Niu Dazhuang turned around, pushed his bicycle out, and pedaled off to continue the task he hadn't finished that morning.

When I visited Chen Xueru's house again, I was scolded.

"How could you do this? Leaving us both in mid-air and then running away." Chen Xueru, dressed in a white gauze dress, with the surrounding mountains faintly visible, lay lazily on a rocking chair under the grape trellis.

Niu Dazhuang touched his nose sheepishly: "I promised to pick them up, but I forgot."

"Hmph! It must be a woman, and not bad looking at all!" Chen Xueru knew Niu Dazhuang quite well; if it weren't a woman, he wouldn't have been willing to leave this gentle embrace.

Niu Dazhuang didn't answer but asked, "Where's my cousin?"

"We're going back now. You took care of her earlier, and she's had a good meal, so you have to make it up to me."

"Hehe, what am I here for? Seeing the grape trellis reminded me of a scene, so today we'll recreate it according to the book..."

What book?

"Heh heh, Jin Ping Mei!"

"Ugh, I'm not Pan Jinlian!"

Ten thousand words omitted here

Niu Dazhuang didn't go home that night either.

The three sisters were all lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the inner room.

"Xue Ru, it's so late, why isn't your man back yet?"

"You're covered up so tightly, aren't you hot? Don't worry, if he's not back by now, he won't be back tonight."

"Oh, why aren't you hot!" she said, pulling the sheet off her body and covering her stomach with one corner.

Then, looking at Ningru through Xueru's side, she said, "So that's why Ningru was wearing a tank top. You knew about it, huh?"

Qin Ningru sighed and said, "Sigh! You'll understand once you've lived here longer!"