An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

What happened to the original owner's parents? They still can't be indulged even if they did something wrong!

Being merciful to bad people is being cruel to yourself—this statement couldn't be more true!

From now on, I will repay kindness with kindness and revenge with revenge, and I will never forget to retaliate!

I'm not going to put up with anyone's bad temper anymore!

The Yan family.

Yan Jiecheng watched with bated breath as his father picked out the sixteen pieces of meat from the bowl.

That's right, not a single piece more or less, because he counted them with his eyes.

Then, Yan Bugui poured the remaining vegetables into his own pot, stirring as he spoke:

"You won't get poor from eating or dressing, but you will if you don't plan ahead. Do you see?"

"After exchanging the two, we'll have enough food for tomorrow."

"This vegetable is so oily! It smells amazing!"

Yan Jiecheng didn't dare to say anything, thinking to himself: Can they still taste the same when mixed together?

However, this was still bearable, seeing that his father was about to put the meat away.

Yan Jiecheng became anxious: "Dad, why did you take the meat away?"

Yan Bugui said matter-of-factly, "There's already so much oil in the food, why bother eating meat? Save it and we can eat it over several meals."

"Oh! Dad, at least give me two slices so I can taste them!"

Yan Bugui glanced at him, about to criticize him for not being good at scheming.

Yan Bugui's wife then said at the opportune moment, "Let the child have a couple of slices of sweet meat. It's been a while since we've had any meat at home."

Yan Bugui had no choice but to suppress the criticism that was about to spill from his mouth and began to slice the meat:

"Here are two pieces for you. To be fair, I'll have two pieces too."

"Give your mom four slices, because she's pregnant."

Yan Bugui then asked his eldest son, "You don't mind if we eat the rest at the next meal, do you?"

Yan Jiecheng nodded helplessly—What can I do even if I have an opinion? You've already put all the meat away.

Yan Bugui's wife, while stroking her belly, said with a smile:

"It would be so wonderful if someone could bring me a meal like this every day!"

Yan Jiecheng teased, "Mom, it's not even dark yet, and you're already dreaming?"

"Go away!" Yan Bugui's wife rolled her eyes at him. "How dare you talk to your mother like that?"

Yan Jiecheng stuck out his tongue and turned to look at his father hopefully.

When Yan Bugui returned, he started dividing things up again: "The steamed bun is for your mother, so we'll each have half, and the rest we'll eat cornbread."

"However, after I break it open, you can choose whichever side is bigger."

Yan Jiecheng was quite shrewd, and said with a sneer, "Don't be picky, after you've done it, both sides will definitely be the same size, and there won't be a slight difference when you weigh them."

Yan Bugui was very satisfied with this attitude: "That's right, my hand is the scale! It's famously fair."

Yan Bugui's wife chimed in with a smile, "Your dad is the best at distributing things. Whenever the factory distributes New Year's goods, they always ask him to do it."

"Matching sizes, pairing good and bad, the workers have never been able to find fault with it..."

The Jia family.

Although they also mixed their homemade dishes with the pumpkin that Jiang Baobin sent, they didn't skimp on the steamed buns.

Two were given to Lao Jia, and two to Xiao Jia as well. Zhang Cuihua ate only cornbread herself.

Old Jia felt sorry for his wife and gave her one of his.

Zhang Cuihua broke off a tooth and said with a smile, "I'll just try it to see how the Jiang family's steamed buns are made."

"You two eat more. You'll have to work hard at the factory tomorrow, so you can't be careless."

As she spoke, she picked out the only two pieces of meat from her own bowl and put them into her son's bowl.

Jia Dongxu quickly said, "Mom, you eat, there's still some in my bowl."

"Mom won't eat it. You should eat it to grow up. Learn the skills from your master as soon as you've earned some money, then you can buy meat for Mom."

"Okay, then you can hold on to it. Buy lots of meat so Mom and Dad can eat their fill!"

The Jia couple looked at each other and smiled, gazing lovingly at their beloved son, feeling that the food tasted even better than if it were their own!

The Liu family, however, is a different story.

Almost all of the four steamed buns and the large bowl of vegetables ended up in Liu Haizhong's hands.

Only a small portion was given to the eldest son.

Old Liu's wife and youngest son could only watch helplessly.

Liu Guangtian licked his lips and weakly called out, "Dad."

"What do you mean 'Dad'? Just shut up and eat." Liu Haizhong cursed impatiently.

"You're always causing me trouble! Let me tell you, if you dare climb on the roof again, I'll skin you alive!"

Liu Guangtian dared not utter a sound, and turned his pleading gaze to his elder brother.

Liu Guangqi, however, seemed not to notice and continued eating in silence.

Liu Guangtian licked his lips helplessly again, took a bite of the cornbread and a sip of boiled cabbage, feeling very uncomfortable...

Easy home.

Yi Zhonghai worked overtime today and came home late, so his wife said to him:

"Old Yi, the three young masters of the Jiang family sent so much food over, I can't refuse it."

"You said I'm clumsy with words and didn't help him much, so I feel really bad about it."

Yi Zhonghai slowly chewed the slices of meat, savoring their aroma.

He then laughed and said, "That's easy. Just do something tomorrow and return it, that's all."

"Then what should we do?"

"Either is fine."

"How about making steamed buns?"

"Can."

"Then how about we cut some flesh?"

Yi Zhonghai's eyes darted around: "Go ahead and cut it, we're not short of money."

"Then cut off half a pound."

Yi Zhonghai nodded.

After a pause, he added, "Binzi is now living separately from the family."

"If you have time, go and take a look, and lend a hand if you can."

"We don't want anything from him, but it's good to make a good connection. I think that kid has potential."

"Okay, I understand."

The Xu family.

His family is the fairest—four people, each gets a steamed bun and a small bowl of vegetables.

Xu Fugui's wife remarked, "These three young men from the Jiang family are truly capable; they keep their word."

"Everyone helped him, and he actually gave them things. This whole ordeal today must have cost him a dollar, right?"

Xu Fugui said, "He's holding his breath, wanting to compete with his sister-in-law, so naturally he's willing to spend money."

Xu Fugui's wife couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Now the eldest daughter-in-law of the Jiang family is finally behaving herself."

Xu Fugui asked, "What's wrong?"

"We spread the word about it to her, especially to the deaf old lady. It's all over Nanluoguxiang."

"They say the eldest son's wife is lazy, disrespectful, and bullies her younger brother; her reputation is now completely ruined!"

"Serves them right!" Xu Fugui sneered. "If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too. Their family is indeed too biased towards their child."

"Who can argue with that? The whole family is blind to talent, and they still don't know how to repent."

"What a pity, it's too late. The feud started when we were little."

"They didn't realize at all that the third son was the most promising."

Xu Fugui asked with a smile, "What did the deaf old lady say again?"

Xu Fugui's wife replied with a smile, "If parents are not kind, their children will be unfilial."

"That's right, that makes sense."

"Hey, sir, what's with this Jiang Laosan, he's become so successful?"

"When they first moved here, I wondered why this kid was so honest, was he stupid?"