The Courtyard House: Xu Damao's Aunt is the Queen of Women

"Hey, Damao, what's wrong with you?"

Ye Juan stopped her bicycle, ran anxiously to Xu Damao, and reached out to help him up.

"It's nothing, I just bumped into this young man and tripped!"

Xu Damao got up, patted the snowflakes off his bottom, and quickly checked if the projection equipment was damaged.

Ye Juan then noticed Liu Hao, who was dressed strangely and was tall.

Upon seeing Liu Hao's appearance, a hint of amazement flashed in her beautiful eyes.

This person is really good-looking!

Ye Juan, with a stern face and hands on her hips, demanded arrogantly, "Where did you come from? What's going on? Why did you bump into my Da Mao?"

"..."

Liu Hao wore the expression of an old man looking at his phone on the subway, his idealized image of the queen shattering instantly.

Looking at this arrogant and domineering little queen with a strong Northeastern accent, and then recalling the dignified, elegant queen who spoke softly, the sense of unease was overwhelming.

Wait, is it your Da Mao?

Liu Hao stood there dumbfounded, a chilling guess flashing through his mind.

Could it be that the little queen is Xu Damao's wife?

Do not! ! !

"Say something! Are you feeling guilty?"

"Um, is it possible that Xu Damao hit me?"

Ye Juan looked Liu Hao up and down suspiciously. Apart from a few snowflakes on his crotch, he was clean everywhere else. How could he look like he had been hit by a bicycle?

"What nonsense are you talking about? If Da Mao had hit you, how come you're perfectly fine?"

"..."

Liu Hao was speechless, because what she said made perfect sense.

"Hey, the snow's deep, nothing got broken!"

Xu Damao packed up the equipment, stood up, clapped his hands, and turned to Ye Juan, saying, "Don't wrong this young man. I couldn't stop in time and hit him."

"Okay, I'll help you."

Ye Juan pouted, gave a soft snort, turned around and ran over to help Xu Damao lift his bicycle, set up the kickstand, and tie up the projection equipment.

After tidying up, Xu Damao took out half a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his cotton-padded coat pocket, pulled out one, and handed it to Liu Hao, asking, "Brother, what were you trying to do standing in the middle of the road just now? Were you stopping me to ask for directions? Or did you want me to give you a ride?"

Liu Hao took the cigarette, put it in his mouth, lit a match, shielded it with his hand, lit it for Xu Damao first, and then lit his own.

I took a small puff of this unfiltered Daqianmen cigarette; the taste was alright, though a bit spicy on the throat.

"I want to ask for directions, but the snow is too heavy and I can't tell which way to go."

The atmosphere suddenly became tense after these words were spoken, and both Xu Damao and Ye Juan behind him were filled with vigilance.

"Where are you from?"

Liu Hao was shocked. "Do I look like a bad guy?"

"Don't misunderstand, I'm from Tongxian County. I just accidentally hit my head a few days ago, so my memory is a bit blurry. This is my ID."

As Liu Hao spoke, he took out a household registration card (sized 64) and a graduation certificate and a job introduction letter from his bag and handed them to Xu Damao.

Xu Damao took it and looked at it, then said in surprise, "Renjia Village in Tongxian County? I've actually been there before. Oh ho, you're a vocational school graduate!"

The graduation certificate had a photo on it. Xu Damao looked up and compared it with the photo. It was 90% similar, and only then did he relax his guard.

He opened the job introduction letter again, looking astonished, and said, "The Third Steel Rolling Mill? You've been assigned to our mill!"

"Yes, Comrade Xu, we'll be colleagues from now on."

Xu Damao returned the documents to Liu Hao and proudly patted his chest, starting to boast.

"Brother Liu, we're practically destined to meet. If you encounter any problems at the Third Steel Rolling Mill in the future, just mention my name, and it'll be sure to work!"

Ye Juan scoffed, "Come on, what's the point of mentioning your name? You might as well mention mine."

After dismantling Xu Damao's facade, Ye Juan introduced herself to Liu Hao with a smile.

"Hello, Comrade Liu Hao. My name is Ye Juan. I am 19 years old and an announcer in the Publicity Department of the Third Steel Rolling Mill."

Ye Juan?

Liu Hao was stunned. He thought of a movie, Xiao Erbulak, in which the female lead was played by the Queen, who played Ye Juan, a Shanghai educated youth.

How did these two people, one from the south and the other from the north, end up in the capital as announcers? And they even speak with a Northeastern accent?

Forget it, if I can time travel, it's not surprising that Ye Juan could become my aunt.

"Hello, Comrade Ye Juan, do announcers also have to go to the countryside to show movies?"

"Da Mao went to Lijiawa to show a movie yesterday. One of my classmates lives in Lijiawa. She was sick and had surgery last month and is recuperating at home, so Da Mao and I went to visit her."

Liu Hao nodded, "I see!"

"Excuse me, but what is your relationship with projectionist Xu?"

Ye Juan glanced at Xu Damao with disdain.

"His mother is my older sister, and I'm his aunt!"

???

Holy crap, it really is Aunt Flo!!!

Liu Hao was dumbfounded, his head buzzing. This was absolutely outrageous! His mother opening the door for him was just plain outrageous.

Xu Damao was very embarrassed; his donkey-like face turned bright red in an instant, and he wished he could sew up this young and beautiful aunt's mouth with a needle and thread.

Since Ye Juan graduated from vocational school last month and was assigned to the Third Steel Rolling Mill, the house allocated by the mill is still in the west wing of the No. 95 courtyard house, which has been a source of great suffering for him.

Suddenly, an aunt six years younger than me appeared, with a fierce temper. She would introduce herself to everyone as "Aunt Xu Damao," which was incredibly annoying!

What's most hateful is that, ever since that idiot Zhu saw his aunt for the first time, he's been dreaming of being a toad trying to eat swan meat, clamoring to become her uncle.

Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror? Do you even deserve my aunt?

After a moment of silence, Liu Hao stared at Xu Damao with a strange look for a few moments, then looked at the radiant Ye Juan.

"Aunt...Mom? Hmm, you're from a rather senior generation."

Ye Juan said casually, "My mother was already fifty-four years old when she gave birth to me, so she is six years younger than Xu Damao."

Holy crap, a 54-year-old can still have a baby?

Liu Hao was deeply moved and admired Xu Damao's grandparents, who were truly young at heart despite their age.

Based on the marriage age in rural areas during the Republic of China period, Xu Damao's maternal grandmother would not have been older than 20 when she gave birth to her first child.

In other words, when Ye Juan was born, her older brother or sister was already in their 30s and had children who were teenagers.

Xu Damao couldn't stand Liu Hao's strange gaze, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Hey, Brother Liu, the snow is too heavy. Let's hurry up and go. Let Ye... um, let my aunt drive you."

Ye Juan pointed to her nose, which was pink from the cold, and asked in surprise, "You want me to give him a ride?"

Liu Hao was truly impressed by Xu Damao. "With my size, can Ye Juan really carry me?"

Worried that the two would abandon him, he quickly said, "Comrade Ye Juan, I'll give you a ride."

"That's more like it."

Xu Damao nodded: "Okay, I'll lead the way, and you guys follow."

Ye Juan asked, "Liu Hao, can you ride a bike?"

Liu Hao smiled slightly, walked to the Phoenix brand women's bicycle, lifted his long legs to straddle it, and swept the snowflakes off the back seat.

"Woman... no, kind and helpful Comrade Ye Juan, please get in the car."

A strange light flashed in Ye Juan's eyes; this Liu Hao was quite interesting.

She took off her woolen gloves and handed them to Liu Hao, saying, "Here, don't let your hands freeze."

Liu Hao didn't stand on ceremony and took the smaller glove, forcing his large hand into it.

Ye Juan watched as Liu Hao violently treated her gloves, her lips twitched slightly, and she nimbly jumped onto the back seat.

"Hold on tight!"