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

This year, northern China has experienced an unusually heavy snowfall, with three consecutive heavy snowfalls and another all night last night. The snow on the roads hasn't had time to melt before it's been covered up layer by layer, bringing traffic to a complete standstill.

Police stations, neighborhood offices, and various organizations all dispatched personnel to shovel snow on the streets.

They also mobilized the public to actively participate in efforts to restore traffic as soon as possible.

Forget about riding a bicycle for now; Liu Hao and Ye Juan will continue walking to work.

"Liu Hao, just buy some random gifts... never mind, I'll go buy them!"

On the way, Ye Juan started worrying about what gift to buy for her after get off work.

Thinking that Liu Hao probably didn't have much money, she offered to buy the gifts.

"I've got all the money ready, look!"

Liu Hao pulled out a stack of large black ten-yuan notes and cigarette and alcohol coupons, waved them around, and then put them back in his pocket.

Ye Juan was astonished: "Where did you get so much money?"

"It wasn't stolen, it wasn't robbed, and it wasn't obtained through fraud. I, Liu Hao, may be poor, but I have high aspirations. Are you questioning my character?"

Liu Hao pretended to be angry and asked, "This trick is so effective against the little queen."

The kind-hearted Ye Juan mistakenly thought that she had unintentionally hurt Liu Hao again, so she tugged at Liu Hao's sleeve.

"Look at you, looking at you, getting angry again! I was just asking casually, okay, okay, I'll apologize, alright? Are you really that irritating?!"

"I'll forgive you this time, but if you do it again, I will never forgive you."

"Hey, you bastard, you think you're so great?!"

Ye Juan's eyebrows shot up, and she kicked Liu Hao.

"I think you're just deliberately picking a fight. I apologized to you nicely, and you're taking advantage of my kindness. Do you really think I'm made of clay and have no temper?"

Seeing that everyone around was looking at him, Liu Hao quickly backed down.

"Juan'er, there are so many people here, give me some face."

"Hmph, so you're concerned about saving face now?"

Ye Juan said with a half-smile, "Don't think I don't know your tricks. I was just asking casually, but you took it a step further and brought it up to the level of character, then used the excuse that poverty doesn't diminish one's spirit to seize the moral high ground, forcing me to be labeled as someone who judges others by their own petty standards."

Ye Juan curled her lip in disdain after seeing through Liu Hao's little scheme.

"Tsk tsk, you cunning accountant Liu! So all those bookkeeping and reconciliation skills you learned weren't used for anything useful, but instead you've been using them all to manipulate me?"

Liu Hao fell silent. This little queen was too clever; it wasn't a good thing. He couldn't control her at all.

Moreover, he was both intelligent and fierce.

"Wife, I was wrong."

Ye Juan's face flushed bright red instantly. She turned her head shyly and looked around, threateningly saying, "You...you shameless person! Who's your wife? If you dare call me that again, I'll beat you to death!"

"Not now, but soon. Let me give you a heads-up so you can get used to it."

"Don't give me that nonsense. If I say it's not allowed, then it's not allowed..."

……

Finance Department.

As soon as Liu Hao entered the room, he saw a brand-new enamel teacup, a small box of tea leaves, a packet of Hangzhou white chrysanthemum tea, a box of pastries, and two steamed buns wrapped in oil paper on his desk.

Zhong Chunli, Yu Lanfen, Zhang Qin, Yan Kailei, Zhenghe, and He Xiaomeng were all looking at him with smiles on their faces.

"Uh, what are you all doing?"

Zhong Chunli smiled and said, "I saw that you didn't have a teacup, so Lanfen brought one from home. I also brought you some tea leaves that I had saved up."

"The honeycomb buns are breakfast that Master Yan and Xiao Lei brought for you. Zhang Qin bought yarn to knit you a scarf, and Xiao Meng brought Hangzhou white chrysanthemums..."

Liu Hao felt a slight tingling in his nose, and his eyes even felt a little hot.

In this era of simple and honest thinking, life was hard, but people's hearts were not bitter.

If you show a little sincerity, others will dare to reciprocate with tenfold sincerity; true sincerity is exchanged for true sincerity.

Of course, those beasts in the courtyard house are an exception.

Thank you everyone!

Liu Hao didn't hesitate and picked up the steamed bun to eat.

The group exchanged smiles and went about their own business.

Actually, there wasn't much work to do, because Liu Hao had already finished settling all the accounts yesterday, and his efficiency was so high that they were a little unaccustomed to it.

Never mind, I'll just pretend to be busy for a bit.

"Sister Chunli, hasn't the section chief arrived yet?"

Zhong Chunli sighed and said, "Old Jin fell last night and broke his leg. He'll probably need to rest for a month or so."

Well, in the northern winter, the orthopedic department of the hospital is the busiest.

"Which hospital? I'd like to visit him."

"No need. After being taken to the hospital for fixation, I'll go home to recuperate."

"I hope Section Chief recovers soon. By the way, Sister Chunli, I'd like to ask for a leave of absence."

Zhong Chunli nodded in agreement without hesitation.

"Sure, what are you going to do? If you don't have a car, you can ride mine."

Liu Hao plans to transfer his household registration here and apply for a grain and coal ration certificate.

"I'm going to transfer my household registration. It's too dangerous to ride a bike, so I'll take a bus instead."

Zhong Chunli subconsciously touched her throbbing arm.

"It was really dangerous. I fell twice on my way to work this morning!"

"Are you alright?"

Yu Lanfen said, "Sister Chunli was lucky; she fell into the snow by the roadside and wasn't hurt. We didn't dare ride anymore, so we pushed the bikes to the factory."

Yan Kai sighed: "There's been too much snow this year. It's been snowing for several days in a row. Yesterday, two houses in our compound collapsed under the weight of the snow, but luckily no one was hurt."

Lei Zhenghe interjected, "It happened in our courtyard too. A roof beam fell down and broke an old lady's leg."

Liu Hao was a little worried. What if his roof collapsed under the weight of the snow?

Ye Juan'er's house is fine; it's made entirely of good quality wood and is very sturdy.

After chatting with everyone for a while, Liu Hao put the gifts they gave him into his drawer, took the certificate issued by the factory when he joined the company the day before yesterday, and headed straight to the police station.

……

Six o'clock in the afternoon, Xicheng District, Zhuan Ta Hutong.

After a busy day, Liu Hao finally finished processing his household registration, grain certificate, and coal certificate. He found a bathhouse, took a shower, changed his clothes, and then bought two bottles of Earth Fenjiu, two packs of Peony cigarettes, and two boxes of Da Bajian (a type of Chinese pastry) from the system's online store.

There's no time to spare. I'll save the cigarette and alcohol coupons I bought last night for later.

The bus to Tongxian was out of service, so he ran there to complete the formalities, then returned to the city to apply for a new household registration, and then went to the Jiaodaokou Subdistrict Office to apply for a grain and coal ration certificate.

The Dali Longhu Dan is truly amazing. I can run dozens of kilometers without getting red in the face or out of breath, and I don't feel tired at all. I'm still full of energy.

After Ye Juan finished get off work, the two walked to Zhuan Ta Hutong, where her adoptive father lived.

This is one of the oldest hutongs in Beijing, and the only hutong that has survived from the Yuan Dynasty. It was once a gathering place for literati, including Lu Xun and Zhang Henshui.

The Ye family lived at number eight, in a two-courtyard house.

The little queen's adoptive father, Ye Tingkai, is the second oldest son and is 50 years old this year. His eldest brother, Ye Tingming, is 52 years old and works in the Jinling Military Region.

Below him is Ye Tingzhong, the third son, 42 years old, a deputy section chief in the Fourth Industrial Department.

Of the three brothers, Ye Tingzhong was the most useless, a prime example of someone who couldn't be helped at all, and his son Ye Zhen was equally useless.

But as the old saying goes, the eldest grandson and the youngest son are the old lady's lifeblood, so Grandma Ye Juan, Ye Kongshi, favored Ye Tingzhong and Ye Zhen.

"Liu Hao, don't be nervous, my parents are very nice people."

At the alley entrance, Ye Juan, who was panicking, pretended to be calm and gently comforted Liu Hao.

Liu Hao, carrying the gifts, used one hand to gently pat the fine snowflakes off her hair.

"Stop pretending. I know you're nervous. Relax, I'll try my best to make your parents happy. If they don't agree to marry you to me, we'll elope and come back with the baby, haha."

"By the way, is your older sister home?"

Ye Juan looked at Liu Hao, who was dressed in a smart black Zhongshan suit. His broad shoulders and narrow waist gave him a sharp and heroic air, and his brows were full of vigor. There was not a trace of timidity in him.

The anxiety and unease I felt gradually subsided, and my tense nerves relaxed a bit.

"At home, if my grandma says anything unpleasant later, please don't take it to heart or get angry, okay?"

Am I the kind of stingy person?