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

"Hey, what are you doing!"

As soon as Ye Juan finished speaking, Liu Hao pulled her into his arms and pinched her face.

"50 yuan a month for food? How dare you even say that? Are you robbing me?"

Ye Xi said softly, "I'll give you all my salary, since I don't need to spend any money anyway."

"Sister Xi, don't spoil her. You can save your salary and just pay 75 yuan a month for food."

After Liu Hao finished speaking in a serious tone, Ye Juan burst into laughter.

Ye Xi smiled and nodded.

"Okay, I'll pay 75 yuan, but I probably won't come back often. For us researchers, working overtime is the norm. We basically work until midnight every day. There are dormitories in the branch, so I won't come back to bother you."

Sigh, it's really tough!

Liu Hao and Ye Juan both became serious, feeling sorry for Ye Xi and also admiring her.

Ye Xi has only one ideal since childhood: to study hard, serve the country, overcome the computational challenges of major national engineering projects, and make the computing technology of New China among the best.

After a moment of silence, Liu Hao said seriously, "Sister Xi, I won't say much more. We're family. If you have any problems, just come to me for help."

Ye Juan stood up and walked behind Ye Xi, hugging her from behind. With red eyes, she said, "Sister, I know your ideals and I admire you very much, but the instructor said that health is the foundation of everything. No matter how busy you are, you must eat on time, and no matter how tired you are, you must squeeze in some time to sleep. Don't ruin yourself."

Ye Xi patted Ye Juan's hand on the back.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Ye Juan was still worried. Although Ye Xi and she were not related by blood, Ye Xi doted on her even more than a younger sister. She gave her all the good food and fun things to do, and would secretly save up money to buy her whatever she wanted.

Now that she's grown up, she has to repay her sister.

"No, you can stay home to sleep, but you have to come back for meals. I'll learn to cook as soon as possible and make you delicious food every day to supplement your nutrition."

Ye Xi felt a warmth in her heart; it hadn't been a waste of her love for this girl.

"Okay, I'll try to come back for dinner!"

Ye Juan released her grip and patted Liu Hao on the shoulder.

"Please continue, I won't disturb you any longer. If you need more tea or water, just call me."

……

Next door, the central courtyard.

Sha Zhu worked all day in the foundry workshop. Even though he was strong and healthy, he was exhausted, like a dog. When he got home, he plopped down in a chair and didn't want to move.

In the east wing, the deaf old woman told Yi Zhonghai about her trip to the steel mill to plead with Yang Xingguo that day. Yi Zhonghai breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "I knew it! With you stepping in, old lady, it's guaranteed to work."

The deaf old woman, sitting upright in her chair, looked at Yi Zhonghai with a hint of disdain in her eyes.

She knew perfectly well why Yi Zhonghai so desperately wanted Sha Zhu to return to the cafeteria.

Let Sha Zhu continue to be a tool, supporting the Jia family!

She wanted Shazhu to genuinely acknowledge her as his grandmother, and she wanted Shazhu to be truly filial, not just a tool to be manipulated.

How can we achieve this goal?

Find a wife for Sha Zhu who comes from a good family and has his own opinions, such as Ye Juan. She knows that only if Sha Zhu gets married and is not controlled by the Jia family can he truly become her support in her old age, instead of being used as a tool by Yi Zhonghai.

Unfortunately, Sha Zhu himself was not up to par, and then Liu Hao, who was superior to Sha Zhu in every way, suddenly appeared and snatched Ye Juan away.

Now she has no choice but to settle for second best and has come up with two options: one is to find a matchmaker to find a wife for Sha Zhu, and the other is Lou Xiao'e.

We must take a two-pronged approach to get Sha Zhu out of the Jia family.

"Zhonghai, Zhuzi is already twenty-nine this year, we need to find him a wife!"

"Only after a person settles down and starts a family can they become grounded, mature, and stable."

"That's just how Sha Zhu is. Without a wife to keep him in check, he's always like a child who never grows up. It worries me so much!"

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he became secretly on guard.

Find a wife for Sha Zhu?

Are you kidding me!

Once Sha Zhu gets married, he will most likely listen to his wife. With a little influence from her, all his retirement plans over the years will fall apart.

Only if Sha Zhu is with Qin Huairu will he be completely trapped by the Jia family, making it easier for them to control him and ensuring he has someone to rely on in his old age.

"Grandma, I'm anxious about this too, but you know Zhu Zi's personality. He has high standards and even higher aspirations, so it's hard to find someone who satisfies him."

"..."

The deaf old woman fell silent, because what Yi Zhonghai said was true.

Sha Zhu lost his mother at a young age, and He Daqing was driven away by her clever scheme. She was worried that the silly boy would feel inferior and inferior to others, so she wanted to make him more proud and hold his head high.

Yi Zhonghai wanted to flatter Sha Zhu and get him to help the Jia family.

The two, without prior agreement, seized every opportunity to praise Sha Zhu, exaggerating his kindness and excellent cooking skills into extraordinary abilities.

Over time, Sha Zhu actually believed it and became arrogant, genuinely believing that he was the pillar of the courtyard, superior to others in terms of family background, ability, and appearance.

The standards for finding a partner are higher: they need to be highly educated, beautiful, from a good family, and have a job...

It used to be considered normal, just a bit high, but not too outrageous.

Ever since Ye Juan moved into the courtyard, Sha Zhu's standards have instantly risen a notch. He's determined to marry a wife like Ye Juan and looks down on anyone else.

In the deaf old woman's eyes, although Sha Zhu's conditions were very good, with three main rooms in a courtyard house, excellent cooking skills, and a monthly salary of thirty-seven yuan and fifty cents, he was considered one of the best in the courtyard.

But Ye Juan is just as good!

Marrying Ye Juan will be a bit difficult.

Seeing how much Sha Zhu liked her, she, as his grandmother, could only do her best to bring them together.

He was still thinking that if matchmaking didn't work, he could try some tricks, like inviting Ye Juan to his house for dinner, having Sha Zhu come too, finding an excuse to persuade the two of them to drink more, closing the door, and that would be it.

Afterwards, Ye Juan will definitely agree to marry Sha Zhu for the sake of her reputation.

As a result, Liu Hao suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

After pondering for a long time, the deaf old woman seemed to have thought of something, and her mind became active again.

"Liu Hao brought a girl home today, and I think she's pretty nice. Why don't you go and ask her out?"

Yi Zhonghai, who was drinking water, almost spat it out. He looked up at the deaf old woman with a speechless expression.

"Grandma, I heard from Old Yan that she's Ye Juan's older sister!"

"Sister Ye Juan, no wonder you're so beautiful! Are you married?"

"..."

Yi Zhonghai's temple throbbed a few times; he really wanted to smash the enamel mug in his hand into the deaf old woman's face.

What kind of person is Sha Zhu? He has no self-awareness, don't you know that?

"I don't know, it should be settled by now! Why don't you go and ask, ma'am?"

Yi Zhonghai made the remark casually, but unexpectedly, the deaf old lady actually intended to ask.

He picked up the cane leaning against the wall, stood up, and slowly walked outside.

"I'll ask Dong Mengshi to inquire. If they're not married, I'll have Zhuzi go to Liu Haoyejuan's house to apologize."

"There's no grudge that can't be resolved. Zhu Zi and Sister Ye Juan are married now, and when Liu Hao and Ye Juan get married and need to hold a banquet, Zhu Zi can help out. In the future, he'll also be there to help out at the compound and the steel mill canteen. As long as the young couple isn't stupid, they'll definitely support them!"