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

"Did you make this, Juan'er?"

Evening, the west wing of courtyard house number 95.

On the rosewood dining table in the main room, there was a plate of stir-fried pork, a plate of Mapo tofu, a plate of stir-fried pork kidneys, and a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

It looks pretty good, and it smells alright too.

Ye Xi, who had just returned home from get off work, stood by the table, blinked, glanced at the dishes on the table, and then looked at the little queen wearing an apron, looking proud and smug.

"Sister, you've changed so much in just a few days! I'm no longer the idiot who almost set the kitchen on fire. These three dishes are the result of my hard work today. Please don't hold back, praise me to your heart's content!"

Liu Hao walked over carrying a bowl of rice and said with a smile, "Sister Xi, Juan'er is very smart and has a great talent for cooking. She learns very quickly. She chopped the vegetables and cooked these four dishes herself. I was just there to guide her on how to add the seasonings and how to control the heat."

Ye Xi gave her younger sister a thumbs up and then pinched her cheek.

"It seems you're just too lazy, otherwise you would have learned to cook long ago. Good, now that you're married and have a family, you have to shoulder the responsibilities of a wife. Keep up the good work."

Ye Juan nodded vigorously, her face serious, and said, "Yes, yes, washing clothes, cooking, taking care of the children, and managing the household chores—these are all things I should do!"

Listening to the two sisters' conversation, Liu Hao was filled with emotion.

In the 21st century, women like Ye Juan and Ye Xi, whose values ​​are so upright they're almost wicked, are truly rare.

What are modern independent Chinese women like?

She has no chance to marry up, fears being taken advantage of if she marries down, is unwilling to marry someone of equal standing, and is afraid of being pressured not to marry. She admires the strong but is not self-reliant, is parasitic but not symbiotic, and is mediocre without realizing it. She is mature in the face of interests but naive in the face of responsibility. When you meet her, you owe her; when you are dating, you owe her whole family; after marriage, your whole family owes her whole family; after divorce, the whole world owes her.

Looking at the stunningly beautiful little queen, Liu Hao's lips curled into a wide smile.

This is a wonderful era. Thanks again to the driver of the 100-ton truck. May he have twelve sons in one pregnancy and twelve more babies in a row!

"What are you grinning about, honey? Dinner's ready!"

Ye Juan said sweetly, "We must finish all four dishes tonight! We can't let my hard work go to waste!"

Without saying a word, Liu Hao picked up a wooden rice spoon, scooped out three bowls of rice, and then picked up his chopsticks to eat heartily.

The little queen has a remarkable talent for cooking; this dish isn't exactly delicious, but it's not bad either.

Cooking is all about practice makes perfect. By constantly accumulating experience, you'll naturally be able to cook better and better.

Ye Xi picked up a piece of tofu and put it in her bowl. Thinking of what she had overheard in the courtyard, she said softly, "When I came back just now, I heard people in the courtyard say that Sha Zhu went to rent a room at the People's Commune in Yu'er Hutong at noon, and was robbed on his way back. The five hundred yuan that Li Meihua gave him was all taken!"

???

Huh? Sha Zhu got robbed?

Liu Hao and Ye Juan, who were engrossed in their meal, suddenly looked up, their eyes filled with astonishment.

Then, the couple looked at each other and almost burst out laughing.

That was just too... well done!

Ye Juan swallowed the food in her mouth and laughed gleefully, "Haha, this hero who acted on behalf of heaven should be given an award!"

Ye Xi smiled. Her younger sister and brother-in-law were extremely disgusted with the elderly couple in the neighboring courtyard. They had even given the families of Yi, He, Jia, Liu, Yan, and Long two names: the Elderly Couple and the Beasts Couple.

"Jia Zhangshi is causing trouble again. If you want to watch the show, hurry up and eat!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Hao and Ye Juan swiftly devoured the food on their plates, leaving only a quarter of it, before putting on their coats and running away.

Ye Xi was speechless. She shook her head and chuckled, then took out her notebook, opened it, and began studying the information while eating.

……

Intermediate People's Court.

Sha Zhu wasn't seriously injured; he woke up after being taken to the hospital and given an IV drip.

Upon learning that all his money had been stolen, he was so enraged that he vomited blood and lay on his hospital bed, cursing wildly.

He cursed for the entire afternoon until his voice was hoarse, then returned to the courtyard house with red eyes and a disheartened expression.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, Jia Zhangshi rushed up and went berserk, pointing at his nose and cursing him.

"You little brat, you dare come back! You good-for-nothing, all you do is ruin things!"

"Old Jia! Dongxu! Open your eyes and look! That fool Zhu has squandered all our family's money! He's going to starve us, his orphan and his widow!"

Jia Zhangshi's face was contorted with rage, like a mad wild boar, and she spat all over Sha Zhu's face.

Squander all your family's money?

Sha Zhu was stunned, and the residents in the courtyard who had gathered to watch were also dumbfounded and deeply shocked.

Little did they know that from the very beginning, Jia Zhangshi unilaterally believed that the five hundred yuan that Li Meihua paid to the pig butcher belonged to her family, and that it did not belong to her now, but would belong to her in the future.

This good-for-nothing went out with money in his pocket and got robbed!

Five hundred yuan! This is worse than death for her. She was so angry that her heart was breaking and she couldn't breathe.

The more Jia Zhangshi thought about it, the more heartbroken she became, wishing she could strangle Sha Zhu.

"You little brat, listen to me! You have to give me another five hundred yuan, or I won't agree to let Qin Huairu remarry you!"

What?

Sha Zhu was both surprised and delighted. The old hag had relented and said he could marry Sister Qin for just five hundred yuan!

But now he can't even come up with fifty yuan, let alone five hundred. He's so poor he can't even afford cigarettes.

The onlookers observed Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu, who stood silently to the side, and sensed something fishy.

Will Qin Huairu really marry Sha Zhu? Not necessarily!

Sha Zhu has no house, his family background is bad, his own father doesn't want him, his own sister broke off their relationship with him in the newspaper and was robbed of everything. What does Qin Huairu want from marrying him?

I like him because he has a foul mouth, because he's poor, because he's from a bourgeois background, and because he's disliked by everyone.

That's impossible!

Marrying Sha Zhu would be tantamount to ruining Banggeng Xiaodang Huaihua's future. She would be implicated and treated differently in all the political vetting processes for further education, military service, employment, and joining the Party because of Sha Zhu's bad background.

So, are these two, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, working together to fool Sha Zhu?

They saw through it but didn't say anything. They exchanged glances and tacitly chose not to warn each other.

Why remind him? Sha Zhu made it very clear this morning that he was willing to be Qin Huairu's slave, even if Qin Huairu was deceiving him and scheming against him, he would accept it and be happy to do so.

If you kindly remind this lustful idiot, he will only think you are jealous of his success and that you are trying to harm him!

Standing at the back of the crowd, Liu Hao smiled slightly, and could basically determine what Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu's scheme was.

By keeping Sha Zhu hanging, they made him willingly donate blood to the Jia family!

Even if Sha Zhu manages to scrape together 500 yuan for Jia Zhangshi, naively believing he can elope with his Sister Qin, kissing, hugging, and lifting her high, Qin Huairu will still use the excuse of disagreeing to continue arguing with Sha Zhu.

Isn't that how it was in the original series?

Unfortunately, what they didn't know was that Sha Zhu was about to go to jail!

Without Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu, the Jia family's world has truly collapsed!