Courtyard House: New Life, New Silly Zhu

Chapter 108

The weather in August is really hot and humid. When I wake up in the morning, I feel sticky all over.

Yang Lifang was cooking breakfast, while He Yuzhu went directly to the sink to wash his body with tap water.

The cool tap water in the morning instantly refreshes me. I don't need hot water; just wash my hair with tap water, and it dries in no time.

Back at the table, it was still porridge with pickled vegetables this morning, but today the pickled vegetables clearly had sesame oil added, making them fragrant and a perfect accompaniment to the porridge.

Just as the three of them were enjoying their meal, Xu Damao came over again, this time with his wife Zhang Daya.

"Da Mao, what a perfect time to come! Let's eat together." He Yuzhu was always very polite when there were other people around.

"No, my wife and I ate white steamed buns for breakfast, we don't care for your porridge," Xu Damao said dismissively.

Zhang Daya gently patted Xu Damao. In the two days since the wedding, Zhang Daya had also noticed that whenever her husband met He Yuzhu, he would always compare himself to He Yuzhu.

"Da Mao, your wife is pregnant, is it okay for her to just eat some steamed buns this morning?" He Yuzhu asked Xu Da Mao deliberately.

"Hmph, it's none of your business. My wife likes to eat, so I cook for her. This morning she wanted steamed buns, so I made them for her. Unlike you, who makes your wife cook." Xu Damao said, extremely smugly.

He Yuzhu chuckled, said nothing, and finished the porridge in his bowl in one gulp before asking, "Xu Damao, what brings you here so early today?"

"Hehe, nothing much, it's just that it's not very hot today, so I came over to ask if you wanted to go swimming together?" Xu Damao said.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Beijing has cleaned up garbage and dredged silt from its rivers, and the environment in Beijing is now quite good.

Houhai, in particular, is a popular spot for people from Beijing to swim and fish.

Of course, the most important factor is the nationwide health campaign and the sports movement sparked by the selection of "Three Good Students" advocated by higher authorities.

Just like He Yushui did when she was in school, she exercised every day. Last year, He Yushui didn't eat enough, and her stomach would rumble with hunger after each workout. This only stopped when the school stopped making it mandatory.

However, this year is different. After several months of feeding, He Yushui has become healthy again. A couple of days ago, He Yuzhu noticed that Yushui's height had increased again, making her already tall even taller.

Therefore, He Yuzhu immediately agreed to Xu Damao's invitation to go swimming.

"Okay, no problem. Go ahead, Damao, it's still early, let's go around noon." He Yuzhu suggested, and it was approved.

So the two families went to Houhai at noon. However, when they arrived, there were already many people swimming in Houhai.

It's not just young people; many children and elderly people are among them.

Zhang Daya and Yang Lifang led He Yushui to sit on the bank, put their feet in the water, and felt the cool river water flowing over their toes.

As Xu Damao and He Yuzhu walked along the shore, they couldn't help but glance at the backs of some female comrades.

It's hard to imagine that in this day and age, these women are actually wearing swimsuits and showing off their figures while swimming in the river.

This was a special era. A great leader shouted the slogan "Women hold up half the sky," and as a result, women were liberated. Unlike before, when people would criticize you for wearing a short-sleeved shirt, women still attracted attention when they wore swimsuits.

"Xu Damao, what are you doing?" Zhang Daya's voice came from afar, immediately making the two of them look over.

"Nothing much, just stretching up and getting ready for swimming," Xu Damao quickly replied.

He Yuzhu also saw Yang Lifang's ambiguous smile, and quickly took off his shirt, revealing his well-built muscles.

After warming up their bodies a bit, the two plunged into the water.

Their swimming style wasn't as graceful as the others; they just swam around in the water like little dogs.

Nearby, a child saw the two of them like this, smiled disdainfully, and then leaped into the water.

While He Yuzhu was terrified, the child swam quite a distance before emerging from the water.

He surfaced, panting, and laughed heartily.

He Yuzhu sighed. The older you get, the more afraid you become of death. When he was little, he also liked to dive into the water and wait until he couldn't hold on any longer before surfacing.

Now, all he wanted to do was quietly enjoy the moment. He tilted his head back, floated quietly on the water, and felt the breeze on his face.

Seeing that the man had already gone into the water from a distance, Yang Lifang and He Yushui also started swimming on the shore.

They didn't buy swimsuits. They had originally planned to buy two before coming, but when they saw those revealing swimsuits, they refused. In the end, they went swimming in shorts and short sleeves. Fortunately, there were many others like them in Houhai, so it wasn't too out of place.

After floating in the water for a while, He Yuzhu couldn't stand the sun anymore.

Turning over, He Yuzhu saw where his wife and sister were. He then used his dog paddle to reach them.

"Brother Zhu, your face is all red." Yang Lifang pointed at He Yuzhu's face and laughed heartily.

He Yushui laughed too: "Hahaha, bro, you got sunburned."

"It's okay, it'll be fine in a bit." He Yuzhu didn't mind, walked out of the water, sat on the shore, and dried his hair with a towel.

The group swam for more than two hours before getting hungry and finally came ashore.

"Da Ya, let's go eat," Xu Damao suggested, rubbing his stomach.

Zhang Daya, who was pregnant, was already very hungry. She nodded repeatedly, "Yes, I'm hungry. Where should we eat?"

Xu Damao scratched his head, still unsure where to eat, then turned to He Yuzhu and asked, "Zhuzi, where do you think we should eat?"

He Yuzhu thought for a moment and said, "It's so hot, I can't eat anything else. Let's have noodles instead."

Yang Lifang suggested, "Why don't we eat at home instead of eating out? We still have noodles at home." She then turned to Zhang Daya and said, "Daya, what do you think?"

"I'm fine with anything, I'll follow your arrangements," Zhang Daya said with a smile.

In the morning, Yang Lifang was surprised to hear that Zhang Daya, who had just gotten married, was pregnant, and asked He Yuzhu about it.

He Yuzhu felt that since they were already married, no one would say anything if she got pregnant, so he simply explained their situation.

After hearing this, Yang Lifang felt somewhat incredulous, but she didn't say anything, after all, it was their business.

Yang Lifang took good care of Zhang Daya during the swimming trip, fearing that something might happen to her.

Zhang Daya was very touched and thought that Yang Lifang was a really good person, so the two got along better and better.

Regarding the matter of eating noodles, they were also mindful of Zhang Daya's appetite. Upon hearing Zhang Daya's suggestion, the group immediately went home.