Courtyard House: New Life, New Silly Zhu

Chapter 97

Thanks to having ridden Xu Damao's bicycle before, He Yuzhu found it easy to ride, even easier than Xu Damao's bicycle.

It was time to leave work, and the factory workers poured out of the gate like a flowing river.

After riding back to the courtyard house, he didn't go inside. Instead, he deliberately stopped at the entrance and watched the crowds coming and going.

Some people recognized He Yuzhu, greeted him, glanced at the bicycle he was riding, chatted for a bit, and then walked away.

He Yuzhu simply echoed a couple of sentences; his main purpose was to show the people in the courtyard house.

The fact that Xu Damao refused to lend him his bicycle before somehow got overheard by other neighbors, and many people were secretly laughing at him.

In fact, when many people get married, if they have a bicycle, they can borrow one; if they don't have a bicycle, they can get an oxcart to bring their bride back.

Perhaps because life has been better lately, some people in the courtyard are envious. It's a simple little thing, but some people are making a fuss about it.

So He Yuzhu parked his bicycle at the entrance to show it to people, and he would respond whenever someone passed by asked about his bicycle.

Yan Bugui noticed this situation. He originally wanted to go up and ask him a few questions, but after hearing what he had said to the passersby, he stopped, frowned, thought for a moment, and turned back to his house.

What He Yuzhu didn't expect was that instead of waiting for his neighbors in the courtyard, he was met by Xu Damao.

"Hey, nice pole, where did you buy it?" Xu Damao couldn't help but say as soon as he saw the gleaming 28-inch motorcycle.

He Yuzhu glanced at the simply wiped-down bicycle and smiled slightly: "I didn't buy it. I don't have the money to buy this bicycle; it's borrowed."

Upon hearing that the bicycle was borrowed, Xu Damao looked at it more closely and then looked up at He Yuzhu: "Silly Zhu, don't lie to me. This bike is so new. Where did you borrow it from? What idiot would lend it to you?" Although there was some dust on the bike, the paint was very shiny, just like new.

"Believe it or not, I want to borrow this bicycle. Isn't that easy?" He Yuzhu said, patting the handlebars with a smug look. Xu Damao was envious, since his bicycle was a factory-issued one and was quite old.

"Hehe, you're just bragging. You're really good at bragging, Sha Zhu. I don't believe you!" Seeing He Yuzhu's confident look, Xu Damao's eyes darted around, and he chuckled as he spoke.

Seeing Xu Damao's expression, He Yuzhu smiled disdainfully: "Silly Mao, that's all the intelligence you have. Trying to provoke me won't work. I'm not falling for that."

After realizing his strategy hadn't worked, Xu Damao wasn't embarrassed. Instead, he continued, "Brother Zhu, just tell me where you got this car. I'd like to borrow one too."

"I can tell you, but," He Yuzhu paused deliberately, looking at Xu Damao with a playful gaze.

Upon seeing this, Xu Damao immediately understood. He quickly took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket, without even opening it, and prepared to stuff it into He Yuzhu's pocket.

He Yuzhu was very satisfied with Xu Damao's actions. Although he didn't smoke, he would still have to offer cigarettes to others when he got married, so he didn't mind having too many cigarettes.

That's what he thought, but he still pretended to refuse, saying, "Hey, Da Mao, don't do this. We're neighbors, how can I not tell you?" He Yuzhu said this, but he stretched his pockets to let Xu Da Mao continue to stuff things in.

Xu Damao was about to put the pack of cigarettes away when he heard He Yuzhu say that, but when he saw He Yuzhu's expression, his lips twitched, and he still stuffed the cigarettes in.

He Yuzhu saw the cigarettes being stuffed into his pocket, patted his pocket, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, Xu Damao, I'll tell you. I borrowed it from the union." He Yuzhu didn't hide anything about it, mainly because there was no need to hide it. Someone who had just arrived at the factory probably wouldn't know.

But many of the older employees in the factory surely know, and Xu Damao could easily find out by patiently inquiring. He Yuzhu felt there was no need for him to act like that.

When he heard that he could borrow it from the union, Xu Damao's eyes lit up. He immediately lifted the handlebars of his bicycle, turned it around, and rode towards the factory.

Just then, Yi Zhonghai and his group returned from the factory. They were wondering why Xu Damao was riding back when they saw He Yuzhu standing at the gate.

"Hey, Zhu Zi, where did this bicycle come from?" Yi Zhonghai asked immediately upon seeing the bicycle, and even touched it with his hand after speaking.

After seeing the neighbors from the courtyard return with Yi Zhonghai, He Yuzhu said, "Borrowed. Isn't this bicycle nice, old man?"

Yi Zhonghai nodded and then said, "This bicycle is really nice, it looks brand new. Using this bicycle at the wedding will definitely make us look good."

Others also stepped forward, pointing and commenting on the car; many of the younger people seemed quite envious.

Jia Dongxu, who was following behind Yi Zhonghai, said with a sour tone, "This bicycle is still borrowed, no matter how good it is. Unlike my family, we bought a sewing machine when we got married."

He Yuzhu had originally intended to show off to everyone in the courtyard. Unexpectedly, Jia Dongxu jumped out. Seeing him like this, He Yuzhu wanted to tease him: "Dongxu, I didn't spend a penny to borrow this bicycle, but if I remember correctly, your sewing machine was bought with money." He Yuzhu stopped halfway through his sentence.

As expected, Jia Dongxu said with some pride after hearing this, "That's right, my family really spent a lot of money to buy a sewing machine, unlike you, He Yuzhu, who didn't buy anything."

He Yuzhu chuckled: "Yeah, I didn't buy anything and saved a lot of money. But you spent a lot of money on a sewing machine, and I haven't seen you make any clothes with it."

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu was speechless. After all, his family's sewing machine was indeed only used to mend their own clothes, unlike other families who used it to mend clothes to make money.

Just as Jia Dongxu was at a loss for words, a gentle voice rang out.

"Dongxu bought the sewing machine for me to use, but I'm just too clumsy to use it."

Everyone turned to look and saw that Qin Huairu had also come out at this time. Bang Geng couldn't stay at home, so Qin Huairu brought him out.

Unexpectedly, upon arriving at the courtyard gate, Qin Huairu saw her husband being spoken to like that by He Yuzhu, so she naturally had to step in to smooth things over.

Seeing Jia Dongxu get the short end of the stick, He Yuzhu was in a good mood and stopped caring about it. Just then, Qin Huairu stepped in to smooth things over, and He Yuzhu readily agreed.

"Alright, since the sewing machine has already been bought, you can do whatever you want with your things. I'm just an outsider and it's none of my business."