Siheyuan's Silly Pillar has been replaced by someone else

Xu Damao entered He Yuzhu's house with a smile.

"I just saw Liu Haizhong come home with a dark expression."

He Yuzhu said, "I guess Yi Zhonghai treated us, but he wasn't invited. Just now, Qin Huairu brought a pound of meat home."

Xu Damao exclaimed in surprise, "That's really generous. When did Qin Huairu become so generous?"

The two chatted casually for a few minutes before moving on to other topics.

The affairs of the courtyard house are only a small part of their lives.

Yan Bugui came out of the backyard and was so captivated by the aroma wafting from the He family's house that he could hardly move.

He glanced at He Yuanyang, who was playing by the door, and said, "Yuanyang, why don't you come home for dinner?"

He Yuanyang told the truth: "I'm not hungry, I'm not eating."

Yan Bugui said, "Does your family eat meat?"

He Yuanyang didn't even look up, and said directly, "I know. I'm tired of eating it."

A child's sincere remark infuriated Yan Bugui.

He's grown up and he's never dared to say he's tired of eating meat.

If Yan Bugui knew the name Versailles, he would definitely think He Yuanyang was too much like Versailles.

Qin Huairu happened to come out of the house and saw Yan Bugui, so she quickly said, "Old Yan, what are you doing standing there?"

When Yan Bugui saw that he was talking at the door and there was no sound from inside the house, he knew that he couldn't take advantage of the situation.

He then left, saying, "It's nothing, I just chatted with that kid from Yuanyang for a bit."

Yan Bugui entered Yi Zhonghai's house, and Qin Huairu followed him in.

"Where's Lao Liu? Didn't he come with you?"

Yan Bugui said, "He has some family matters to attend to, he'll be over in a bit."

Upon hearing this, Qin Huairu felt relieved, turned around and went back to the Jia family to cook.

As soon as she entered the house, her second aunt came out from the backyard and went outside to buy pig's head meat.

A short while later, Aunt Er came in carrying two jin of pig's head meat.

Qin Huairu happened to be going out again. When she saw that her second aunt had bought pig's head meat, she assumed that Liu Haizhong was embarrassed to go empty-handed and had gone to buy it on purpose.

She stopped the second aunt: "Why is Old Liu being so polite? We agreed to treat him to a meal. Why did he buy pig's head?"

Second sister-in-law, give it to me. I've chopped it up and will take it to them.

The second aunt turned around and blocked her hand. Liu Haizhong had made it very clear that he wanted to drink at home, but he hadn't mentioned going to Yi Zhonghai's house for dinner.

"Is my husband, Lao Liu, at your house?"

Qin Huairu awkwardly withdrew her hand: "He hasn't come yet, he'll be here in a bit."

The second aunt was now even more certain: "This isn't for you. If you want to eat it, go buy it yourselves."

Qin Huairu looked completely puzzled.

Compared to Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong was definitely not a stingy person. When he went to someone's house for a meal, he cared about saving face, never about the cost.

If you offer him cabbage, he'll bring over a plate of fried eggs instead.

This time, she invited Liu Haizhong to dinner, and Liu Haizhong bought pig's head meat but didn't give it to her, which was really too much.

Qin Huairu didn't want to argue with Second Aunt, so he went to Yi Zhonghai's room and explained the situation.

Yi Zhonghai's expression darkened. Liu Haizhong never went to someone's house for drinks empty-handed.

They came to his house for drinks without bringing anything. That's clearly a sign of disrespect.

He needed Liu Hai's help and was too embarrassed to say anything to criticize him.

Yan Bugui's heart skipped a beat. He felt that Liu Haizhong was buying pig's head meat not to drink with them, but to challenge them to a duel.

But he just said that Liu Haizhong would be here soon, so it's really not a good time to say anything.

The room fell silent for a moment, and no one spoke.

Qin Huai left somewhat disappointed and turned to serve the dishes.

Soon, the food was served, but Liu Haizhong was nowhere to be seen.

Yi Zhonghai immediately sensed something was wrong: "Old Yan, what's going on? What did you tell Old Liu?"

Yan Bugui forced a smile and said, "I was just saying it normally. I told him that it would be best if the rest of us teamed up."

I even asked his wife to talk to him.

Qin Huai gave Yi Zhonghai a wink.

Yi Zhonghai immediately understood what was going on. He hadn't invited Liu Haizhong a while ago, which had angered Liu Haizhong. It was a bit troublesome, but not a major problem.

Yi Zhonghai thought for a moment and said, "Since Lao Liu is unwilling to come, then Lao Yan and I will take the dishes to him. It's a way of giving him face."

His tone was very relaxed, as if giving Liu Haizhong face was a great favor.

Yan Bugui's mind had already turned to the pig's head meat at Liu Haizhong's house, so he wouldn't refuse Yi Zhonghai's suggestion at all.

"Then let's go."

The two of them, one carrying dishes and the other holding wine, went to the backyard.

Upon arriving in the backyard, the first thing we heard was Xu Zhenbao's voice.

"Mom, the roast chicken isn't as good as Uncle He's cooking."

"If it's delicious, eat more. Once you're full, you can go play."

Two simple sentences almost made two passersby furious.

The two walked quickly to the Liu family's house and pushed open the door with a force.

Liu Haizhong was happily eating pig's head meat when he saw the two of them, and his face fell.

"What are you doing here?"

After Yi Zhonghai sat down, he spoke: "Old Yan and I came to drink with you. Look, we brought the food and drinks."

Liu Haizhong used his chopsticks to flip through the dishes that Yi Zhonghai had brought over.

There are only a few small pieces of meat inside, maybe an ounce or two in total.

He said dismissively, "You're offering me drinks with this?"

Yi Zhonghai said, "What's wrong with this? Huai Ru went out to buy the meat specifically to treat you to drinks."

Old Liu, please don't look down on it.

This is all we can eat right now.

Yan Bugui said with a smile, "Old Liu, didn't you buy some pig's head meat? Let's eat it together."

"Sister-in-law, could you get me and Lao Yi a pair of chopsticks?"

Liu Haizhong snorted: "No. I'm drinking alone, which is perfect. I didn't prepare any for the two of you."

Please, you may leave now.

Yi Zhonghai stared at Liu Haizhong in disbelief: "What did you say?"

“I told you to leave, so stop trying to take advantage of me all the time. Look at Xu Damao, he went to Shazhu’s house for drinks and brought a plate of roast chicken.”

what about you?
They're just trying to fool me with this.

Whom do you think you are?

Yi Zhonghai said angrily, "You're comparing me to that scoundrel Xu Damao."

Liu Haizhong said, "Don't keep calling him a bad seed. No matter how bad he is, he still understands reason. He knows that you have to be sincere when you invite someone to dinner."

The two of you came to my house with a plate of vegetarian dishes and a bottle of cheap liquor, inviting me to dinner.

Should I thank you all?

You all think I'm stupid.

"My family bought pig's head meat. Isn't it enough for my wife and me to eat it? Why should we invite you?"

Yan Bugui also got angry: "Old Liu, how can you say that? What kind of relationship do we have? Is it necessary to be so particular?"

Liu Haizhong turned to look at him: "Well said. How about this, you go and buy a roast chicken."

Yan Bugui remained silent. Today he was doing a favor for Yi Zhonghai; even if something needed to be bought, it would be Yi Zhonghai who made it.

Why should he be the one to buy it?

Seeing Yan Bugui rendered speechless by his rebuke, Liu Haizhong was quite smug.

Yi Zhonghai took a deep breath, suppressing his dissatisfaction, and said, "Old Liu, one shouldn't be too selfish. Your family is well-off; you can afford to buy pig's head meat."

What's Huai Ru's situation? His salary has to support a family of five.

Liu Haizhong interrupted him: "Old Yi, don't forget, Qin Huairu is your wife."

He's struggling to make ends meet, and you're just going to watch.

Yi Zhonghai said angrily, "You are truly unreasonable."

Liu Haizhong said to Yan Bugui, "I'm not a beggar. Take your things away." (End of Chapter)