Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 103 A Laughable Move

"Hongbing, Jia Dongxu is getting married, and the date is set for the same day as your sister's."

night.

Li Hongbing had just returned from Fengzeyuan when he saw Yan Bugui guarding the courtyard and told him the news.

"So fast? Who did you marry?"

Li Hongbing was somewhat surprised and curious.

After Jia Zhangshi caused trouble for the Xu family last time, things calmed down completely. The Jia family hasn't made any moves lately, so it's no wonder Li Hongbing reacted this way.

There was absolutely no prior indication that Jia Dongxu was getting married.

The key will be in three days.

This news came rather suddenly.

"You've met her before, she's Qin Huairu, the one who came to Jia Dongxu for a blind date last time."

When Yan Bugui said this, Li Hongbing was stunned for a moment.

what's going on?
Xu Damao was mobilized last time, but he still couldn't stop Qin Huairu?
Xu Damao is no good either!

Thinking that he was only fifteen years old and not yet reliable, Li Hongbing felt relieved.

This is somewhat unfair to Jia Xudong and the Jia family.

Li Hongbing just couldn't understand it. Qin Huairu was clearly not stupid. She should have been able to see through Jia Zhangshi's true colors during their last blind date.

With a mother-in-law like that, how can a daughter-in-law have a good life after marrying into the family?

Li Hongbing had no romantic feelings for Qin Huairu; he just couldn't quite understand how much Qin Huairu longed to marry into the city.

Qin Huairu wasn't interested in Jia Dongxu, but rather in the Jia family's financial situation.

Even if it's not the Jia family, it could be the Zhao family, the Li family, or the Zhang family.

"This Jia Zhangshi is wary of us!"

Seeing Li Hongbing's surprise, Yan Bugui said from the side, "Last time we had a commotion with the Xu family, and we didn't have any evidence to prove it. Jia Zhangshi was afraid that people in our courtyard would sabotage it. These days, Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu's meetings have all been secretly arranged outside by the matchmaker. If it weren't for the fact that they bought a sewing machine today, we wouldn't have known that this matter had been settled."

Yan Bugui had many opinions about Jia Zhangshi's actions.

Doing this clearly shows a lack of trust in them and a suspicion that the people in the compound have questionable character.

If this gets out, what will people think of them?

"The Jia family even bought a sewing machine?"

Li Hongbing casually asked a question, and soon remembered that the Jia family in the original drama did have a sewing machine, which they bought when they married Qin Huairu.

"Hey! This sewing machine was bought by the Jia family for themselves, not to be given to the Qin family as a betrothal gift. It can't compare to yours."

Yan Bugui disapproved of Jia Zhangshi's recent actions and casually flattered Li Hongbing.

Seeing that Li Hongbing didn't speak, Yan Bugui took the initiative to speak again: "Hongbing, the Jia family is getting married on the same day as your sister, and they are planning to hold a banquet in the courtyard. They have also specially invited Shazhu's master to cook that day. How much gift money are you planning to give?"

The Jia family deliberately chose to marry Qin Huairu on the same day as Li Hongmei's wedding, clearly intending to compete with Li Hongbing and his group. Moreover, they planned to hold a grand banquet for everyone in the courtyard, obviously wanting to overshadow the Li family.

After all, Li Hongbing had previously stated publicly that his family did not plan to hold a wedding banquet in the courtyard for Li Hongmei's wedding.

As someone in the institute, Yan Bugui was very curious about how Li Hongbing would respond.

"Gift money? What kind of gift money?"

Li Hongbing looked at Yan Bugui and said speechlessly, "With our relationship with the Jia family like this, is there any need for us to have any dealings in the future? What's the point of giving gifts?"

The people in the compound are well aware of what happened before.

The relationship between Li Hongbing and the Jia family, even if it hasn't reached the point of irreconcilable conflict, is already extremely hostile. Even though they live in the same compound, Li Hongbing has long treated them as strangers.

Even if the police station intervenes, there's not much they can do about it.

Moreover.

Who would be so bored as to care about this?

“Hongbing, we’re from the same courtyard after all…” Yan Bugui didn’t expect Li Hongbing to have this attitude. Even if there was a grudge, he should at least give him some face when it comes to weddings and funerals.

"Uncle Yan, you know what happened before. We've already torn off all pretense. Is there any need to put on a show and do those superficial things?"

Li Hongbing knew what the older generation thought, but even if he wanted to integrate into this era, there was no need to follow and compromise on everything. Today, he simply made things clear and stated to Yan Bugui: "Our family and the Jia family have no relation whatsoever. From now on, we'll go our separate ways and not bother each other."

It wasn't just the Jia family, but also Yi Zhonghai and his wife.

"This……"

Yan Bugui was somewhat embarrassed and didn't know what to say for a moment.

If you try to persuade him, he doesn't have that much influence, and it's not worth upsetting Li Hongbing.

"Hey, Hongbing, Uncle Yan, what are you two talking about here?"

Just then, Sha Zhu returned from outside and broke the awkward silence.

“Shazhu, the Jia family is having a wedding in a couple of days and they’re going to hold a banquet in the courtyard. We heard they’ve invited your master to cook.”

Upon seeing Sha Zhu return, Yan Bugui offered an explanation.

Li Hongbing remained silent.

Sha Zhu's relationship with the Jia family was so-so, but because of Yi Zhonghai, he did a lot of favors for the Jia family. The more Li Hongbing looked at what he did, the less he could empathize with him.

Originally, Li Hongbing also thought that Sha Zhu was not stupid and had his own wisdom. He was just a bit stubborn and had been brainwashed by Yi Zhonghai for a long time, making him easily manipulated and exploited by emotions.

But after getting to know Sha Zhu for a while, Li Hongbing discovered that while Sha Zhu did have some cleverness, it wasn't true wisdom.

Even in the original drama, Sha Zhu's so-called "rarely confused" was nothing more than a self-deceptive disguise, and he didn't live a truly enlightened life.

Sha Zhu isn't stupid, but he's not particularly smart either.

Li Hongbing disapproved of Sha Zhu's constant attempts to curry favor with Yi Zhonghai and the Jia family, but he couldn't do anything about it.

Although he had conflicts with Yi Zhonghai and the Jia family, the others in the courtyard did not, including Sha Zhu, who was unaware of the truth at the moment.

and so.

Li Hongbing has neither the need nor the right to demand that others do this or how they treat Yi Zhonghai and the Jia family.

"what?"

"Is the Jia family going to hold a wedding?"

"You want my master to cook too?"

"When did this happen? How come I didn't know?"

"You do not know?"

"I haven't heard of that!"

"That can't be! This afternoon, Madam Jia Zhang publicly announced in the courtyard that she was asking your master to take charge of the cooking. How could you not know about something so important?"

"Uncle Yan, I really didn't know about this..."

"..."

What was originally just a casual remark from Yan Bugui resulted in a reaction from Sha Zhu that left both Li Hongbing and Yan Bugui stunned.

This is a bit outrageous!

Logically, the Jia family should have invited Sha Zhu's chef to cook at the banquet in the courtyard through Sha Zhu's connections, but Sha Zhu didn't know about it.

Even if it wasn't through Sha Zhu, Sha Zhu and his master spend every day together in the kitchen, so there's no reason why they wouldn't be kept in the dark about Jia Dongxu's upcoming wedding banquet.

"I'll have to ask about that."

Sha Zhu was clearly unsettled that he had no idea about such a big thing.

Seeing Sha Zhu run towards the Central Court, Li Hongbing and Yan Bugui remained silent, exchanging a knowing glance with somewhat strange expressions.

Things seem to be getting interesting.

(End of this chapter)