Living in a Siheyuan

Li Ping'an came out of Director Wang's house and rode his bike back. It was now past eight o'clock and it was already dark.

When I returned to the courtyard, I didn't see the door god Yan Bugui. I guess it's late now and he has gone home to rest.

I entered the courtyard and parked the car, thinking about going to Director Wang's house this time. My job has basically been arranged. I will go to the school to get my diploma in a few days and then go to see Director Wang. It would be best if I could be a buyer for the steel mill.

After packing up, Li Pingan entered the space. He now had time to practice his own skills. He practiced the "Eternal Spring Secret" for a while. Without the assistance of the red fruit, it was really slow. After practicing for a long time, he didn't feel any progress.

Li Ping'an left the training room again and came to the pond to practice fireball and ice arrow techniques.

At first, he could only produce a lighter-sized flame from his fingertips. After becoming more skilled, Li Pingan finally produced a fist-sized fireball. And it was getting faster and faster, almost instantaneous. But he was a little exhausted when he wanted to produce a larger fireball.

Since the fireball technique was over, Li Pingan started to practice the ice arrow technique. This was more difficult. Just condensing water in the air exhausted Li Pingan's spiritual power. So he returned to the practice room to practice "Eternal Spring Technique". It took a long time for him to recover his spiritual power. Li Pingan also left the space. It was already late at night. He quickly went to bed.

The next day, when Li Pingan woke up, it was already noon. He ate a big meal, which was not sure whether it was breakfast or lunch, to replenish himself.

He didn't plan to go out and play today, so he planned to clean up the kitchen in the corner of the living room. If he didn't cook at home all the time, others would be suspicious. So Li Ping'an planned to clean up the stove at home, and then he could just boil some water and cook some food when it was time for dinner.

I cleaned the kitchen stove in the morning and took a break at noon. In the afternoon, when it was no longer hot, I went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some seasonings and other things. By the time I finished, it was time to get off work.

After a while, I heard Sha Zhu shouting outside: "Ping An, are you home? Come to my place for dinner."

Li Pingan put down his work and went out to see Sha Zhu carrying two lunch boxes and some vegetables. So he said to Sha Zhu, "Brother Zhu, I'll go over after I finish cleaning up here."

After Sha Zhu left, Li Pingan thought for a moment, took out a seven or eight jin fish from the space, and a watermelon, then closed the door and walked towards the middle courtyard.

As soon as he entered the front yard, he ran into Yan Bugui watering the flowers. Li Pingan thought to himself, "Isn't this another famous scene?" Yan Bugui waters the flowers regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter. As long as he gets off work, he can be seen tending to those pots of flowers and plants. Isn't he afraid of watering them to death?

When Yan Bugui saw Li Ping'an coming in, he quickly put the shower head aside and came over.

"What is Ping An doing? Why don't you come to Uncle San's house and have a few drinks to celebrate your graduation?" Seeing Li Ping An holding such a big fish and a big watermelon, Yan Bugui's eyes almost burst with envy. He had never caught such a big fish in all his fishing time, and he hadn't eaten a watermelon this year.

As for Yan Bugui's personality, Li Ping'an knew what he was thinking when he first came over. So he said, "Sorry, Uncle San, Brother Zhuzi and I agreed to go to his house for dinner yesterday. I'll go to your house another day to drink with you."

After saying this, without waiting for the third uncle to say anything else, he picked up his things and walked towards the central courtyard.

Yan Bugui regretted it as if he had lost money. If he had known, he would have treated Li Pingan to a meal yesterday. These things together would not be cheap.

When Li Ping'an entered the middle courtyard, Qin Huairu was washing vegetables by the pool. She was jealous of the fish and watermelon Li Ping'an brought, but when she thought of what Jia Zhang and Jia Dongxu said that day, she did not go forward, but silently lowered her head and continued to wash the vegetables.

When they entered Sha Zhu's house, Sha Zhu was cooking in the kitchen. He Yushui was lying on the table doing homework, and when she looked up and saw the fish and watermelon in Li Ping'an's hand, she happily put down her pen and ran over.

"Oh, such big fish and watermelon. Brother Ping An, are these for me?"

"Yes, I brought it here for our little Yu Shui to eat. How about it? Do you like it?" Li Ping'an also said happily.

He Yushui took the watermelon and said with a smile: "Thank you, Brother Ping An, I haven't eaten watermelon this year."

At this time, Sha Zhu also came out of the kitchen. Seeing the fish and watermelon that Li Ping'an brought, he said, "Look at you, what else did you bring to your brother Zhuzi's place?" Then he smiled and said, "This watermelon is really good. I haven't eaten watermelon for a long time."

Li Pingan handed the fish in his hand to Sha Zhu and said, "This fish is for our snack. Cut the watermelon first and we can eat a few pieces. Look, Yu Shui almost hugged the watermelon and ate it."

"Okay, wait a minute. I'll go cut the watermelon first. Then I'll use the fish to make braised fish fillets and fish head tofu soup. I just happened to buy a piece of tofu today."

While Sha Zhu was cutting watermelons, Li Pingan walked over to look at He Yushui's homework and asked, "What grade is Yushui in this year?"

He Yushui came over and tidied up the homework on the table while saying, "I'm only in the first grade of junior high school, and Brother Ping'an, you've already graduated from high school. It feels like time is going too slowly, and I want to graduate early, too."

As the two chatted, Sha Zhu brought out the cut watermelon, took a piece and went back to the kitchen to continue cooking. He Yushui took the watermelon and started to eat it, and soon her face was covered with juice. Li Pingan said with a smile: "Yushui, you have eaten too much now and your stomach is full. You won't be able to eat more when the delicious food is ready."

He Yushui was hesitant after hearing this. She wanted to eat watermelon, but she also wanted to save some for later.

Seeing He Yushui's cute appearance, Li Pingan put down the watermelon in his hand, touched He Yushui's head and said, "Be good, put the watermelon there first, finish your meal later, and save the watermelon for dinner."

After hearing this, He Yushui no longer hesitated and took the remaining watermelon to the kitchen and tidied the table.

Soon Sha Zhu came over with the dishes. Two dishes brought back from the canteen, probably from the leader's special cooking. One was twice-cooked pork, the other was minced pork and eggplant. There was also a cucumber and peanuts. Finally, there was a large plate of braised fish cubes and a bowl of fish head and tofu soup. The staple food was steamed buns.

The three of them sat at the table, and Sha Zhu opened a bottle of Lianhua Bai and started drinking.

He Yushui ate the steamed buns and a few dishes until his mouth was full of oil. Sha Zhu also drank a few cups with Li Pingan and said, "Pingan, you are graduating now. I heard from them that you didn't get into college. What are you going to do?"

Li Ping'an was not ready to let anyone know that he was going to work as a buyer at the steel mill. So he said, "It's not confirmed yet. You know it's hard to find a job nowadays. I have to wait for the arrangement from the street office."

Sha Zhu replied: "That's right, you are considered top students now, the neighborhood office will make arrangements for you."

The two chatted and drank. Li Ping'an's alcohol tolerance is really high. To put it bluntly, he drinks all the time. So he and Sha Zhu drank happily. After a while, the two finished a bottle of wine. Sha Zhu took out another bottle from under the bed and continued drinking.

Here, Sha Zhu and Li Pingan were eating and drinking happily. Over there, Jia's house was in a mess. Jia's house was the closest to Sha Zhu's house, and Jia Zhang smelled the fragrance coming from Sha Zhu's house. While eating steamed buns, she cursed: "Two ungrateful bastards, there are so many delicious foods, but they don't know how to share some with the neighbors. They just eat all by themselves. You see, Sha Zhu and Li Pingan, that jinx, are always close, and nothing good will happen. Maybe something bad will happen one day, and then we'll see if he will still be cocky?"

Jia Dongxu was also jealous. Since he got into trouble, his family's life has become increasingly difficult. He felt uncomfortable when he saw others living well. But he didn't say anything, just lowered his head and ate.

Qin Huairu didn't dare to say anything even though she was craving for food. She just ate the steamed bread silently. But Banggeng, who was smart since childhood, didn't want to do that. He threw the steamed bread on the table and said, "I want to eat meat. I don't want to eat steamed bread anymore. I haven't eaten meat for a long time. I just saw He Yushui eating watermelon. I want to eat it too."

Banggeng's action startled Qin Huairu. She quickly pulled Banggeng back. Jia Dongxu was feeling upset when he saw Banggeng making a fuss. He slapped Banggeng on the head and scolded him, "You picked it when there was food to eat. Don't eat it if you don't want to." Then he slapped Banggeng again.

Qin Huairu quickly pulled the stick into her arms. Seeing Qin Huairu's pregnant belly, Jia Dongxu snorted coldly and went back to the house on crutches.

Banggeng didn't dare to cry loudly at this time, and tears kept welling up in his eyes.

Jia Zhang pulled Banggeng into her arms again and said, "Good boy Banggeng, when your dad gets to work, we'll buy some meat for you to eat. We'll let you have the biggest one then."

"We don't eat the meat from Shazhu's family. Their meat was brought over by that unlucky person. It's all smelly. You'll have diarrhea if you eat it."

Seeing Bang Geng still crying, Jia Zhang shouted to Qin Huairu, "Didn't you see my grandson crying? How can you be a mother? Go to Sha Zhu's house and ask for a bowl of meat for our Bang Geng to eat. If his family doesn't cook the meat, how can our Bang Geng cry?"

Qin Huairu looked at Jia Zhang in disbelief after hearing this. She had never seen anyone come to ask for meat. Even in her hometown, no one would do this. How thick-skinned would one have to be to do this? So Qin Huairu sat there without moving.

Seeing Qin Huairu disobeying her, Jia Zhang scolded, "What's wrong? If you don't go to get meat for your son, do you want me to go? If you were a bit capable, would you be like this? If my son had married a woman who had a job in the city, would our family be like this now? It's because of marrying a country girl like you that we are in this state now."

Qin Huairu didn't dare to say a word after being scolded, she just lowered her head and wiped her tears. Jia Dongxu in the room became even more annoyed after hearing this, and shouted to the outside: "Enough! If you don't want to eat, go to bed early!"

The people outside the room were so frightened that they dared not make a sound. Qin Huairu stood up and quietly cleaned the table. Banggeng did not dare to cry for meat anymore and was dragged into Jia Zhang's room.

Across the street, at Yi Zhonghai's house, Yi Zhonghai listened to the cheerful sounds of eating and drinking coming from Sha Zhu's house, and said to the aunt, "When did Sha Zhu get involved with that kid Li Ping'an? I've never seen them get along so well before."

The lady thought for a moment and said, "I heard that Ping An rode his bike to work with Sha Zhu yesterday morning. I guess it was around that time."

"You can say the same thing about Shazhu. He doesn't even give the old lady some delicious food. The old lady keeps praising him every day, but he doesn't know how to respect an elderly person at all." Yi Zhonghai said angrily.

The lady consoled him by saying, "Didn't Zhuzi invite Li Ping'an to drink? Besides, I just saw that the fish was brought over by Li Ping'an. Can Zhuzi just give it away to others?"

Yi Zhonghai became angrier and angrier. He put his chopsticks on the table and left the house. When he arrived at Shazhu's house, he heard people drinking happily inside. Yi Zhonghai went in without knocking.

Sha Zhu and Li Ping'an had already drunk almost two bottles of wine, and Sha Zhu was a little drunk at this time.

When the two saw Yi Zhonghai coming, Sha Zhu didn't get up, so they smiled and said, "Uncle, why didn't you come earlier? Today I realized that Brother Ping An can drink too much. If you had come earlier, we could have drunk him together."

Yi Zhonghai saw the dishes on the table that had been eaten in pieces. Most of them were eaten by He Yushui, as Sha Zhu and Li Pingan had been drinking. But they drank too much, so the dishes were a bit messy. Yi Zhonghai was even angrier at this time. He said to Sha Zhu, "Zhu Zi, did you make delicious food for the old lady today? The old lady always praises you for being so good."

Sha Zhu was stunned for a moment. Then he scratched his head and said, "Oh, didn't I invite Brother Ping An to drink? I forgot to send food to the old lady because I was afraid there wouldn't be enough food. Hasn't the old lady eaten yet? How about I make some porridge for her later?"

Li Pingan kept looking at Yi Zhonghai, to see what tricks he could come up with? He hadn't settled the previous accounts with him yet, and if he messed with him again today, he would settle both the old and new accounts together.

Yi Zhonghai also saw that Li Pingan looked at him with contempt. He could not control his anger. But he could not get angry at Li Pingan, so he could only say to Sha Zhu: "Zhu Zi, how could you be like this? You used to give some good things to the old lady, but now you have learned bad things from others. You must remember how good the old lady was to you, and you should not be without conscience. I am so disappointed in you now."

Hearing this, Li Pingan also got angry. But before he could say anything, Sha Zhu stood up and said to Yi Zhonghai, "Uncle, if you come to drink, I welcome you. If you come to say these things, then go away and don't spoil our drinking mood. It's just that I didn't send food to the old lady once. Can't I send it over later? Why are you nagging here?"

When Sha Zhu said this, not only Yi Zhonghai was stunned, but Li Pingan was also shocked.