The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

"Oh, my Darong has become a hot commodity. Let's go home and talk slowly." Darong's mother responded to Li Er's wife happily on the surface, but in her heart she was thinking about whether she should go to meet this person.

"That's right. Darong is pretty and knows how to dress up. All these guys in the alley are paying attention to her."

Mrs. Li Er was talking about things that were not relevant. Darong's mother couldn't stand Darong drawing her eyebrows and eyes. Although Darong never wore any exaggerated makeup or clothes, in Darong's mother's eyes, a well-behaved child should not love dressing up.

This old-fashioned idea is closely related to her growing up in a remote rural area like Zhouzhuang. Although she has been married and moved to the city for almost 20 years, she still cannot change her conservative nature.

"Well, that damn girl only knows how to dress up all day long. She's been beaten and scolded for this, but she just doesn't know how to change." Darong's mother's face darkened.

After these words were spoken, Li Ersaozi, who was intending to praise, didn't know how to respond for a moment. After all, people at that time no longer wore trousers with one side opening, and this Darongma had always refused to accept the unisex trousers style with an opening at the front.

"Our Darong dresses well and beautifully, she can't be compared to those crazy girls."

Mrs. Li Er really didn't know what to say. After a long while, she managed to come up with these words. After hearing this, Darong's mother laughed even more fakely.

"Oh, I haven't talked about the main business yet. The boy I'm here to ask for marriage is from Nanyun's old Cheng family. He is the only child in the family and has three older sisters. His family lives in Nanyun's dormitory and has a three-room main house with a separate door and courtyard, which is for the boy to get married."

Mrs. Li Er quickly changed the subject and introduced the man's conditions.

There are only a few towns in the southern suburbs, and most of the people you meet will recognize each other when you mention their workplace.

At that time, most housing was small bungalow dormitories allocated by work units. Yuan Shouli's one and a half rooms were already an unusually large size, and the large courtyard with three main rooms was a good condition that many people could only dream of.

"The conditions are good, but with an older sister-in-law, there will be more trouble for the in-laws..." When Darong's mother heard the man's conditions, she was somewhat tempted, but considering the family situation, she was still a little hesitant.

"It's okay. I know this kid. He's not someone who will give in to temptation. He's now working with his father in the transportation department of Nanyun. Although he's a temporary worker, his father is already applying for retirement due to illness. Once that's done, he can replace his father and become a regular employee."

Retirement due to illness was the most common way of changing jobs at that time. If the elders were formal employees and their children had no regular job to join, most of them would leave their jobs early in this way and replace the vacant positions with their children.

Upon hearing that he could replace his father and work at Nanyun, Darong's mother finally agreed to take Darong to meet him. After all, Darong's current temporary job has not yet found a way to become a regular employee. If he can get a formal job, he will have a guarantee for the future.

On the day of the meeting, Darong simply washed her face. Although she didn't have many ideas in her mind, she readily agreed to Li Er's wife's proposal when she thought about getting married and leaving home early.

Darong's mother is famous for her bad temper, so Darong does not have a very close relationship with her mother. She is the eldest and a girl in the family, and has been deprived of the right to play games since she was a child. In addition to going to work and doing housework every day, she also has to do side jobs with her mother.

So for Darong at that time, getting married early became a vain hope for relief.

But she was still too young and didn't know that in that era, life after marriage was truly hard and difficult.

"Second sister-in-law has introduced my conditions, right?" Cheng Dinghua was delighted as he looked at Da Rong in front of him. He had been paying attention to her for a long time. Da Rong was fair-skinned and had an outstanding temperament. Among other older girls, he would notice her first at first sight.

"Yes, Second Aunt has said it all."

Darong had never dared to look Cheng Laoxiao in the eye, actually because she was shy. However, her airs made Cheng Laoxiao mistakenly think that she was proud and noble, and that he was marrying up to such a great talent.

Cheng Dinghua's nickname is Cheng Laoxiao. He is the eldest son and the only boy in the family, and has always been spoiled by his family.

Actually, Li Laoer's father and Cheng Dinghua's father grew up in the same team when they were young, so Cheng Dinghua called his wife Li Er sister-in-law, but Li Laoer and Yuan Shouli were colleagues, so Darong always called them second uncle and second aunt.

Anyway, it's just a polite title between neighbors and there's no particular regard for seniority.

"I know all your conditions. Don't worry, my dad will soon be able to retire due to illness. I will replace him in the team and become a regular employee. Even if you can't get a permanent job, I can still earn money to support the family."

Cheng Laoxiao's mouth was always open. Seeing the girl he admired right in front of him, he started talking happily.

But for Darong, the topic of marriage and living together was brought up on their first meeting. Although she appeared to be calm and composed on the surface, her face unconsciously blushed.

Cheng Laoxiao was fascinated by Darong's rosy little face.

Cheng Laoxiao is actually three years older than Darong, and is just 3 years old now. The legal age for registration of men and women that year was 20 for girls and 20 for boys, so even if the two were in a relationship, they could not get married for a while.

Yutian was already a directly-administered city at that time, and people's cultural and cognitive levels had greatly improved. It could be said that de facto marriage did not exist, but it had been abandoned in the suburbs of the city.

After this meeting, Cheng Laoxiao became a frequent visitor to Darong's home. Every day when Darong was at home, he would arrive home on time to help Darong with her side job. Xizi, the night shift pick-up and drop-off specialist, was also gloriously laid off.

I don't know whether Cheng Laoxiao succeeded in replacing his father to work for Nanyun, but at least he succeeded in replacing Xizi to take over Da Rong's job. (Note: "Luoting" in Yutian dialect means something like "done" or "completed.")

"Darong, I have good news to tell you. I have been converted to a regular employee." That day, Cheng Laoxiao rushed home before Darong went to work.

As soon as he entered the door, he couldn't wait to tell Darong about his job promotion.

"That's great. From now on you will have a formal job with a stable job." Darong looked at Cheng Laoxiao with shining eyes and smiled happily too.

Although the two have been together for a while, Darong has never been to the old and young family's house. Darong's mother is very conservative. She has told Darong a long time ago that even if the two are friends, she cannot take the initiative to go to the other family's house unless she is invited. A girl should look stable.

Although this theory may seem a bit pretentious now, it was an old principle respected by girls from decent families in that era.

Although Darong does not have a very close relationship with her mother, she is proud in her bones. Even if there was no instruction from Darong's mother, she would not take the initiative to ask to go to Cheng Laoxiao's house.

In Darong's theory, no matter how much she likes a boy, she cannot let him see her feelings. A woman must be noble and reserved to be pursued.

"DaRong, my mother asked you to come to my house for dinner on the night you take a day off. She wants to meet you." The first thing Cheng Laoxiao did after receiving the notice of regularization was to propose to his mother that he and DaRong should get engaged.

In Cheng Laoxiao's heart, Darong was a noble and cool goddess with outstanding temperament and good appearance, so he didn't dare to mention engagement before she became his official wife.

Although the two were just friends, he still felt that Darong was a fairy who was high above him. Since he was not a formal worker, he had no right to propose engagement.

"Okay, I'll tell my parents." Darong still had a calm expression on her face, making it impossible for Cheng Laoxiao to tell whether she was happy or angry.