The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

For Darong, life after marriage was not much different. The only difference was that she had to work at Zhong Yunxing's house instead of at her own.

During the early days of marriage, Darong didn't feel any difference. The only difference was that the distance from Erdaohezi to her workplace was twice as long, and Darong went out earlier every day.

"Today's meeting is mainly to learn the spirit conveyed by the factory office. After returning, everyone should understand the spirit and actively carry out production..."

During the pre-shift meeting, Director Lu spoke for half an hour alone, and in the end it was all about developing production and promoting output. But in fact, if this half hour had been used in production, I don’t know how much output would have been achieved.

The employees standing below all had calm expressions and mocking hearts.

Director Lu's speech was almost over, but he caught a glimpse of Darong standing in the back corner.

Today is Darong's second day back to work after her wedding. After all, she is a newly married bride and she still has some desire for beauty. Today she specially braided her hair into a beautiful scorpion braid (a scorpion braid refers to a four-strand braid) for work.

Director Lu hates girls dressing up for work, and he never liked Darong. She used to have Master Mao protecting her, and now she has found an opportunity.

"Let me digress here. Some female comrades do not look like they are at work. They dress up in fancy clothes all day long and flaunt themselves in the factory. It is not decent. All team leaders will go back to a meeting today to rectify their appearance. Those who fail to meet the standards will be reported and their bonuses will be deducted."

Darong stood at the back with her head down. Ever since Master Mao retired, she had always kept in mind her master's instructions and never fought for anything or provoked Director Lu.

Today, I just braided my hair, but Director Lu scolded me in various ways, and my mood immediately fell to the bottom.

After returning to her workstation, Darong held her breath and began to prepare the things in her hands, ready to work.

"Yuan Furong, where is your hat?" Director Lu usually starts his inspection from the first row of cars, but today he came to Darong's row first.

Darong didn't say anything, but took out a hat from her pocket, put it on, and didn't look up, continuing to work on her work.

Director Lu stared at her for a while, and seeing that Darong had no intention of getting angry, and he had no other reason to punish her, he had to leave in disappointment.

People always grow up slowly. After suffering a loss once, Darong has learned her lesson. Firstly, Master Mao taught her a lot of social skills when he was on the job, and secondly, Darong is no longer the young girl who has just started out.

Although she did not have any conflict with Director Lu today, Darong was indeed feeling upset. When she got home from get off work, her expression did not ease up.

"Furong is back. Are you tired today? You don't look well." When Mother Zhong saw Da Rong coming into the yard with a pouting face, she hurriedly went to ask.

"I'm fine, Mom." Darong forced a smile, answered perfunctorily and went into the house.

In fact, for Darong, she was in a low mood at the moment, and Mother Zhong didn't know about the grudge between her and the Lu sisters, so she didn't want to explain too much.

But Mother Zhong just felt that she had been treated coldly and was somewhat choked by Darong's stubbornness.

At that time, Darong certainly did not understand the difference between mother and daughter and mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. She had just turned 20 years old and simply thought that her mother-in-law was her mother and that she should be rewarded with true love.

"Sister-in-law, your car is so beautiful."

Xiaoping saw Darong's new bicycle as soon as she entered the yard after coming home from school. When they got married, Darong's mother bought new bicycles for Darong and Zhong Yunxing, but Darong's new bicycle arrived two days late and she only rode it back today.

Xiaoping circled Darong's bicycle twice, her eyes full of envy.

Because the Zhong family's living conditions have never been very good, the bicycle Xiaoping rides is the same one that Zhong Yunhong rode when he was in school. Later, Zhong Yunsheng rode it for two more years. It was not until he lived in the school dormitory that the bicycle was passed to Xiaoping.

"Ride it if you like. I've ridden several new bikes. This one is for you."

Darong gave her new car away without even thinking about it.

"Really?" Xiaoping's eyes widened. She never thought that Darong would be willing to give her a new bike.

"Of course it's true. You can ride your new bike to school tomorrow." Darong suddenly felt a little distressed when looking at Xiaoping in front of her.

"And I have my clothes. Take whatever you like and wear them. We are about the same size." Darong pointed to her closet and pointed to Xiaoping.

Zhong Yunping is only a few years older than Xiaoying, but the two grew up in very different environments. Since Darong met Xiaoping, the number of clothes she had for all four seasons combined was probably not as much as Xiaoying's in one quarter.

"Sister-in-law, you are so kind, thank you!" Xiaoping danced with joy and jumped into the house.

Darong felt much happier when she saw her happy expression.

In fact, Darong's character has many characteristics of what we now often call a "people-pleasing" personality.

She always wants to get recognition and praise from her family, so most of the time she chooses to sacrifice herself for the sake of her family.

The only difference between her personality and a true 'people pleaser' personality is that she only does this to her family, but never to anyone she thinks is unworthy.

But Darong at that time did not understand that the subtle emotions between family members would gradually become blurred as they grow older and their respective families develop.

After tidying up everything in the evening, Darong, who was tired all day, finally had the chance to lie down in the west room and have a good rest.

"What happened to you today? Mom said you didn't look very happy since you came back."

After watching TV in the east room for a while, Zhong Yunxing returned to the west room.

"Nothing, I'm just tired from work." Darong answered casually with her eyes closed.

"Is everything really fine? If you have something to say, you can tell me. It will make you feel better if you tell me."

"Did Mom say anything to you?" Da Rong, who was lying with her eyes closed, suddenly realized something, opened her eyes, looked at Zhong Yunxing and asked.

Indeed, Zhong Yunxing's persistent questioning at this moment actually originated entirely from Zhong's mother's repeated reminders.

"Mom is a little worried about you. She's afraid that you're too young and won't have any ideas if something happens at work." Zhong Yunxing answered frankly.

After hearing this, Darong lowered her eyes, looked at the ground in silence for a while, and then told Zhong Yunxing what happened today and the past grudges between her and Director Lu's sister.