Siheyuan: A warm home with wife and children

"Oh, here we come."

Da Zhuang, a strong and capable man of the required weight, has arrived.

Upon seeing his older brother, Xiao Zhuang grinned foolishly and rushed over to hug his brother's thick legs tightly.

I tried to wrap my arms around him, but I couldn't hold on!

"Come on, brother will take you to read comic books." Dazhuang picked up his younger brother and went into the inner room.

At both ends of the bed, from the floor to the ceiling, wooden shelves were piled high with books of all sizes.

There are brand-new hardcover books, as well as old books with white paper pasted on the outside for repair; all of them were collected by Yang Jianguo over the years.

The most memorable part of Zhiyuan and Zhiyi's childhood was reading.

The two of them watched as the bookshelves went from being completely empty to being filled with all kinds of books.

Almost every day, Dad would come home carrying a few books.

Sometimes one book, sometimes three or five.

He collected them all from elsewhere; some were even stolen.

The homeowner, fearing repercussions, lit a brazier to burn it, intending to have the perpetrator "rob" it if he saw it, and would only give him a scrap of paper money.

I've been learning to read since I was in junior high school.

At least half of the books on the bookshelf haven't been read yet.

Seeing Dazhuang carry Xiaozhuang back to the inner room, Ran Qiuye asked curiously, "Jianguo, how many books do you have on your bookshelf?"

Ran Qiuye guessed that the bookshelf, which took up a full half-wall, must have contained several thousand books.

Yang Jianguo replied with a smile, "I was so busy buying them that I didn't count them."

Yingzi then said, "I counted them, and all the miscellaneous ones together, there are more than 20,000 books."

Everyone present was completely dumbfounded.

Yang Jianguo was also somewhat surprised and asked, "Really?"

Yingzi glanced at him, nodded firmly, and said, "Yes, at least twenty-two or twenty-three thousand."

"My God!" Zhang Yu exclaimed in astonishment, thinking, 'This is more than my own family's book collection.'

Zhang Chao looked at his master with admiration and said, "Master, may I come to your place to borrow some books when I have time?"

Without hesitation, Yang Jianguo replied, "Sure, come and get it anytime you want."

Hearing this from inside the house, where the grille was close by, Xiao Dang and Huaihua, who were sitting on chairs, quickly poked their heads out and asked, "Uncle Yang, Aunt Yingzi, can we come and see?"

"Yes, of course, it's possible." Yingzi smiled happily.

These children are childhood friends and best buddies who grew up together in the same courtyard.

We don't talk about the past, but now they are all obedient and sensible good children.

Wanting to read a book is such a wonderful thing.

Previously, the two of them often came to Zhiyi to study, huddled together by the bookshelf, curled up against the bookshelf, sitting on the floor and reading until midnight.

"If you ask me, you two should open a bookstore," Sha Zhu suggested again, offering another bad idea.

Ran Qiuye nudged him with her elbow and said disdainfully, "All you do is spout this useless nonsense. You should read more books."

Ren Jianguo was a book lover; he could have simply let the children in the compound read books for free.

The bookstore was half full of people clumsily flipping through the pages.

Within two days, all those old books and comic books that I had personally repaired would be ruined.

The little money I earn isn't even enough to cover the cost of repairing books!

Sha Zhu chuckled and scratched his head, saying, "Wife, I read books when I can't sleep."

Ran Qiuye rolled her eyes at him, then laughed and scolded, "Yeah, you look sleepy, you can fall asleep right now, can't you?"

"Hey, my wife knows me best," Sha Zhu chuckled.

Everyone laughed, and Yang Jianguo said with a smile, "Zhuzi, take that comic book back and take a look."

"They tell down-to-earth stories that are both meaningful and easy to understand, and can also help pass the time and relieve boredom."

Sha Zhu thought for a moment and asked, "That's true. When I was a child, I loved reading those comic books, just like my son."

"You're such a jerk, your son is way more successful than you." Ran Qiuye playfully bumped into Sha Zhu.

This made him very happy, and he nodded with a silly grin: "Yes, he's definitely more successful than me."

No matter how successful he becomes, he's still my son. What can he do to me?!

"Hey, Huai Ru, the notice for educated youth to return to their hometowns has been issued, has the neighborhood committee contacted you yet?"

Seeing that Qin Huairu was silent, Yingzi found a topic that interested her.

Upon hearing that the educated youth were returning to their hometowns, Qin Huairu had something to say: "The neighborhood office sent me a notice saying that we should come back in batches."

"Which batch is Bang Geng from? He's far away, so it'll probably take a while, right?" Zhang Chao seemed to know quite a bit about this.

Qin Huairu glanced at him and replied, "Yes, it will take another ten days to half a month."

Seeing the two of them like that, Zhang Yu felt uneasy: "Brother, Sister Qin's son is already coming back from the countryside, and you still haven't found a wife?"

"If you keep doing this, I won't speak up for you next time your parents come."

Zhang Chao is already in his thirties; saying he's not young is an understatement.

If this were in a commune down below, people would call him "old bachelor".

What kind of era is this? How can a decent man be over thirty and still not be able to get married?

But Zhang Chao wasn't in a hurry at all; all he did all day was work, work, work...

After work, I would read books, living like an ascetic.

No matter when or to whom, he never showed any romantic interest in her.

Sometimes Zhang Yu even wondered if he had some unspeakable secret.

When her father came, he secretly guessed about this and even had a private talk with Zhang Chao behind closed doors.

We're done talking!

Only then did they realize that their son didn't have those thoughts in his mind, and that he didn't have a hidden illness.

Zhang Yu used to speak up for him, always making jokes to fool her parents.

But now, even her younger sister is getting anxious.

My own child is old enough to run errands, and I, the older brother, am still not married. What kind of situation is this?!

……

P.S.: I was late today because of something. Sorry!

Chapter 272 I've Never Seen This Before, Heading to Report for Duty

What Zhang Chao was thinking, probably no one but him knew.

Yang Jianguo knew this before, but he doesn't know it now.

When the two were buried under the rubble, Zhang Chao briefly expressed his feelings for them.

But it only happened once, and it was never mentioned again.

He made no gesture whatsoever in front of Qin Huairu.

Not only did they not express any reaction, but they acted completely normally.

"Hey, you've picked up Mom and Dad's ways now." Zhang Chao glanced at his younger sister and teased, "Well, at worst I'll just find any woman, get married, and that'll be enough to settle things with you, okay?"

"Who told you to hand in your work? I told you to find a woman you like." Zhang Yu felt utterly exhausted.

Why do I have such a brother? When will he be more reliable?

"Zhang Chao, it's really time for you to settle down and start a family."

Yang Jianguo suddenly spoke up, causing Zhang Chao to put away his joking attitude and say with some helplessness, "Master, I'd like to, but I haven't met the right person yet!"

Hearing him say that, Yingzi interjected, "What kind of girl do you like? How about the girls from our factory?"

Zhang Chao was in a bind; was he being forced into a corner?

"Sister Yingzi, just ignore him."

“He rejected all the announcers in the factory who were pursuing him, saying that he had no interest in such things and wanted to focus on improving his skills.”

Zhang Yu complained about the lack of repairs, while Yingzi looked at her man with crescent-shaped eyes.

With a wry smile and a shake of his head, Yang Jianguo said innocently, "I didn't do anything. The person I was looking for was Zhang Chao."

"I didn't say anything." Seeing his embarrassed and discomfitured look, Yingzi lowered her head with a happy chuckle.

However, thinking about it, Yu Haitang must be around thirty years old.

Is she really just going to let her drag this out at home? She's still not giving up!

Over the past ten years, Yu Haitang has experienced many ups and downs and gone through a lot herself.

Those originally naive but unrealistic ideas should be gone by now.

But why are you still clinging to someone who looks down on you?

With her qualities, she could have any kind of boyfriend she wanted.

Although Zhang Chao is his own man's apprentice, one of his own.

To be honest, there are plenty of people outside who are just as good as him, or even better than him, like Yu Haitang.

After all, she was an announcer at the steel rolling mill, and now she also works part-time as a reporter for the factory office.

Every day, I'm surrounded by leaders, outstanding and advanced people and things that deserve praise and celebration.

Yingzi didn't believe that she would never meet someone more outstanding than Zhang Chao.

Is this girl really going to keep these two, master and apprentice, completely under her spell?!

With just that thought, Yingzi quickly forgot about it.

They're not craving their own men... Zhang Chao is unmarried, Yu Haitang is unmarried, what's wrong with actively pursuing love?

"Zhiyuan, Zhiyi, set up the small table."

The food was almost ready, and Yingzi called out to the children to set up the small table.

There are too many people to fit at one large table.

As usual, the adults sat at one table, and the children gathered at another.

"Dazhuang, give Xiaozhuang less meat later, or he'll be rolling away soon."

Ran Qiuye froze after speaking, and the others had the same expression, all looking somewhat bewildered and strange.

When will we have to reduce our meat consumption?

Ran Qiuye sighed with mixed feelings: "This kind of life is something I never dared to dream of before!"

Her words really resonated with everyone.

A few years ago, no one would have imagined that their family could live such a good life.

Even if you're worried about eating too much meat, oh dear~

There are indeed many rare things in this world that you will see if you live long enough.

"Ha ha……"

They looked at each other, laughed heartily, and exclaimed, "What a wonderful day!"

On Monday, Yang Jianguo reported to the Ministry of Industry on time.

He was stopped by the security guard at the entrance. "I am Yang Jianguo, the new recruit. Please call and ask."

The top leader didn't give him a pass or any kind of identity.

They only asked him to report on Monday, and here he is, riding his bike.