Siheyuan: A Family of Loyal and Brave People

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, people do not sleep in during the holidays. Instead, they get up early to clean the house, post spring couplets, and perform various rituals to send blessings for the new year, hoping that their families will be healthy and everything will go well.

In addition to various celebrations, visiting relatives and friends is also essential.

Shortly after dawn, the courtyard house welcomed a visitor, or strictly speaking, a resident who did not live in the courtyard.

Amid the astonished gazes of his neighbors, Cheng Hao pushed his bicycle into the yard, greeting people along the way, and went straight to his ancestral home.

Although his relationship with the neighbors in the yard was very strained, Cheng Hao did not show disgust or hostility on this special holiday, but simply treated them as familiar strangers.

Arriving at the Cheng family's ancestral house, Cheng Hao used the key to open the door that had been sealed for many days, took out the tools, and simply cleaned the house inside and out. Then he posted couplets in front of the door and took out incense and candles to worship seriously.

The noise Cheng Hao made attracted the attention of many neighbors, but due to their status and previous unpleasant experiences, no one dared to disturb him and just watched from a distance.

Only He Yuzhu went over to greet Cheng Hao generously and took the initiative to help clean the house.

"Brother Hao, why are you here alone? Where is your sister-in-law?"

"She wasn't awake, she was still lying in bed.

I just came back to say hello. It's just a small matter and will be fine soon. She doesn't need to worry about it.

I will take her to my father-in-law's house when I get home later."

Xu Yun's pregnancy gradually became apparent and she had many physical discomforts. Cheng Hao didn't want her to be too tired, so he took care of many things himself to give her more time to rest.

"Okay, I didn't have any relatives in the city before, so I didn't know where to visit during the New Year.

You have a place to go now.”

He Yuzhu also planned to take Qin Huairu back to Qinjia Village.

However, there was limited space on the bicycle, and he could not carry his wife and sister at the same time with the gifts. He was considering how to arrange for He Yushui.

The neighbors in the yard are all unreliable, and He Yuzhu doesn't dare to leave his sister to their care.

"Yes, it's the end of a busy year, it's time to go see Taishan."

It is good to lean on a big tree for shade. Having a father-in-law in a high position is one of the main reasons why Cheng Hao can thrive in the city.

Even though Cheng Hao rarely interacts with his father-in-law, the relationship between father-in-law and son-in-law has actually been playing a role silently.

Cheng Hao's career has been going smoothly in the past few months as director, and no one has made things difficult for him. This is not just because of his merits.

"Brother Hao, there was big news in the hospital last night.

The deaf old lady instigated the three uncles in charge and asked the neighbors to come over and spend the New Year with her.

At first, none of the neighbors dared to resist, and they almost invited you back home."

He Yuzhu came up to Cheng Hao and said.

"Can an old widow have such great abilities?"

Cheng Hao raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion.

The three uncles in charge of the courtyard are all very troublesome people. It is hard to believe that they would team up to help the deaf old lady take advantage of the situation.

“He’s just taking advantage of the tiger’s might.

As soon as I stood up and acted as a troublemaker, the neighbors dispersed instantly.

In the end, the three stewards had to bite the bullet and serve.

You don’t know how gloomy Yi Zhonghai’s face was when he came back. It’s funny just to think about it.”

As He Yuzhu was speaking, a gray-haired figure walked towards them with a cane.

Speak of Cao Cao, here comes Cao Cao, the one who comes is none other than the protagonist of last night, the deaf old lady.

Seeing Cheng Hao and He Yuzhu chatting outside the Cheng family’s house, the deaf old lady immediately strode over.

Cheng Hao frowned slightly. He had no experience with the deaf old lady, but from He Yuzhu, he knew that she was the same kind of person as the neighbors in the courtyard and was definitely not a good person. If she came here at this time, it was probably not a good thing.

"Cheng Hao, you're finally back. Let grandma take a good look at you..."

The deaf old lady came up and acted familiarly, and started chattering to Cheng Hao.

Seeing the deaf old lady getting closer and closer, and even reaching out to grab her, Cheng Hao quickly stepped back a few steps to distance himself from her, and said in a cold voice: "Deaf old lady, what can I do for you?"

"Can't grandma come over and talk to you if there's nothing else?"

The deaf old lady didn't care at all about Cheng Hao's unfamiliarity, and her face remained kind and calm.

"I don't know you well, there's nothing to talk about.

I'm very busy, please don't disturb me if you have nothing else to do."

Cheng Hao's gaze towards the deaf old lady became increasingly cold.

This thief woman keeps calling Cheng Hao "Grandma" all the time. Does she really treat Cheng Hao as her grandson?

He wants to take advantage of Cheng Hao by relying on his age, but that's impossible.

"Hey, people should never forget their roots. No matter how high your position is, you should never forget your ancestors.

Your father was so filial when he was alive and would come to visit me during every festival.

Unlike you, you come back without even saying hello, isn't that decent?"

Seeing that being soft didn't work, the deaf old lady immediately tore off her disguise and bluntly criticized Cheng Hao's actions.

"And your subdistrict office, during the New Year, you didn't even send anyone to visit the lonely elderly. You don't know how to respect your elders at all. How can you be the director of the subdistrict office? This is outrageous."

Hearing this, not only Cheng Hao, but also He Yuzhu next to him was stunned.

I didn't expect the deaf old lady to be so brave. Not only did she use moral blackmail on Cheng Hao, she even dared to criticize the government's work.

“My father is my father and I am me, don’t confuse us as father and son.

If my dad knew you were this kind of person, he would never have looked at you twice."

Cheng Hao had a stern look on his face and spoke in a deep voice.

"Also, the subdistrict office released all subsidies for lonely elderly people a week before the Chinese New Year.

There's nothing I can do if you're blind and don't see it.

After all, I am not a doctor and cannot cure your eye and ear diseases."

"you……"

The deaf old lady was so angry that she picked up her walking stick and pointed it at Cheng Hao, pretending to hit him, but she didn't dare to do it and just held it in the air and pretended.

"You bad guy, I'm going to sue you..."

Of course the deaf old lady received the subsidy from the street office, but a few days ago she went out to buy delicious food and accidentally spent it all.

That’s why her family’s New Year’s Eve dinner is so shabby.

Last night, the deaf old lady was tricked by the three uncles in charge. She was only given some vegetable steamed buns to eat, and she was very unhappy.

I came here this morning with the intention of relying on my age and Cheng Hao's reputation to put pressure on the three managers so that they would obey me.

But she didn't expect Cheng Hao to give her any face at all and even made the deaf old lady lose face.

The deaf old lady had to use drastic measures to try to save her face and re-establish her prestige in the hospital.

"up to you."

Seeing the deaf old lady's angry look, Cheng Hao no longer had the heart to care about it.

An old and frail thief with no children can't do anything wrong. The louder she screams, the more her helplessness is highlighted.

Otherwise, just take action directly. Why shout so much?

"Zhu Zi, it's getting late. I'm leaving now."

Seeing that the incense in the room had burned out and the worship ceremony was completed, Cheng Hao simply ignored the angry deaf old lady, said goodbye to He Yuzhu, locked the door, packed up and prepared to leave.