Siheyuan: Yan Jiekuang's carefree life

In a blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve. From the morning, Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui began to move the prepared dishes to the cowshed one after another like ants moving house. In the evening, under the management of Gu Ruoxue, Yang Ling and Rong Xijuan, the dishes were served on the table one after another.

Looking at the dazzling array of dishes on the table, Jiang Bi Da couldn't help but say, "Old Ding, we are really blessed by you. When I came here, I was ready to die here. I didn't expect that I would live a life of retirement in advance. It can be said that I have turned a disaster into a blessing!"

Ding Huawei echoed, "It's good that you know!" Then he looked at Yan Jiekuang and said, "Jiekuang, my Xiaohui is still young. You must take good care of her!" Ding Huawei deliberately emphasized the word "take care of". Yan Jiekuang understood what Ding Huawei meant and said, "Grandpa, I know what's going on. Don't worry! I will take good care of Xiaohui."

Gu Ruoxue said, "Jie Kuang is not like you! He knows his limits." Then she looked at Su Zihui. Su Zihui lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly.

Ding Huawei saw his granddaughter's reaction and thought to himself, "Girls really can't be kept at home when they grow up!" Then he came to his senses and urged, "Jie Kuang, hurry up and pour the wine!"

"Hey!" Yan Jiekuang responded, picked up the bottle of wine swiftly, unscrewed the cap and started pouring the wine.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, the meal was almost finished. Ding Huawei and others were also a little drunk. Ding Huawei, Luo Dajun and others seemed to be lost in memories, and the room suddenly became quiet. After about seven or eight minutes, Cheng Feng said, "Old Ding, do you still remember the Japanese spring sweep?!"

Ding Huawei replied: "I remember! How could I not remember? If I hadn't arrived in time with the troops, you wouldn't be sitting here drinking today."

Jiang Bi Da said: "Speaking of this, Lao Cheng, you should thank me too! If I hadn't led the troops to stop the Shanye Brigade, you wouldn't have survived until Lao Ding and his men came to rescue you!"

Cheng Feng glared at Jiang Bi Da and said, "How dare you take credit for it?! If it wasn't for one of his company commanders who drank alcohol and messed up the work, would our regiment have suffered?! You led the troops to stop the Japanese, which is a loss of merit."

Han Hu said, "None of you three is a good person. When we were fighting the Japanese, you three betrayed me a lot. Especially you, Jiang Bi Da. You are the worst. I just seized two infantry guns, and they are not even warm yet! I don't know where this guy got the news and came to ask me for them. When I refused to give them, he reported it to the brigade commander. My goodness, two guns. Not to mention the shells, even the people were taken away by the brigade commander."

Luo Dajun said: "Don't say you've been bullied by him. Who among us here hasn't been bullied by him?! So we spread a saying at the beginning, beware of the enemy, beware of the special forces, beware of Jiang Bi Da."

Jiang Bi Da said with a smile: "You can't blame me for this. If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves. I asked you to split the money 50-50, and we split it in half when we met. If you don't want to split it, then you can only listen to the arrangements from above. Didn't you also cheat me later?! We are even now."

Gu Ruoxue said: "Jie Kuang, Xiao Hui, let's go sit over there and not accompany them in their drunken madness!"

Yan Jiekuang said, "Grandma, why don't you come to our place? I have a projector. Let's go watch a movie."

Su Zihui quickly agreed, "Yes! Grandma! You can go to our place to watch the movie! Come back after you're done."

Gu Ruoxue and the other two looked at each other. Rong Xijuan said, "Xiaohui, we won't go with you. It's better to be safe than sorry. It would be bad if people saw you interacting with us. Anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. There's no need to rush now."

"Yes!" Yang Ling agreed and asked, "Xiao Yan, when do you and Xiao Hui plan to have a baby?"

Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui looked at each other. Yan Jiekuang said, "Grandma Yang, Xiaohui is still young. There is no rush now. Let's talk about this in a few years."

Gu Ruoxue said: "Just have a plan in mind."

It is said that you should stay up late on New Year's Eve. A little after nine o'clock in the evening, Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui left the cowshed. When they got home, Yan Jiekuang first lit the kang in the guest room and also lit the stove in the guest room. After finishing his work, Yan Jiekuang went to the kitchen again. He brought the fermented dough and the mixed stuffing into the guest room.

Not long after, Su Zihui came into the guest room with a bunch of snacks. Seeing Yan Jiekuang was already making dumplings, Su Zihui immediately put the snacks on the kang and said, "I'll help you make them."

Yan Jiekuang said, "No need. I can do it alone. You go and show the movie!"

"Hey!" Su Zihui responded and ran to the shelf where the copies were placed to choose the movie that would be shown later.

As time went by, a movie was over. Su Zihui heard the sound of firecrackers outside getting louder and louder, and she immediately became more energetic. Yan Jiekuang seemed to have guessed what Su Zihui was thinking, and asked with a smile: "Do you want to go out and set off some firecrackers too?!"

"Okay!" Su Zihui responded, pulling Yan Jiekuang and running towards the clothes rack.

The next morning, a little after nine o'clock, Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui went to the cowshed to pay New Year's greetings, then went back to get some things and went to the homes of Gao Junsong, Tian Dazhuang and Wu Haiwang. After paying New Year's greetings to them, Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui returned home.

However, before Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui had even sat down, Tang Jianjun arrived with his girlfriend and sister. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Su Zihui took Ni Xiaoling and the other two girls to the guest room. Not long after, the opening sound of a movie was heard. Tang Jianjun, who was sitting in the living room chatting with Yan Jiekuang, could no longer sit still and asked, "Yan Zhiqing, do you have a projector here?!"

Yan Jiekuang replied, "I brought it back when I went back to Sijiu City to visit my relatives." Then he asked, "You didn't go back this time?!"

Tang Jianjun replied: "No! Xiaoling and my sister have been here for less than a year. I am a little worried about going back alone."

Yan Jiekuang asked: "When do you plan to marry Ni Zhiqing?!"

Tang Jianjun said, "Both our parents have agreed to our relationship. We plan to get the marriage certificate after the spring ploughing is over. When we go back to visit our relatives this year, we will get married at the same time." Then he asked, "When will you and Su Zhiqing get married?!"

Yan Jiekuang said: "We plan to get married the next time we go back to visit our relatives. But our marriage certificate has already been obtained."

Tang Jianjun said, "The gossip about you and Su Zhiqing first came from the male educated youth camp. Among the educated youth who came before you and Su Zhiqing left, there were a few who were also from Sijiucheng. They seemed to know Yan Zhiqing. I guess there are suitors for Su Zhiqing among them."

After hearing what Tang Jianjun said, Yan Jiekuang finally came to his senses and became defensive. He was not afraid of others making trouble for him and Su Zihui, but he was afraid of starting with the cowshed. Yan Jiekuang and Tang Jianjun chatted for a while, and Yan Jiekuang took Tang Jianjun to the guest room.

After watching a movie, Tang Jianjun took Ni Xiaoling and his two sisters away. After Yan Jiekuang saw them off, he returned to the guest room and said, "Xiaohui, Tang Jianjun just told me that someone in the group of male educated youth who came before we left knew you. The gossip between us also started from the male educated youth point."