Siheyuan, Me and the Yu Sisters

Zhang Renkang was cooking mutton soup while He Yushui was helping out in an apron. Yi Zhonghai came to the deaf old lady's room. When the deaf old lady saw Yi Zhonghai, she asked indifferently:

"Yes, Zhong Hai, why are you here so late?"

Yi Zhonghai walked into the room, sat down, and said with a smile

"Old lady, let me see if you have enough coal briquettes in your house. I'll go get you another load tomorrow, the weekend."

The deaf old lady smiled and said

"Enough, enough, Daqing brought it to my old lady two days ago, you are so thoughtful Zhonghai"

Yi Zhonghai continued to laugh

"Ma'am, have you finished cleaning up the house?"

The deaf old lady laughed

"Yunxia (a made-up name for an auntie) came to clean up for me early in the morning. I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble over the years."

Yi Zhonghai said with a smile

"Look at what you said. You are the ancestor of the courtyard. It is not right for me to greet you."

The deaf old lady is Yi Zhonghai's face. He takes care of the deaf old lady to create his image of respecting the elderly and loving the young. Anyway, an old lady has nothing to do at home during the day, so it's not hard to help her wash clothes and tidy up the house. The deaf old lady has her own food allowance and a five-yuan subsidy from the street office every month. It's nothing more than helping her cook, and it can also get a good reputation. Now Yi Zhonghai is counting on the deaf old lady to help him restore his good reputation.

The deaf old lady did not answer, but looked at Yi Zhonghai thoughtfully. She thought Yi Zhonghai had come to her for something, so she planned to listen to what Yi Zhonghai had to say first, and then pretend to be deaf. Seeing that the deaf old lady did not answer, Yi Zhonghai continued

"Old lady, I heard that you found a wife for Zhuzi?"

When the deaf old lady saw that Yi Zhonghai knew about it, she began to pretend to be deaf and asked

"Ah, Nakamiya, what did you say?"

Yi Zhonghai was not surprised to see the deaf old lady like this, and continued

"Zhu Zi isn't young anymore, it's time for him to find a wife and start a good life. A few days ago I said I would find him a wife and have him have a big fat boy."

"Alas, a misunderstanding caused the situation between Zhuzi and I to become so awkward. It's all my fault that I didn't explain it to Zhuzi earlier."

The deaf old lady continued to pretend to be deaf and dumb. Yi Zhonghai saw this and said

"Old lady, Zhuzi's wedding, how about I preside over it?"

“I promise to make it beautiful.”

The deaf old lady said faintly

"You want to propose marriage to Zhuzi? Then just do it first."

Seeing that the old lady agreed, Yi Zhonghai nodded and said

"Okay, just ask you to tell Zhuzi that I will pay for the expenses. Just consider it as my compensation for the grievances he has suffered over the years."

Yi Zhonghai left after he finished speaking. The deaf old lady saw him leaving and said to herself:

"Zhong Hai, if you had known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place? It's all your fault."

The deaf old lady leaned on a stick and saw Yi Zhonghai leave. She slowly got out of bed, put on her shoes and went to the middle courtyard. When she passed by Zhang Renkang's kitchen window and saw He Yushui and Zhang Renkang laughing and joking, she sighed.

Middle Courtyard, Shazhu’s House

Sha Zhu was drinking corn porridge and sighing on a small stool. After He Daqing left, Sha Zhu was alone again. Now He Yushui ran to Zhang Renkang's house and didn't like his silly brother very much. The deaf old lady pushed the door open with a stick. Sha Zhu quickly got up and went forward to help her and said,

"Grandma, why did you come out so late at night? What if you fall?"

The deaf old lady sat on Shazhu's bed and saw Shazhu's nervous look and said with relief

"You are such a filial child. Grandma wants to talk to you about something. Go and close the door."

Sha Zhu closed the door, came back and asked

"Grandma, what do you want from me?"

The deaf old lady said with a smile

"You silly child, Matchmaker Wang is here to see grandma today."

"I found you a beautiful wife."

When Sha Zhu heard his wife's words, he was delighted and said shyly

"Grandma, really?"

The deaf old lady tapped Shazhu's shoulder with her stick and said

"How can this be false? Tomorrow, go to the market and buy some food to show off your cooking skills."

Shazhu smiled foolishly

"Grandma, whose daughter are you? How does she look like?"

The deaf old lady said

"Matchmaker Wang said his father is an employee of the South City Chemical Factory. He is at home alone and looks very handsome. You just wait to enjoy the good life."

Sha Zhu was so shy that he didn't know what to do. After a while, he said

"Grandma, what should I do tomorrow?"

The deaf old lady said

"Matchmaker Wang will bring the girl here tomorrow afternoon. In the morning, go to the market to buy some good things. I'll ask Auntie to clean up the house for you. When the people come in the afternoon, I'll cook a delicious meal. I'll be guarding the door tomorrow. If anyone dares to make trouble, I'll punish him."

Sha Zhu nodded and frowned and said

"Let the rain come back and clean up, so as not to trouble the old lady."

Sha Zhu had mixed feelings towards Yi Zhonghai. He was grateful for Yi Zhonghai's care for him after He Daqing ran away, but he also resented Yi Zhonghai for deceiving him for so many years. For a moment, Sha Zhu really didn't know how to treat Yi Zhonghai.

The deaf old lady sighed and said

"Zhu Zi, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but your uncle has been pretty good to you over the past decade, right?"

Shazhu nodded and said

"That's right. If it weren't for the old man, I wouldn't know what to do these years."

The deaf old lady said

"Zhu Zi, Zhong Hai was a little confused, but it's not that he wanted to harm you, otherwise how many times would he have cleaned up your ass over the years?"

"It's better to resolve a feud than to create one. Listen to grandma and let's forget about the past. This time, your uncle has talked to grandma and asked him to arrange your wedding. All expenses will be on his shoulders. Consider it as compensation for the grievances you've suffered over the years."

Sha Zhu's face changed from gloomy to bright, and after a while he nodded and said

"Okay, there is only one uncle who doesn't ruin my marriage. I don't hate him and I respect him as an elder."

The deaf old lady nodded. She was relieved to see Sha Zhu let go of his worries. Yi Zhonghai and his wife had taken care of her for so many years. The deaf old lady didn't want Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai to really fall out. As long as Sha Zhu let it go, Yi Zhonghai would definitely make things right as before.

The deaf old lady looked at Sha Zhu and said

"Okay, you are a good boy. Pack up well tomorrow and send grandma back home."

Sha Zhu carried the deaf old lady on his back and walked out to the backyard.

Jia family

Jia Zhang muttered

"What is this old deaf lady doing at Sha Zhu's house in the middle of the night?"

"Qin Huairu, what do you think?"

"There is no progress between us and Zhang Renkang, that little bastard. We can't rely on Shazhu for a while. How are we going to live in the future?"

"Is your cousin okay?"

Qin Huairu finished feeding Huaihua the last mouthful of porridge and put the bowl away and said

"How would I know?"

"Zhang Renkang has turned his back on me. I can't possibly bring Jingru back, can I?"

Qin Huairu glanced at the Banggeng she was still playing with, and she was terrified. She understood Zhang Renkang's threat. Banggeng was her lifeblood. If Zhang Renkang really harmed her, she couldn't imagine what would happen in the future. As for whether Zhang Renkang would dare to do it, Qin Huairu didn't dare to bet on his behavior during this period. Didn't she see that Yi Zhonghai was already a bad name? It would be strange if He Daqing's return had nothing to do with Zhang Renkang. Otherwise, why didn't the Shazhu brothers and sisters find out about it in the past six months after not finding out for more than ten years?

Qin Huairu is not stupid, she is very scheming. She endured Jia Zhang's tyranny not only to avoid returning to the countryside, but more importantly to build her reputation as a filial son. Otherwise, Qin Huairu would be attracting bees and butterflies every day, and everyone would give her some leeway? Isn't it because she took care of three children and endured the bullying of the evil mother-in-law, and still remained filial to her?

Jia Zhang also said

"Matchmaker Wang came to our yard this afternoon. I wonder who she is going to propose marriage to? Maybe we will have a feast in a few days."

When he heard there was a feast, Bang Geng was so excited

"Grandma, I want to go to the feast and eat meat."

Jia Zhang said happily

"My dear grandson, grandma will take you to the banquet and we will eat to our heart's content."

Qin Huairu said suspiciously

"Mom, are you saying that you saw Matchmaker Wang coming to our yard?"

Jia Zhang said unhappily

"You don't believe me? I'm not blind, how could I not see such a big person? I saw him coming out from the backyard."

Jia Zhang's pig brain couldn't figure out the deep meaning of this for a while. She only knew that there might be a banquet later, but Qin Huairu was not stupid.