Inside Yi Zhonghai's house, the couple sat facing each other, with no joy at all.
There were currently seven families living in the Siheyuan (Courtyard), and only his family and the Deaf Old Lady had no children.
Other families could tease their children for fun, but he had nothing.
When Yi Zhonghai saw the Deaf Old Lady, he thought of himself, and a feeling of empathy arose in his heart: "Deaf Old Lady, have you visited her?"
Hearing Yi Zhonghai speak, Miao Cuilan breathed a sigh of relief: "I've been to see her.
The Old Lady was very angry."
"What happened?" Yi Zhonghai asked.
Miao Cuilan said: "It's all because of that Old He.
He got good things but didn't know how to show filial piety to her.
Sha Zhu, that child, is close to the Old Lady, but he even lectured Sha Zhu.
It made it so that when the Old Lady spoke to Sha Zhu this morning, Sha Zhu didn't even dare to respond."
Yi Zhonghai's face immediately darkened: "He Daqing is a scoundrel, why did the Old Lady go looking for trouble."
Miao Cuilan, at this moment, did not know the Deaf Old Lady's calculations, but merely spoke according to the Deaf Old Lady's character: "The Old Lady, she is always amiable to everyone.
As an Old Lady, she doesn't dare to offend anyone in the Courtyard."
This sentence again stirred Yi Zhonghai's sadness.
The Deaf Old Lady, at such an old age, still had to painstakingly curry favor with people in the Courtyard so as not to be bullied.
What about him?
When he reached the Deaf Old Lady's age, would he also have to be like the Deaf Old Lady and curry favor with those juniors?
He was unwilling.
The Deaf Old Lady, a woman, could humble herself and beg others.
How could he, a dignified man, casually bow his head to others?
This kind of sympathy, begged for, was not what he wanted at all.
However, he had no way to solve it.
He had been trying for over a decade with his wife; not to mention a son, he didn't even have a daughter.
And he couldn't abandon his wife.
Back then, when he was severely injured by those Japanese devils and traitors, it was his current wife who stayed by his side, cared for him, and healed his wounds.
If he abandoned his wife, others would curse him.
Now it was a new society, and the Government would not spare ungrateful people.
He had no other choice but to continue trying with his wife.
As soon as Miao Cuilan finished tidying up the room, Yi Zhonghai impatiently pushed her onto the bed, engaging in humanity's most primal urge.
Sounds quickly spread from their room.
He Daqing drank a glass of wine, quietly cursed, 'shameless,' then put down the glass: "Sha Zhu, you take care of Yushui tonight."
After speaking, he went to the west room.
The He family's house was the master bedroom in the Middle Courtyard, not small in area, and could be divided into three rooms.
Originally, He Daqing lived in the east with He Yushui, and Sha Zhu lived alone in the west.
But, the east side was close to Yi family's house, and often seductive sounds came from there.
How could He Daqing, an old bachelor, endure this?
Now it was different from before; there was no way to go to the Eight Great Alleys to solve these problems.
Finally, He Daqing sent Sha Zhu to this side and hid himself in the west, to avoid being disturbed.
Sha Zhu was a bit helpless; He Daqing couldn't stand that sound, and neither could he.
A young, strong man, he was in the prime of his energy.
This damned Siheyuan (Courtyard) was really too unfriendly to single people.
When He Daqing left, he would definitely find a way to soundproof the room, so as not to be tempted by his own hand.
Fortunately, in the Siheyuan (Courtyard) today, only the Yi family was 'working hard'.
The other families had no movement.
Thinking about it, Liu Haizhong's wife had just given birth, and the couple was too exhausted by the child to have energy.
Xu Fugui's wife went back to the Lou family to work today and was not present, so the Xu family naturally had no movement.
The young He Yushui, however, did not have so many thoughts; she just frowned and said: "Grandpa Yi is too scary, why does he hit Grandma Yi every day?"
Sha Zhu was speechless, and it was not good to explain to this little girl, so he just said: "Little girl, don't talk nonsense.
Come to sleep with me."
"Brother, hug me."
Sha Zhu picked up He Yushui and walked to the bed, immediately smelling a musty odor.
He Daqing, a big man, simply didn't know how to teach children; it was already good enough if he could ensure the child didn't starve to death.
It was really impossible to ask too much of him.
After he drank the spiritual spring, his physical qualities in all aspects improved, and his sense of smell also improved a lot, so he really couldn't stand this smell.
"Tomorrow, I must get up and air the quilt.
Alright, let's sleep!"
Lying on the bed, Sha Zhu was about to sleep, but He Yushui was not well-behaved, tossing and turning on him.
Sha Zhu held her: "Aren't you sleepy?"
"Brother, I can't sleep.
Will you play with me for a while?"
"Aren't you afraid Dad will get up and hit you?"
"No, Dad has never hit me."
Sha Zhu really had no experience dealing with this little girl, so he could only use temptation: "If you sleep obediently, tomorrow morning Brother will give you a piece of candy."
Hearing the word 'candy', He Yushui's mouth immediately watered.
Following He Daqing, a Master Craftsman, she didn't lack meat to eat, but she rarely ate candy.
"Brother, if you lie to me, I'll tell Dad."
"If you tell Dad, you won't get any candy."
He Yushui wavered between eating candy and telling He Daqing, then immediately chose to eat candy.
Sha Zhu finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly closed his eyes to sleep.
Unexpectedly, Yi Zhonghai, who had rested enough, began his second 'battle'.
Fortunately, the 'war potential' was insufficient, and it ended in less than three minutes.
Early the next morning, Sha Zhu woke up on his own without being called.
There was only a sliver of light outside; he took out his watch and looked at it, it was only half past five.
He couldn't fall back asleep even if he lay down, so he got up and went outside for a morning run.
He returned to the Siheyuan (Courtyard) around half past six.
"Sha Zhu, did you open the main gate?"
"Yes, I couldn't sleep this morning, so I went out to exercise."
"I thought a thief had gotten in."
Sha Zhu ignored Yan Bugui and quickly entered the Middle Courtyard.
At this time, everyone in the Middle Courtyard was up.
Miao Cuilan was making breakfast for Yi Zhonghai.
"Sha Zhu is back."
"Grandma Yi, your family is making breakfast today."
Miao Cuilan's face flushed; yesterday's 'great battle' naturally required some nutritional replenishment.
She treated Sha Zhu as a child, as a fool, and did not suspect Sha Zhu had other intentions.
"Your Grandpa Yi is a Pliers worker, dealing with iron every day.
He can't go hungry."
Sha Zhu didn't care about these; Yi Zhonghai was a Master Craftsman at the Steel Factory, with a good salary, how the couple ate was up to them; they could eat meat every day, let alone just breakfast.
Across the way, the Jia family heard the commotion outside.
Jia Zhangshi kicked Jia Dongxu, telling him to get up and curry favor with the Yi Zhonghai couple.
Jia Dongxu might lack other things, but his obedience and sweet talk were better than anyone else's.
Even Xu Damao, who later married into a village, couldn't compare.
"Grandma Yi, let me take that, I'll help you carry the water."
Miao Cuilan was stunned for a moment, then said: "No need, I can carry it."
How could Jia Dongxu agree?
He snatched the wooden bucket from her hand, carried a full bucket of water, and poured it into the Yi family's water vat.
"We are neighbors, helping each other is what we should do.
If you need anything in the future, just tell me."
Miao Cuilan glanced at the Jia family and said: "Dongxu, don't be like this.
If your mother sees it, she..."
Jia Dongxu smiled awkwardly: "It's nothing.
My mom just has that temper, don't mind her.
She's my mom, no matter how bad she is, I can't go against her.
If she said anything she shouldn't have, I apologize for her here."
Miao Cuilan looked at the handsome, sunny Jia Dongxu, feeling a bit envious.
If she could have a son, he would also be like Jia Dongxu.
"Good boy.
Your Grandpa Yi and I know your good intentions.
It wasn't easy for your mom to raise you.
It's right for you to be filial to her."