When school was on holiday, Aunt Gao helped her get some processing work from the street.

Folding paper boxes. The cardboard is pre-printed with patterns at the factory, and the folding lines are also pre-pressed by a machine. You just need to fold along the lines to make a box. It's a very simple job, but the pay is low; you only get one cent for folding a hundred.

Qi Chang disagreed with her doing this, feeling it was unnecessary. His salary was more than enough for them. If she were alone, Xu Keke would have actually told Qi Chang that she could just take his money. But she also had Meng Jia and Gao Lan by her side, and they didn't know the true nature of her relationship with Qi Chang.

So she needs a reason to explain where her money came from.

So, inspired by her, a craze for folding cardboard boxes swept through the courtyard during the day. Xu Keke and Gao Lan brought out the Gao family's long coffee table. The two little ones sat on small stools, each holding a chair as a small table.

Gao Jiale didn't participate. Ever since Xu Keke got first place in the grade, he had been burying himself in his studies and working hard. But the laughter that occasionally came from the yard would often make him put down his textbook and secretly look at the girl in the yard through the window.

"Meng Dong, no matter how well you study, you can't do as much manual labor as I can."

Seeing Gao Lan's proud expression, Xu Keke was speechless. It seemed that she really had a problem with handicrafts. It was clearly a simple origami box, but Gao Lan's fingers seemed to have magic, nimbly flipping through the paper boxes without any visible movement, and one box after another was folded.

The only one who can rival her is Xiao Mengjia.

To Xu Keke's dismay, even Gao Jiaqing, as long as he didn't move around or run around, could break the folds faster than she could.

Just as Xu Keke was being ridiculed by Gao Lan, Shen Meng, whom she had seen joking with Meng Zikang at the counter in the stationery store that day, walked in carrying a large bag.

She stood at the courtyard gate, her face grim as she glanced at them. Her expression darkened even more when she saw Xu Keke. She walked through them to the small house where they used to live.

When she took the key out of her pocket, Xu Keke finally confirmed that she was the person the stationery store had arranged to stay there.

"Kids, please make way, we need to move some things." Following behind Shen Meng came a short, somewhat unattractive man.

Because Shen Meng's gaze was unfriendly, and the man was really ugly, Xu Keke and Gao Lan exchanged a glance without saying a word, and moved their belongings under the eaves of their house with the two little ones.

Although the man was ugly, he was very warm-hearted. He not only helped them carry their things, but also gave them some fried dough twists and candy to eat.

In the evening, Gao Cheng and his wife returned, and the man went over to greet them. Manager Lin had spoken to Gao Cheng about this earlier, so Gao Cheng brought the man to Qi Chang's place.

Qi Chang, Xu Keke, and Meng Jia were eating around the table. Upon seeing them enter, Qi Chang stood up.

"This is Liu Jianguo, the wife of Comrade Shen from the stationery store. Before Lao Lin went on his business trip, he told me that they didn't have a house when they got married, so the stationery store arranged this house for them to live in. Lao Lin also said that we would be neighbors from now on, and we should all take care of each other."

Liu Jianguo is ugly, mainly because his eyes are small and he has an underbite. But because he is very attentive and polite to everyone, after a while, you don't find him so bad.

He glanced at Qi Chang and then at Xu Keke, "You two... are you a couple?"

Gao Cheng startled him. He had drunk too much that day and was talking nonsense. Manager Lin had talked to him privately for a long time. Even his wife had scolded him several times, complaining that he was always talking nonsense when he was drunk.

"Your eyesight is terrible. How old is this kid to be getting married? He hasn't even graduated high school yet. Besides, my brother is almost thirty. How could he possibly be married?"

Liu Jianguo smiled apologetically at Qi Chang, somewhat embarrassed, "I'm sorry, things aren't strictly regulated where I'm from. People get married as young as sixteen. I'm so sorry!"

Qi Chang said it was okay, but secretly rolled his eyes at Gao Cheng. What do you mean he's almost thirty? How can it be impossible?

"Jianguo, where's your wife? We didn't see her when we got back. Is she not home?" Gao Cheng saw that Liu Jianguo didn't seem unhappy after he finished talking to him, and his attitude was actually quite sincere, so he thought that this man was easy to get along with and stopped being polite.

"Oh, she's tired. Moving today must have been exhausting for her. Let's wait until tomorrow."

Today was the move. I saw Shen Meng carrying a bag inside. She didn't come out again. It was all Liu Jianguo's doing, and she even said she was tired. Liu Jianguo kept saying "tomorrow" twice, without explaining why. Xu Keke knew that Liu Jianguo's status in the family wasn't very high. But thinking about it, it makes sense. Shen Meng isn't bad-looking; judging from her expression, she probably wasn't happy marrying this man. I just don't understand why she married him if she wasn't happy.

After the couple moved in, for a long time, it felt like Liu Jianguo was the only one living there. Chen Meng was like a shadow, silently coming and going every day, never speaking to anyone.

Aunt Gao initially tried to greet her, but Chen Meng only gave her a cold look, held her head high, and walked away. This infuriated Aunt Gao.

To be honest, if it weren't for Liu Jianguo, Chen Meng wouldn't be able to live in this courtyard at all. In this day and age, no one can live without interacting with others.

Just like electricity and water bills, these are collected by each household in the yard in turn and then handed over to the neighborhood committee. If you don't pay, they'll keep coming to your house to collect. If it's your turn and you don't go to collect, the neighborhood committee will also come and talk to you. Lack of unity is a very serious mistake.

Liu Jianguo remained behind Shen Meng, apologizing to everyone for her rudeness.

This led to the first argument in that small house.

"Liu Jianguo, I don't need you to pretend to be a good guy. ... I'm just not proactive, so what? If you're so capable, let them sue me. ... Let me tell you, this room was arranged by our shop. If you don't want to stay, then get out."

Chen Meng, who was usually quiet, suddenly erupted, her voice so loud that it even disturbed the people in the next courtyard.

It was around eight o'clock in the evening, and most families had finished dinner and were gathered in the courtyard to enjoy the cool air. Hearing the noise, people who had nothing else to do all came over. At first, they just peeked around, but eventually the courtyard was filled with people.

They knocked on the door for a long time, and Chen Meng shouted from inside, "Our family matters are none of your business."

"Liu Jianguo, if you dare to open the door, you can forget about coming back today."

Someone had called over the woman in charge of the neighborhood committee. Shen Meng finally opened the door.