Although Yi Zhonghai lost some money during his trip to the Yan family, he basically achieved his goal. At least he kept Yan Fugui in check and his own position in the courtyard was not threatened.

At this time, the most severe food crisis had not yet arrived, Jia Dongxu was still alive, and everything in the courtyard was operating according to basic rules. Once these two events occurred, these basic standards would be broken.

But if one truly chooses not to get involved in these matters, one can remain uninvolved within the courtyard house, at most donating money a few more times. Anyway, these old men only really want to swindle Sha Zhu; everyone else is just watching the show from the sidelines.

Fortunately, Yan Jiecheng's affair kept the news firmly in the headlines of the courtyard, preventing anyone from spreading the word that Xu Damao had found a girlfriend. If it had, given Sha Zhu's personality, he would have certainly caused trouble.

Meanwhile, Xu Damao was pondering how to meet his girlfriend's parents for the first time. Neither his past nor future self had any experience meeting potential partners, which made him quite apprehensive. After some thought, Xu Damao decided to seek advice from his father.

After Xu Damao transmigrated, he rarely went back to his parents' home; he got used to living alone in the compound.

The elderly couple only had one son, and they were wholeheartedly planning his future, including his job and finding him a wife. They were certainly capable of handling these two matters, though they must have spent a considerable amount of money and favors.

Xu Damao's parents also lived in a large courtyard, which was smaller than the Hongxing Siheyuan area, but they managed to find another room in a place where housing was scarce. They were truly capable.

Xu Fugui lived with his mother and younger sister Xu Fengling, and they were quite carefree. Xu Fugui and Yan Fugui were known as the two richest men in the courtyard, but Xu's father was truly rich, while Yan was just pretending to be rich.

After getting off work, Xu Damao did not go straight back to the courtyard house, but rode his bicycle to his parents' house.

"Brother, what brings you here today?"

Xu Fengling was delighted to see Xu Damao enter the house first. Xu Fengling is only 10 years old and still in elementary school; she admires her older brother quite a bit.

In her eyes, her brother was a good brother who could often get her a lot of good food and drinks, and sometimes even took her to the amusement park. However, back when they lived in the courtyard house, her brother often fought with Sha Zhu, and he was always the one who got beaten up.

"Fengling, here's some candy for you." Xu Damao took out a few White Rabbit milk candies from his pocket.

"Brother, could you bring me something else next time? I'm not a child anymore." Xu Fengling was very unhappy that her brother always treated her like a child, but she didn't hesitate to eat the candy.

"Da Mao, have you eaten?" Xu's mother asked.

"I haven't eaten. Mom, get me something to eat, and I'll have a drink with Dad." Xu Damao said, seeing Xu Fugui drinking alone.

"Hey kid, what's up with you today? Are you going to ask me for money or tickets again?" Xu Fugui felt uneasy seeing Xu Damao being so attentive today.

He knew his son all too well. The boy was smart from a young age, but it was all just superficial cleverness. He'd always liked strange and unusual things, and he could learn things from the streets very quickly, but he completely missed the point about textbooks.

When he grew up, in order to prevent him from getting too close to the drifters in society, Xu Fugui tried every means to leave his job to him while he found another job.

Moreover, in order to toughen up the boy, the couple took their youngest daughter and left, letting Xu Damao live on his own and experience the hardships of life. But in fact, they still kept an eye on him.

Every time this kid comes home, he either asks for money or tickets, or he's done something wrong and is trying to avoid trouble. This time, he's prepared for trouble too.

"Dad, what you're saying is so disrespectful to your son. Think about it, how bad could your son, Xu Fugui, be? Let me tell you, this is a good thing, a really good thing. I won't ask you for money or tickets this time, but I think you two will bring them to me on your own initiative."

Xu Damao took a sip of wine and started bragging.

"Son, you haven't done anything bad outside, have you? If you have, tell your dad properly, but don't lie to us. Tell us so our whole family can discuss it and help you."

When Xu's mother heard her son's nonsensical words, she felt that he was setting a trap for the two of them and trying to deceive them.

"Sigh, how did I end up like this? Okay, I'll just tell you the truth so you don't overthink it."

"Well, I've started dating someone, and I'm planning to meet her parents this week." Seeing his parents' increasingly absurd claims, Xu Damao quickly revealed the truth. His predecessor was truly unreliable.

"What? You've got a boyfriend?" Xu's mother suddenly exclaimed, and Xu's father was also taken aback. Only Xu's younger sister, Xu Fengling, listened curiously, waiting for Xu Damao to continue.

"Where is she from? How old is she? What do her parents do? What is her family background?" A barrage of questions came from the parents' mouths. Sure enough, parents of all generations have the same attitude towards their children's marriages.

Next, Xu Damao began his long journey of explanation. After Xu Damao gave a brief report on recent events, his parents looked at him with strange eyes.

"What? Is something wrong? I'm not young anymore, I should be able to find a partner, right?" Xu Damao felt a little guilty, wondering if he was different from the Xu Damao he used to be, and if he had been found out.

"You've finally grown up a bit and become more sensible. Putting aside your relationship, with your personality, I figured you'd never lack for partners. But the fact that you've become a group leader and even mentored someone to learn projection is really a bit unexpected."

This shows that you at least have your own considerations now and can make a comprehensive plan for the future. Since you now have progressive ideas, I can't help but support you. In this way, we've managed to save some money over the years.

We were originally thinking that if you were unreliable, these were for cleaning up your messes. Now, I'll have your mom get them out for you later; you might need them then.

Xu Fugui had been showing movies before liberation, and continued to do so after liberation for the Lou family and then for the steel rolling mill. He must have accumulated quite a fortune.

Next, Mr. and Mrs. Xu began a makeshift training session for Xu Damao on how to meet his girlfriend's parents. Xu Fengling, watching from the side, couldn't stop laughing, and was only calmed down after being lightly slapped several times by her mother.

"Da Mao, according to what you said, they shouldn't have any other opinions about you, so you should relax. However, you need to be more serious and put away your previous unreliable habits."

Also, you must tell Minzhi's parents that we'd like the two families to meet. They've already decided on the time and place. You absolutely must say this to show our attitude and how much we value them.

"Sigh, thinking about you, finding a girlfriend must have been so easy for you. Your mother and I were even talking about giving some gifts to the matchmaker or something."

Xu Fugui had drunk some wine and started rambling on.