Just a few days later, they moved to Yu'er Hutong. This three-courtyard house was about 600 square meters, roughly an acre in size.

There is a strict north-south central axis. The entrance is located in the southeast corner (there is a saying that "purple aura comes from the east" and "longevity is like the Southern Mountain").

Upon entering, one is greeted by a screen wall, often adorned with exquisite brick carvings. Potted plants are frequently placed in front of the screen wall to bring life to the space. The screen wall also serves as a turning point along the spatial axis.

From a spatial art perspective, turning corners is a subtle technique; however, in ancient times, its primary purpose was to ward off evil spirits. It was said that after several turns, negative energy could not enter the house. A screen wall prevented people from directly seeing inside the house, symbolizing that wealth should not be flaunted and family scandals should not be publicized.

Upon entering the house, there is a small and narrow courtyard. On the south side, there is a row of north-facing houses called "daozuo," which are the servants' rooms. They can also be used for guests to stay overnight, while the others are used to store miscellaneous items.

At the north end of the courtyard is a wall, and in the center (on the central axis of the house) is a magnificently decorated gate called the hanging flower gate. Inside the gate is a large courtyard, which is the main courtyard of the "Siheyuan" (traditional courtyard house).

The main courtyard is a deep courtyard with greenery. The main house, which occupies the central position in the courtyard and runs through the central axis, faces south and is the largest in the entire house. The head of the household (elder) lives here. There are also east and west side rooms and small courtyards on both sides of it.

To the left and right of directly in front are the side rooms, where the younger generation lives. The side rooms are small in size and shallow in depth. The buildings are connected by corridors, so there are no wet paths on rainy days.

Behind the main house is a small courtyard, which is the third section. A row of houses faces south and is called "Zhaofang," which generally served as servants' quarters, storerooms, and utility rooms. The entire house is usually enclosed with no windows on the exterior, making it quite quiet.

There are more than forty rooms, which can accommodate all the current members of the Shen family, with plenty of room to spare.

Fortunately, the move was quick. Not to mention that the courtyard in Yu'er Hutong had everything it needed, and most of the furniture and decorations were bought from the secondhand market.

However, the valuable furniture was not displayed openly. Putting aside everything else, these are all treasures. Even if we don't talk about their monetary value, their historical value alone is very high.

It's safe to say that the happiest people here are the children. Putting aside everything else, at least the boys now each have their own room.

My parents live in the main room, and my third brother and I live in the east wing. What can we do? It's our house, after all. We can't just live here ourselves and give this room to my eldest brother or someone else!

Besides the rooms where I lived and my third brother lived, there was another room in the east wing that I had converted into a study, and another room that I used as a reception room.

Besides the west wing room where the daughter lived, the other two rooms were arranged into a large study. This room was more like a small classroom for the children in the family to study.

As for where they and their elder brother lived, they lived in the rear building. Why not the back building? Instead, I planned to use it as offices, a tea room, meeting rooms, and so on.

There's no way around it; I have too many things to deal with right now. I can't just bring them to the second courtyard to handle them. Not only would it affect other people, but it would also affect my child's studies at home.

This is perfect; with a larger space, we can sometimes hold meetings together. Otherwise, we would have to specifically find a time and place.

Also, I and other friends are discussing building an ecological farm. Sometimes, not only are there too many people, but other problems may also arise. It's more convenient to do it here.

Although we moved out of the family compound, the Spring Festival was still quite lively.

However, there were quite a few people missing from the family this year. Not to mention, my eldest brother and sister-in-law were not here, nor were my fourth brother and Xinyue. It was just my husband and I, my second sister's family, and the children from the other two families who spent the New Year with our parents.

There are two things to do after the New Year. One is to transfer all the children in the family to different schools.

But this is easy to solve. Putting aside everything else, the children in the family have excellent academic performance, which goes without saying.

Moreover, teachers all hope that high-achieving students will come to their schools.

Moreover, all of my children are now in school, and even the youngest, Xiao Shi, will be in first grade when school starts in the fall.

The eldest son, Shen Zhengze, was born in 1969 and is 14 years old this year, a high school sophomore.

The children in my family are doing well in school now, and they don't need adults to supervise them. They've all been taught since they were little.

Despite the changes from a six-year primary school system to a three-year junior high school system, he still managed to skip a grade.

Another crucial point is that there is no requirement for urban children to be at least 7 years old to start first grade.

The children in my family started school a little later in the countryside, while other children were carried to first grade when they were 6 years old.

Even though Mantou, Pingping, and An'an started school a year later, they were already doing well in the city, and when they first returned, they skipped a grade.

The second child, Pingping, Chen Xiuyuan, and the third child, An'an, Chen Weizhe, were all born in 1970 and are 13 years old this year, in their first year of high school.

The fourth child, Baozi Shen Junde, was born in 1971 and is 12 years old this year. He is in the third year of junior high school.

The fifth child, Mingming Shen Haotian, also known as Zhao Haotian, was born in 1972 and is 11 years old this year, in the second year of junior high school.

The sixth child, Doubao Shen Hongyu, was born in 1973 and is 10 years old this year. He is in the first year of junior high school.

The seventh child, Jiajia Shen Mingcheng, also known as Zhao Mingcheng, was born in 1974 and is 9 years old this year, in the sixth grade.

The eighth child, Shen Zhiheng (Biscuit), and the ninth child, Shen Ruohua (Dumpling), were all born in 1975 and are 8 years old this year, in the fifth grade.

Xiao Shi, also known as Shen Junzhi, was born in 1978 and just turned six this year. He lives in misery every day because his older brothers and sisters skipped a grade. As a result, his parents, Jiaozi and Binggan, force him to learn first and second grade material ahead of time.

They also said that if they couldn't skip a grade, the two of them would say that Xiao Shi was their younger brother, which would make them lose face.

They never really interfered with their children's studies because the older children were there to help with them, so it didn't cause their parents much worry.

Also, despite having so many children in the family, the way they are disciplined is that the eldest child disciplines the second, the second, and so on down to the third.

As a result, Xiao Shi would spend all his time complaining at home, wondering why his mother didn't give him another younger brother or sister.

Put him in the smallest position. Not to mention anything else, even his son Dumpling and his older brother Biscuit are the two people who can control him the most. You could say he is controlled by two people.

Most importantly, all ten of their children have been practicing martial arts since they were very young. Even the youngest, Xiao Shi, has to get up and practice every day. No adults need to call him. If he tries to be lazy, the dumplings and biscuits at home will drag him out of bed.