The fat man quickly wiped away Yu Li's tears and asked her softly, "What's wrong, honey?"
Yu Li also rubbed her eyes hard and shook her head, saying, "It's nothing." She originally wanted to say the rest of the sentence, "Don't waste money on me anymore," but seeing the fat man's tender gaze, she didn't say it.
"This courtyard is quite complicated. Let's start with the front yard. Right across from us is Yan Bugui, an elementary school teacher. He's the third uncle in this courtyard, nicknamed 'Old Yan Xi.' He's always scheming. He schemes about everything under the sun. There's no loophole he can't exploit, and no advantage he can't take! His whole family is the same, and since they live so close to us, you have to keep a close eye on them."
Yu Li understood: "Be polite and don't talk about profit."
"Is she really that talented?" The fat man looked at Yu Li with some surprise, and then continued, "Speaking of the middle courtyard, the Jia family lives in the west wing, Yi Zhonghai lives in the east wing, and Sha Zhu lives in the main house. These three families have to be mentioned together."
Yu Li asked curiously, "Why?"
“Remember this, they are a whole. Yi Zhonghai is an eighth-grade fitter in our factory, in charge of everything big and small in this yard, he’s the one who keeps things running smoothly in our yard. He always acts all high and mighty; Jia Jia’s Qin Huairu’s husband died in a work accident, and she and her mother-in-law are raising three children alone; as for that idiot Zhu, he’s an old bachelor, 30 years old and still no wife. He was the substitute mentor I was assigned when I first joined the factory, he’s a real scoundrel.”
Yu Li was a little puzzled: "How did these three seemingly unrelated families become a whole?"
The fat man took a sip of water: "The root of this problem is in the backyard. You've met Xu Damao's family; they're probably the family we have the best relationship with in this courtyard. Sister-in-law Xiao'e is a well-educated lady from a respectable family; you can spend more time with her. But you need to be careful with Xu Damao."
"How so?"
"He's a real scoundrel, a complete villain. He's the type who can't stand seeing others do well, and he'll stop at nothing to climb the social ladder. He'll turn his back on his family for power. And he's shameless too, saying one thing to one person and another to another."
Yu Li understood: "I will stay far away from him."
Her obedient appearance made the fat man envious, so he hugged her and kissed her, which made Yu Li scold him.
The fat man chuckled, "After talking about his family, we have to talk about the deaf old lady. She's the oldest, and she's one of the five-guarantee households in this courtyard. Those three families in the middle courtyard have her backing them up. The deaf old lady has prestige, Yi Zhonghai has a tiny bit of power, the Jia family is responsible for gaining sympathy, and finally, Sha Zhu is responsible for acting as the henchman. Now you understand the complicated situation in this courtyard, right?"
After a while, Yu Li slowly processed the information and then asked, "It seems you missed one, didn't you?"
"Yes, this is Liu Haizhong's family in the backyard. He is the second eldest uncle in this courtyard. What exactly is this so-called eldest uncle? He is someone elected by the neighborhood committee to coordinate neighborly relations, mediate disputes, and handle trivial matters."
The fat man paused and continued, "But you should be careful about this fringe. It's like a wolf in the mountains; it goes crazy when it gets ahead."
Yu Li looked at the fat man with a pitiful expression: "I don't understand..."
The fat man pinched Yu Li's chin, finding it very pleasant to touch: "This person has deeply ingrained feudalistic ideas. He idolizes politics and only wants to become an official. He's obsequious in public but ruthless at home. He's a hypocrite. He's the kind of person who would willingly frame others for personal gain. Yet, he can't even read two characters, is completely illiterate, and is more of a hindrance than a help."
Seeing how serious he was making it sound, Yu Li became even more determined to keep her distance from Liu Haizhong's family.
"Finally, let's talk about the middle courtyard. Yi Zhonghai and his wife have no children, and since they watched Sha Zhu grow up, they treat him like a nephew. The deaf old lady in the back courtyard is the same. It is because of these two families protecting him that Sha Zhu can cause trouble in this courtyard time and time again, but in the end, nothing happens to him."
When they were preparing the feast together before the New Year, Yu Li heard Zhao Lao Er talk about the feud between Fatty and him. Although she only heard bits and pieces, she still understood a little bit.
The fat man continued, "The Jia family, Jia Zhangshi is a master."
"An expert?"
The fat man nodded: "She's definitely an expert. She's a rural woman who lost her son in her old age and lives with her daughter-in-law. She's almost unable to work. Yet she's managed to occupy such a nice house in this courtyard. Not only is she not mistreated, but she lives a very comfortable life. Could she not be an expert?"
Yu Li frowned and said, "But didn't you just say that it's not easy for those two women to raise three children?"
The fat man smoothed her eyebrows: "Don't frown easily, it will leave wrinkles. Look at Qin Huairu, she never frowns easily."
Yu Li slapped the fat man's hand away and whispered, "Stop fooling around."
The fat man chuckled and said, "They're not having an easy time at all! They have a sewing machine at home."
Yu Li's voice suddenly rose: "A sewing machine?"
"That's right, it's the Flying Man brand."
Yu Li exclaimed in surprise, "Yes, you said it was 150! And you need a ticket too!"
The fat man grunted twice before saying, "Now you know, right? Qin Huairu's deadbeat husband died in a work accident, so he received a lot of compensation; Qin Huairu took her husband's place at the factory and earns 27.5 yuan a month."
Yu Li asked, puzzled, "That's not much, but our family of six used to make ends meet on my eldest sister's salary of 32.5 yuan, didn't we?"
The fat man patted Yu Li's head with satisfaction: "You've hit the nail on the head. Qin Huairu's family is clearly not poor, but they always complain about being poor. Somehow, they've become the key beneficiaries of this community's poverty alleviation efforts, and they go around begging for money at the end of the month."
Yu Li looked disgusted: "Isn't this just vampire behavior! If I had a sewing machine, I could make a set of clothes in three days, so how could I be poor?"
"..."
The fat man recounted to Yu Li the changes in his relationship with Sha Zhu since he came to this world.
"That bastard actually dared to make a move on my second sister. He should take a piss and look at himself in the mirror!"
Yu Li's gaze was strange, making the fat man feel uneasy: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You just don't want your three older sisters to get married. You can't bear to!"
The fat man, as if his secret had been exposed, became furious and embarrassed: "I didn't!"
"Yes! Especially Chen Yan!"
He'd forgotten they were best friends. The fat man asked Yu Li rudely, "Have you finished eating?"
Yu Li quickly stuffed the last two pieces of pork belly into the fat man's mouth, then stood up to clean up.
The fat man chewed on his belly while hoisting Yu Li onto his shoulder.
He held her long legs with both hands, making her lie face down, head down. Yu Li kicked and struggled, yelling, "Put me down..."
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