165 You've finally met your match.
"He needs to find a partner soon; staying single like this isn't a good thing."
When Jiang Guiying heard that they were going to mobilize the masses to introduce potential partners to Ding Xuewen, she praised them for doing this and said that they should do it as soon as possible.
"Don't be fooled by how well the brothers get along now. As time goes on, seeing that Ding Laosi is so successful but still unmarried, just wait and see. They'll definitely start thinking about who will take care of Ding Laosi in his old age."
Guan Yuehe and the others hadn't thought of this aspect, but after Jiang Guiying reminded them, they felt that it wasn't impossible.
The practice of taking advantage of someone's family's assets isn't solely targeted at women. For example, there was an old man in a hutong (traditional alleyway) whose wife and children had all passed away early, leaving him to live alone. Relatives from his hometown came to him, saying they would take care of him in his old age and see him off in his final days, but in reality, they were after his job and house.
Jiang Guiying added, "Uncle Li's nephews and nieces are honest and don't covet his things. As for Ding Laosi's brothers, their brotherly affection is barely as thick as a fingernail."
What kind of partner is Ding Laosi looking for?
When Guan Yuehe mentioned Ding Xuewen's idea, Jiang Guiying immediately abandoned the idea of asking the elderly folks in the alley to introduce him to potential partners.
"I almost forgot the important thing." Jiang Guiying didn't continue, slapped her forehead, and said, "Your aunt called this morning and said that she wants to come and see you in a couple of days and stay in the city for a couple of days. I'll go and tidy up the small room next to yours."
"We'll pack up later," Guan Yuehe said. "Ding Xuewen wants to stay the night."
Ding Xuewen originally planned to go home in the afternoon, but when Aunt Fang came to see Lin Ting, she asked them to stay for dinner that night. Thinking that it would be inconvenient to go home that night, Guan Yuehe let him stay at her house for one night.
"Staying here with you? That's fine. Your older brother and sister-in-law have gone back home; you can let him stay at their house."
Guan Yuehe didn't respond. Her elder brother and sister-in-law took Yangyang back, but Weiwei and Jingjing were still staying there. If Ding Xuewen went to stay there, wouldn't he have to sleep on the same kang (heated brick bed) with Guan Aiguo and Weiwei?
Jiang Guiying continued, "Ding Lao Er and his wife came back to No. 3 Courtyard to pay New Year's visits. They were just discussing at home whether their two sons should vacate a room so that Ding Lao Si could stay at their house."
"The entire Ding family is obsessed with Ding Lao Er."
Ding Lao Er bought the room that Ding Xuewen had been allocated, and his two sons moved into the No. 3 courtyard.
Compared to the sons of Ding Laoda and Ding Laosan, Ding Laoer's two sons mastered Ding Laoer's glib tongue and were particularly eloquent.
Ding Lao Er felt that his relationship with Ding Xuewen was beyond repair, so he wanted his two sons to get along well with Ding Xuewen, since the past had nothing to do with the children.
After Jiang Guiying finished speaking, she didn't care whether Guan Yuehe responded or not. Just then, Lin Ting woke up, so she reached out to touch the diaper and made some noises with her for a while before going to tidy up the small room.
Guan Yuehe finally breathed a sigh of relief and whispered to her daughter, "Your grandma is such a chatterbox, she never stops talking. We should really let Guyu come back and stay for a few days."
Fortunately, Jiang Guiying was only halfway through packing when Chen Lizhong and Xu Cheng brought back a bamboo basket.
"Huh! Where did all these fish come from? Did you go ice fishing?"
“There were people selling them ahead, so we bought some together. We split it among ourselves, it’s not much.”
Xu Cheng nodded. He hadn't come back for New Year's Eve dinner yesterday, but he couldn't skimp on New Year's gifts, so he planned to bring two more to send over later.
"Aunt Jiang, here's some more, for adding to tonight's dishes." Ding Xuewen carried meat in both hands.
The Guan and Lin families are having hot pot tonight, and they've also invited Ding Xuewen and Xu Chengcai's family of four, enough to fill a large table. They just went out to buy meat, worried that with them, the meat they originally prepared wouldn't be enough.
"Don't be so polite, we have plenty of meat at home." Jiang Guiying thought to herself, "Life is really good now, there's even a time when people complain about having too much meat."
"What's in this big bag?" Jiang Guiying asked, noticing that Lin Yiku was carrying a net bag full of things wrapped in black cloth, making it impossible to see what they were.
"The milk powder that Zhong Sheng brought back from Inner Mongolia is for Lin Ting to drink."
Yuehe's leave is limited. According to national regulations, maternity leave is 56 days, but in practice, after her confinement period, she still has to go to her workplace to handle work.
This means that Lin Ting will have to drink milk during the day at home, and Yue He will only have time to breastfeed Lin Ting after she gets off work.
He probably won't be able to drink this bag for long. When Zhong Sheng goes to Inner Mongolia again in a while, I'll have to ask him to bring more.
Jiang Guiying wisely refrained from asking how much it cost, knowing that if she did, she would feel bad about the expense.
She had experience feeding babies formula. When Yuehua went to university, Guyu was still young and drank formula the whole time.
Believe it or not, drinking formula milk has its benefits. Look how sturdy Gu Yu is; even people a year older than her aren't as plump.
Seeing Guan Yuehe peering out of the room, Jiang Guiying quickly waved her hand, "The door is wide open, hurry up and come inside."
They even suggested adding an extra layer of curtain to their door to block the wind better.
After finishing her work, Jiang Guiying returned to Courtyard No. 3. Before leaving, she instructed them to process the meat they were going to eat that night.
We're having dinner at Guan Yuehe's place tonight, so there's no need to bother bringing it back and forth.
Xu Cheng took the fish he was going to send home with him, along with the two children, leaving Qin Zilan behind.
Qin Zilan didn't want to go over and hear any more unpleasant things, so she let the men handle the meat and wash the vegetables while she and Lin Sitian busied themselves making noodles.
Guan Yuehe became a hands-off manager, only responsible for keeping Lin Ting company on the kang (a heated brick bed). Seeing that Lin Ting didn't want to sleep, she started teaching him a foreign language.
"German is the most difficult to learn, so let's start with that."
Lin Sitian and Qin Zilan, who were outside, heard this and were speechless.
Before long, Lin Ting started howling loudly.
Guan Yuehe sighed and whispered to Lin Ting, who was only three days old, "We can't let him learn to dislike studying."
—
When Ding Lao Er arrived at Courtyard No. 1, he happened to see Ding Xuewen cleaning fish.
Since the two brothers met again in September, Ding Xuewen now appears to be an intellectual to Ding Lao Er, but when he sees him skillfully cleaning fish, he feels that Ding Xuewen has completely changed.
"Do you need something?" Ding Xuewen looked at him warily, several thoughts running through his mind, thinking that he wouldn't come to the temple without a reason.
"Oh." Ding Lao Er came to his senses. "It's too much of a hassle for you to go back after dinner. I had your two nephews clear out a room for you to stay in tonight."
Ding Xuewen didn't answer, but stared at him without blinking.
The breath I exhaled quickly blurred my glasses, making it difficult to see the person standing opposite me clearly.
"What's wrong?" Ding Lao Er was stared at and subconsciously reached out to touch his face.
"No need, Yuehe and Brother Yiku have spare rooms at their homes, I'll stay here tonight." After saying that, Ding Xuewen lowered his head and busied himself with scaling the fish.
Ding Lao Er opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't say anything to persuade him to go home.
He was about to say that there was no need to trouble outsiders, but as the words were about to come out, he felt that in Lao Si's heart, he was the outsider.
Ding Lao Er said awkwardly, "Alright, I'll head back now."
Ding Xuewen didn't look up even once until he walked out of the gate of No. 1 Courtyard.
When Ding Laosan and his wife, who lived in the gatehouse of Courtyard No. 2, saw him come out alone, they knew that Ding Xuewen did not want to go home.
Ding Sansao closed the door and whispered, "I told you long ago, there's no need to keep trying to get close to him. Fourth Brother has no relationship with us, it's pointless to force ourselves on him."
Just as they finished speaking, they heard Lin Sitian walk past their door, calling out as she went, "Xu Chengcai, dinner's ready, come on over quickly."
Xu Chengcai was so tired of hearing his parents constantly talking about their eldest child returning to the city that he was about to get sick of it. As soon as Lin Sitian called out, he immediately had an excuse to slip away and hurriedly called the two kids to leave.
The large table used for dinner was borrowed from Uncle Ming; it was barely big enough for everyone to sit around.
The pot in the middle kept steaming, and a plate of meat would disappear in no time.
While everyone else was busy talking, Guan Yuehe quietly focused on eating the hot pot meat. With Lin Yiku occasionally adding a bite to her plate, she was trying to finish a week's worth in one meal.
It wasn't until Guan Canghai called her name, "Director Guan, wouldn't you like to say a few words?"
Director Guan finally deigned to look up. Seeing everyone staring at her, she put down her chopsticks and asked, "What do you want to say?"
"You see, when you leaders hold a big meeting, don't you always give some kind of vision or something?"
"Then I wish everyone a happy new year, may you continue to eat and drink well."
Guan Canghai laughed loudly, "Alright, our Director Guan is more practical."
"Stop with all that fancy stuff. Being able to eat and drink well is what makes life good!" Guan Yuehe picked up her chicken soup bowl, clinked it with everyone's, and said with a smile, "Let's drink together again next year."
Guan Canghai snorted. It was really difficult to get her to take out the wine she had hidden. If she couldn't drink it, she would keep the wine for another year.
"Don't hum, you won't get any even if you hum."
"Alright, alright, let's wait for Director Guan's wine next year."
The whole room burst into laughter.
Guan Yuehe's bowl was brought closer, and Ding Xuewen quickly picked up his own bowl and clinked it with hers. Then he heard Guan Yuehe say, "You can bring one more family member next year."
When it was Xu Chengcai and Qin Zilan's turn, she changed her tune again, "You two can't bring too many people. You have to respond to the country's call and strive to become advanced workers."
"What about me?" Lin Sitian waited to see what other tricks she could come up with.
"You decide what to do." Guan Yuehe winked at her. The others didn't understand, but Lin Sitian understood immediately and almost laughed until she cried.
After Director Guan finished speaking, another round of discussion broke out in the room, about whether or not the houses outside were worth buying.
It all started when Grandpa Lin asked Ding Xuewen if his house was expensive. Later, Xu Cheng mentioned how much his house cost. The elders were shocked—these younger generations had all bought houses?!
The older generation's thinking is still stuck on the idea that "the work unit will allocate housing sooner or later." Guan Yuehe and her group could actually be allocated housing, but what they see is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to apply for welfare housing from the work unit, and housing outside is becoming more and more expensive every year. Since they have money in hand, they might as well buy a house to secure their children's future.
Xu Chengcai hadn't thought that far ahead, and frankly said, "Yuehe and the others are well-read and knowledgeable. If they think the house is worth buying, then it is definitely worth buying."
He doesn't need to think much; he can just follow the trend.
This discussion brought out the desire of the four elders to buy a house.
—
Guan Yuehe couldn't go out for a stroll this Spring Festival, but she still had a lively time.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the childhood friends gathered together, and on the second day, Gu Yu, with her sloppy mouth, came back with Guan Yuehua.
The entire alley was filled with Gu Yu's voice calling out to her friends to go to the supply and marketing cooperative.
Seeing that Lin Ting looked a little better, Gu Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and whispered something in Lin Ting's ear.
Guan Yuehe saw it and found it amusing. As soon as Gu Yu ran out, she told Guan Yuehua about it.
"She and Lin were whispering to each other?" Guan Yuehua chuckled. "She's said it several times at home. She'll give Lin all her tin frogs to listen to later. You'd better prepare a basket."
"Could she really bear to do that?" Guan Yuehe wondered.
"What's there to be reluctant about? She's obsessed with her new toy now and doesn't care about the tin frog anymore."
Gu Yu hid all the New Year's money given to her by the adults and instead brought two toy cars home. She teased the cats and dogs in the residential compound, showing off her toys everywhere, which made several of the children upstairs and downstairs cry.
Guan Yuehua's head throbbed at the thought of a bunch of toy cars soon appearing in her house.
Jiang Guiying always says that Gu Yu's love of shopping comes from her, and even when she wants to get angry, she feels that she is not in the right and does not have the strength to back it up.
Guan Yuehe laughed heartily, taking advantage of her current "protection period" and not being afraid of being scolded at all, she gloated and said, "You've finally met your match!"
Enraged, Guan Yuehua turned and left.
By the time we reached the third year of junior high, those who had jobs were busy going to work, and the alley quieted down. But when my aunt's family came to the city, the liveliness was restored.
When Auntie saw Lin Ting, she said that she looked exactly like Guan Yuehe when she was a child.
"Right? I see she's getting cuter and cuter, I know she takes after me." Guan Yuehe unceremoniously claimed all the good things for herself.
"He seems to have a good temper." Only after Lin Yiku went to work and wasn't home did his aunt feel at ease speaking ill of him to Guan Yuehe: "If he inherited Yiku's temper when he was a child, I would have a headache for you."
Guan Yuehe laughed heartily. Even Lin Yiku said the same thing, which shows how deeply Lin Yiku's mischievous image was ingrained in people's minds.
"Does she cause a lot of trouble at night?"
"He didn't make much of a fuss and was very well-behaved." Except when he was hungry and howled so loudly that you could see his throat, he was a good-tempered child most of the time.
Her aunt carefully examined her complexion and, seeing that she didn't seem to be suffering from lack of rest, felt relieved. However, she still repeatedly reminded her to take good care of herself during her postpartum period and to put other matters aside for now.
In reality, with Lin Yiku helping to soothe her at night and two mothers coming over to help during the day, she really didn't have much to worry about.
For work-related matters, Gao Zhiyuan and the others are there, and there's also a new colleague who will be joining after the New Year, who can help share the workload.
She's just waiting to recover so she can go back to work.
After talking about the child and her, the aunt mentioned that they were going to build a new house in their hometown.
“There’s still some land left on the family’s land. Your second brother is thinking of demolishing the house and rebuilding it so that we can live more spaciously in the future. When the apple trees bear fruit in a year or two, we can pick the apples and have a place to put them at home.”
"You're rebuilding the house so soon?!" Guan Yuehe exclaimed happily, "It seems Second Brother has earned quite a bit these past two years."
"Every household in the brigade has made money this year." Auntie said with a smile. "Everyone says that the current policies are good. Those who are willing to work hard will not go hungry, and those who are diligent can even make money."
"That's good."
Author's Note: [Peeking while covering face]
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