Since getting together with Li Chu, Ding Qiunan has changed a lot under his influence. She no longer lives a stingy life like before.
The two of them each held an ice pop and ate it as they walked.
"The hospital gave me two pounds of meat coupons and ten yuan as a reward today. Tomorrow I'll ask the cafeteria's purchasing agent to buy the meat for us, and then have the chef make meatballs. What do you think?" I have no choice but to do this if I want to eat meat.
"What was the reason for your reward this time?" Ding Qiunan asked about Li Chu instead of the meat.
"After what happened at the No. 1 Thermal Power Plant, I wrote a report on standardizing emergency procedures. The hospital leaders thought it was good and gave me a reward!" Li Chu said nonchalantly.
"This is the second time already, Li Chu, you're amazing!" The girl looked at her man with stars of admiration in her eyes.
You should know very well whether I'm good or not.
The girl instantly understood and spat at him: "We're on the street, what nonsense are you talking about!"
"Oh, I see. So you can say whatever you want when you get home!"
"Hmph... I'm ignoring you." The girl stomped her foot, turned around, and walked away.
Li Chu, following behind, stopped his flirtatious remarks and instead asked, "Hey, wife, what do you think of those meatballs I mentioned earlier?"
Seeing that he was no longer talking nonsense, Ding Qiunan slowed down: "Sure, as long as it's not done in the yard."
"Sigh, why is it so hard to eat some meat?" Li Chu sighed.
"When I first started working at the main factory last year, the canteen would serve meat dishes once a month, but this year we can hardly even find any oil," the girl added.
"Alright, honey, don't think about those things anymore. The government will definitely find a way to solve our problems. Let's go home." After saying that, Li Chu took the girl's hand and started walking towards home.
On the way, Li Chu told the girl a few jokes, which helped her out of her low mood.
As soon as I turned into the alley, I saw a person walking unsteadily ahead, clearly drunk.
"Why does He Yuzhu drink every day?" the girl asked softly.
"He has nothing to do even if he doesn't drink. With his mouth, he's offended everyone in the courtyard. Except for the old man, no one wants to associate with him. The old man has a child now and doesn't care about him anymore."
"Is no one introducing him to anyone yet?"
"I heard from my third uncle that someone introduced him to a girl later. Apparently, the girl was a bit chubby, and when they met, He Yuzhu was full of complaints and said some really nasty things in front of her, which made her run away. Since then, no one has introduced him to anyone. He's completely infamous now, and matchmakers don't even bother with him anymore." Li Chu shared this gossip he'd heard from his third uncle with Ding Qiunan.
"Huh? He's offended another one? Is he planning to stay single for life?" Ding Qiunan asked in surprise after hearing the news.
Li Chu chuckled: "I think he'll have to go to the countryside to find a wife. There's definitely no one around here who would dare marry their daughter to him."
As they walked to the courtyard gate, Li Chu saw several men sitting and chatting at the gate, so he joined them. Little Ding took Little Black back first.
He Yuzhu had just gone in, and when Li Chu approached, these people were talking about him.
“Old Yi, you’re the oldest man in the courtyard. You can’t just look after your own family. You’re not even keeping an eye on Zhuzi. Look at what he’s become. He doesn’t even greet us elders. It’s outrageous.” He Yuzhu had just come back and acted as if he hadn’t seen them at all, going straight inside, which made Liu Haizhong very uncomfortable.
At this moment, Li Chu came over and said, "Gentlemen, brothers, we're all chatting here."
"It's too hot inside, so everyone's sitting outside to cool off," Yi Zhonghai replied, then continued, "Old Liu, it's not that I don't care, but this kid doesn't listen to me anymore. Plus, I have a lot going on at home right now. If it weren't for Yushui coming over to help out often, I wouldn't be able to manage my own affairs."
Sure enough, once the old man had his own child, his attitude towards He Yuzhu immediately changed.
"Old Liu, Old Yi has already done a good job. Isn't it Old Yi who has been taking care of Yu Shui all along? He eats at Old Yi's place, and there's also the old lady in the backyard," the third uncle explained on behalf of Yi Zhonghai.
This is precisely why everyone is willing to listen to the old man speaking in the courtyard.
Regardless of his motives for taking care of He Yuzhu and He Yushui before—whether he wanted them to support him in his old age or something else—he made sacrifices. It's normal for him to want something in return for those sacrifices.
"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it. I just think Zhuzi is getting more and more out of control. I thought he listens to Lao Yi, so I wanted Lao Yi to talk to him." The second uncle also realized that what he said earlier was a bit inappropriate, and he offered a rare explanation.
"Uncle, does this silly Zhu not want to find a partner anymore?" someone nearby interjected.
"That's a good question. You should see who would dare to introduce him to someone now?" Yan Bugui said slowly, taking a drag of his cigarette.
As soon as he said that, everyone around him laughed. Yes, who would dare? It would be too offensive.
The old man didn't laugh, but frowned and sighed. He was also worried about He Yuzhu. He looked around at the people and said, "We're all from the same courtyard, so we should help each other out if we can. If you know anyone suitable, introduce them to Yuzhu. This kid is actually a good person, it's just that he doesn't know how to talk."
“Old Yi, normally we’re neighbors, so everyone should help him if they can. But what if he offends someone? In the end, we’ll be the ones who get blamed.” The third uncle, who usually tries to smooth things over, surprisingly stood up for himself today.
"Yes, Uncle, let's not talk about the distant ones, but about Aunt Wang in our front yard. How did Sha Zhu react when she introduced her niece to him?" someone from the back yard continued Uncle San's words.
Upon hearing this, everyone remembered the incident, and another burst of laughter erupted.
Earlier, Aunt Wang introduced her niece to He Yuzhu. The girl worked at a department store and had a good job as a permanent employee, but she was a bit dark-skinned.
It's normal that He Yuzhu didn't like her after meeting her; if he didn't like her, he didn't like her. But what he did was go to Aunt Wang's house and say she was a toad trying to eat swan meat. Listen to that! Is that even human language?
Enraged, Aunt Wang and her family refused to have anything to do with He Yuzhu from that moment on.
After this incident, no one in the courtyard dared to introduce him to potential partners.
The matchmaker introduces you to potential partners so she can earn a fee from your errand service.
The people in the courtyard didn't want to make money off you, but they still can't refuse to accept your kindness.
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