Scholars in the courtyard.

Chapter 2102 A step too late

Yang family.

In the living room, Grandpa was chatting with An Jie. A group of people gathered around them. Lou Xiao'e and Liu Lixue helped to greet everyone, add water and eat melon seeds. Everyone was chatting.

From time to time, a child would run out, sometimes coming to complain, saying that someone bullied her, and sometimes running over to secretly grab a handful of candy and run away, and immediately cheers were heard in the yard.

Yu Bei sat next to Jiang Ningning, and the two young men were questioned one by one as if they were being interrogated.

Of course, everyone knew their limits and only asked about work matters. If they asked more, it would be about the situation at home.

Everyone is aware of Yu Bei's situation.

An orphan, he was later raised by an old soldier.

Now, the military camp is his home.

As for Jiang Ningning's situation, Yu Bei was also shocked when Jiang Yafei told him about the family situation.

Especially after hearing about Jiang Defu's identity, his body trembled.

Not only Yu Bei, but also Lou Xiao'e was surprised. They didn't expect that Jiang Ningning, who usually kept a low profile, actually had such a strong background.

However, Liu Lixue did not react to this, as if she had known it for a long time.

As they were talking, Yang Xiaotao and Ran Qiuye were busy in the kitchen.

kitchen.

Yang Xiaotao was cleaning the carp with a knife in his hand, while Ran Qiuye was kneading dough beside him. There were many people together tonight, so they prepared to make dumplings together.

"I saw Lao Yu's car coming back, but where's he? Didn't he come?"

Yang Xiaotao cut open the fish's belly. The fish had eaten a lot to survive the winter, so its fat layer was very thick.

Ran Qiuye kneaded the dough and then began to chop the meat and cabbage.

"I came back in the afternoon. Sister Cuiping went back to her hometown, and there was no one at home."

Yang Xiaotao raised his head and asked, "No one is home?"

Ran Qiuye nodded, "Yu is not at home. Someone from the street office came just now, and he followed them out."

"Street Office? Is there something going on again?"

"I don't know."

While the two were talking, Ran Qiuye had already mixed the dumpling stuffing. He called out to Jiang Yafei and Lou Xiaoe to come in to help. As they rolled out the dough and wrapped the dumplings, time passed quickly.

When it was dark, the old Taoist returned to the yard and was pulled into the house by Duanwu.

"I haven't even come in yet, but I can already smell the aroma of fish. It looks like a distinguished guest is coming."

Yang Xiaotao came out and said, "Yes, my house is visited by distinguished guests every day."

The grandfather introduced An Jie to him, but the old Taoist didn't take Yang Xiaotao's words seriously. "Don't tempt me with sugar-coated bullets. I won't fall for it."

Yang Xiaotao smiled and asked, "Do you want to eat the fish?"

The old Taoist snorted, "Of course you have to eat it."

The old man took the Taoist priest into the house and they started chatting again.

The old Taoist looked at Yu Bei, then at Jiang Ningning, and then asked about their birth dates.

Jiang Ningning is okay, Jiang Yafei remembers everything.

What can I say when Yu Bei doesn’t even know his birthday?

The old Taoist asked Yu Bei to say a date, but Yu Bei hesitated and took the day the old soldier picked him up as his birth date.

The old Taoist nodded in satisfaction, then calculated with his fingers and muttered for a while, "Wulian Tianzun, your horoscopes match well, and you will grow old together in happiness."

They both laughed when they heard it.

Lou Xiao'e was even more curious, "Master Zhang, are you really that good at fortune-telling?"

The old Taoist stroked his beard and said, "When you meet someone who is meant to be with you, it will come true naturally."

After hearing this, Master Yang laughed out loud. What he meant was, whether it was fate or not was up to him to decide.

I've seen this charlatan say this many times.

However, he had been close to the Taoist priest for some time and knew what kind of person he was. He understood that what the Taoist priest said were just nice words.

Otherwise, if anyone can tell the truth based on just a random horoscope, then that would be useless.

Zhang Banxian.

Lou Xiao'e rolled her eyes, "Then, Master Zhang, can you take a look at how many children I will have?"

Liu Lixue on the side rolled her eyes after hearing this. This guy isn't even a man yet, and he's already thinking about children.

The Taoist priest also became interested and said, "Stretch out your right hand and have a look."

Lou Xiao'e opened her hand and placed it in front of her. The old Taoist looked at it for a while and then frowned. He then glanced at Lou Xiao'e's crown, stroked his beard, and thought for a moment before saying, "You, it's hard to say."

"Why is it hard to say?"

The old Taoist frowned, then said, "According to the calculation of this palm, you should have a son."

"But judging from his face, he doesn't have this son, Wuliang Tianzun, how strange and bizarre."

Lou Xiao'e suddenly understood what was going on and immediately bowed to Taoist Zhang, "Master Zhang is really amazing. Everything you said is right."

While everyone was still curious, Lou Xiao'e grabbed Duanwu who ran in to steal some melon seeds and hugged him in her arms, "My godson is still my son."

"Right, Dragon Boat Festival!"

Duanwu grabbed two handfuls of melon seeds and prepared to go out and share them with his friends. He didn't want to hear anything else and nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes!"

"This is my godmother's good son."

Everyone nodded after hearing this. The old Taoist also thought that this might be the case, so he didn't care.

Soon, the fish was out of the pot and the dumplings were put into the pot.

Ran Qiuye was guarding the stove, and everyone was sitting at the table, preparing to serve food and wine.

"I came back just in time."

Yu Zecheng's voice came from the door, with two bottles of wine in his hands.

Yang Xiaotao hurried out to greet them, "That's right, it's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early."

Then he welcomed Yu Zecheng into the house and introduced him to others.

When Yu Bei saw Yu Zecheng, the two nodded. Looking at their expressions, Yang Xiaotao felt like they had known each other for a long time, but he didn't ask any further questions.

On the dinner table, there were six main dishes: braised carp, braised spareribs, pork head, deep-fried pork tenderloin, fried meat with tofu, and stir-fried meat.

There are also fried peanuts, cold-mixed cabbage hearts, tofu with green onions, and salted duck eggs cut into one-tenth of the size.

There were ten hot and cold dishes, which made everyone present gasp in amazement.

Ordinary families had to wait until festivals to eat meat dishes. Even workers in the city had to get enough meat and grain coupons to afford them.

Even though the Jiang family has Jiang Defu's allowance, they still have to choose the right day to have such a meal.

More importantly, there needs to be someone to cook.

Otherwise the food would be wasted, which would be a pity.

From this, it can be seen that the Yang family spent a lot of money to entertain them this time.

It is absolutely sincere.

"Come on, come on, let me propose that our first glass of wine should be toasted to Comrade Yang Xiaotao."

"This table of food is not available to ordinary people."

Jiang Yafei held up the wine glass and spoke to Yang Xiaotao, and everyone nodded.

Especially An Jie, Jiang Ningning and Yu Bei, they don’t know much about Yang Xiaotao.

But Lou Xiao'e and the others have long been used to it.

Everyone knows that Mr. Yang’s cooking skills are no worse than those of a master chef.

"As Aunt Yafei said, if you want to eat, just come. How can I not make it for you?" Yang Xiaotao smiled and picked up the wine glass. "Thank you all for your support. I will work harder in the future to serve the people."

Papapa

Duanwu clapped his hands on the side. Everyone was stunned and then started laughing.

"Yu Bei!"

Yang Xiaotao winked, and Yu Bei understood, then stood up, "Grandma, Aunt Yafei, I, I will definitely treat Ningning well in the future."

"I, I'll drink first as a sign of respect."

"it is good!"

Jiang Ningning's face blushed, but there was sweetness in her eyes.

There's nothing we can do. They both like each other. If things go smoothly, they'll probably get their marriage certificate tomorrow.

This is the characteristic given by the times, blind dates are very quick.

And the success rate is very high.

Everyone was drinking and eating. Ran Qiuye, Jiang Ningning and the others only had a few sips, but Jiang Yafei and Yang Xiaotao were drinking together.

Maybe it was the first time he drank with Yang Xiaotao, maybe his lover was watching, or maybe he wanted to show off, Yu Bei drank without hesitation and didn't know how to refuse.

After a short while, they finished two bottles of wine and the scene became heated.

"Miaomiao, go to the house and get some wine."

Miaomiao was chewing chicken feet. When she heard this, she immediately asked, "Dad, which cabinet are you taking it from?"

"Top floor, bring two bottles over."

Yang Xiaotao said happily, "This time, a thousand cups of wine are enough when we meet a good friend."

Then he looked at Yu Bei standing aside. This guy could drink, at least better than Old Brother Wang.

Then came Jiang Yafei, who was also a heroine. She followed quietly and drank a lot.

After hearing this, Miaomiao turned around and ran into the inner room to get some wine.

The old Taoist laughed and said, "This kid is willing to bleed. Isn't he going to save it for the New Year?"

Yang Xiaotao smiled and said, "There is also New Year's wine during the Chinese New Year. Today is more lively than the Chinese New Year, so we have to drink good wine."

As they were talking, Miaomiao came over with two wine bags. Jiang Yafei took a look and immediately smiled, "Is this Maotai?"

The old Taoist nodded and said, "It was given by the chief last time. Most people can't drink it."

The grandfather didn't care, he took the bottle directly, then touched Miaomiao's head, and then opened the cork, "Come, taste all the good wine."

"Duanwu, pour some wine for the adults."

Duanwu immediately stood up and poured wine for people with a stern face.

I have to say, this little guy has learned a lot about the etiquette of pouring wine during his time in the countryside.

"Come on. Let's try it too."

Anjie likes Dragon Boat Festival, and the little guy is not shy and pours tea for everyone.

The room became lively again.

"It's been a busy couple of days."

While drinking, Yang Xiaotao asked.

Yu Zecheng shook his head, "I'm so busy that I don't even go home."

"It was finally quiet, but when I came back one day, something happened again."

"What's the matter?"

Yu Zecheng lowered his voice and said, "Yi Zhonghai from the hospital went to the street office to report the situation, which involves the affairs of this hospital."

"What's going on in this courtyard? Um, the butterfly?"

"Yes, this guy remembered some things from the past and thought they were useful, so he went to the street office."

"The subdistrict office couldn't handle it, so they found us."

After Yu Zecheng finished speaking, Yang Xiaotao was curious, "Then what?"

"And we had already destroyed the newspaper he mentioned."

At this point, Yu Zecheng picked up his chopsticks and said, "You really think we are here to eat."

Yang Xiaotao nodded seriously, "Anyway, it will take you a long time to finish this meal."

Yu Zecheng shook his head helplessly after hearing this, "That's right, I guess I'll have to eat this for the rest of my life."

Yu Bei, who was standing by, was confused, but he knew Yu Zecheng and understood the nature of his work, so he did not get involved too much.

"The matter in Shanghai is now over."

"They are catching ghosts these days. They are making quite a move over there."

Yu Zecheng knew what Yang Xiaotao wanted to ask, so he picked out some unimportant things to talk about.

After hearing this, Yang Xiaotao nodded silently.

Middle Court.

Yi Zhonghai lay on the bed, looking at the food on the table, listlessly.

"Old Yi, eat something."

An auntie spoke carefully beside her, and after Qin Huairu fed the two children, she took the steamed bun and started to eat it herself.

Qin Jingru was standing next to them, eating a steamed bun and looking out the window from time to time.

You don’t even need to look at the food at the Yang family to know it’s delicious just by smelling it.

咕咚
Swallowing her saliva, Qin Jingru decided to go find Xu Damao tomorrow to see how much money he had earned during this period. He had no use for the money in prison anyway, so she could use the money to improve her food and ensure her nutrition, which would be enough to repay the Xu family.

"Alas, it's still too late."

Yi Zhonghai felt regretful.

After Yu Zecheng told him that he had grasped the situation and arrested him, he knew that he was right.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

In the end, all the good work turned into a waste of time and nothing was gained.

Regret.

"Uncle, why don't you think about it again? Maybe there is something else."

Qin Huairu teased, "Don't wait until it's too late to remember it, or someone else will get there first."

Yi Zhonghai did not refute after hearing this, but his brows were tightly furrowed.

The auntie knew after seeing this that her man was going to get stuck in a rut again.

After dinner, Qin Jingru went home to endure the cold, while Qin Huairu took care of the children until they fell asleep. Just hearing the noise outside the yard, she felt a tightness in her chest.

It's really painful to see the Yang family suffer all day long, even more than if my own family suffered losses.

"I'm going to the housekeeper's manor tomorrow."

After Qin Huairu went back to her room to sleep, Yi Zhonghai suddenly said.

"What are you doing there? Looking for the stupid pillar?"

Yi Zhonghai nodded and said, "Tomorrow, give me two dollars and I'll bring some meat."

"Silly Zhu, no matter what, it's good enough for us."

After hearing this, the aunt turned around to look at the inner room and then nodded.

Thinking about how Sha Zhu had helped out a lot in this courtyard over the years, especially after Jia Dongxu left, the lives of the three families depended on his lunch boxes.

"Is two dollars enough?"

"enough!"