Siheyuan: There are three little cats at home

Chapter 329 Meeting the Three Tigers

The first day of the new year passed.

On the second day of junior high school, after breakfast early in the morning, when Xu Qing took his daughter-in-law and younger siblings through the front yard, he gave New Year's money to Yan Xiecheng's daughter.

It can be regarded as a courtesy, and it can be regarded as fulfilling the wishes of the third uncle.

Yu Li hugged her daughter and took it with a smile, her face full of joy, but she never thought about giving Xu Qing's son lucky money.

She and Yan Jiecheng knew that the third uncle went to the backyard yesterday.

But when Yu Li saw Shazhu, she didn't want to forgive her, she turned her head and said to her daughter in her arms:
"Hurry up and say Happy New Year to Uncle Silly Zhu!"

Yu Li's daughter, who is less than one year old, is babbling but can't speak clearly.

After all, she was a few months younger than Xiao Hongzhi and started to speak later. At this time, Yu Li asked her daughter to send New Year greetings to Shazhu, which was really difficult for the little guy.

Sha Zhu had just come to the front yard from the central courtyard, and was planning to go to the Forbidden City with Xu Qing and Aiguo, so Yu Li seized the opportunity.

Fortunately, Shazhu didn't care about these things. It didn't mean that Li's daughter was giving him New Year's greetings, so he reached out and took out fifty cents and stuffed it into Yu Li's little hand.

Silly Zhu has a natural love for children, no matter whose family it is, they will usually give them lucky money during the busy Chinese New Year.

As for the young couple he, Yan Jiecheng, and Yu Li, although they usually have some verbal friction, they never speak out and vent their anger on the children.

Seeing that Xu Qing had given his son the New Year's money, and Shazhu also gave it, Yan Jiecheng was delighted. He took out the big front door that he carried on his body, first handed one to Xu Qing, then Xu Fengming, and finally Shazhu.

At other times, Yan Jiecheng would not carry good cigarettes with him, let alone give them to Sha Zhu.

Xu Qing is different.

When Yan Jiecheng saw Xu Qing, he usually passed cigarettes. As Xu Qing was a cadre, whether in the factory or the courtyard, his prestige was higher than that of ordinary people.

Even if there are three stewards in the courtyard, if Xu Qing said that, the three of them must be calculated carefully.

Yan Jiecheng inherited the shrewdness of the third uncle, and naturally wanted to get closer to Xu Qing.

As for the order in which the cigarettes were handed out just now, Yan Jiecheng also watched the dishes being served.Xu Qing is the first, followed by Feng Ming, because he knows that Xu Fengming is a college student now, and his future achievements will definitely be high, at least higher than Fuzhu.

Therefore, Shazhu also fell at the end.

In Yan Jiecheng's opinion, Silly Zhu is of no use to him now, and he feels a little contemptuous of him.

As for Xu Aiguo, he didn't like smoking, so Yan Jiecheng didn't give it to him.

Otherwise, Shazhu would have to go back.

As for Silly Zhu, he knew what Yan Jiecheng had in mind.

Don't even look at whose son this is? ——

The third uncle can figure it out with his toes.

"Qingzi, are you going out to play?"

After Yan Jiecheng handed the cigarette to Shazhu, he turned around and asked Xu Qingxiao.

Xu Qing hummed, "The weather is fine today, take my wife and son, Patriotic, Feng Ming, and Xiaoya to the Forbidden City."

When Yan Jiecheng heard this, he rolled his eyes and turned to look at Yu Li. Seeing Yu Li blinking at him to indicate approval, he turned back to Xu Qing and said:

"Qingzi, that's just right. I'll take my wife and daughter. Let's go together. Anyway, there's nothing wrong with the New Year's Eve."

Not long after, Xu Qing's family, Yan Xiecheng's family of three, and Sha Zhu walked out of the compound, walked along the alley, and turned onto the street towards the Forbidden City.

There are a lot of people on the street today, and vendors have set up stalls early to attract business. Even though it is only the second day of the Lunar New Year, this time is different from previous years.

In the past, small businesses and hawkers mostly started from the third day of junior high school, taking advantage of temple fairs, and gathered together, but in this changing year, the "Spring Festival" has been abolished, and there is no difference between the second and third year of junior high school.

Jinghong and Yu Li each held their children, walked together, looked around with the little girl, stopped and walked, and fell behind after a while.

When women are together, they always have endless things to talk about. They can talk about anything and the conversation is endless.

Xu Qing, Silly Zhu and Yan Jiecheng were smoking cigarettes in front of them, talking about something else. It was the Chinese New Year, so there was nothing important to say.

Aiguo and Fengming would pass by their eldest brother Xu Qing from time to time and take a look at the small stalls on both sides of the street. Then they would run to their sister-in-law Jinghong and their sister, take the snacks they bought and share them with them.

Yu Li followed, so she would naturally be able to eat some.

After finally arriving at the gate of the Forbidden City, looking at the crowds, Xu Qing couldn't help frowning, hey, it was like rushing to a temple fair, and he couldn't see the end at a glance.

Adults, children, young people, old people, just one word: more.

All kinds of shouts calling for friends came and went, mixed together, and it was noisy.

In addition, there were quite a few people who, while following the flow of people into the Forbidden City, were eating all kinds of snacks they had just bought, pushing and shoving each other, making the whole scene a mess.

Shazhu is not tall, so he stood on his toes, looked forward vigorously, and shouted to Xu Qing loudly:
"Qingzi, are you going in? There are so many people, I'm afraid we won't see anything when we go in."

Xu Qing reached out and took his son from his wife Jinghong's hand, held him in his arms, turned his head and looked back, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

A lot of people had already gathered behind him, even if he didn't want to enter the Forbidden City right now.

What's more, they all bought tickets, five cents per person.

At this time, Yan Jiecheng also took his daughter from Yu Li's hand and pulled Yu Li close to him for fear of getting separated.

And Yu Li was stepped on by some child, and suddenly lost her temper in pain, and said sharply: "Who's little kid, who is caring and not caring?"

Xu Qing and Jinghong were surrounded by Aiguo, Fengming and the little girl. Relatively speaking, it was not as crowded as Yan Jiecheng's place.

It took Xu Qing and his party nearly 10 minutes to walk in from the outside of the Forbidden City. After entering, they finally relaxed a bit, and everyone was sweating profusely.

Jinghong, the little girl, and Yu Li each took out their handkerchiefs and wiped the sweat from their foreheads, and then followed Xu Qing, Yan Jiecheng, Sha Zhu and the others to wander around the Forbidden City.

Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Palace, Kunning Palace. You can go almost anywhere, and there are very few places where wooden signs are erected and two big black characters "forbidden" are written with a brush. No one dares to approach.

For the rest, just hang around!
Xu Qing and his party spent the whole morning wandering around the Forbidden City. They didn't go out at noon. They walked around until about three o'clock in the afternoon. Then they walked out of the Forbidden City and found a busy stall. They ate two fire roasts and a bowl of braised pork. Take a sip for now.

In fact, Xu Qing didn't just find a stall, because he knew the owner of the stall, San Huzi.

San Huzi came to the vicinity of the Forbidden City early this morning, taking advantage of the crowds, hoping to make more money.

When Xu Qing met him, he naturally had to take care of the business.

San Huzi broke up with Xu Damao again after he stopped working as a second-hand businessman secretly, and his livelihood fell into a desperate situation.

His background was not good, and he could not get into ordinary work units or factories, even if he asked someone to find connections, so he gritted his teeth, spent money to get a vendor's license, started a regular business, and made a living on his own.

A living person can't be suffocated by urine, right?
San Huzi didn't expect to meet here today, and the stewed soup for Xu Qing and his party was very generous.

It made an old lady with her grandson look at San Huzi for a while.

Silly Zhu chuckled and couldn't help but talk about the braised pork made by San Huzi while eating it.

"San Huzi, the condiments you put in for stewing are still a little short, the taste is good, but brother, let me tell you, if you add more star anise, fennel, and that."

The words behind the silly column were spoken in a very low voice, almost close to San Huzi's ear.

San Huzi bent over, stood in front of Shazhu, put his hands on the apron, after hearing what Shazhu said, his eyes lit up, he raised his thumb and said:

"It's a good idea from you. The stall is closed tonight, so I'll give it a try."

Silly Zhu looked proud, holding the chopsticks in his right hand and said: "Don't worry, listen to me, brother, your business will be better tomorrow than today!"

Yan Jiecheng glanced sideways at Shazhu and Sanhuzi, snorted, and secretly realized that the two cooks were really like-minded when they met, and he didn't know if they could work out flowers.

But as he ate the stewed food in his mouth, Yan Jiecheng felt that Sanhuzi's cooking was really good.

While Meijuan was busy collecting money, she piled up the bowls and chopsticks and put them in the bamboo basket next to the stall. There was also a tin bucket filled with clean water, which seemed to be convenient for cleaning when there were few people.

As for the other young woman, Xu Qing saw her for the first time, and she was too busy to ask who San Huzi was.

When Sanhuzi came from Shazhu's side, he asked:
"Third Huzi, did you invite someone?"

"Hey, Qingzi, I have a small business like this. I work all day long and I can't even make a few bucks. How can I afford to hire someone? That's my daughter-in-law. She's from the countryside and she hasn't been married yet."

The three tigers sat beside Xu Qing, stretched out their hands to take out a cigarette, first handed one to Xu Qing, and then handed one to Sha Zhu, Aiguo, Feng Ming, and Yan Jiecheng.

Sanhuzi didn't know that Xu Qing's younger brother and sister were going to college. He went out to the street every day, rain or shine, but Xu Qing didn't go to the streets every day.

Furthermore, everyone is busy with their own affairs, Sanhuzi has to stay calm, and Xu Qing is usually busy working in the factory.

So in the past year or so, I haven't seen each other a few times.

And San Huzi is not like Yan Jiecheng, he likes to watch people order dishes, maybe he used to be, but now, after setting up a stall for a few years, no one has seen him, and he has already got rid of that bad habit.

"Qingzi, buddy, I'm done with my work for the past few days. After the [-]th day of the first lunar month, I plan to get married on the [-]th. If you think highly of my buddy, remember to come to my house for a wedding drink."

After Sanhuzi handed a cigarette to Yan Jiecheng, who was sitting a little further away, he said cheerfully to Xu Qing.

Hearing this, Xu Qing put down the chopsticks in his hand and said with a smile:
"No problem. You are getting married. How can I not be there? Do you want Brother Shazhu to help you?"

San Huzi hurriedly waved his hands, "Qingzi, buddy, it's not like you don't know about the situation at my house. Not many people came, so I just set up three or four tables. I'm doing this again now, so I don't need to bother others."

Xu Qing nodded and glanced at San Huzi's wife. She was not very beautiful, a little dark, and had a few freckles on her face, but looking at her quickness, she was definitely a virtuous girl.

This point is much better than that of Qin Jingru who is currently in Xu Damao's family.

After lunch, Xu Qing wanted to pay the bill, but Sanhuzi, her sister Meijuan and his unmarried daughter-in-law refused to pay.

"Qingzi, do you look down on my brother? Your son is one month old, and I am too busy to go there. Today is the second day of the Lunar New Year, so just think of it as the lucky money I give your son for the New Year."

However, Sanhuzi let Meijuan accept the money given by Yan Jiecheng and Shazhu after a few words of politeness.

It's just that Xu Qing didn't want to take advantage of San Huzi, and San Huzi came out to set up a stall during the Chinese New Year, thinking that life would still be tight.

And Xu Qing is not alone, but the whole family is here, if he doesn't give it, the three tigers will be working for nothing all morning.

Xu Qing had no choice but to leave Sanhuzi's booth with his wife and younger siblings first, and walked for a while on the street, letting his third brother Feng Ming run back and give the money to Sanhuzi's sister.

San Huzi is a righteous person, how could Xu Qing do things that are not righteous.

At dusk, Xu Qing and his entourage returned to the compound. The weather was getting colder now, and the sun hadn't shone as at noon, and it was falling in the western sky, which was about to set.

In the front yard, the third uncle and the first uncle were playing chess when they saw Xu Qing and others coming back.

Yan Bugui turned his head and glanced at his boss and his wife, then turned to Yi Zhonghai and said:
"Old Yi, let's stop here today, and continue tomorrow. My granddaughter is back, and I have to take her with me."

Yi Zhonghai was in high spirits when he heard that Yan Bugui was not going down anymore. He was a little unhappy and stretched out his hand to greet Xu Qing and Sha Zhu:

"Qingzi, Zhuzi, you two will step in for the third uncle."

Xu Qing glanced at Shazhu and said, "Brother Shazhu, go with me."

Silly Zhu didn't refuse. He sat down where Yan Bu Guigang was, grabbed the chess pieces and started fighting with Yi Zhonghai on the chessboard.

Jinghong hugged her son, and took the little girl and Aiguo back to her home in the backyard.

Xu Qing and Feng Ming were standing in the front yard, looking at the plate with Yan Jiecheng. A gust of cold wind hit them hard, making the freezing people unable to stay still.

Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai stopped going down, and everyone dispersed.

On the third day of junior high school, Xu Qing and his daughter-in-law Jing Hong took their son to the old man's house to pay New Year's greetings, and also visited his brother-in-law Ma Jiefang's family.

Ma Jiefang's daughter-in-law Wu Yuemei is pregnant, and her belly has grown.

After Ma Guohua gave Xiao Hongzhi the new year's money, Ma Jiefang grinned and said:
"Dad, you gave Shiyuan again this year, as well as last year. My son will be born next year, so you can't be partial."

Ma Guohua looked at his hopeless son and snorted, "You just remember this. When Yuemei is born, your mother and I will pick up yuan."

"That's more or less the same!" Ma Jiefang looked cheerful and winked at Xu Qing.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Qing and his wife stayed in their courtyard without going anywhere, helping their younger siblings pack their belongings for school tomorrow.

In fact, there was nothing for Xu Qing and Jinghong to worry about. Aiguo, Fengming and the little girl all packed up their things by themselves.

It's just that the younger siblings are going to school tomorrow, so Xu Qing and his wife will spend more time talking with them at home.

Although their school is in Sijiucheng, the distance between school and home is not close.

In addition, the school also has a school management system. During the weekdays, they stay, and on weekends or holidays, the school often arranges for them to do other things, either socializing with classmates from other departments, or going to some units or factories for experience. If they want to go back home, and not easy.

The next morning, Xu Qing and Jing Hong hugged their son and sent Aiguo, Feng Ming and the little girl out of the compound.

At the entrance of the alley, Xu Fengming, whose complexion was still dark, bared his white teeth, walked towards the street with his second brother and younger sister, turned his head and waved his hands and said:

"Brother, sister-in-law, please go back. If our school is not busy, you might be back in a few days."

Xu Qing smiled without saying a word, college students these days, do they still have free time?

Jing Hong hugged her son and stood beside Xu Qing, watching her sister-in-law and two younger uncles disappear into the crowd before returning to the compound.

As for Xu Qing, because the factory also started working today, he did not go back to the courtyard and turned around towards the factory.

In recent years, work and school have started early. When Xu Qing arrived at the factory, he happened to catch up with Director Li convening a meeting for the entire factory.

Xu Damao communicated with Xu Qing years ago, saying that Director Li would renovate the factory after the Chinese New Year.

As soon as work starts today, look at the posture, this is about to start.

Xu Qing walked up to Qian Bing, Wei Shengli and others, said hello, and stood in the crowd to listen.

But after a while, I couldn't listen anymore. Director Li said in an official tone that the measures to be implemented were pure nonsense.

To put it bluntly, what revolves around is how to get him good results.

Xu Qing didn't bother to listen anymore. If the factory does what Director Li said, if the higher-ups think it's good, then it's fine.

If he is not satisfied, Director Li will be hanged if he is not satisfied. Bao Buqi will take off the black gauze hat on his head and slap him to the end.

Who makes this year, everything is possible.

(End of this chapter)