A pleasant life in a courtyard

Chapter 532: Everyone’s Ending (I)

Time flies.

Several years have passed in a hurry.

As the third generation of the family entered university, Li Xiang and others had to admit that their youth was gone forever.

The advent of a new era has also allowed the Zhong Hua family to officially present a different business card to the outside world.

Every word on the business card declares the confidence of a great country to the outside world.

At this time, China was far ahead of other countries in both hard technology and soft culture.

Made in China has become a symbol synonymous with the latest technology and quality assurance.

When foreigners mention CHINA, they all express their yearning and admiration.

Even in the list of students intending to study abroad, the Zhong Hua family's fame far surpassed the second place.

"Eat slowly, no one is going to snatch the food from you." Facing her son who was wolfing down the food, Qiu Fanghua advised him with a concerned look in her eyes.

When Li Xiang heard his wife's voice, he took a break from scrolling through his phone and looked up at his son.

The eating posture was simply unbearable to watch, just like a bandit snatching food, exactly the same as his uncle's behavior when he was a child.

Li Rui ate the last mouthful of rice in the bowl, and while serving himself, he complained to his mother.

"Mom, you don't know what kind of life I've been through in the first few days of school. Those foreigners acted like they hadn't eaten in their entire lives. Nine canteens weren't enough for them. If you were a little late, there would be nothing on your plate."

After hearing this, Qiu Fanghua pushed the food on the table towards him with even more heartache.

"The cafeteria doesn't have it, why don't you go out to eat something? Last time I sent you to school, I saw there was a food stall not far away." Qiu Fanghua scolded this silly child for not being able to adapt. Why was he so stubborn as to tie eating and drinking to the cafeteria?

"Oh, you don't understand. Those places outside are all scamming tourists. Not to mention the taste, it's even worse than the breakfast shop at the entrance of our alley." Li Rui took the rice soaked in soup and gulped down half a bowl.

"I don't believe it. There's not even a single tasty food on the street." Qiu Fanghua expressed his doubt.

After filling his stomach a little, Li Rui also started to focus on eating the food.

He tore a leg off the roast duck and took a big bite with his mouth wide open.

Then he chewed and shook the duck leg in his hand and explained to his mother:

"If I say there's nothing delicious, that would be a lie. But aren't the delicious ones not cheap? I have money, but my dad told me to keep a low profile in school and not do anything ostentatious. I still remember that."

He pointed to his forehead and glanced at his father who was sitting not far away.

Qiu Fanghua followed his gaze and looked at her husband, knowing clearly that her son was showing off in front of his father.

Now that he has been named, Li Xiang has to at least express his stance.

He put down his phone and sat down at the dining table.

"Well done. It's worth my while to take a detour today to buy you a roast duck." As he said that, Li Xiang tore off another duck leg and put it in his son's bowl.

When Li Rui heard that this roast duck was bought specially for him by his father, he immediately felt that the duck leg in his hand tasted even better.

"By the way, where is my grandma? When I left last time, didn't she say she would be waiting for me at home?" Li Rui, who was half full, finally remembered that there was someone missing at home.

"Your aunt Qin's house is about to be demolished. I was thinking of taking your grandma to live in the countryside for a few days before the demolition." Qiu Fanghua replied.

"Oh, then my Aunt Qin is so unhappy. They said the house would be demolished two years ago. All the houses around their house have been demolished. It's finally their turn." Li Rui said happily for Qin Jingru.

"That's right. If you had known it would take another two years, your Aunt Qin would have worked in our house for these two years before leaving." Qiu Fanghua said, giving Li Xiang a sidelong glance, blaming him for the inaccurate information he had revealed in the first place.

Li Xiang said he was innocent.

As a leader, it's good enough for him to give the information whether the area will be demolished or not. It's unlikely that he would cross the boundary and interfere with the order of demolition by the construction team.

"When the couple separated, they wanted money but not the land, and I was the one who stopped them. Now you see, just for those lands, they have to compensate with two more houses." Li Xiang did not forget to flatter himself.

This is the truth, Qiu Fanghua said it is irrefutable.

If they hadn't been stopped at that time, Qin Jingru and her family would have definitely picked up sesame seeds and lost watermelons.

"What about my brother Bao's house?" Li Rui thought of his cousin's brothers, who were also in that direction.

"Isn't it still early?" Qiu Fanghua gave Li Xiang an uncertain look.

"Just wait a little longer, we can eventually tear it apart." Li Xiang replied indifferently.

My eldest cousin’s family of five lives in decent living conditions now.

Before Xiaobao got married, Li Xiang gave them some advice and asked them to use their savings and buy a house with a loan.

Together with the house originally allocated by the unit, there are two houses in total, which is enough for us to live in.

Even if the countryside is demolished in the future, the houses given as compensation will probably be impossible to live in for a while unless the surrounding areas are allowed to develop for a few years.

The city center still has its conveniences.

"Hey, you said that when the countryside is demolished, will my second brother's family get a share? I heard from my mother that when they first entered the city, my aunt said that everything in the countryside would be left to my eldest brother's family." Qiu Fanghua asked curiously.

She asked this for a reason.

When Li Xiang was showing Xiaobao a house, he asked his second cousin's family to buy one together.

But for some reason, my second cousin didn't buy it.

As a result, our family of three, including our adopted child, still lives in the housing allocated by the company.

My second cousin's family was allocated the smallest unit because there are few people in the family. It is about 25 square meters in total. It is fine when the children are young, but once the children grow up and are ready to get married and have children, it will be too small.

Things are different now than in the past. In the past, there was only one room in the family, and no matter how many people lived in the house, as long as there was an empty bed for the couple, the marriage could be concluded.

Although it has not developed to the point where buying a house is necessary for getting married.

But if the house is too crowded, the woman will definitely have objections.

"It depends on everyone's conscience. After all, uncle and aunt didn't leave any written receipt when they were alive." This step down means the starting price is a house, and Li Xiang doesn't know whether the two brothers can get past this test of conscience.

Besides, it is an indisputable fact that the relationship between the two sides has gradually drifted apart since my eldest cousin's wife had a grudge over the issue of holding the child.

In the past, they could get together during the Chinese New Year and other holidays, but since my uncle and aunt passed away a few years ago, they have been visiting Li's mother at different times.

At this point, Li Xiang couldn't guarantee that the two brothers would be able to solve the issue of the house calmly and tolerantly.

In fact, if my second cousin's family had bought a house at that time, they might have become more approachable.

As for why he didn't buy it in the end, Li Xiang could actually vaguely guess some reasons.

However, I still don’t have much confidence in adopted children, so I want to have more money in my hand. If the child is not caring in the future, at least he can take care of himself.

In this regard, Li Xiang could only say that his second cousin and his wife were a little crazy.

The whole family looked at the adopted child and thought it was pretty good. The biological parents of the child were also very well taken care of, and had not had any problems with the child in recent years.

Everyone was getting along very well with each other, but why did these two become defensive?

The successful case of adopting a child is so close to them, and I believe Sister Tang must have talked about it to them many times. Why don’t they learn from her?

Xiaobao from the Yi family was so good to her adoptive parents. After getting married, she would come back to visit her uncle and aunt every now and then.

Or you can bring the old couple home and let them stay for a while.

Those who looked down on this adoption relationship at that time, now sigh that this adopted daughter is better to her parents than her biological daughter.

This girl was raised by an aunt and she is very grateful.

Her father Xu Damao was released from prison after serving his time and came back to recognize his relatives.

Yi Xiaobao let Xu Damao and the Xu family do all the singing, reciting, acting and fighting without saying a word.

Not only did she refuse to recognize them, she also said that she would only recognize her uncle and aunt in her life and would not recognize anyone else.

Even though Xu Damao later started a business and made a lot of money, it seemed that he was on the right track.

The uncle and aunt advised her to just acknowledge her relationship, but the girl was stubborn and refused to acknowledge it.

The old couple was worried that as they grew older, once they passed away, their adopted daughter would have no one to rely on in her family and would be bullied in the future. So after Xu Damao's condition improved, they came up with this idea.

But Yi Xiaobao was extremely determined, and the old couple's persuasion and persuasion were in vain.

This made the old man and the old woman feel touched that their adopted daughter cared about them, but they were also worried and sad about her future.

The uncle and aunt had never felt so afraid of death. Thinking that living one more day would mean they could take care of their adopted daughter one more day, the old couple has since been extremely concerned about exercise and health preservation, striving to fight against heaven and work hard towards the goal of living to be centenarians.

Here, although Xu Damao could not have children, he enjoyed great success in both career and love.

Li Xiang did not find it strange that this guy was able to make progress in his career. With Xu Damao's ability to speak differently to different people and different stories to different people, if he applied it to business, even if he did not make a fortune, he would definitely have a living.

What Li Xiang found surprising was that this guy not only ran his business but also managed to get married at the same time.

The person he chose to marry was someone Li Xiang knew, and someone he had never thought of.

It is said that Liu Lan was destined to be in this courtyard house. After many twists and turns, she finally married into it.

Over the years, no matter how big or small the event was in Siheyuan, as long as it involved setting the table, He Yuzhu would always be the chef.

Later, the steel mill was not doing well, so He Yuzhu, encouraged by Li Xiang, took a leave of absence from work with pay and opened a restaurant with his skills.

The neighbors also changed from asking He Yuzhu to be the chef to holding the banquet directly in his restaurant.

Xu Damao did not treat Liu Lan unfairly in the marriage because of their past.

Maybe this time I have really settled down and want to live a stable life.

Their wedding banquet had fifteen tables, which was even more lively than some people’s first weddings.

During the dinner, an interesting incident occurred.

He Yuzhu originally wanted to use the toast to ridicule his mortal enemy, but he was caught off guard by the bride's appearance before he even offered the toast.

A beauty is a beauty, even when she is old, she still looks beautiful.

Liu Lan did not have a good life in her first marriage, and she was extremely haggard after the divorce.

But after that incident, and with Qiu Fanghua's guidance, she has been self-sufficient both mentally and materially in the following years.

In addition, she and Xu Damao fell in love and then got married.

When all the inner burdens of two people have been talked about, the state of being free of burden from the inside out and living a life with a purpose in mind is the most nourishing.

He Yuzhu recognized Liu Lan, and Liu Lan naturally remembered this blind date she had once had.

But the past has faded away, and both of them have found their other half who treats them sincerely.

Liu Lan smiled at him, and He Yuzhu also raised his glass and toasted her.

We are just passers-by with no destiny, but we have goodwill towards each other and sincerely hope that the other party will get better and better in the future.

If He Yuzhu himself were to say it, he is one of the happiest people in the entire courtyard.

Living like this now was something he had never dared to dream of when he was a child.

If a person can keep moving forward throughout his life, that is an opportunity that many people dream of.

He Yuzhu felt that this was the kind of life he had been living since he became friends with his brother Li Xiang.

Although the upward movement is slow, there is no downhill road at all.

Today, his He family has four generations living together. Everyone can tell that the He family lives a prosperous life.

His family is so fortunate, and if we were to talk about the person he is most grateful to, Li Xiang would be the first one.

Although there haven't been any major problems at home over the years, there have been many ups and downs, and most of them were solved with the help of this good brother.

It’s really scary to talk about this, but He Yuzhu once had a nightmare.

There was no Li Xiang in that dream, and there was no Li family in the yard.

The neighbors in the dream behaved so differently from those in reality.

Later, He Yuzhu woke up from a nightmare. Although he could not remember clearly what happened in the middle, the ending of the dream gave him goose bumps all over his body.

He clearly had a wife and children, how could he freeze to death under a bridge?

This dream made He Yuzhu, who has always been a materialistic person, unable to wake up for many days. He had no energy to do anything.

Finally, Sister Tang couldn't stand it anymore. She was too lazy to listen to him sighing at home, so she sent him to Li Xiang.

He Yuzhu has always been open and honest with Li Xiang, and he told Li Xiang his memories that had become blurred.

Not surprisingly, Li Xiang laughed at him.

"You've never believed in ghosts or gods in your life, and now you have a granddaughter. Why are you arguing with me about this? Are you sick?"

It was Li Xiang's rude and sarcastic attitude that pulled him out of his confused state.

As usual, we had a good meal and wine at Li Xiang's house and then left.

Li Xiang looked at his receding back, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

In my previous life, was it really like Zhuang Zhou’s dream of being a butterfly?

(End of this chapter)