Life in siheyuan era

Qin Huai Ru entered the house, and Huaihua ran up to her, stumbling, shouting, "Second Uncle Zhou bought me cookies."

Huaihua was very happy and eager to express her joy to Qin Huai Ru, but she was only three years old and couldn't speak very clearly.

But Qin Huai Ru understood, and Zhou Zhiyuan's attitude pleased her.

Granny Jia Zhang also said from the side, "These two brothers are quite good to Bang梗 and the others."

Zhou Zhinning was unwilling to interact with people, but he was indeed good to the three children. The paper and pens they used for writing and drawing were all given by Zhou Zhinning.

But Huaihua wasn't interested in paper and pens, she liked Second Uncle Zhou's cookies and was very happy eating them.

Xiaodang, however, remained silent. Her opinion of Second Uncle Zhou was a bit contradictory.

Bang梗 said, "Xiaodang said Second Uncle Zhou is quite scary."

Xiaodang immediately shouted, "I didn't say Second Uncle Zhou is scary, I said Second Uncle Zhou..."

She didn't know how to express it at this point. The five-year-old girl couldn't accurately express her feelings.

Xiaodang couldn't say it, so Bang梗 said for her, "You said Second Uncle Zhou's eyes are cold, isn't that scary?"

"I said cold, I didn't say scary."

Xiaodang's explanation wasn't convincing, and Bang梗 shouted, "Isn't cold scary?"

Granny Jia Zhang, who was sitting on the side, interjected, "After you left this morning, Auntie Yi introduced me to Zhou Zhiyuan. He politely called me 'Auntie Zhang', but the expression on his face was very serious. Xiaodang probably saw those eyes, right?"

Speaking of this, Granny Jia Zhang was dissatisfied. Zhou Zhiyuan bowed to Auntie Yi, but he didn't give her that courtesy.

Feeling dissatisfied, she followed Auntie Yi and Zhou Zhiyuan to the front yard and saw that Zhou Zhiyuan didn't bow to Third Aunt and Auntie Wang either. Her sensitive heart finally balanced out. Speaking of this, she still felt a bit of a gap. Zhou Zhiyuan treated her differently from Auntie Yi.

Listening to Granny Jia Zhang's words, Qin Huai Ru remembered the scene last night. Zhou Zhiyuan glanced at her, and those eyes were indeed very serious.

At that time, she thought Zhou Zhiyuan was embarrassed, but later she realized that wasn't the case. Zhou Zhiyuan wasn't a bookworm who stayed at home reading.

She knew Zhou Zhiyuan and had seen the Zhou family's photo album. Zhou Dehou and his wife took a family photo every year, starting from when Lin Shurong held Zhou Zhinning at a hundred days old, and the last photo was a photo of Zhou Zhiyuan in military uniform.

Eighteen years of spring and autumn recorded the changes in the whole family. As the two brothers slowly grew up, wrinkles slowly appeared on the faces of Zhou Dehou and Lin Shurong, but the smiles of the whole family never changed.

Zhou Dehou smiled happily, Lin Shurong smiled cheerfully, Zhou Zhinning smiled implicitly, and Zhou Zhiyuan smiled brightly.

Her impression of Zhou Zhiyuan came from these photos. In her impression, Zhou Zhiyuan was a sunny young man.

But this sunny young man looked at her with scrutinizing eyes. The meaning of this gaze reminded her that when she asked to be a lathe worker, the head of the labor and wage department looked at her with this expression.

The head of the labor and wage department didn't believe she could do a good job as a lathe worker, but she had to do it, in order to get Zhou Dehou's protection and to get two more kilograms of rations per month.

Her request was eventually approved. As time passed, she forgot that gaze. Now, remembering Zhou Zhiyuan's gaze, she wondered, "Why did Zhou Zhiyuan scrutinize me?"

This question puzzled her, but she heard Granny Jia Zhang say, "Zhou Dehou is carrying two bags of vegetables. Is this a welcome dinner for Zhou Zhiyuan?"

Granny Jia Zhang was eyeing the Zhou family's welcome feast. Qin Huai Ru understood what she meant, sighed, and said, "Let's eat."

Hearing Qin Huai Ru telling them to eat, Granny Jia Zhang moved her lips, sighed, and turned to wipe the dining table with a rag. She knew where the problem was and was conflicted.

Qin Huai Ru walked to the iron stove and opened the pot lid. There were steamed corn buns and pickles warming in the steamer. Lifting the pot curtain, there was cornmeal porridge below.

This was the food that the Jia family often ate. Her family couldn't afford fish, meat, or various vegetables. Rice and white flour were also used to exchange for cornmeal.

The Jia family's rations weren't enough. Granny Jia Zhang took Bang梗 to the market in the afternoon and bought some cheap vegetables and picked up some vegetable leaves. She said she was going to the market to buy vegetables, but most of the time she was picking up vegetables. Every day they ate all kinds of pickles and rarely saw any oily food, let alone fish and meat.

But the six-year-old Bang梗 could eat, and the family's rations were tilted towards him. With the help of the Zhou family, Uncle Yi, and Silly Zhu, he was fed into a chubby Bang梗.

Huaihua was still young and couldn't eat much at each meal, so the five-year-old Xiaodang suffered.

Fortunately, Xiaodang was sensible and would rather eat less herself than compete with Bang梗. She looked malnourished.

Qin Huai Ru felt sorry for Xiaodang, but Granny Jia Zhang protected Bang梗. Seeing Zhou Dehou carrying two bags of vegetables, she knew that the Zhou family was having a welcome dinner for Zhou Zhiyuan tonight and wanted to wait a while before eating.

But Qin Huai Ru told them to start eating. Granny Jia Zhang was unwilling and kept looking out the window at the opposite side. Then she said in surprise, "What are these two brothers doing?"

Hearing her surprised voice, Qin Huai Ru quickly turned to look out the window. She saw Zhou Zhinning and Zhou Zhiyuan standing side by side in front of Zhou Dehou and his wife, each carrying a large cloth bag in their hands, bowing their heads and acting as if they were admitting their mistakes.

Lin Shurong seemed very angry, ignored them, opened the door, and went into the house, then drew the curtains.

Zhou Dehou stood in front of the two brothers and said a few words, pushing Zhou Zhiyuan's shoulder to let them into the house.

Seeing this scene, Qin Huai Ru guessed that the Zhou Zhinning brothers had made a mistake, and the evidence of the mistake might be in those two bags.

Zhou Zhinning and Zhou Zhiyuan were about to face Lin Shurong's punishment, while in a small two-story building in the military compound, Shen Lanbo's mother, Chen Shuying, was having a welcome dinner for her son.

Aunt Liu, the nanny, made eight dishes, the main dish being a stewed chicken, which Fang Nan had bought early in the morning at a high price in the suburbs.

At a little after six in the evening, the Shen family's welcome dinner officially began. Fang Nan and Shen Lanyin helped Aunt Liu bring the dishes to the table, and Chen Shuying led Shen Lanbo into the dining room.

But one person was missing from the welcome dinner. Shen Lanbo's father, Shen Jue, was still doing research in another place. The father and son had spoken on the phone last night.

Chen Shuying sat at the table and turned to shout to the kitchen, "Sister Liu, don't be busy, we're waiting for you to start the meal."

Aunt Liu agreed and walked out. Hearing the doorbell, she went to open the door and saw a strong figure standing outside.

The strong figure smiled at her and said, "Aunt Liu, is dinner ready?"

"You've come at the right time." Aunt Liu responded, turned around, and came back to sit at the table.

The strong figure entered the house, closed the door, changed into slippers, and walked straight into the dining room.

Chen Shuying saw him come in, waved, and said, "Fang Xiang, come and eat."

Fang Xiang was Fang Nan's older brother. The brother and sister's father, Fang Muxian, and Shen Jue were close classmates when they were young. After joining the organization, they were comrades-in-arms. The two families had a very good relationship.

So Fang Xiang wouldn't be restrained in the Shen family. He called out "Auntie Chen" and walked to the table to put down the two bottles of white wine in his hand.

Seeing the two bottles of white wine, Fang Nan hurriedly said, "Lanbo can't drink."

Fang Xiang smiled, "Little Nan still cares about Lanbo. Whether he drinks or not is up to Lanbo." As he spoke, he sat down next to Shen Lanyin.

Shen Lanyin turned to look at him but didn't speak, while Shen Lanbo said faintly, "I don't drink."

Then he asked in a deep voice, "Why did you transfer to civilian work after being promoted?"

Fang Xiang replied solemnly, "After the three years of natural disasters, the country needs to vigorously develop the economy. Returning to the local area is to contribute to economic construction."

"Good reason..." Shen Lanbo said faintly, "I wonder what you can do? Inspect with your hands behind your back?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Shuying scolded in a low voice, "Lanbo."

Shen Lanbo stopped talking, Fang Nan tightly closed her mouth and didn't speak either, and Fang Xiang showed an awkward expression.

Shen Lanyin said softly, "I met Zhou Zhiyuan at the library at noon."

Hearing her change the subject, Fang Xiang breathed a sigh of relief, while Shen Lanbo chuckled and asked with interest, "Did you retaliate?"

These words made everyone wonder, and Chen Shuying asked, "What's wrong?"

Shen Lanbo laughed, "Zhiyuan called this morning, and Lanyin answered. When he asked who he was, Zhiyuan casually said, 'I'm your brother.'"

Everyone was stunned to hear this.

Shen Lanyin said coldly, "To open his mouth and say 'I'm your brother,' this person is very rude. When he saw me at the library, he felt guilty and disappeared in the blink of an eye."

She didn't mention the wonton and sesame cake.

Fang Nan laughed, "Did he run away scared?"

Without waiting for Shen Lanyin to reply, Shen Lanbo replied for her, "He didn't run away scared, but acted on the principle that a good man doesn't fight with a woman. Lanyin, don't pick on his words, this is his habit."

"What habit?"

Hearing Fang Nan's question, Shen Lanbo smiled and replied, "He has a craving for being a brother. The old soldiers in their class call him Zhiyuan, and the young soldiers all call him 'Brother,' and the new soldiers call him 'Squad Leader,' and he will immediately correct them, 'Don't call me Squad Leader, call me 'Brother.'"

Zhou Zhiyuan's habit was puzzling. Chen Shuying and Shen Lanyin looked at Shen Lanbo in confusion, and Aunt Liu opened her mouth to ask, but closed it when she heard Fang Nan's question.

Fang Xiang was a little impatient. Was it necessary to talk about him, a small squad leader?

But even if he was impatient, he had to listen to Fang Nan asking, "Why did he do this?"

Shen Lanbo laughed, "Because his own brother is only two years older than him, but he has to obey his own brother's discipline, and he doesn't have a younger brother to manage. His feeling of being a brother is very strong."

Shen Lanbo understood the Zhou family's family style. Zhou Zhiyuan had his parents managing him and his brother binding him. When he turned his head, he saw that there was no one below him to manage.

"I'm your brother." This was the reason his brother used to manage him.

Just like what Shen Lanbo often said when he wanted Zhou Zhiyuan to obey orders, "In public, I'm your platoon leader, in private, I'm your brother, you have to listen to me."

Zhou Zhiyuan wanted to be a brother. The source of this was found. Everyone should understand his feelings. That's what Shen Lanbo meant.