Life in siheyuan era

When Zhou Zhiyuan returned home, Lin Shurong wasn't afraid to spend money. Dinner consisted of eight dishes, including fish, meat, and delicate vegetables like garlic sprouts and celery, along with a plate of Sichuan kimchi and a pot of stewed Chinese cabbage with tofu. Dinner was ready to begin.

Lin Shurong asked Zhou Dehou and Zhou Zhining to prepare for the meal, then turned to Zhou Zhiyuan and said, "Take these two lunch boxes to Qin Huairu."

Thinking of the three children, she didn't let Zhou Zhining deliver the food. Instead, she placed a cloth in Zhou Zhiyuan's hands and had him carry the two lunch boxes towards the house across the way.

As he walked to the sink, Sha Zhu opened his door and stood in front, smiling, "Tonight, your family is giving you a welcome dinner. I'll give you one in the next day or two."

Sha Zhu formally expressed his intention to establish a friendship with him.

Zhou Zhiyuan accepted this friendship and said with a smile, "I've heard that Brother Zhu's cooking skills are exceptional. I can't wait."

Sha Zhu was proud of his cooking skills, and Zhou Zhiyuan's praise hit his sweet spot. He laughed happily and replied, "It's settled then, the day after tomorrow night."

"Great, we'll have a good drink together then."

After setting the date, Sha Zhu turned and went back inside. Zhou Zhiyuan continued forward, arrived at the entrance of Qin Huairu's home, and lightly knocked on the door twice with his knee.

Qin Huairu opened the door for him. Seeing him holding two lunch boxes, a happy smile appeared on her fair, oval face.

What she cared about wasn't the two lunch boxes themselves, but Lin Shurong's attitude.

She had sensed Lin Shurong's distance during this time and was feeling upset. These two lunch boxes were like sending charcoal in the snow, warming her heart.

Zhou Zhiyuan looked at the "Literacy Primer" lying face down on the table, then looked at what the three children had written.

Bang梗 and Xiaodang wrote carefully, stroke by stroke, while Huaihua's was pure scribbling. It was impossible to tell what she had drawn.

Seeing him standing by the table looking at the characters, Qin Huairu said cheerfully, "Your brother often teaches them to write. These paper and pens were also given by your brother. I'm having them review it."

Hearing Qin Huairu speak, Zhou Zhiyuan reached out and touched Xiaodang's head, smiling, "My brother taught me when I was little, so I have some experience."

"How old were you then?" Qin Huairu asked.

"Five years old..." Zhou Zhiyuan replied, then touched Xiaodang's head again and commented, "Xiaodang's handwriting is quite good."

Xiaodang looked up at him. Bang梗 seemed a little uneasy, while Huaihua looked at Xiaodang enviously. Even she could tell that Second Uncle Zhou liked Xiaodang.

After praising Xiaodang, Zhou Zhiyuan turned to leave. As he walked out the door, he heard Jia Zhangshi exclaiming, "Bang梗 isn't full. Hurry and let them eat it while it's hot."

Jia Zhangshi wouldn't touch the dishes in these two lunch boxes, and Qin Huairu wouldn't eat them either. Feeding three little mouths was not easy.

Hearing Jia Zhangshi's words, Zhou Zhiyuan sighed softly and continued forward. He heard the voice of First Aunt, "Zhiyuan..."

First Aunt never missed an opportunity to interact with Zhou Zhiyuan. She found a reason to talk to him, beckoned him to come to her side, and said in a low voice, "Xu Damao's mouth is just asking for trouble. He was just now mocking your brother for not knowing how to wash vegetables..."

First Aunt rambled on, and Zhou Zhiyuan listened to her with a smile. After she finished speaking, he replied softly, "Thank you for your concern, Auntie. If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have known. My brother never talks about these things."

Zhou Zhiyuan expressed his gratitude, and First Aunt happily went into the house. First Uncle, who was sitting at the table, said in a deep voice, "Telling him these things inevitably smacks of stirring up trouble."

He reminded First Aunt, but First Aunt replied with a smile, "Zhiyuan doesn't think so. He even thanked me. He was very sincere."

Hearing her reply, First Uncle pondered in silence. Zhou Zhiyuan's words and actions were unexpected.

Young people didn't like listening to old people ramble, but Zhou Zhiyuan didn't have this reaction. He chatted with First Aunt very happily.

First Uncle was puzzled, but he didn't know that Zhou Zhiyuan welcomed First Aunt's rambling. What was rambling to others was information to him.

He lived in this courtyard house, so he needed this information.

Having obtained the information, Zhou Zhiyuan returned to his parents' room, took off his shoes, and sat cross-legged on the heated brick bed next to Zhou Zhining.

The Zhou family's dining style was different from that of their neighbors. They didn't use a dining table but a heated brick bed table, a small rectangular table that was placed on the heated brick bed when eating and usually stored upright in a corner of the wall.

This was a dining style brought from SY. The Zhou family's heated brick bed table was used for eating. Occasionally, it could be used as a desk. Zhou Dehou and Lin Shurong used this heated brick bed table to write letters home.

The Zhou family insisted on using a heated brick bed table for one reason only: there was no room for a floor table in this room.

Zhou Dehou and his wife's room was a bit larger than the brothers', about twenty square meters. The layout of the heated brick bed cabinet and the wardrobe was exactly the same as in the brothers' room. The difference was that a pair of carved wooden chairs and a coffee table were placed outside the wardrobe, and a cutting board and a sewing machine stood inside the washbasin stand at the door.

Such a layout couldn't accommodate a dining table. At this time, the floor table was fixed and could be used as a dining table, a desk, a chatting table for family members to sit around and chat, and a reception table for entertaining guests. The floor table had a wide range of uses, and it was comfortable to sit at.

The heated brick bed table didn't have these advantages. Family members sat around the table in either a cross-legged or kneeling position, and the upper body had to be upright. When eating, one hand held the bowl and the other held chopsticks. Only when picking up food could the body lean forward slightly.

Zhou Zhiyuan had been away from home for five years, but at this time, he felt no discomfort. Seeing Zhou Dehou opening the bottle of white wine, he suddenly exclaimed, "Dad, Mom, I almost forgot. My brother's shoes haven't been tried on yet."

With a shout, Zhou Zhiyuan turned around, grabbed the cloth bag, took out the smaller cloth shoes, jumped off the heated brick bed, climbed back onto the heated brick bed, and approached Lin Shurong with a smile, "Mom, try them on."

His words and actions triggered a chain reaction from Zhou Zhining, who hurriedly took out another pair of cloth shoes from the cloth bag and handed them to Zhou Dehou, saying, "Dad, try them on too."

Zhou Zhining's voice was solemn, as if he were conducting a solemn ceremony.

Zhou Dehou smiled and took them, stretched out his feet and put on a shoe, and said with satisfaction, "They fit perfectly."

Lin Shurong smiled and asked Zhou Zhiyuan to put the shoe on for her, saying cheerfully, "Your little tricks are getting more and more numerous."

Zhou Zhiyuan quickly replied, "It's a piece of filial piety, absolutely a piece of filial piety."

At this time, Zhou Dehou needed to step in. He coughed lightly and said to Lin Shurong, "Old Lin, the two children are so filial, you see..."

He would never say what "you see" what, but Lin Shurong certainly understood what he meant. She put away her smile and pondered for a while. Seeing the two brothers looking at her expectantly, she reluctantly said, "For the sake of their filial piety, let's give them the two watches."

This matter was finally resolved satisfactorily. Zhou Zhining was overjoyed and quickly said, "Thank you, Dad, thank you, Mom."

Zhou Zhiyuan shouted, "Thank you, Father Emperor and Mother Empress, for your grace."

"Heh..." Zhou Dehou laughed.

Lin Shurong hurriedly said, "Don't talk nonsense."

Zhou Zhiyuan smiled and said, "There's no need to be restrained within the family."

Zhou Dehou laughed again and said loudly, "Come, Dad will have a drink with his two sons."

He was about to raise his cup when Lin Shurong said readily, "Old Zhou, pour me a cup."

Then she said to the two brothers in a deep voice, "Next time you dare to hide private money, see how I deal with you two."

Hearing these words, Zhou Zhining immediately pretended to be submissive, and Zhou Zhiyuan hurriedly replied, "Absolutely not, but..."

He paused, took out twenty yuan, and said softly, "My brother gave me twenty yuan. I'll hand it over."

Lin Shurong glanced at the two bills and replied faintly, "You need money to handle things. Take it first. Just say what you want to say. There's no need to beat around the bush."

No one knew her son better than his mother. She knew that Zhou Zhiyuan had something else to say.

With Lin Shurong's permission, Zhou Zhiyuan first took out the pocket watch from his pocket and said solemnly, "This was given to me by Grandpa when I joined the army. I'm giving it to Father for his collection." As he spoke, he held the pocket watch with both hands and presented it to Zhou Dehou.

Zhou Dehou took the pocket watch and said happily, "Dad accepts Zhiyuan's filial piety."

Seeing his father accept it, Zhou Zhiyuan continued, "Since this pocket watch is being collected as an old object of the Zhou family, I don't think there's any need to save that hundred and fifty yuan. Let's add some money and buy watches for Mom and Dad respectively."

Zhou Zhining had spent four hundred and eighteen yuan to buy two watches, two pairs of cloth shoes, and a desk lamp, leaving one hundred and fifty-nine yuan. Zhou Zhiyuan had his eye on it.

He suggested it, and Zhou Zhining nodded, feeling uncomfortable that he had a watch on his wrist while his parents didn't.

Zhou Dehou agreed, "Dad has a pocket watch. Buy one for your mom."

But Lin Shurong disagreed, exercising her veto power, "I don't need one. Zhiyuan is going to SY to see his grandpa. Take a hundred for Dad, and the remaining money..."

Lin Shurong pondered for a moment, as if she were calculating, then said readily, "Let's add some money and buy them a bicycle. I wanted to buy one for Zhining when I saw Xu Damao's bicycle. If it hadn't been for Guifu's wedding, Zhining could have been riding a bicycle last year."

Lin Shurong was thinking ahead. Buying a bicycle would allow both sons to ride it.