Life in siheyuan era

The three-way joint trial came to an end. Zhou Zhinning, along with the Yan Jiecheng brothers, the Liu Guangtian brothers, and the Wang Daji brothers, cleaned up the tables and benches.

Zhou Zhiyuan, however, did not participate in the labor and followed his parents inside.

Liu Guangtian looked at his back and said with dissatisfaction, "Why doesn't Zhou Zhiyuan have to work?"

Zhou Zhinning replied coldly, "Your dad is the Second Grandpa, mine isn't."

Wang Dali said in a muffled voice, "If you don't want to work, you can leave. Don't drag others into it."

Liu Guangtian fell silent at Wang Dali's words. The Wang brothers were honest people, but if provoked, they would dare to attack him with a kitchen knife, something Liu Guangtian had witnessed.

At this moment, Zhou Zhiyuan followed his parents into the middle courtyard.

Zhou Dehou and his wife returned to the kitchen to prepare dinner, while Zhou Zhiyuan stood by the sink, watching First Grandpa return to his room and First Grandma helping the deaf old lady walk to the backyard.

Hearing movement behind him, Zhou Zhiyuan turned to see Second Grandpa and Third Grandpa walking over, standing at the entrance of Silly Zhu's house, and calling for Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e to go inside, get the money, and take away the pot of chicken.

Silly Zhu looked at him, and seeing his stern face, knew he couldn't do anything, so he lowered his head and walked into the house.

Xu Damao glared at him, then raised his head and followed Silly Zhu into the house.

Lou Xiao'e looked at him, hesitated slightly, turned her head to look behind her, and stepped into Silly Zhu's house.

Zhou Zhiyuan turned to look in that direction and saw Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu walking over one after the other, and said loudly, "Sister Qin, let's talk."

Qin Huairu, who was walking with her head down, heard Zhou Zhiyuan calling her, looked up, glanced at Silly Zhu's house, and slowly walked over.

Jia Zhangshi sighed, came to her own door, and pushed it open to enter the house.

At this time, Xu Damao came out carrying the casserole. Lou Xiao'e, walking behind him, looked at Qin Huairu, then looked at Zhou Zhiyuan, and followed Xu Damao to the backyard.

Second Grandpa and Third Grandpa then came out, glanced over one after the other, and walked towards the backyard without stopping, while Silly Zhu's cursing could be heard from inside the house.

Hearing Silly Zhu's cursing, Qin Huairu pursed her lips, came to a stop in front of Zhou Zhiyuan, and seeing him looking at her house, turned to look. The three small faces of Bang梗, Xiaodang, and Huaihua were peering out from the windowsill.

Zhou Zhiyuan withdrew his gaze and looked at Qin Huairu, asking softly, "Sister Qin, do you think this matter is over just like that?"

Hearing this, Qin Huairu was startled and hurriedly turned back to look at Zhou Zhiyuan, listening to him say in a low voice, "Lou Xiao'e should know what's going on, and the First, Second, and Third Grandpas should also understand. If it weren't for the Second and Third Grandpas wanting to deal with Brother Zhu, your Bang梗 wouldn't have gotten away with it."

Zhou Zhiyuan revealed the truth, and Qin Huairu shuddered.

Zhou Zhiyuan continued, "Although Brother Zhu shielded Bang梗, there must be a punishment. Starting today, for half a month, Bang梗, Xiaodang, and Huaihua will not eat any food from the Zhou family. Go back and tell them that this is Second Uncle Zhou's punishment."

Hearing that he was going to punish the three children, Qin Huairu was dissatisfied, but she had nothing to say, expressing this emotion by lowering her head and remaining silent.

Seeing her expression, Zhou Zhiyuan said in a deep voice, "Do you think the punishment is severe? In the army, such soldiers would be immediately expelled from the military. If I had done it, my dad, who spoils his son without limits, would also beat me up. If you can't bring yourself to do it, I'll discipline them for you."

After saying these words, Zhou Zhiyuan turned and walked towards his own kitchen.

Qin Huairu stood still, and when she saw Zhou Zhinning entering the courtyard, her eyes turned red. When he walked over, she sobbed and said, "Zhiyuan wants to punish Bang梗 and the others, not giving them anything good to eat for half a month."

She wanted to gain Zhou Zhinning's sympathy, but she heard Zhou Zhinning reply in a deep voice, "This punishment is light. If it were my son, I would whip him with a belt, and if he ate a chicken, I wouldn't let him eat a single shred of meat for a month."

Zhou Zhinning was much harsher than Zhou Zhiyuan. Qin Huairu, greatly alarmed, hurriedly said, "Bang梗 didn't steal the chicken. The chicken really ran out on its own. Bang梗 caught it outside the courtyard."

Her explanation was useless. Zhou Zhinning replied coldly, "Chickens in the countryside are all free-range. Chickens from various families run around in the mountains, by the rivers, and on the roads. Can you just catch one? Taking without asking is stealing. This is a matter of principle."

Zhou Zhinning's definition made Qin Huairu unconvinced, and she said in a low voice, "Didn't Zhiyuan ever make such mistakes when he was little?"

She didn't mention Zhou Zhinning but Zhou Zhiyuan. Hearing this, Zhou Zhinning replied in a deep voice, "No, Zhiyuan never made any mistakes of principle except for fighting, and fighting is not a matter of principle. He never bullies people."

Zhou Zhinning's tone was very firm, and finally, he softened his attitude and said softly, "Zhiyuan implementing punishment on Bang梗 and the other two is a sign of closeness. If he didn't care at all, it would mean he didn't consider you as his own people. You must understand this point."

These words brought a smile to Qin Huairu's face. Just as she was about to speak, Lin Shurong's shout came from inside, "Zhinning, come in and eat."

"Coming right away..." Zhou Zhinning responded and said in a low voice, "You must cooperate with Zhiyuan to take good care of the children."

"Understood." Qin Huairu responded cheerfully, looking at Zhou Zhinning's back, a sweet smile on her face.

Zhou Zhinning returned to the house, and Qin Huairu walked into her own door, looked at Jia Zhangshi's questioning gaze, and then looked at the anxious Bang梗, Xiaodang, and Huaihua, and said in a deep voice, "Your silly uncle took the blame for you, but Second Uncle Zhou has decided to punish you. You won't get anything good to eat for half a month."

"Isn't that too harsh? Bang梗 and the others didn't steal..."

Jia Zhangshi's words were interrupted by Qin Huairu, "Taking without asking is stealing. Chickens are everywhere in the countryside, but you don't see anyone catching one and taking it home. Bang梗's quality is not even as good as that of rural children. Your Uncle Zhou and Second Uncle Zhou are very angry. How will Grandpa Zhou and Grandma Lin look at you in the future..."

Qin Huairu was lecturing the children at home, while Zhou Zhiyuan sat cross-legged on the kang, looking at the fish-flavored radish strips and potato stew with cabbage and tofu in front of him, a look of embarrassment on his face.

Having not mastered the heat the first time he cooked, the small piece of fish in the fish-flavored radish strips had no fish meat left besides the bones, and the potato stew with cabbage and tofu, besides the potatoes still showing some shape, the cabbage and tofu had become a pot of mush.

Despite these two dishes, Zhou Dehou and Lin Shurong ate with relish.

Zhou Zhinning looked at Zhou Zhiyuan, picked up a piece of radish strip, put it in his mouth, chewed it for a while, swallowed it, and said solemnly, "The taste is not bad."

Zhou Zhinning gave his evaluation, and Zhou Zhiyuan asked cautiously, "Do you mean to encourage me to continue cooking?"

He wanted to resist the call of the kitchen, but he didn't know the nature of the street office's work, so he could only listen to Zhou Zhiyuan.

Zhou Zhiyuan had dealt with street offices in his dreams, but that was twenty years later, and he was not familiar with the street offices at this time, but he could still make up a few sentences.

He could get by with making up stories based on his impressions. Zhou Dehou, his wife, and Zhou Zhinning didn't know what the street office did.

At this time, Xu Damao was also gossiping.

He lost a chicken, but got five yuan and a pot of chicken meat, happily inviting the three grandpas to his house to drink and eat chicken.

First Grandpa refused the invitation, but Second Grandpa and Third Grandpa gladly accepted the invitation. The three people sat at the round table in the outer room, eating chicken, drinking white wine, and chatting.

Xu Damao said in a low voice, "Zhou Zhiyuan is cunning enough. He loaded the gun and let Silly Zhu fire it. Second and Third Grandpas, be careful of him in the future."

He would never invite guests for nothing. Zhou Zhiyuan's pulse-taking story made him lose a lot of face, and he wanted to retaliate whenever he had the chance.

Xu Damao considered himself very clever, but the Second and Third Grandpas were not brainless either.

Third Grandpa replied with a smile, "With his little cleverness..." He stopped there, fully expressing his disdainful attitude.

Second Grandpa snorted and said, "Did you hear how he spoke? He called us three grandpas 'chiefs' and even asked me to 'temporarily return to the upper seat and take my place.' There aren't many young people who respect the three grandpas so much."

Second Grandpa was knocking Xu Damao, he was just a bag, very capable of pretending.

Xu Damao was a film projectionist at the Rolling Steel Factory, a very popular profession.

At that time, there was a rhyme that said, "Stethoscope, steering wheel, indispensable salesperson; Grain Management Office, Broadcasting Station, Film Projectionist, Postman; Food Institute, Cotton Station, Three-foot Platform, Military Industry Cadre."

This rhyme came from the countryside and was equally applicable to urban professions.

Xu Damao often went to the countryside to show movies, and he always returned fully loaded. Those two old hens were the harvest from going to the countryside to show movies.

At this time, he was taking advantage and acting well, trying to win over the two grandpas, scheming against Zhou Zhiyuan, and pleasing them by following their words before provoking them.

The three of them were drinking, chatting, and eating chicken meat in the outer room, while Lou Xiao'e sat on the bed in the room reading a book, pricking up her ears when she heard Zhou Zhiyuan's name.

She had a very good impression of Zhou Zhiyuan.

The first time they met was in the deaf old lady's room. Zhou Zhiyuan's knowledgeable and reasonable image and humorous conversation left her with a very good impression.

The second time they met was this morning. Xu Damao called him "Second Youngster of the Zhou Family," and he called Xu Damao "Second Youngster of the Xu Family," reversing the passive situation with one sentence, and then putting a hat of a big hooligan on Xu Damao.

Then there was tonight's three-way joint trial. When Zhou Zhiyuan spoke, the entire venue was already under his control.

He spoke using the law, which was a very fresh way of speaking, showing that he was a knowledgeable person.

And his pulse-taking story shifted the focus away from her, and with Silly Zhu's close cooperation, the target was directed at Xu Damao.

Thinking of this, she was grateful to Zhou Zhiyuan. A woman not being able to have children is like a man not being able to perform sexually, a huge defect in personal physiology.

Zhou Zhiyuan's appearance allowed her to avoid this embarrassment, but there was a problem here. Thinking of this problem, Lou Xiao'e's face turned red.

It was no problem for Zhou Zhiyuan to openly protect Silly Zhu, but openly defending her made people think too much.