A layman in the courtyard

Chapter 64 The three uncles set the table

Time flies by quickly, and it’s the weekend in a blink of an eye.

The front yard of the courtyard is very lively early in the morning on weekends.

Everyone in the courtyard, who had been notified early in the morning, came to the front yard to pay their share, and by the way, the aunts and uncles chatted together, looking forward to the big meal prepared by the three uncles at noon today.

Normally, when guests are invited to have dinner in a courtyard house, they usually take place in the middle courtyard. After all, there is a chef named Shazhu in the courtyard, so most of the time when entertaining guests and setting up a table, Shazhu cooks in the middle courtyard.

Today, the third uncle is entertaining guests and setting up the banquet, and the third aunt is doing it by herself at home.

When Cao Zhihua got up in the morning, he saw that the third uncle had set up a table on the ground in the front yard to collect money from members and keep accounts.

I then looked at the neighbors in front of me who accepted the money. Except for Yi Zhonghai, who accepted 2 yuan, and Liu Haizhong, who accepted 1 yuan, most of the neighbors only accepted 2 cents or [-] cents. Cao Zhihua followed the crowd. [-] cents.

Anyway, Cao Zhihua felt that with 2 cents, he could not suffer losses or be fooled no matter what. When the time came, he would be able to get his money back with his family and Lou Xiaoe's family of five.

Without thinking much, I went directly to Lou's house to pick up Lou Xiao'e and come over for dinner.

Everyone knows that Lou Xiao'e often comes to Cao Zhihua's house. They also know that Cao Zhihua's father has passed Lou Bancheng's life. They have a good relationship for two days. Lou Xiao'e has often come to Cao Zhihua's house to play since she was a child.

Therefore, most of the people in the courtyard knew Lou Xiao'e. Although they didn't interact with her much, it was not a big problem for Cao Zhihua to take her to have a meal with her, and they would not have any objections. After all, the whole family is basically brought to dinner now.

It actually didn't take much time to go back and forth, but Cao Zhihua felt that there was nothing to do if he went back so early. It was already very hot in Beijing in July, and the room was even more stuffy.

After returning, the two of them couldn't stay at home, so they took Lou Xiao'e to No. 10 Xuechi Hutong, bought 200 kilograms of ice at the Xuechi Ice Cellar, and found a Ban'er to take it back to the courtyard.

When Cao Zhihua and Lou Xiao'e returned to the courtyard, five tables had been set up on the ground in the front yard. It seemed that the third uncle was more polite this time and set up five tables. The scene was a bit big.

The neighbors in the courtyard, adults and children, were crowded in the front yard. Some were chatting in the corridors of the east and west wings, and some were sitting on the benches at the table and talking.

Seeing that Cao Zhihua had bought so much ice, they all came over to watch the fun.

"Oh, Zhihua, you are such a spendthrift. It's not very hot today, so why don't you buy some ice to cool off?"

Cao Zhihua smiled politely and said to Mr. Ban'er without answering:

"Brother, could you please move the ice into the house with me?"

Mr. Ban'er is also a cheerful person.

"Okay. Let's go!"

There were not many things, only 200 kilograms of ice, so Lou Xiaoe asked her younger brothers and sisters to come out and move them into the house with you.

Cao Zhihua put the cypress refrigerator in the hall and put 30 kilograms of ice in it without closing the lid. It was mainly used to cool down the inside of the house.

Then place the rest of the ice cubes in the shade of other rooms to cool down the entire house.He had no intention of chatting with the other neighbors in the yard. As soon as the door was closed, he and Lou Xiao'e got tired of each other.

Other neighbors saw Cao Zhihua entering the house and started talking.

"This Cao Zhihua is really a prodigal. The old man left behind will probably lose everything he left behind."

"It shouldn't be the case. I heard that Zhihua's current salary is quite high."

This aunt also joined the group chat

"Hey, what do you know? Lou Bancheng's salary for Zhihua at that time was 50 yuan a month, do you know?"

"Hiss~ so much? Can the Cao Zhihua family spend all this money in a month?" "Isn't your steel rolling mill a public-private partnership? Zhihua's salary is not so high now, right?"

The eldest mother said mysteriously:

"Hey, you don't know this, right? But when the government took over the steel rolling mill, it promised that the wages of all workers would only increase but not fall after the government took over. Will Zhihua's monthly salary still be 50 yuan? .”

When Jia Zhang heard about such a high salary, she was shocked and said:

"Hey~ This is really a lot of money. Look at Cao Zhihua getting older and older. Whoever marries him in the future will be very happy."

Aunt Zhou was obviously optimistic about Cao Zhihua and felt that she was about the same age as her daughter, but now she felt that there was no chance, so she said:
"Humph, how can anyone else have a chance? Didn't you see that Lou Bancheng's daughter comes to his house every weekend? The two of them are doing well. Maybe they will get married when they are older."

When the second aunt heard this, she felt obviously unfavorable and asked:

"Isn't this possible? With Cao Zhihua's conditions, can Lou Bancheng like Cao Zhihua??"

The eldest mother was not convinced. Now her eldest son was respected wherever he went, but she didn’t like to hear words that looked down on the workers, so:

"What's wrong with Cao Zhihua? Why do you look down on him? Now Cao Zhihua is a worker in the steel rolling mill. Don't you know that the workers are now the big brothers of the country? Why does Lou Bancheng look down on Cao Zhihua?"

As Jia and Zhang chatted, they felt that if Cao Zhihua married Lou Bancheng's daughter, he would be rich. He was so envious that he couldn't recognize it:

"I can't tell, I can't tell. If Cao Zhihua takes Lou Bancheng's daughter, he won't be able to spend all the money in his life. If he can help the neighbors in our yard, we will all be blessed."

The third uncle obviously heard what Jia Zhang said and laughed:
"Ms. Jia Zhang, what are you thinking about? Zhihua's relationship with the neighbors in the yard is not as good as this. It's not like your Jia Dongxu can't make money, but he still supports you and wants to eat nothing."

When Jia Zhang heard this, she quit:
"Hey, you Yan Laosan, can you speak? Everyone in your past was as stingy as you. Our family is so poor, what's wrong with helping our family?"

"Hey, your family is poor and still has a sewing machine, but Zhihua's family doesn't have one."

When Mrs. Jia Zhang heard this, she turned off the flames a little. It's not happening yet, so there's no point in making a fuss here.So he turned around and sat down at the bench next to Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu, ready to wait for the meal to begin.

There were ice cubes in the room to cool down, which made it obviously much more comfortable. I got tired of leaning against Lou Xiaoe for a long time and didn't want to move at all.

But when they arrived at the restaurant, the younger siblings ran over and asked their eldest brother to take them to dinner.

So Cao Zhihua took the three little ones and Lou Xiao'e to sit down at a table in the courtyard that was still vacant. By now everyone had basically arrived, and the five large tables were basically full, waiting for the food to be served.

After a while, the food finally started to be served. The first dish was stir-fried cabbage with minced meat.

Cao Zhihua took a look and saw that the good guy had a plate full of cabbage. When you knead it, it would be like meat, and you couldn't see the meat at all.

The second dish, fried crucian carp with green pepper, only two small carps less than the size of a palm on a plate.

The third dish was crucian carp and cabbage soup. A whole bowl of two squid the size of an index finger was paired with a large bowl of cabbage. There was no oil star on the soup.

The remaining one white cucumber, one spinach, one scrambled egg with leek, and one stewed radish with bones.

Well, gone.

This table seat really blinded the eyes of all the neighbors in the courtyard.

Cao Zhihua clicked his lips, this is really expensive. Can this cost 2 cents back? ?
I didn't care about Sanqi 21, so I picked up a steamed bun with two-heavy noodles and ate it with bone radish soup.

(End of this chapter)