GBP Chapter 57, Fourth Brother of the Courtyard
Chapter 57, Fourth Brother of the Courtyard
As soon as their eldest brother left, Li Yuanfeng and the others quickly got up.
Brushing teeth, washing face, cooking, fighting for the toilet—each one is a hassle.
Upon seeing the note, Li Yuanmeng opened the bundle, distributed the fried dough twists to everyone, and put the rest away. She then steamed some sweet potatoes, and that completed her breakfast and lunch for the day.
Since there are no adults at home to cook, they mostly just make do with whatever they can find.
Compared to those students who fainted from hunger in the classroom, they felt that they were already very fortunate to be able to eat at all.
Li Yuanshu was still dazed, sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and picking at his eye boogers with his little hands.
After my older siblings went to school, I realized that I was all alone at home, and I felt a little sad for some reason.
I suddenly remembered that my biological father passed away lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the next room.
The older brother also said that Dad didn't suffer much when he passed away, and told him not to be too sad.
The child's mood improved when he thought about his older brother at home, and he went to wash up and roasted two sweet potatoes for himself.
The system even told its host about this, saying it would use its points to treat him to meat.
Li Yuanping collected the system points and took out a pot of chicken, duck, fish, beef, mutton, and pork from his inventory, which he would feed them slowly in the future.
After all, system points still have considerable purchasing power.
As for the points extracted from the system, using them to buy skins is a way of taking from the system and giving back to the system.
……
In the cafeteria, everyone was busy with their hands when colleague Aunt Peng brought up today's topic.
"Have you heard? That old hag Chang Xiaohua from Niuma Hutong..."
"Widow Chang? Her family has so many widows."
"Old Wang, wipe your drool, what are you dreaming about?"
"that is…"
"He Xinrou and Zhang Feng are still young; they'll definitely remarry."
The conversation continued, and Li Yuanping kept his ears perked up.
The original owner had met the three widows in the family they mentioned; they lived in the courtyard next door.
Chang Xiaohua's husband died young, and her son took over his job, got married, had a child, and then passed away. She is now on medical retirement and living on her pension.
The daughter-in-law, He Xinrou, comes from a family with her biological father and stepmother. Even after her husband's death, she refuses to return home. She usually spends her time outside with her son, Zhang Bao, sometimes bringing back meat dishes as a form of accommodation allowance for Chang Xiaohua.
As for the other widow, Zhang Feng, she is Chang Xiaohua's daughter. After her husband died, she left her child with her parents-in-law, took half of their savings, and returned to Niuma Hutong to take over her brother's job.
Anyway, they are quite famous in this area.
Chef Zhang didn't gossip about these things with them; everyone already knew that his heart was only for his wife.
He pulled Li Yuanping aside and whispered about exchanging chickens with Uncle Li, wanting to give his wife more nourishing food.
Old Li used to be the middleman, but now it's Li Yuanping who's in charge. It's mainly because his family needs so much; they eat two or three of them every month.
The food made the newlywed couple glow with health.
……
After a busy day, Li Yuanping rode his bicycle through several alleys before heading home.
The basket contained three apples, two packets of mung bean cakes, pig liver, two pounds of bare pig bones, two ounces of oil, and cabbage and tofu soup brought back from the canteen.
Zhang Feng failed in her blind date and was standing at the alley entrance cursing.
Li Yuanping rode past without looking to the side, only stirring up a slight breeze.
In his previous life, the original owner had only watched a few spectacle with others before being targeted by Zhang Feng and He Xinrou.
They probably wanted to trick the original owner of this young man into helping their family with chores, and ideally, even give them a few old hens from Lijia Village to make soup.
Little did they expect that the original owner would be eager to extract benefits from their pockets.
Unable to gain any advantage, Zhang Feng and his companions could only curse the original owner for being stingy, saying that he would definitely never be able to find a wife in the future.
The original owner was overjoyed upon hearing this. Over the years, he had truly felt that raising children was too tiring, and that being single was better.
However, with Li Yuanping's aura surrounding him, Zhang Feng obviously wouldn't think of that; she was now completely focused on marrying a cadre.
Seeing the contents of the eldest son's cart, he couldn't help but start another round of complaints.
How come the Li family members are still able to eat even after losing their parents? How come someone as outstanding as myself is not as good as Guo Lanhua, who has a good life and knows how to marry?
As soon as she married Lao Li, although Lao Li was not very successful, he was good-looking and she wanted to treat him like royalty, giving him everything he asked for.
She remarried to a junior leader and I heard she's already living in a small villa.
Thinking of this, Zhang Feng's fighting spirit was rekindled. At worst, she would just give the matchmaker a few more dollars for the introduction fee.
*
Young people are full of energy, and the weather is stuffy and windless.
Li Yuanping was already soaked in sweat when he pushed the cart into the yard.
Good heavens, it seems that in the days before air conditioning and heating, we still had to diligently cultivate the art of immortality.
Uncle Li Min had been home for a while and was sitting under the eaves chatting with eight-year-old Li Yuanshu while making paper boxes.
Seeing Li Yuanping return, Li Min stopped what he was doing, got up and helped him carry the things from the car into the house.
The little tree was a bit curious, wondering what good things its older brother had found this time, so it sped up its work of making cardboard boxes.
"Uncle, let's stir-fry the pig liver today, heat up the cabbage and tofu, cut an apple for us to share, and you can take the rest back to the village, Uncle."
"Okay... I'll do whatever you say."
Upon hearing that there were apples and pig liver, Xiaoshu's mouth watered involuntarily.
Li Yuanping didn't remind him, picked up a bag of mung bean cakes, put it in the cupboard, and went into the next room.
The eldest uncle couldn't hide his joy, because bringing it back to the village meant giving one portion to the grandfather and one portion to the eldest uncle.
This child is thoughtful.
Before he could finish explaining, Uncle Li started cooking. That's a good thing about the Li family; everyone, young and old, knows how to cook.
It's just that some people aren't good at cooking and make things taste terrible.
Uncle Li was busy cooking, and after finishing pasting the cardboard boxes, Li Yuanshu went to set out the bowls and chopsticks, and then packed the things that Uncle Li would take away later into his basket.
After finishing all that, she didn't forget to water the scallions and garlic by the door.
Li Yuanping had just changed his clothes and stepped out of the room when Yuanfeng and Yuanmeng returned.
Just then, the dishes were ready: a plate of pork liver, a plate of cornbread, a dish of apple slices, and a bowl of cabbage and tofu.
Li Yuanping felt it wasn't enough, so he took out fried dough twists, pickled vegetables, and cornbread from the cupboard and placed them on the table.
The neighbors in the courtyard, smelling the overpowering, spicy aroma of the pig liver, dared not be angry or speak out. They could only grumble to their own families, saying that this eldest son of Li was just like his father, unable to manage a household, and was truly corrupting the atmosphere of their courtyard.
The others secretly thought to themselves, "I also feel like I don't know how to manage a household."
The original owner used to bring back some meat scraps to feed his younger siblings, so Li Yuanping's actions were not considered outrageous.
It just tastes a bit better today.
The Li family quickly finished their dinner. Uncle Li didn't stand on ceremony with them and, while it was still light, he carried his things and hurried home. He was fast on his feet, so it wouldn't take him more than three hours to get back to the village.
……
When Li Min returned home, his parents and wife were all waiting for him.
Unlike when he was putting on airs in the city, once he entered his home, he couldn't help but scratch the back of his head and grin foolishly, hehe.
The pig liver was really delicious today; Yuanping even set aside a plate for him to bring back.
However, his parents forbade him from laughing or touching his head when he went out, which was very difficult for him.
"Alright, just say what you need to say and stop beating around the bush. I'm going to sleep now."
This was when Old Lady Li couldn't hold back any longer.
"It's nothing, nothing at all. Yuanping bought everything for me and even told me to bring some back as a gift for you."
As he spoke, he began to reach into his basket.
The pig liver was stored in a glass jar, so it didn't release any flavor.
There are also mung bean cakes, apples, and pork bones, which are all good things.
As for that small bundle, Uncle Li helped someone else exchange it.
The elderly couple were finally relieved; Li Yuanping must have inherited his father's true talents.