Chapter 569: Xu Damao Gets Married

Si Jiu Cheng, Number 95 Courtyard, is decorated with lanterns and colored streamers today, and the whole courtyard is filled with a festive atmosphere.

Xu Damao is getting married.

This marriage was only possible because he broke his leg a few days ago, was lying at home, and could not take care of himself.

Xiaomei specifically took leave for this, serving him soup and medicine every day.

No matter how much of a scoundrel Xu Damao is, he was moved by this genuine affection, and with his mother Cui Xiu egging him on relentlessly from the side, the two simply got their marriage certificate and are hosting a banquet today to treat all the neighbors in the courtyard.

Hu Yunbin specially rushed over to attend his Apprentice's wedding, quietly stuffing a thousand-yuan gift into the account book; his generosity was shocking.

Yan Jiefang and Liu Guangtian, those two boys, were busy running back and forth to greet guests; that fawning energy of theirs was even more attentive than if they were getting married themselves—they were absolute sycophants.

Liu Guangqi squatted in the corner, curling his lip as he watched, and cursed, "Two bootlickers!"

Liu Guangfu came over with a grin, tilting his little face up: "Big Brother, why do you hate Second Brother? Second Brother is very good; he buys me candy to eat every day."

"Sugar-coated bullets!" Liu Guangqi snorted coldly. "Stop getting close to them; you'll be sold one day and still be helping them count the money! By the way, what bad things has your second brother been doing with Xu Damao lately?"

Liu Guangfu simply held out his small hand.

Liu Guangqi sighed helplessly, took out two White Rabbit Creamy Candy, and stuffed them over.

Liu Guangfu peeled off the candy wrapper, popped it into his mouth, and said indistinctly: "Second Brother said that your girlfriend doesn't look good!"

"Bullshit!" Liu Guangqi's face darkened. "I'm asking about Xu Damao! What wicked things have they been doing with your second brother lately?"

"Xu Damao has become a Projectionist; he said he can go to the villages to show movies all by himself, and he also said the village girls all want to marry him. I think he's just bragging!" Liu Guangfu said while chewing the candy.

"Is that all?"

Liu Guangfu blinked and said: "That's all. They've been eating and drinking all day lately; haven't you noticed Second Brother has gained a whole circle of fat? They were saying something about... the wind blowing tight."

Just as the two were whispering, a quarrel suddenly erupted in the center of the courtyard.

Zhao Yingzi's expression was ugly: "Mother, our family isn't short of food, why did you let Bang Geng steal the dried sweet potatoes from the Wang family?"

"So what if I took a few pieces?" Jia Zhangshi leaned against her own door, acting shamelessly and making a scene. "The Wang family are just misers; they actually went to complain to you over this little bit of stuff?"

"Aunt Wang is kind-hearted; she's afraid Bang Geng will learn bad habits! You're at such an old age, how can you not even distinguish right from wrong?"

"Zhao Yingzi, you just don't like the sight of me! If you think I don't raise the child well, you raise him yourself!" Jia Zhangshi immediately raised her voice.

"I don't dare let you raise him anymore!" Zhao Yingzi retorted firmly. "The Zha Gang Chang Tuo Er Suo has already opened; I'm sending Bang Geng there tomorrow!"

These words stabbed directly into Jia Zhangshi's heart!

She sat down on the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing to the heavens: "Lao Jia! Come and take a look! The good daughter-in-law your son married is going to bully me to death! I help her look after the child, and I still end up with all the blame; I don't want to live anymore—"

Just as the scene was becoming unbearable, Xu Damao, dressed in bright red wedding attire, walked over, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot: "Sister Yingzi, keep your mother-in-law in check! Today is my Daxi, and she's here wailing like at a funeral—isn't that bad luck!"

As soon as Jia Zhangshi heard this, she immediately turned her fire, pointing at Xu Damao and cursing loudly: "Xu Damao, you little bastard, you dare to scold me?"

Xu Damao curled his lip, his face full of disdain: "Jia Zhangshi, don't be ungrateful! Today is my wedding day, so I won't lower myself to your level; wait until another day to see how I deal with you!"

"You little bastard, try touching a single finger of mine!" Jia Zhangshi stood with her hands on her hips, acting like a shrew.

"Dealing with you would only dirty my hands!" Xu Damao sneered. "As for this banquet today, even if I were feeding it to dogs, there wouldn't be a seat for you!"

"Who cares about eating your lousy banquet!" Jia Zhangshi was incredibly arrogant.

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai came out with his son Yi Xiaotian, frowning as he advised: "Sister-in-law, today is a big day for the Xu Family, show some respect."

"Respect?" Jia Zhangshi spat as she spoke. "Lao Yi, didn't you hear how this little bastard scolded me? He has no upbringing at all!"

Yi Zhonghai shook his head helplessly: "Sister-in-law, when you first came back, what did you promise the three of us managing elders? It's only been a few days, and you're starting to fight with everyone in the courtyard again; don't forget how you were sent back to your hometown last time."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi's arrogance immediately deflated by half, and she sighed: "Lao Yi, this isn't my fault! I work myself to death every day taking care of Bang Geng, and I don't get a shred of credit, and Zhao Yingzi even complains that I don't raise him as well as Shen Guizhi!"

"It's not that I want to lecture you," Yi Zhonghai said bluntly, "but before you arrived, Bang Geng was well-behaved and sensible. You've only been taking care of him for less than three months, and now he won't even talk to people; the change is too great."

"Yi Zhonghai, what do you mean by that? Are you saying I'm the one who ruined Bang Geng?" Jia Zhangshi immediately prepared to act crazy again.

Yi Zhonghai couldn't be bothered to pay attention anymore and waved his hand: "This is your family business; it's none of my concern."

In the cellar, Xu Damao, Yan Jiefang, and Liu Guangtian gathered together, discussing ways to deal with Jia Zhangshi.

Xu Damao gritted his teeth: "Jiefang, this time I'm counting on you! That old hag is driving me crazy; go and steal her coffin money, and I'll compensate you for whatever you steal!"

Yan Jiefang's face turned bitter, and he trembled in fear: "No, no! He Yuzhu warned me before; if I dare to take things from the courtyard, he'll break my fingers!"

"What are you afraid of!" Xu Damao instigated. "He Yuzhu has been gone for half a year; who knows where he died!"

Liu Guangtian also spoke timidly: "Brother Damao, let's try another way! If things go missing in the courtyard, the first people everyone will suspect are me and Jiefang!"

Xu Damao paced back and forth in the cramped space, agitated: "Then tell me what to do!"

"I've got it!" Yan Jiefang's eyes rolled. "Let's use that trick we used on Liu Guangqi last time again!"

Xu Damao's eyes lit up: "That's a good idea! But I want that old hag to suffer right now! And we don't have any medicine!"

Liu Guangtian smiled: "Brother Damao, I still have half of the laxative I got last time."

Xu Damao patted Liu Guangtian's shoulder hard and said: "Good, very good! But it's easy to poison the food, how can we make Jia Zhangshi eat it so she's like a mute eating coptis—suffering in silence?"

"I know what to do!" Yan Jiefang said. "You just told that old woman she couldn't eat at the banquet, so she must be full of anger. You get two bowls of meat from the back kitchen and place them right by her door, then call a group of kids to eat it first, and I'll add the medicine. I bet that old thing will definitely sneak it back home!"

"What if someone else takes it?" Liu Guangtian asked.

"The shed is right next to the He Family and the Jia Family; the He Family won't touch it, and if someone else takes it, it's their own fault! Anyway, it won't kill anyone!" Xu Damao said.

"I'll go get the medicine now!" Liu Guangtian climbed up the ladder first.

Soon, Xu Damao took some cabbage to the back kitchen: "Master Niu, a few of my little brothers are starving, I want to take two bowls of meat over first."

Master Niu nodded: "You're the host; you don't need to ask me about things like this."

Xu Damao immediately took two large pork knuckles and a big bowl of preserved vegetable pork belly, placing them directly on the table near the window of the Jia Family.

Jia Zhangshi lay at the crack in the window, staring at the two big bowls of meat, her saliva almost flowing into a river!

She regretted it so much her intestines were turning green—if she hadn't quarreled with Xu Damao just now, she could have eaten her fill at this wedding banquet! Now that things had turned out like this, how could she have the face to sit at the table?

Watching a group of children swarm over, hugging the pork knuckles and eating until their mouths were covered in grease, it wasn't long before they had eaten almost everything.

The children scattered in a flurry, and the courtyard instantly emptied.

Jia Zhangshi scanned left and right, and seeing no one was paying attention, she ran out quickly, dumped the leftovers from the two big bowls into one, and holding that big bowl, she scurried back into her own room in a flash!

She dug out the two remaining steamed corn buns from the morning and, with the fragrant meat broth, wolfed them down, eating with such relish.