Chapter 171: Damao Gets Married

"Hmm~ Truly excellent, spicy, numbing, fresh, and fragrant; it's very suitable as a dish to go with rice."

"Hehe," Shazhu laughed so hard that the wrinkles on his forehead appeared the moment he heard Guan Daye praise him.

"Great-uncle, when I have time, I will bring my whole family over to see you."

He Daqing had come this time to confirm their relationship, and now that everything was settled, he naturally wanted to bring his own children to meet their elder.

"Done, I'm basically always at home, you all can come anytime."

Guan Daye also hadn't experienced this kind of family affection for a long time; his son, besides spending his money and listening to his wife, didn't put him, this father, in his eyes at all.

"That's right, Great-uncle, I will also bring my wife and son over when the time comes."

That's right, Shazhu also had a son; He Daqing named him He Xiao, and he was not even a year old yet.

"Good, good, good, all come, all come."

The three of them chatted with Guan Daye for a while longer before leaving.

"Cai Quanwu, you live in this vicinity, go and find out properly what's going on with Great-uncle's children. Although it's not good for us to interfere in Great-uncle's family affairs, we'll have a better idea when we come over to chat in the future."

Neither of them were fools; Shazhu had also become much smarter under Damao's coaching over the past year, and he understood human relationships and worldly wisdom to some extent.

They had both just heard that Guan Daye didn't want to mention his children; there must be something going on there. Based on their understanding of Guan Daye over the past half-day, he was just a kind little old man, so it was likely a problem with his children.

"Done."

"Notify me if there's anything."

"And me, Second Uncle."

"Mm, good."

Siheyuan, Zhang Ping'an's small courtyard.

"Zhang Shu, get me some Tiger Bone Wine, the kind that packs a punch—cough, cough, everyone is here."

Xu Damao ran boisterously into Zhang Ping'an's courtyard, only to find a bunch of people sitting under the grapevines. San Jie, Si Jie, Qin Huairu, and other women from the courtyard were all there with their children, enjoying the cool under the grape trellis, and there were even grapes to eat.

Xu Damao hurriedly grabbed Zhang Ping'an and fled in a panic, with laughter vaguely coming from behind.

"Damao, this kid is twenty this year, right?"

"Mm, that's right."

"It really is the age to get married."

"How come there's no movement from the Xu Family House?"

"What do you mean no movement? I saw them renovating their house last week."

"Oh, oh, then it seems Damao's happy event is near."

The two entered the main room, and Xu Damao closed the door.

"Zhang Shu, you didn't even say anything about having a whole courtyard of people."

"Damao, I'll give you a chance to reorganize your words."

"Cough, Zhang Shu, look at you getting impatient again."

Watching Zhang Ping'an's knuckles crack, Xu Damao decisively chose to yield. Zhang Ping'an looked thin and weak, but who in the courtyard didn't know he had great strength?

"Are you getting married?"

"Zhang Shu, how did you know?"

"With that look of 'peach blossoms' all over your face, who couldn't tell?"

"Hehe, nothing can be hidden from Zhang Shu. Zhang Shu, I'll only tell you—my object is our Section Chief's daughter, Zhao Xiaojing, a clerk in our factory's Propaganda Department."

"Yo, you're quite capable, Damao."

Zhang Ping'an thought about it in his mind; he really didn't know much about the people in the Propaganda Department, but with Xu Damao's mouth, it was easy to trick a young girl; otherwise, how could he be called a 'first-blood expert'?

"Hehehe, speaking of which, half the credit goes to you."

"??"

"Zhang Shu, have you forgotten? The toast, and the Tiger Bone Wine—our Section Chief, Zhao Dingguo, has the problem that all middle-aged and elderly men face."

"Oh? Give an example and elaborate?"

"It doesn't rise."

"6."

…………

Following Cai Quanwu's investigation, he finally knew why Guan Daye didn't mention his son; it turned out that the cousin and his wife were just bizarre people. Later, he also told He Daqing about this.

"Mm, Great-uncle is an elder, so it's not good for us to interfere in other people's family affairs. Let's go visit Great-uncle more often when we have time."

"Done."

School started in early September, and Dongzi and Donglai both reported to elementary school, beginning their student lives.

In the blink of an eye, it was October. The Xu family's renovation was complete; the three side rooms were changed into four. One room for Xu Damao's parents, one main room, and the remaining two were Xu Damao's. The Ear Room was also taken over by Xu Fugui at some point and was now Xu Xiaoling's room.

In mid-October, Zhang Ping'an also saw Xu Damao's object at the factory—a slightly chubby girl in a man's eyes, with a bit of a baby face. Paired with Xu Damao's long face, their future children might just balance it out.

At the end of October, Xu Fugui in the courtyard notified every household of Xu Damao's wedding date: November 3rd, which happened to be a day off.

However, the country now advocated for thrift in marriage and forbade extravagance and waste, so the Head Chef changed from He Daqing to Shazhu; after all, Sichuan Cuisine had broader appeal.

"Zhuzi Ge, I'll leave the wedding banquet to you."

"Heh, since you called me Zhuzi Ge, how could Zhuzi Ge do a bad job for you? Don't worry, it's all set."

"Alright."

On November 3rd, Xu Damao got married. There were two tables in the courtyard, two tables for Xu Damao's family and colleagues, and one table for the bride's family.

It was still Cai Quanwu who came to help. As soon as Shazhu put the dishes into the wok, the whole courtyard was filled with a spicy aroma, and many people couldn't help but salivate.

The young partners in the courtyard knew that Xu Damao was marrying a leader's daughter, and her figure was so good—only one size smaller than Qin Huairu's—so they were all gnashing their teeth with envy.

"This dog thing Xu Damao really deserves to die."

"So annoying."

"What's there to be annoyed about? Let's go eavesdrop tonight."

"..."

Over at Shazhu's side, more than half the dishes had already been served, and Xu Damao also brought the bride out to toast the tables one by one.

"Sss-ha~ not spicy."

"Right, it's just that my lips feel a bit numb and itchy."

That night, Xu Damao had also prepared a big gift for those eavesdroppers: a pair of fermented socks that had been soaking for two days without being washed.

Furthermore, when this house was being renovated, Xu Damao had specifically instructed them to ensure good soundproofing, just to guard against this group of sneaky eavesdroppers.

"Splash—" Xu Damao poured out the foot-washing water and then coolly shut the window.

"What the f*ck."

"Ugh."

"Damn."

That's twice now; they hadn't heard a thing, and both times they ended up covered in a stench—it was too hard; this was the inner voice of almost everyone.

"Brother Damao, you're so bad." Zhao Xiaojing also heard the cursing outside and understood that these people were all there to eavesdrop.

"Brother Damao has even worse things in store," Xu Damao said as he turned off the light and pounced on her.

"Oh my~" Before long, the faint, rhythmic sounds of Huangmei opera drifted from inside the room.

At the end of November, Zhang Ping'an made a special trip to his hometown to bring his whole family to the city; anyway, his grandparents didn't go out much in the winter, so it was all the same where they spent the winter.

"Holy crap, how did these two wild cats get so big? They're like local dogs."

"Meow meow~" The two Lynx clearly still recognized Zhang Dadan and took the initiative to go up and rub against him.

"It's fine, Dad, just treat them like dogs," said Zhang Laohan.

Zhang Ping'an had long since moved the small wooden cabin to the fields; there was a perimeter wall there, and with outsiders around, the two Lynx rarely came out, so not many people in the courtyard knew about them at the moment.

"They still recognize me, not bad, not bad; it wasn't in vain that I built a nest for you two." Zhang Ping'an's grandfather wasn't afraid either; he squatted down and patted the heads of the Lynx.

"Tomorrow I'll build them another nest; looking at the size of these two fellows, I'm afraid it's a bit cramped in that small wooden cabin."

"Deal."

"Ping'an, I was planning to slaughter the big pig at home at the end of the year."

"Go ahead and slaughter it; we'll head back at the end of the year."

Zhang Ping'an suddenly remembered that when the Commune was established next summer, it seemed all livestock and poultry would be managed collectively, and whether he would still have the final say by then was unknown.