Sunday arrived. Before dawn, He’s father and son, along with several aunties, went out to buy supplies.
Soon after, Jia Dongxu and his wife also left the courtyard.
After waiting for a while, Qin Huai Ru led Li Wu Wei, who was still half-asleep, to the front courtyard. They couldn’t afford to sleep in today, everything had been arranged.
“Third Uncle, good morning!”
Li Wu Wei yawned. It’s easy to go from frugal to extravagant, but hard to go from extravagant to frugal. He had gone to bed early, but almost couldn’t get up.
He had closed his eyes while Qin Huai Ru dressed him and put on his shoes. It was only after he washed his face that he became slightly awake.
“Oh, Li Wu Wei, you must be spirited today. You can sleep in later this afternoon!”
Yan Bu Gui pushed out his brand new bicycle, which was decorated with a large red flower. When he got closer, he even helped Li Wu Wei straighten his collar. Today’s protagonist had to hold up his end.
“Don’t worry, I’m feeling great!”
Li Wu Wei opened his eyes wide. He didn’t dare waste any time and quickly took Qin Huai Ru away. Today was their official wedding, and they would need to bring his wife back to the courtyard from outside.
Afterwards, he took Qin Huai Ru to eat breakfast outside. Finally, his spirits recovered.
“Huai Ru, we’ll go to your grandfather’s courtyard later. Wait until almost nine o’clock, when the auspicious time arrives, then we’ll come back to the courtyard.”
Li Wu Wei didn’t have a watch, but he guessed it was only a little past seven o’clock. In the middle of winter, they were really going all out.
“Okay, I’ll go over there and clean up.”
Qin Huai Ru thought about her courtyard, and no matter how much work she did, she wouldn’t feel tired.
“No, today is our big day. You should rest too.”
If he wasn’t worried about missing the auspicious time, he would want to take her to visit the department store.
…
In the courtyard, Yan Bu Gui dug out his old wedding suit and put it on.
“Darling, you look really good in this!”
Third Aunt’s eyes lit up. The couple had always been able to see eye to eye, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to have four children.
“Of course, I’m the accountant. The workers from the factory will be here soon. I can’t let myself be disgraced.”
Yan Bu Gui held two bags he had packed: one contained pen and ink, and the other was for money.
For Li Wu Wei’s wedding today, he had also put in a brand new registration book.
“That’s about it. We should go to the back courtyard and set up the tables.”
Yan Bu Gui was not only the accountant, but he was also responsible for arranging the wedding procedures.
“Okay, I’ll come later to give a gift. I also have to keep an eye on the front courtyard.”
Everyone had already given gifts, but they needed to go through the motions today and register publicly.
“Alright, Li Wu Wei is a sophisticated man. He even gave me all his house keys. He trusts me. He may not be a good person, but he knows how to pick people.”
Yan Bu Gui was quite happy about this. Look, even Li Wu Wei approved of his character. This Third Uncle was really accomplished.
Third Aunt thought, this was mainly because Li Wu Wei was poor. He wasn’t worried about thieves, pfft, her husband wasn’t a thief.
Yan Bu Gui arrived at the middle courtyard and saw that a table had already been set up. Yi Zhong Hai was organizing the registration book and dipping his pen in the inkwell.
Jia Zhang Shi came out of her house with a teacup in hand. When she saw Yan Bu Gui, she laughed.
“Old Yan, you’re late. I’ve already hired Old Yi to be my Jia family’s accountant.”
Yi Zhong Hai was startled. He waved his hand quickly, “Old Yan, you come to register. My handwriting is bad.”
“Jia Zhang Shi, Old Yi, don’t misunderstand. I’m going to be Li Wu Wei’s accountant. That’s right, he respects me so much he even gave me his house keys.”
Yan Bu Gui waved the bunch of keys in his hand. This had to be spread around. Li Wu Wei wasn’t here anyway, so it didn’t matter what he said.
“Ah! Old Yan, why are you working for that little scoundrel? Will he give you anything good?”
Although Jia Zhang Shi had Yi Zhong Hai to register, she couldn’t stand to see others doing well.
“None of your business. Today, we have two couples from our courtyard getting married. Everyone has their own business.”
Yan Bu Gui was also a bit of a scoundrel. Up to this point, he hadn’t told Jia Zhang Shi the truth. Who could blame him, considering the Jia family had initially tried to cheat the residents of the courtyard.
At this point, Jia Zhang Shi was the only one at home. She hadn’t invited a chef, let alone a sous chef. She wanted to host a banquet at noon? She was dreaming.
Jia Zhang Shi saw the men go to the back courtyard and couldn’t help but mutter, “This Old Yan always likes to take advantage of small opportunities. He must have been tricked by Li Wu Wei. He’s definitely going to suffer a huge loss.”
Yi Zhong Hai furrowed his brow. He felt that things weren’t as simple as they seemed. Li Wu Wei was shameless and unethical, but he could get things done.
Whatever. Li Wu Wei invited workers from the factory. His wedding had nothing to do with Jia’s family.
Besides, one middle courtyard, one back courtyard, they didn’t affect each other much.
“Old Sister, you should say less. Old Yan still has to come to give a gift.”
“Yes, yes. He has to come. We’ve already sent out the notice.”
Jia Zhang Shi was happy thinking about the gifts and stopped making a fuss. Instead, she muttered, “Old He and Sha Zhu are really good sleepers. They haven’t gotten up yet. Old Yi, you keep an eye on things. I’ll go call them.”
Jia Zhang Shi wanted to get this father and son to work for free at her banquet. She went to He’s house, but before she even got close, she saw that the door was locked.
“Oh, where did Old He and his son go?”
Yi Zhong Hai heard the commotion and came over. He asked, “They’re gone? What could they be doing on a weekend? Don’t tell me Old He is looking for a job. Ask Yu Shui.”
Jia Zhang Shi quickly went to knock on the door of the next room. Old He’s house was the main building of the middle courtyard. It also had a small room, which was considered the ear room of the courtyard.
Soon, Yu Shui opened the door. She had already woken up and was doing her homework in the room.
“Yu Shui, where did your brother and your dad go this early in the morning?”
“I don’t know. My dad said to do my homework when I woke up, and he would bring me breakfast back.”
He Yu Shui was still young and didn’t understand what the adults were doing.
“That’s good then. They’ll be back later and won’t delay things.”
Jia Zhang Shi felt relieved. She went back to the registration desk with Yi Zhong Hai, but they still couldn’t see any residents coming to give gifts.
But it was alright. It was still early. Once her son Dongxu returned with the sewing machine, that would create a sensation.