Chapter 57 Cleaning and Preparing for the New Year
"Shengli, Li Shengli." Li Shengli had just put the rice into the pot and was making a fire when he heard the shouting of an old man named Yi Zhonghai from outside the door.

"Uncle, what's the matter?" Li Shengli put down the spatula in his hand, opened the door and looked at the uncle Yi Zhonghai outside the door in surprise.

"Busy Shengli, let me ask you something. Do you have anywhere to go tonight?" Yi Zhonghai asked while standing at the door.

"No." Li Shengli didn't know why Yi Zhonghai asked this.

"Well, if you have nowhere to go, just come to my place in the evening. You can bring the food you cooked over directly. I've called the old lady from Houyan, Zhuzi and Yushui from the middle courtyard, and Qin Huairu's family. It'll be more lively if we get together." Yi Zhonghai thought to himself, if Li Shengli comes to his house for New Year's dinner, then isn't that the same as being a family? Once the relationship is established, it will be easier to arrange for retirement and other things.

"Oh, thank you first. But this is really not necessary, uncle." To be honest, if I didn't know that Yi Zhonghai's goal was to find someone who could provide for him in his old age, there would be nothing wrong with what he did.

"It's okay, you're welcome. It's more lively when there are more people during the New Year." Yi Zhonghai thought that Li Shengli was embarrassed. Li Shengli was mainly afraid of being targeted by Qin Huairu. There was nothing wrong with Qin Huairu herself, but what she did in the original plot made Li Shengli psychologically uncomfortable.

"Uncle, I'm not being polite to you, but I want to spend the New Year with my father." Li Shengli gestured with his eyes towards the place where his father's portrait was hung.

This old man used to live with the deaf old lady in the backyard and Sha Zhu's family. Li Shengli didn't have that interest and was quite comfortable being alone. He could finish his meal early and go out to visit the temple fair.

It always feels a bit uncomfortable to eat with these older people, as they are not my relatives or friends.

"Okay." Yi Zhonghai nodded. Since Li Shengli had used his father as an excuse, he couldn't say anything more. Li Shengli was uncooperative in the yard, so they should just treat each other as ordinary neighbors.

After returning home, Yi Zhonghai told Auntie about tomorrow's situation. Auntie also sighed a little, feeling that Li Shengli had a hard time too. This might be because people think differently. Auntie felt that Li Shengli's house was deserted, but Li Shengli just felt that Yi Zhonghai's house was noisy.

Yi Zhonghai thought about it and realized that the only people he knew well in this courtyard were Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu's family. The others either had elderly people at home or were already married. Qin Huairu was the only one who could take care of the elderly in this courtyard. It seemed that the responsibility of taking care of him in his old age would still fall on Qin Huairu. It would be great if there was someone to help Qin Huairu.

Yi Zhonghai thought carefully. Although Sha Zhuren was a little unreliable and not very good at taking care of people, there was no one more suitable than him in the courtyard. Qin Huairu was good at taking care of people, but she couldn't live without a man. He didn't know if Qin Huairu would remarry. Would the man she remarried agree to let him take care of her in her old age?
Yi Zhonghai didn't know, it would be great if Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu got married. This thought suddenly popped up in Yi Zhonghai's mind.

Yi Zhonghai shook his head to drive this idea out of his mind. He could go with the flow but it couldn't be so obvious. He wanted to see if Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu had that intention.

After lunch, Li Shengli took a rest for a while, changed his clothes, put on sleeves and prepared to clean his room. Everyone has their own way of living this year.

Sweep and mop the floor, use a feather duster to clean the dust on the furniture, and use a broom to clean the spider webs in every corner of the roof.

After a thorough cleaning, Li Shengli finished clearing the dust and took a bucket to the pool in the middle courtyard to fetch water. The water in his own water tank was almost used up after all the cleaning.

After getting the water, Li Shengli carried the bucket and greeted other people in the yard. Everyone was busy cleaning and pasting couplets.

The eldest uncle Yi Zhonghai gave the third uncle Yan Bugui some red paper and asked him to write a couplet to be hung on the gate of the courtyard. When Li Shengli saw it, he greeted the two uncles.

"Move the upper left corner a little higher." Yi Zhonghai was pasting the couplets while Yan Bugui was directing them from behind. After all, the third uncle was not that tall.

"Okay, it's all ready." Yan Bugui shouted, and sighed as he looked at the pasted couplet, "Hey, this is pasted neatly." Yi Zhonghai took two steps back, took a look, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Uncle, I still have some red paper and some glue. Can you write a few couplets and we can put them up on the houses in the courtyard that don't have them?" Yi Zhonghai asked Yan Bugui for his opinion.

"Okay, it's just a matter of doing the work. I'll just give you some fees as a reward." Yan Bugui was also happy to help. After all, there would be fees for just writing, and Yi Zhonghai would not argue with him about it.

From this we can see the characters of the two uncles. No matter whether Yi Zhonghai is pretending or really doing it for the good of others, for such a small matter, everyone in the hospital is willing to listen to him as long as it does not involve their own interests. However, Yan Bugui is not like that. If he were not knowledgeable, he would probably not have the chance to be the third uncle.

Yi Zhonghai took some red paper from home and prepared to go to Yan Bugui's house to ask Yan Bugui to write a few couplets for him.

"Shengli, here are red paper and paste. I'll ask your third uncle to write on it and you can take it back and paste it." Li Shengli happened to pass by with water, and Yi Zhonghai said to Li Shengli with a smile.

"Hey, thank you first, uncle, but my family hasn't put up couplets in the past two years." Lee Seung-ri is not a Teddy bear who complains about everything every day.

"Look at my memory. I'm sorry, Shengli." The old man patted his head and apologized to Li Shengli.

"It's okay, uncle, you go ahead and do your work." Li Shengli didn't care and carried the bucket back home.

Finally, the water tank was filled. Li Shengli put the kettle on the stove and boiled water. The hot water had all been used up while cleaning just now.

After putting the kettle away, Li Shengli finished his work. He felt the urge to pee, so he went to the public toilet outside without even changing his clothes.

After returning from draining the water, I met Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e at the gate of the courtyard. They were both wearing new clothes and there were some local specialties hanging on their bicycles.

"Da Mao, Lou Xiao'e, are you going back?" Li Shengli greeted Xu Damao and nodded to Lou Xiao'e.

"Yes, this is the first time I go home to celebrate the New Year after getting married." Xu Damao looked very proud. Lou Xiao'e has both money and beauty. It would be a great honor for him to tell others about it.

As Xu Damao was talking, Lou Xiao'e beside him also greeted Li Shengli gracefully.

Looking at Lou Xiao'e's radiant appearance, Li Shengli thought to himself, if you still have this expression next year or the year after, I will admire you.

"Okay, then have fun. Drive slowly and be careful." Li Shengli didn't say much, so as not to cause trouble for others.

"Okay, I'll go drink with you then." Xu Damao raised his eyebrows and planned to show off in front of Li Shengli.

Li Shengli knew what Xu Damao was thinking by looking at his expression, and nodded in agreement with a smile.

(End of this chapter)