Chapter 95 Turn off the water meter

"Ah! Why can't the woman get pregnant right after entering the house? What's the etiquette behind this?"

Sha Zhu shook his head. He felt that he had received too much information at this moment.

"Because the woman got pregnant right after entering the house and had never had her period, the son she gave birth to was called 'Maimenzi'er' and the daughter she gave birth to was called 'Maimenhua'er'."

Wang Mengde explained.

"As the saying goes, 'Maimenzi' is to be on guard to the end, 'Maimenhua' is to be on guard against three families."

"So that's what happened."

Sha Zhu suddenly realized, and then he continued to ask strangely:
"By the way, why is this 'Maimenhua'er' guarding three families? Isn't it just her parents' two families?"

"Then you forget that she will get married in the future. Isn't this three families?" Wang Mengde said.

"Hey, that's true. By the way, Meng De, you still believe this? I don't quite believe it." Sha Zhu said with a smile.

"Of course I don't believe it. I just tell you about these wedding customs.

By the way, if you get married, you have to follow the arrangements of the old lady in the backyard. She cares the most about these wedding customs and etiquette. "

Wang Mengde was a person who was preparing to join the organization. He behaved like a standard atheist to the outside world, but of course he had the necessary reverence in his heart.

Haven’t you seen Sha Zhu and Lou Xiao’e, who fell in love at first sight in the original drama and finally gave birth to a son?

Judging from the performance of these two fools in the later period, and the son who perfectly inherited the shortcomings of both, the final outcome of this family must be bad, which indeed verifies the "Mai Menzi'er"'s defense to the end.

He believes that the final winners in the courtyard are not others, but Jia Dongxu and Banggeng.

"By the way, Shazhu, does that girl know about your father's affairs?" Wang Mengde asked, suddenly thinking of something.

"Well, I didn't dare to tell you about this. I was afraid that others would disagree if I did." Sha Zhu said a little embarrassedly.

The fact that He Daqing ran away with the widow was a permanent shadow in his heart, and he was never willing to bring it up.

After chatting for a while, Wang Mengde got up and wanted to go back.

"I'm going to the toilet. It's such a horrible weather. My butt will freeze if I squat in the toilet." Sha Zhu followed out with some tofu paper.

As soon as I went out, I met Liu Haizhong walking towards me from the hanging flower gate in the front yard with his hands behind his back.

"Master."

"Second uncle."

When Liu Haizhong saw Wang Mengde greeting him, his cheerful smile suddenly turned gloomy when he heard Sha Zhu calling him "Second Uncle".

"Silly Zhu, I am now the eldest uncle in the courtyard, and Old Yan is the second uncle. You should address him correctly next time."

"Second uncle, I'm used to it. Besides, you're a first uncle now, and maybe one day you'll become a second uncle. I'd better not change it for now, to avoid being criticized in the future." Sha Zhu said with a smile.

"You..." Liu Haizhong's chest was heaving with anger and he was unable to speak.

It's his bad luck to have such a scoundrel in the courtyard.

"Second uncle, don't be angry. When I get married, I will invite you to the wedding. By the way, you have to give more gift money." Sha Zhu continued.

Wang Mengde stood aside speechless. These two idiots don't control their mouths. They are shouting all over the yard before the words are even started. It would be strange if anything good comes out of this.

"Sha Zhu, are you getting married?" At this time, Xu Damao came over from the backyard in the corridor. When he heard that Sha Zhu was getting married, he couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, I'm getting married soon. I'll have a few sons in the future and make you, Sha Mao, mad to death." Sha Zhu said proudly.

This time, Xu Damao rarely attacked him, but continued, "Silly Zhu, you must be bragging again. Didn't that girl just brag a few days ago? And I haven't seen you on a blind date recently, so how can you get married?"

He is planning something bad and is planning to trick Shazhu into talking first.

"Who said that my blind date broke up? We are still together. In a few days, I plan to invite an old lady to go to the girl's house to place a small engagement." Sha Zhu put the knowledge he just heard into practice.

Wang Mengde was walking towards home when he heard Sha Zhu's boasting. He knew that his marriage was definitely over.

"Oh, you're almost ready to make a small commitment. It looks like you guys are really going to make it."

Liu Haizhong didn't bother to argue with Sha Zhu. Upon hearing the news, he continued.

He knew that if there were no unexpected events, even if Xiao Ding was confirmed in the relationship, the marriage would basically be successful.

Looking at Sha Zhu's smug expression, Xu Damao's nose was almost crooked with anger, and he felt very uncomfortable.

So he couldn't help but say, "Silly Zhu, don't be so proud. I think your blind date will end sooner or later. You'll just be a rag-picker in your life."

"Hey, Sun thief, you want a fight, right?"

While cursing, Sha Zhu was about to go up to teach him a lesson so that he would remember it.

"Uncle, look, Sha Zhu is going to hit someone again. This kind of behavior seriously disrupts the peace of the courtyard. As an uncle in the courtyard, you can't just ignore it."

Seeing Sha Zhu waving his fist, Xu Damao quickly hid behind Liu Haizhong, saying, "Sha Zhu, stop it. You are still fooling around in the middle of winter. Don't you feel cold?" Liu Haizhong said with a frown.

"Okay, I'll let you off today. If you talk nonsense again next time, I'll make you pay."

"Hmph." Xu Damao snorted coldly and said nothing more. He knew that if he opened his mouth again, Sha Zhu would definitely get angry.

"Okay, Xu Damao, you should leave too. Don't get close to each other from now on." Liu Haizhong ordered.

He looked at the funny couple in the yard with disdain and frowned involuntarily.

Then, just as he was about to go to the backyard, he saw Wang Mengde walking towards the pool with a hook and a basin in his hands, and he smiled and said, "Mengde, it's your turn to turn off the water meter this week."

"Yes, uncle, isn't it almost time to go to bed? No one is using water now. I'm afraid I'll forget to turn off the water meter and the faucet will freeze, leaving me with no water tomorrow morning."

Wang Mengde replied.

"That's right, Meng De, you continue with your work. I'm going back now."

Then he put his hands behind his back and continued walking towards the backyard, but his mood was obviously much worse than before.

Wang Mengde bent down and opened the water meter cover next to the water pipe. Holding a flashlight in one hand and an iron hook in the other, he jumped in and prepared to turn off the water meter.

The so-called turning off the water meter does not mean really turning off the water meter, but closing the gate behind the water meter.

This summer, faucets were installed in courtyards. Every courtyard in Nanluoguxiang, whether it was a single-family courtyard or a large compound, had a faucet.

At that time, the water pipes were dug into the yard by digging trenches, and a pit more than one person high was dug in the middle yard. Then the pipes led from the bottom of the pit were connected to the sluice gate and water meter.

A water pipe is led from this end of the water meter, extending it about half a meter above the ground. A faucet is installed on the pipe, and a pool is built underneath.

The pit is built in circles with red bricks into a barrel shape and covered with a lid. This is the water meter well.

A few days ago, the neighborhood committee notified each courtyard one by one that after winter, the water meter must be turned off before going to bed at night, otherwise the faucet will be frozen the next morning.

If it gets frozen, it will be troublesome. You have to pour hot water on the faucet in the morning, and it will take a long time to thaw it.

It is not only time-consuming and laborious, but it also wastes everyone's time for drinking water and cooking.

Everyone in the courtyard discussed it and decided that no one could do this job alone, so each family would take turns for a week. In just over four months, the twenty or so households in the courtyard would have a turn. They would close the door before going to bed at night and open it again in the morning.

When turning off the water meter, the water meter well in the yard is relatively large, so people can crawl in and turn off the water valve.

Wang Mengde crawled into the water meter well, leaned forward, and used the iron hook in his hand to carefully close the innermost water valve first.

Then put the basin under the return faucet, open the return faucet, and drain all the water in the water pipe between the water meter and the faucet on the ground.

Then carry the basin back to the ground and cover the water meter well.

The process of opening the water meter tomorrow will be just as simple. Go down to the water meter well, close the return faucet first, and then open the water valve.

Backyard, Lao Xu’s house.

Xu Damao was very unhappy. When he returned home, he saw Xu Fugui sitting in the living room, drinking tea and singing the Empty City Strategy.

He sat aside, poured himself a cup of hot water, and said, "Dad, I'm already 21 years old this year, and I've long passed the marriage age stipulated by the national marriage law."

In 1950, the first law after the liberation, the Marriage Law, was promulgated and implemented. The Marriage Law stipulated the minimum age for marriage: men must be years old and women must be years old to get married.

It also stipulates that if a man and a woman voluntarily divorce, the divorce will be granted. If one of the man and a woman insists on divorce, the divorce will also be granted if mediation by judicial authorities is ineffective.

"What? You want to get married?" Xu Fugui turned around, looked at his son and said with a smile.

Xu Damao was the only boy in the Xu family who could carry on the family line, so he naturally cared a lot about his son's marriage. However, he had other plans, so he had been dragging his feet and had not found a partner for him.

"Dad, Wang Mengde is one year older than me. He got married at the age of 20 and now has a son. Even Shazhu has found a partner. I heard that he will get engaged in the next few days and will probably get married next year."

Xu Damao expressed it implicitly.

He is one year younger than Wang Mengde and Sha Zhu. The other two have already started families, so naturally he cannot fall behind.

"Da Mao, don't worry. I have already found one for you. The girl is only sixteen years old now, so you two have to wait two years before you can get married. I won't tell you now, in case you accidentally let it slip and ruin things." Xu Fugui said proudly.

"As for Shazhu, humph, just because his father ran off with a widow, it will be hard for him to find a suitable city wife in his lifetime. Damao, you have to hit the snake at its weakest part, do you understand?"

He deliberately emphasized the words "ran away with the widow."

"Dad, I understand."

Xu Damao chuckled, and he instantly understood the implication of Xu Fugui's words.

Shazhu, you still want to find a wife? Dream on.

Sure enough, after a few days, the news spread in the hospital that Sha Zhu's blind date somehow found out about He Daqing's situation and disagreed on the same day.

(End of this chapter)