The backyard, like the front, connects to the rear mountain and has three side-by-side sheds for raising pigs, chickens, ducks, or other livestock. Now, the other animals have been chased away, leaving only a few domestic chickens, ducks, and those two mountain goats.
One side of the front courtyard houses a well and two small vegetable patches, while the other side is separated into a kitchen and a storeroom. The gap between the perimeter wall and the building is filled with the fruit trees that Ruan Jiaojiao likes, though they are now withered and lack vitality.
Ruan Jianguo laid flagstones of soft goose stones in the front and back courtyards, while the inside of the building has cement floors and the walls have all been whitewashed, with a red paint undercoat.
The Ruanlin family has been tidying up this place recently, making the entire building clean and bright. Whenever people from the team came in, they couldn’t help but widen their eyes in envy.
The furniture downstairs is rather ordinary, with many pieces having been moved over from the courtyard house. However, the furniture upstairs was all newly purchased, especially for Ruan Jiaojiao’s room. Including the desk that Lu Zhiwei gave her, the whole room cost nearly five hundred.
Of course, the visitors didn’t know how much money had been spent on the room; they were merely fascinated by the beautiful furniture.
Auntie Wu and Liu Mei were among them, talking sourly like kindred spirits from the moment they entered the courtyard. Wu Le led them on a tour, but she didn’t have the patience of Du Qing, and rolled her eyes outright.
"My goodness, why is this so soft? You could sink right in. Oh my!" Liu Mei exclaimed as she sat down on Ruan Jiaojiao’s bed, astonished by the springy softness of the Simmons mattress, and reached out her yellow-tinged hands toward Ruan Jiaojiao’s quilt.
Ruan Jiaojiao followed behind them and frowned slightly at this scene.
She wasn’t particularly fussy about cleanliness, but she didn’t like Liu Mei. She glanced at Little Fatty by her side, who instantly understood her meaning and charged forward like a little meatball.
"What are you doing! What are you doing! Don’t touch, don’t get on! This is my sister’s!" Ruan Lei rushed to the bed and pulled Liu Mei off. The strength of the husky young boy was not small, nearly throwing Liu Mei to the ground.
Staggering from the push, Liu Mei simply sat down on the ground and dramatically groaned, wailing, "My poor back! Oh, it must be broken!"
"Knowing you’re an old monster, why would you pounce on my sister’s bed? Don’t you know my sister is a little princess! You and that old monster are sworn enemies!" Ruan Lei adopted a defensive pose with his arms crossed in front of him, as if Liu Mei was indeed an old monster and he was the warrior. Except it wasn’t the princess he was protecting, but her bed!
Everyone was stunned for a moment and then burst into laughter.
Fuming, Liu Mei’s face turned blue. She couldn’t pretend any longer, brushed off her butt, and stood up. She snorted coldly at Wu Le, "What’s there to be smug about? It’s just an old bed; I don’t even fancy sitting on it!"
"If you don’t fancy it, get out. No one’s stopping you," Wu Le retorted, not holding back. She had written off the Xiu Family a long time ago, so she wasn’t worried about being polite. She didn’t invite them to the banquet; they came of their own accord.
She had just checked the gift registry, and given the current prices, neighbors generally gave five yuan as a gift. Ten yuan if they were close. Liu Mei truly had the nerve, bringing her family of three over with only two yuan.