Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

The temperature today is exceptionally low, and the sky and earth are covered in white. Occasionally, snowflakes fall from the sky. The northwest wind blows the ground with a humming sound, and the dry branches collide with each other in the wind, making a creaking sound, which makes people feel particularly cold.

There were not many pedestrians on the road. They were all wearing thick cotton-padded clothes, with their necks shrunk and waists bent, walking forward step by step.

Not far away, a woman in her forties was taking small steps. Because the ground was very slippery, she moved forward carefully.

At this time, a tricycle came from behind. Maybe because the road was slippery and it was difficult to control the direction, it twisted and hit the old lady head. When the old lady fell, her head happened to hit a stone at the foot of the wall. The old lady screamed and blood immediately flowed from her head. The bright red blood dyed the snow red, and the red color looked particularly scary against the white snow.

The tricycle driver saw this and knew he was in trouble. He had just left home today and wanted to make more trips because it was inconvenient to travel on snowy days. However, he had to pay a loss before earning a penny. How could this be possible? He pedaled away without hesitation.

The weather was cold and his head was wrapped tightly, so no one saw his face. There was no surveillance in those days, so it would be difficult to find him if he ran away.

A middle-aged woman came up from behind, took one look at the fallen old lady, and said bluntly, "You're the wife of a stinky capitalist, you deserve to be injured!" After that, she twisted her bloated body and walked away.

Other passers-by also avoided and walked away, and no one stepped forward to help. Seeing this, Xu Huizhen was filled with sympathy, and quickly took out a piece of clean gauze from her pocket, actually from the space, and trotted over to help the old lady sit up and bandaged her head simply.

Then he asked with concern: "How are you? Auntie, can you get up? Do you want to go to the hospital to see your injury?"

The old lady covered her head and said in a daze: "Thank you!"

Xu Huizhen: "Is your leg okay? I'll support you and see if you can stand up." The old lady supported Xu Huizhen and tried to stand up, but a sharp pain in her leg made her fall to the ground again.

When Xu Huizhen saw the situation, she said, "Is your leg injured too? It's quite cold sitting on the snow. How about I carry you to my tavern first?" After saying that, she squatted down and motioned for the aunt to come up.

The aunt was a little embarrassed. Because of her bad background, people had been trying to avoid her in recent years. Few people treated her so warmly. Facing the enthusiastic Xu Huizhen, she was a little uncomfortable for a moment.

At Xu Huizhen's urging, she had no choice but to put her arms around Xu Huizhen's neck and lie on her back.

When they arrived at the tavern, Xu Huizhen put the old lady down and asked her to sit on a stool. She asked, "Aunt, where do you live? I'll ask someone to call your family to come over and accompany you to the hospital."

The old lady regained some consciousness, sighed and said, "There is no one else in my family. I am the only old woman left."

Xu Huizhen was shocked. She didn't expect that this person was also miserable. She probably lived nearby. She didn't know why she went out in such a bad weather.

Xu Huizhen did not grow up in Daqianmen. She had just been married for more than a year and was not very familiar with the neighbors around her, so she didn't recognize her.

Cai Quanwu was clearing snow in the backyard when Xu Huizhen called him out and said, "Pedal your tricycle and take this lady to the hospital. Her head and legs are injured. I have children at home and cannot leave."

Cai Quanwu agreed and went to push the tricycle. The two worked together to help the old lady onto the tricycle. Xu Huizhen took out two big black tens from her pocket, handed them to Cai Quanwu and said, "Take this money with you. If this lady doesn't have enough money, you can pay for it first. They are all from our neighbors. It's important to get her medical treatment."

Watching the tricycle go away, Xu Huizhen stopped looking at the street view. If another old man fell down in a while, she would have to learn from Lei Feng and do good deeds. It would be better to go home and play with her daughter.

Li'er is really a worry-free child. When he is full, he goes to sleep. When he wakes up, he plays in the stroller by himself without crying or making a fuss. He probably knows that his mother is too busy and has no time to accompany him.

Xu Huizhen rocked the stroller and sang to her child, enjoying the rare leisure time. After traveling here, she seemed to be on edge. Maybe it was because she was new here and didn't feel safe. She was busy making money these days. The pace of life seemed too fast, which made her nervous.

She found that this body had a good voice, and her singing was as gentle and moving as she was.

In her previous life, Xu Huizhen also loved singing, and every cell in her body was a pulsating musical score, but her voice was not good. She thought she sang well, but some people said that she was out of tune.

I remember when I was in school, there was a chorus practice in the class. When she was singing at the top of her lungs, the young math teacher came up to her and said, "Xu Huizhen, please sing a little more quietly. You are singing out of tune, do you know that? You don't have to be embarrassed. This is called tone-deafness."

Xu Huizhen's face instantly turned red, and she lowered her head in shame, but there were thousands of horses galloping in her heart. She thought to herself: "You are a math teacher, do you understand music? You are the one who is tone-deaf, and your whole family is tone-deaf!"

Since that incident, she has suppressed her urge to sing and only sings when she is alone or in front of her closest people.

But this life is different, her voice is as melodious as a lark, and she can freely use her singing to vent her emotions.

At about noon, Cai Quanwu came back with a head of snowflakes. He told Xu Huizhen about the situation: "The injury on the aunt's head is not serious. It looks like she has lost a lot of blood, but it is not a vital injury. The doctor re-bandaged it. There is a slight fracture in the leg. The doctor put a splint on it. It will probably take one or two months to recover." After that, he gave the remaining money to Xu Huizhen.

Xu Huizhen asked worriedly, "Auntie said she is the only one in her family, so who will take care of her during this time?"

Cai Quanwu: "Who says it's not true? You probably don't know that the lady's husband's surname is Wen. He used to be a capitalist and donated most of his property to the country after the founding of the People's Republic of China. After her husband died of illness two years ago, her son went abroad with the remaining property and left her a house to live in."

Xu Huizhen opened her mouth in surprise: "Her son is such a jerk. He can go abroad with someone else, why didn't he bring his mother with him?"

Cai Quanwu: "The son is not her biological son. She was a second wife. After she married, she gave birth to a daughter, but she died before she reached adulthood. The sons are not close to her either. Who would want to have another burden?"

Xu Huizhen: "I see. In this world, happy families are all alike, but unhappy families are each unhappy in their own way."

In the afternoon, the tavern was particularly crowded and business was booming. It was probably because it was snowing and everyone had nothing to do. There were no entertainment activities in this era, so everyone came to the tavern to drink, chat, and talk about life.

Xu Huizhen stood at the counter, pouring drinks for everyone and listening to their conversation. After three rounds of drinks and five dishes, the atmosphere began to warm up.

Teacher Xu recited "Who is the Most Lovely Person" to everyone. It can be said that the poem was rich in emotion and voice, and it was welcomed by a round of applause.

Xu Huizhen sighed in her heart: "Teacher Xu is a versatile person with a wide range of interests. If she is more open-minded, she can be a good marriage partner. But for remarried families, especially when both parties have their own children, the relationship will be very complicated in the future. It will be difficult to live in harmony without some tolerance."