Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

This year is the first year that Xu Jianshe and Hu Yingzi have been married. The new daughter-in-law and son-in-law must go back to their hometown to meet each other's parents.

The Hu family's side is easier to deal with. Xu Huizhen arranged jobs for the two brothers of the Hu family. The Hu family's life has become better. It is estimated that Old Mrs. Hu will not cause any trouble. At most, they can give more money and use it all as a betrothal gift, and that will be almost the case.

What made Xu Jianshe embarrassed was the old Xu family. If he, as a young man, didn't go back, he would be unfilial and the neighbors would poke at his spine. If he went back, he knew that he was not liked by his parents, and he was afraid that Hu Yingzi would suffer with him.

Finally, Xu Huizhen said, "You have to save face. Buy some things and go back to Old Xu's house. If they wrong you and Yingzi, you can find an excuse to stay at Yingzi's house for a few days. Then come back to the capital early next year."

These days, Xu Huizhen was thinking about who to send New Year gifts to. Wang Lixin and Wang Gongan had helped Xu Jianshe a lot before. His family has many brothers and sisters, so they must be short of food this year. 10 catties of rice, 20 catties of cornmeal, catties of beef and mutton each, plus two fish, these things are not a small amount. There is nothing more precious than food in a disaster year. It is enough for their family to have a good New Year. Let Xu Jianshe and Hu Yingzi send it over.

The lady director of the neighborhood committee usually took good care of Xu Huizhen. Xu Huizhen went there herself and gave her some rice, flour and fish to express her gratitude.

The connection with Director Ma of the District Public Security Bureau cannot be broken. Although she has not had any problems in the past few years and asked him for help, she is afraid of the worst. The public security system must have a protective umbrella.

She took He Yuzhu with her, bringing two boxes of apples, beef, mutton and seafood, and also asked He Yuzhu to identify the entrance. If he had any problems in the future, he could find the temple gate with a pig's head.

Director Ma and his wife thought that Xu Huizhen had saved their son, and they still owed her a favor, so how could they accept so many gifts? So they refused to accept them.

Who is Xu Huizhen? She has a good tongue. She said: "Xiaohu and I have a connection. Someone gave me some apples, which are crisp and sweet and delicious. I sent some to the child. The child is growing up and needs nutrition. It's okay for adults to suffer a little, but the child should not suffer."

As he said that, he took out a big red apple from the cardboard box and handed it to Xiaohu. The child was greedy when he saw the food, so he took the apple without hesitation, took a bite, and muttered, "Good, good."

Old Mrs. Ma looked at her grandson eating voraciously, sighed and said, "Huizhen, thank you, Auntie. Everyone is having a hard time now, it's rare that you think of Xiaohu." This meant that she accepted it.

Xu Huizhen added, "Here are a few pounds of beef and mutton, as well as some seafood. My child's father brought them back from a business trip to Inner Mongolia. They are for you, Auntie. It's New Year's Day, so we have to make meat dumplings. I know your family doesn't lack these things on normal days, but this year is special, and everything is in short supply."

What he said was either addressed to the younger one or the older one, and had nothing to do with Director Ma.

In order to avoid embarrassment, Director Ma did not have any conversation and asked He Yuzhu: "Where do you work?"

He Yuzhu: "I'm the canteen director at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill. Our factory has the power to make its own purchases, so we have channels to get some food. If you need anything in this regard, you can come to me."

After chatting for a few words, Director Ma got up and went to the inner room, found some industrial coupons, cloth coupons, etc. and put them in his pocket.

As a police chief, his family didn't lack these tickets, but they lacked food. It must be said that Xu Huizhen was a person who could touch people's hearts with her gifts, and it was hard for people to refuse.

When Xu Huizhen was leaving, Director Ma stuffed the money into He Yuzhu's pocket. How could He Yuzhu accept it, so he quickly took it out.

Director Ma said seriously: "If you don't want to accept it, take it back and don't come to my house again."

There was no choice but He Yuzhui to accept it.

Director Lou had sent his butler to bring her a valuable gift, and Xu Hui really felt unworthy of it. She prepared two boxes of apples, 50 kilograms of rice, 10 kilograms of beef and mutton, and some dried and fresh seafood, and asked Xu Jianshe to help her run a trip.

The Lou family cannot let He Yuzhu go to prevent him from meeting Lou Xiaoe.

Perhaps because of Xu Huizhen's advice, most of the servants in Director Lou's house were dismissed, leaving only a housekeeper and a driver.

Seeing that the things Xu Huizhen sent were all food, Director Lou happily accepted them, took out a letter of introduction, handed it to Xu Huizhen and said, "I have a work quota for a steel mill here, and it's useless for me to keep it, so I'll give it to you. If you have anything delicious in the future, you can also send it over. I'll buy it at the market price. It's really hard to buy food nowadays."

Xu Huizhen politely declined and put the money in her pocket. She complained in her heart: "Everyone has a job quota in their hands. It's really hard for ordinary people to get a job quota. For those with power, it's a piece of cake. No matter what era it is, there are privileged classes and there is no absolute fairness and justice. Since they have given it, it's a waste not to take it."

After receiving his son's letter, He Daqing returned to the capital on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, despite Widow Bai's repeated objections.

After seeing his grandson, He Daqing's fatigue from the journey disappeared instantly. Children should be taken care of by one's own family.

In the courtyard, without Yi Zhonghai to take care of things, it seemed that the atmosphere of the New Year was no longer there. The deaf old lady was sick these days, lying in bed, and she was not in the mood to celebrate the New Year. It was probably because of her mental illness, and she became depressed after losing her family property.

In previous years, Yi Zhonghai would gather the Jia family, the Yi family and the deaf old lady together to celebrate the New Year, but this year they did not get together.

The Jia family did not have enough food. In the past, when food was not so scarce, he could go to the Pigeon Market to buy some. In addition, Yi Zhonghai helped them occasionally, and He Yuzhu sometimes brought some food from the cafeteria and gave them a lunch box, so they could get by.

But this year, it was not so good. No one had enough food. Jia Dongxu begged for help everywhere, exchanged some food coupons with others, and spent almost all the family savings. Now it was the New Year, and Qin Huairu was sad and lamented her miserable life. Every day, she watched He Yuzhu and Xu Huizhen coming in and out, husband and wife singing and wife following each other, and she was envious and hateful.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. He Yuzhu discussed with his father, "Dad, do you think we should have the New Year's Eve dinner in the courtyard or at my wife's house? I have prepared everything for the New Year. If we fry, stir-fry, and deep-fry them at home, wouldn't that make people hate us? The kids next door will cry because of their envy."

He Daqing: "It's Chinese New Year, how can we go to other people's houses for dinner? Let's eat at our house."

Xu Huizhen tried to smooth things over and said, "How about this, come to my house for lunch. It's not easy for you to come back, so let's cook a few more delicious dishes to celebrate. Then we'll go back to the courtyard to make dumplings in the evening."