Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

On this day, Xu Jianshe drove out of town. Because Hu Yingzi was home alone after the thief broke out last time, Xu Hui was worried and did not return to the courtyard at night. She stayed at home with Hu Yingzi.

The next morning, Hu Yingzi went to the kitchen to make breakfast, and then ran out again, screaming, "Sister, sister, get up quickly! Something happened."

He Yuzhu came out of the house and said, "What happened? Why are you so nervous so early in the morning?"

Hu Yingzi cried and said, "Brother-in-law, it was stolen again."

He Yuzhu said nonchalantly: "My brother-in-law wasn't robbed, he's standing here fine."

Hu Yingzi: "No, I'm not kidding! All the food in the kitchen was stolen, wuwuwu..."

Spring is a time of scarcity, when food is so precious that you can’t buy it even if you have money.

Xu Huizhen listened to the conversation outside and jumped up from the bed. She put on her cotton coat and walked to the kitchen.

She stole everything, even the rice and flour jars were emptied, including the steamed buns in the pot, the smoked fish and bacon in the cupboard, and even the pickled vegetables she made at home.

Just like last time, there was a porcelain vase on the stove. Unlike the high-footed cup from last time, this one was in the shape of a big belly.

Xu Huizhen was really looking at this porcelain, with blue cloud patterns and red flying dragon patterns. This should be called a Doucai Tianzi Jar. She had seen an introduction to it in a treasure appraisal program in her previous life.

Hu Yingzi said: "This one is better than the last one. At least it can be used for sugar or soy sauce. It's red and green and looks pretty good."

Xu Huizhen said unhappily: "This is an antique, an antique. It will be worth a lot of money in the future."

Hu Yingzi stamped her feet in anger: "It's not good to eat or drink. We lost so much food! This thief has set his sights on our home. What should we do?"

As he spoke, he picked up the firewood stick and went out, shouting, "Big Eyes, get out here. You eat so much of my food every day, you better take care of the house. I'll break your legs today."

Big Eyes lay in the doghouse, refusing to come out, whimpering as if expressing his grievances and helplessness.

He Yuzhu climbed up the wall and looked at his burglar alarm. It was still there. It was just a deaf man's ear, a decoration, useless.

He Yuzhu shook his head helplessly and whispered, "It seems that this thief is a martial artist!"

Xu Huizhen grabbed the mouth of the bottle with one hand, wanting to see if there was any mark on the bottom of the bottle. She felt that there was something inside the jar, and when she took it out, she saw that it was a piece of paper.

It was written in a few words: I will trade this for food with you, you won't suffer any loss. There lived an enemy spy at No. 36 Dongmian Hutong. There was a secret door in his wardrobe, and inside was a radio, beeping, beeping, beeping.

Xu Huizhen blinked. If you don't report the enemy spies, why are you telling me? I don't care about this matter!

Thinking carefully, if she reported it, it would also be a merit, and she might even get a reward from the system. Thinking of this, she no longer felt bad about the food and put the note into her space.

He Yuzhu came down from the roof angrily and said, "I'm going to call the police! This wicked thief is stealing our family!"

Yingzi was yelling in the yard, "You black-hearted thief, you are so lacking in virtue. I curse you to get hit by a taxi or choke to death when drinking cold water..."

Xu Huizhen quickly comforted them, "Yingzi, Zhuzi, listen to me. This thief is quite righteous. He didn't take it for nothing. He left us a jar. This jar is from the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty. Do you know how much grain it can be exchanged for in 20 or 30 years?"

Hu Yingzi shook her head stupidly, indicating that she didn't know.

Xu Huizhen: "It can be exchanged for enough food for our whole family to last a lifetime!"

Hu Yingzi was so surprised that her mouth was so wide that an egg could fit in it. She counted on her fingers, "Can't we eat it all in a lifetime? If we calculate based on 30 kilograms of food rations a month, that's 360 kilograms a year, 3600 kilograms in 100 years, 7 kilograms a year, and there are seven people in my family now..."

Xu Huizhen frowned as she listened. Hu Yingzi is now an accountant at a handicraft factory. She wondered how she became an accountant.

She sighed and continued, "This thief is really good. He has set his sights on our family. We are in the open, but he is in the dark. So, we shouldn't do anything too extreme. We should leave some room for him so that we can meet again in the future. It's all because of the bad years that we are forced to take this step. We don't lack that little bit of food, so we should just consider it as a good deed."

Hu Yingzi sighed and said, "Put less food in the kitchen in the future. If he comes, he won't be able to steal anything, so he probably won't come again."

Xu Huizhen: "It's not necessary. It's fine as it should be. Yingzi, don't worry about the food. I promise you won't starve."

Walking out of the house, Xu Huizhen saw Li'er moving a stool and sitting next to the doghouse with a serious look on his face.

Xu Huizhen was puzzled and asked, "Li'er, have you washed your face and brushed your teeth? Why are you sitting in the yard so early in the morning?"

Li'er said crisply, "Mom, I'm here to protect Big Eyes. Auntie wants to beat Big Eyes again. Big Eyes didn't mean to ignore the door. He just took a nap."

The little guy now speaks in a very clear and orderly manner.

Li'er is six years old this year, which is the lovable age. Because she has a younger brother in the family, as an older sister, she feels that she is no longer a child, so she always acts like a little adult.

After Xu Huizhen comforted her family, she went to work. She now had to solve the problem of enemy spies mentioned by the thief. As soon as the director entered the office, Xu Huizhen asked: "Director, who lives at No. 36 Qianshi Hutong? Do you have any impression?"

Director Wang said confidently, "I know almost everything about the residents in our area. No. 36 is a private house with a courtyard. An accountant from the power plant lives there. His wife died many years ago and he is single now. He wears a pair of glasses and looks gentle. His surname seems to be Gao. What's wrong? Why are you asking this?"

Xu Huizhen said, "Nothing wrong? I just felt that person was weird."

After sitting for a while, Xu Huizhen decided to go and take a look in person. She couldn't just go to the police station and report it without any evidence. She had to have some basis or something.

Xu Huizhen had walked around the area under the jurisdiction of the Daqianmen neighborhood committee when she first took office, so she was very familiar with the situation. When she arrived at Courtyard 36, she saw that the outer door was locked, and she probably went to work.

The top of the wall wasn't too high, so she couldn't just climb up. There were often people walking in the alley, and being discovered would only cause trouble.

Fortunately, there was a narrow passage between his house and Courtyard 35. It was very hidden and one could climb the wall to get in. Xu Huizhen looked around and saw that no one noticed her, so she slipped into the passage.

This was the first time Xu Huizhen had done such a sneaky thing, so she was a little nervous. If the other party was an enemy spy, they would have been strictly trained and very vigilant.