Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

After a night of tossing and turning, Qin Huairu gave birth to a girl.

When Jia Zhang saw that the baby was not a boy, she turned around and left in anger, muttering, "I stayed up all night for nothing, but gave birth to a girl. What bad luck!"

Qin Huairu and the child were left alone in the hospital.

Qin Huairu looked out the window with a bitter face, and saw the sophora flowers blooming on the sophora tree in the yard, pure white and fragrant. She looked at the child in her arms and said, "Child, Mom will give you a name, Sophora Flower."

When Jia Zhang returned to the courtyard, she ran into Aunt Yi, who asked with concern, "Sister-in-law, how is it? Did Huairu give birth?"

Jia Zhang said angrily: "You gave birth to a money-losing thing."

Aunt Yi saw Jia Zhang's disgusted look and knew that she liked boys but failed to get what she wanted. She sighed and thought to herself: "If God gave me a child, even if it was a girl, I would kowtow to him and burn incense every day. It's really difficult for one family to understand the other's difficulties."

After asking Jia Zhang to go home, she did not go out. Aunt Yi thought Qin Huairu had nothing to eat in the hospital, so she went home, cooked some millet porridge, boiled an egg, and brought it to the hospital.

In the following days, Xu Huizhen focused her main energy on the handicraft factory. The factory building was still under construction, but the training of new workers had to be started first.

Director Wang knew that Xu Huizhen had developed a new product and was very supportive of her work. After all, it was a good thing that would benefit the country and the people.

She took over all the work of the neighborhood committee and let Xu Huizhen devote herself to training workers. It must be said that most cadres of this era have a high level of ideological awareness, and they put the public first and then their own families. This spirit of selfless dedication is very admirable.

Hu Yingzi has had some pregnancy reactions recently, but it has not affected her enthusiasm for work at all. Her salary has been increased by one level. She has the highest salary among her peers in the factory. It’s wonderful to think about it.

She also said, "Auntie Han, sister, give me all the job quotas awarded to you by the factory. I will definitely sell them to you at a high price. I am not as good as my sister in other things, but I am good at this kind of thing. However, you can't be impatient. You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. Wait a few days, when the factory recruitment is over, those who didn't pass the exam will have no hope. This is a good time to make a move."

Xu Huizhen looked at Hu Yingzi and gave her a thumbs up in her heart. Although she was usually careless, she had made great progress after her subtle training over the past few years and became a good housekeeper.

Hu Yingzi also went to the tavern and greeted Cai Quanwu, saying that she had a job offer at the handicraft factory and asked Cai Quanwu to help her find a buyer. Because the tavern was full of people, it was a gathering place for information.

As a result, a few days later, just after Xu Huizhen finished dinner and put down her bowl and chopsticks, Cai Quanwu and Xu Jianmei came.

Xu Jianmei was also pregnant, and she had gotten pregnant a little earlier than Xu Huizhen. The three pregnant women gathered together, laughing and chatting.

Han Qingqiu said, "Normally, people don't have enough food to eat nowadays, and women don't get enough nutrition, so it's not easy for them to get pregnant. But you guys are all pregnant at the same time. It's obvious that you are in good health and have enough food at home."

Hu Yingzi: "Ah? Really? Aunt Han, now that you mention it, there are so many female workers in our factory, but not many are pregnant recently."

After chatting for a while, Cai Quanwu said, "Today, a man came to the tavern. His surname is Ji. He said he wanted to trade his house for a job. His house is by the North Sea, facing the street, and the location is quite good. It's a shop in front and a house in the back. The name of the shop is Yuluxuan. I wonder if you remember it? It sells pens, inkstones, calligraphy and paintings, antiques, jade, etc. After the public-private partnership, he closed the shop. Now he wants to go out of town, so he wants to sell the house."

He Yuzhu became excited when he heard this. He had dreamed that several years later, when individual business was allowed, Yan Jiecheng and his wife opened a restaurant. In order to earn more money to support Qin Huairu's family, he worked as a chef in the restaurant. He knew that it was the right time to open a restaurant and that he could really make money.

It would be better to be your own boss than to work for others. Moreover, the He family has inherent advantages in opening a restaurant. He and his father are both first-class chefs. With a few apprentices, they don’t need to hire chefs. Since the Ji family’s house is facing the street and used to be a store, it would be great if they bought it and opened a restaurant in the future.

Then he wanted to buy a house of his own. The house in the courtyard was under the name of He Daqing. After his father came back, it was a little small to live in. If his father got hot-headed and got married for the third time one day, there would be no room for him. Besides, living in a large courtyard would cause a lot of trouble. Xu Huizhen's house was big and comfortable, but that house was left by Mr. He, who also said it was for Xu Jingli. Living there, he always felt that it was not his home and he had no sense of belonging.

But what Xu Huizhen was thinking at this moment was that the Ji family used to sell antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and jade, so they must have some inventory. Whether to buy the house or not is another matter, but maybe she could find a bargain.

Although the couple had different focuses, they made the same final decision, which was to go and see the house tomorrow.

The next day, He Yuzhu and his wife went to Beihai according to the address given by Cai Quanwu.

After knocking on the door, they were greeted by a middle-aged man. Xu Huizhen asked, "Excuse me, is this the Ji family?"

The man said, "My last name is Ji, what can I do for you?"

Xu Huizhen: "Cai Quanwu from the tavern introduced us here."

Mr. Ji understood what he meant, led them in, and then closed the door.

He Yuzhu looked around the house. The house was located at a crossroads, with the main door facing east and an alley in front of the door. Outside the north room was the street. The north room was a two-story building, which was a former shop, with a door facing north. Usually, the family went in and out through the east door.

It’s true that this second floor is quite suitable for opening a restaurant in the future. If the area is not enough, the backyard can be used.

Mr. Ji led them into the south room, and estimated that the owner usually lived in the south room.

The main room has an eight-immortal table, two round chairs, and antique shelves. They are all antique in style. When you touch them, you feel that they are heavy. They must be made of good wood. You can tell that they were from a wealthy family. Of course, if you sell antiques and jade, don’t you have a lot of money?

He Yuzhu: "We heard that you want to exchange your house for a job quota. Is this the house you are talking about?"

Mr. Ji nodded and said, "To be honest, I'm going to move out of town. I want to sell this house, change some jobs, and give them to my sister's children. I'll make arrangements for them so that they won't have anything to worry about after I'm gone. You just looked at this house, what do you think of it?"

Xu Huizhen said, "I have a job at a handicraft factory, and I would like to move to a new house, but I didn't expect your house to be so big and have so many rooms. These days, having too many houses is not a good thing."

Xu Huizhen knew that now was not the best time to buy a house. There would be a vigorous movement in a few years, and she needed to hide her tail. Recently, she didn't dare to submit articles to the newspaper anymore, just to eliminate all dangerous factors. Having too many houses would also be a handle, and she was afraid that someone with ulterior motives would take advantage of it. Those who confiscate the property would have no reason to argue.

But He Yuzhu liked the house. He said, "Mr. Ji, would you mind showing us the house first?"

Mr. Ji stood up and introduced: "This house was passed down from my ancestors. I really don't want to sell it. It's the behavior of a prodigal son to sell his father's land. But there is no other way. Now I can't even get enough food. What else can I do if I don't leave?"

Xu Huizhen guessed that Mr. Ji was probably going abroad and never coming back.

As they were talking, they came to the north room, which had five rooms in total, all connected, and there was a counter inside, all left over from the past. The decoration was antique and very impressive. Going up to the second floor, Mr. Ji introduced: "The second floor is divided into three rooms, one is a living room, which was used to entertain guests in the past, one is a warehouse, and one is an office."

Standing on the second floor and looking north, you can see Beihai Lake not far away across the street. From here you can see the White Pagoda and the sparkling water in the distance.

This white pagoda was built in the eighth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty. It is a Tibetan Lama pagoda, so it has an exotic style.

The beautiful white tower is reflected on the sea surface, surrounded by green trees and red walls.

The boat floats gently in the water.

A cool breeze blowing in your face...

The lyricist of the well-known song "Let's Row the Boat Together" got inspiration from here.

The beautiful melody of this song will accompany generations through their carefree childhood.