Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

Each unit had some New Year's goods, and everyone was carrying fish and meat on their way home. They greeted each other with smiles on their faces, full of desire for a happy life.

In the compound, the aroma wafts from every kitchen, either frying meatballs or stewing meat. No matter if you are rich or poor, you have to buy some delicious food for the New Year.

The greedy child, like a cat that smells fishy smell, prowls around the kitchen door. When the adults aren't paying attention, he quickly steals a meatball to taste it.

When the adults found her and chased her out with a fire poker, she had already run away. The adults were so angry that they jumped up and down and scolded: "You greedy bastard, I will break your legs when I get back!" In response to her, the onlookers burst into laughter.

The eldest brother doesn't laugh at the second brother, and the same show is performed in every household.

Xu Huizhen was the only one at home, with a baby who was still breastfeeding. She had no shortage of food in her space, and she usually ate well, so there was nothing special that needed to be prepared.

She packed some seafood and asked Cai Quanwu to deliver it to the director of the neighborhood committee. Every time she went on a long trip, she had to ask her for a letter of introduction. Besides, the public-private partnership would be going on next year, and the neighborhood committee would be the direct management department. It would be a good idea to handle the relationship well first.

I just don't know if it can be sent out. I heard that the cadres of this era are more honest and upright. They are public servants who resist corruption and will not be tempted by sugar-coated bullets.

Not long after, Cai Quanwu came back, and Xu Huizhen asked, "How is it? Did Director Wang accept it?"

Cai Quanwu said: "I accepted it, but she wanted to give me money, so I told her to come to you."

Xu Huizhen nodded and said, "I still have to go to Director Ma's house to give him some New Year gifts. It's the police who came that day. I just helped a little, but they gave me such a heavy gift, including money and tickets. I feel unworthy of it. Please take my tricycle and give me a ride."

Cai Quanwu: "No problem, do you need to bring something? I'll carry it for you."

Xu Huizhen: "Go to the cellar and get some seafood, take more of each kind, and I'll go into the house to get some fresh vegetables." After saying that, she entered the space, picked fresh cucumbers, leeks, celery, tomatoes, etc., put them in a basket, and carried it out the door.

Looking at Jingli who was sleeping soundly, she felt uneasy about leaving a child alone at home for a long time, so she picked up the child again and the three of them set off.

After asking around, she came to Director Ma's house, which was a private house. After knocking on the door, an eight or nine-year-old girl opened the door for her. Xu Huizhen took out a handful of candy from her pocket and handed it to the girl. In this era, there were no snacks as varied as in later times, so candy was the most suitable gift for children.

The girl called out, "Mom, there's an auntie looking for you." Miao Fengying came out of the main room and looked at Xu Huizhen. Xu Huizhen quickly said, "Sister Miao, I'm Xu Huizhen from the Daqianmen Tavern. Don't you remember me?"

Miao Fengying suddenly realized and said, "Look at my memory, come in quickly." Cai Quanwu followed behind and brought things in from the car. Miao Fengying stopped him and said, "What are you doing? Take it back quickly, or I won't let you in."

Xu Huizhen said, "My relatives sent me some vegetables from the countryside. There are only my daughter and I in our family, and we can't finish them all. Vegetables can't be stored for a long time. We can't waste them, right? There are many people in your family, so help me solve the problem." Then he took a tomato from the basket and handed it to the girl, saying, "Take it, and try it."

Miao Fengying knew that this was someone else's excuse, but when she saw the lush green vegetables, which were a rare commodity in the middle of winter, she looked at her own daughter, who was holding a tomato, unable to let it go and smiling like a fool.

The words of refusal got stuck in her throat and she couldn't say them out, so she had to let the man go into the house.

Director Ma was not at home, so Miao Fengying introduced him to her mother-in-law, "Mom, this is Xu Huizhen. She was the one who caught the human traffickers and saved our little tiger."

When the old lady heard this, she excitedly stepped forward and shook Xu Huizhen's hand, saying, "Thank you so much. Look at this girl, she is so beautiful and has great kung fu skills. I heard that you held the child in one hand and knocked down the human trafficker with the other. Your skills are not much worse than Zhang Fei in the Three Kingdoms. My eldest grandson is also lucky to have met you."

As the old lady spoke, she gestured. Xu Hui had never thought that within a few days, she would be rumored to be the female Zhang Fei. Couldn't the old lady change a comparison object? Besides Zhang Fei, there were Hua Mulan, Mu Guiying and so on. At least the gender was consistent.

Miao Fengying went to the inner room and brought out a little boy, who was chubby and strong. It was the child she had rescued that day.

Xu Huizhen said, "This child and I have a connection. I couldn't take my eyes off him when I saw him. I felt that he and the trafficker were not from the same family. I approached him and asked him carefully, and I was right. Auntie, don't you think this is magical?"

The aunt held Xu Huizhen's hand and said, "Amazing! It must be because our Ma family's ancestors did good deeds that they saved this child's life. There has been no news of Director Wen's youngest son until now, alas."

Xu Huizhen: "His name is Xiaohu, right? The child has a full forehead, a square chin, and bright eyes. He will definitely be as successful as his father in the future." She is very good at praising people in her two lifetimes.

The old lady was very experienced. She reached out and took Jingli from Xu Huizhen's arms, and started to praise each other.

Miao Fengying teased her son: "Xiaohu, come and thank your auntie." Xiaohu said in a baby voice: "Thank you, auntie." While speaking, he clasped his hands together and bowed continuously.

Xu Huizhen smiled and said, "Oh, this child is so cute."

After sitting for a while and chatting about family matters, Xu Huizhen stood up and said goodbye. It was her first time visiting, so it was not good to sit for too long. The old lady took out a big black ten from her waist, stuffed it into Xu Jingli's swaddling clothes, and said, "This is the New Year's money I gave to the child in advance."

Xu Huizhen quickly declined, saying, "Auntie, no. I can't take it."

The old lady said with a fierce face: "You can't refuse a gift from an elder." Xu Huizhen had no choice but to put a piece of money in Huzi's pocket and said: "Huzi, keep it to buy candy." Huzi happily grabbed the money in his hand, and refused to give it to Miao Fengying no matter how hard he tried. It seemed that he knew that this could be exchanged for candy.

The old lady and Miao Fengying always saw her off and warmly invited her to visit their home when she was free.

After getting on the tricycle and driving away, she turned around to look at the house and thought to herself, "I have to hold on to this thick thigh tightly. When you are in the world, how can you avoid being hurt? You can't do this without some connections."

Back at Director Ma's house, the old lady looked at the gifts Xu Huizhen brought. Seafood was common, but vegetables were rare. She said to her daughter-in-law, "There are quite a few of these vegetables. Let's keep some for our family and see if Yiming needs help with the rest."

Miao Fengying nodded in agreement. Scarcity makes things valuable. This gift doesn't seem too deliberate, but it can touch people's hearts.