Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

After Cai Quanwu came back, he told Xu Huizhen about the situation outside, and Xu Huizhen was relieved. Seeing that everything was fine here, Cai Quanwu said he wanted to go to Sha Zhu's house, so he left with the net bag.

In the courtyard, the uncle Yi Zhonghai came to Sha Zhu's house the day before yesterday and said to him: "Zhu Zi, this year our four families will celebrate the New Year together, your family, my family, the Jia family and the deaf old lady in the backyard. Let's celebrate the New Year together. You have connections in the canteen, prepare more chicken, duck, fish and meat, and it will look like the New Year."

The deaf old lady is a lonely old woman with no children. The street office gives her 5 yuan a month for living expenses. Usually, an old lady takes care of her food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Sha Zhu rubbed his hands and said embarrassedly: "Uncle, please forgive me. This year my uncle will come to our house to celebrate the New Year, so I won't go to your house."

Yi Zhonghai was unhappy when he heard it: "Zhu Zi, you are a good cook. The old lady likes your cooking. She is the ancestor of our courtyard. She is so old, how many more years can she live? You can't let the old lady down. Our courtyard is an advanced courtyard. Respecting the old and loving the young is what we should do."

Sha Zhu said, "What should I do? I have already made an agreement with my second uncle. I can't go back on my word, right?"

Ever since Cai Quanwu came to the courtyard last time, Yi Zhonghai has been worried. Under his brainwashing over the years, Sha Zhu has been obedient to this old man. Now that Sha Zhu has an elder, he might be out of his control. The best way is to let them have less contact.

So, he said, "He said he was your second uncle, and you believed him? I never heard that your father had a younger brother. Zhuzi, you must not get too close to people of unknown origin."

Yu Shui beside him said, "Brother, why don't we go to Baoding after the New Year and ask our father about it?"

When the uncle heard this, he panicked and thought to himself, "I have finally managed to alienate their father-son relationship over the years and win over Sha Zhu. I can't let him go find He Daqing."

So he had to take a step back and said, "How about, let him come to my house as well? He won't make any difference. That's it." After saying that, he turned around and left. He also took the opportunity to find out more about Cai Quanwu.

After the Chinese New Year, Yu Shui will be 13 years old and much more sensible. She frowned and said, "Brother, I don't like to celebrate the Chinese New Year at Uncle Yi. The New Year's goods you bought can feed the two of us for several meals. Why bother to hang out with them? You have to cook. I think it's better for us to celebrate the Chinese New Year with Uncle Er."

He Yuzhu said sullenly, "Let's discuss it after Uncle Two comes."

Cai Quanwu was delayed at Xu Huizhen's house and arrived at the courtyard a little late. An old man was watching the movement in the courtyard through the window. He saw Cai Quanwu carrying a lot of things. A closer look revealed fish, meat, flour, roast duck, etc.

Yi Zhonghai thought to himself: "It seems that Cai Quanwu's family is well-off and he is quite generous."

Thinking of this, he walked out of the house and came to He Yuzhu's house. He said, "Is Zhuzi's second uncle here? Come on, everyone, come to my house, waiting for Zhuzi to cook. Bring your own food over, so that everyone can have a prosperous New Year."

Cai Quanwu was confused and stared at Yi Zhonghai. He Yuzhu hurriedly explained, "It's like this, Second Uncle. The eldest master in the courtyard invited us, the Jia family in the west wing, and the old lady in the backyard to celebrate the New Year together at his home. What do you think?"

Cai Quanwu was used to being alone, didn't like talking, and didn't like eating with a lot of people, especially with a group of strangers. So he stood up and said, "Then you brothers and sisters go over there, I'd better go back to my own home to celebrate the New Year."

Yi Zhonghai was secretly delighted when he heard this, thinking that his goal had been achieved. But Yu Shui was unwilling to do so. She grabbed Cai Quanwu's collar and said, "Second Uncle, since we are here, how can we go back? My brother and I are spending the New Year at home and we are not going anywhere."

Turning to Yi Zhonghai, he said, "I'm sorry, uncle. This is the first time that my second uncle comes to our house to celebrate the New Year. We have a lot to talk about, so we won't bother you."

I have to say, Yushui is a smart kid.

Yi Zhonghai heard this and said hurriedly, "What nonsense are you talking about, kid? Your brother and I have already agreed that you can't go back on your word, Zhuzi. So many people are waiting for you."

Seeing that the situation was a bit awkward, Zhuzi had to smooth things over by saying, "Uncle, we live in the same courtyard, and there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. This is the first time my second uncle comes to my house for the New Year, and he is not familiar with the people in the courtyard, so we won't go over."

Yi Zhonghai said angrily: "Zhu Zi, what did I teach you? You should respect the old and love the young, and unite the neighbors. Alas, you disappoint me so much."

After saying that, he left angrily. The air was filled with the aroma of roast duck. Before leaving, Yi Zhonghai couldn't help but glance at the things Cai Quanwu brought.

He Yuzhu had already prepared six dishes. Seeing that Cai Quanwu had brought a lot of ingredients, he went to the kitchen to add two more dishes. In the end, eight dishes were served on the table, including chicken, duck, fish and meat. The staple food was dumplings stuffed with pork and cabbage.

In this day and age, such dishes can be considered quite sumptuous for three people to dine together.

On the other hand, the dishes at Yi Zhonghai's house were a bit shabby. Jia Zhang was originally a selfish, stingy and calculating person, so she was not willing to buy some delicious food. Relying on the fact that her son Jia Dongxu was Yi Zhonghai's apprentice, she came to take advantage of him. Three adults and one child, a family of four, came to the house carrying a cabbage.

The deaf old lady was old and it was not easy for her to go out, so she naturally ate ready-made food. Yi Zhonghai's salary was not low, and his family was not short of money. However, he had thought that He Yuzhu could bring some ingredients, and he had specifically told He Yuzhu that because He Yuzhu worked in the cafeteria and had channels to buy them. So he didn't prepare much.

But things went beyond his expectations, and He Yuzhu's family was out of control. This made him feel very uncomfortable. Auntie and Qin Huairu were busy in the kitchen, and they also put together eight dishes, three of which were meat dishes, and the rest were vegetarian dishes.

After the dishes were served, Jia Zhang picked up the meat dishes without hesitation and ate them in big and small mouthfuls. She only ate the meat dishes, and at the same time, she did not forget to pick up dishes for her son, muttering: "Dongxu, you do such heavy work in the factory, you need to nourish your body more. Our family is not well off, and we can't eat meat dishes normally. Today, you are benefiting from your master, so you should eat more."

Half of the three meat dishes were taken away in a blink of an eye. The aunt looked at them and rolled her eyes in anger. She secretly hated Jia Zhang for being so unrefined.

The deaf old lady was also a greedy person. As she got older, she didn't have much to pursue, so she just wanted to eat some delicious food. She was already disappointed that He Yuzhu didn't come to cook today.

At this time, seeing Jia Zhang picking up the meat dishes without any humility, she was not very agile and could not snatch them from Jia Zhang. She was so angry that she put down her chopsticks and scolded: "Zhang Cuihua, can you be more reserved? Are all the dishes on the table from your family? No wonder Zhuzi didn't come. If I were Zhuzi, I wouldn't come either."

After saying this, she stood up, didn’t even eat, and walked out the door leaning on her crutches.

In the yard, she smelled the delicious food coming from He Yuzhu's house, and she was ravenous. She wanted to go and eat for free, but after hearing the laughter of the three people in the house, she knew that there were outsiders in the He family today. She was not as thick-skinned as Jia Zhangshi, so she had to give up. She walked back to her home in the backyard with her bound feet.