Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

He Yuzhu knew about He Daqing's home in Baoding. When He Daqing had just left the capital, he and his sister came there once, but they were blocked outside the door by the White Widow and they didn't even get to see He Daqing. It was obvious that the White Widow was not an easy person to deal with.

He Yuzhu was smart this time. He did not go directly to He Daqing's house. Instead, he took a few candies and found out He Daqing's workplace from the neighbor's children.

It turned out that He Daqing worked at Tianhaiju Restaurant. He Yuzhu did not stop and followed the route the child told him to find the restaurant. It was not lunch time, and there was a waiter sitting at the counter, taking a nap.

Sha Zhu said, "Hello, comrade! Is He Daqing here?"

The waiter opened his sleepy eyes and asked, "Are you looking for He Daqing? Wait, I'll go to the kitchen to call him for you." Sha Zhu felt his legs shaking and was a little nervous. He hadn't seen his father for more than four years. After all, he was his biological father. Although he said bad things about him, it would be a lie to say that he didn't miss his father at all.

He Daqing came out in work clothes. He was surprised when he saw the person coming. "Zhu Zi, you are Zhu Zi. Hey, I haven't seen you for a few years. You have grown into a strong young man."

He Yuzhu rolled his eyes and said, "I'm here to collect a debt."

He Daqing found a private room in the restaurant, and the father and son sat down, facing each other. There was no speech for a while. It was He Daqing who spoke first: "Is the rain okay?"

He Yuzhu: "Whether it's good or not, go back and check it yourself."

He Daqing: "Hey, you silly Zhuzi, how can you talk to your father like that?"

He Yuzhu didn't waste time talking to him and went straight to the point: "I don't say anything about you running away from home for a woman. I'm already grown up and I don't need you to raise me anymore. But Yushui is your daughter, you have to raise her. I'm here today to ask for Yushui's child support."

He Daqing glared and said, "Didn't I send you all the living expenses? Ten yuan every month, without interruption."

He Yuzhu said unhappily: "Yushui and I didn't receive a penny. We almost starved to death the year you left." The conversation between the father and son was quite interesting. He Yuzhu was still angry, so naturally he didn't have a good attitude towards He Daqing.

He Daqing heard this and roared, "Impossible! I have the remittance receipt here. Where did the money go?"

He Yuzhu then said, "I heard some time ago that you sent us money, so I went to the post office to check. Guess what? All the money was taken away by Yi Zhonghai, but my brother and I didn't receive a penny."

He Daqing slammed the table and said, "Yi Zhonghai is so bold, he actually dared to embezzle your living expenses!"

Knowing that He Daqing had really sent the money, He Yuzhu's resentment was much lessened. He asked, "You still have the receipt for sending the money, right?"

He Daqing: "Of course, keep them all."

He Yuzhu nodded and said, "I heard someone say that when you left Sijiu City, was it because someone plotted against you?"

He Daqing sighed: "Alas, you were still young back then, and I didn't tell you because I was afraid that you were too young to have enough time to think about it. By the way, who told you that?"

He Yuzhu did not answer but asked instead: "Dad, do you have a half-brother? His name is Cai Quanwu, and he looks exactly like you. We met last year." Then he recounted the whole story of his meeting with Cai Quanwu.

He Daqing: "Humph, it was your eccentric grandfather who gave birth to the woman he kept outside."

He Yuzhu: "You are out of line, abandoning your own children in this poor city and letting others raise their sons." The father and son had a deep and thorough communication.

He Daqing was a shrewd old man, and he was not someone who could be easily fooled by a young man like He Yuzhu. He sensed a conspiracy from his son's few words.

The story was this: when the class was divided, He Daqing was a little clever and spent money to get his family a class of hired farmers. His ancestors were imperial chefs, and their specialty was Tan's cuisine. His father could even keep a mistress outside, which showed that he had a background.

What's more, Tan's cuisine is one of the most famous court cuisines in China, also known as the second-place cuisine. Tan's cuisine is mainly cooked by roasting, stewing, simmering, simmering and steaming. It is good at preparing dried food and cooking seafood with soup and old fire. It uses high-end ingredients, such as bird's nest, shark fin, abalone, sea cucumber, etc. If you don't have a good family background, can you afford to buy these ingredients to practice your cooking skills?

Although he had fallen into decline during the turbulent times, his family still owned the best house in the courtyard, and it was a private house. Could such a family be a hired farmhand?

In the autumn of 1951, he worked as a canteen director at the Red Star Steel Mill, raising a pair of children, and had no worries about food and clothing, which was considered a good life. Yi Zhonghai introduced him to the White Widow, and the two fell in love with each other.

Later, he heard from Yi Zhonghai that the neighborhood committee was going to re-examine his family background. He Daqing was panicking because if he was found to have falsified his family background, not only would he be in trouble, but his two children would also be implicated.

Therefore, Yi Zhonghai suggested that he marry Bai Guafu and settle down in Baoding, Bai Guafu's hometown. After the person left, no one would pursue these trivial matters.

He Daqing was worried about the children. Yi Zhonghai promised to take care of He Yuzhu and his sister. He Daqing left him 50 yuan as living expenses for the two children in the near future, saying that he would send money every month after he found a job in Baoding.

Yi Zhonghai reminded him, "Don't send the money directly to Zhuzi, because that would make the neighborhood committee think that you have no connection. Even if they find out that the money is fake, it's your own problem and has nothing to do with the children. This way the children are safe."

So the two of them agreed to send the money to Yi Zhonghai, who would then pass it on.

Now it seems that I have fallen into the trap set by Yi Zhonghai for myself, and the White Widow is probably also Yi Zhonghai's handiwork. People in the Forty-Nine City know that I have been calculated. It seems that many people know about this matter, but I have been kept in the dark.

How could a gentleman endure such a thing? He Daqing, who thought he was smart, would never suffer such a loss.

He said to his son, "Son, you are still a little immature and are no match for Yi Zhonghai. I will handle this matter when I get back."

He Yuzhu said sullenly, "That's what Shopkeeper Xu said. Dad, am I stupid and easy to fool?"

He Daqing: "Every failure is a learning experience. I am so old, but I was still tricked by Yi Zhonghai, the old bastard. Come on, I will arrange a hotel for you to stay. I will go to the restaurant to ask for leave. We will go back to Sijiu City together tomorrow morning. If a tiger doesn't show its might, do you think I am a sick cat?"

When he got home that night, He Daqing slapped Bai Guafu twice, just to vent his anger. Bai Guafu was stunned by the slap, because He Daqing had never hit him before.