Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

The little boy pointed in the direction of He Yongqiang and ran away.

Xu Huizhen walked across the street and turned around. She didn't know who was looking for her, and was about to turn back. He Yongqiang came out from the corner and called out, "Huizhen."

Xu Huizhen turned her head and looked at him, with a puzzled look on her face, as if to say, "Who are you? I don't know you." Looking at He Yongqiang's appearance at this time, he was wearing tattered clothes, his face was tanned by the sun, and his body was thinner than last year. It was normal for Xu Huizhen not to recognize him.

He Yongqiang was so embarrassed that he took off his straw hat and stammered, "I, I am He Yongqiang."

Xu Huizhen was stunned for a moment, looked He Yongqiang up and down, and turned to leave. He Yongqiang quickly said, "Huizhen, wait a minute, I want to see the child."

Xu Huizhen turned around, smiling, and said, "Looking after the child? Okay? I wonder what you brought for the child? Something delicious or useful? Or something fun?"

He Yongqiang rubbed his hands awkwardly and said, "I don't have a good life in my hometown. My father is in poor health and often takes medicine. Where can I get the money?"

Xu Huizhen spread her hands and said, "You can't tell me these things."

He Yongqiang asked bitterly, "I heard that the tavern and the canteen are now under your management. Can you arrange a job for me in the canteen? My household registration is still in the city. I want to come back to work. I really can't do the work in the countryside."

In his opinion, Xu Huizhen was able to become a private manager because of the influence of the He family. Besides, a husband and wife are bound by love for a hundred days, so it was only natural for Xu Huizhen to arrange a job for him.

Xu Huizhen smiled and said, "Don't mention that the tavern is now owned by the government, so I don't have the final say. Even if I had the final say, I wouldn't let you come back, so just give up on this idea."

After finishing speaking, Xu Huizhen walked away, humming a little tune: "We ordinary people are so happy today..."

He Yongqiang kept shouting from behind: "Xu Huizhen, we were married, don't you have any feelings for each other?"

Xu Huizhen didn't even look back. She deliberately twisted her slender waist and walked back to the cafeteria swayingly.

He Yongqiang returned to Lijiazhuang dejectedly, thinking all the way, impulse is the devil! If he hadn't left Sijiucheng, this private manager should have been his, He Yongqiang. It was really unspeakable pain and endless regret.

After returning home, Xu Huizhi took a broom and cleaned the dust off his body. He said impatiently: "That's enough. I don't know where all the trouble comes from every day?" After that, he got on the kang, stared at the beams with lifeless eyes, and left sadly alone.

Xu Huizhi looked at her husband in confusion. She felt that He Yongqiang's temper had worsened recently. He no longer treated her as kindly as before. Occasionally, he would stare at the sky in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking.

Ever since returning to Lijiazhuang, Xu Huizhi sometimes asked herself in her heart whether it was worth it for her to use all her strength to snatch her brother-in-law away.

From childhood to adulthood, Xu Huizhen has always been superior to her in every aspect, whether in appearance, knowledge, or the ability to deal with people. This gave her a spirit of not admitting defeat.

As fate would have it, her sister's blind date, He Yongqiang, looked at her differently. The resentment that had been suppressed for many years seemed to have finally found an outlet and burst out.

She desperately snatched He Yongqiang away. She wanted to show her family that she was no worse than Xu Huizhen. However, the young owner of the tavern, He Yongqiang, was the one she had her eyes on.

As fate would have it, He Yongqiang was so angry that he severed the relationship between him and his adoptive father. He Yongqiang went from being a young master in the old city to a farmer in Lijiazhuang.

There is a saying that goes: A poor couple is sad about everything. After arriving in Lijiazhuang, the difficult living conditions made her former complacency disappear completely.

If a person has always stayed in a poor rural area and has never seen the prosperity of the city, he will be content with the status quo. However, after seeing the good life in the city, if he is allowed to live in the countryside, most people will want to change their status quo.

In countless sleepless nights, Xu Huizhi secretly regretted that she should not have left Sijiucheng so hastily, and she also blamed He Yongqiang for being too stubborn and leaving the He family's property to Xu Huizhen. But she did not dare to reveal this thought to He Yongqiang.

Now that the matter is done and I am pregnant, I have to continue on the path I have chosen even if it makes me cry.

Time is like running water, flowing quietly.

The tavern's business was very stable. After paying the wages, there was a small surplus. Both the tavern and the canteen sold cheap items, and although people came and went, the net profit was actually not high.

Take Chen Xueru's silk shop for example. The profit from selling a piece of silk clothing is equal to the profit from selling four or five baskets of steamed bread in the canteen. So, some businesses don't open for three years, but can make a profit for three years after opening. The tavern is just the other extreme.

That day, Xu Huizhen discussed the matter with Manager Cao. She said, "Manager Cao, do you know the leaders of the meat processing plant? Meat is in short supply, so we don't have to think about it, but we can buy some pig heads, pig feet, and pig offal to make stewed food. People are starving these days, and pig heads are still meat, so they will definitely be popular. The most important thing is the high profit. It's too slow to make money just by selling these steamed buns and flower rolls, and our tavern has so many employees to support."

Maybe because she was a businessman in her previous life, Xu Huizhen has a deep obsession with making money. She is definitely a money-grubber.

Manager Cao: "Is it possible? After all, our cafeteria used to sell cheap food."

Xu Huizhen: "How do you know if you don't try it? Customers who come to buy steamed buns may also buy some braised meat. And we can also make some braised dried tofu, braised kelp and other braised dishes at the same time. Although they are vegetarian dishes, they have the taste of meat after being braised in broth, right?"

Manager Cao asked: "Among us, who knows how to make braised food?"

Xu Huizhen: "I can cook it, but my recipe is just a home-cooked one. Since we are going to cook it, we must strive to do our best. If it tastes good, it can also sell for a good price, right? Cai Quanwu knows He Yuzhu, the chef of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill. He Yuzhu's ancestors were royal chefs. He may be able to learn a better recipe from his family's cooking skills. Now the main thing is to see if we can buy the ingredients."

Manager Cao said: "My family is actually somewhat related to the head of the supply and marketing department of the meat processing plant. We can give it a try."

Xu Huizhen was very excited when she heard about this relationship. She said sincerely, "If you need a gift, just withdraw the money from the tavern account. If you don't sacrifice your child, you can't catch a wolf, and if you don't sacrifice your wife, you can't catch a gangster."

After saying this, they both burst into laughter at the same time.