Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 263

Despite his relatively high salary, Uncle Liu Haizhong only managed to get a house for his eldest son. He only helped his second and third sons get married and hold their weddings, but he didn't even get them two rooms.

It's easy to see that Yan Bugui's wealth was just a facade, a facade of poverty.

People in the past were used to being frugal, and without various insurances, they all thought about saving more money at home to cope with various disasters.

Yan Bugui developed this frugal habit; otherwise, none of the four children would have survived those three years.

After exchanging a few words, He Yuzhu pushed his bicycle into the central courtyard.

Upon entering, one sees Qin Huairu washing clothes by the tap, with a tall pile already in the enamel basin in front of her.

Since they had run into each other, they should at least say hello. He Yuzhu said, "Sister-in-law, are you doing laundry?"

"Yes, the bang genk is quite mischievous and has to do laundry every day."

As Qin Huairu was speaking, she looked up and saw He Yuzhu greeting her. Suddenly, she remembered something, and her eyes lit up.

He stood up from the small stool, wiped his hands on his apron, and said with a smile, "Zhu Zi, I want to ask you about something."

"What's wrong?" He Yuzhu asked.

"It's nothing to trouble you, I just wanted to ask if the cannery on our street is still hiring?"

No sooner had Qin Huairu finished speaking than Jia Dongxu called from the west wing: "Qin Huairu, who are you talking to? Hurry up and do the laundry!"

Qin Huairu's eager gaze dimmed slightly, and she replied, "She's washing it now."

He Yuzhu then realized that Jia Dongxu was also inside. Wanting to upset him, she said to Qin Huairu:

"Sister-in-law, we can talk about it later."

"Qin Huairu, you come in here and die!" Jia Dongxu's voice inside the room was somewhat furious.

Chapter 195 An Older Woman's Request

Seeing this, He Yuzhu didn't say anything more and turned to go to the main room.

Qin Huairu immediately frowned. He Yuzhu was a real scoundrel. With just one sentence, he made Jia Dongxu suspicious.

How can I say something to dispel Jia Dongxu's doubts about me?

"Why aren't you coming inside?" Jia Dongxu asked, lifting the curtain as he came out of the house.

"I'm doing laundry."

"What's the point of washing? Hurry up and come inside." Jia Dongxu was very angry.

Helpless, Qin Huairu carried the basin of laundry into the house. She had wanted to wash inside, but her mother-in-law disliked the water, so she washed at the tap. Who knew He Yuzhu would come in and greet her at this moment?

"Why did you even acknowledge him? Don't you know our family and his family don't get along?" She started scolding him as soon as he entered the house and grabbed something.

Qin Huairu felt a little wronged: "Our two families live together and we run into each other every few days. They greet me, and I can't just ignore them, can I?"

"You still have the nerve to talk? You know what kind of person Sha Zhu is. Our family's misfortune is all because of Sha Zhu," Jia Dongxu said angrily.

Seeing Jia Dongxu, the fool, makes him angry; he wishes he could eat his flesh and drink his blood.

Fortunately, Sha Zhu doesn't usually live here, so Jia Dongxu rarely sees him. Even when he does, he acts as if he doesn't see him, turning his head away and ignoring him completely.

"That's right, that stupid thief Zhu is a scoundrel, why did you go and talk to him? What were you thinking?" Granny Zhang chimed in.

"What do you mean?" Qin Huairu denied.

"It's best not to talk to him. Why did you stand up and try to talk to him?" Jia Dongxu asked, "What did you say?"

Qin Huairu said, "Aren't there several factories that have opened up on the street? The printing factory and the flour mill don't need women, but this cannery is hiring a lot of ordinary women."

After opening several factories, the first priority was to solve the employment problem, so of course, the focus was on the able-bodied laborers. If there were workers in their families, they would not be hired.

Therefore, Qin Huairu was not qualified to be a worker at all.

Only this cannery needs to hire some temporary workers to cope with the current autumn production.

Because there is almost no fruit available in winter and spring, the current workforce consists of temporary workers. They work when there is work, and when there is no work, they can only go home and wait.

This also relaxes the standards, giving women in the family a way to earn some extra money.

Now that the dog is old enough to be weaned, Qin Huairu wants to take a part-time job at a cannery to supplement the family's income.

Many people don't know that weaning doesn't necessarily happen around eight or nine months or a year old.

At this time, nutritional supplements are scarce, and some children continue to consume milk until they are three or four years old, or even four or five years old.

"What? You want to wean my grandson? No way, won't you starve him?" Granny Zhang objected immediately.

Jia Dongxu also said, "That's right, Mom is right. What kind of job can you go to? Just stay home and breastfeed the baby."

"But..."

"There are no 'buts'. I said you can't go, and that's final. Besides, Sha Zhu works at that cannery, so you can't go."

Qin Huairu was so angry she didn't know what to say. Her family relied on that meager salary, which was enough to cover their expenses, but she herself had no money at all.

Jia Dongxu gave most of his salary to his mother-in-law, and his pockets were filled with money for cigarettes and alcohol.

The mother-in-law, Jia Zhangshi, valued that money more than her own life, and she wished she could break every penny.

He usually kept a close watch on Qin Huairu, and even when he needed her to buy things, he would only give her the appropriate amount of money and not let her have any extra money.

Qin Huairu thought she could take this opportunity to do some odd jobs so she could have some pocket money and wouldn't have to ask for money to buy anything.

“I found out that Sha Zhu doesn’t work at the cannery; he works at a braised meat shop.”

"No, that's not allowed either. You should stay home and take care of the child."

"But..."

"Can't you understand me? I said there's nothing wrong, but you're not allowed to go. Even if you starve to death, you're not allowed to go."

Qin Huairu's face turned ashen; she knew she had no hope of going to work.

But Qin Huairu was very unwilling to stay at home every day washing clothes, cooking, and taking care of her mother-in-law, husband, and children.

He Yuzhu propped up his bicycle, carrying a cardboard box, and lifted the curtain to go inside. He Yushui was doing her homework at the octagonal table. Hearing the noise, she looked up and saw He Yuzhu coming in. She exclaimed happily:

"Brother, what are you holding?"

"Canned food, it was just produced today, it's still warm."

As she spoke, Wen Yuping came out of the inner room carrying the child and said, "Zhuzi, you're here! Why did you bring so much?"

"This is the first batch produced. I took a few extra for you to try."

He Yushui stopped writing, skipped out the door, went to the kitchen, and came back with a bowl, chopsticks, and a kitchen knife.

He Yuzhu first used a kitchen knife to cut a cross on the lid of the canned food jar, then used the tip of the knife to lift the lid off, and then poured the fruit and soup inside into a bowl.

After opening three bottles, He Daqing, who followed in, said, "That's enough, don't open any more, we're about to eat."

The three cans of food were divided into five bowls.

Although He Yushui was in a hurry, she still served the canned food to He Daqing and Wen Yuping first, and then ate the canned food with her younger brother He Yutang.

"It's so delicious, even better than eating white pears."

"It's quite delicious. Pears alone have a sour taste, but this is much sweeter."

After taking a couple of bites, seeing that He Yuzhu wasn't eating, she asked, "Brother, why aren't you eating?"

"How could I possibly lack canned food? I've had enough of it at the factory."

"Too."

The family sampled the three cans of fruit separately, and to their surprise, the apples and pears were sweet and delicious, much better than eating fruit directly.

After eating, we rested for a while, chatted for a bit, and then started having dinner.

When He Yuzhu entered the house, he noticed that He Daqing was acting strangely, as if he had something to say to him.

After finishing their meal, He Yuzhu cleared the dishes and took them to the kitchen to wash them. Sure enough, He Daqing followed right after He Yuzhu came in.

First, he took over the task of washing the dishes, and then he said, "Zhu Zi, there are two things I want to discuss with you."

"What's the matter?" He Yuzhu asked.

"Didn't you cook a meal for the high-ranking leader from the ministry when he came to inspect last time?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Last time, the top leaders and members of the inspection team all praised the food you cooked. Director Yang has been looking for me these past two days."

"Do you want me to cook you a meal?"

"Yes, that's what Director Yang meant, but this time he's going to do it in person, directly to the home of the top leader."

After He Daqing finished speaking, he looked at his son, hoping to get a positive answer.

He Yuzhu had long anticipated this day. Fortunately, neither the braised meat shop nor the cannery needed his constant attention for the time being, so he could easily spare some time to cook.

Last time, Director Yang was very generous and gave me a 20-yuan red envelope, which was already an astronomical sum.

Temporary workers now earn less than 20 yuan a month. In large factories like steel rolling mills, the first-year wage for temporary workers is only 17 yuan.

The cannery paid women a little over 10 yuan a month, and even so, a large number of women were still waiting to go to work.

The dishes I cooked for Qi Baishi before, even at today's prices, wouldn't have reached the level of 20 yuan.