Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 120

Although He Yuzhu disliked these tedious formalities, since he had transmigrated here, he had to adapt to local customs. Right now, the society had just been liberated and people were still living in the same way as before.

At this time of year, every household would invite gods and ancestors to worship, and He Yuzhu was no exception.

If you think about it, the reason why the Chinese nation has a cohesion that surpasses that of all other nations in the world is because of the ancestral worship tradition passed down since ancient times.

In this way, the people living on this land can recognize themselves as members of the Chinese nation, thus creating a harmonious and unified family.

After paying respects to their ancestors, the two ate a reunion dinner on the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed).

When making dumplings, He Yuzhu couldn't resist the custom. He washed two coins, wrapped them in the dumplings, and told He Yushui that whoever ate the dumpling with the coins in it would have everything go smoothly and happily in the coming year.

After eating only a few dumplings, He Yushui's eyes suddenly lit up. She spat out the copper coin in her mouth and exclaimed happily, "Brother, look, I ate a copper coin!"

"Oh, the rain brings good fortune! Next year will surely bring you everything you desire and all your wishes will come true."

"Hehehe." He Yushui grinned happily.

After finishing his New Year's Eve dinner, He Yuzhu, still wet from the rain, went to the street in front of the house. The villagers from the surrounding area had come to set off fireworks and firecrackers, and the place was already bustling with activity, filled with the sound of firecrackers everywhere.

After a while of excitement, He Yushui started yawning and complaining about going back to sleep, so the two of them had no choice but to go back to rest.

The next morning, they coaxed He Yushui out of bed, and after breakfast, they went to pay New Year's respects to their master and godmother. In the capital, when paying New Year's respects, the older person must kowtow three times to any elder or peer.

Manchus do not bow before or after kowtowing, while Han Chinese always bow before and after kowtowing.

After bowing three times, the two men each received a red envelope, then sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and talked, agreeing to go to the Changdian Temple Fair together after worshipping the God of Wealth the next day.

On the sixth day of the lunar month, people also worship the star god, a deity named "Shunxing".

Beforehand, make lamp wicks from paper, twist them into wicks, and prepare them with sesame oil. At dusk, set up an altar in the courtyard, with the Big Dipper as the target, and arrange incense and candles.

The lamps and bowls are arranged in a "straight" shape, and the lamp wicks are placed in the bowls. The offerings are vegetarian glutinous rice balls. Once all the offerings are placed, the lamp wicks are lit, incense is burned, and the head is kowtowed. When the incense is almost out, the lamp wicks are lit continuously from the offering table, about a foot apart, and sent to the gate. The purpose is to send off the spirits, and the ceremony is complete.

On the afternoon of the seventh day, He Yuzhu was busy in the house when he heard a knock on the door. He washed his hands and came over. When he opened the door, he saw Xu Huizhen standing outside, looking a little tired.

"Why are you here so early? Didn't you say it was after the fifteenth?"

Before leaving, they agreed that Xu Huizhen would come over together when Xu Hui delivered the wine after the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

As he spoke, he stepped aside to let Xu Huizhen in.

Xu Huizhen brushed the snow off her clothes as she entered the room and said, "I was bored at home, and someone even came to my door to ask me to marry into their family, so I rushed over."

"Talking about your future in-laws? So early?"

“In the countryside, people start asking for marriage partners when they are thirteen or fourteen years old. They go through a couple of years of dating, then get engaged, prepare for the wedding, and get married when they are fifteen or sixteen. I don’t want to get married so early.”

As Xu Huizhen spoke, she became shy. After all, she was still a young girl, and it was still strange for her to talk about such an important matter as marriage.

"That's true, the marriage law stipulates that the age is 18."

"Alright, that's enough. I'm going in now."

When Xu Huizhen arrived, the tavern opened its doors.

Before and after the New Year, heavy snow fell one after another, and most people stayed at home. This was also the time when people were richest. When the tavern was set up, people would lift the curtain and come in to have a bowl of warm wine.

A large iron stove was placed in the middle of the room, and He Yuzhu was willing to use coal. The fire burned very brightly, making the guests feel as warm as spring.

In Beijing, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is generally called the Lantern Festival or Yuanxiao Festival. The activities of the Yuanxiao Festival in old Beijing mainly consist of three parts.

Part 1 consists of flower shows held during the day, on some famous streets or in larger temples, mainly featuring various entertainment activities.

Yandaixiejie, a famous commercial street on the east bank of Shichahai, also hosts flower festivals.

On the morning of the fifteenth, the streets become lively with lion dances, stilt walking, Yangko dancing, land boat rowing, riddle guessing, and various snacks and folk crafts for sale.

He Yuzhu couldn't be left behind either. He used the braised meat and wine sold in his family's shop as gifts to create dozens of riddles. Anyone who guessed them correctly could take them away.

Although it cost a lot, it was just for fun, and it also helped advertise my shop.

As evening approached, every household made and lit lanterns. Although many children had been lighting lanterns at night since the tenth day of the lunar month.

However, the night of the Lantern Festival is the most lively, with the streets filled with enthusiastic smiles and everyone holding a lantern.

Of course, there were no electronic lanterns at that time; they were all paper lanterns. Folk artists were also very skillful, and they made lanterns in all sorts of shapes.

The most lively part was when some older children would tease the four- or five-year-olds, saying, "Look, look! Your lantern is on fire!"

The child, being young and naive, immediately turned the lantern over to examine it.

At this time, the candle inside the lantern will light the decorative paper, making the whole lantern burn.

Even the most naive child knows they've been tricked and immediately cries and screams to go back to their mother.

The older child who caused the trouble would run away, thus avoiding a severe beating.

Some of them weren't very bright and just kept laughing, so they got caught and beaten up by the children's parents.

He Yushui chuckled as she watched.

He Yuzhu said, "Rain, look, there are caterpillars under your lantern."

"Where?" He Yushui was most afraid of caterpillars, and upon hearing this, she immediately tried to lift the lantern to check if there were any underneath.

"Don't listen to your brother, he's just trying to comfort you." Xu Huizhen quickly reassured Yushui, then turned and glared at He Yuzhu, complaining, "How old are you, still teasing Yushui and making her cry? Are you going to comfort her?"

He Yushui also understood, and couldn't help but scold, "Bad brother, I'm ignoring you."

After the fifteenth day of the lunar month, Xu Hui made several trips to deliver all the necessary items for brewing wine, and also installed a stove and a cauldron in the back room.

He Yuzhu also bought up grain on a large scale in the market, and now he had a reason to buy more and fill the warehouse.

At the same time, a lot of inventory was also brought into the space. Looking at the increasing inventory, He Yuzhu was very satisfied.

And so, Xu Hui stayed, brewing wine during the day and running the tavern with Hui Zhen at night.

He Yuzhu learned the brewing technique after just one try and got a new job - a winemaker.

After the first month of the lunar calendar, He Yuzhu and Xu Huizhen stayed at their shop on Qianmen Street and moved all their braised meat equipment there to braise the meat in order to avoid affecting the taste of the sorghum liquor.

That night, He Yuzhu was awakened in the middle of the night. He vaguely heard strange noises. He shook his head and became more awake. The noises gradually became clearer.

I only felt someone stepping on the small roof tiles nearby.

What's happening here?

Keep in mind that this is the middle of the night, and yet someone has climbed onto the roof and started stomping around. They must be thieves. Did they see that their business was doing well and someone wanted to steal from them?

He Yuzhu used his spiritual power and instantly sensed two people on the roof of Chen Xueru's house in the next yard, chasing and fleeing. The person in front was obviously injured, bleeding profusely, and had difficulty moving.

The people behind had no experience operating on rooftops. Having just climbed the ladder to the roof, their movements were quite awkward. Holding a box-shaped pistol, they walked forward shakily.

The man in front must have been shot in the thigh, and was being dragged by one leg. He was trying to escape, but he was not as fast as the people chasing him, and it looked like he was about to fall into enemy hands.

He Yuzhu covered his mouth in surprise, and after a moment he realized how ridiculous it was. He was clearly inside the house, and the two people next door had no idea that he was there.

The people behind clearly had guns, but they didn't fire them, probably because they didn't want to alert the neighbors. Otherwise, in the quiet night sky, a gunshot could be clearly heard for hundreds of meters around.

He Yuzhu hesitated for a moment. Both sides remained silent, which puzzled He Yuzhu. He didn't know which side was good or which side to help.

Moreover, He Yuzhu didn't seem to have the ability to help them. After all, he was physically weak, and if he fell into the hands of someone with ulterior motives, he would be in big trouble.

He hesitated for a moment, and He Yuzhu could only watch the show.

Although the pursuers were somewhat timid walking on the stairs, they still approached the fleeing man with their guns in hand. Faced with the dark window, the fleeing man had no choice but to give up resistance and surrender.

The escapee's hands were quickly tied up, and he was then driven to the roof of the courtyard behind Chen Xueru's shop, from where he was lowered down a wooden ladder into the courtyard.

Then it went beyond He Yuzhu's sensing range.

He Yuzhu realized that this courtyard was actually a den of thieves, and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, realizing how close he was to the thieves' hideout.

While feeling relieved, He Yuzhu suddenly had a flash of inspiration and remembered something. He Yuzhu had also watched the TV series "The Little Woman Under the Zhengyang Gate," and there was a scene in the third episode of the series.

It was already five or six years later, around 2005 or 2007, when Chen Xueru told Fan Jinyou that the courtyard behind their house was a hideout for enemy agents, and that they had been captured very recently.

Now both sides confirm that it is still 52, which means that the people in this courtyard are enemy agents who have not yet been arrested.

Based on this logic, the person who was just arrested must have been a good person.

He Yuzhu couldn't sit still any longer. He put on his clothes and went out, eventually reaching a corner of the yard, the closest spot to the other person.

He then unleashed his spiritual power again and made a discovery: he could sense that the person who had been captured earlier was tied to a wooden stake in the cellar of the other party's courtyard, and his wounds were simply bandaged with rags. It seemed that there was no intention to kill him in the short term.

The bullet fragments in his body hadn't been removed, but he seemed to be out of danger in the short term.

He Yuzhu was relieved. He couldn't very well go looking for Tian Zao or Tie Dan in the middle of the night, since soldiers were patrolling at night and he would have to explain his background along the way, which would be very troublesome.

He went back to sleep, but when it was dawn, He Yuzhu got up early, ate breakfast, and hurriedly went to find Tian Zao.

He entered the courtyard and knocked on Tian Zao's door: "Sister, there's something important."

With a bare face and sleepy eyes, Tian Zao had a bellyful of complaints she couldn't voice, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I've discovered enemy agents."

"Enemy agents?" Tian Zao instantly perked up.

"Yes, that's how it is."

He Yuzhu recounted what had happened in the middle of the night.

Tian Zao said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go find Tie Dan together."

He Yuzhu rode his bicycle to Tie Dan's house. Halfway there, Tian Zao suddenly remembered and frowned, saying, "The place you're talking about is the area around Qianmen Street?"

"Yes, it's the one behind my new rented house."