Siheyuan: He Yuzhu since 1958

Chapter 126 The Deaf Old Lady Finds a Way Out

During the meal, He Yuzhu and Huang Ying both had happy smiles on their faces. You helped me pick up the food, I helped you pick up the food, and from time to time, both of them picked up food for He Yushui at the same time. He Yushui's big watery eyes kept looking back and forth between He Yuzhu and Huang Ying, revealing a cunning smile from time to time.

He Yuzhu asked, "Yushui, what are you thinking about?! Are you thinking so happily?! Tell me about it, so that I and your sister-in-law can be happy too."

He Yushui replied, "Of course it's about you and my sister Yingying getting married. I heard everything you said in the kitchen just now. When will you have time to send a telegram to our father and tell him that you are getting married?!" He Yushui then changed the subject and continued, "But according to our father's character, nine out of ten times he won't come. At most he will send some money. Think about it, who will help with this wedding?!"

He Yuzhu said, "Master, master first, then father. If my father doesn't come, I still have a master! Besides, don't those who don't have elders get married?! They still get married anyway."

Huang Ying said, "Zhu Zi, if your father doesn't come, let's take some time to go to Baocheng to see him."

He Yushui said hurriedly: "I will go there too when the time comes."

"Okay! Yours won't be left out!" He Yuzhu then stuffed a piece of meat into He Yushui's mouth. He Yushui smiled at He Yuzhu and Huang Ying, puffing out his cheeks and chewing hard.

Unlike the laughter in He Yuzhu's house, the deaf old lady in the backyard seemed much more lonely. She heard from Liu Haizhong's wife at dusk about Qin Huairu's remarriage. The deaf old lady thought that Qin Huairu would live with her in order not to go back to the countryside. But she never expected that Qin Huairu would choose to remarry and leave this courtyard soon.

The deaf old lady muttered to herself, "I was right. Qin Huairu is the smartest person in the whole courtyard. It's a pity that she used her intelligence in the wrong place. It's better for her to leave! Without her scheming in the courtyard, everyone can live a normal life. But it's hard for me!"

The deaf old lady muttered a few words, walked to a camphorwood box, took out the key to unlock the box, opened the box, and took out a small wooden box from under a pile of clothes. The deaf old lady opened the wooden box and took out a certificate from it. This certificate was a work certificate left to her when she donated the store property to the country. Originally, the deaf old lady planned to use this certificate on He Yuzhu to do him a favor and let He Yuzhu take care of her in her old age. Unexpectedly, Director Wang of the Street Office got there first and arranged a job for He Yuzhu. So this certificate has never been used.

A few days ago, the deaf old lady saw that Qin Huairu was taking good care of her, and originally planned to give Qin Huairu a job to tie her down. Now that Qin Huairu is gone, the deaf old lady has to find another way to make a living in the future. She plans to take this certificate to Wang Xia tomorrow and ask her to help find someone to take care of her in her old age.

After dinner, He Yushui found an excuse to go back to the east wing. At this time, only He Yuzhu and Huang Ying were left in the main room. Huang Ying lowered her head a little embarrassed by He Yuzhu's gaze and asked, "Idiot, what are you looking at?!"

He Yuzhu replied: "Looking at my wife?!"

"Pah!" Huang Ying spat and said, "Who is your wife?!"

He Yuzhu replied: "Besides you, who else?!" Then He Yuzhu grabbed Huang Ying's hand and said, "Come with me!"

"Where are we going?!" Huang Ying asked instinctively.

He Yuzhu smiled and walked to the door of the storage room with Huang Ying. After opening the door, He Yuzhu turned on the light in the storage room, and then opened the door to the basement. He Yuzhu turned on the light and took Huang Ying down to the basement.

Huang Ying looked surprised when she saw the pile of things in the basement. But she quickly recovered and said with a smile: "I didn't expect you to hide so many things!!"

He Yuzhu said: "I still remember the great famine in 1942. Although I was still young at that time, it was not easy to go hungry. Since then, I have told myself that as long as I can, I must save food. I don't want to go hungry again. I don't want my family to go hungry either. The food stored here is enough for the three of us to eat for five years."

Although Huang Ying did not suffer from hunger during the 1942 famine, she was also an experiencer and fully understood He Yuzhu's feelings.

He Yuzhu continued, "When we get married, I will give our family assets to you for safekeeping."

Huang Ying laughed and joked, "Aren't you afraid that I'll just take the stuff and run away?!"

He Yuzhu replied: "If you really took the money and ran away, it only means that I, He Yuzhu, am blind and can't judge people well. But it's worth spending some money to see a person clearly. Anyway, I'm still young, and I can continue to make money if I lose it."

The two chatted in the basement for a while, and He Yuzhu brought Huang Ying back to the ground. After Huang Ying and He Yuzhu cleaned up the leftovers on the table, He Yuzhu accompanied Huang Ying out the door.

The night was silent. The next morning, the rooster crowed and the sleeping courtyard was awakened. The residents of the courtyard were either busy queuing up at the pool to get water to wash, or queuing outside the public toilet not far from the courtyard. Some housewives who got up early started to make breakfast.

The deaf old lady simply made a bowl of cornmeal porridge, picked some pickles from Liubiju, and after having her breakfast, she went out on crutches.

"Grandma, where are you going?!" The deaf old lady had just walked to the front yard when the third aunt's voice rang out.

"What?!" the deaf old lady pretended not to hear and asked.

The third aunt said: "Let me ask you, where are you going?!"

"You called me to eat?!" the deaf old lady asked in a pretentious manner, and then replied with a smile: "No, I've already eaten." With that, the deaf old lady walked out of the door with a cane.

After the deaf old lady left, Yan Jiecheng came out of the house and said, "Mom, what do you have to say to this old deaf person?!"

The third aunt complained, "You stupid kid, it's her own fault if she can't hear. If I don't greet her, others will have opinions about me. There's a lot of knowledge involved, you should learn some of it." Then she asked, "You're going to graduate next year, what kind of job are you going to get?!"

Yan Jiecheng replied: "It's not that easy to find a job nowadays! I'd better go to the street office and ask around after I graduate. If that doesn't work, I can only find some odd jobs outside for the time being."

The third aunt said, "I really don't know who you brothers took after? Why are you so bad at studying?!"

Yan Bugui walked in from outside and said with a smile: "I know who our children will take after. They will all take after your brothers."

The third aunt laughed and said, "They say that three generations of a family never leave their uncle's house. It's really true."

The deaf old lady walked slowly. When she reached the door of the neighborhood office, she happened to meet Wang Xia who was rushing to work. The deaf old lady called out, "Director Wang!"

Wang Xia heard the call and stopped. She saw the deaf old lady walking towards her. Wang Xia immediately went up to her and asked with a smile, "Old lady, why are you here?!"

The deaf old lady said, "Director Wang, I came to you today to ask for your help."