mijobooks Chapter 84 Another House Grab
Chapter 84 Another House Grab
It's hard to buy anything in the store anymore. You can't buy anything with money or even with a ticket, because there are no goods to sell on the shelves.
He Yushui grew up quickly, but the little girl was as thin as a stick. As she grew up, He Yushui's flat chest began to show.
He Yuzhu was helpless. There were no ingredients, and the chefs were also affected. The private kitchen was shut down, and there was no banquet food. Holding a banquet at this time would be like committing suicide, not to mention that ordinary people simply could not buy the materials to make a banquet.
In contrast, Jia Dongjin's fishing skills came in handy. With fewer and fewer big fish available, he made several new fish traps and caught even the small fish, which kept his catch at around ten catties each time.
While the restaurant was still accepting food coupons for its staple food, Jia Dongjin would go to the restaurant every week to buy expensive steamed buns. He used money to pave the way and maintain the full reserves in the cellar, otherwise the Jia family would also be in danger.
The help they initially gave to their relatives has now yielded some returns. Qin Huairu's family has been very supportive, secretly stockpiling a lot of grain and frequently sending sweet potatoes and potatoes to the Jia family through intermediaries. Her cousin, Jia Shouli, has also brought the Jia family two young hens.
Therefore, the Jia family was able to send some fish to He Yushui.
"Silly brother, you're really nosy. This was a gift from my sister-in-law. Dongjin said studying takes a lot of brainpower, and if I don't eat well, how will I pass the vocational school entrance exam?"
The facts were right in front of everyone in the courtyard: for the few months since their marriage, Jia Dongjin and Qin Huairu had been a loving and harmonious couple, and no one had anything to say about them.
He Yushui's decision was made on a whim. Even though she felt heartbroken, she could only accept reality. He Yuzhu couldn't get over being a widow and was determined to marry a virgin. He Yushui could only accept it and gave up on the idea.
Taking the bowl, He Yushui couldn't wait to taste a piece of fish. The little girl's eyes narrowed into crescents as she savored the aroma.
"Delicious! So delicious! I eat radish, cabbage and cornbread every day, without any oil or fat, and I'm still not full. I'm so hungry!"
"Eat more if you like it, but be careful not to burn yourself. Your brother is a master chef, he definitely won't care." Qin Huairu looked at Xiaoyushui with a smile, her eyes full of affection.
He Yushui lacked parental love; she lost her mother at a young age, and even her braids were tied by Qin Huairu. Qin Huairu also took care of her with any issues that a young girl might have. He Yushui had a motherly and sisterly feeling towards Qin Huairu.
In the original drama, He Yushui ignored He Yuzhu and watched helplessly as her simple-minded brother fell into the Jia family's trap. After getting married, she never returned to the courtyard, a place of heartbreak, which must have been influenced by her feelings for Qin Huairu.
The complexity and unpredictability of the human heart can be glimpsed here.
Now that Qin Huairu and He Yuzhu have no entanglement, the relationship between He Yushui and Qin Huairu has not been diminished and is in a positive feedback state, and the two are getting closer and closer.
After He Yushui revealed her feelings, Jia Dongjin stopped spending time alone with her and had Qin Huairu handle everything. He Yushui understood Jia Dongjin's intentions and addressed Qin Huairu as "sister-in-law" in her words, acting as if they were family.
"Who says I don't care? Sister-in-law Jia, this isn't appropriate. Don't you know what the cafeteria is like now? Look how thin I've become. Oh dear, save some rainwater for me."
He Yuzhu also picked up his chopsticks. The special cooking service had stopped, and the canteen no longer served meat or vegetables. Tofu was only served occasionally, and he was so hungry that his eyes lit up.
Compared to others, the He family was undoubtedly a wealthy household in terms of food and drink.
The He family had no shortage of food, but oil and fat were hard to come by. In comparison, men were obviously not as resistant to hunger as women. By June 1959, He Yuzhu had lost a lot of weight and was no longer as oily as before.
"Silly brother, the sauerkraut fish is what my sister-in-law made for me to supplement my nutrition. You should eat that bowl of locust flower rice. The locust flower rice is sweet and perfect for whetting your appetite."
"I could eat a whole cow right now, I don't need any appetizers. Rainwater, I don't eat fish fillets, save three small fish for me."
"Uncle He, my dad asked me to bring you some small fish, but you'll have to prepare them yourself."
Banggeng, carrying a small bowl of fish, also entered the He family's house, his eyes scanning the cupboard.
"Bang Geng, where can we find good food these days? Peanuts are long gone, and we can't buy anything in the market. Uncle He's family has no surplus food either."
He Yuzhu shrugged, realizing he hadn't had peanuts to accompany his drinks in a long time, and could only helplessly shrug at the stick.
However, He Yuzhu also gave a gift: "Sister-in-law Jia, before I left work, Director Li told me that the canteen is now buying fish at a high price. Before, they bought fish for 20 cents a pound, but now they've raised it to 35 cents a pound. They don't pay cash, you can only pay with food coupons. It doesn't really affect you, but they're stricter with grain, so you still have to buy food coupons with grain coupons."
"That's great, it'll save us a lot of money. Thank you, Zhuzi."
Qin Huairu was just feeling the pinch of paying 5 cents when the steel mill canteen raised its fish prices by 5%, which made up for the 5 cents loss and even left her with a surplus. It was an unexpected surprise.
But she immediately realized this wasn't a good thing; it reflected a scarcity of meat. Everything was pretty much as Jia Dongjin had privately predicted: grain and meat would become increasingly precious, and this was just the beginning; the future would be even more difficult.
The He family's commotion immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Especially the hungry children, smelling the aroma, all the children gathered around, and Erdan was drooling as he stared at the fish bowl.
"Hey everyone, go home. Uncle's eating right now."
He Yuzhu felt a pang of panic and hurriedly began to shoo away the little gluttons.
Banggeng knew there was some at home, so he didn't care. He rolled his eyes and took out a piece of candy. "Sister Jiedi, I have some candy. Let's go to your house and cut it up. We can each have a piece. But you have to let me play with you. I want to be a soldier, not a bandit who gets caught."
Liu Guangfu's eyes lit up when he saw the candy, and he readily agreed, "Alright, today you'll be the soldiers, and I'll be the bandit. You guys come and catch me. But the bandit has to eat the biggest piece, otherwise the bandit won't be able to run."
"Okay, I'll let you choose first after the candy is cut." Yan Jiedi said with a smile, leading the group to the Yan family home.
Since she couldn't stand the smell of fried dried anchovies, Yan Jiedi and Banggeng have reconciled and are now playing happily together again.
Yang Ruihua was very experienced in cutting food, and in the end, she really did it. The piece of candy was cut into even pieces, which made Liu Guangfu so angry that his liver hurt, but he couldn't say a word against it.
After the game, the children went home, but Banggeng quietly called out to Yan Jiedi.
When Banggeng came out of the Jia family, he patted his pocket. Yan Jiedi understood and led Banggeng to the secret hideout, the small garden.
The courtyard house at No. 95 is much larger than a typical three-courtyard house. There is also a small garden on the east side of the central courtyard. Because they are worried that people will build things illegally, the garden gate is locked. Liu Haizhong does not even allow the planting of squash.
But that couldn't stop the children's curiosity. They dug a small hole under the gate, just big enough for one person to crawl through.
As time went on, the small garden became the children's secret hideout.
"Great stuff! The dried fish is so delicious!"
"Eat more if it's delicious! My mom says you've lost weight!"
"It's easy for you to talk when you're not the one suffering. You think everyone's as lucky as you are? Fine, for the sake of the dried fish, I'll forgive your family."
On the trees by the pond, cicadas herald the arrival of summer, and butterflies perch on the swings built by the children.
Yan Jiedi and Banggeng sat side by side on a large stone bench, their legs swaying back and forth, spending their unforgettable childhood in a daze.
Children are children after all. When the difficulties were over and Yan Jiedi learned division, she realized how many dried fish the Yan family could buy with 300 yuan! The little girl was so angry that she ignored her little tagalong for three whole days and showed the back of her head to Bang Geng for three days.
Time flowed by like water. Two months after Jia Dongjin's wedding, the courtyard house underwent changes. Old Mo, Yi Zhonghai's neighbor in the east wing of the central courtyard, was transferred back to his hometown in Northeast China, leaving one less household in the courtyard. A south-facing room became vacant.
"Dongjin, what a pity. If the rear house hadn't been repaired, you could have exchanged it for Old Mo's house. It would have been so much better if they were both in the central courtyard."
Madam Jia shook her head and sighed. The luxuriously decorated front house, though a source of pride for the Jia family, remained a constant source of pain for her. Now that her youngest son was living comfortably there, she couldn't bear to move to the middle courtyard.
"Mom, it's nothing. I wonder who in the yard will end up fighting like a dog this time. Our Jia family won't get involved."
Jia Dongjin has made great progress. The cruelty of the struggles at the bottom has refreshed his understanding. Whether it is a broken bicycle or an old-fashioned house, although he won the struggle by trickery, the Yan brothers really dared to take action.
Now, a south-facing room in the courtyard is vacant. It's larger than the two small rear rooms, about 40 square meters, enough for the whole family to live in. Jia Dongjin guesses there will be more arguments and fights.
"What a pity, sigh!"
Madam Jia sighed, seemingly recalling her glorious past and lamenting that heroes have no place to use their talents.
"Mom, which families do you think are vying for it?"
Jia Dong hadn't been in the courtyard for long. He was focused on fishing and making progress, and didn't interact much with his neighbors. He wanted to gather information first. Even if he decided to remain neutral, he had to be careful not to say the wrong thing, lest he get dragged into it unknowingly.
"Hey, it's just these three companies... but things are different now. Yi Zhonghai and Yan Fugui are no longer the big shots. Mom doesn't know what the consequences will be."
"Bang Geng, you're not allowed to mention what you say at home outside, especially not to Jie Di, or your dad will beat you."
The matter was of great importance, so Qin Huairu patted the stick to keep quiet, afraid that her child might say something inappropriate and offend people unnecessarily.
As dawn broke, dew still clung to the walls of the courtyard house, shimmering like ice crystals in the faint morning light, as if the earth were draped in a thin, gossamer-like silver veil. The air was crisp and clear; exhaled breath condensed into white mist at the tip of the nose. The courtyard was so quiet that one could hear the dripping water from the eaves, a sound like a metronome, each beat striking the heart. The entire courtyard was still asleep, with only a few wisps of smoke lazily rising from the chimneys, dispersing into wispy, drifting mist in the cold wind.
In the silence, Liu Hai, carrying a gleaming new brass lock, swayed as he walked toward the empty south room in the central courtyard.
His large body was wrapped in faded work clothes, the buttons barely fastened to the middle of his belly, and the waistband was so tight that he had to unconsciously pull it up as he walked.
Fighting for a house is no small matter, and Liu Hai was still a little nervous. The commotion in the courtyard—the half-open door, the clothes swaying on the clothesline, and the sound of a water ladle coming from behind the neighbor's wall—made his heart tighten, fearing that he would be seen by the early-rising neighbors.