Siheyuan: Xu Damao's New Life

After returning to the courtyard, the few people put Jia Dongxu's coffin back into the mourning hall. When everyone in the courtyard saw this, those who were at home also came to help. At this time, as long as it was not a deadly enemy or a funeral, everyone would generally take the initiative to help.

Yi Zhonghai was also in charge at Jia's house, directing everyone to work and buy things in an orderly manner. Sha Zhu specially asked for leave today, and went to buy food early in the morning with the money given by Yi Zhonghai.

At noon, everyone had lunch together in the central courtyard. Thanks to the money paid by Yi Zhonghai in advance and the food cooked by Sha Zhu himself, the food was both meat and vegetables and tasted good, so they didn't lose face. Otherwise, with Jia Zhang's personality, she would have dared to eat steamed bread and cabbage.

Lou Xiao'e also came over from the backyard and gave a gift of one dollar, but she didn't eat here and went back after giving the money.

At about 1:00 p.m., the body could not be left there for too long due to the hot weather, so Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhangshi discussed and decided to bury the body in the afternoon. Everyone took turns carrying Jia Dongxu's thin coffin out of the city, and they did not return until about 4:00 p.m. after the burial.

The courtyard had also been tidied up. At Jia Zhang's insistence, only a small mourning hall was set up in the Jia family's house.

After dinner, people in the compound went outside to chat, and the topic naturally revolved around the Jia family. One was about Jia Dongxu's funeral, and the other was about how Jia Zhang made a scene at the steel mill and how she was scared to the point of peeing her pants.

"I heard from our boss that the conditions offered by the factory are quite good, a full 400 yuan, and they can also send someone to take over."

"I also heard from my old Zhao that the factory asked them to work in logistics, but Jia Zhangshi refused because the salary was too low! The workshop is so dangerous, and the Jia family has lost two people."

"Who says it's not true? Logistics is so safe, and there are some benefits, but the salary is indeed lower."

"It seems that all the debts owed by the Jia family have been forgiven. As for the incident of the stick breaking the projector, Jia Zhang's trouble was not in vain."

"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten about it! I heard it's ten dollars a month, and it seems like there's still a few months left."

"His family gets five yuan subsidy every month until their children reach adulthood. For three children, that's fifteen yuan, which is almost the same as the income of many families in difficulty, not to mention that he has a job."

"If you envy me, then let your old Zhao do this to you!"

"I can't bear to part with my man. He'll be useful at night!"

Everyone laughed.

Everyone in the yard was chatting lively, but the door of the Jia family's room was closed.

Qin Huairu used some of the leftover ingredients from lunch and cooked a fairly hearty meal. The two little ones were also tired after a day's work, and soon fell asleep after dinner.

Jia Zhang was burning incense to her son while mumbling something, while Qin Huairu was cleaning up the dishes.

After a while, when Jia Zhang saw that Qin Huairu had finished cleaning up, she said, "Huairu, you are still pregnant, take a rest first. Come over and sit down. I will tell you a few words from the bottom of my heart."

Qin Huairu was a little surprised. She had been married to the Jia family for so many years, and her mother-in-law had only spoken to her in such a gentle tone when she had just gotten married and had given birth.

Qin Huairu moved a small stool and sat in front of Jia Dongxu's small mourning hall as she was told.

"Huai Ru, now that Dong Xu has lost the pillar of the family, the family has collapsed. We are the only ones left in the Jia family, the old, the weak, the women and the children. Have you thought about how you are going to live in the future?"

"I haven't thought about it, but I will raise Banggeng and the others according to Dongxu's last wish."

"Mom has always known that you are a good child. I have been a little harsh on you. I apologize to you. But I also went through this back then. Dongxu's grandmother also tortured me a lot."

Qin Huairu hadn't heard Jia Zhang's apology for all these years. When she thought of Jia Zhang's past and her late husband, she couldn't help but shed tears.

"Huai Ru, although Dong Xu is gone, we who are still alive still have to live our lives as usual. When your father-in-law passed away, he suffered a lot, and he raised Dong Xu by throwing tantrums and rolling around shamelessly. Now the responsibility of supporting the family falls on you, you can't abandon us."

"Mom, I won't."

Jia Zhang secretly checked Qin Huairu's expression and felt relieved when she saw that she was normal.

"They say being a widow is hard, and I've truly experienced that. There aren't many good people in this courtyard. If you're weak, they'll bully you even more. So I can only be more vicious and evil than them to protect this home."

"I finally waited until Dongxu got married, and you are such a virtuous woman, so I could start to rest assured and take care of you in your old age. But who would have thought that Dongxu would leave us behind and go away first? When I was young, I was tricked by the old deaf man in the backyard. He drugged me, so I only have Dongxu as my child. I hate her very much, but I am also very afraid of her. Over the years, I have been sometimes lucid and sometimes confused. Today is the clearest time for me in all these years. There are things I need to tell you right away."

Qin Huairu was a little surprised when she heard this. No wonder her mother-in-law only had Dongxu as her son. Except for Aunt Yi who was infertile, the first and second aunts who were about the same age as her mother-in-law both had three or four children.

"Huai Ru, this family will be handed over to you from now on. But you still have to tell the outside world that I'm the head of the family. From now on, one of us will play the good cop and the other the bad cop. I'm not afraid of losing face at my age. Let me play the bad guy, and you just need to be a hardworking and filial mother and daughter-in-law. But if we do this, we have to put on an act for everyone to see, and sometimes you can't help but suffer grievances, so that others will pity us and help and take care of our family."

It was impossible for Qin Huairu to say that she had no other thoughts. She just remembered how good Dongxu was to her, and looked at the two children sleeping on the kang. She touched her belly unconsciously. She didn't know what was going on with Zhuzi. Would he be willing to marry her with three children? What's more, the Jia family still had a job waiting for her to inherit, and she could also move her Ku household registration to the city. Qin Huairu would not miss the opportunity to be a city dweller.

"Mom, look at what you said. It doesn't matter if I suffer a little. As long as I can raise a few children to adulthood, I am willing to suffer any amount of grievances."

"Well, Huairu, you are really a good one."

"Mom, what about Uncle Yi? Will Dongxu ignore us now that he's gone?"

"How dare he! I have the leverage over him! When you take over, let him be your master. He just wants to find someone to take care of them in their old age. You just need to act pitiful and get benefits from him. Leave the rest to me. I will control him completely."

At this moment, Qin Huairu was full of curiosity. She wondered what kind of leverage Yi Zhonghai had on her mother-in-law that made him help her family so unsparingly over the years.

"Huai Ru, you should stay away from Sha Zhu and don't ruin your reputation. It will be even harder for a widow's family to survive without a reputation. You should also think more about Bang Geng and the others." Jia Zhang had discovered some abnormalities between the two of them over the past few days, but she had no concrete evidence and could only point them out with words.