Siheyuan: Sizhu starts blindly and takes a new path

Banggeng saw Yushui suddenly come back and steal Shazhu's steamed buns. He hurriedly stuffed the steamed bun into his mouth and ran away.

Yu Shui's attention was focused on her brother's face with sunken cheeks, and she didn't notice that Bang Geng had escaped. She didn't worry, as the monk could not escape the temple, so she asked, "Brother, does Bang Geng often steal your food, causing you to not have enough to eat?"

"No, I'm worried about my eyes." Rain had just come back and Sha Zhu didn't want to get involved, so he comforted his sister and changed the subject: "You're on vacation now, come with me to the hospital tomorrow."

"Okay." Yu Shui nodded, "Brother, I'll go out for a while."

Sha Zhu raised his lips and said, "If you want to go to the Jia family to reason, I advise you not to go."

Yushui went to Jia's house to complain to Qin Huairu: "Sister-in-law, you have to take good care of Banggeng. He stole steamed buns from my brother's room."

Mrs. Jia was not happy about it and shouted, "What steamed buns? How could there be steamed buns in your brother's room? Qin Huairu, have you ever given steamed buns to Sha Zhu?"

"No, I don't. We eat the same steamed bread as Shazhu, and I gave him the same steamed bread." Qin Huairu hurriedly comforted her mother-in-law.

"Yes, Shazhu only has steamed corn bread. How could my Banggeng take steamed buns from him? We shouldn't wrongly accuse people of the rain." When Mrs. Jia was sure that there were no white flour steamed buns, she decided to turn defense into offense.

"I didn't wrong him, so don't just protect him." Yu Shui has always disliked Mrs. Jia. "Just now in my brother's room, I saw Bang Geng stuff half a white steamed bun into his mouth with my own eyes."

"I told you that Shazhu didn't have any steamed buns. You must have seen it wrong." Mrs. Jia spared no effort to protect her grandson. "It was my son Banggeng who ate white steamed buns. Maybe it was given to him by his teacher or classmates."

Yu Shui was speechless after being scolded. She looked at Qin Huairu hoping that she could say something fair, but in the end she could only leave in disappointment.

In the morning, Yu Shui opened the drawer and found only a few yuan in it. "Brother, how come our family only has eight yuan? I'm afraid this is not enough for you to see a doctor."

"Let's go to the hospital first. It won't cost much to register and see a doctor. If the medicine is expensive, we can talk about it later."

After a checkup at the hospital, the doctor still couldn't find the cause of the disease, so he had to prescribe some blood-activating, blood-stasis-removing and eyesight-improving medicine for Sha Zhu, and told him to go home and take them first, and then see the doctor after he finished.

The drugstore calculated the price and it was more than 200 yuan. The money was not enough, so he went home. When he got home, Shazhu told Yushui to move his bed and pry open the floor tiles under the bed legs to find yuan inside.

Yu Shui praised his brother for saving money. Sha Zhuxin said that his monthly salary in the past two years was 35.5 yuan. He ate in the cafeteria, did not smoke much and just drank a little. He only saved 200 yuan. Compared with the average monthly salary of 5 yuan outside, he really didn't know how to live.

Yu Shui got some medicine to make for her brother, and in the evening Qin Huairu brought him two corn buns.

Yu Shui was really upset. A few months ago, they had steamed buns with vegetables, but now they were steamed bread, and each person only had one. "Sister Qin, how can I eat a steamed bread without any vegetables? How can a grown man like me be full?"

"Yushui, my family also gives one steamed bread to each person. The ration is low recently, so there is nothing we can do." Qin Huairu explained with a bitter face. She originally wanted to take more, but Mrs. Jia strongly opposed it. She had already used the low ration as an excuse. She had been giving Shazhu one steamed bread for a while, and giving more when Yushui came back, which was just a matter of favoritism, and the lie would not stand.

"It's low, but not as low as one steamed bun. I only had two steamed buns in school!" Yu Shui pointed at Qin Huairu, "Sister Qin, I always thought you were a good person, how could you do things like this?"

Qin Huairu's tears welled up in her eyes again. "Yushui, if you don't believe me, go to my house and see that the ration is really low. Banggeng and the others only have one steamed bun."

But Yu Shui was a girl and was angry, so she didn't care. "I won't look at it. I'm not a fool. Okay, Sister Qin, I'm on vacation. I'll take care of my brother by myself this month. You don't have to worry about me. You can go back." Yu Shui ordered Qin Huairu to leave, and she left in shame.

He Yushui opened the cupboard to prepare cooking, but it was empty. She opened the drawer and the grain was gone. No need to ask, all the food must have gone into the Jia family.

Yu Shui could only find Qin Huairu to get her grain book back. When she got home, she found that she only had 10 kilograms of grain left. She was so angry that she wanted to go out to find an old man to settle the dispute. Sha Zhu stopped her and said, "It's useless. You can't explain what you put into your mouth."

The rain didn't stop, and I went to the uncle's house and heard that all the food rations in his house had been used up by the Jia family.

The old man saw that Sha Zhu's eyesight had not recovered yet and he still ignored him. He also felt that Qin Huairu was hardworking and smart, and that she could be trained to take care of him in his old age. Of course, he paid less attention to Sha Zhu and more attention to protecting the Jia family.

An old man asked the rain, "Is there no more quota at all?"

"There are still 10 kilograms left. If we save some, I think it will last us until the end of the month."

When the uncle heard that there were still 10 catties left, he said, "Huai Ru's family has a large population and many children. The little boy is eating me to death. It's understandable that I used a little more than the quota. Doesn't your brother also eat at Jia's house?"

"Look at how thin my brother has become. I think it's because the Jia family starved him. I'm on vacation this month and I'll take care of my brother myself."

"Well, this is good too. Your father ran away with someone when you were little, and it was your brother who raised you. Now that you are older, it is your responsibility to take care of him." An old man wanted to lead Yu Shui astray, "Yu Shui, your brother is blind now, you can't despise him, you have to treat him well."

"Well, I will be good to my brother. He is my real brother."

"Okay then. If you need anything from me, just tell me. Your aunt is feeling a little unwell today, so I won't keep you here."

Yu Shui stretched her head and looked at the old lady lying on the bed in the middle room. "Auntie, what's wrong with you? Do you want to see a doctor?"

"It's an old problem. Just lie down and it will be fine."

"Then you have a good rest, uncle. I'm going back." Yu Shui turned back to Sha Zhu's house, then remembered that the matter had not been resolved. He turned around, but the lights in the uncle's house were off, so he could only go into the house angrily.

"Good sister, don't be angry. Eat the steamed bread. You won't be able to bite it if it gets cold." Sha Zhu held a steamed bread towards his sister.

Yu Shui asked in confusion: "Brother, you weren't like this before, where is your temper?"

"I'm blind, who can I show my temper to? Who can I beat?" Sha Zhu smiled bitterly and reached out to touch his sister's head.

"Brother, you have been wronged." Yu Shui buried her head in Sha Zhu's arms, and her tears wet her clothes.

"Don't feel wronged. You won't feel wronged when you come back." Sha Zhu whispered.

Shazhu and Yushui gritted their teeth and waited until the new rations were issued. It was almost the New Year, and Yushui bought a lot of white flour and 2 taels of pork, which was two fingers thick with fat and only a little lean meat. When the neighbors saw her, they all praised Yushui for her shopping skills. She also showed her treasures to her brother, but was despised, "Only people with no money would buy these."

"Tsk, you've become so skinny, and you still think you're rich." Yu Shui pouted and retorted, "I'll cook today, and my cooking is no worse than yours. I'll show you my cooking skills today."

"Okay, my sister is the best, I'm in for a treat today."

Yu Shui refined lard and used the lard residue to stir-fry cabbage, which was filled with fragrance. As soon as the dish was placed on the table, Bang Geng led Xiao Dang into the house and said, "It smells so good! Aunt Yu Shui's stir-fried cabbage is so fragrant, much better than my mom's." Then he stood in front of the dining table, staring intently and slurping his saliva.

After finally getting through the day with only two steamed buns, Yu Shui wanted to give his brother some good nourishment, but then these two debt collectors came. They lived next door to each other and were still children, so he couldn't beat, scold or chase them away. Yu Shui turned his head to look outside and saw Mrs. Jia standing at the door of the Jia family's house.

"Open your mouth," Yu Shui picked up a piece of oil residue for each of the two children, and then said, "Bang Geng, I think I saw your mother carrying a piece of meat home. Is she going to stew it for you?"