Siheyuan: Sizhu starts blindly and takes a new path

After leaving Uncle Ren's house, Sha Zhu went to Uncle Guan's duty room again. He had previously asked Uncle Guan to go to the courtyard with him to celebrate the New Year, but the old man did not agree, saying that he was used to being alone and would not join in the fun. In fact, he was embarrassed to disturb Sha Zhu's family reunion.

Sha Zhu put some salted chicken he had pickled, some braised meat, fried meatballs and two bottles of Erguotou on the table and said, "I wish you a happy new year in advance. I'm going to my master's house to celebrate the new year tomorrow and won't be able to come over. I'll bring these things to you first. You can just heat up the chicken and meat in the pot. It would also be nice to put the meatballs in the pot and add some salt to make a soup."

Uncle Guan looked at the bag of food on the table, and felt warm in his heart. He said, "Why do you have so much? I can't finish it all by myself. Bring some back to your master."

"It's okay. It's cold, so take your time to eat. You can have the meatballs as a snack. My master is very hungry, and I might have to take something back from him tomorrow."

"How old am I? I still eat snacks. Your master and others treat you well. You are blessed. Having relatives and friends around you is the happiest thing." After saying this, Uncle Guan looked out the window and said nothing. He must be missing his relatives and comrades.

Seeing that Uncle Guan was distracted and had nothing else to say, Sha Zhu quietly closed the door and left.

Sha Zhu brought some snacks to Zheng Xi's house and Section Chief Jin's house again. Last time after drinking, Sha Zhu and Zheng Xi sent Old Jin home together, so they became acquainted with each other.

When he heard Jin Dachui arrange Xu Damao to live in Nanma Village, 20 kilometers away, and looked at the snow outside the house, Sha Zhu smiled and said, "Old Jin, do you think that grandson will take the risk of riding back, or will he stay in the village for the New Year?"

"Riding a bike is not realistic. Pushing is the safest. It usually takes about five hours to walk 40 miles. If you have to push something in the snow, you have to walk from morning to night, and that's without any accidents. With Xu Damao's personality, he probably won't leave. He will probably stay in the village for the New Year. There's a place to live there, and he won't starve. He just doesn't have any family. Who told him to offend you, brother?"

"Thanks, bro. Let's have a drink sometime after the New Year."

"What are you thanking me for? We are brothers. If you have something to say, just tell me! We will definitely come for a drink." The two chatted for a while, and then other relatives came to the Jin family and said goodbye.

On the way home, Sha Zhu thought about what happened today and found that his life in 1962 was very different from his dream: in the dream, he was in the courtyard, and he was going back and forth with the three uncles, the Jia family, and the Xu family to deal with trivial matters. Mei, who was self-righteous with a salary of 27 yuan, was still sleeping alone on a hard bed, not caring about his sister, and not thinking about finding a wife. I guess he was really stupid in the dream.

Look at me now. I have a wife who is pregnant with a baby. My sister and I are closer, although this little girl seems to treat my wife better. I have reconciled with my master and learned many new dishes and special techniques from him. I have known two uncles. These two uncles are different from those in the hospital. They really help when there is something. Without them, can Yu Li go to work? Can she have such a good job? Think about the salary and benefits of dual-income families, oh, no, dual-career families, and they don’t have to worry about money anymore. There are brothers and friends everywhere in the factory. Who dares to call me Shazhu again? They all call me Master He first and Master He later. What does this mean? It means that my prestige among the masses has improved. I am no longer the same as before. Thank you, Duke Zhou, thank you for letting me have that dream.

"Silly Zhu!" The third uncle patted Sha Zhu's shoulder, "Sha Zhu, what are you thinking? I called you for a long time but you didn't respond."

It turned out that Sha Zhu had returned to the courtyard while doing his year-end summary and ran into the third uncle.

"Nothing, I'm thinking about what to eat at my master's place tomorrow. Will there be prawns, squids, etc. Meat is not rare now, but seafood is still OK. I heard that pregnant women eating more fish can make their children smarter." Sha Zhu provoked the blind Third Uncle. "Okay, what can I do for you, old man?"

The third uncle was so attracted by the squid and prawns that he forgot what he wanted to say to Sha Zhu, "Oh..."

"I'll be back if I'm fine."

The third uncle thought for a while and remembered what he wanted to say, but when he saw Sha Zhu had entered the house through the hallway, he thought of the squid and prawns again, and spat: "Bah, you are a bastard, even if you eat 500 kilograms of squid and prawns, you won't be much smarter."

Sha Zhu came into the house, hugged Yu Li who had placed a towel for him to wipe his face, and kissed her. Then he looked at Yu Li who was full of surprise and said, "I am so lucky to have you as my wife. I am so lucky this year. I am so happy now. Next year will be even better."

Yu Li smiled and asked, "Why are you suddenly saying this?"

Sha Zhu told Yu Li everything that Uncle Ren had said to him when they were paying New Year's greetings today and what he had been thinking on the way just now. Of course, there was no doubt that the revelation in the dream was not something materialistic, otherwise Yu Li would have found someone to treat Sha Zhu.

Yu Li listened to Sha Zhu's words and said, "You are right. If you don't go out and interact with people outside the yard, all you will see and experience will be the same things that repeat over and over again in the yard. It's the same today and tomorrow. Although the things are different, the essence is similar, that is, who has taken more advantage. If there are enough material things, I think there will be no quarrels all day long. With more contact with the outside world, you will find that there are really many things you don't understand. You will use your time to learn about new things and will no longer care about worthless things."

"Yes, just like we have two salaries, we dare to kill the hens for meat. Think about it, those chickens were obtained by me in exchange for a wild boar leg when I went hunting with Chief Zheng and his men in the mountains in order to marry you. At that time, I thought that I would raise them so that you could eat eggs every day."

"Just because of this chicken, the old lady also scolded me for a long time, saying that we shouldn't kill it, and she can keep it."

"Let her go. If she does something bad for a few chickens, she won't be able to get back a few eggs. You and the old lady can buy eggs every day, and we can still support her."

"Look how arrogant you are. I know your salary has increased and more food has been allocated to you. It's also because the harvest season has been good. If it was last year, you wouldn't have been able to buy it even if you had a ticket."

"Yes, I hope things will get better and better in the future, and ordinary people won't have to worry about supplies anymore."

Yu Li said: "Yes, it will get better and better."

Sha Zhu took Yu Li's hand and said, "What about you? Have you gained anything or gained any experience this year?"

"My biggest reward is marrying you and having a baby. If I have to say what I've learned, it's that you should never underestimate anyone. People who seem simple and don't talk can scare you with their true strength. Those who chatter all day are just cats with bared fangs and claws."

"Oh, it seems that this cat disgusts you and you have to deal with him." Sha Zhu noticed that Yu Li's mood changed when she talked about the cat.

"I haven't figured out what to do yet. Should I use Director Wang's skin as a pretext, or should I find some faults with him and chop off his claws? I'll take action when I get the right opportunity after the Chinese New Year."

"Okay, in just a few days, you've learned how to play tricks. It's really high."