Siheyuan: I am different He Yuzhu

He Yuzhu chatted with Li Ze in Li Ze's study for nearly 2 hours. If Miao Aihua hadn't come up to call the two of them, the two would have had no intention of stopping.

"I say, you two masters are really interesting. You can chat for almost two hours at a time about anything. It's almost noon now. If I don't come up to call you, you will keep chatting until dark. It's a good thing that you two are men. If it were only a man and a woman, something bad would happen." Miao Aihua pointed at the clock in the study and said with a smile.

"What do you know, a woman? Xiao He and I are having a very pleasant conversation. In ancient times, gentlemen would chat with each other for a long time." Li Ze said unhappily.

"Brother Li is right. Our chat is indeed very fruitful." He Yuzhu also echoed.

"Xiao He, it seems we can only talk another day. Today's conversation with you has been very inspiring to me. You must come to my house more often in the future." Li Ze said with lingering intention.

"I learned a lot from Brother Li's words. I will come here often to study in the future." He Yuzhu replied with a smile.

Some of the views and ideas that He Yuzhu inadvertently shared from later generations made Li Ze feel refreshed and inspired. Especially after He Yuzhu became the deputy director of the Logistics Department, he dared to express many opinions that he had not dared to say before. He felt that He Yuzhu was like a huge treasure house with many novel ideas in his mind, so he felt that every communication with He Yuzhu was very meaningful.

"Okay, you two stop flattering each other. I'm just going to ask you what you two want to eat for lunch. It's almost time for dinner, and it's time to cook, my two busy people." Miao Aihua said while looking at the two of them with a smile.

"Sister-in-law, I won't stay for dinner. I have to go home to cook for my wife. Now I can't just eat if I am full for the whole family." He Yuzhu explained with a smile.

"By the way, Aihua, please give Xiao He some of the nutritional supplements I gave him and let him take them back. You may not know this, but Xiao He is a father now. His wife gave birth to three sons for him in one go." Li Ze turned to look at Miao Aihua and instructed with a smile.

"Really? That's great! Xiao He, why didn't you tell your sister-in-law about such a big happy event? You did a great job of keeping it a secret." Miao Aihua looked at He Yuzhu with surprise, her eyes full of joy.

"Haha, sister-in-law, my brother Li is so busy at work, how could I disturb his work because of such a small matter." He Yuzhu scratched his head and smiled embarrassedly.

"Xiao He, I'm going to criticize you now. Giving birth is not a trivial matter. Wait here, I'll get it for you." Miao Aihua said as she hurried downstairs with a happy smile on her face. As she walked, she thought: "Xiao He is really getting better and better. He has three big fat boys at once. He will be busy in the future!"

"Brother Li, please don't be like this! Our family really has everything we need. We really don't need these nutritional supplements. Besides, with a chef like me looking after the house, how can we lack food? And these things are originally given to you to supplement your body. You can keep them for yourself. I really can't accept them." He Yuzhu quickly declined.

Li Ze smiled and waved his hands: "Xiao He, why are you being so polite to me? I'm in good health, why do I need to eat these things? They will just gather dust in my house. Your wife has just given birth to three children, and she needs nutritional supplements. Take these things back to nourish her body. Okay, stop talking so much, I'll take you downstairs." After saying that, he walked downstairs on his own.

He Yuzhu had no choice but to follow Li Ze downstairs. When they got downstairs, Miao Aihua had been waiting there for a long time with the nutritional supplements. When she saw He Yuzhu coming down, Miao Aihua stuffed the nutritional supplements into his hands without saying a word: "Xiao He, these are some nutritional supplements issued by your elder brother's unit, just accept them." Then she took out a red envelope from her pocket and stuffed it into He Yuzhu's pocket, "You also take this red envelope, as a little thought for the children."

He Yuzhu was just about to transfer the sales items to his other hand so that he could have his right hand free to reach into his pocket to take out the red envelope and return it to Miao Aihua, but Miao Aihua grabbed He Yuzhu's right hand and said, "Xiao He, this is a little gift from your sister-in-law and your eldest brother. You can't refuse it. If you dare refuse it, the next time you come to my house, I will make you take back whatever you brought with you." Miao Aihua threatened.

He Yuzhu heard Miao Aihua say this, and could only say helplessly: "Okay, sister-in-law, I want it, is it not okay for me to want it? Just let go of my hand."

This time, Miao Aihua let go of He Yuzhu's hand and said with a smile, "That's right! Bring the children to let me see them when you have a chance. I haven't seen triplets yet. By the way, Xiao He, do your three sons look exactly the same when they grow up? How do you know who is the eldest, the second, and the third?"

"At present, the three children look exactly the same. To tell you the truth, I can't tell them apart. I can only embroider a mark on each child's clothes so that I can tell who is which. I guess when the children grow up, they will have different personalities and it will be easier to tell them apart."

"Is that so? Then if you put on the wrong clothes, you won't be able to figure it out." Miao Aihua said with a smile.

"That can't be helped. They are my own children anyway. They won't run around. It doesn't matter. Oh, sister-in-law, it's getting late. I have to go. I have to go home and cook for my wife."

"Okay, your wife can't cook with three children, so you should go back quickly and let your eldest brother take you there. I have to go back to the kitchen to cook. Li Ze, please take Xiao He there." Miao Aihua said to Li Ze.

"Okay, I'll follow Madam Li's orders and I'll just see you off." Li Ze said jokingly, then turned to He Yuzhu and said, "Xiao He, go back quickly. You still have a wife and children at home waiting for you to take care of them. I won't keep you for dinner."

"Brother Li, sister-in-law, I'm leaving now."

Just when He Yuzhu said he was leaving, Li Miaomiao ran out and said, "Uncle He, why are you leaving? Aren't you going to make delicious food for Miaomiao?"

"Miaomiao, Uncle He has his own child now, and he has to go home to cook for his baby. Let Uncle He make delicious food for you when you have the chance in the future." Miao Aihua hurriedly grabbed Li Miaomiao and said.

"Is that so? Then Uncle He, you should go back and cook for your baby. Your baby is so lucky to eat the food you cook every day." After saying this, Li Miaomiao did not forget to sigh to express her disappointment.

"Miaomiao, if you want to eat Uncle He's cooking, you can come to Uncle He's house in the future." He Yuzhu laughed at Li Miaomiao's behavior.

"But my mother won't take me, and my father is too busy at work." Li Miaomiao said with a disappointed look on her face.

"Then you should eat more and grow up quickly. When you grow up, you can go to Uncle He's house by yourself. Uncle He will then prepare a big table of delicious food for you, just like entertaining a guest, okay?" He Yuzhu said with a smile.

"Really? But I'm only 9 years old now, and it will take me several more years to grow up!" Li Miaomiao said with a sad face when she thought of her age. Suddenly, she saw her eldest brother Li Aiguo's eyes light up, and she hurriedly said, "Uncle He, can I let my eldest brother take me? My eldest brother is old, and he will grow up soon."

"Okay, then I welcome your eldest brother and your second brother to bring you to my house. But when you go to Uncle He's house, you must tell your mother and get her permission before you can go. You can't sneak over, or your mother will worry."

"That's great. I'll ask my elder brother to take me to your house, Uncle He, and then I can eat the delicious food made by Uncle He." Li Miaomiao said excitedly while jumping.

"Xiao He, you dote on Miao Miao too much. It would be embarrassing if she often asks to come to your house for dinner. Food rations are so tight now." Miao Aihua said a little embarrassedly.

"Sister-in-law, you don't have to worry about this. Although the food ration is tight, I can still afford to take care of the meals of three children. When Miaomiao wants to go to my house, just let her go. But she must pay attention to safety on the road. Brother Li, sister-in-law, I'm leaving now." After saying this, He Yuzhu turned and walked to his bicycle.

"Uncle He, goodbye." Li Miaomiao stood on the steps and waved at He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu hung the nutritional supplements given by Li Ze on the handlebars, held the bicycle with one hand, and waved to Li Miaomiao with the other, "Goodbye, Miaomiao." After that, He Yuzhu got on the bicycle and walked out.

After He Yuzhu walked away and disappeared, Miao Aihua said to Li Ze beside her: "Boss, Xiao He just asked Miao Miao to go to his house for dinner, why didn't you stop him?"

Li Ze took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it and took a puff before saying, "Is it necessary to make such a fuss just for one or two meals?"

"You make it sound so easy for just one or two meals. You're just a hands-off boss in our family. Don't you know that every household has a fixed ration of food? It's okay for Miaomiao alone, but your two sons have to go with you. Don't you know how much two people can eat? What if the He family runs out of food after a while?" Miao Aihua said with a worried look on her face.

"Director Miao, this is a typical case of not considering the whole problem. If our son goes to Xiao He's house for dinner, then our family can save food. Then you can let the three of them take the food coupons to Xiao He's house. It's obviously a very easy problem to solve, but you have to make it so serious. What's the point? Besides, Xiao He is a deputy director-level cadre after all. Do you really think he can't afford a few meals for our child? He's a smart guy. By the way, let me tell you a secret. Xiao He never eats enough every time he eats at home."

Miao Aihua asked immediately after hearing this: "Why didn't Xiao He eat enough? If people tell others about this, they will think that we are not treating our guests well and not letting them eat enough. I, Miao Aihua, can't afford to lose face. By the way, how did you know that Xiao He didn't eat enough in our house? Since you knew that he didn't eat enough, why didn't you persuade him?"

"I just found out about this recently. Our department held a meeting some time ago, and Xiao He's father-in-law also attended. After the meeting, the department invited these people to dinner, and I sat at the same table with Xiao He's father-in-law. I knew he was Xiao He's father-in-law, so I chatted with him for a few more sentences. When we got to the happy part, Xiao He's father-in-law suddenly said with emotion: 'Don't look at this table of food. If it were his son-in-law, he would probably eat more than half of it by himself.' When I heard it, I asked him why he said that, and he told me how big Xiao He's appetite was. Then I realized that Xiao He ate so little at our house and was never full."

"Is that so? But what does it have to do with our three children going to Xiao He's house for dinner?" Miao Aihua asked, still confused after hearing this.

"You said that Xiao He has such a big appetite, can he eat enough with his fixed monthly ration? He must have a way to get food from other sources, otherwise he would have starved to death long ago. So I said there is no need to worry about his family's food shortage. Why is your mind so confused? Do you have to make me explain it so clearly?" Li Ze could only helplessly tell Miao Aihua all his guesses.

"You mean Xiao He bought it privately?" Miao Aihua said, suddenly realizing.

Li Ze interrupted Miao Aihua before she finished speaking, "Okay, just know it, don't tell it all."

"I didn't expect that our upright cadre Li would turn a deaf ear and dumb when faced with people close to him not following the rules!" Miao Aihua said jokingly.

"Stop talking so sarcastic to me. I can tell you haven't studied the policies thoroughly. Although the whole country of Xia is implementing a unified food ration policy, the policy also states that the people are allowed to exchange their surplus food rations, but they are not allowed to make huge profits from it. As long as it does not disrupt the market order, the higher authorities actually allow small-scale food exchanges between the people. So Xiao He's behavior is not against the rules at all. It is allowed by the rules."

"Why do you say you are the deputy minister? I am just an ordinary women's director. It is Deputy Minister Li who has studied the policies from above in depth." After saying that, Miao Aihua turned around and went back to the house to cook.

After listening to Miao Aihua's words, Li Ze could only smile bitterly, shook his head and followed her into the house. There was nothing he could do. This was the confidence of the original wife. When she married you, you were an ordinary underground worker, and you might disappear quietly one day. So when you became successful, she was still justified when facing you. As for your position, she didn't care at all, because no matter how high your position was, you could only get it after leaving home. At home, you were just her husband and the father of her children.

"No matter how powerful I am, I am still your husband, right?" Li Ze said loudly to Miao Aihua's back.

"You're good at talking." Miao Aihua said, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised and she walked towards the kitchen with brisk steps.