Siheyuan: I am different He Yuzhu

When Qin Huairu led her two young children and slowly pushed open the slightly old door of the courtyard house, the scene inside the house came into view - Jia Zhang was lazily leaning on the kang, staring at Qin Huairu who walked in from the door, with obvious dissatisfaction on her face. She pouted and muttered unhappily: "Hey Huairu, why are you back so late? I've been home for two days. What have you been doing? Why are you back now?"

Faced with her mother-in-law's questioning, Qin Huairu seemed a little helpless, but she still patiently explained softly: "Mom, you know that my parents' home is a bit remote, and I have to take care of two children by myself, so it is really inconvenient for me to travel. So I can only wait for my brother from my mother's side to be free, and ask him to take us there. Look, his family happened to have something to do a few days ago and he was busy until today. As soon as he was free, he immediately sent us back." After saying this, Qin Huairu sighed softly, as if she had long been accustomed to such a situation.

Hearing this, Jia Zhang, who was originally tense, suddenly changed her expression, as if she remembered something important, and hurriedly asked: "Then...what about your brother from your mother's side? Did he come with you?" Her words revealed a trace of nervousness that was difficult to conceal. It turned out that the reason why Jia Zhang was so concerned about whether Qin Huairu's brother came with her was not out of hospitality to relatives, but because she was afraid that Qin Huairu would invite her mother's family to her home as guests, and in that case, she would have to spend a lot of food to entertain them. After all, in that era of scarcity, every grain of food was extremely precious.

Qin Huairu couldn't help but laugh when she saw her mother-in-law's reaction, but she still answered truthfully: "Mom, don't worry, he didn't follow us. He just sent me and the children to a place where we could take the bus and then turned and left. The rest of the way, I took the bus back alone with the two kids." After saying that, Qin Huairu shook her head slightly, secretly sighing at the difficulty and hardship of life.

Hearing Qin Huairu say that her brother didn't come, Jia Zhang's tense face relaxed instantly. After letting out a long sigh of relief, she lazily lay back on the kang again, muttering, "Then you should quickly wash all the dirty clothes that Xudong has changed these days. My legs are so cold that they hurt so much when I move a little. I really can't go out to work."

However, what happened next was beyond Jia Zhang's expectations. After hearing these words, Qin Huairu did not get up immediately to pack clothes and wash clothes as usual. Instead, she looked embarrassed, as if she wanted to say something but didn't dare to.

Jia Zhang, who had just closed her eyes and was about to take a nap, noticed that the room was unusually quiet, without any sound coming out, and she couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied. So, she had to open her eyes again, and said angrily: "Huairu, why are you still standing there? Xudong has accumulated so many dirty clothes, if you delay any longer, he will really have nothing to wear!" After that, Jia Zhang raised her head and looked directly at Qin Huairu, as if she wanted to see through her expression to see her true thoughts. At the same time, she secretly wondered what kind of evil this usually docile and obedient daughter-in-law had done today, and dared to openly disobey the will of her mother-in-law.

"Mom, I will definitely wash Xudong's clothes later, but before that, there is something I must explain to you first!" Qin Huairu's face was full of worry and her tone seemed quite hesitant.

"Oh? What's the matter?" Upon hearing this, Jia Zhang's face showed strong curiosity and she stared at Qin Huairu and asked.

"That's right... Mom, I'm afraid my parents won't be able to send food to our family anymore." Qin Huairu gritted her teeth and finally mustered up the courage to tell the truth.

"What? They dare not send food to our family! Your mother's family has been cultivating the land that belongs to you and the two children. Shouldn't it be a matter of course to provide us with food? What qualifications do they have to decide to give us food at will? Humph, this is simply outrageous! You should quickly tell your mother's family that if they want to cut off our family's food supply, that is absolutely impossible!" Jia Zhang was furious and roared angrily.

Qin Huairu looked at her emotional mother-in-law with a puzzled look on her face, and explained carefully: "Mom, it's not that my family is unwilling to give it to me, but the way of farming has changed now. The land is no longer cultivated by individuals alone, but is managed by the commune. After the crops are harvested every year, food will be distributed according to the actual situation of each household's participation in the work. Mom, are you really not clear about this matter? This is a regulation that was clearly announced when the mass commune was formally established."

Hearing this, Jia Zhang's eyes widened, staring at Qin Huairu in disbelief, and questioned: "What! There is such a thing? Why have I never heard of it? You are not deliberately making up lies to deceive an old woman like me? When the so-called mass commune was established, I was not personally present to participate in it, so how could I know these details?" As she spoke, she revealed a deep suspicion, as if she thought Qin Huairu was talking nonsense.

"Such a big thing, you can just ask anyone and find out. How could I lie to you? Didn't your uncle tell you? Or is this policy only implemented on my mother's side, and not on my uncle's side yet?" Qin Huairu said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Then when Xudong comes back, I'll ask him to go out and find out. I'll tell you, Qin Huairu, if I find out that there is no policy as you said, you'll see how I'll deal with you. Okay, hurry up and wash Xudong's clothes." After saying that, Jia Zhang lay down again, closed her eyes and prepared to go back to sleep. In fact, it's not that Jia Zhang's family didn't tell her, but when Jia Zhang went back, she would open her eyes every day when she went to the commune canteen to eat the big pot meal, and she would do nothing but lie on the kang and sleep. Her family mentioned it to Jia Zhang during the meal, but it was a pity that Jia Zhang was so focused on eating that she didn't listen to the other party at all.

Qin Huairu looked at Jia Zhang lying down again, smiled bitterly and shook her head, then turned around to look for Jia Xudong's dirty clothes. After finding all of Jia Xudong's dirty clothes, she picked up the heavy basin filled with clothes and slowly walked towards the pool outside the house. In this way, Qin Huairu, the guardian of the courtyard pool who had disappeared for a while, is now back!

While washing clothes, Qin Huairu thought worriedly: "From now on, there will be no food sent from the countryside. We have to rely on my husband Jia Xudong's ration of more than 5 kilograms per month to feed a family of five. How are we going to live in the future?"

When night fell and the lights came on, Jia Xudong dragged his exhausted body and slowly stepped into the house. He saw his two children playing happily in the house, and he immediately knew in his heart that Qin Huairu must have returned. So, a happy smile appeared on his face involuntarily, and he shouted to Qin Huairu who was busy in the kitchen: "Huairu, you are finally home!"

At this time, Qin Huairu was concentrating on cooking delicious dishes. After hearing her husband's call, she responded without turning her head: "Yeah, I just arrived this morning." Her words were full of joy and satisfaction after returning home.

However, before the two could talk for a few more words, Jia Zhang, who was resting on the kang, suddenly sat up and shouted at the top of her voice: "Xudong, come here quickly, I have something to tell you." Hearing this, Jia Xudong did not dare to neglect it, and hurriedly moved to his mother's side, and asked with a smile on his face: "Mom, what are you doing?"

Jia Zhang frowned and said worriedly, "Huai Ru just came back and told me that the countryside is now vigorously promoting something called 'commune'. From now on, all land will be collectively owned, and each household will no longer be allowed to cultivate the land on its own. But when I lived in your uncle's house before, I never heard of such a thing. So, you should go out and find out some news later to see if this is true?" As she spoke, Jia Zhang couldn't help but sigh heavily, and was obviously quite worried about the matter.

"Okay, Mom, I'll go out and ask after dinner." Jia Xudong said indifferently.

"Where are you going to inquire so late at night? You should ask your colleagues tomorrow at work." Jia Zhang said with a distressed look on her face.

"Okay, mother."

"Mom, Xudong is here for dinner." At this time, Qin Huairu's voice was heard in the kitchen.

"Mom and I will be there right away, Huairu." So the Jia family started to eat dinner.