Siheyuan: I am different He Yuzhu

At this moment, night has fallen in the courtyard. When the yellow light from the house shines through the glass onto the steps in front of He Yuzhu's house, spots of light form on the steps. Yi Zhonghai walks steadily to the door of He Yuzhu's house, raises his hand, and knocks gently on the slightly old but spotlessly clean wooden door.

"Deputy Director He, are you available right now?" Yi Zhonghai's voice was neither too high nor too low, revealing a certain calmness and gentleness.

He Yuzhu was busy doing housework in the house. He was planning to take the children to Shichahai for a trip later. When he heard Yi Zhonghai's voice coming from outside the door, a hint of curiosity instantly appeared on his face. He put down the work in his hands, walked quickly to the door, stretched out his hand and pushed it open.

The moment the door opened, He Yuzhu's eyes first fell on Yi Zhonghai, and then swept over Jia Xudong and Qin Huairu who were standing side by side. Seeing these three people appear at the door of his house at the same time, He Yuzhu couldn't help but be slightly stunned, but after all, he had experienced a lot of things in the world, and he quickly came back to his senses, and a warm and bright smile quickly bloomed on his face.

"It's the uncle! And Xudong and Jia's sister-in-law, why are you all here together? I just tidied up the house and was thinking of taking the children to Shichahai for a stroll! But since you, the uncle, have come to visit in person, I won't go today! Let Xiao'e and my sister Yushui take the children!" As he said this, He Yuzhu stepped aside to make way and made a gesture to invite them in, "Come on, come in and sit down!"

After saying that, He Yuzhu turned back to the house and shouted to Lou Xiao'e who was busy in the inner room: "Xiao'e, come here!"

Hearing the sound, Lou Xiao'e hurried out, and when she saw Yi Zhonghai and the others, she smiled and greeted them politely.

He Yuzhu continued, "Xiao'e, my uncle and his friends have something to discuss with me, so I can't accompany you and Yushui to take the children to Shichahai. How about this, you and Yushui take the children there first, have a good look around, and have fun! I'll come back to you after I finish talking to the uncle and his friends."

Lou Xiao'e nodded gently to show her understanding, then turned around and greeted Yi Zhonghai, Jia Xudong, and Qin Huairu one by one, then called He Yushui, and together they went out happily with the six children.

After Lou Xiao'e led the children out of the house, He Yuzhu hurriedly and warmly invited the three people to sit down. Yi Zhonghai slowly sat down, showing a trace of apology on his face, and said softly: "Oh, I'm so sorry! We came at such an inopportune time. No, we have delayed you, Deputy Director He, from playing with the children."

Hearing this, He Yuzhu raised his lips slightly, revealing a kind smile, and then responded: "Uncle, look at what you said, how can it be considered a delay! It's just a little later. By the way, I wonder why you, Xudong and his wife came here today?"

Yi Zhonghai smiled slightly, cleared his throat, and then began to narrate: "Deputy Director He, our country encountered considerable difficulties in the past few years. Fortunately, with the concerted efforts of the people across the country, we have finally successfully overcome that difficult period. Although the current difficulties have passed, Xudong's family has paid a huge price for this - not only have the family savings been completely exhausted, but they have even owed a lot of foreign debts, which can be said to have emptied the family's assets. If I hadn't been trying to help them all these years, I'm afraid Xudong's family would have been unable to survive long ago."

At this point, Yi Zhonghai paused for a moment, as if recalling some sad scene, and then continued: "Just like what you saw when you moved back to the courtyard now, look at Xudong's mother's haggard appearance now, you can probably estimate how difficult it has been for Xudong and his family to live these years."

After hearing what Yi Zhonghai said, He Yuzhu couldn't help but think of Jia Zhang's current thin figure. He said with a sigh, "Aunt Zhang is indeed a completely different person than before, but now the difficult times are over. With Aunt Zhang's foundation, as long as she keeps up with the nutrition, she will soon be able to recover her previous plumpness."

"It's difficult! Deputy Director He, we are old neighbors living in the same courtyard. Xudong is the only one in his family who has a ration. The other four don't have a ration. If we want to buy food, we have to spend money to coordinate with others. Xudong's monthly salary is enough to barely feed his family. As for providing nutrition for Xudong's mother, I dare not even think about it."

After listening to Yi Zhonghai's words, He Yuzhu nodded slightly, indicating his approval of his point of view, but did not respond eagerly. He knew that Yi Zhonghai was a man of great cunning, and there must be something behind his words, so he restrained his temper and waited for Yi Zhonghai to continue.

As expected, Yi Zhonghai continued, "As the saying goes, 'help in emergencies but not in poverty'! If Xudong's family really wants to improve their lives and live a good life, the key is to rely on their own unremitting efforts. Now Xudong himself also knows this truth and is doing his best to improve his skills as a fitter."

"Think about it, as long as his level of fitter can be improved, the pressure of supporting his family will naturally be reduced. However, the improvement of technology is not something that can be easily achieved by just talking about it. It requires a lot of time to study and accumulate experience to achieve success. That's why we came to visit you, Deputy Director He today."

As soon as the words fell, Yi Zhonghai, Jia Xudong and Qin Huairu seemed to have a telepathic connection, and they all focused their eyes on He Yuzhu. At this time, He Yuzhu was full of suspicion, and asked in confusion: "Uncle, what do you mean by this? I am a little confused and can't fully understand it."

Yi Zhonghai thought to himself that he had laid enough groundwork before, and now was the perfect time to tell him his real purpose.

He coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and then slowly said, "Ahem... Actually, in addition to Xudong working hard to improve his fitter level, there is another way that can produce immediate results and more significant effects. That is to let Xudong's wife Huairu go out to work. In this way, there will be two people in their family who can earn money to support the family. Moreover, if we can take this opportunity to find a way to let Huairu transfer her farm household registration to a city household registration, then Xudong's family's life will be completely improved!"

As soon as Yi Zhonghai finished speaking, Qin Huairu, who was standing beside him, immediately put on a pitiful look. Her big watery eyes stared straight at Deputy Director He in front of her, and she pleaded in a trembling voice: "Deputy Director He, please have mercy on our family! If you are unwilling to help, our family will really be desperate and can't survive! Wuwuwu..."

As she spoke, perhaps recalling the difficult and hard days her family had experienced in previous years, Qin Huairu's eyes instantly became moist, and tears began to well up in her eyes, ready to roll down.