Siheyuan, my new life

Xiang Hongmei walked out of the counter with a chair, put it next to the deaf old lady and said with a smile: "Old lady, please sit down and rest for a while. By the way, Xiaoyushui, are you thirsty? If you are thirsty, auntie will pour you some water."

At this time, Xiao Yushui was carefully peeling a piece of shrimp crisp candy, and handed it to the deaf old lady, saying in a glutinous voice: "Grandma, have some candy."

The deaf old lady opened her mouth and bit the candy, then stroked the little girl's head and said, "The candy is so sweet, Yu Shui, come and eat it." Then she looked up at the counter and asked with a smile, "Hong Mei, do you need a ticket to buy Beibingyang soda now? If not, give Xiao Yu Shui a bottle."

Xiang Hongmei smiled and said, "A bottle of Beibingyang soda costs 1.5 cents. Who would be willing to buy such an expensive thing if you need a ticket?" As she spoke, she took the soda that the young female salesperson opened and handed over and handed it directly to Xiao Yushui. The little girl took the soda bottle with both hands, smiled sweetly and said, "Thank you, Auntie." Then she put the soda bottle to the deaf old lady's mouth and said softly, "Grandma, drink it first. It's delicious. My brother bought it for me once. It's not only sweet but also sparkling."

The deaf old lady took a sip of soda, happily hugged Xiao Yushui in her arms, and said with a smile: "Drink it, Xiao Yushui, grandma will give you another piece of cake, you eat slowly, we will go home after you finish eating." Then she opened a bag of cakes, took out a piece of osmanthus cake and handed it to the little girl, "Eat it, little girl."

Xiao Yushui gave the old lady a bite first, and then squinted her eyes and started to eat it in small bites happily, with one little hand still under her mouth, afraid that any crumbs would drop.

To be honest, a bottle of Arctic Ocean soda was really not cheap at that time. You have to know that the salary of an ordinary first-level technician was only over 30 years old. Compared with the wages and prices of workers in the 20th century, you can roughly convert it. An ordinary worker in later generations generally earned more than 3,000 yuan a month. The price of a bottle of Arctic Ocean soda at that time was equivalent to about 15 yuan in later generations, which was really not cheap. The price of pastries was even more expensive. For example, the ones bought by the deaf old lady just now cost more than one yuan per catty, which is equivalent to more than one hundred yuan per catty in later generations.

Xiang Hongmei smiled and said, "Madam, I just asked the manager. The prices are all fixed by the higher-ups and we can't change them. But the manager said that we won't charge you for these two sets of clothes. Each set costs 8.70 yuan."

The deaf old lady patted Xiang Hongmei's hand gently and said, "Thank you, Hongmei. The old lady is getting a good deal today." Then she took out money and bills to pay for the things she had just picked for Xiao Yushui.

Since the sales clerks in the supply and marketing cooperatives at that time all received fixed salaries, whether they sold more or less had nothing to do with them, so the sales clerks would often take the opportunity to do favors.

After Xiang Hongmei settled the accounts, she walked up to the deaf old lady holding a ceramic teacup, smiled and whispered, "Old lady, this morning everyone in the neighborhood is talking about what happened in your No. 95 courtyard last night. Is that Yan Bugui really the son of the big reactionary capitalist Yan Wenzhai?"

The deaf old lady took the teacup and started thinking quickly. Apparently, what happened last night had begun to spread in the neighborhood. With the fabricated stories of those gossipy people, who knew how they would end up. Instead of that, it would be better for her to tell the truth herself. Besides, the supply and marketing cooperative was a distribution center for all kinds of gossip in the neighborhood, so it could spread quickly.

So the deaf old lady recounted everything that had happened last night, even the fact that Yi Zhonghai had encouraged her to mediate the conflict between He Daqing and Yan Bugui. She also specifically mentioned how Yi Zhonghai had persuaded her to go find Lou Bancheng.

There were no customers in the Nanluoguxiang Supply and Marketing Cooperative at that time. Four sales clerks gathered around to listen to the deaf old lady's story.

Xiang Hongmei couldn't help but curse in a low voice after hearing this: "This Yi Zhonghai always looks honest and loyal, but I didn't expect that you can only judge a person by his appearance but not his heart. He is simply a hypocritical gentleman."

The deaf old lady also sighed and said: "At the beginning, I saw that Yi Zhonghai looked honest and decent. In addition, it was really pitiful that the couple had to cover themselves with a thin quilt in the middle of winter, so I took them in. Not only did I provide them with free accommodation and food, I also introduced Yi Zhonghai to a job at Lou's Steel Rolling Mill. Who would have thought that Yi Zhonghai would be such a guy? Alas, I am blind."

A saleswoman nearby quickly said, "Old lady, please don't say that. All of our old neighbors know that you are a kind-hearted person. You helped the people in need a lot. The Yi Zhonghai couple are a pair of ungrateful people. If you hadn't taken them in, they would have starved to death. Now that the Yi Zhonghai couple's living conditions are pretty good, they don't want to repay you for saving their lives, but instead they scheme against you everywhere. They are simply ungrateful and heartless."

Originally, these salesmen had heard about some of the things that happened in the courtyard of No. 95 last night early this morning, but there were many different opinions and most of them were just hearsay. But now, after hearing the deaf old lady's story, several people could not help but start to reprimand Yi Zhonghai and his wife. You know, the deaf old lady is well-known in the neighborhood, so no one doubted what the old lady said.

The deaf old lady looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was already half past nine in the morning, so she smiled and stood up and said, "Well, it's getting late, we have to go back."

Xiang Hongmei looked at the pile of things on the counter and said with a smile: "Old lady, it's not easy for you to carry so many things. We are not busy now. I will bring them to you."

The deaf old lady waved her hands quickly: "Hongmei, how can this be possible? You are at work now."

Several sales clerks nearby said with a smile: "It's okay, old lady. She's not busy now. Besides, our supply and marketing cooperative is not far from your home. Sister Hongmei will be here in a while." Then everyone helped pack up the things and sent the old lady and Xiao Yushui out of the supply and marketing cooperative.

Xiang Hongmei carried most of the things, only the new clothes was held tightly in Xiao Yushui's arms, with a happy smile on her little face.

When the three of them walked into Courtyard No. 95, they did not see the figure of Third Aunt Yang Ruihua, who had taken over as the door god from Yan Bugui during the day. The doors and windows of the Yan family were also closed and there was no sound.

Near the pond in the central courtyard, several aunties and grandmas from the courtyards were washing clothes and talking loudly about what happened last night. The focus of their discussion was on the huge amount of wealth seized from Yan Bugui's house. Who could have imagined that Yan Bugui, who cried poor in the courtyard all day long, actually owned so much property? A strong sense of jealousy was clearly heard in everyone's words.

Seeing the deaf old lady and the other two walking into the central courtyard, everyone started to greet them. Especially when they saw the things that Xiang Hongmei, a salesperson at the Nanluoguxiang Supply and Marketing Cooperative, was carrying, and that He Yushui, who was originally sloppy, had now been dressed up as a pretty little girl, everyone couldn't help but praise her, but only they themselves knew what they were really thinking.

The deaf old lady responded with a few words and walked into the backyard with Xiang Hongmei. At this time, Aunt Jiang was sitting at the door of the deaf old lady's house with her grandchildren, pasting matchboxes. When she saw the deaf old lady and her two companions, she quickly stood up and came to greet them. Xiang Hongmei put down her things and hurried back regardless of the old lady's attempt to keep her.