Siheyuan, my new life

Tonight, Yi Zhonghai came home in a terrible state, and Qu Xiuqin noticed something was wrong at the first moment. First, Yi Zhonghai said that he was put into a sack and beaten with a club, but there was no sign of beating with clubs on Yi Zhonghai's clothes; and when applying medicated wine to him, Qu Xiuqin found that there were clear marks of beating on Yi Zhonghai's back and buttocks. There was only one possibility for such marks to be left, and that was that Yi Zhonghai was not wearing any clothes when he was beaten.

Who would strip the person naked when putting a sack on him or beating him with a club? The slap marks on Yi Zhonghai's face were also very clear. If there was a sack, there would be no such scars. In other words, Yi Zhonghai's so-called being put in a sack and beaten with a club was purely deceiving himself.

Ever since Yi Zhonghai spoke the truth after drinking, Qu Xiuqin has been wary of this man. Seeing so many abnormal things tonight, she concluded that Yi Zhonghai was caught in bed with some woman and was severely beaten.

So when Yi Zhonghai urged her to go back to the bedroom to sleep, Qu Xiuqin planned to take the opportunity to see what tricks her husband would do next. She had known for a long time that Yi Zhonghai had another secret place to hide his money. This had not surprised Qu Xiuqin before. She also knew the principle that a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Besides, she had been influenced by the traditional concept of marrying a chicken, you follow the chicken; marrying a dog, you follow the dog since she was a child. Therefore, she had never explored Yi Zhonghai's secret treasury.

However, as she gradually saw Yi Zhonghai's true face, Qu Xiuqin had to prepare a way out for herself. After all, she had not given Yi Zhonghai a child for so many years. It is said that there are three unfilial acts, and the worst is to have no descendants. If Yi Zhonghai used this as an excuse to divorce her one day, she would have no place to cry.

Qu Xiuqin never doubted that the reason for her inability to have children was Yi Zhonghai, because she had been pregnant before, but she had a miscarriage due to overwork in order to save Yi Zhonghai. After settling down in Sijiu City, Qu Xiuqin also went to the hospital for a physical examination. According to the doctor, Qu Xiuqin did not get enough rest after the miscarriage, which caused a serious physical deficiency. She needed a long period of conditioning before she could hope to get pregnant again.

However, Qu Xiuqin has taken a lot of Chinese medicine over the years, but still has not conceived a child. Although Yi Zhonghai did not show it in person, Qu Xiuqin noticed something unusual from some clues. Yi Zhonghai must have another woman outside, but because she had not been able to get pregnant, Qu Xiuqin felt guilty towards Yi Zhonghai, so she turned a blind eye to some of his behaviors and pretended not to notice anything.

Qu Xiuqin had known for a long time that Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhang had gone into the vegetable cellar to make dumplings, and she also discovered that there was something a little abnormal between Yi Zhonghai and his apprentice Jia Dongxu's wife Qin Huairu.

However, Qu Xiuqin was mentally prepared. Not only had she been secretly accumulating her own money, she was also keeping an eye out for Yi Zhonghai's secret treasury. Once Yi Zhonghai betrayed her, she would not mind taking away all of Yi Zhonghai's money, finding a place where no one knew her, adopting one or two orphans, and living there for the rest of her life.

Because Yi Zhonghai was very cautious, although Qu Xiuqin had been keeping an eye out, she still hadn't found his secret stash. During the day, after Yi Zhonghai went to work, Qu Xiuqin often took the opportunity of cleaning to search almost everything in the house, but she didn't find anything. Sometimes she even suspected that Yi Zhonghai had hidden something outside.

After noticing Yi Zhonghai's abnormality tonight, Qu Xiuqin became more vigilant. Under normal circumstances, if she was caught cheating in bed, she would not only be beaten and scolded, but also have to pay the other person a sum of money, otherwise it would be difficult to get away. However, Yi Zhonghai did not ask her for money. You know, there were nearly two thousand yuan in the secret groove in the bedroom. These were part of the salary that Yi Zhonghai gave to Qu Xiuqin every month over the years.

Many residents of Courtyard No. 95 have family members who work at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill, so they are very familiar with the factory's wage standards. Qu Xiuqin is also well aware of Yi Zhonghai's actual income. He only gives her about two-thirds of it every month, but Qu Xiuqin has never raised any objection to this.

Qu Xiuqin went to bed with mixed feelings, and she deliberately snored after a while. In fact, she had been hoping that she was just being overly suspicious, and that maybe everything that happened tonight was just a coincidence, but reason reminded her that if it was really a coincidence, Yi Zhonghai would not do anything in the following time, so she was particularly alert and paid attention to the movements in the living room.

When Yi Zhonghai approached the bedroom door and looked into the room through the gap, he did not realize that the light from the living room had exposed his actions. Qu Xiuqin had already turned off the lights in the bedroom and "went to sleep", but the light behind Yi Zhonghai had undoubtedly exposed his figure.

After Yi Zhonghai's figure disappeared, Qu Xiuqin lay on the bed for a while before quietly getting out of bed and staring at Yi Zhonghai's every move through the gap in the bedroom door.

When she saw that Yi Zhonghai had already begun to carefully clean up the traces, Qu Xiuqin tiptoed back to the bed and closed her eyes, but she couldn't help but let the tears slide down her cheeks. Scenes from the past kept emerging in her mind, from the first time she and Yi Zhonghai met through a matchmaker, to their formal marriage, and then she became pregnant in less than three months. In Qu Xiuqin's impression, perhaps only this period of time was the happiest time for her and Yi Zhonghai.

Qu Xiuqin thought carefully, when did the gap between them begin? Perhaps it was after that visit to the hospital. As time went by, she still didn't get pregnant, and Yi Zhonghai's attitude towards her gradually became colder, but she didn't notice it at all at the time.

Wiping away the tears on her face, Qu Xiuqin felt an inexplicable anger in her heart. If she had not pulled the cart through the snow and wind all night to save Yi Zhonghai, how could she have miscarried due to overwork? Otherwise, her child would have been a grown man or woman by now.

She had a miscarriage and injured her body just to save Yi Zhonghai, this heartless guy. In the past, whether he was hooking up with young widows or strolling around the Eight Great Hutongs, she had turned a blind eye and pretended not to know. Now he has gone even further. He was just dismissed from his position as the manager of the courtyard and he went out to fool around. I really don't know what Yi Zhonghai is thinking.

Now that she has discovered where Yi Zhonghai hid the money, Qu Xiuqin plans to wait for a while before checking it herself. Anyway, after Yi Zhonghai goes to work every day, she is alone at home and has plenty of time to check. There is no need to rush. If Yi Zhonghai notices any clues, he will definitely move the money.

Qu Xiuqin fell into a deep sleep while she was lost in her thoughts. After Yi Zhonghai wrapped four small yellow croakers and one thousand yuan in newspaper and put them in a lunch box, he walked into the bedroom and did not find anything unusual.