Siheyuan, my new life

Chapter 234 Qin Huairu's Resentment

Qin Huairu gave Banggeng and Xiaodang a few more instructions, then hurriedly trotted out of the courtyard. When she was out of the sight of her neighbors, she slowed down her pace and walked towards the steel mill. Although she had tried every means to get some money from Yi Zhonghai, she would never spend a penny on this old hag, Jia Zhang.

This damn old hag, holding Old Jia's death allowance in her hand but unwilling to spend a penny of it, if it wasn't for maintaining her good reputation as a filial daughter-in-law, Qin Huairu would have strangled her to death.

Every time Jia Zhang got into trouble in the courtyard, Yi Zhonghai would come out to smooth things over, under the banner of uniting neighbors and helping each other, and in the end, she would have to grovel and apologize to others; Jia Zhang ate and slept all day at home, and didn't even know to pick up the fallen soy sauce bottle. She also kept saying that she was sick, had back pain and leg pain, and didn't help with housework at all. She ate more than anyone else and had to spend three yuan every month on painkillers. Every time Qin Huairu thought of this, she cursed Yi Zhonghai, the hypocrite, in her heart. What kind of family did he find for herself?

Qin Huairu sighed softly. Why hasn't everything been going well recently? Originally, Jia Dongxu had coaxed and threatened Jia Zhangshi to agree to go back to her hometown in the countryside to hide for a while and avoid the limelight. He also asked Jia Zhangshi to agree to take out 200 yuan to stay at home as living expenses.

The plan was going well. The next morning, Jia Dongxu sent Jia Zhang back to his hometown in the countryside. Jia Dongxu also asked Yi Zhonghai to ask for leave. He planned to go back to his hometown to clean up the house. After all, no one had lived there for so many years, and it would be impossible to move in without cleaning it up.

But when Jia Dongxu urged his mother to get up and eat at 6:30 in the morning, Jia Zhang started to act up again. First, she whined and said that she felt pain here and discomfort there, and then she blamed her grandson Banggeng for not letting her sleep well last night. Anyway, she just stayed in bed and refused to get up.

After much persuasion, Jia Dongxu finally got Jia Zhangshi out of bed at almost eight o'clock. Then she ate breakfast reluctantly. When Jia Dongxu asked his mother to take out the agreed two hundred yuan, Jia Zhangshi again tried to refuse. Finally, she agreed to give it to him after Jia Dongxu sent her to his hometown in the countryside.

It was past 8:30 when the mother and son walked out of the house with their luggage. They never expected that they would be blocked by the staff of the street office, who informed them that they must attend the courtyard meeting convened by the new director of the street office that night.

Qin Huairu, who was trying hard to suppress her joy and carrying her daughter to see her mother-in-law and husband off, suddenly felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured on her. Ever since she married into the Jia family, Qin Huairu had been looking forward to driving the troublemaker Jia Zhang back to the countryside. Today she was finally about to fulfill her long-cherished wish, but was stopped by the staff of the street office.

That night, Director Wang of the Street Office announced the punishment for Jia Zhang at the general meeting of all residents of No. 95 Siheyuan, forcing her to clean the streets for a month. Qin Huairu felt very complicated when she heard the news. She felt inexplicably disappointed and full of hatred. It was just a little time. If Jia Zhang left No. 95 Siheyuan, the Street Office would not have to chase her back to the countryside.

Qin Huairu hated her mother-in-law to death. If she hadn't been greedy for a few acres of land in the countryside, she would have insisted on registering her household registration in the countryside despite repeated persuasion from the street office staff and forced Qin Huairu to settle down in the countryside as well.

Jia Zhang would not go back to the countryside to farm, so she was smart enough to give the land to her relatives in her hometown to farm, and her family got half of the food. In the first one or two years, they were able to get thousands of kilograms of corn and wheat, which was enough for the daily needs of the family of three.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. As the government departments divided the household registration into agricultural and non-agricultural ones, Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu were naturally classified as agricultural ones. Moreover, according to regulations, the household registration of children followed that of their mother. So Banggeng was also classified as an agricultural one as soon as he was born.

What made the Jia family even more trapped was the subsequent establishment of rural cooperatives, under which all the farmers' land was collectively owned. Only by participating in collective labor could they obtain work points, and food was distributed according to the work points.

Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu stayed in the city and never went back to participate in collective labor, so they were not eligible for food distribution. At that time, Jia Zhangshi even ran back to the village and made a big fuss, but in the end she got nothing.

From then on, only Jia Dongxu was supplied with food in the Jia family, but how could his monthly quota of 38 kilograms be enough for the whole family? The Jia family could only buy expensive food from the pigeon market, otherwise they would starve.

Every time Qin Huairu thought of this, he wished he could kill Jia Zhang. If the old woman hadn't coveted that piece of land, how could the Jia family have fallen into such a predicament?

Qin Huairu walked towards the Red Star Steel Mill while thinking about random things. After more than 20 minutes, he finally reached the gate of the steel mill. Immediately, a security guard with a rifle on his back stopped Qin Huairu and said, "Stop, this is an important national industrial plant. Outsiders are strictly prohibited from entering or leaving."

Qin Huairu immediately put on a pitiful look on her face and said to the security guard in a delicate voice: "Hello, my name is Qin Huairu, and I am the wife of Jia Dongxu from the fitter workshop. Could you please call Jia Dongxu, his mother has just been sent to the hospital."

After hearing this, the security guard did not make things difficult for Qin Huairu. He gestured for her to stand there and wait, then turned and walked into the gate.

When Jia Dongxu heard the security guard's notice, he subconsciously ran to his master Yi Zhonghai and said anxiously: "Master, the security guard notified Huairu at the gate that my mother had just been sent to the hospital."

If something similar had happened in the past, Yi Zhonghai would definitely have accompanied his apprentice to the hospital immediately. However, with so many things happening recently, how could Yi Zhonghai be so nosy? So he hummed and said, "Then ask the workshop director for leave to go to the hospital. I will finish your workpieces for you after I finish the work at hand."

In his heart, Jia Dongxu certainly hoped that Yi Zhonghai could go to the hospital with him, at least he could pay for the medical expenses. But now after hearing what Yi Zhonghai said, he could only settle for the next best thing: "Master, I don't have any money on me. Can you lend me some money first? I'll pay you back when I get my salary."

Yi Zhonghai sneered in his heart. When did you, Jia Dongxu, ever pay back the money and things that you borrowed from the Jia family? In the past, he had other purposes, so he didn't care about that little money. But now that he has lost two or three thousand yuan in a row, how could he be a sucker again?

So Yi Zhonghai pretended to be regretful and said: "It's a coincidence that I didn't bring any money when I changed my clothes this morning. You should go to the hospital quickly to see what's going on."

Jia Dongxu squinted his eyes and looked at Yi Zhonghai, then agreed and walked quickly towards the workshop director's office.

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