Siheyuan: Starting with one acre and three fen of land

"Master! You're out!"

Jia Dongxu held Qin Huairu's hand tightly, and the two walked out side by side.

Seeing them, Yi Zhonghai's joyful expression quickly disappeared, replaced by a serious face, and he just nodded slightly in response.

Jia Dongxu was about to continue speaking, but Yi Zhonghai raised his hand to interrupt him: "Dongxu, let's go back and talk."

Jia Dongxu glanced across the gate of the street office, exchanged a tacit look with Qin Huairu, followed Yi Zhonghai, and set out on the road back to the courtyard.

In the Jia family's house in the west wing of the quadrangle, a dim candlelight flickered on the table.

The Jia family did not turn on the lights because Jia Zhang thought the electricity price was too expensive and was unwilling to pay their share of the cost, feeling that her family was at a disadvantage.

Yi Zhonghai sat upright at the table, his face flickering in the light of the candle, making it difficult to guess his inner thoughts.

Jia Dongxu sat down at the side, frowning, his bitterness evident in his words: "Master, is there any other solution for my mother's problem?"

Yi Zhonghai shook his head slightly and said in a low voice: "Dongxu, this is not easy to handle. Your mother swore to me at the beginning, so I believed her."

He cleverly shirked his responsibility in his words, saying that he had deliberately let Jia Zhang know the news and led her to do this.

Jia Dongxu recalled the scene at that time. Yi Zhonghai did say these things. He couldn't help but show an apologetic look on his face: "Hey, do you have any other ideas?"

Yi Zhonghai noticed his change in expression, and was secretly pleased with himself. He said slowly, "Dongxu, Zhuzi won't forgive you. I'm sure you know the reason."

Jia Dongxu certainly understood, and nodded solemnly: "Master, even if we don't care about my mother, we can't afford the compensation! What's more, Huairu is pregnant again now."

"What?" Yi Zhonghai's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard that, and he stared at Jia Dongxu, as if he saw some hope.

Seeing him so excited, Jia Dongxu thought to himself that it was a sure thing and he would get the gold coins.

He nodded in confirmation, revealing a worried look: "But given the situation at home, we really can't afford to have a child. Alas..."

Yi Zhonghai attached great importance to the matter of future generations. He thought that the more children Jia Dongxu had, the more the Jia family would need his help.

If he had a child who could be filial to him, his retirement life would be so comfortable.

"Dongxu, these are two different things. Don't act impulsively." Yi Zhonghai advised earnestly.

He then pretended to be making a difficult decision, "I'll advance the money first, and you can pay it back slowly after you get paid."

Jia Dongxu finally heard what he wanted to hear, and the heavy stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.

He was filled with gratitude and immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowed three times: "Master, I will never forget your great kindness!"

Seeing Jia Dongxu kowtow, Yi Zhonghai was overjoyed. After Jia Dongxu kowtowed, he reached out to help him up.

"Dongxu, what are you doing? You are my apprentice, how can the master not help you?"

Jia Dongxu took the opportunity to stand up and looked at Yi Zhonghai with a smile on his face.

Yi Zhonghai patted his shoulder with relief: "Dongxu, it's getting late. You two should take a rest first. Let's go to the street office together tomorrow to deal with this matter."

"Okay, Master, take care!" Jia Dongxu sent Yi Zhonghai to the door and watched him go away before turning back to the house.

Qin Huairu came over from the inner room and asked him softly, "Brother Dongxu, did the uncle agree?"

Jia Dongxu nodded with a smile on his face: "Yes, Master agreed. Let's go to the street office together tomorrow."

Qin Huairu couldn't help laughing when she saw that the matter was settled.

She changed her mind and felt that this was a good opportunity. Perhaps Jia Dongxu could squeeze some money out of Jia Zhang.

"Brother Dongxu, our mother should have money, right? Apart from giving me some daily expenses, the rest of your income over the years has been given to her."

Jia Dongxu felt that what she said made sense, but when he thought of Jia Zhang's stingy character, he sighed and felt that there was little hope.

Seeing him like this, Qin Huairu hurriedly urged him, "Brother Dongxu, you have to take this opportunity to ask for money tomorrow! There will be many places waiting to use money in the future."

Thinking of his future children, Jia Dongxu frowned and finally made up his mind to agree.

The night was as dark as ink, and the courtyard was pitch black.

Yi Zhonghai walked to the corner of the east wing, stopped, stood for a moment in the night, then turned and walked towards the backyard.

There was a knock on the door in the back room. Yi Zhonghai stood quietly in front of the deaf old lady's door, waiting for a response from inside.

Soon the deaf old lady responded from inside the house: "Come in!"

Yi Zhonghai gently opened the door and walked into the house. Under the light, he saw the deaf old lady sitting on a chair, seemingly waiting for him to come.

The corners of the deaf old lady's mouth slightly turned up, revealing a hint of a smile, and she pointed at the tea on the table: "Zhong Hai, pour yourself some water!"

"Okay, thank you for your hospitality." Yi Zhonghai walked to the table, reached for the teapot and poured himself a cup.

He took a sip, feeling the water temperature, and was sure that she had guessed that he would come to her house today.

I became even more wary of the deaf old lady. It seems that today's trip will not be in vain, and things may turn around.

The deaf old lady glanced at Yi Zhonghai. She was not in a hurry to speak. She just picked up the teacup on the coffee table and sipped the tea leisurely.

After a cup of tea, Yi Zhonghai looked at the half-drunk tea in his hand and sighed softly. Who asked him to come here to ask for help?

"Old lady, you know everything that happened today, right?"

The deaf old lady saw Yi Zhonghai speak first, raised her eyebrows, put the teacup back on the tea table, and nodded slightly: "I am not confused yet, this Zhang Xiaohua is really outrageous."

"You're right. Even I was fooled by her." Yi Zhonghai agreed, and then changed the subject, "But who told me to be Dongxu's master? Dongxu is a filial child."

"Have you made up your mind?" The deaf old lady looked at Yi Zhonghai and asked in a faint voice.

Yi Zhonghai certainly knew what she meant and nodded firmly: "Dongxu has a good character. Now Huairu has another one, so there will be no worries about successors."

"Oh?" The deaf old lady showed a hint of surprise, then understood what Yi Zhonghai meant and began to ponder.

Yi Zhonghai also sat quietly in the chair, waiting for her reply.

"Zhonghai, from now on, you will be the one to collect the subsidy that the street office gives me! I'm old now, and my legs and feet are becoming less and less flexible." The deaf old lady said lightly.

After hearing her words, Yi Zhonghai understood the conditions of taking care of her life. He thought that since Wang Yayan was there, he would just have to run errands. After weighing the pros and cons, he agreed.

"Don't worry, old lady. I will tell Xiaoyan."

Seeing that he agreed to the exchange, the deaf old lady smiled with satisfaction and said, "That's great. Go to the street office tomorrow to find Director Fu and tell him that I am here to say hello to him."

Yi Zhonghai's eyes flashed with surprise, but he suppressed his surprise and quickly responded, "Okay, I will definitely pass on your message."