Siheyuan: Big City, Small Love

"Auntie Sun, you have to be careful. It's winter now and it's very cold. Your foot injury will not heal easily.

You can get out of bed and walk around, but you have to be careful. Only when you take good care of yourself can you live a better life, right?

Just enjoy your life in advance and see if they can serve you well."

He Lai said with a smile.

"Okay, listen to Xiao Laizi, let them do it, and I, an old woman, will just lie down and take a rest."

Aunt Sun touched Chun'er and smiled.

"Tomorrow, I'll take Hu Zi to go fishing for some fish and give you some supplements. I promise you'll get better faster."

"Okay, Huzi, Chun'er is lucky to have a brother like you in this life."

"Auntie Sun, blessings are mutual. Having them is also my blessing. Isn't that right, Huzi, Chun'er?"

Huzi and Chuner nodded frantically.

The few of them kept chatting like this.

……

"Mom, you're back. Let me see what vegetables you bought?" When He Lai saw Wu Juan coming back pushing the cart, he hurried forward and took the basket of vegetables hanging on the handlebars.

Wu Juan also smiled at He Lai's actions.

"There weren't many vegetables, but I happened to have tomatoes, so I bought you a few."

He Lai opened it and saw that there were only a few tomatoes and some green onions.

Alas, as a southerner, He Lai still can't get used to eating green onions, the taste is too strong. Tomatoes are okay, just eat them raw.

"Look at your expression. It's good enough to have a few tomatoes in the middle of winter. What else do you want? Your mother is not as capable as you. She eats meat and fish every day."

Wu Juan looked at He Lai with disappointment and scolded him with a smile.

"No way, help mom with the rainwater, go back to the house, it's freezing outside."

He Lai handed the basket of vegetables to Yu Shui, took Wu Juan's bicycle and quickly walked into the backyard.

Wu Juan also smiled and put her arm around Yu Shui's shoulder, and they walked back to the backyard side by side.

……

"Xiao Laizi, tell me the truth, how is your medical skills now?"

He Lai looked at Wu Juan in surprise.

"Mom, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Let me feel your pulse."

He Lai came to Wu Juan and wanted to hold her hand.

"Hey, your mother is fine, but a chef in the kitchen has a severe backache and can't work anymore. Everyone is talking about it."

Wu Juan slapped away He Lai's outstretched hand, gave He Lai a tomato and explained.

"Mom, it's ok for you to treat a cold and cough, but I don't dare to treat my back pain easily. Why don't you let him go to my master. The master should be able to relieve it."

He Lai refused directly. After all, he had not reached that level yet. The most he could do was give him a massage, apply a medicated patch or something like that. He didn't even understand acupuncture.

"Hey, he's just reluctant to spend money. The whole family depends on him. I saw that you cured Aunt Sun, so I just mentioned it."

Wu Juan didn't say anything more. Since her son said no, then forget it.

"Mom, tell him to go to my master's place and say that I am your elder. Try to give him a cheaper price. My master will give me this face."

He Lai could only help so much. Auntie Sun just reset the position. Her waist was strained over time, and she really couldn't do anything about it.

"Okay, give me the address of your master's clinic. I'll have someone give it to him tomorrow."

"Let the rain write to you. The rain knows."

"Hey, it's so hard to ask you to write an address! Don't eat tomatoes."

Wu Juan took the tomatoes from He Lai's hand and went to the kitchen with Yu Shui.

He Lai smacked his lips, wondering if he could still keep this mother. She had used up all the fruits and even took them back.

……

He Lai and Guang Tianhuzi were walking on the way to Shichahai with tools.

"Huzi, after you finish fishing, go to the market and buy some bones for Aunt Sun.

She is old, so drinking some bone soup will help her recover. If you don’t know how to cook it, ask your brother Zhuzi for help.”

He Lai said to Hu Zi.

"Got it, come on brother."

"Go buy some in broad daylight. Your father swings a sledgehammer every day, and his waist must be exhausted. I'll bring you some more plasters when the time comes."

"Okay, thank you, brother."

Liu Guangtian now understands how difficult it is for his father. Although Liu Haizhong is full of energy every day, Liu Guangtian can still see a hint of fatigue in his father's eyes.

Liu Haizhong now goes to night school, and studies the notes he borrowed from others every day.

……

There were many young guys on the ice, some were skating around, and some had already cast their rods. There were fewer people skating now, and everyone was thinking about getting something to eat.

In just these few days, Shichahai Lake has become as frozen as the ground.

He Lai and his companions slowly looked for a suitable fishing spot.

Finally finding a good spot, the three of them started today's ice fishing.

He Lai found that there were obviously fewer fish bites, and the fish he caught were all crucian carp weighing less than half a pound.

He checked his pocket watch and it was already 2 p.m. He had been on the ice for three or four hours and had only caught a dozen fish.

He Lai finished drinking the remaining hot water and was about to cast his rod again.

A voice came from the side.

"Little Lai is fishing, Uncle San, take a look. Wow, there are quite a few."

He Lai turned around and saw that the person coming was Yan Fugui. The old guy had skipped work to go fishing again.

Hey, what can I say about this guy? I don't understand why he is so frugal. Everyone knows that his family is a small business owner and should have some financial resources.

Although primary school teachers’ salaries are not high, for someone like Yan Fugui who has been a teacher for almost ten years, the salary should not be too bad.

He has to pretend to be so poor. I really don't know what he went through to become like this.

"Well, hello, Third Uncle. I'm just about to collect my fishing rod. I'll give that spot to you. We'll leave now."

He Lai didn't want to waste time arguing with Yan Fugui. He knew that he was definitely here for his fishing spot, so he just gave it to him.

"Okay, okay, thank you very much, Third Uncle." The Third Uncle was very happy to see that he had got the fishing spot without saying a word. He thought that because of his status as the Third Uncle, He Lai had made way for him.

He Lai didn't respond. He packed up his things and went to find Hu Zi and the others.

Yan Fugui also said, "Take care," and sat down to fish.

……

He Lai and his companions arrived at the vegetable market. It was not as crowded as in the morning, and there were not many people around.

He Lai saw the stall that sold eels before.

"Guangtian, Huzi, you go to the butcher's shop first. I'll come over later." He Lai handed over the fish bucket.

"Okay, then come on, brother, hurry up." Liu Guangtian and Huzi went to the butcher shop.

He Lai came to the fish stall.

"Uncle, give me a pound of loaches, small ones."

"no problem."

Soon, He Lai got the loach, put it in his arms and put it into the space.

He Lai rushed to the butcher's counter and found that Liu Guangtian and Hu Zi did not go to negotiate, but stood by waiting for He Lai.

He Lai shook his head and looked at the counter, which was only a pile of bones and minced meat.

"Uncle, do you have any more meat?" He Lai asked deliberately.

The butcher took a look at the people and said directly, "It's all gone. You kids, this must be your first time selling meat. Why would you come to buy at this time? There are only some bones and meat scraps left. No one wants them."

"Uncle, how about I give you some fish in exchange for these bones? Our fish weigh more than ten kilograms in total."

He Lai quickly proposed a plan.

He Lai also calculated that people of this era would not use the little meat coupons they had to buy bones.

The uncle thought about it and decided that the bones were shared among the people in his shop for stewing, so he might as well get some fish. He discussed it with a few people nearby and agreed.

"Okay, uncle agreed. I won't let you suffer any loss. I'll give you all the scraps of meat."

When He Lai and the others heard this, they quickly poured the fish onto the chopping board, leaving six fish for themselves and giving the rest to the uncle.

The uncle didn't waste any time. He put the pork bones into the fish bucket and also wrapped up the minced meat and put it in there.