Siheyuan: Big City, Small Love

Before they knew it, it was time to get off work. After He Lai waited for them to pack up, he took Daya and left the state-owned store.

"Sister Daya, please don't tell my mom about what I bought. I'm afraid she'll scold me."

He Lai rode his bike and reminded Daya at the same time.

"But if you go back, won't Third Aunt see it?" Daya asked doubtfully.

"Sister Daya, you may not know this, but my mother and I no longer live in the same courtyard. I'll take you to my place first."

"Oh, I'll listen to you." Daya then realized that He Lai already had his own house, so she also had to work hard to have her own house as soon as possible.

……

Kakui

"Yu Shui, do you still recognize me?" He Lai asked with a smile.

"Sister Da Ya."

Yu Shui shouted happily. When she got home from school, she heard Wu Juan tell her that Sister Daya had come to the city to work.

"Hello, Yushui." Daya was still a little reserved.

"Yu Shui, put the things away." He Lai took out a box of Pechoin and a box of Ya Shuang from the cloth bag and gave them to Daya, then gave the cloth bag and the pearl cream in his hand to Yu Shui.

"Got it, come on brother."

Yu Shui took the things and ran to her room. Although her room had to be given to Old Lady He to sleep in tonight, the things were still kept in this room.

Of course Yu Shui knew what this was. After all, now was the time when she loved beauty, so she would go to the store to buy a few boxes. Seeing He Lai bought her a lot of boxes, she was very happy.

He Lai also gave Daya some tickets and money. After all, they would be eating and living in the state-owned store in the future, so they would have some places to spend money.

After finishing, the three of them came to Wu Juan together, and Daya began to accept parental questioning.

"Daya, you have to take care of me when I go shopping from now on."

Wu Juan joked with a smile.

"Mom, whatever you want to buy, I'll buy it for you. I'll definitely buy you the best."

He Lai interrupted.

"Okay, my son is really awesome. I'm short of cloth to make clothes for your brother and sister. Please help me buy some."

Wu Juan smiled and took He Lai's hand and asked for the cloth.

"Uh, I remember that my brother and sister's clothes were already prepared. Grandma and grandma even made several sets."

He Lai looked at Wu Juan speechlessly. He knew that the most important thing that Old Lady He and Old Lady Wu did here was to take care of the clothes of the two little ones.

"Oh, isn't it almost winter? You know that grandma and grandma don't have thick clothes at home. I don't have many cloth coupons and cotton coupons, so can you help me get some back?"

He Lai's mouth twitched, but when he thought about it, he realized that he had never given clothes to his elders before, so buying them some was only right.

"Okay, I'll get it back in a few days." He Lai had some tickets given by Old Lady Zhou, so he was not short of some cotton and cloth tickets.

Cloth coupons were now in short supply. Families like He Lai's were better off, with an engineer and a deputy section chief, so they could still get some extra cloth and cotton coupons.

For example, in an ordinary working-class family, each person only had about three feet of cloth coupons, or about one kilogram of cloth coupons, every year.

It is estimated that there will be even fewer by next year. After all, all the suffering broke out in 1960, and those who could not survive began to flee from famine. There were no tickets at that time, and it was good enough to be alive.

If you don't laugh at mending or tearing, you will laugh at the fact that life cannot get by; three years new, three years old, and mending for another three years; the new is the first, the old is the second, and mending is the third, etc. These proverbs reflect the poverty of clothes in that era.

Therefore, some playful children who roll on the ground and play and get their clothes dirty or torn will be beaten and scolded by their parents when they return home.

The scene of pulling up pants to reveal most of the buttocks happens every day.

He Lai remembered that his predecessor was often beaten by Wu Juan because of this, but because the old couple He spoiled him, the beatings would not last too long.

He Zhan wanted to say something again, but finally held it back. He didn't want to make Wu Juan angry again. He also didn't want to sleep in the security department again. It was so comfortable at home.

"Well, my son is still the best." Wu Juan hugged He Lai and felt admiration for him. There was nothing she could do about it, since He Lai was a cheating device.

He Lai was thinking about how to get more cotton. He couldn't make cloth by himself, but he could grow cotton by himself. He would go to the black market tonight and ask the old man selling seedlings if he had any cotton seeds or seedlings.

After everyone had dinner together, He Lai took Old Lady He and Daya Yushui back home.

"Grandma, you sleep in Yushui's room tonight. Yushui and Daya sleep in the two rooms upstairs."

He Lai gave the order, Yu Shui agreed and took Daya to the second floor.

"Okay, grandma, listen to Xiao Laizi." Grandma He said to He Lai with a smile. He Lai's house was well decorated. She used to sleep next door. Although she often came to help He Lai clean up, she had never slept there. Today she might as well experience it.

"Grandma, stay a few more days. Your grandson has everything. He is a great engineer now and gets paid well!"

"Okay, grandma, stay a few more days and enjoy the blessing of your grandson."

Old Mrs. He sat on the sofa, holding He Lai's hand, and a sense of happiness arose spontaneously in her heart.

Soon, He Lai asked Old Lady He to take a bath and go to bed. He waited until Yu Shui and the other girl finished their bath and went upstairs before he started to wash up. After a while, he slipped out of the yard and went straight to the black market.

This black market was becoming much busier. There were even many people near the entrance, all looking around to see if they could pick up food again.

He Lai's purpose was very simple, he went straight to find the old man selling seedlings, but unfortunately he was not there, so he could only go to Ma Liu to buy some more cigarettes, alcohol and milk powder.

After He Lai left the black market, he went to the residence of the old man selling seedlings.

I arrived at the gate of the courtyard and knocked. An old woman with white hair opened the door.

"Are you here to buy seedlings?" The old woman had obviously encountered this situation more than once.

"Yes, I've been here once before. Is the old man here?" He Lai asked.

"Yes, come in." The old woman opened the door and let He Lai in.

When I arrived at the backyard, I found that the old man had also gotten up.

"Yes, little brother. I was wondering who could come to my place so late at night."

Even though He Lai was wearing a mask, the old man still recognized him at first sight.

"Well, how is it? Did you get the Ganoderma lucidum?" He Lai asked about the Ganoderma lucidum as soon as he arrived. After all, ginseng had no shortage of it. Ginseng blooms and bears fruit, and seeds are produced when it falls to the ground.

"Yes, yes, yes. There are three of them. I put them all away. I'll bring them to you now."

Upon hearing this, the old man went back to the house to get the Ganoderma lucidum.

"Auntie, do you have any cotton seedlings or seeds? I want to get some."

"Yes, yes. We have both seedlings and seeds. How many do you want? I'll get them for you right now."

When the old lady heard that it was the big customer, she immediately became polite.

"Give me ten seedlings and about a hundred seeds."

He Lai thought that he didn’t need to plant too much, just enough for his family and friends.

After hearing this, the old woman also went back to work.

After a while, the old man came out with a package in his hand, which obviously contained Ganoderma lucidum.

"Little brother, take a look at these. These are the pine pine ganoderma I got from the mountains a few days ago. They are all in pretty good condition."

The old man opened the package, revealed the Ganoderma lucidum and asked He to come and have a look.

Although He Lai had come into contact with this kind of Ganoderma lucidum from Grandpa Feng, it was all cut and he didn't quite know how to look at the whole Ganoderma lucidum. However, he still picked one up and looked at it. The outer body was fan-shaped, the surface was red, and the inner wall was white. He couldn't tell whether it was good or bad.

Seeing that He Lai didn't say anything, the old man began to introduce the Ganoderma lucidum.

After the old man's half-day introduction, He Lai also understood a little.

"How much are these three Lingzhi?"

"Little brother, I won't frame you. How about you give me ten dollars for the three dollars? These are all top-quality medicinal herbs."

When He Lai heard the price, he thought it was a good deal. These three plus one piece would probably weigh about half a pound.

After all, Ganoderma lucidum has a one-year growth period and is available almost every year. It is not as rare as ginseng, but its efficacy is still very good.

"Okay, deal." He Lai took out ten dollars and gave it to the old man.

"By the way, have you gotten any good fruit seedlings recently?"

"Yes, yes, old man, I recently got a fruit from the south called dragon fruit, and I have grown five seedlings."

The old man quickly took the money, rewrapped the Ganoderma lucidum, and introduced his seedlings.

"Okay, I'll take this one too." When He Lai heard about dragon fruit, he thought it was a good stuff and he just took it regardless of how he got it.

Soon He Lai left the yard with a full harvest.