Siheyuan's Journey Through the Ages

Chapter 6: Temporary Plan

Poor comrade Yi Zhonghai, he didn't know that modern people can't set flags casually. The shrewd old man was eventually hit hard by the times. In the 1980s, prices soared, state-owned enterprises were in poor operating conditions, workers were laid off, wages and pensions were in arrears. It was commonplace. Just like in the play, the old man always maintained a cold relationship with others, and even had to hide from others when giving food to Qin Huairu, for fear that others would know his kind side and be remembered by others.

Even Liu Haizhong, a rude scum, has apprentices to help him, but Yi Ye, an eighth-level master chef, is ignored by everyone. In the end, he can only cling to He Daqingsheng, who could earn 2500 yuan a month at that time, like a life-saving straw, so that he can have some meat when he gets old.

Fortunately, there was no one standing in front of the west wing of the central courtyard. The old Jia family was probably having dinner in the house, otherwise Ma Qing would have to say hello again. Fortunately, it was okay.

Ma Qing was thinking about the situation of Old Jia's family. Old Jia was also a skilled worker in Lou's Machinery Factory. Of course, he was not yet at the level of a master chef. The master chefs of Lou's family lived in a private courtyard.

At that time, these families were all senior workers at the Loujia Machinery Factory. Before liberation, the Lou family arranged for them to live in this courtyard. The Jia family was assigned to the west wing of the central courtyard, which was the best house in the courtyard in the past.

Jia Dongxu was born in 1931. At the age of 15, he relied on his father to enter the factory and worked as a fitter with his father. In 1951, he married Qin Huairu. The man was handsome and the woman was beautiful. The grand wedding caused a sensation in Nanluoguxiang.

In 1953, Lao Jia did not survive the winter, but left behind a fairly solid fortune. The sewing machine in the house seemed to tell the story of the rise and fall of this family.
Jia Dongxu, 28 years old, is a fourth-level fitter at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill, with a basic salary of 66 yuan and a monthly income of more than 70 yuan. In addition, Qin Huairu works in a nearby clothing factory, earning nearly 57 yuan a month. (After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country has been recruiting workers every year, especially from 58 to 2000, when more than million workers were added. It is hard to imagine that Qin Huairu, who married into the city and had urban housing conditions, had no job. Therefore, the book arranges Qin Huairu to work in a collectively owned clothing factory according to normal logic. Otherwise, it is difficult to connect a housewife who is out of touch with society with a social person who has a pregnancy certificate that can make a doctor write a fake pregnancy certificate. In addition, in the later part of the play, Qin Huairu's obsession with asking He Yuzhu's lunch boxes to increase the nutrition of her children implies that the Jia family originally had relatively superior living conditions.) The family's monthly income of nearly yuan supports the gradual growth of the old Jia family at the rate of adding a child every three years.

Qin Huairu was only 26 years old at that time. She was at the perfect age and had a comfortable life. She was indeed a veritable flower in Nanluoguxiang. This might be the fundamental reason why He Yuzhu next door was determined to find a beautiful wife.

Maybe it was the simple lust after seeing the flowers, or maybe it was the young man's unwillingness to admit defeat. You, Jia Dongxu, married a beautiful wife, so what am I worse than you?

As for Lady Jia, she is not the shrew described in those courtyard novels. Rather, because her family is relatively wealthy in this area, she has always been a little bit arrogant and proud. She usually treats people in a plain and light manner. As for the two children, there is even less to say; they are still little kids.

Qin Huairu's plump body flashed through Ma Qing's mind, but for him who had experienced the bombardment of modern aesthetics, it was child's play. In addition, because he had just awakened, he felt no waves in his heart.

Crossing the corridor next to the main house in the middle courtyard, he came to the backyard. There was no one in the backyard at this time. Ma Qing couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He really didn't want to say hello to anyone anymore and just wanted to go home quickly.

As a result, when passing by Liu Haizhong's house, bursts of beating sounds and begging for mercy came from the house. It seemed that the classic scene of Liu Haizhong beating the children was staged again. In fact, to be honest, Liu Haizhong didn't always beat the children, but as a seventh-level blacksmith, his blows were indeed quite heavy.

This led to a big commotion every time the two brothers of the Liu family were beaten, and everyone knew about it, which had a profound impact. Of course, the two brothers who were beaten were the most profoundly affected, and the most important warmth between father and son was broken. Liu Haizhong is a typical utilitarian personality. He beat his children without mercy, but he can be very enthusiastic and dedicated to his apprentices. If you think about it carefully, maybe Liu Haizhong saw the nature of his two younger sons early on and had no hope at all. He would rather invest more in his apprentices than be false to his sons. The complexity of human nature can be seen.

As a sixth-level forger at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill, Liu Haizhong enjoyed the highest personal food ration in the entire courtyard. As a heavy-duty hammer-swinging worker, his monthly ration was as high as 55 kilograms.

But since he is a master chef, he usually swings a small hammer while his apprentices do the hard work. Only at critical moments does he use the small hammer to make corrections. Except for the time when the big pot meal is served, he has always been the egg-showing maniac in the courtyard, stepping on the "bug" in the employment rules and making himself fat and white.

Throughout the entire courtyard, whether in the original drama or in real memory, Ma Qing hated Liu Haizhong very much. There was not an ounce of Chinese kindness in him, only the cunning and calculating nature of human nature.

If the third uncle's calculations were for the entire family, Liu Haizhong's were entirely for himself, and this character of his was perfectly inherited by his sons.

Ma Qing didn't want to have anything to do with this family at all, and hurried to the northeast corner of his yard. He entered his yard and closed the gate. The world seemed to be quiet all of a sudden. Ma Qing walked to the eaves of his house, took a stool and sat down, looking at the snow on the ground. The sudden coldness made him dazed. Today was really exciting. I don't know what he was thinking, and he uttered the word "fuck".

The next morning, Ma Qing was woken up by the cold. Last night, he moved all of his parents' bedding to his bed for double warmth, but he was still woken up by the cold in the morning. What a damn northern weather! Ma Qing, who lived in the south in his previous life, got up and muttered, thinking that he had to go to school today and a new day had begun.

The Red Star Middle School where Ma Qing studied was actually the Red Star Steel Mill’s children’s school. It was a large school that included both elementary and junior high schools. In addition to the steel mill’s children, it also enrolled children from nearby residents. It was a school that was not well-known in the city, but was a good school that was right in the second tier.

Following the memory of his previous life, Ma Qing walked into the school and found his classroom. Naturally, he was greeted with concern and care by his classmates and teachers. What could Ma Qing do? He accepted all the greetings and thanked them one by one.

The original body's grades were acceptable, so there should be no problem for him to go to high school, but it would probably not be possible for him to go to a technical secondary school. As someone who was familiar with the trajectory of history, Ma Qing naturally had no plans to go to high school.

In fact, as a veteran who has been in society for a long time, he feels uncomfortable sitting in the classroom now. It takes seven years to go to high school and then to get into college; if he is admitted to a technical secondary school, he will have to study for another three to four years; or he can go to a factory to screw screws right after graduation and avoid decades of detours?

Deep in Ma Qing's heart, there was an adventurous voice shouting, "Hong Kong, Hong Kong." Although it was not long since he came here, as a person who had seen the prosperity of the 21st century and enjoyed the new life of the 21st century, Ma Qing was very upset. In this era, the real scene he saw with his eyes was dark, backward, dirty, boring and monotonous for someone who had seen the urban construction of the new century.

(End of this chapter)