Siheyuan: Shazhu's Leisurely Life

Chapter 28: Thoughts on Retirement

Under the leadership of He Yuzhu, followed by He Yushui, they wished the deaf old lady a happy new year. The little girl had learned a lot from her brother at home, and she opened her little mouth and spoke all kinds of festive greetings, making the old lady laugh so hard that she couldn't stop.

"Okay, okay, my two good grandchildren, grandma wishes you a happy new year too. Here is the New Year's money grandma gives you."

"Thank you, old lady." Yu Shui took the New Year's money given by the old lady, and there was obviously a lot of truth in his words.

Yi Zhonghai and his wife were watching this scene and were inexplicably touched. They looked at He Yuzhu and his sister, wondering what they were thinking.

He Yuzhu turned around and wished them a happy new year in the rain.

Seeing this, the two of them smiled and nodded, and the old lady took out two one-dollar bills from her pocket.

"Zhu Zi, Yu Shui, you two kids grew up under the care of Auntie. Now I see that your lives are getting better and better, and I am happy for you."

The girl Yu Shui accepted all the gifts offered to her and happily received several dollars of New Year's money. She was planning to go to the store at the corner of the alley to buy two boxes of firecrackers to set off to her heart's content.

After hearing these words, He Yuzhu was slightly startled and glanced at Yi Zhonghai and his wife without leaving a trace. However, he quickly withdrew his gaze and said a few polite words.

"Zhu Zi, tonight is the New Year's Eve dinner. Why don't we all eat together?"

Yi Zhonghai also started to make arrangements at this time. The couple didn't have any children or relatives, and they had always taken care of the deaf old lady. Now Zhuzi was thoughtful and treated the old lady well, so they decided to have a meal together during the New Year and have a taste of the New Year.

"Okay, then let's just stay at our house. It's just been renovated and the place is big, so we can have fun together."

He Yuzhu did not refuse because the deaf old lady would also come along.

"Okay, that's settled. Your aunt and I will go get ready. We have a few pounds of meat at home. We can chop it up and make pork dumplings for dinner."

Yi Zhonghai and Auntie were equally happy. They first went back to the house in the middle courtyard to make preparations.

He Yuzhu and He Yushui continued to chat with the old lady for a while, and then went back to the house to prepare for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Of course, He Yuzhu is not busy for no reason. He just went to the deaf old lady's house to wish her a happy new year. Although nothing seemed to happen on the surface, He Yuzhu had already sensed something different.

As a highly respected uncle in the courtyard, Yi Zhonghai is also a senior worker in the steel rolling mill. Except for the deaf old lady, he has a very high say.

However, this person has his own heartache, that is, he has been married to an aunt for so many years, but he still has no son of his own. Therefore, the issue of elderly care has always been a thorn in the hearts of the couple.

In the courtyard, they set an exemplary role and wanted to build a friendly and harmonious family. They took good care of the deaf old lady in the courtyard and even treated her like their own mother. Of course, this was because he was a good person with some morals, but behind the scenes, he had some calculations of his own.

Because people in this era value sons and descendants, the biggest risk for people like them who have no descendants is that their entire family will be wiped out.

This is only in the city, so the situation is better. If it is in the countryside, Yi Zhonghai, even if he adopts a child, must have a successor, otherwise the face of being a family devourer will only be uglier. Yi Zhonghai and his friends took the lead in building this atmosphere in the yard to avoid being devoured. After all, if they are the ones who are devoured, they have to consider their reputation to some extent. What consequences will be caused by destroying this balance?

Of course, this is only a temporary trade-off, so Yi Zhonghai and his wife also did some investigations and supplemented their measures, that is, Jia Dongxu.

As the only son of the Jia family, it can be said that it is most appropriate for Jia Dongxu to be designated as their elderly care provider.

Firstly, the two families live in the same courtyard. Secondly, Jia Dongxu has no father, and his character is impeccable. He also has a relationship with his master. Unless there are no accidents, when Yi Zhonghai and Yida Ma grow old, the worst that can happen is that they become deaf old ladies.

However, they could never have imagined that Jia Dongxu, the planned candidate for retirement support, would be involved in a factory accident and pass away.

This completely disrupted the plans of Yi Zhonghai and the aunt. This was also the reason why He Yuzhu felt that something was wrong with Yi Zhonghai's spirit when he went to the deaf old lady just now.

All of the above may seem to have nothing to do with He Yuzhu himself, but it is known that He Yuzhu in the original drama has already noticed it in his mind. The old man and his wife may have already started looking for new candidates to take care of them in their old age.

As for who it was, He Yuzhu knew without guessing that it was him.

After all, I am much better now than the silly Zhu in the original drama.

The original Sha Zhu had a bad temper and had not achieved the same success as he does now in the steel rolling mill. Therefore, Yi Zhonghai and his colleagues considered for many years before gradually deciding to choose Sha Zhu as the person to take care of the elderly.

Now, he has become famous in the steel mill, and there is always a constant stream of people coming to him to cook for him. In terms of skills and income, he is perfectly superior to the original Shazhu.

What's more, the changes in He Yuzhu's behavior and temper during this period are also visible to the naked eye. At least, in this courtyard house No. 95, Nanluoguxiang, He Yuzhu's reputation is no longer bad.

With the thoughts and vision of Yi Zhonghai and his wife, they could naturally see this point. Therefore, this was also the reason why they had a strange attitude towards He Yuzhu and He Yushui just now at the deaf old lady's place.

"It seems that the matter of getting married can no longer be delayed." After sorting out the current situation, He Yuzhu couldn't help but sigh slightly.

Although Yi Zhonghai and the others are not plotting against him in every possible way like in the original drama, He Yuzhu is not someone who will sit and wait for death. If he wants to avoid being targeted, the only way is to marry a wife and bring her home.

By then, he will be living his own life and have a whole family to take care of. If anyone is so blind as to plot against him or interfere with his family, he will not be polite at all.

……

At about 3:00 p.m., Yi Zhonghai and an auntie came to the He family with three pounds of pork, two pounds of Fuqiang flour, and some vegetables.

Although Yi Zhonghai and his wife have put a lot of thought into the issue of elderly care, their daily behavior can be called that of an uncle. Although they came here to eat together, the supplies he brought were not vague at all.

(End of this chapter)