Courtyard House: Drunk and barging into the Xu family's house, I woke up numb.

Jia Zhangshi snorted.

"It seems that Xu Damao gave a gift to Deputy Factory Director Li."

"By the way, isn't this Deputy Factory Director Li the same factory leader who handled the aftermath of Dongxu's case?"

Qin Huairu said.

"That's right, it was him. He sent word that the factory should cover this up."

“Deputy Factory Director Li promised to transfer me out of the workshop, give me a permanent position, and also promised to let me go to school at the Xiaodang and Huaihua factories.”

"Li Weimin from the personnel department just said that the factory has transferred me out of the workshop and assigned me to clean the canteen."

"They made me a full-time employee, so I had much less work to do and even got a raise."

"These long-term benefits are much better than seeing Xu Damao paraded through the streets."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi immediately thought it was a good idea; tangible benefits were the best.

"How much did your salary increase?"

Qin Huairu said.

"Starting this month, we will be paid the same amount as regular staff in the canteen, plus four years of seniority, which is thirty-one yuan per month."

Jia Zhangshi smiled.

"That's good. This will make our lives much more comfortable."

"With an extra three and a half yuan, I can eat meat a few more times. That's great, that's great!"

"It's just that Xu Damao got off easy. Just wait, I'll definitely find a way to teach him a lesson."

At this point, Jia Zhangshi added.

"By the way, since you got a raise, you should start paying back the fifty yuan you took from me next month."

"In this way, you will pay me back four yuan a month, plus the three yuan you have to give me each month for my old age, for a total of seven yuan."

Qin Huairu's face darkened upon hearing this. In order to get a permanent position, she had spared Xu Damao in exchange for a monthly salary of thirty-one yuan.

If you take seven dollars off the thirty-one dollars, it becomes twenty-four dollars again, which is fifty cents less than before.

Just you wait. Once I've calmed down, I'll send you back to the countryside to eat dirt. You're dreaming if you think you can act like a king here with me!

Qin Huairu had taken Yi Zhonghai's words to heart, and now her two daughters were in elementary school and kindergarten, respectively.

Banggeng turned around and gave it to Shazhu to take, so that even without Jia Zhangshi at home, it would be the same.

Anyway, her public image has already been largely destroyed, so there's no need for her to pretend to be a dutiful daughter-in-law anymore.

We'll find a suitable reason to send her back to the countryside. With a monthly salary of thirty-one yuan, the four of them can spend it more freely.

She no longer needs to eat cornbread and pickled vegetables every day just to be filial to this old woman.

Like today, after I made several dishes, my mother-in-law didn't leave her a single bite, and in the end, she even fought with her own little daughter for food.

What use is a mother-in-law who acts arrogantly, makes unreasonable demands, and scolds her daughters at every turn?

Although that was what she thought in her heart, Qin Huairu could not show it on her face and put on a respectful appearance.

"Okay, Mom, I'll do as you say."

..................................................................

While the Jia family was still arguing about who ate an extra piece of red sausage, Cao Xu and He Yushui had already boarded the train to Baocheng.

The distance from the capital to Baocheng is only a little over 300 li (approximately 150 kilometers), which would take an hour and a half by train in later times, and only 40 minutes by high-speed rail.

However, the trains of this era were not like those of the future; they were still ordinary steam trains, and it took more than four hours to travel over 300 miles.

This speed is considered fast; if you were to take the slow 505 bus that stops at every station, it would probably take six and a half hours.

At this time, Baocheng was no longer the capital of Hebei Province. In 1958, the capital of Hebei Province was moved to Jinshi.

Cao Xu recalled that Baocheng became the capital of Hebei Province again in May 1966, which is this summer.

However, Baocheng's title as the provincial capital did not last for more than two years. In the spring of 1968, the provincial capital was moved to Shicheng again.

Because they were in a hurry, Cao Xu and his companion couldn't get sleeper berths and had to sit in hard seats, which cost 2.77 yuan.

When the two came out of Baocheng Station, it was already dark, so they could only find a guesthouse to stay in Baocheng.

It's almost the end of the year, and many people who want to go home for the New Year have already started their journey back, which is known as the "Spring Festival travel rush".

As a result, many guesthouses in Baocheng were fully booked, and Cao Xu and his companion tried several, but all were full.

Left with no other choice, the two could only look for places further away from the station. They finally found a place that wasn't full, but there was only one room left.

At this point, Cao Xu and his companion really didn't want to move around anymore. They had been wandering around for four or five hours, and it took them nearly an hour to find a guesthouse.

So the two decided to share a room for the night.

The fact that two people who were exhausted were living together did not become a problem for each other, but a single sentence from the guesthouse stumped them.

At that time, you needed a work permit and a letter of introduction to stay at a guesthouse, and no one would ask or care if two men shared a room.

However, if a man and a woman want to book a room together, I'm sorry, but please provide proof of marriage.

No, I'm sorry, but we can only have one person stay and one person leave.

So, left with no other choice, the two had to leave the guesthouse once again and head to the next one.

Fortunately, perseverance pays off, and after some effort, the two finally found a place to settle down.

I booked two rooms, each costing one yuan, plus a ten-yuan key deposit, for a total of twenty-two yuan.

After going upstairs, He Yushui went straight to bed and fell asleep, while Cao Xu took a hot shower to relax.

The next day, the two set off from the guesthouse and arrived at He Daqing's place an hour later.

This was a courtyard house with one entrance. When Cao Xu and his companion arrived at the entrance, they saw an old man sitting in the courtyard washing things.

He Yushui stood at the door without going any further. Cao Xu looked inside through the door and saw that the old man was none other than He Daqing.

"Hey, you old geezer, you've been washing diapers for so long, and you haven't even washed the pot yet!"

"Hurry up and wash it. After you're done, go wash the pot. Don't forget to let the dough rise; we still need to steam buns tonight."

"..."

Hearing the cursing and swearing coming from the courtyard, Cao Xu asked.

"Is it the White Widow?"

He Yushui shook her head.

"Judging from the voice, it shouldn't be her; it sounds like the Bai family's daughter-in-law."

Cao Xu thought to himself, "This daughter-in-law of the Bai family is quite a character, being so sharp-tongued and mean to her father-in-law."

But He Daqing was also a coward, not even uttering a word in response, just replying with "okay, okay, you'll be fine."

Judging from their appearance, they must have been used to this way of getting along for a long time.

After thinking about Sha Zhu and glancing at He Daqing in the courtyard, Cao Xu sighed.

They really are father and son; they're both incredibly domineering to outsiders, but they're incredibly doting on widows and their children.

These two are a pair of sycophants. Just think about how He Daqing, dressed in rags, tricked Xu Damao into taking him back to Beijing.

It really proves the saying: "Simp, simp, in the end you'll have nothing."

He Yushui didn't enter the room, and Cao Xu didn't speak either.

He leaned against the courtyard gate, watching with amusement as He Daqing, that old sycophant, and the man bending over washing diapers.

Chapter 89 Slapping the Unfilial Daughter-in-Law, Did the White Widow Die? [Please Subscribe]

He Yushui's eyes were a little moist; she had imagined countless times the scenes of meeting her father.

But when the real scene appeared before her eyes, she was deeply moved, even more so than when she came with her brother last time.

She once thought that her father abandoned them because he had fallen in love with the White Widow, and that the White Widow loved him in return.

Her father hadn't returned to see her for twelve years, which must mean he had a more harmonious family and was living a happier life.

If they didn't have such a deep attachment to their homeland, how could they be so heartless?

But what she saw before her eyes overwhelmed her senses and stirred her heart.

She stood at the doorway, watching and gazing.

She gazed at the figure she once respected.

Seeing him hunched over, diligently washing diapers for his grandson or granddaughter who was not related to him by blood, she didn't feel much heartache.

After a while, He Daqing finally finished washing the diapers in the wooden basin.

Just as he was about to change the water, he found a man and a woman standing at his door.

The man, wearing a military overcoat and a light blue scarf around his neck, leaned against his front door.

The woman, dressed in a gray-blue cotton-padded jacket and with a yellowish-brown scarf around her neck, stood in the middle of the courtyard gate, staring straight at me.