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

"Uncle Sha is a bit broke lately and has no money. He'll owe you for now, and we'll make up for it with a couple more dumplings tonight."

Bang Geng walked out of the courtyard with a disappointed look on his face. Seeing that Bang Geng had left, He Yuzhu called out to him.

"You two keep talking, I'll go tell the deaf old lady."

After saying that, He Yuzhu went to the backyard. As soon as he entered, he saw the old lady preparing to change the coal briquettes. He quickly stepped forward to stop her.

"Grandma, put it down quickly. Your leg isn't fully healed yet, and you're already running around."

"Come, come, have a seat, I'll change it for you."

The deaf old lady watched He Yuzhu go to exchange for coal briquettes, a look of affection appearing on her face.

"Don't worry, Grandma is fine now. I just took a walk around the yard for a while."

After changing the coal briquettes, He Yuzhu poured the hot water into the thermos.

"Oh, right, Grandma, let's have dumplings together tonight."

"That's what the deaf old lady said."

"We're going to Qin Huairu's house, right?"

He Yuzhu said.

"Wow, you're so insightful! You even guessed it?"

The deaf old lady walked into the inner room.

"I'm not going. You guys go eat if you want."

He Yuzhu knew that the old lady was still angry with Qin Huairu.

"Grandma, please consider me, your grandson, even if you don't care about others."

"I've taken a liking to Qin Huairu's younger sister and would like her to act as a matchmaker. Could you please bear with me?"

The deaf old woman asked.

"Are you sure you've taken a liking to Qin Huairu's sister?"

The deaf old lady didn't say the second half of her sentence. She felt that He Yuzhu had feelings for Qin Huairu, and that Qin Huairu's intentions were not pure.

It wouldn't be a good thing to put these two together.

"Of course, if I didn't fancy her sister, would I still fancy her?"

"Don't joke around, I'm going to get going now."

Seeing that He Yuzhu was about to leave, the deaf old lady took a pair of shoes and handed them over.

"Come on, try these shoes on, see if they fit."

He Yuzhu took the shoes, sat down on the chair, and compared them. They seemed to be about the same. He asked in confusion.

"Grandma, where did you get these shoes? I haven't seen you making shoes lately."

The deaf old lady pointed to the shoes and said.

"Just wear it when I tell you to. Why are you being so fussy?"

He Yuzhu put on his shoes and stomped his feet.

"Hey, not bad, just right."

"Grandma, did you buy these shoes? How much did they cost? I'll pay you."

The deaf old woman shook her head.

"Forget it, it's just a pair of shoes, it's not like Grandma can't afford to buy them."

He Yuzhu asked.

"Where did you get the money? Isn't your subsidy certificate with that old man?"

"That's what the deaf old lady said."

"What, do you look down on your grandma?"

He Yuzhu quickly shook his head.

"How could I dare? Look at what you're saying."

"I'll accept the shoes. I'll cook you a special meal on the first day of the Lunar New Year. What would you like to eat?"

The deaf old lady said with a smile.

"As long as there's meat."

At this point, the deaf old lady asked a question.

"Zhu Zi, tell Grandma the truth, how much money do you have left? Is it enough for your wedding?"

When money was mentioned, He Yuzhu became somewhat dejected. The fine he was fined last time had bankrupted him, and now he had lost his job.

He has to be extremely careful with his money, and if he doesn't make any more money, he's afraid he'll have a hard time making ends meet.

But in front of outsiders, Sha Zhu still had to put on a brave face; he didn't want to diminish his reputation and be ridiculed by others.

"Grandma, to be honest with you, someone my age only has thirty-one yuan left."

"That's why I thought I'd give it a try with Qin Jingru. A rural wife doesn't cost much."

"As long as you can accept not having children, you can have everything else later."

The deaf old lady nodded in agreement after hearing He Yuzhu's words.

"Okay, Grandma understands. You can go back now. Grandma is tired and wants to rest for a while."

He Yuzhu stood up and said.

"Alright, I'll help you to bed for a while."

The deaf old lady waved her hand.

"No need, I can walk around by myself. You should go and rest too. You just had surgery a few days ago, so you need to rest."

After He Yuzhu left, the deaf old lady came to the door and looked outside.

Seeing that no one was coming towards her, she walked to the bedside table, opened it, and took out a locked box.

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

At the Cao family's old house, after Cao Xu got up, he saw Xia Jie turning over the clothes that she had washed the night before but which were not completely dry.

"morning."

When Xia Jie saw that Cao Xu had gotten up, she pointed to the steamed buns, fried dough sticks, and tofu pudding on the table.

"I bought breakfast, but I don't know if it will suit your taste."

Cao Xu looked at the breakfast on the table, and then at Xia Jie wearing her old school uniform from her student days.

"You didn't go to buy breakfast wearing this, did you?"

Xia Jie blushed and said.

"This school uniform is nice, it's just a bit too big."

Looking at the top that completely covered Xia Jie's figure, Cao Xu wondered, "Is this a little big?"

"You've washed your clothes, how are you going to the military control office today?"

Xia Jie shook her head.

"I called when I went out to buy breakfast, and the military control office said there was nothing they could do. The head of the department has already been given leave."

"So, I might have to trouble you for another two days."

Cao Xu nodded.

"It's alright, you can stay here for now. I'm going back to Dongcheng in a bit, so you'll be home alone."

Xia Jie thought for a moment, then looked up and asked.

"Cao Xu, could you... could you lend me some money and food coupons?"

“I don’t have enough on me; my money and all the national food coupons are in my bag.”

Cao Xu pointed to the desk in the study.

"There should be twenty yuan in the drawer. As for grain coupons, I only have ten jin on me. You can use them for now."

As he spoke, Cao Xu took out ten catties of Beijing grain coupons from his pocket and placed them on the dining table.

"The vegetable market is on the west side. It's the second alleyway to the right after you leave the supply and marketing cooperative."

"If you want to cook, go to the kitchen yourself. The kitchen is the one on the west side of the south-facing room across the street."

"The items should be complete, so just use them as you see fit."

"But remember to clean it up, because the things in the kitchen belong to Aunt Wu."

After listening to Cao Xu finish speaking, she turned and ran to the study. A moment later, she returned with a piece of paper.

"Here's an IOU, keep it safe."

Cao Xu picked up the IOU, looked at what was written on it, and smiled.