Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

He Yuzhu retorted angrily, "How am I not a good person?"

“You look like a young man in his early twenties, but you don’t look like a good person at all,” Xu Huizhen said with a smile.

“You’re telling me you’re only 16? I don’t believe you at all.”

He Yuzhu was extremely frustrated. Of all the people in the courtyard who transmigrated, why did they have to transmigrate into He Yuzhu's body?

He was confident that he could take an unconventional path and change He Yuzhu's tragic life.

But He Yuzhu's face is different. He is only 16 years old, but he looks like he is in his early 20s. Xu Huizhen has teased him about his appearance several times before.

He Yuzhu said, "My face is the best; it's called being mature beyond one's years and being the most honest and kind."

"Tch, he's almost as old as an uncle."

He Yuzhu nodded and said, "I don't mind if you call me uncle."

Xu Huizhen blushed slightly, spat, and then raised her small foot as if to give a light kick: "I'll kick you to death so you can take advantage of me."

Then, she tossed her braid, turned her head, and skipped off to wash the vegetables.

He Yuzhu brought in the washed vegetables, and seeing that it was almost time, he first made tea for the chef and placed it next to the chair, and then began to prepare.

A moment later, when they went to serve the dishes, Xiangcao had already returned. She and Xu Huizhen were whispering to each other. When she saw He Yuzhu, she stood up and greeted him with a smile.

"Brother Zhu, let me treat you to dinner tonight."

Xu Huizhen burst out laughing: "Your brother Zhu is only 16 years old, younger than you!"

"What? No way, it looks bigger than me!" Vanilla looked completely incredulous.

I had never met him before, but judging from He Yuzhu's mature appearance, I guessed he was probably in his early twenties.

I never expected her to be only 16 years old, even younger than me.

He Yuzhu said, "Just call me Zhuzi. I am indeed only 16 years old."

Vanilla smiled and said, "Then I'll treat you two to dinner tonight. You can't refuse, okay?"

He Yuzhu actually wanted to refuse, but after what the other party said, it became difficult to say it. He had saved her, and he should give her a chance to express her gratitude, otherwise it would be too rude of him.

After a few polite words of deference, Xiangcao insisted, so He Yuzhu finally agreed.

Xu Huizhen also said, "Sister Xiangcao, please don't put me with this bad guy."

Xiangcao held her hand and said a few words before she was able to calm Xu Huizhen down.

Dinner was to be served in the evening, but it seemed that Xiangcao had taken leave and left the restaurant soon after.

He Yuzhu chopped vegetables for a while before seeing Zhang Yong hurriedly enter the kitchen. He had changed his clothes. Since he was the head chef's fellow townsman, no one said anything.

Zhang Yong was much more well-behaved today and stayed quiet all day. Soon after, He Yuzhu got off work.

When Xiangcao left, she had already made an appointment at a restaurant. He Yuzhu returned to the courtyard house, took He Yushui, and went to a small restaurant near the front gate.

When they arrived, Xiangcao and Xu Huizhen were already there.

The two men were very friendly to He Yushui after sitting down, praising her beauty repeatedly. In Xu Huizhen's words, they never expected that the mature-beyond-his-years He Yuzhu would have such a beautiful younger sister.

He Yuzhu was both amused and exasperated. Xu Huizhen only knew how to say she was ugly, and he wondered when he could change her opinion of him.

After chatting with He Yushui for a while, they started talking about what happened today.

Xiangcao was still quite frightened and expressed her gratitude to He Yuzhu again, to which He Yuzhu could only politely decline once more.

Xiangcao sighed, "It seems I can't stay at Taifeng Restaurant any longer."

"You want to quit your job?" Xu Huizhen asked.

The two lived in the same dormitory provided by the restaurant. Although they hadn't known each other for long, they had become close friends. When Xu Huizhen heard that Xiangcao wanted to leave, she was a little reluctant to let her go.

“If I don’t quit my job, I’m afraid Zhang Yong will keep bothering me,” Xiangcao said.

“You’re right, but I can’t bear to see you leave,” Xu Huizhen said.

“I’m also reluctant to leave you, but if I don’t quit my job, something bad might happen.”

After talking for a while, Xiangcao's resignation was settled. After all, with Zhang Yong around, she wouldn't fall victim to his cruelty again someday.

Xu Huizhen asked, "So what are your plans?"

"I'll find another restaurant to work as a waiter. I'll quit as soon as I find one."

Xu Huizhen suddenly said, "Why don't you start a small business?"

Chapter 27 The Regrettable City Wall

"Start a business?" Vanilla shook her head after asking, "I don't know anything about it."

He Yuzhu was somewhat surprised, not expecting Xu Huizhen to make this suggestion.

Considering her future achievements, it seems she's already thinking about starting a business.

Xu Huizhen said, "Look, the area around Qianmen is a place where crowds gather. You can rent a house and sell breakfast there."

Vanilla shook her head: "No, I don't know how to make it."

Xu Huizhen had long wanted to quit washing vegetables. After a few days, her hands were swollen and covered in white skin. Besides, the monthly salary was too low, and she had no intention of doing it for a long time.

My mind started wandering, wondering if I could start some kind of business.

Other businesses require a lot of capital, but businesses like breakfast don't require much investment. You only earn a meager living, but if you do it well, it's much better than being a waiter.

Xu Huizhen said, "I can make meat pies, stuffed pancakes, flaky sesame cakes, jujube blossom pastries, and crispy dumplings. I can teach you all of these."

The snacks Xu Huizhen mentioned are all traditional Beijing snacks, which are baked or grilled products and are relatively easy to sell.

Vanilla said, "Let me think about it. I'm just used to being a waitress."

He Yuzhu said, "If you want to start a small business, I think selling steamed buns is a good idea. They sell a lot. You can steam them at home, then take them out in a basket and sell them directly."

Those snacks are a bit more complicated to make than meat buns.

He Yuzhu has a recipe for steamed buns, but it's not a secret recipe; it's just a common recipe. Teaching Xiangcao (a type of herb) isn't a big deal.

He Yushui also said, "My brother's steamed buns are delicious."

"Really?"

Xiangcao smiled and then put some meat on He Yushui's plate, praising her a couple of times, which made He Yushui's eyes crinkle into crescent moons with delight.

He Yuzhu was too young to drink alcohol, and the four of them quickly finished eating. When He Yuzhu went to pay the bill, he found that Xiangcao had already paid for it before the meal, so he let it go.

When they got home, He Yushui was already sleepy. They brought her warm water and helped her wash her face, brush her teeth, and wash her feet in a different basin.

After all that fuss, He Yushui was no longer sleepy and kept pestering He Yuzhu with questions. It took a long time to coax her to fall asleep.

The next morning, I told He Yushui that I would be back a little late that night and that she could play by herself at home.

He Yushui raised her little face and asked, "Brother, you didn't run away, did you?"

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "Where can I run off to? Don't worry, I'll raise you and marry you off in style."

The 7-year-old girl already knew what marriage meant, and blushed, saying, "I won't get married, I'll stay with my brother."

He Yuzhu smiled and sent her to preschool.

When I started working at Taifenglou, Zhang Yong assigned me a lot of miscellaneous tasks. Fortunately, Wang Song was kind and helped me with them.

When it was time to leave work, He Yuzhu did not go straight back to the courtyard house as usual, but instead took the No. 2 bus that started from Yongdingmen and went all the way to Dongzhimen.

After getting off the bus and passing through Dongzhimen, He Yuzhu arrived outside the city. At this moment, he suddenly noticed that someone was dismantling the city wall in the distance.

It was clearly an organized and disciplined group activity; the dismantled bricks were piled up haphazardly, waiting for donkey carts or mule carts to come and haul them away.

He Yuzhu suddenly felt like he was witnessing history.

The walls of Beijing have withstood hundreds of years of wind and rain and the baptism of countless wars. In the end, in order to ensure the preservation of cultural relics, General Fu was persuaded to defect and Beijing was peacefully liberated.

The city wall was preserved, but it's unbelievable that in just two years, the city wall, which has existed for hundreds of years, was sacrificed for the sake of so-called economic development.

In He Yuzhu's view, some key intersections could have been demolished to build gates, thus preserving most of the city. However, the authorities made a sweeping decision, and the centuries-old city wall quickly vanished without a trace.

He Yuzhu sighed inwardly, realizing that his voice carried little weight and he had no power to prevent such a thing from happening.

Suddenly I remembered that I was about to build a house, but I was still short of bricks for two rooms. Should I come over tonight and put more bricks into the space, and then use all the bricks from the city wall to build the house?

Anyway, the bricks that these units dismantled were all taken away to build houses, and there was no counting of them. It shouldn't be a problem for me to keep some.

However, there is another thing that shocked He Yuzhu: there are just too many people fishing on both sides of the moat.

Standing on the bridge and looking towards both banks, you can see people fishing with fishing rods every two or three meters. There are also quite a few elderly people fishing on the bridge itself.

He Yuzhu leaned over the bridge and watched for a while, and could see people catching fish from time to time.

Seeing this made him feel uncomfortable. He Yuzhu had heard many rumors since he was a child that many people who died were thrown into this moat.

With just one dive, you can pull some human bones from the bottom of the river.

Seeing the kind-looking old man next to me, I asked, "Grandpa, are the fish in this moat edible?"

The old man tilted his head and glanced at it, then asked with a smile, "Did you think there were still dead people in here?"

"No?" He Yuzhu asked in return.

"Of course not, that's all ancient history."