Courtyard House: The Road to an Industrial Power

When Qin's mother arrived, she helped Qin Huairu with a lot of housework.

She manages everything—taking care of the children, cooking, and doing laundry—in an orderly manner.

Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu finally breathed a sigh of relief, and could finally get a good night's sleep.

The house in the courtyard was spacious, but after Yi Zhonghai was arrested, his house was left empty.

After discussing it with Sha Zhu, Qin Huairu rented a room in Yi Zhonghai's house for Qin's mother to live in, paying the old lady five yuan a month in rent.

Five yuan was not a small amount in those days.

The woman was overjoyed to receive the rent.

Looking at the money in her hand, and remembering the hardship of taking care of the deaf old woman every day, she gradually had other thoughts.

During this period, the deaf old woman's temper became increasingly eccentric.

She treated the older woman like a servant, making her serve tea and water, massage her back and legs, and cursing at the slightest dissatisfaction.

An elderly woman was exhausted every day, with a sore back and aching waist, but she could only endure it.

Now that she has this five yuan rent, the older woman feels it's not worth it.

Taking care of a deaf old lady only earns ten yuan a month, and you still have to put up with her mistreatment.

You can earn five yuan by renting a room, and you don't have to put up with anyone's attitude.

The tranquility of the courtyard was soon shattered again by Jia Zhangshi.

Lin Weidong works overtime at the factory every day and comes home very late.

To make it easier for him to enter, Yan Bugui would leave the courtyard gate unlocked at night, only leaving it slightly ajar.

Almost no one in the courtyard knew about this. But Jia Zhangshi found out and started to have wicked ideas.

As her savings dwindled, her life became increasingly difficult, and she was almost out of coal to burn.

That night, taking advantage of the quiet of the night, she quietly got up, pushed open the half-closed gate, and then tiptoed around the yard.

She grabbed a handful of dried vegetables hanging out to dry in front of someone's house and stuffed them into her bosom.

She would steal a few pieces of coal from a pile in the corner of someone's house and take them back to her own home.

She even took a pair of old cloth shoes that Yan Bugui had left drying at the door.

At first, no one in the courtyard paid any attention.

If the dried vegetables were missing, we assumed they had been blown away by the wind; if the coal was missing, we assumed we had misremembered the quantity.

A few days later, more and more people discovered that things were missing from their homes, and then they realized that something was wrong.

Yan Bugui was heartbroken to lose two jin (approximately 1 kg) of dried chili peppers. He stood in the yard, slapping his thigh and yelling, "A thief must have broken in! No wonder I've been losing things lately!"

Someone asked in confusion, "Isn't the gate to our compound locked at night? How did the thief get in?"

Yan Bugui slapped his forehead, only then remembering that he had left the door open for Lin Weidong. He quickly explained, "It was me... I left the door open for Chief Engineer Lin last night, and I didn't lock it..."

These words sparked a flurry of discussion among the people in the courtyard. Although no one blamed Lin Weidong, their gazes toward Yan Bugui carried a hint of resentment.

Lin Weidong felt somewhat guilty upon learning of this. It was truly not his intention for his neighbors to lose things because of him.

In fact, the steel rolling mill had already allocated a cadre family apartment to Lin Weidong.

It was a tenement building, more spacious than a traditional courtyard house, but everyone was crammed together, making it noisy and inconvenient. Lin Weidong found the tenement building too cramped and never moved there.

Now that the theft has occurred while the door was left unlocked, Lin Weidong has an idea in mind.

He found Li Huaide and told him his thoughts: "I want to discuss something with the factory."

"Look, the west wing of the courtyard house I live in has been empty. Could I exchange the apartment I was allocated by the factory for the west wing? I'll pay for the renovation myself and open a separate entrance to the west wing. That way, it won't bother the neighbors and it will be convenient for me to go to and from get off work."

Upon hearing this, Li Huaide laughed and said, "Weidong, this is easy! The west courtyard is factory property anyway. If you want to live there, just take it! The factory will reimburse you for the cost of repairing the courtyard! As for opening the new gate, I'll have someone from the factory help you with that!"

When Lin Weidong got home from get off work, he told his family about his idea. His parents said, "No problem. The west wing is right behind our house. We can just have the construction team build a gate there. That way, we'll have our own yard too."

The next day, the construction team arranged by Li Huaide started work. First, they sealed the doors of the west wing and the courtyard, then they opened a door on the wall of the Lin family near the wing, and then they started working in full swing.

These past two days, Qin's mother has been holding He Xiao, who is just a month old, sitting on a small stool in front of her house, basking in the sun.

The little one was wrapped in a thick cotton-padded jacket and was sleeping soundly.

"Our Xiao'er is so good-looking, he'll definitely grow up to be a strong and healthy young man." Qin's mother gently patted her grandson in her arms and murmured.

This heartwarming scene, however, was like a thorn in the eye of Jia Zhangshi, who was sitting on the threshold of the Jia family across the street, causing her heartache.

Ever since Jia Dongxu choked to death, she has felt more and more that the He family was responsible for her son's death.

If He Xiao hadn't been born, Sha Zhu wouldn't have had a full-month celebration. If there hadn't been a full-month celebration, she wouldn't have tried to steal that pork knuckle. If she hadn't tried to steal that pork knuckle, Jia Dongxu wouldn't have choked to death from eating too fast!

With this twisted logic, Jia Zhangshi actually pinned the blame on He Xiao, who was still an infant.

Looking at He Xiao, who was chubby and fair-skinned in Qin's mother's arms, a hint of resentment flashed in Jia Zhangshi's eyes.

She stood up and went to stand in front of Qin's mother.

With a forced smile, Jia Zhangshi said, "Sister-in-law! Look how tired you are holding the baby! Come, let me hold him, I'll help you soothe him for a while!"

As she spoke, she reached out to hug He Xiao.

Qin's mother quickly pulled the child closer to her, then turned away.

On her first day at the courtyard house, Qin Huairu repeatedly warned her that Jia Zhangshi, the woman living there, was a scoundrel and should not associate with her.

"No need, the child is well-behaved, it's no trouble at all."

Jia Zhangshi's hand froze in mid-air, and the smile on her face instantly vanished.

Seeing that Qin's mother was not giving him face, his anger suddenly flared up.

Jia Zhangshi pointed at Qin's mother's nose and cursed, "You old hag! You don't know what's good for you, do you?!"

"Your He family is a jinx! If it weren't for this little troublemaker of yours being born, my Dongxu wouldn't be dead! Let me tell you, this brat is a jinx! He'll get what's coming to him sooner or later!"

Upon hearing this, Qin's mother's face instantly darkened. She carefully handed He Xiao to Qin Huairu, who had run out of the house upon hearing the noise.

He grabbed the half-brick from the corner of the wall, which was used to weigh down the pickled vegetable jar, and with a muffled "thud," the brick landed solidly on Jia Zhangshi's shoulder.

Jia Zhangshi screamed and fell straight to the ground. She clutched her shoulder, her whole body convulsing in pain.

Looking up at Qin's mother, whose face was filled with murderous intent, he trembled with fear, and a warm liquid flowed down his trouser leg. He had actually wet himself out of fear.

"You...you dare to hit me!" Jia Zhangshi's voice trembled, and her previous arrogance was gone.

Holding a brick, Qin's mother said fiercely, "I'm going to beat you up, you foul-mouthed shrew! If I don't teach you a lesson today, you won't know that even the Horse King has three eyes!"

Jia Zhangshi was so frightened that she shrank back repeatedly, shouting "Help!"

Just then, He Yuzhu and He Daqing, who were off work, walked into the courtyard.

Upon seeing the scene in the courtyard and hearing Qin Huairu recount the whole story, the two were so angry that their veins bulged.

"You damned Jia Zhangshi! I'll beat you to death today!" Sha Zhu roared, rolled up his sleeves, and was about to charge forward.

He Daqing was also furious, his face turning ashen. He grabbed a broom from the wall and prepared to hit Jia Zhangshi.

Qin's mother stepped forward to stop them, sighed, and said, "Zhuzi, Daqing, let it go. She has already learned her lesson. If we continue fighting, someone might die."

Seeing Jia Zhangshi's cowardly appearance and then looking at the brick in Qin's mother's hand, Sha Zhu's anger subsided slightly.

He pointed at Jia Zhangshi and cursed, "Get out! If you ever dare to come near my son again, I'll skin you alive!"

Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, Jia Zhangshi staggered back to her home and slammed the door shut, not daring to make a sound again.

All of this was clearly seen by the deaf old woman hiding in her own house.

During this period, she clearly sensed that the older woman's mindset had changed. In the past, she had served her reluctantly but still tried her best.

Nowadays, the older woman is becoming increasingly perfunctory in her work, and sometimes she even talks back to her.

The deaf old woman knew perfectly well that all of this was because of Qin's mother.

Qin's mother rented a house from Yi Zhonghai's family and paid the old woman five yuan a month in rent, which made the old woman feel a sense of satisfaction.

If things continue like this, this old lady will eventually give up and abandon her.

No, absolutely not!

She was used to being waited on. If the old lady left, how could she, a lonely old woman, survive?

The deaf old woman slowly walked towards the Jia family's house, leaning on her cane.

She was going to have a "chat" with Jia Zhangshi and give her some "guidance".