Courtyard House: New Life, New Silly Zhu

"Brother, you seem to be in a good mood today."

He Yushui's voice came from behind He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu didn't turn around; instead, he continued circling the tree. "It's alright."

Watching her brother circling the tree, He Yushui said with a smile, "Brother, that's not bad at all."

He Yuzhu stopped and looked at his younger sister with a puzzled expression.

"If it were a while ago, you would have climbed up and picked all the locust flowers by now," He Yushui said.

"We have plenty of food at home, so I have no interest in climbing up and down here." He Yuzhu didn't care. He was already over 20 years old, and the tree wasn't short. If he accidentally fell while climbing up, that would be a real problem.

"Yes, brother, we don't lack food at home anymore, that's really good." He Yushui looked at the tree, her eyes a little red.

Since her father ran away, she and her brother have been relying on each other for survival.

At that time, his family had no money. His father sent him 5 yuan every month, but that 5 yuan was not enough to buy food and coal in the winter.

They could only borrow from one neighbor and beg from another, but without his father, how many people in the neighborhood would be kind enough to lend them money?

Fortunately, she survived. She remembered that not long after her father ran away, Jia Dongxu of the Jia family married Qin Huairu.

That day, the Jia family spent a lot of money to buy a lot of ingredients.

She asked her brother to cook for her, without paying him, but she could take the lunchbox.

That time, as a member of the He family, she ate a hearty meal at the table, and her brother also ate his fill in the kitchen and even took a lunchbox. It was their happiest day.

Spring and summer finally arrived, and my brother had to go out every day to find work. He would do any job that was available, no matter what it was.

At that time, she was clueless and didn't know how to help her brother. There was no food at home, and the only thing that could fill their stomachs was the cornbread that her brother brought home every day.

She was happiest in May because that's when the locust flowers bloomed, and she could pick them and eat them. And her brother would always be the first to climb up and pick the locust flowers.

She used tender locust flowers to make dough, then pan-fried them into pancakes. They were sweet, the most delicious sweetness in her memory.

He Yuzhu looked at the locust flowers under the tree. The ones on the branches were still fine, but the ones below were a bit old. If they weren't picked soon, they probably wouldn't taste good.

At this moment, He Yuzhu noticed that his younger sister's eyes were red.

Remembering that she had just mentioned picking locust flowers, He Yuzhu thought that He Yushui wanted to eat locust flowers.

"Alright, if you want to eat them, that's fine. We'll talk to the old man later and pick all the locust flowers so we can share them."

As his only relative, He Yuzhu doted on He Yushui, which might be disliked by some.

But in her heart, the He Yuzhu of her memory and the He Yuzhu of today were never really any different.

In a daze, he didn't know whether he, the He Yuzhu, had become the modern version of He Yuzhu, or whether the modern version of He Yuzhu had transmigrated into the present He Yuzhu. That past was like a memory.

There's no escaping it, no way to break free.

"Pillar, Rainwater, what are you doing here?"

The workers who had finished get off work in the courtyard gradually went home. When Yi Zhonghai arrived at the central courtyard, he saw the He siblings standing under the tree and couldn't help but come up to ask them something.

"It's nothing. I was just looking at this locust tree. Some of the locust flowers are already old. I was wondering if I should go up and pick them so they won't be too old and won't taste good."

He Yuzhu pointed to the locust blossoms at the top of the tree, then to the locust blossoms at the bottom, and said to Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai looked at the locust tree, then at He Yuzhu, and said with some emotion.

"In previous years, Zhu Zi, you would have picked those locust flowers long ago. Now that you have a job, you don't need to rely on locust flowers to fill your stomach, so you've forgotten about them."

"That's different, old man. Back then, if you wanted something sweet, you could only rely on these kinds of things. Now you can have it whenever you want. Of course it's different."

"Alright, since you've already mentioned it, let's discuss it tonight and pick the locust flowers."

He Yuzhu nodded without replying, because he felt that he didn't want to go up and pick the locust flowers this time.

After everyone finished dinner, it was already dark, and the crowd gathered in the courtyard.

This wasn't really a meeting; in fact, some families didn't even come. After all, there was only one locust tree, and the harvest wasn't much. If there were too many people, there wouldn't be enough to go around. So, those who wanted to come could come, and those who didn't could simply leave.

"Alright, it's getting late, so I'll cut to the chase. This Sunday, let's pick all the locust flowers from this tree. They won't taste good if left too long. Whoever wants some can go and pick them, what do you say?"

When Yi Zhonghai saw that most of the people had arrived, he spoke up.

"That's no problem. The locust flowers have been ready to eat for a while now. Sha Zhu didn't go up this year. Sha Zhu, you should go up this year," one of the neighbors said.

"Forget it, I don't want to go up there. Look how tall I am and how heavy I am. If I accidentally break a branch while climbing up, that would be terrible. So I'm not going up this year. Whichever family wants to go can go."

After He Yuzhu finished speaking, no one spoke, and they all looked at each other in silence.

Those who are here now are all people who want to pick the locust flowers to eat; those who don't want to eat them aren't here. For example, Xu Damao from the backyard, although he was in the yard, didn't come over because he heard it was because of the locust flowers.

In the crowd, Jia Dongxu stared blankly at the tall locust blossoms.

In the past, to help the He family, most people in the courtyard wouldn't rush to climb the locust tree to pick the flowers. But this year, Sha Zhu has started working and doesn't need to climb up to pick the flowers, so the flowers are left unpicked at the top.

Ever since his son was born, his mother had been nagging him to continue producing offspring for the Jia family. But raising children is never that simple.

His salary has never increased, and he only passed the second level exam last time. The money he earns is just enough to feed his family, but he can't afford to eat well.

Even when he went to buy meat, he would only buy a pitiful half jin for the family to eat. He and Huairu would only eat a bite or two at most, and the rest would be eaten by his mother and children.

His mother is urging him to have a few more children. If he really does have more children, the family will have to cut back on everything to save money.

If he climbs up and picks the locust flowers, his family can save a little more food.

While pondering, Jia Dongxu looked at his neighbors and noticed that none of them were willing to come forward. After thinking for a moment, he finally stepped forward.

"Since no one has decided who should go, why don't I go? As the oldest in our generation in the compound, it would be best if I went."

Jia Dongxu looked at his neighbors. "I've finished speaking. What do you think? Who agrees? Who disagrees?"