Courtyard House: A Veteran Returns Home and Becomes a Father

A moment later, Jia Zhangshi came running into the courtyard carrying a cloth bag. The wooden door slammed shut with a loud bang, causing dust to fall from the lintel.

"Hmph, a widow with a child in tow, giving her this much is already giving her face." Madam Jia Zhang put her hands on her hips, glanced at the bottle of ordinary Erguotou and half a bag of tea leaves on the table, and her mouth curled up so much that an oil bottle could hang from it.

She didn't rush to tidy up. First, she tiptoed and peeked at the door. The yard was quiet, and Old Jia hadn't come home from get off work yet. Then she crouched down and slipped to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

She squatted down and tapped twice on the third blue brick along the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). The crack in the brick was clearly loose. Jia Zhangshi listened intently to the sounds outside the courtyard, then quickly pulled out the brick. Inside was a small, dark hole.

She pulled a crumpled five-yuan note from her pocket, carefully stuffed it in, and then reached in to take out all the loose change, counting it one by one with spittle flying everywhere.

"Ninety-one, ninety-two... one hundred! Exactly one hundred yuan!" She laughed in a low voice, her eyes shining as if she had found a gold ingot, her hands clutching the change tightly, her knuckles turning white.

In those days, if Old Jia were still alive, there wouldn't even be a trace of a pension, and her family's wages were barely enough to make ends meet. The fact that she managed to save this hundred yuan suggests she'd done a whole host of despicable things behind the scenes.

She secretly slipped the eggs from the deaf old lady's house into her pocket when no one was looking.

Every time I borrow soy sauce from Uncle San's house, I always scoop out half a bowl more than usual.

She never hesitated to take any candy from the children's pockets, as long as she could easily grab it.

"Once Old Jia closes his eyes, this money will be enough for me to live a life of luxury!"

Jia Zhangshi happily folded the money, arranged it neatly by size, stuffed it back into the hole, pressed the bricks back in, patted them tightly with her hands, swept the dust off the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and then sat down on the edge of the kang with peace of mind, cracking melon seeds, leaving melon seed shells all over the floor.

She was secretly plotting something:

Old Jia gave Xia Wanqing a hundred yuan to buy nice things so that Dongxu could get married, but she couldn't bear to part with it. In her eyes, Xia Wanqing marrying into the Jia family was already a step up for her; how could she dare to be picky?

About half an hour later, footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate, along with Old Jia's loud voice.

Jia Zhangshi quickly swept the melon seed shells under the kang (a heated brick bed), tugged at her clothes, and pretended to wipe the table, but her hands were still secretly patting the melon seed crumbs off her body.

The door creaked open, and Old Jia was the first to enter, followed by his eldest uncle Yi Zhonghai, second uncle Liu Haizhong, and third uncle Yan Bugui.

As soon as Lao Jia entered the room, his eyes lit up when he saw the table full of things, but when he saw the bottle of Erguotou and the tea leaves, his face immediately darkened.

"Zhang Cuihua!" Old Jia's voice suddenly rose, startling Jia Zhangshi so much that she dropped the rag in her hand. "I gave you a hundred yuan! And you bought this junk?"

He pointed at the Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), his beard bristling and eyes bulging with anger: "I told you to buy some good wine and tea, and what did you do? You tried to fool me with Erguotou! And this tea leaves are all just dregs, how dare you present them to me?"

"What kind of family is the Su family? Even though the men died young, they are still respectable people. If we bring these things over, won't people gossip behind our backs and say that our Jia family looks down on widows?" Old Jia became angrier and angrier as he spoke, his finger almost pointing at Jia Zhangshi's nose.

Madam Jia picked up the rag and slammed her hand on the table dismissively: "What's with all the gossip? She's just a widow! It's good enough that someone wants her, why are you being so picky? Buying all this stuff is a waste of money, even the best things are just a waste!"

"You! You spendthrift woman!" Old Jia was so angry that his face turned red, and he couldn't speak for a long time. He cursed inwardly: If the negotiations fall apart tonight, I'll skin you alive!

Yi Zhonghai tried to mediate, saying, "Old Jia, don't be angry. Your wife is just trying to save money. It's all for the family." As he said this, he glanced at the food on the table and thought to himself, "This Jia Zhangshi is really incompetent."

Liu Haizhong stood to the side, arms crossed, and said sarcastically, "Old Jia, I'm not trying to be mean, but when it comes to your child's marriage, you need to be more generous. What kind of nonsense is this, being so stingy?"

Yan Bugui lowered his head, counting on his fingers: "Three yuan for Erguotou, two yuan for tea leaves, and at most twenty yuan for fruit. This is too little money..." His voice was not loud, but just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Old Jia took a deep breath, suppressing his anger: "Where's the rest of the money? Hand it over now!"

The smile on Jia Zhangshi's face vanished instantly. Reluctantly, she pulled a cloth bag from her bosom and slowly opened it: "It cost twenty-five in total, leaving seventy-five. Take the two catties of pork belly you bought yesterday; it'll make a good impression."

Old Jia counted the money, glanced at the table, and calculated that it was about right, so he didn't argue anymore: "Hurry up and get dressed nicely, we'll go together later. Old Yi, Old Liu, Old Yan, you guys go back and get ready first, we'll go in a bit."

Madam Jia pouted and muttered as she rummaged through her chests and cabinets, finally finding the blue cloth jacket she only wore during the New Year.

Her cuffs were worn white, and her collar had a patch. She looked at herself in the cracked mirror by the wall, finding it not bright enough, and tugged at the hem of her clothes: "Going to a widow's house and still being so particular, it's really suffering for the sake of saving face."

Just as they finished tidying up, Old Jia's loud voice rang out from outside the courtyard gate: "Zhang Cuihua, hurry up!"

Madam Jia quickly stuffed the old clothes into the corner of the kang (a heated brick bed), then felt the bricks beside the kang to make sure the money was hidden securely. Only then did she hurry out to greet them, forcing a smile: "Uncle Yi, Uncle Liu, Uncle Yan, please come in and sit down. I just made some tea!"

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand: "No, no, Lao Jia, is everything ready? Let's go over now, don't keep Miss Su waiting."

Liu Haizhong peeked into the room and saw the Erguotou liquor and tea leaves. He pursed his lips but didn't say anything. In his heart, however, he thought: "This stuff, do you think they'd even look at it?"

Yan Bugui was still calculating on his fingers, muttering to himself, "With the pork belly, it's worth at most thirty yuan. Old Jia gave a hundred. What kind of work did Zhang Cuihua do?"

Little did anyone know that this Jia Zhangshi had embezzled 5 yuan.

Old Jia didn't have time to pay attention to these things. He picked up the net bag containing the gifts and had Jia Zhangshi wrap the pork belly in lotus leaves and take it with him: "Let's go, let's go, don't waste time."

The group headed towards the Su family's house in a grand procession. On the way, Old Jia kept reminding them, "When you get to the Su family's house, keep your mouth shut and don't say anything useless, lest you mess things up."

Madam Jia was displeased: "I know, I know, you've said it eight hundred times already, aren't you tired of it?"

Yi Zhonghai smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Old Jia is only doing this for the child, sister-in-law, please be more understanding. When you see Miss Su later, talk to her nicely. She's from the next courtyard, we'll see each other all the time."

Liu Haizhong snorted: "I think we need to let her know that marrying Dongxu is her good fortune, and our Jia family hasn't treated her unfairly."

Yan Bugui nodded: "The manners must be proper, otherwise the young lady will lose face."

As they spoke, they arrived at the Su family's door. Old Jia took a deep breath, raised his hand, and knocked on the wooden door. His heart was pounding: He hoped that tonight's business would not fall through!