Courtyard House: In this life, I have a new home!

1

I watched as Qin Huairu pushed open the door of an old man's house, went inside, and then closed the door behind her.

Qin Jingru looked around; there was no one in the courtyard.

She tiptoed to the window and crouched down.

An old man's voice came from inside the house, sounding quite serious: "You're here? You must be exhausted from working in the labor camp."

"We don't have much food at home, so I set aside ten jin for you to take and use for a few days."

"Don't count on the steel rolling mill; you can't get back anytime soon. But don't worry, if a suitable opportunity arises, I'll try to pull some strings for you."

Qin Huairu's voice followed, filled with a soft, grateful tone: "Uncle, thank you so much. I really don't know how my daughter and I would survive in this compound without you."

Listening to this from outside the window, Qin Jingru felt that the two of them weren't saying anything outrageous.

There was no further movement inside, only a muffled sound. The sound had a certain rhythm.

Qin Jingru's mind went blank, and her face flushed red—she couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or genuine anger. She gripped her bag tightly, clenching her teeth. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Leng Si coming out to pour water. Startled, she quickly lowered her head and hurried past the old man's window.

Leng Si was taken aback when he saw her expression.

Not long after, everyone in the courtyard returned and washed up, preparing for bed. Just as Leng Si was about to close the door, he saw Qin Huairu carrying grain out of Yi Zhonghai's house.

The two locked eyes.

Qin Huairu, who was gathering her hair, paused for a moment, then smiled generously and turned to Yi Zhonghai inside the house, asking, "Uncle, is there a new person in the courtyard?"

Yi Zhonghai walked out and glanced at Leng Si.

"Yes, they're new here, also in the steel mill, in the kitchen."

After he finished speaking, he walked up to Leng Si.

"Leng Si, still not resting? Let me introduce you, this is Qin Huairu from the courtyard. She's a widow, raising her mother-in-law and three children. Now she's lost her job, and her family is out of food, so I'm helping her out."

Yi Zhonghai spoke frankly, but he was actually quite nervous.

Leng Si nodded.

Yi Zhonghai stared at him, comparing him to Sha Zhu: "She's a woman, life isn't easy for her. If you have the money, help her out if you can."

Qin Huairu smiled at Leng Si and said, "You flatter me, things are really tough at home."

"I still have some leftovers from dinner in my room, if you don't mind..."

Feeling a little uncomfortable under their gazes, Leng Si tentatively asked a question.

"That would be too much trouble for you. Anything to eat is fine, I'm not picky."

Qin Huairu stared at him with gratitude in her eyes.

Leng Si turned around and went into the house, taking out the leftover food that had been turned upside down in the bowl.

Qin Huairu's eyes were practically glued to him, filled with gratitude and eagerness. Leng Si's lips twitched slightly.

After getting the items, Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai left.

Leng Si closed the door.

He has sharp ears, and he heard the two whispering outside.

"When I came out just now, Leng Si saw me immediately. Did he figure something out?"

Qin Huairu spoke in a low voice.

Yi Zhonghai thought for a moment: "Probably not. I spoke to him just now, but he didn't react much. Besides, he just moved here and doesn't know anything about what's going on in the compound, so he wouldn't think anything of it."

"Who's this Leng Si? He looks tall and strong, but there's not a single woman's belongings in his room, so he seems to be single..."

Qin Huairu's words were tinged with a hint of probing.

Yi Zhonghai said, "The veterans were assigned to a steel rolling mill because they were said to have been injured and couldn't do heavy work. They lived alone in rented accommodation."

"It's rented."

Qin Huairu muttered something under her breath, thinking that this person, like Fang Chengxuan, had come to take over the property left by the older generation in the courtyard house.

The two walked and talked quietly until they were gone.

Leng Si glanced out the window. A moment later, Fang Chengxuan returned from outside, pushing his bicycle. He washed his face, lay down, and went to sleep.

Leng Si didn't look any further and went to rest.

Night fell.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out at the Jia family's residence, and lights came on in every house in the central courtyard. Qin Jingru rushed out of the Jia family's house, crying.

"Qin Huairu, from this day forward, I'm walking out of your house. We're strangers from now on. I don't have a cousin like you!"

Qin Jingru rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and ran to Yang Yuande's door in a flash.

The neighbors peeked out for a while, but hearing nothing more, they turned off the lights and went back to sleep.

The next morning, many people gathered around Banggeng and asked, "Banggeng, what happened between your mom and your aunt last night?"

"How would I know?"

Even Bang Geng himself was confused, looking completely bewildered.

Someone asked Qin Huairu again, and she rubbed her eyes, her eyes brimming with tears: "It's all my fault, don't make wild guesses, it wasn't my sister who bullied me."

The gossip in everyone's eyes burned even brighter.

Even when she wanted to ask more questions, Qin Huairu refused to say a word more and turned back to washing clothes.

the other side.

Fang Chengxuan finished packing, ate breakfast, and pushed his cart toward the steel rolling mill. Before he even left the alley, he ran into Leng Si and Yang Yuande.

The three of them walked side by side for a while.

Yang Yuande turned his head and said to Fang Chengxuan, "Brother Fang, I heard you can assemble bicycles? Could you get me one?"

Fang Chengxuan raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

Yang Yuande immediately tensed up and said with a forced smile, "Brother Fang, I didn't mean to take advantage of you, and I certainly wouldn't treat you like a laborer."

"Well, Jingru and Qin Huairu broke up, so we're planning to get our marriage certificate this afternoon and then give them the betrothal gifts later."

"I thought, since she really wants to spend her life with me, I can't let her suffer. I have a second-hand radio, and if I can also get her a bicycle, I can make her proud and let the neighbors know that she made the right choice in marrying me."

Leng Si leaned over and asked, "Why did they fall out?"

Yang Yuande shook his head: "I don't know either. Jingru won't say, she just keeps crying. She doesn't want to talk about it, and I don't force her."

"Go find the bicycle parts yourself, and once you've gathered them all, I'll help you assemble it. Consider it a token of your thoughtfulness and a wedding gift."

Fang Chengxuan pondered for a few seconds, but did not decline.

Yang Yuande immediately broke into a smile: "Brother Fang, you're closer to me than my own brother! Don't worry, from now on, if you say the word, I'll go through fire and water without batting an eye. As for that idiot Sha Zhu, if any fool in the yard dares to come back and mess with you, I'll be the first one to go after him."

Fang Chengxuan glanced at him and said, "That's all you can do."

Yang Yuande chuckled, not caring at all, his face beaming with the joy of becoming a groom, grinning like a fool.

Fang Chengxuan looked at him, shook his head, and sighed inwardly: When will I be able to get married?

Fang Chengxuan suppressed his thoughts and told himself to stay calm.

He is not the same person as Yang Yuande.

As soon as it was time for people to start work at the steel rolling mill, the courtyard was empty. On the Jia family's side, Qin Huairu sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), scrutinizing her mother-in-law.

"Mom, why did you have to give that position to Yang Yuande of all people?"

Qin Huairu's voice was filled with resentment.

Madam Jia rolled her eyes. "Those are my Jia family's things. I can do whatever I want with them."

"How dare you say that? What were you doing, yelling at the factory manager in the factory? If you hadn't lost your job, would I have been causing a scene at the factory gate?"

"If I hadn't caused that scene, I would have lost this job long ago."

The more Jia Zhangshi thought about it, the angrier she became.

Remembering how Qin Huairu had called Qin Jingru's father to scare her, her face darkened. "You sent someone to deal with me?"

"Qin Huairu, do you think I can still trust you?"

Qin Huairu's tears fell in a steady stream. "Mom, it's one thing if others don't believe me, but you don't believe me either? It's all Fang Chengxuan's doing to mess with me."

"He's messing with you? What right does he have to mess with you? What did you do?"

Madam Jia's face was ashen, her chest heaving. "Qin Huairu, from today onwards, you'd better stay home obediently, or else—"

"Mom, if I don't go out and don't try to find a way to get food, I'll only have five yuan a month for living expenses. You spend three yuan just on painkillers. How am I supposed to survive?"

Qin Huairu cried so hard her shoulders trembled.

"I did all those things because I was afraid you'd give the job to someone else. Without this job, what will our family eat and drink?"

Madam Jia snorted, "You don't need to worry about it. I won't let my grandson go hungry."

Qin Huairu lowered her head, clenching her teeth. She sneered inwardly, "You may not care about your grandson, but what about me and Xiao Dang Huaihua?"

"Mom, I'm going to do the laundry."

Qin Huairu figured out Jia Zhangshi's attitude and pretended to be aggrieved.

She can't get her current job back, and even if she could, she can't go back to the steel rolling mill.

It's safer to let Yang Yuande occupy it for now.

Qin Huairu was squatting by the sink washing clothes. A few older women passed by, saw her like this, and came over to chat: "Is your mother-in-law giving you trouble again?"

"Your fate is like this... There's always trouble at a widow's door, and being good-looking isn't always a good thing. You might as well just find someone else to remarry."

"Yes, a woman still needs a man to support her."

Qin Huairu, her eyes red-rimmed, looked at the person who spoke, her voice soft and weak: "I'm worried about the three children. What will happen to them if I leave?"

"I don't know what I did to offend Fang Chengxuan that he would do this to me."

talking.

In front of everyone, Qin Huairu covered her face and began to sob.

The crowd glanced at her, then, remembering why she had lost her job, they curled their lip in disdain and didn't bother to believe her.

Qin Huairu squatted by the well, scrubbing clothes all morning, water splashing high into the air. No one came to her aid, and her heart sank.

Normally, if she shed a tear, everyone in the yard would start cursing. But now, not a single person utters a sound.

"Hey Yang Yuande, what are you holding in your arms?"

An old woman looked up and saw Yang Yuande carrying a radio as he came in from outside. Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Yang Yuande grinned, "I promised Jingru I'd go to propose today, so I can't go empty-handed. I also got some bicycle parts; I'll have Brother Fang help me assemble one and deliver it to their house together."

He turned to his two brothers behind him and nodded, "Thanks to you guys, you only need to move the stuff to the backyard."

The neighbors were dumbfounded and huddled together whispering.

"Goodness, this street thug has really changed his ways."

"That's right, I didn't even see a car wheel when I got married."

Her eyes were full of envy.

Qin Huairu stood there, stunned, her eyes wide. Qin Jingru really agreed to marry Yang Yuande? And Yang Yuande even prepared a radio and a bicycle for her?

When she married into the family, she was very well-off, but all she had was a sewing machine, which was one that Jia Zhangshi had already used.

A sour feeling welled up inside me.

A moment later, Fang Chengxuan pushed his bicycle into the courtyard. Yang Yuande saw him and eagerly went to greet him.