Traveling back to 1952, starting a comeback from a relief station

In the morning, Jia Dongxu and a few other young men from the courtyard went out and happened to run into Wang Anping accompanying Qin Huairu shopping.

After the group left, a discussion inevitably ensued.

Sha Zhu, Xu Damao, and the others couldn't help but praise Qin Huairu for her good looks and gentle temperament, which annoyed Jia Dongxu, who was going on a blind date today.

He already had a conflict with Wang Anping, which made him feel even worse.

"What's so good about it?"

Jia Dongxu stubbornly replied:

"Look at that girl, she's dressed so plainly, she looks like she's from the countryside."

"Just you wait, my blind date today, Aunt Li says, is unbelievably beautiful, one of the best girls in the whole area, definitely much better than the one Wang Anping found!"

Sha Zhu always loved to argue with the young people in the courtyard.

Hearing this, he said irritably:

"Keep bragging."

"You believe what the matchmaker says?"

"That girl was so pretty this morning. I don't think there are many girls in Beijing who can compare to her."

Anyway, ever since he saw that girl in the morning, Sha Zhu has been stunned.

Although he was only eighteen years old.

But deep down, I also long for this kind of thing.

Because of Jia Zhangshi's personality, she didn't get along with most of the families in the courtyard.

Xu Damao and Liu Guangqi couldn't stand seeing Jia Dongxu doing well.

Knowing he was going on a blind date today, I was secretly plotting something.

Seeing that Sha Zhu had spoken up, they quickly chimed in, one after another, which made Jia Dongxu so angry that he couldn't say a word for a long time with a sullen face.

After exchanging a few words, the group dispersed. When Jia Dongxu returned home, Jia Zhangshi had already returned from the farmers' market.

When Jia Dongxu returned, he asked:

"Mom, what did you make for lunch?"

Jia Zhangshi bought some flour, half a pound of meat, some cabbage, a few potatoes, and a palm-sized salted fish.

He counted on his fingers:

"For lunch, I'll make cabbage and pork dumplings, stir-fry some shredded potatoes, and steam some salted fish."

"There's fish, meat, and vegetables."

"That's plenty."

Her tone carried a hint of smugness:

"That country girl has never seen such good food before. She'll definitely enjoy it to the fullest."

He Daqing was also at home.

As he went out to get water, he overheard Jia Zhangshi's words, glanced at her meager rations of ingredients, and couldn't help but purse his lips.

But we're all neighbors, so it's not appropriate to say this to their faces.

Seeing that Madam Jia was looking over, he could only smile and nod.

"That's quite a feast!"

Madam Jia became even more smug:

"That's natural."

"The girl who came for a blind date today is from the countryside. Country folks have never seen such a feast."

"By the way, Lao He, when Dongxu gets married and has his banquet, I'll need your help with the arrangements."

"You're a good cook."

"We're all from the same courtyard, you can't refuse to help with this."

Upon hearing this, He Daqing's expression froze.

He coughed lightly and mumbled:

We'll see when the time comes.

These days, when a matchmaker brings a girl to a man's house for a blind date, the man's family has to prepare at least two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, all made with fine grains, to be considered presentable.

The Jia family is doing well.

You think you can just have a meal of dumplings and that palm-sized salted fish counts as a meat dish?

That's too shabby.

Moreover, He Daqing had long understood Jia Zhangshi's personality; she was notoriously stingy and greedy.

He always charges money for arranging banquets for others. If he really agrees to the Jia family's request, he will probably be busy for nothing, and might even have to give up his own ingredients.

If the Jia family can't provide anything, his cooking will lack flavor, and he'll lose face.

They all lived in the same courtyard, and the Jia family consisted of an orphan and a widow, so he didn't need to fuss over such a small matter and simply declined.

Jia Zhangshi had no idea what He Daqing was thinking.

Even if they guessed it, they probably wouldn't care.

At this moment, she was preoccupied with figuring out how she should act as a mother-in-law and give that country girl a hard time when Aunt Li brought her daughter over.

In her view, it was already a great blessing for a country girl to be able to marry into the city.

We must establish rules early on, so that children don't misbehave later.

morning.

As soon as Jia Dongxu returned to the courtyard house, he quickly washed his hair and changed into a clean and neat set of clothes.

He went inside and found a new pair of cloth shoes—they were specially made for him by Jia Zhangshi, just to match the scene of today's blind date.

As noon approached, Jia Dongxu became restless in the courtyard, pacing back and forth. Every few days, he would slip into the house, pull Jia Zhangshi aside, and ask:

"Mom, has Aunt Li arrived yet?"

"Mom, why hasn't Aunt Li arrived yet? Is she lost? Shall I wait for her at the alley entrance?"

Annoyed by the questions, Madam Jia Zhangshi said irritably:

"What's the rush!"

"That country girl must have come to the city for the first time and got confused, so she lingered outside a little longer."

"You stay home and wait quietly, and don't go out of your way to get close to them."

"If people see us like this, they'll think we're really hoping for this marriage."

"The first time, you have to put on a good show!"

The news that Jia Dongxu was going on a blind date today had already spread throughout the courtyard.

The neighbors loved to join in the fun, and they would often glance at the entrance of the Jia family's courtyard. Some would even approach Jia Zhangshi, pretending to chat and inquire about the situation.

With the clock striking eleven and no sign of the person she was supposed to meet, even the usually composed Jia Zhangshi was starting to feel uneasy.

On the stove, the shredded potatoes were already stir-fried and plated, and the pickled salted fish was steaming.

The dumpling wrappers and filling are ready; all that's left is to wait for the water to boil before putting them in the pot.

Jia Dongxu could no longer sit still and grabbed Jia Zhangshi's arm, saying:

"Mom, cook the dumplings first, I'll go check at the front gate."

Before he finished speaking, he had already headed straight for the gate of the courtyard house.

Just as I reached the door, I saw Aunt Li turn into the alley, but there was no one behind her, only her.

Jia Dongxu quickly asked:

"Aunt Li, you're here! Why are you alone?"

Aunt Li wore an awkward smile as her gaze swept over Jia Dongxu. She recalled bumping into Wang Anping that morning, and the two were worlds apart.

He sighed inwardly, but said only aloud:

"Let's go inside and talk."

As he spoke, he stepped into the courtyard.

Undeterred, Jia Dongxu looked towards the alley entrance again, but there was indeed no one else in sight. He could only follow behind dejectedly.

The neighbors in the courtyard overheard their conversation.

The crowd, who were already peeking through the cracks in the door and leaning against the doorframe, waiting to see what the Jia family's future daughter-in-law looked like, all stuck their heads out when they heard the noise, their eyes fixed on the two of them.

Inside the house, Jia Zhangshi was anxiously gripping a spatula.

Upon seeing Aunt Li enter, he immediately put on a stern face, raised his voice several decibels, and deliberately spoke so that everyone in the yard could hear:

"Aunt Li, why did you take so long to come?"

"That's incredibly rude!"

"Could it be that they're deliberately waiting to come for lunch?"

"A young lady should be diligent on her first visit; she should at least make a good impression!"

If the girl introduced was from the city, Jia Zhangshi might not have dared to act so haughty.

But the girl was from the countryside and desperately wanted to marry into the city, so she felt justified and insisted on putting on airs as a future mother-in-law and giving the girl a hard time.

The neighbors nearby couldn't help but roll their eyes when they heard this.

She thought to herself that this Jia Zhangshi was really being pretentious.

But I'm also curious.

I wanted to see what the attitude of the girl who came to my door would be.