Chapter 10 Jia Dongxu is gone

Spring of the 13th year of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Jia Dongxu is still gone.

The factory said it was an operating error.

Everyone in the courtyard understood that after three years of disaster, every household was short of food and clothing.

The Jia family has a new baby, and one person's salary is enough to support six people.

In order to earn more food for his family, Jia Dongxu worked during the day and did odd jobs at night to earn some extra money.

A laborer would squat at the entrance of the vegetable market, waiting to be called home by his employer to do jobs like building a chimney, clearing sewers, and repairing the roof.

During the busiest time, Jia Dongxu only rested for three or four hours a day.

So, the factory said that Jia Dongxu’s death was caused by an operational error, but He Yuzhu believed that it was probably due to fatigue.

I still remember that when Jia Dongxu just got married, he was a strong man weighing 150 kilograms.

When Jia Dongxu died, he weighed only about 110 kilograms.

Jia Dongxu must have died of exhaustion.

In fact, there were many families in the courtyard who, although not rich in food coupons, had saved a lot of money.

If Jia Dongxu asks to borrow it, he can still borrow it.

However, because Jia Zhang had various involvements with several men in the courtyard when she was young, Jia Dongxu was unwilling to come to her for help.

He carried the pressure of a family of six on his own.

The accumulation of pressure day by day finally overwhelmed Jia Dongxu.

He Yuzhu had nothing much to say about the Jia family's affairs.

It was expected, but there was nothing I could do about it.

He Yuzhu and an old man helped with the funeral arrangements.

The factory gave him a pension of 200 yuan and a position as a formal employee in the factory.

Since Jia Zhang was unwilling to go out to work, the position of formal employee fell to Qin Huairu.

"Hey, Zhuzi, how do you think the Jia family will live in the future?"

Lou Xiao'e, who was more than six months pregnant, was a little sentimental. She lay in the man's arms with a solemn expression.

"Nine out of ten people are unhappy in life. Every household is having difficulties. Just hold on a little longer and you'll be fine."

He Yuzhu has been keeping a low profile recently because of Lou Xiaoe's pregnancy.

We eat behind closed doors every day at home.

During the more than one year of famine, no one except the uncle and his wife and the old lady knew how rich the He family's life was.

It's out in February.

In March, a spring rain fell in the city.

Spring rain is as precious as oil.

Farmers are busy cultivating the land, hoping for a better harvest this year.

He Yuzhu was afraid that no one would take care of his wife when he went to work, so he sent Lou Xiao'e to the Lou family and let Lou Tan take care of her.

In fact, one lady said she could help.

He Yuzhui rejected the kindness of the old lady after just a brief thought.

Auntie helps a lot on weekdays, but in terms of experience in taking care of pregnant women, she is definitely not as good as Mrs. Lou Tan.

Lou Tan gave birth to three sons and one daughter for Lou Zhendong.

One died young.

One was killed by a demon.

The only son left went abroad to study before the founding of the People's Republic of China, and we lost contact afterwards.

Of course, this is what the Lou family said to the outside world.

In fact, Lou Xiao'e's elder brother is now in Hong Kong, doing well, and has married and had children.

Lou Tan had given birth to four children, so she was naturally experienced in taking care of pregnant women.

He Yuzhu sent Lou Xiao'e to the Lou family, which was in line with the wishes of Lou Zhendong and his wife.

After all, the He family has few members, while the Lou family is a wealthy and powerful family.

Lou Xiao'e was staying in the Lou family to recuperate and wait for delivery, so her conditions were better than those in the He family.

He Yuzhu now goes to work and goes home every day.

I go home at noon to cook a meal for my sister.

In the evening, He Yuzhu would go back to the courtyard to see the old lady, and then go back to the Lou family to spend the night.

The ups and downs in the courtyard have nothing to do with the He family for the time being.

In fact, after He Yuzhu sent Lou Xiao'e back to Lou's house, he stayed in the courtyard for another two days.

During this period, Jia Zhang took Qin Huairu and her three children to the eldest uncle and cried to him, hoping that he would help her.

The old man lost his mind when he was attracted by the innocent eyes of Jia Zhang.

He even offered some advice, suggesting that He Yuzhu was alone at home and that there must be plenty of food.

Qin Huairu understood the uncle's hint, so she hugged Huaihua and went into the He family, weeping bitterly.

He Yuzhu watched Xiao Huaihua eating and felt distracted for a moment.

Fortunately, when Qin Huairu talked about business and wanted to borrow money and grain, He Yuzhu thought of the experience of Sha Zhu in "The Story of Siheyuan".

He Yuzhu now has a wife and is about to have a child, so he is not willing to help a widow.

So, after Qin Huairu cried for a while, He Yuzhu came to his senses and directly refused.

This woman is not a good person.

After He Yuzhu sent Qin Huairu away, he knew that the courtyard house was no longer habitable.

After explaining things to the old lady and He Yushui, the next day, He Yuzhu no longer returned to the courtyard at night, but moved to Lou's house.

Because of this, the uncle was scolded by the aunt. In today's situation, who has surplus food to lend to others?

There may still be people who dare to borrow money.

But absolutely no one dared to borrow grain.

That is Sha Zhu in the TV series, who stole food and drinks from the canteen to support the Jia family, and then ruined his own life.

He Yuzhu didn't know that there was an old man involved.

March is over.

After listening to Jia Zhang's swearing several times, He Yushui discussed with He Yuzhu and decided not to go home at night.

Even on weekends, He Yushui would go to stay at Lou's house.

The two rooms of the He family in the courtyard were left to the old lady to look after.

He Yuzhu came back every day at noon, firstly, to cook for the old lady, and secondly, to show up often to prevent any ignorant guy from setting his sights on his house.

In addition to the courtyard house, He Yuzhu also has three small courtyards, all of which are vacant.

Because the three small courtyards have their own doors and yards, they have also informed the local street office, so there is no need to worry about them being occupied by others.

However, the population in this courtyard is complex. If no one from the He family is often absent, it is hard to say what bad things might happen.

After all, there are too many families in the yard who lack houses to live in.

For example, the second uncle and the third uncle’s home.

The second uncle has three sons.

The eldest son, Liu Guangqi, has graduated from junior high school and found a job as an apprentice, but because he has no house, he is almost twenty years old and has not yet married.

The second oldest, Liu Guangtian, and the third oldest, Liu Guangfu, are both still students. They are about to grow up, but their academic performance is not very good. They may not even be able to get into high school, and even finding a job will be a problem.

In order to get married, the Liu family was short of three houses.

The third uncle, Yan Fugui, has three sons and one daughter.

The eldest son, Yan Jiecheng, has also reached the age to get married, but he also has no house and even no formal job. He usually works as a temporary worker and has never had a girlfriend.

The Yan family is also worried about housing.

There are so many people who need houses, and the He family has two empty houses with no one living in them. Others will be jealous and might cause some trouble.

It is because of this consideration that He Yuzhu goes back to the courtyard every day.

The departure of He Yuzhu and his family had little impact on most of their neighbors.

The Jia family felt uncomfortable because they did not gain any benefit from He Yuzhu.

But there was a couple in the backyard who breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Damao and Yu Li have been married for almost a year, and they can see that He Yuzhu's wife's belly is getting bigger and bigger.

And Yu Li is still so slim.

Xu Damao was so furious that he found some folk remedies prescribed by Chinese medicine practitioners and forced Yu Li to drink the medicine every day.

Yu Li is not a pushover either. Ever since she found out that Xu Damao had deceived her into marriage, the couple have been having a small quarrel every three days and a big quarrel every five days.

Xu Damao's grandson was always in the wrong, and every quarrel ended with him begging for mercy.

After being married for such a long time, Yu Li was still pregnant, so Xu Damao started to take charge.

Poor Yu Li has to take Chinese medicine every day and her body smells like it.

Yu Li is not a good person. Xu Damao, if you don’t make me comfortable, I won’t let you feel comfortable either.

So, Yu Li also made some folk remedies specifically for men.

Xu Damao refused to drink at first, so Yu Li started to scold him, sometimes saying, "Xu Damao, your health is so poor, it would be strange for me to get pregnant."

Xu Damao was afraid that the family's dirty laundry would be exposed, so he had no choice but to hurt each other with Yu Li. Today you found a folk remedy, and tomorrow he found another one.

The couple took more and more medicines, and the money they saved before getting married was almost spent. Unfortunately, Yu Li's belly remained in good condition and showed no sign of bulging.

At this time, Yu Li began to envy Lou Xiao'e.

After living in the courtyard for a few months now, Yu Li has already understood what kind of person Xu Damao is.

Needless to say, the "passerby" I met when I first came to the Siheyuan and asked about Xu Damao's character must have been arranged by Xu Damao.

This bastard actually cheated on me in marriage!

Later, Yu Li returned to her parents' home, cried bitterly, and threatened to divorce.

Xu Damao still swore and vowed that he would live a good life in the future.

Yu Li's parents were also afraid that their daughter would divorce right after getting the marriage certificate, which would bring bad reputation to the family, so they persuaded Yu Li to go home and live with Xu Damao.

Yu Li finally gave in to the injustice and followed Xu Damao back to the courtyard.

Every time she saw the He family living a happy life, Yu Li would remember that she was blind and had been deceived by Xu Damao.

Less than a year after their marriage, Xu Damao and Yu Li's life began to become painful.

As April passed and May began, the weather became hotter and hotter.

People started wearing single clothes.

Lou Xiao'e was almost due to give birth and was wearing a loose maternity dress.

He Yuzhu took her out for some activities. Before going out, Lou Tan asked her daughter to wear a long-sleeved jacket.

"Zhu Zi, I'm a little tired, let's go back."

Lou Xiao'e leaned in her man's arms, letting him support her. She had a big belly and the feeling of her abdomen sinking became stronger and stronger. Sometimes the little guy was moving around inside.

It is really not easy for a pregnant woman to be pregnant for ten months.

"Let's walk a little more. The doctor said that if we move more, we won't suffer during childbirth."

He Yuzhu persuaded softly that his wife had a physique that was prone to gaining weight. She had eaten a lot of good food during her pregnancy. She used to weigh over 100 pounds, but now she weighs over 120 pounds.

Lou Xiao'e felt a little sleepy. Seeing that the man refused to go back, she simply hugged the man's arm and pretended to sleep with a snore.

He Yuzhu could only shake his head speechlessly after hearing this: "Okay, okay, let's go home."

He Yuzhu really has no way to deal with this silly wife.

(End of this chapter)