Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 188

"Eek~ It's still broad daylight, and the door isn't closed."

He Yuzhu didn't care and did as he pleased. After a moment, they separated, and he said with a smile, "You delivered yourself to my door."

Xu Huizhen's cheeks were already flushed, and she said shyly, "Someone needs to talk to you about something."

"What's going on? What does my wife want to do?" He Yuzhu emphasized one word in his words.

Xu Huizhen rolled her eyes and whispered, "You wouldn't even agree to have someone bathe and bring you to bed, would you dare to do it in broad daylight?"

He Yuzhu immediately lost his temper. After confirming that Xu Huizhen was pregnant, just as she had said, she washed her clean and stuffed her into her arms. He Yuzhu could only remain as still as an old monk in meditation, not daring to do anything bad.

"No, I wouldn't dare. What do you want?"

Xu Huizhen said, "I want to eat sour jujubes, but I've been looking for a long time and there aren't any at home. Go and buy some."

"I'm craving sour dates. That's easy, just wait here and I'll go get them right away."

As He Yuzhu spoke, he placed Xu Huizhen on the sofa, got up, took a few steps, and then realized something was wrong. He turned around and asked, "You mean you want to buy sour jujubes?"

"Yes, what's wrong? Don't you want to go buy it?" Xu Huizhen asked, somewhat bewildered.

"This isn't about money."

He Yuzhu asked again, "You said you wanted to eat sour dates?"

"Yeah, I don't know why, I haven't had any appetite these past couple of days. Do you think I've caught a cold? I've also suddenly been craving some sour foods."

"What cold? You silly girl."

"You're the silly one!" Xu Huizhen said, wrinkling her nose.

He Yuzhu walked back to the sofa and sat down next to her, taking her hand and saying, "I told you you're silly, but you wouldn't admit it. I told you before that you were pregnant, do you believe me now?"

"Don't talk nonsense about being pregnant. I just wanted to eat sour dates today."

"You still don't believe me? Haven't you heard of the saying 'sour for a boy, spicy for a girl'? After getting pregnant, some women experience pregnancy reactions. Some vomit, some crave sour foods, and some crave spicy foods. Didn't you know that?"

Xu Huizhen knew this, of course, but she never admitted it. He Yuzhu was a cook, and of course he could also do carpentry and appraise antiques. He had already collected quite a few at home, and he had other skills as well. But if you said that he knew medicine, Xu Huizhen would not believe it.

So when He Yuzhu said she was pregnant, I didn't believe a word of it.

She had secretly gone to see a doctor before, and her husband took her pulse and said that even if she was pregnant, it was still early in the pregnancy and not obvious at all. So how did He Yuzhu know whether she was pregnant or not?

"You're just trying to make me happy. My craving for sour dates means I'm pregnant?"

"Why can't you listen to me? I say yes, so you are."

Seeing that she still looked unconvinced, He Yuzhu could only say, "You wait here and don't move. I'll go buy some sour dates and come back to take you to the pharmacy to have your pulse checked."

After He Yuzhu left, Xu Huizhen touched her still flat stomach and said, "Are you really pregnant?"

Sour jujubes are also known as hawthorns or mountain red dates. There were quite a few stored in the space. He Yuzhu went out for a walk and came back with a large paper package.

After entering, Xu Huizhen opened the toilet paper and her mouth watered at the sight of it. Without washing it, she picked up a piece and put it to her mouth.

He Yuzhu didn't stop them in time, so he had to wash the rest, put them in a porcelain bowl, and bring them over.

Xu Huizhen ate several more before she was satisfied, and the two of them went out together to Huichunlou.

This is a pharmacy on Yandaixie Street, named for its miraculous healing power. Everyone here is a neighbor from the same street, and they all know each other. He Yuzhu exchanged a few polite words and then asked the resident doctor, Dr. Zhong, to take Xu Huizhen's pulse.

After taking her pulse, Dr. Zhong smiled and said, "Congratulations, Manager He, your wife is pregnant."

"Thank you, Dr. Zhong, for your help."

"Oh, really?" Xu Huizhen asked with great surprise.

"I examined you a few days ago. Last time, the pregnancy was still in its early stages, and the pulse wasn't very clear. This time, the pregnancy has progressed enough, so it can be confirmed that you are pregnant."

Xu Huizhen quickly thanked him happily. It had been three or four months since their marriage in April, and He Yuzhu had never complained.

However, many people eagerly inquired whether she was pregnant, especially her teacher's wife, her stepmother, and her best friend Chen Xueru, who would ask her if she was pregnant as soon as they met.

This has put a lot of pressure on Xu Huizhen during this period. She even thought that her missed period was due to menstrual irregularities caused by anxiety.

Hearing from Dr. Zhong that she was pregnant, she immediately felt all the pressure disappear. She was no longer a hen that couldn't lay eggs; she could give birth to children for Brother Zhu and raise them as a wife and mother.

The two thanked each other and left Huichunlou hand in hand.

Back in the backyard, He Yuzhu laughed and said, "Now you believe me, right? You're pregnant."

"How do you know that? Even Dr. Zhong wasn't sure when he took your pulse before?"

He Yuzhu said, "It's my own land. I planted the seeds, so of course I know whether they've sprouted or taken root. After all, they're my own seeds."

"Pah, why do you speak so rudely?"

Xu Huizhen couldn't help but curse.

He Yuzhu chuckled. Now that they had a child, they could have two more every three years. Since there was no family planning policy in place, they could let Xu Huizhen keep having children.

Thinking of something happy, he couldn't help but pick up Xu Huizhen and spin her around. Xu Huizhen cried out in surprise and punched He Yuzhu's chest a few times: "Put me down, you're squeezing my stomach."

He Yuzhu was also in a moment of joy and didn't think much about it. When he heard that the person was squeezing his belly, he immediately put him down and smiled憨憨地.

Xu Huizhen rolled her eyes and said, "From now on, we'll sleep in separate beds, and you can't touch my belly before I give birth."

"Isn't this too cruel? Does this mean I'll become an old monk?"

"Anyway, don't think about that anymore. Just take good care of the child from now on."

"Oh dear, this little thing really came at the worst possible time."

He Yuzhu hadn't had enough fun yet, and Xu Huizhen got pregnant. He should have postponed it for a while longer.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm going to tell Mother and Sister-in-law."

After Xu Huizhen finished speaking, she happily went to the back room.

He Yuzhu's brother-in-law and father-in-law obtained urban household registration at his urging, and he even rented a shop in the alley for them. The father and son brewed and sold their own wine, and their life was very prosperous.

During the period of unified purchase and distribution, a comprehensive investigation was conducted on all urban residents. Those without urban household registration were not eligible for grain ration coupons. As a result, the Xu family transferred their household registration from the countryside.

He Yuzhu also inquired and found out that Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu had both obtained Beijing residency. In the past, married daughters were not entitled to inherit land from their maternal family; it was all passed down to their sons.

We had to wait until 1958 for the communal dining system to be implemented!

More than four months after their marriage, He Yuzhu and his wife finally announced that they were expecting a child. All their relatives and friends were overjoyed, especially their closest relatives, who came to visit one by one, hiding in the house to whisper to Xu Huizhen, sharing some knowledge about pregnancy with her, and especially advising her that the couple should not have intercourse for the first three months.

However, the news was kept secret. There is a tradition in the capital that when a woman is pregnant, she is not made public. Only a small number of people know about it, and outsiders are not informed.

He Yuzhu was experiencing both pain and joy every day. He was happy that he was finally pregnant, but he was also suffering because he still had to sleep in a single bed every day.

The greatest pain in life is being unable to sleep while having a young and beautiful wife by your side.

After Xu Damao obtained the photo and address of the White Widow from He Yuzhu, he couldn't figure out how to proceed. On Sunday, he went to the prison to visit Xu Wude.

The father and son wept for a while, and then Xu Damao told the story of how the widow Bai had given birth to two sons for Yi Zhonghai.

"What? Old Yi can do something like this?"

"Yeah, I didn't believe it at first either, but Sha Zhu even showed me the photos and gave me the White Widow's address."

Xu Wude thought for a moment and said, "Shazhu must be angry. After all, He Daqing ran away with the White Widow and raised his son for two years. This is probably true."

Xu Damao was young and didn't know how to handle things in a way that would annoy Yi Zhonghai without him taking his anger out on him, since he would still have to get 30 yuan from Yi Zhonghai every month.

"Yes, Father, but what do you suggest we do about this?"

"You've actually misunderstood this. We'll just pretend we don't know that Widow Bai gave birth to Yi Zhonghai's son. We'll just lure Widow Bai over to annoy He Daqing. That way, Yi Zhonghai won't be able to blame you."

Xu Damao asked, "But wouldn't that offend Sha Zhu?"

Now that Xu Wood is in jail, Xu Damao doesn't want to offend Sha Zhu again. After all, if he brings the White Widow over, he doesn't know if Sha Zhu will be angry.

"This isn't a big problem. If Widow Bai really takes her son into the courtyard house, the fact that those two boys look like Yi Zhonghai won't be a secret anymore. At that point, no one will care about Sha Zhu anymore; everyone will be talking about Yi Zhonghai having two illegitimate children."

Xu Damao thought about it and agreed. If it really came to that, this matter wouldn't have much to do with He Daqing; the one most affected would be Yi Zhonghai.

At most, it revealed that He Daqing had raised Yi Zhonghai's illegitimate child for two years, but he also slept with Yi Zhonghai's young wife. So, in a way, He Daqing didn't lose out; on the contrary, he cuckolded Yi Zhonghai.

The father and son discussed their plans for a while, and then it was time for the visit. Xu Wude instructed, "Be careful in your actions, and don't give yourself away."

Having mastered his father's skills, Xu Damao returned and began to implement his plan.

Xu Damao waited and waited for a week without any news. He thought the plan had failed, but little did he know that a pleasant surprise was yet to come.

That evening, a mother and her two children arrived outside the courtyard. They were all dressed in old clothes covered in patches, looking travel-worn and carrying tattered luggage, looking quite disheveled.

The white widow stood outside, looking at the address of No. 95 Nanluoguxiang, filled with mixed emotions. She really didn't want to come, but she couldn't make ends meet right now. After receiving the letter, she thought about it for two days and decided to come back.

Seeing his mother like this, the eldest son, Bai Wending, said, "Mother, do you think that man surnamed He would be so kind as to take care of us again? Aren't you afraid of his stupid son?"

The second brother, Bai Wensheng, also said, "That's right. We can't beat him. If he makes a scene, we'll be the ones who suffer."

“Listen to me, you two. Before we came here, I told you that once you went in, you had to obediently apologize to your brother and get your father to forgive you. That way, we could live in the capital and never go back to Baocheng.”

When He Daqing was in Baocheng, he supported his family. None of the three of them had jobs. After He Daqing left, they lost their source of income and could only rely on Yi Zhonghai for help.

Although Yi Zhonghai is wealthy, it would be difficult for him to get the money out of Aunt Yi without her knowledge, as the amount he gives her each month is not much.

Widow Bai had no choice but to take odd jobs to support her family. When she received the letter, it said that He Daqing was not doing well after returning and wanted to reconcile with Widow Bai and have the three of them come to the capital to live together.

Of course, He Daqing couldn't read. There were just too many illiterate people these days. There were even letter writers on the street who wrote letters for others. So when the widow received the letter, she couldn't tell whether it was written by He Daqing or not. After thinking it over, she decided to come over and talk to He Daqing to clarify things.

Upon arriving at the courtyard house, Widow Bai hesitated to go inside. After all, Yi Zhonghai and his wife still lived there, and it would be quite awkward to run into them. Moreover, He Daqing's workplace wasn't listed on the letter, so she could only wait outside the courtyard house.

Just then, Yan Bugui came out to take out the trash. Seeing the three people standing outside the gate, he asked, "Whose relatives are you?"