Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 149

Before we knew it, the weather was getting colder and colder, and winter arrived in 52.

He Yuzhu's vegetable business is also booming.

Every day, hundreds of kilograms of vegetables were almost entirely bought up by restaurants and eateries. He Yuzhu stayed at the stall every day, because he couldn't hand over this business to others. He had to take the vegetables out of his spatial storage every day.

Only by making it yourself can you conceal the origin of the green vegetables.

The shop is right next to Chen Xueru's, which is a good thing for Chen Xueru, as she can buy fresh vegetables every day.

After the old man passed away, Chen Xueru took over all of the Chen family's businesses. Fortunately, she had prior experience and managed to make the silk business thrive.

"Boss He, I'm here to buy groceries again."

Chen Xueru lifted the curtain and came in, greeting everyone with a smile.

"You've arrived, please have a seat."

He Yuzhu was somewhat helpless; Chen Xueru was just too enthusiastic.

I come here every morning to check in and buy some straight cucumbers or plump, juicy eggplants.

Chen Xueru didn't stand on ceremony, sat down and poured herself some hot tea, then chatted idly with He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu asked, "You mainly deal in silk, could you help me get a batch of ordinary cloth?"

"Sure, although that's not my main business, I still have quite a few connections. What, you want to get into the fabric business?"

"Don't ask about this. Just prepare some cotton fabric in various colors for me, and also some cotton."

“Sure, no problem. I’ll call them when I get back and ask them to send it over as soon as possible. It should take three to five days at most.”

He Yuzhu said, "When it's delivered, just store it here with me."

He Yuzhu had also bought some fabrics and cotton before, but in relatively small quantities.

He Yuzhu can earn several hundred yuan a day now, which is almost all pure profit, so he is thinking of exchanging this money for grain and cloth.

After all, we can't just store grain and meat; cloth will also be a major item in the future.

After the cloth rationing system was implemented, a normal person only had 20 feet of cloth rations per year, which wasn't even enough to make a set of clothes.

In difficult times, when the land is only a few feet deep, you can only wear old clothes every day.

So there's a saying that goes, "New for three years, old for three years, and patched up for another three years."

After the father wore the jacket, he gave it to his eldest son, and then it was passed down to his younger siblings one by one.

Many of the younger children never wore new clothes, even as adults.

This shows the predicament of the fabric industry. Cotton is in the same predicament as the fabric industry, which is essential for keeping warm in winter. He Yuzhu took this opportunity to prepare more.

With daily income so high, He Yuzhu doesn't plan to save much of his money; he wants to exchange it for various supplies as soon as possible to prepare for the decades to come when paper bills are issued.

Chen Xueru sat down and played for a long time until the shop assistants came to find her, and only then did she reluctantly get up and leave.

A few days later, the first batch of fabric and cotton was delivered. As previously agreed, Chen Xueru used the excuse of insufficient warehouse space to have the unloading crew unload the goods in the warehouse behind He Yuzhu's shop.

In the blink of an eye, it was spring of 53.

Rumors are circulating in the market that the military control commission will soon be abolished and neighborhood committees and streets will be established.

Right now, it's the lean season between harvests. The old grain has been almost used up, but the new grain won't be available for a while.

Suddenly, all the grain stores in the market raised grain prices again overnight.

The phenomenon of first limiting sales, then gradually increasing prices, and then queuing up to buy them has reappeared.

As soon as the problem emerged, the Military Control Commission immediately took measures, mobilizing a large amount of grain from various places for emergency response.

Before these unscrupulous merchants could react, large quantities of affordable grain were readily available on the market.

Subsequently, a large number of grain store owners were arrested, and they confessed to a group of enemy agents and traitors hidden among the people.

The turmoil subsided quickly, and the authorities subsequently issued a notice prohibiting ordinary people from engaging in long-distance grain transportation and to implement unified purchase and sale of grain to fundamentally solve the grain shortage problem.

Ordinary people are not allowed to engage in the wholesale grain business, and the number of public grain stores is gradually increasing.

This laid the groundwork for the early implementation of grain coupons.

He Yuzhu didn't participate in this commotion. Anyway, he had plenty of grain in his warehouse and was too lazy to earn such a meager profit.

He Yuzhu was busy in the shop that day when He Daqing came in and said with a smile, "Zhuzi, I have some good news for you."

"What's the good news?"

He Daqing said somewhat embarrassedly, "Zhuzi, Yuping is pregnant."

"Really? That's great!" He Yuzhu was also very happy.

I really hope I can have a son, so I won't have to worry about He Daqing's retirement.

The youngest son will take care of everything then.

He Yuzhu also wondered if he should let the child become Yi Zhonghai's apprentice and learn his old traditions of respecting the elderly and caring for the young.

Then I can wholeheartedly care for He Daqing in his old age.

He Daqing said, "She hasn't been eating well these past two days. Today I took her to the hospital for a checkup, and they confirmed she's pregnant."

"Then you must take good care of her recently, and make sure she rests and recuperates properly. It's really rare to have a child in your old age."

"I'm not old, stop talking nonsense. I'm planning to have more children."

The two chatted about children for a while, and then He Yuzhu said, "Since there's good news, I'll bring some nutritional supplements home tonight."

"Ok."

He Daqing came to inform He Yuzhu today with this intention.

Since getting married, He Yuzhu has rarely returned to the courtyard house.

Even if there's something to discuss, they always go to the restaurant where they work to talk about it.

I have never gone back on my own initiative.

I feel like I've grown distant from He Yuzhu, as if he's not my son.

He Yuzhu brought malted milk powder, milk powder, and biscuits into the courtyard early in the evening. As soon as he arrived at the middle courtyard, he saw Qin Huairu walking around with her pregnant belly.

Seeing her pretty face looking a little silly, I couldn't help but ask, "Qin Huairu, are you pregnant again?"

"Yes, it's really rare to see you back in the courtyard house, He Yuzhu."

Qin Huairu said politely.

Jia Dongxu was released from prison before the Lunar New Year, and this time he has been much more well-behaved.

He Yuzhu only came back to see Qin Huairu once during the New Year's Eve dinner. He didn't expect that Qin Huairu's belly would swell up after only a few days.

Judging from this month, she should be able to give birth this year. Based on the timeline, this should be a baby boy, who will be able to start sixth grade in 65.

"Qin Huairu, you come back here." Jia Dongxu was standing in front of his house at some point, his face grim.

Qin Huairu said "Oh," lowered her head, took small steps, and then entered the west wing.

With a bang, Jia Dongxu slammed the door shut.

He Yuzhu just smiled, not expecting that Jia Dongxu was still angry.

If he dares to cause trouble again next time, He Yuzhu wouldn't mind sending Jia Dongxu to the palace for the third time.

Then he carried his things into the main room, where He Daqing and his wife were both there.

"Since you're already here, why bring so much stuff?" Wen Yuping said politely.

"Of course, you're adding branches and leaves to the He family, so you should be given more nourishment."

“I have enough nutrition,” Wen Yuping said.

"Since the pillar has been delivered, let's accept it. There's no need to be so polite," He Daqing said. "It's his kind gesture."

Wen Yuping was somewhat troubled, not because He Yuzhu was unfilial, but rather because he was too filial.

Although he doesn't usually come over, He Yuzhu would regularly arrange for Xiangcao to be delivered to him for food.

Even in the dead of winter, expensive vegetables like cucumbers and tomatoes are delivered here every few days.

Not to mention braised meat, there's as much as you can get; you have to eat as much as you can to finish it all.

This has led to my weight suddenly ballooning from around 80 pounds to over 100 pounds, and I feel increasingly obese lately.

"Then send less meat, I can't eat any more," Wen Yuping instructed.

He Yuzhu nodded. Since Wen Yuping was pregnant, she really shouldn't eat too much meat in the future.

At that time, production technology was not advanced, and many women gave birth at home.

If the baby is too heavy, it will be more difficult to give birth and there is a higher risk of accidents.

He Yuzhu stayed for dinner. He Daqing's cooking skills had indeed improved a lot, and He Yushui also said that it tasted much better than before, but it was still not as good as her brother's cooking.

He Daqing was both angry and amused; this kid was always undermining him.

The next day, He Yuzhu went back to work and arranged for Xiangcao to adjust the quantity of vegetables delivered, reduce the amount of braised meat, and lower the frequency.

Then she said, "Sister Vanilla, when are you and Dayong going to get married? I've already prepared all the furniture; it can't just sit there collecting dust."

Vanilla blushed and said shyly, "I'd like to talk about it in a couple of days, maybe next month."