Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 146

Helping Aunt Yi to the door, I first looked around and saw that the west-facing house was tightly closed, and there was no one in the yard.

He Daqing then helped Aunt Yi to the east wing.

The person was sent back at night, but He Daqing sneaked out of the east wing before dawn the next morning.

"How exciting! This is Yi Zhonghai's wife."

He Daqing was very pleased with himself. "You, Yi Zhonghai, schemed against me. Today I've finally gotten my revenge."

He Yuzhu found He Daqing and then resumed his normal routine.

Every day, he personally makes braised meat, then visits several shops, and spends the rest of his time either practicing calligraphy or crafting furniture.

In the evening, I would linger at the stalls on Yandaixie Street, chatting with the stall owners about gossip and appraising their antiques.

In reality, they are all only half-baked, after all, they lack formal education and knowledge, and they rely on only a little experience to work in this industry, so it is easy for them to make mistakes.

He Yuzhu was enthusiastic and eager to learn, and soon acquired solid knowledge of antiques, which also established his prestige among them.

This also led them to seek He Yuzhu's opinion when they received some good goods but were unsure about them.

In this way, He Yuzhu was able to come into contact with a large number of antiques of all types, and he also bought quite a few items along the way.

After all, the chaos of war has just ended, and ordinary people are struggling to make ends meet. Prices in the antique market are relatively low, and few people have the financial means to collect antiques.

He Yuzhu was not short of money, and with this advantage, he quickly became a well-known collector.

Many people wanted to make a sale, so they brought good items to He Yuzhu for advice.

Ask him to assess the market; if the price is right, sell it directly to He Yuzhu.

He Daqing and Aunt Yi had an accident. Afterwards, Aunt Yi secretly got together with He Daqing twice more. Unfortunately, when Yi Zhonghai returned from his business trip, the two never had another chance.

That day, He Yuzhu was in his shop on Qianmen Street, arranging for his employees to rearrange the space of one of the vacated rooms.

Then move out the shelves, counters, and vegetable cutting boards that have already been set up at the back.

Just as he was busy, Chen Xueru came in from outside and, seeing the worker busily engaged in his task, asked, "What are you doing? Have you changed careers?"

"You can say I want to change careers, I'm thinking of selling vegetables."

"Selling vegetables? Aren't you a wholesaler of braised meat?"

“I have a lot of customers who have pre-ordered vegetables in Sijiqing. It’s already winter, and the vegetables in the greenhouse will be ready for harvest soon. I’ve set aside a space here mainly to sell off-season vegetables and fruits.”

Chen Xueru was surprised: "You have this kind of connection?"

Currently, due to technological limitations, although vegetables are available in winter, the quantity is not large. In order to sell them in time, they send the vegetables to large restaurants and institutions.

Ordinary people don't need much of it and can only eat it occasionally, so it's rare to be able to buy it if you want to.

He Yuzhu's space contained over 5000 kilograms of vegetables and fruits, including tomatoes, cucumbers, greens, grapes, and apples.

As for why there are only a few thousand kilograms, the main reason is the concern that the market cannot absorb them.

After all, market capacity is limited. Even if tens of thousands of kilograms can be stored, it won't work if they can't be sold later.

He Yuzhu said, "I did this business for a while last year and it was quite successful, so I ordered more vegetables this year."

In the fall, He Yuzhu actually went to the Sijiqing Commune to take a look. They were also planning to expand their production capacity. They hadn't been incorporated into the commune yet, and each customer was producing their own vegetables. So He Yuzhu also ordered some vegetables from a few households.

This way, the source is clearly identified, and then you can release some more from your own space without arousing suspicion.

He Yuzhu briefly explained his business, but of course, he couldn't mention that he had a large amount of goods stored in his space.

"Okay, I'll buy my groceries from you then. You have to give me a discount, otherwise I really can't afford it."

"You're too modest. Mr. Chen's family is so wealthy and powerful, how could he not afford vegetables?" He Yuzhu said with a smile.

Chen Xueru rolled her eyes and said, "Even if you have a big family and a wealthy business, you still can't afford vegetables that cost one yuan per kilogram."

"Okay, I'll calculate the wholesale price for you later."

The vegetables were only two or three cents when I bought them, but I can sell them for a dollar a pound, making a profit of dozens of times.

As the two were talking, the storefront was set up, but the delivery person would not deliver the first batch of vegetables until the next day.

Suddenly the curtain was lifted and a cold wind blew in.

The matchmaker, Zhou, then came in.

Chen Xueru was very surprised. Then she thought that He Yuzhu wanted to get married, and her heart immediately sank.

Although she is still a virgin, she was married before and had a wedding banquet. She had also consulted a matchmaker beforehand.

Someone like Chen Xueru could easily find another man, but the men she'd be with wouldn't be very good.

Chen Xueru didn't find any suitable men attractive, so the matter was left unresolved.

"Since you have guests, I'll head back now."

Chen Xueru didn't want to stay here any longer; listening to other people's happy news would only make her more upset.

"That's good. There will be fresh vegetables tomorrow. Don't forget."

"Okay, I'll come back tomorrow morning." Chen Xueru left those words and turned to leave the house.

He Yuzhu invited Zhou, the matchmaker, to sit down in the back room, and then the waiter brought tea.

Matchmaker Zhou asked first, "Mr. He, am I too late?"

This was because they were worried that He Daqing had already found someone suitable, and that they would be one step behind this time.

"It's not too late, have you found the right one?"

"Yes, I've been going to the countryside every day these past few days, and finally I found a family that agreed to this marriage."

"If there are no problems, I will arrange for the old man to meet with the other party?"

"Sure, no problem. What's their family situation?"

Matchmaker Zhou said, "This is a good girl. She lives in Balipu and is the eldest child in her family. However, her family is poor, and her younger brothers don't have the money to get married."

"So their family is asking for a high dowry. They want to use the older sister's dowry to help her younger brother get married. They've introduced her to a few men before, but none of them agreed. This girl has been dragging her feet until she's 20. She'll be 21 by the New Year, and it's really hard for her to find a partner in the countryside."

He Yuzhu nodded. He had already guessed that families with a bit of wealth would definitely not agree to this kind of marriage.

After all, He Daqing is already in his thirties. If he were to find a girl who is eighteen or nineteen years old, He Daqing would be about the same age as his father-in-law.

If nothing unexpected happens, he might even be older than his father-in-law.

Therefore, only girls from relatively poor families, who have never mentioned that their future in-laws are older, will agree to such a marriage.

After all, girls these days start getting engaged when they're fourteen or fifteen, and by the time the marriage is settled and the wedding is being planned, they're already sixteen or seventeen.

In rural areas, it's very difficult to find unmarried girls over 18 years old.

The other person is over 20 years old, and will be 21 after the New Year. Not to mention in the countryside, even in the city, she would be considered an old maid.

However, if she were to marry He Daqing at this age, she would indeed still be a tender young girl.

"Great, this family seems fine. What's the person like?"

Matchmaker Zhou said with a smile, "This girl is called Wen Yuping. Don't let her age fool you, she's very beautiful. She's a famous beauty in the area. It's just that her family is poor and can't afford a dowry, so she can't get married."

At this time, there were more girls than men, and it was the poorer girls who found it difficult to find husbands.

Especially since Wen Yuping has several younger brothers, ordinary families simply don't want to marry into her family, to avoid having to pay too much in the future and becoming a burden to themselves.

But these things were no big deal to He Daqing.

He Yuzhu let him do whatever he wanted.

Matchmaker Zhou said, "This girl is very capable at housework, handling everything inside and outside the house. If it weren't for her younger brother needing money for his wedding, it wouldn't have taken so long."

"But don't worry, her father said that as long as the betrothal gift is 100 yuan, you don't need to worry about her younger brother afterward."

"They just agreed right away? We haven't even met the person yet."

Matchmaker Zhou said with a smile, "They have no objections, as long as the betrothal gifts are in place."

He Yuzhu now understood that the other party was only after the betrothal gifts; as long as the gifts were sufficient, that was all that mattered.

"Alright, then arrange a meeting. As long as my father has no objections and he likes it, I have no objections either."

Hearing He Yuzhu's words, Zhou the matchmaker was very happy and said, "Don't worry, I won't talk about such things carelessly. You can ask around and find out. My reputation is the best in Qianmen."

He Yuzhu said, "Then I'll have to trouble you with this matter. If things go well, I'll invite you to my wedding banquet. I definitely won't treat you unfairly."

Matchmaker Zhou said, "How about we arrange to meet tomorrow?"

"Okay, just bring the girl over tomorrow morning."

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

"Take care, Aunt Zhou."

When He Yuzhu returned to the courtyard house that evening, he cooked a meal while discussing their meeting the next morning.

He Daqing was overjoyed, then felt a little bitter. A couple of days ago, he had lost control of his lower body and hooked up with Aunt Yi.

It's time to end things with her.

"Get ready tomorrow morning and go to that shop on Qianmen Street. If you find one you like, get married before New Year's Day. After the wedding, go back to the courtyard house to live. Otherwise, the people in the courtyard house will ruin things again."

He Daqing paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

Thinking about it, I'm already 37 years old, and it's really embarrassing to date a girl in her early 20s.