Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 138

He Daqing wanted to speak again, but by this time Widow Bai was furious and shouted:

"Da Qing, look what your son has done! He came over and slapped me across the face; my face is all swollen now."

As she spoke, the white widow began to cry.

He Daqing turned his head and saw a clear handprint on the white widow's face, which was swollen quite a bit.

He turned to He Yuzhu and asked, "Silly Zhu, why did you hit your Aunt Bai?"

“I don’t have a relative like the White Widow who curses you as soon as she opens the door.”

He Daqing frowned. He knew Bai Guafu's temper all too well. He had indeed met Sha Zhu before; after all, his mature face made him easy to recognize.

When the white widow suddenly saw Sha Zhu come to her door, she naturally didn't stand on ceremony and invited him into the house.

And of course, she knew her own son's personality even better; he was a complete rascal.

If you talk to him nicely, everything is easy to discuss. But if someone is cold and sarcastic and insults you in front of him, Sha Zhu will not tolerate it.

However, to resolve the current situation, He Yuzhu would have to admit his mistake; otherwise, he would not be able to live a peaceful life.

"Silly Zhu, how can you do this? He's an elder, you should apologize right now."

"Apologize? No way! What kind of elder is he? Just a widow who seduces men everywhere."

The White Widow thought that with the arrival of He Daqing, she would have a powerful backer and could teach Sha Zhu a lesson.

Unfortunately, she was wrong.

Since He Yuzhu had come, he had no intention of being polite and discussing things with them.

If He Daqing is willing to go back, let him live in his hometown. I'll move out and we won't see each other every day.

If he wasn't going back, why should he be polite to the White Widow?

The white widow was furious, not expecting Sha Zhu to still be so defiant.

"Daqing, let me tell you, if you don't subdue your son and give me an explanation today, then this matter is not over, and you can forget about having a good day."

He Daqing was in a very awkward situation. He couldn't subdue the White Widow, but he couldn't subdue Sha Zhu either.

"He Daqing, is this the kind of life you've been living since you came to Baocheng?"

He Daqing was embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

He Yuzhu said, "I thought you would be able to enjoy a life of luxury here. Widow Bai could take care of you, and you could live like a god even if you abandoned your family."

"I never expected this, I never expected that you came all the way from the capital just to help someone out and work as a servant?"

"What do you mean, 'servant'? Why are you talking so rudely?"

"What else could you be but a servant? Anyone who didn't know better would think you had a high status in the family. It seems that the White Widow hasn't given you a child in over a year?"

"No...no."

"Then what are you if not a servant? You eat your food, drink your water, and use your earnings to support someone else's son, and you're actually happy about it? It's shameful, what kind of life are you living?"

If He Yuzhu hadn't said anything, He Daqing wouldn't have thought anything was wrong.

But now that He Yuzhu has brought up the issue so clearly, He Daqing feels that he has no status in the family.

The white widow was displeased: "Stop talking nonsense. Your father is living a good life here."

He Yuzhu curled his lip in disdain and said to He Daxing, "With your skills, you could probably earn 50 yuan a month in Beijing now, right?"

“We have a few houses. We could find a young, unmarried woman in the countryside, have a child in a couple of years. That would be better than staying with this old woman.”

"Damn it, who are you calling an old woman?"

Widow Bai was furious. Sha Zhu had actually tried to persuade He Daqing to find a young, virgin in front of her.

"Aren't you old? You're over 40, aren't you? Look at all these wrinkles on your face, you've become an old lady."

The White Widow was actually only in her 30s.

However, He Yuzhu deliberately exaggerated a bit, which infuriated Widow Bai.

He cursed, "You damned little brat, who are you calling a brat?"

"I'm talking about you, you old woman. You have so many wrinkles and you're still trying to look young. I'm starting to doubt whether you can even have children."

"I'm so angry!" The white widow patted her chest, almost unable to breathe.

He couldn't win a fight, nor could he win an argument. Although He Yuzhu didn't use foul language, every word he uttered hit him where it hurt.

"The White Widow has met her match!"

"This young man is right. Earning 50 a month, it would be great to find a young, unmarried woman to marry."

"He Daqing's son really sees things clearly."

"Even if you had that kind of money, who would still want a 40-year-old woman?"

"You're not allowed to talk about Widow Bai like that! Widow Bai is perfectly fine!" Zhang Laizi quickly jumped out to retort.

"How did he end up having an affair with the White Widow?"

The discussion among the onlookers immediately veered towards Zhang Laizi and the White Widow, with many speculating that the two had been having an affair for a long time.

"Stop talking nonsense. Who would want Zhang Laizi?" Widow Bai quickly denied.

He Daqing felt a burning pain on his face.

That scoundrel Zhang was a local ruffian who used to frequent my house. Hearing the neighbors' blatant remarks, he felt like he was being cuckolded.

"Silly Zhu, stop talking, let me think about it."

He Yushui suddenly asked, "Dad, can you come back with me?"

"this..."

"Don't you dare leave, He Daqing! If you dare to leave, don't blame me for being impolite!" Widow Bai said angrily.

"Alright, I'll take them both to the guesthouse. They can't stay at home, can they?"

He Daqing knew that if things continued to escalate like this, the matter would never end properly; it would only escalate the conflict to the point of being unmanageable.

He carried the rainwater outside, and He Yuzhu could only follow.

A group of onlookers were left behind, along with the white widow and her son.

"It seems He Daqing still cares about his children. He wants a divorce and doesn't want you anymore."

Zhang Laizi added fuel to the fire, fanning the flames.

"He dares? Isn't he afraid I'll sue him?" the white widow said angrily.

"What are you going to sue him for?" Zhang Laizi asked curiously.

"I..."

The widow was speechless. She used to have leverage over He Daqing, but now that the two were married, that leverage was no longer useful.

Once they're married, the government certainly won't interfere with premarital flirting or sleeping together.

There is no reason in the world to accuse someone of rape after marriage.

He Daqing led the Du siblings to a guesthouse, then felt embarrassed as he checked his pockets.

He had no money on him at all and stood outside the guesthouse, not knowing what to do.

He Yuzhu released his spiritual power and swept it over He Daqing, immediately understanding his predicament. He couldn't help but say, "What kind of life are you living?"

He pushed open the door and went in. They booked two single rooms. There were no suites at that time, only single rooms, and it cost 5 cents a day for just one room.

He Daqing followed her in and tried to put He Yushui down, but Yushui kept clinging to him and refused to let go, so he had no choice but to sit on the bench with her still in his arms.

He Yuzhu had always had a question in his mind: why did He Daqing run away in 51? Was it because of a problem with his family background, or was he forced to flee the capital due to falsification when classifying family members?

He Daqing, on the contrary, exclaimed first: "Shazhu, look how well you've taken care of the rainwater! Did you all receive the money I sent you?"

"I received the money, but I saved it all to give to the rainwater later."

He Daqing was very surprised and was about to ask when He Yuzhu said, "After you left, Xu Damao still called me Shazhu, so I beat him up badly. Since then, no one in the whole courtyard has called me Shazhu."

These words silenced He Daqing's unspoken thoughts, and he never uttered the name "Silly Zhu" again.

He Daqing paused for a moment before saying apologetically, "Then I'll still call you Zhuzi from now on. I was just joking before, who knew that the name 'Silly Zhu' would spread."

If He Yuzhu had dared to talk to me like that when we were kids, I would have slapped him across the face and taught him a lesson.

But now He Yuzhu is tall and strong, and if he gets angry, he might even hit himself. He Daqing secretly told himself that he could not be arrogant in front of his son in the future.

He Yuzhu asked, "Is there something wrong with the ingredients in our product? Did you falsify anything when you were dividing the ingredients?"

"How could that be? Back then, it was right after liberation, and the investigations were extremely strict. If you were caught, you were in big trouble."

"Is that why our family's traditional Tan family cuisine is served?"

"That's even more impossible; the Tan family cuisine has already become famous."

He Daqing said, "I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the heritage of Tan Family Cuisine. In the earliest days, Tan Family Cuisine was an official cuisine passed down by Tan Zongjun through three generations."

Tan Zongjun was the second-place scholar in the imperial examination in the second year of the Tongzhi reign (1863), so Tan Family Cuisine is also known as the cuisine of the second-place scholar. Among the many official cuisines, Tan Family Cuisine is one of the more famous ones.

The most distinctive feature of Tan Family Cuisine is its cooking methods, which mainly rely on braising, stewing, simmering, and steaming. It excels in preparing dried goods and is skilled in using rich broths and slow-cooking seafood delicacies.

With its meticulous craftsmanship, strict ingredient selection, and delicate cooking, Tan Family Cuisine is exceptionally delicious and beloved by the people.