I am Jia Dongjin in the Siheyuan (Courtyard House)

Chapter 53 Mu Ai

Liu Guangqi was about to start school. Liu Haizhong, who doted on his eldest son, had his second aunt secretly give him money and snack coupons. Liu Guangqi went to the store and bought two catties of pastries, intending to bring them to school as a reserve food. Unexpectedly, he was caught by Qin Jingru on his way home.

In order to counter Li Guolan, Qin Jingru put on new clothes and never wanted to change back into her old clothes. The young girl was like a budding flower, full of youthful energy.

Liu Guangqi couldn't take his eyes off her after just one glance. He didn't like visiting other people's homes, so he had never met Qin Jingru before. But now that he saw her up close, he realized how beautiful the girl was.

It's only natural for young girls to have feelings of first love and for young boys to be attracted to someone.

"Comrade, are you alright?"

Despite his own pain, Liu Guangqi stepped forward to help Qin Jingru, the person who caused the accident, up.

Seeing the stranger who had bumped into her reach out to help her up, Qin Jingru quickly got up and politely declined. At this moment, Qin Huairu rushed over and hurriedly apologized on behalf of her sister, "Liu Guangqi, this is my sister. She accidentally bumped into you. I'm so sorry. Are you alright? Should we go to the hospital?"

"It's nothing, I'm perfectly healthy, nothing could happen to me. How's your sister? It's all my fault, shouldn't we take her to the hospital?"

Liu Guangqi got up too quickly and pulled on his testicle, wincing in pain. After it subsided, he asked with concern.

Bathed in the warm winter sun, the girl was as beautiful as a flower, and the boy as gentle as jade; the two pieces of jade collided. Qin Jingru was still reeling from her previous daze, unharmed, but Liu Guangqi, that piece of jade, shattered into pieces.

Qin Huairu glanced at him and immediately understood the boy's thoughts. She knew that Liu Haizhong was too picky and wouldn't like his sister, so she didn't encourage or support him. After seeing that everything was alright, she quickly turned the car around and started learning to drive herself, with Qin Jingru protecting her from behind.

Liu Guangqi picked up some snacks, walked over to Jia Dongjin, and plopped down on the threshold. After watching the two sisters learning to drive for a while, he cautiously struck up a conversation: "Brother Dongjin, is this Qin Huairu?"

"Um."

"Why isn't she going to school?"

"have no idea."

"She's quite tall, must be 18 by now?"

"have no idea."

"What's her name?"

"have no idea."

Liu Guangqi: "..."

After a long pause, Liu Guangqi handed over a bag of walnut cookies. "It was all my fault earlier. I let Qin Huairu fall. This is an apology to her. Please give it to her, Brother Dongjin."

"Um?!"

These days, snacks are rare and nutritious foods, only the elderly, children, or the sick are entitled to enjoy them. Jia Dongjin no longer pretended to be calm. He didn't want to provoke Liu Haizhong, so he could only politely decline, "It's okay, I can't accept it, really I can't. It's nothing between neighbors. Guangqi, Guangqi, don't go, take it back quickly."

Liu Guangqi abandoned his apology and ran away. Jia Dongjin had no choice but to chase him all the way to the backyard before finally delivering the snacks back to the Liu family.

This was a minor matter, and although some people in the courtyard looked strange, Jia Dongjin and his family didn't take it to heart.

Liu Guangqi is an educated person. Vocational school graduates are in high demand nowadays. After graduation, they are not only assigned jobs, but also become cadres.

Liu Haizhong placed high hopes on his eldest son, Liu Guangqi, expecting him to bring honor to the family. This can be seen from the last three characters of the phrase "Hongfu Qitian" (meaning "great fortune beyond measure") he used to name his three sons.

Liu Guangqi could never marry a country girl. Even if he wanted to, Liu Haizhong would never agree. The Jia family was self-aware. Except for Qin Jingru, who was clueless and unaware of Liu Guangqi's ulterior motives, everyone else knew the truth but pretended nothing was wrong.

Having not received any snacks, Bang Geng was clearly in low spirits, so Jia Dongjin had to find another way.

"Hey, come on, your uncle will take you to buy some mutton soup."

He had never experienced the benefits of money as much as he did now; a penny could bring his family joy.

Not far from the courtyard house, at the north entrance of the street, there is a small tavern with a dim light bulb hanging at the door. It closes very late, and you can always smell the delicious aroma of mutton when you pass by the door, making your mouth water.

In those days, few families could afford mutton at taverns, but meat soup was available for sale, costing one cent per bowl.

To replenish his body, He Yuzhu often bought mutton soup to stew with Chinese cabbage. Every time he brought the mutton soup into the courtyard, the aroma would fill the whole courtyard.

Tempted by this, Jia Dongjin also went to the tavern to buy mutton soup. The master chef scooped a spoonful of soup from the iron pot simmering with meat and poured it into a soup bowl, then casually sprinkled a few chopped green onions on top. The mutton soup, which had been mixed with various seasonings, was a dark brown color with a layer of oil floating on top. The rich aroma wafted up with the steam, a taste that he could never replicate.

"Uncle, Grandma bought tofu. Today we're having mutton soup with cabbage and tofu."

"No problem."

Every time Jia Dong went in to buy mutton soup, it was Bang Geng's happy time. Yan Jiedi, Erdan, and the others would look resentful when they smelled the aroma.

Yan Jiedi was a little better, but when Erdan came home and made a scene, Erdan's father, Liu Daneng, had no choice but to go and buy mutton soup as well.

Liu Daneng was too ashamed to ask for a dollar in compensation back then, but now that the Jia family has spent an extra dime, Erdan's mother's resentment towards the Jia family has deepened even more.

"Why is it that nothing good ever comes of running into the Jia family! I'll get my revenge sooner or later and vent my anger."

"Don't do anything reckless, you woman. I've already signed a guarantee, and Director Wang specifically warned me about it."

"Hmph, it'll happen sooner or later. Oh, the cabbage stew smells really good today, Erdan, eat more."

Erdan's mother rolled her eyes and started eating mutton soup with cabbage.

The Spring Festival holiday is over, and it will soon be time to go back to work.

Unlike Jia Dongjin's previous life, people now look forward to going to work as soon as possible. The more days they work, the more wages they earn, and the more steamed buns their children can eat.

Qin Huairu was even more eager to return home. She had been on leave for so long and was looking forward to going back to work and earning money.

Early in the morning, she got up to feed the baby, went to the public toilet outside to relieve herself, went home to wash up, eat, and take care of the baby. After squeezing out the baby's food, she hurriedly went to the front yard to meet up with Jia Dongjin.

After leaving the hospital and getting on her bicycle, Qin Huairu realized something was wrong. Looking down, she saw that there was a cotton pad tied to the back seat.

Madam Jia felt sorry for Jia Dongjin. Seeing him sitting on a cold stool repairing a radio, she made a cotton cushion for her youngest son by hand. The cushion was filled with new cotton and was specially placed in the back room to cushion the stool.

"Dongjin, this was specially made for you by your mother-in-law. What's wrong?"

Before Qin Huairu could finish speaking, Jia Dongjin said with a smile, "The car seat covers your sister-in-law made for me are quite nice, and they reminded me of something. I'm young and not afraid of the cold, but you just finished your postpartum period. It's cold now, so I'll put these on you first to prevent you from catching a cold. For Xiaodang's sake, you should wear them."

"Dongjin, thank you, sister-in-law."

"No problem, just leave the bicycle in your cafeteria. Practice a bit more in the morning, and you'll probably be able to learn it by now. You can ride it home to feed Xiaodang at noon."

At that time in Beijing, cars and sedans were still rare, and riding a bicycle on the road was not as dangerous as it would be decades later, and no one thought there was anything wrong with it.

"Um."

Qin Huairu carefully held onto the bicycle seat spring and softly agreed.

It takes nearly an hour to walk from the courtyard to the steel rolling mill, but only fifteen to twenty minutes by bicycle, so the two of them quickly arrived at the factory.

The work at the third canteen was the same old routine: washing and picking vegetables, peeling potatoes, or helping out at the pastry section. Qin Huairu was efficient. After finishing her work, she greeted Sha Zhu and went to practice driving in the open space outside the canteen.

She can ride the bike without any problem, but she panics when it's time to get off. Therefore, the focus is on learning how to get off.

After walking and stopping frequently, Qin Huairu finally practiced getting off the bus. Just as she was about to return to the canteen to work, someone walked towards her.

"Comrade, you can't learn to drive like this. I happen to be free right now, would you like me to teach you?" The speaker was a middle-aged man who looked to be under 40 years old. He was decent-looking and had a respectable appearance.

Seeing Qin Huairu politely decline, the middle-aged man hurriedly explained, "Don't be afraid. My name is Liu Hong. I'm a security officer. My monthly salary is 47 yuan. I'm 35 years old, widowed, and have three sons."

Seeing that Qin Huairu didn't respond, Liu Hong, who was prepared, quickly stepped forward to stop her, saying gently, "Qin Huairu, I've taken a liking to you. Can we talk?"

Unlike in the TV series, Qin Huairu only has two children now. Jia Zhangshi will live with her son Jia Dongjin sooner or later, so her burden is not too heavy.

Qin Huairu is only 26 years old, the prime of a woman's life. Jia Dongjin values ​​nutrition, and Qin Huairu now has a face full of collagen, making her radiant and attracting many single men from the steel mill. It's perfectly normal for them to admire her.

Liu Hong was one of Mu Aiqun's colleagues. He worked in the security department and quickly found out Qin Huairu's background. His wife had been dead for almost a year, and he had no woman at home, leading a chaotic life. Only then did he muster up the courage to approach her and strike up a conversation.

Qin Huairu was beautiful, and many people secretly admired her. At that time, most people were still reserved, and not a single one dared to approach her in public.

Approaching women in public carries significant risks, but Liu Hong, relying on his position as a security officer, harbored no ill intentions and therefore disregarded the risks.

Seeing that the other party was blocking her way, Qin Huairu couldn't help but frown.