I am Jia Dongjin in the Siheyuan (Courtyard House)

Chapter 34 Giving Birth to a Daughter

"Helping Yan Jiecheng was a terrible move. If we're talking about taking advantage of your family's decline, the Yan family will be the first, followed closely by the Liu family. The only one who won't harm you is Sha Zhu. He may be a bit simple-minded, but he's loyal and righteous. As the old saying goes, a simple-minded son can take care of you in your old age."

The deaf old lady continued to persuade him earnestly. She had always thought highly of He Yuzhu and did not believe that He Daqing would do anything wrong by daring to run back to Beijing.

"Dongjin is such a filial son. Look how good he is to the Jia family. He even paid off all their debts. Everyone in the courtyard praises him for being capable. Is being capable a fault?"

Gao Cuilan, who was in the kitchen, couldn't help but chime in.

"Cuilan, go outside and take out the trash. I need to talk to the old lady about something." Yi Zhonghai's tone was very calm, but Gao Cuilan dared not disobey and hurriedly took the trash out the door.

"Grandma, let's not talk about Sha Zhu right now. We have a long life ahead of us. Neighbors help each other out, and as an elder in the courtyard, you can't say I can't help Jia Dongjin..."

"Pay attention to the beginning and the end, don't cause any trouble. He's a clever guy. Don't be fooled by his quiet demeanor; a seemingly unassuming person can be surprisingly cunning."

"You can rest assured that I will handle things well."

Yi Zhonghai picked up his teacup and began to savor the tea, which was jasmine tea that he had gone to great lengths to obtain.

Two jasmine flowers floated in the teacup. Yi Zhonghai picked out the prettier bud and swallowed it in one gulp.

He squinted his eyes, chewed slowly, and savored the fragrance of the flower bud.

While the backyard of the central courtyard was bustling with activity, Yan Fugui's family also added a dish, similar to the Jia family's, which was a plate of dried small fish.

"Mom, you could at least fry it with some oil. It's so dry and tasteless, nothing like the crispy and fragrant dried fish from Jia's family. It's so salty it's sickening. It's a waste of all our hard work, spending all our time scooping fish out of the river with a winnowing basket." Yan Jiefang will graduate from junior high school next year. It's the time when boys are growing, and he's always thinking about eating something good.

"Snapped!"

"oops!"

After Yan Jiefang finished speaking, Yan Fugui calmly said, "Want to eat well? Fine, just give me the money, and your mother will buy it right away. Do you think oil is free? Your father's meager monthly salary has to support a family of six. It's a miracle you haven't starved to death. You want to eat well? Why don't you just eat your parents' old bones?"

The veteran's appearance stunned the entire audience.

Yan Fugui was very satisfied. He looked at the four dejected children and decided to boost their morale.

"Don't rush. After the New Year, Jiecheng will work as a temporary worker in the steel rolling mill. Jiefang can also earn money after graduating from junior high school. Our Yan family's good days are yet to come."

Seeing that morale had recovered somewhat, Yan Fugui decided to strike while the iron was hot and began to distribute the dried fish.

The Yan family's rule is to be fair, just, and transparent. Each person gets five small dried fish, but Yan Jiecheng is the eldest, so the dried fish he gets is bigger than his younger siblings.

After dividing the dried fish, they divided the pickled vegetables. The three aunties were skilled with their knives, and the pickled vegetables were all the same thickness. Each person received five pieces, no cheating. The whole family was already used to it and had no complaints.

After all the portions were distributed, Yan Fugui picked up the cornbread and carefully scraped the dried fish crumbs from the plate into the porridge bowl.

After confirming that nothing had been missed, he nodded in satisfaction and ordered everyone to begin eating.

There are no secrets that stay hidden forever.

The next day, as soon as people got off work and went home, news of the investigation into Jia Dongjin's speculation and profiteering spread throughout the courtyard, causing Jia Dongjin to secretly complain.

Everyone looked strange, secretly speculating about the identity of the whistleblower. People in the courtyard spoke 30% less than usual, but visited each other 80% more frequently than usual.

When the Jia family suddenly heard the bad news, Madam Jia Zhang was directing Qin Jingru to chop chicken feed with a "clang clang" sound. Before she could complain about Jia Dongjin concealing the crisis, Qin Jingru started complaining of a stomachache.

"Your sister-in-law is about to give birth, hurry to the hospital."

Jia Dongjin hurriedly ran to borrow the agreed-upon cart, and after a chaotic rush, he and Jia Zhangshi finally managed to take Qin Huairu to the hospital.

"It's still early, the cervix hasn't opened yet. You can all sit outside and call us if you need anything."

After a brief examination, a doctor, looking impatient, ushered the Jia family into the maternity ward corridor.

Just as Qin Huairu was about to start eating the meat buns after Jia Dongjin bought them, her stomach started acting up again, and Jia Zhangshi hurriedly went to find a doctor.

This time it was finally for real. Second pregnancies are faster than first ones. Not long after Qin Huairu was howling inside, the sound of a newborn crying came from the delivery room.

"My golden grandson was born! My hamster has a brother now, haha!"

As Jia Dongjin was marveling at how quick a woman's childbirth was, like a hen laying an egg, Jia Zhangshi burst into the delivery room with a look of ecstatic joy.

A short while later, Jia Zhangshi came out listlessly. She said sullenly, "Mom will go home first to get something to eat for Huairu. You stay here and take care of her. Jingru will come and relieve you later."

Thus, Jia Dongjin knew that he had given birth to a girl.

He gently advised, "Mom, my sister-in-law has had a hard life. This is my brother's keepsake. It's not right for you to do this."

"Mom doesn't know this yet, stop nagging!"

With Jia Zhangshi gone, Jia Dongjin had no choice but to take on the responsibility of caring for the pregnant woman.

Fortunately, he wasn't a complete naive young man. He had prepared a maternity package well in advance, with everything he needed, so Qin Huairu didn't suffer much. He even got a jar of expensive malted milk powder, which made the nurse next to her extremely envious.

"Your man truly cares for you."

These nurses do this job all day long. Qin Huairu gave birth to a girl, and they've seen far too many mothers-in-law like Jia Zhangshi.

Men are generally more rough around the edges, and a meticulous man like Jia Dongjin is a rare find these days.

Qin Huairu silently shed tears, looking pitiful enough to move anyone who saw her to tears.

Fearing that she might turn evil and unleash her vampire-like talents, Jia Dongjin quickly explained, "My brother isn't here; I'm her brother-in-law."

After serving Qin Huairu the malted milk powder, seeing that she still wanted more, Jia Dongjin remembered that she hadn't eaten, so he quickly took out the meat bun he had been carrying in his pocket.

As she ate the still-warm meat bun, Qin Huairu's tears welled up again, streaming down her face. Jia Dongjin didn't know how to wipe her tears, so he could only look to the nurse for help.

"You're being pretentious when you have meat buns to eat!"

The nurse helped wipe away the tears, but seeing that the more she wiped, the more tears she shed, and finally began to get impatient.

It wasn't until Jia Dongjin whispered the truth and she learned that Jia Dongxu had passed away that the nurse felt a pang of sadness. She quickly put on a kind face and advised, "Crying too much will make it difficult to produce milk. You can't cry for the sake of your child."

Only then did Qin Huairu stop crying.

Jia Dongjin was feeling sentimental on the side when Qin Jingru arrived with chicken soup to save the day.

"Aunt Zhang said the hen should be kept to lay eggs, but luckily Brother Dongjin left me some money so I could buy a rooster."

Qin Huairu raised her hand to stop Qin Jingru from complaining, and said gratefully to Jia Dongjin, "Dongjin, thank you. With Jingru here, you still have to go to work tomorrow, so hurry home and rest."

In the stillness of the night, Qin Jingru sat slumped on the edge of the hospital bed, her little head nodding off.

Qin Huairu was exhausted, but she had something on her mind. She only slept for a few hours, and after waking up, she couldn't fall back asleep. The three warm meat buns kept swirling in her mind.

At dawn, Qin Huairu sighed deeply, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

In this era, women are indeed resilient. Qin Huairu only stayed in the hospital for one day, and after breakfast, she returned to the courtyard house.

At the end of the year, every family had some savings, and the housewives would bring gifts to visit the Jia family.

Because of the whistleblowing, no one wanted to stay long, so they offered some words of comfort.

The Jia family was tight-lipped, and no inside information could be gleaned. The crowd gradually dispersed, but the eldest and third aunts stayed the whole time, displaying a very enthusiastic attitude.

The third aunt actually gave him two eggs. After the first aunt left, she whispered to Jia Dongjin, "Dongjin, your third uncle asked me to pass on a message to you. He said that the Yan family has a clean and upright family tradition and would never do anything immoral."