Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 143

“I won’t be coming back. You can stay here by yourself. Yushui can stay with your master’s wife or Huizhen. That way, we can come back to see you often, or you can go to the shop over there.”

He Daqing thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll find a new class to work in too."

Even though He Yuzhu's shop was short-staffed, He Daqing didn't want to help out at his son's shop. After all, what kind of father works for his son?

There are many things that cannot be said.

Whether the work is too much or too little, the son can't very well scold his father.

The three of them brought a lot of ingredients with them when they arrived, and after a short rest, they got to work.

This is the first time we've returned to the old house, so of course we'll have to cook a family reunion dinner.

Soon it was time to leave work. Yi Zhonghai came in from outside. Yan Bugui had just told him that He Daqing had returned.

Yi Zhonghai was filled with mixed feelings, wondering how the widow was doing with her two children.

Upon entering the courtyard, I headed straight for He Yuzhu's house. Pushing open the door, I saw the three members of the He family sitting together chatting.

"Old He, you're really back!"

"Yes, you didn't expect that, did you? I only went there for two years before coming back."

Although He Daqing had spoken very nicely before, he still felt a surge of anger in his heart when facing Yi Zhonghai.

If it weren't for Yi Zhonghai's scheming, why would I have had to travel so far away and suffer the wrath of the White Widow?

"Do you think I shouldn't have come back?"

"No, why would I think that?"

Yi Zhonghai was already extremely shocked and couldn't help but ask, "Why did you come back by yourself? Where's Xiaobai?"

After asking, I realized something was wrong; why did I use the term "Xiaobai" (meaning "newbie")?

"I found Lao Yi. Why don't you care about my well-being now that I'm back? Why are you concerned about Widow Bai instead?"

"No, don't talk nonsense. Of course I care about you. You came back on your own?"

Yi Zhonghai still wanted to find out about the White Widow.

"Yes, of course I came back on my own. I don't want the White Widow anymore."

"What? How could you do this?"

"What about me? Don't you know what the situation was like back then? So you're saying I had to support them for the rest of my life?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I was just so surprised to see you again."

He Daqing smiled and extended an invitation: "Old Yi, it's been two years since we last met. How about we grab a couple of drinks tonight?"

"Let's do it another day. I won't disturb your family reunion." Yi Zhonghai was preoccupied with his own thoughts and had no time to drink with him.

"Alright, let's have another drink another day. Let me tell you, that White Widow is not bad, but I've gotten tired of her in the last two years. It just so happened that Zhu Zi came to see me, so I came back."

When Yi Zhonghai heard He Daqing say such things, he suddenly felt that it was worse than swallowing a fly.

Do you think I don't know what it's like to be a white widow?

On the day of her wedding, the widow's husband was killed by the Japanese soldiers, and she didn't even get to enter the bridal chamber.

Then, with a little trickery, he gave her a small amount of money, and the white widow stayed with him for more than ten years.

You know better than anyone else what it's like to be a white widow.

Poor Xiaobai, and my two sons, why did you, He Daqing, come back? Wouldn't it have been better to continue raising them in Baocheng?

It's impossible to ask He Daqing what happened in between.

Yi Zhonghai secretly groaned. If Xiao Bai wasn't doing well over there, she might come back looking for him. What would he do then?

With so many things on his mind, Yi Zhonghai was in a terrible mood and had no desire to stay and drink with He Daqing.

He Daqing's sincere invitation was just to see Yi Zhonghai's distressed expression, but Yi Zhonghai kept declining. He barely managed to escape He Daqing's entanglement and come out of the house.

Instead of going back to his own home, Yi Zhonghai went straight to the backyard and then entered the old lady's house.

"Grandma, do you know? He Daqing is back."

The deaf old lady was very surprised: "What? He Daqing is back? Why would he come back when it's neither a holiday nor a festival?"

"I don't know either. He only got back this afternoon. I asked him what happened, but he wouldn't tell me."

Yi Zhonghai asked, "Do you think something unexpected might happen to Xiaobai, and she might tell He Daqing everything?"

"That's probably unlikely!"

The deaf old woman said, "Think about it. If He Daqing knew everything, would he be so quiet and not come after you?"

"It's hard to say, who knows if he has some big trick up his sleeve for me."

"This matter is a bit difficult to handle. Back then, we had Xiaobai cling to He Daqing and also send He Daqing to Baocheng. It was a brilliant plan to kill two birds with one stone. It's just a pity that Zhuzi was traumatized and became a completely different person. He's no longer obedient."

"Yeah, who knew that Sha Zhu would become a completely different person? He's no longer obedient and is full of bad ideas. All he does is swindle money from me."

Yi Zhonghai was furious just thinking about it. Ever since He Daqing left and He Yuzhu took over, he had been keeping an eye on him. Did he already know that He Daqing's departure was his doing and that's why he plotted against him?

He took advantage of several opportunities to squander all his family's wealth.

The family had no savings left, and Jia Dongxu had been imprisoned twice.

"Grandma, don't count on Sha Zhu anymore. He's an ungrateful wretch."

"I never thought I could be so wrong," the old lady said with great emotion.

Yi Zhonghai chose Jia Dongxu as his apprentice, intending for Jia Dongxu to support him in his old age.

However, the old lady had a different opinion. Jia Dongxu was a good person, but his family also had Jia Zhangshi.

That girl surnamed Zhang is no pushover; she only wants to take advantage of others and never wants to put in any effort.

When Yi Zhonghai gets old, if Granny Zhang is still alive, how could she possibly let her son serve Yi Zhonghai every day?

But He Yuzhu is different.

He has no mother, is honest and simple-minded, and is easily fooled. As long as you persistently instill the concept of filial piety in him, you can succeed.

He could have kept Sha Zhu under his control, but after he sent He Daqing to Baocheng, He Yuzhu was unexpectedly stimulated and his personality changed drastically.

They were directly out of their control.

Now that He Yuzhu has managed to find He Daqing without saying a word, things are in trouble.

The old lady said, "I think we should give up on that silly Zhu. We should continue to win over Dongxu. I think his wife is quite filial."

Yi Zhonghai said, "That's all we can do. There's no hope for Sha Zhu's side."

When it was time for dinner, He Daqing sipped his wine, looked at the brand-new house, and was very satisfied. All he was missing now was a wife to warm the bed.

He couldn't help but say, "Zhu Zi, you can't possibly forget what you promised me."

He Yuzhu paused for a moment, then asked, "You mean your wife?"

"Yeah, you're not going to back out, are you?"

"No way, don't look for matchmakers here, or they'll break you up again if word gets back to the people in the courtyard."

"You're right. None of the matchmakers in this area can keep a secret. What if they can't find a wife and it becomes a big scandal?"

He Yuzhu said, "I'm quite familiar with the Qianmen area. How about we ask someone from there to help us find it?"

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

He Daqing knew he was getting old and it wouldn't be easy to find a virgin, so he couldn't rush things and could only search slowly.

You have to find the right one to live a comfortable life with.

He Yuzhu didn't leave today and stayed in the courtyard. The next day, he got up early, went to Yandaixie Street to prepare the ingredients for braised meat, and then brought back steamed buns and spicy soup.

He Daqing ate breakfast in the morning and then went out with the rainwater.

He Yuzhu, on the contrary, stayed at home and did not go out.

A moment later, Aunt Yi came in.

"Zhu Zi, you're home!"

"Auntie's here, please have a seat."

He Yuzhu invited Aunt Yi to sit down and then poured her a cup of hot tea.

"Auntie, is something the matter?"

He Yuzhu only interacted with Aunt Yi a few times when he was reborn. Later, he had a falling out with Yi Zhonghai, and the two rarely spoke to each other.

"Nothing much, I just wanted to come and chat with you."

He Yuzhu was secretly pleased. When he was in Baocheng, he had taken photos of the two sons of the widow Bai and thought he would show them to Aunt Yi when he got back.

I was just wondering how to get Aunt Yi to see this, and I didn't expect Aunt Yi to come to my door so quickly.

"Auntie, tell me how unreliable my dad is. How can he abandon his family and children to run off to Baocheng to support someone else's wife?"

"Yes, your father has made a mistake this time, but it's not too late. Once you find him, you can live a good life."

"I don't know if bringing him back was the right thing to do or the wrong thing, but Yushui keeps looking for his father, so I had no choice but to bring him back."

"Yes, it's all because of the rain. I see that the rain is much happier now, and there are more smiles on its face."