Siheyuan: Starting from the driver

Chapter 668 Kuihua, born at a young age, is an eighth-grade worker.
The first day of April.

April Fools' Day.

This is a special holiday, and many people in China celebrate it, especially elementary school students who tend to have a lot of fun with it.

For example: "Teacher, the principal wants to see you."

"Teacher, you've been expelled."

Of course, the teacher would retort: ​​"Class, today's exam? Oh? Do you think I'm joking? Sit down and get ready for the exam!"

The students were wailing all over the place.

April Fools' Day was not introduced to China from the West, but is a traditional Chinese festival that has existed since ancient times.

According to historical records, China already had a custom similar to April Fools' Day as early as the pre-Qin period.

There are clear records from the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it was fixed on April 1st during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

The custom of celebrating April Fool's Day has been practiced in China for about two thousand years.

Of course, most importantly, there is still no holiday on this day.

Closer to home.

Jia family.

Qin Huairu touched her bulging belly and walked slowly. Her due date was approaching, just a few days away.

"My child, my child, you must be a boy, you know? You must be a boy."

As Qin Huairu touched the baby, she whispered her hopes that the child in her belly was Jia Dongxu's posthumous child.

Qin Huairu's hope that the child in her belly is a boy is even more intense than when she was pregnant with Bang Geng.

Banggeng has already corrupted Jia Zhangshi. This child is her and Jia Dongxu's last hope, and the future of this family rests entirely on this child's shoulders.

Looking at Qin Huairu's belly, Jia Zhangshi muttered softly, hoping it was a boy.

The same was true of an older woman not far away. In the last half month or so, she and Yi Zhonghai had been taking care of Qin Huairu, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

They didn't use the meat ration coupons from March; they gave them all to the Jia family and to Qin Huairu to supplement her nutrition.

"Ouch." Suddenly, Qin Huairu frowned, clutched her stomach, and squatted down, her body involuntarily leaning against the wall.

"What's wrong? Is she about to give birth?" Madam Jia Zhang hurriedly dropped what she was holding and rushed over.

"Mom, I think I'm going into labor," Qin Huairu gasped for breath.

"Hey everyone, come lend a hand, it's an old lady!" Jia Zhangshi hurriedly shouted.

"Coming! Coming!" An older woman rushed over upon hearing the call.

"Everyone, come and lend a hand, Xiao Qin is about to give birth."

An older woman rallied the other women, who also knew Qin Huairu was about to give birth, and they immediately rushed over to help.

If Jia Dongxu were here, Qin Huairu would have been in the hospital preparing for childbirth long ago. Unfortunately, he wasn't here, and Jia Zhangshi didn't want to waste money.

If it weren't for the fact that the sex of the baby in the womb was still undetermined, Jia Zhangshi would have planned to let Qin Huairu give birth at home, which would have saved more money.

Everyone was experienced and quickly got ready to take Qin Huairu to the hospital.

An older woman pointed at someone and instructed, "Go to the steel mill and help call Lao Yi and Zhuzi to the hospital."

hospital.

Madam Jia paced nervously at the entrance of the delivery room, her hands clenched tightly, muttering repeatedly, "Heavens above, this baby must be a boy."

"Old Jia, Dongxu, please pray that this is a boy."

Hearing Qin Huairu's screams from inside the delivery room, Jia Zhangshi became even more anxious.

"How is it?" Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu rushed over and looked at the old lady.

"The person just went in," the older woman said.

Compared to the Jia and Yi families' tension, the other women were curious, wanting to know whether the baby was a boy or a girl.

It has no effect on either men or women.

This is mainly because he was Jia Dongxu's posthumous child.

In the delivery room, doctors and nurses encouraged Qin Huairu: "Come on, push!"

I don’t know how long it took.

"Ah~" With a child's loud cry, Qin Huairu finally lay down on the bed with a sigh of relief.

The nurse quickly cleaned the child, looked at the child's genitals, and then looked at Qin Huairu.

He held the baby and placed it in front of her, saying, "Mother and daughter are safe."

"What?!!!"

The cold light from the incandescent bulb in the delivery room shone on Qin Huairu's pale face, and her sweat-dampened hair clung to her forehead.

When the nurse said "girl," she sat up abruptly, her fingernails digging into the sheets, the hope that had burned out in her eyes turning to ashes.

"No, no." Qin Huairu couldn't accept it. Extremely disappointed, she lay back down on the bed, muttering, "How could it be a girl? How could it be?"

At this moment, Qin Huairu felt extremely tired and heartbroken, as if her heart was bleeding. How could it be a girl?

She had been hoping for a boy for 10 months, but it turned out to be a girl.

The doctors and nurses exchanged glances, understanding the reason behind her condition. They remained silent and went about packing up their equipment.

After tidying up, the nurse wheeled Qin Huairu out of the delivery room.

"Doctor, how is it? Is it a boy?" Jia Zhangshi rushed forward and asked impatiently.

"Mother and daughter are safe."

"What!" Madam Jia exclaimed in disbelief, her face changing drastically the moment she lifted the swaddling clothes: "Another money-losing child! If I had known it was a girl, I should have aborted it in the first place!"

"Qin Huairu, what's wrong with you? I took care of you for 10 months, and you only gave birth to a girl?"

At this moment, Jia Zhangshi revealed her suppressed true colors.

"This is Dongxu's child! What good is it if you give birth to a girl?! If I had known you were having a girl, I would have made you abort it!"

"I take care of you so diligently every day, and you don't have to do anything! This is how you get back at me?! Ah!!!"

Jia Zhangshi hurled a string of foul language, her words like needles piercing the weakened Qin Huairu.

The women found it grating, but none of them spoke up for Qin Huairu.

Even if passersby heard it, no one said anything to stop it.

"Tsk tsk tsk, life is already hard enough, and to make matters worse, she had a girl. If it were me, I would have scolded her too."

"Yes, if we had known it was a girl earlier, we would have aborted it when we first got pregnant, to save food."

Everyone was talking at once, and even the doctors and nurses, who were used to it, found it hard to stand it at this moment.

They didn't say anything, they just helped take Qin Huairu to her ward to rest.

"Family member, please remember to pay the fees." The doctor said before leaving.

When Jia Zhangshi heard the word "payment," her cheekbones bulged, and her eyes, glaring at the ward, seemed to be filled with venom: "She gave birth to a girl and still wants to spend the Jia family's money?"

The doctor didn't say anything.

The older woman and Yi Zhonghai looked at each other in bewilderment, and in the end, it was Yi Zhonghai who went to pay the money.

Only when Yi Zhonghai silently walked towards the payment counter did Jia Zhangshi snort and shut her mouth, coldly watching Qin Huairu being pushed into the ward, her arms crossed and not moving an inch.

Once in the ward, the nurse helped settle in and then looked at Qin Huairu: "Have you decided what to get for the baby?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Huairu turned to look at the girl, her eyes filled with a mixture of disdain and delight, but she turned away again after only two seconds.

My unfocused gaze drifted to the window, where a locust tree was shedding its blossoms in the wind, their white petals falling like fine snowflakes onto the window frame.

If you breathe gently, you can smell a faint, pleasant fragrance.

"Ashamed Flower".

The nurse didn't hear Qin Huairu's soft voice: "Huh?"

“Kuihua. Jia Kuihua.” Qin Huairu uttered three words as if she had used up her last bit of strength.

"Jia Kuihua." The nurse looked at the Kuihua flower outside the window and guessed that Qin Huairu was disappointed in the girl and had just given her a name.

Fortunately, the name was not bad either, meaning purity, resilience and peace, so it was recorded as is.

"Get some rest." With that, the nurse left the ward.

At this moment, an older woman and other women followed her in to see Qin Huairu. "Little Qin, you should rest well and not worry about anything else," the older woman comforted her.

"Yes, you've just passed away. It's important to recover. Don't think too much," the third aunt advised.

The other women also offered words of comfort, and seeing that Jia Dongxu's posthumous child was a girl, they felt sorry for Qin Huairu.

If it were a boy, Qin Huairu could at least give Jia Dongxu an explanation.

At this moment, Madam Jia Zhang had no choice but to come in. Looking at Kuihua, she became more and more disgusted. "What a waste of my money, and she gave birth to another money-losing brat! Really!"

Jia Zhangshi really wanted to say that she would stop taking care of him, but she didn't dare to say it, for fear that something really happened to him and then the burden of the whole family would fall on her shoulders.

The old woman could tell what Jia Zhangshi was thinking just by looking at her sour face.

Looking at Qin Huairu, she comforted her, "Little Qin, you should rest well. I'll take good care of you here. Don't think too much."

"Thank you, ma'am." Qin Huairu felt a surge of gratitude.

"Hmph!" Madam Jia snorted with a dark face. She was glad that someone was taking care of her and she could relax.

"You need to rest well after giving birth, and you need to go back to work and earn money as soon as you finish your postpartum confinement."

"Alright, I have something to do, so I'll be going now. Take care of yourself."

After saying that, Jia Zhangshi turned and left without looking back.

Seeing Jia Zhangshi's heartless words, the ladies immediately felt indignant on behalf of Qin Huairu.

"How can there be such a mother-in-law? Xiao Qin just gave birth and she went to work with him. I've never seen such a person before."

"That's right, if you're in such a rush to get to work, why don't you go home when you have family and work to do?"

"You're so lazy every day. Xiao Qin, don't argue with your mother-in-law. Let's get some rest. We can't let our health suffer. We have a long life ahead of us."

With everyone's comforting words, Qin Huairu felt much better.

Seeing Qin Huairu's eyelids trembling, an older woman said, "Alright, Qin just gave birth, so let's not disturb her and let her rest."

"I'll stay here to take care of Xiao Qin, everyone else should go back first."

An older woman spoke first, and everyone said a few final words before leaving in unison.

Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu didn't say much and followed suit.

An older woman said softly, "Xiao Qin, go to sleep. I'll watch over things here."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Don't mention it, go to sleep."

Qin Huairu's eyes trembled, and she glanced at Kuihua one last time.

If it had been a boy, the future of the Jia family would have depended on him. Now that it's a girl, the future of the Jia family really rests entirely on Banggeng's shoulders.

However, Bang Geng has already been corrupted by Jia Zhangshi, and it's unclear whether it can be corrected.

"Sigh~" With a helpless sigh, Qin Huairu drifted off to sleep.

On their way back, a group of women also spoke out in defense of Qin Huairu.

"I've never seen a mother-in-law like this before. This Jia Zhangshi is useless herself, and she blames Xiao Qin. What kind of mother-in-law is she?"

"Yes, Xiao Qin just gave birth, and she's already saying things like that. She's not a good mother-in-law at all."

"She herself is incompetent, and she only gave birth to one Jia Dongxu in her whole life. At least Xiao Qin gave birth to three, contributing to the Jia family."

They only calmed down once they reached the courtyard.

When everyone in the courtyard returned from get off work, they learned that Qin Huairu had given birth to a girl, and there was a wave of sighs.

"I never expected that Qin Huairu would give birth to a girl. Judging from how much Jia Zhangshi doted on her, I thought it was a boy. I wonder how Jia Zhangshi will treat Qin Huairu after she finishes her postpartum confinement."

"Poor thing, having a daughter means life won't be easy from now on."

"Not necessarily. With the birth of a child, the Jia family can earn an extra 8 catties of grain per month, and can also buy 1 catty of milk powder and 2 liang of Cuban sugar every month. Their lives are not bad."

"Really? There's such a good thing?"

"A good thing? If you knew this was good, would you still have the baby?"

"No birth, no birth."

The crowd chatted amongst themselves.

When the old woman returned to the courtyard, she knew that Jia Zhangshi didn't want to take care of Qin Huairu. She didn't even have time to eat herself, so she cooked a meal for Qin Huairu and sent it over.

"You worthless good-for-nothing!" Madam Jia looked at Xiao Dang and grew angrier the more she looked.

Xiao Dang knew that her mother had given birth to a younger sister, otherwise why would Jia Zhangshi have said such things to her as soon as she came back, scaring her so much that she stayed under the covers all day.

Madam Jia turned to her grandson with a beaming smile: "Bang Geng, eat more, eat more and grow up quickly so you can be the head of the household in the future."

"Mmm!" Banggeng ate with great joy, wolfing down her food without feeling embarrassed at all about eating her sister's dinner.

the other side.

Li Kailang excitedly returned to the courtyard.

"Finally, I've been promoted to Level 7 worker!"

After a month of hard work, I finally got promoted from Level 6 to Level 7.

As I carefully experienced the upgrade to Level 7, I felt that it was indeed more advanced than Level 6.

But the next moment he couldn't help but sigh: "It seems that reaching the seventh level is my bottleneck. It will probably take seven or eight years to improve further."

"It's time for an upgrade."

Having already made his decision, Li Kailang took out the only upgrade card he had.

"Upgrade to Level 7 Fitter!"

In an instant, all the skills of a Level 7 craftsman flooded into his mind, and Li Kailang's hands moved involuntarily, as if he were practicing in real life, and he eventually advanced to Level 8.

It wasn't over yet; the techniques of an eighth-level craftsman were still being transmitted through my mind.

It's a pity that the transmission stopped after a short time, but that's enough.

"It feels like I've been working diligently at the eighth-grade level for two or three years, and now I'm almost guaranteed to pass the final exam. There's absolutely no possibility of failure."

Li Kailang felt this was a complete surprise. "I originally thought it was just the transmission of level seven craftsmanship skills, but I didn't expect that even level eight craftsmanship skills would be transmitted."

Looking back on the level 8 workpieces he had made over the past few months, Li Kailang felt how immature he had been and how much room for improvement there was in his work.

"Phew~ This skill should be better than Yi Zhonghai's, haha, he has far surpassed Yi Zhonghai in just a few years. I wonder what his face will be like when he finds out."

Li Kailang couldn't help but smile: "I should keep a low profile. A 21-year-old level eight worker is astonishing if word gets out. They might even drag me into studying his slides."

"low profile!"

After a while, Li Kailang finally looked at the system panel.

【Ding! 】

The fitter (level 7) has been promoted to fitter (level 8).

Looking at the clearly displayed "Fitter (Level 8)" on the panel, Li Kailang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's a pity I didn't get the extra reward, but it doesn't matter."

Li Kailang looked into the ring and saw that there were two more blueprints hidden inside: a complete blueprint for oxygen top and bottom blowing converter steelmaking and an electric furnace steelmaking method.

"With these two blueprints, I might be able to get promoted to engineer in my first year."

After graduating from night school, Li Kailang could have become an engineer immediately upon entering a steel rolling mill, but instead, he first became a technician.

There are two ways to get promoted to engineer.

Firstly, the assessment at the steel rolling mill is still a combination of theoretical and practical assessments, but the content is more extensive and complex.

Becoming an engineer is not an easy task; some people have been working as technicians for years without passing the exam.

Secondly, those who make significant contributions are directly promoted to engineer, which eliminates the need for performance evaluation.

But making a significant contribution is not an easy task.

But for Li Kailang, who had two blueprints, passing the assessment was much easier.

"Now I'm just waiting to graduate smoothly."

For a moment, Li Kailang's anxious heart relaxed considerably.

(End of this chapter)