I am He Yuzhu in Siheyuan

The next morning, Yi Zhonghai went out and bought a thin-skinned coffin. Everyone in the compound went to their units to ask for leave in advance. According to Chinese tradition, wedding guests must be present even if they are not present, but funeral guests must be present.

Li Huaide came with the logistics staff and first announced the factory's decision in front of everyone in the hospital. Then he gave Qin Huairu Jia Dongxu's lunch box, food from the logistics subsidy, and 412 yuan of Jia Dongxu's compensation. Seeing that she was still pregnant, he said that she could return to work after giving birth and taking good care of the baby.

As Jia Dongxu's master and the eldest uncle in the courtyard, Yi Zhonghai first asked Jia Zhangshi to change Jia Dongxu's clothes, and then directed people to put Jia Dongxu into the coffin. The third uncle was responsible for collecting gifts, He Yuzhu was responsible for cooking, and he was buried in the afternoon. Jia Dongxu died young and was unfilial, so he was not qualified to have a funeral or a grand ceremony.

Jia Geng took care of his sister and watched everything in a daze. Although he was sensible, he was still young and did not understand much about life and death. He only knew that he had no father anymore.

At night, the Jia family was deserted after finishing everything. Only the black and white photos and white cloth hanging on the wall set off the desolation. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law sat there in a daze. Jia Zhang spoke first.

"Huairu, Dongxu is gone, and the Jia family's sky has fallen, but we still have to live. We still have Banggeng, Xiaodang, and the baby in your belly. The two of us have to support this family."

Qin Huairu nodded and was about to say something when she suddenly felt dizzy and fell on the bed. Jia Zhang hurriedly called out

"Huairu, Huairu, what's wrong with you? Banggeng, Banggeng, go to the yard and call for help. Go call your Grandpa Yi. Your mother has fainted. Hurry!"

Bang Geng quickly ran to the yard and ran directly to the door of Yi Zhonghai's house and started knocking on the door.

"Grandpa Yi, Grandpa Yi, my mother fainted, and my grandma asked me to find you."

Yi Zhonghai hurried out, and the neighbors who heard the noise also went out to see what was going on.

Yi Zhonghai walked quickly to Jia's house and saw the fainted Qin Huairu and the anxious Jia Zhangshi. He then hurried out and saw that people in the yard had already gathered around them, so he quickly gave orders.

"Zhuzi, go and pull the cart quickly. Damao, wait for Cheng Guangtian to wait for Zhuzi to pull the cart, lift Huairu on it and push it. Old sister-in-law, go get a blanket to cushion her."

He Yuzhu pulled a cart over, and Jia Zhang and other women quickly spread the quilt on the bed. The young man who had just been named carried the person on board, and someone said, "Qin Huairu is bleeding!" Jia Zhang was immediately panicked.

Yi Zhonghai shouted directly, "Quick, send him to the hospital!"

Everyone rushed to the hospital without stopping, and Yi Zhonghai immediately shouted "Doctor! Doctor! Help!"

The doctor on duty took over immediately and the nurse pushed the patient to the emergency room. Jia Zhang signed the registration form. Of course, Jia Zhang was illiterate, so she asked someone else to write it for her and then she put her fingerprints on it.

The young people took the opportunity to catch their breath and sat down outside to wait. They didn't know what was going on yet, so they didn't dare to leave without being told to do so. Of course, no one smoked. You need a ticket to buy cigarettes, and poor people who can't even afford a meal don't smoke.

The nurse came out to inform the family that Qin Huairu was about to give birth, and asked Jia Zhang to sign and put her fingerprints on the document. After putting her fingerprints on the document, Jia Zhang started to chant "Amitabha" all the time.

Qin Huairu was less than 8 months pregnant. She did not get enough nutrition at home, and coupled with the psychological stress and tossing in the past two days, she gave birth prematurely.

As the old saying goes, premature babies will survive if they are 7 years old, but in this era, premature babies generally do not survive.

At 11 o'clock in the evening, Qin Huairu gave birth. The young life still struggled to come into this world and endured the hardships she deserved.

"It's a girl, both mother and daughter are safe, but the mother is weak and the child needs observation." The nurse came out to announce.

Jia Zhang cried with joy. Now she no longer cared about the boy or girl. She put aside all the ideas of favoring sons over daughters. She only knew that if Qin Huairu died, this family would be completely ruined.

When the young people learned that Qin Huairu was fine, they said hello and rescued her. It was too late today, and as people in the courtyard, they had done what they should do.

The next morning, Jia Dongxu's death did not affect the production of the steel mill. Everyone went to work and ate as usual. Perhaps in the next day, no one would mention Jia Dongxu.

At noon, in the kitchen of the steel mill,

"Zhuzi, Zhuzi, come out for a moment." Yi Zhonghai called He Yuzhu at the kitchen door.

"Uncle, what's wrong? Is there anything wrong?" He Yuzhu walked out and asked in confusion.

Yi Zhonghai took out 5 yuan from his pocket and said to him

"Zhu Zi, I know you are capable and have connections. Please help me stew a chicken after work. Your sister-in-law Dong Xu just gave birth and needs nutrition. You know the situation of her family. Now you can't buy anything without a ticket. Take this 5 yuan and help me stew a chicken to save the business."

He Yuzhu took the money and said

"Uncle, I'll find someone to do it after get off work, but I'll have to rely on Auntie to stew it. As you know, I have a lot of things to do at home. So, I'll bring the chicken directly to your house when the time comes. What do you think?"

"Okay, let's put it this way. I'm going to work first."

At night, He Yuzhu grabbed an old hen from the space, which weighed about 5 or 6 kilograms, and secretly sent it to Yi Zhonghai, and then told him

"Grandpa, hurry up and take this! This is the last old hen. My friend can't get anything else in the countryside now, so he got this last time and is raising it. Look, it's already 5 or 6 kilograms."

"Yes, indeed. Is the money enough? If not, I'll add some more."

"No, it's just a neighbor. That's it. I'm leaving now."

Time went on, Qin Huairu came back after staying in the hospital for 3 days. After finishing her confinement at home, she began to tidy up the house. After Jia Dongxu passed away, life in this family suddenly became better. Except for Jia Zhang's mother and son, the other four people had to eat a certain amount of food. Although it was still not enough, it was much better than before.

Qin Huairu carried Jia Dongxu's compensation and his previous savings, which totaled less than 500 yuan. Jia Dongxu's previous salary was almost all spent on his family's survival, and these were saved during the period of the big pot meal. The price was that she had to give Jia Zhangshi 3 yuan a month for retirement after work, and she had to provide for Jia Zhangshi's retirement, and she also had an IUD inserted in the hospital, cutting off her retreat.

Qin Huairu looked at her husband's portrait and picked up the lunch box left by her husband. Inside was a steamed corn bread left for her and some pickles, all of which had gone moldy. Qin Huairu cleaned the lunch box with tears in her eyes, then lay on the kang and cried.

Time will not stop because of the Jia family's sadness. In May, Xu Damao got married. The bride was Lou Xiao'e again. The daughter of this capitalist was very ordinary and low-key when she got married. Like He Yuzhu, Xu Damao did not hold a banquet. He just invited a few uncles and familiar families at home. He Yuzhu was the chef and the Jia family took some dishes to serve.

He Yuzhu didn't ask for money, and even gave 1 yuan. Originally, there was no need to give gifts, but He Yuzhu still gave a washboard. Everyone ate and drank well, and then left.

In the second half of 1961, there was a little more food on the market than in the first half, mainly cornmeal, but of course, it was still not enough to eat freely. He Yuzhu guessed that the great reclamation of the northern wasteland had begun to show results, but it still had nothing to do with him. Yu Shui received a subsidy at the technical secondary school, which was enough for her to live on. Her food supply was now at school, and she only came back occasionally.

In the steel rolling mill, Li Huaide got another batch of corn noodles, which made him more popular among the workers. It is easier to be an official if you have connections in the court, and this is not just talk.

Director Yang is now clinging to the thigh of the big leader of the Ministry of Metallurgy and won't let go. Where there are people, there is struggle. Li Huaide showed his fangs and he couldn't resist at all. Li Huaide has been making progress and learning, and he has a comprehensive understanding of the policies above, and his network of contacts is wide enough. The key is that he has someone behind him.

Unfortunately, he worshipped the wrong Buddha. The steel rolling mill was the Third Steel Rolling Mill under Shougang, not the Third Steel Rolling Mill of the Ministry of Metallurgy.

But these had nothing to do with He Yuzhu. He continued to cook his own meals, and occasionally gave his wife extra meals when she was entertained. He fed two ewes in the space so that she could breastfeed the baby when her milk was insufficient. Xingzhi's body was thin and it was not something that could be healed in a short time. Compared with the bricks, everything else was trivial.

Xu Damao has now truly become a househusband. When Lou Xiao'e is alone at home, she goes back to her parents' home when she has nothing to do and takes all the dirty clothes back to her parents' home to wash. She doesn't know how to cook and doesn't interact with the people in the yard. The only person she interacts with is Xingzhi, but Xingzhi has to take care of the children and wash diapers at home, so she has no time to pay attention to her. Moreover, the two have different world views and have no common topics.

Xu Damao always washed clothes and cooked for himself every time he went home, and he never got tired of it. He learned a lot of dishes from He Yuzhu. The Lou family was not short of food either, and although they could not give him much, the two of them lived a much better life than others.

Xu Damao now just wants to have a child as soon as possible. Sha Zhu's son is more than half a year old, so he also wants to have a child quickly. What if he has a child too late and can't beat Sha Zhu's son in the future?

Yi Zhonghai has aged a lot since Jia Dongxi's accident. At this age, he has given up hope of having children. The only person he can rely on to support him is gone. Although Bang Geng is still alive, he is young and can only work for another 10 years and support others for at least 20 years. He also has a big family. Who can take care of him? Not to mention investing for another 20 years.

Liu Haizhong has been feeling upset recently. His in-laws are being transferred and want to take Liu Guangqi with them. Liu Haizhong originally disagreed, but later he thought it through and decided not to ruin his son's future since he was incompetent. So he let his eldest son go. He has been in a bad mood recently and found an excuse to beat his son. He just wanted to be an official, but why is it so difficult?

Yan Bugui's family is quite harmonious. Every member of the family has an account book, including the youngest daughter. Every amount spent every day is recorded in detail, which is absolutely fair, just and open.

The old lady has been cheerful recently. She comes to see Brick whenever she has nothing to do. Playing with the children has become her pleasure, because Brick doesn't despise her, and of course Lou Xiao'e doesn't despise her either. Others usually keep their distance from her. Recently, she has a new hobby, pretending to be deaf and dumb. If she doesn't want to pay attention to someone, she won't hear anything, which saves her a lot of trouble.

The Jia family was also very quiet. Banggeng took Xiaodang to take care of his younger sister. His younger sister already had a name, Huaihua, which was given by Qin Huairu. After Qin Huairu finished her confinement, it happened to be the day when the locust flowers were in full bloom. Jia Zhang was steaming locust flowers, so she named her last daughter Huaihua.

Jia Zhang didn't do anything naughty, and now no one would bully them as an orphan and a widow. Firstly, it would ruin their reputation, and secondly, if they made people angry, they would really cry in the street. Besides, there are trade unions, the Women's Federation, and the streets, so such people are not just for show.

After Qin Huairu finished her confinement, she followed Yi Zhonghai to work. When she went to the personnel department to report, they asked her if she wanted to transfer to the logistics department, as the work in the workshop was not suitable for women. After Qin Huairu asked, she refused. First, the salary in the logistics department was low. Second, if she went to the logistics department, her son would have to go to the logistics department when he took over. The future of the logistics department was not high. Just look at Sha Zhu's blind dates in the past few years, and you will know that most people don't like it.