Living in a Siheyuan

The time soon came to around twelve o'clock.

Qin Huairu looked at her two children sleeping soundly at home, so she quietly got up and put on her clothes.

I looked at Jia Zhang again, and she was also sleeping very soundly.

After pushing open the door, Qin Huairu went to the vegetable cellar.

He Daqing estimated the time and kept leaning on the window staring outside.

Until he saw Qin Huairu leaving the house, he quietly followed her with a bag of corn flour.

Watching Qin Huairu enter the vegetable cellar, He Daqing knocked on Xu Damao's window first, and heard Xu Damao coughing inside. Then he carried the flour bag and walked towards the vegetable cellar.

After entering the vegetable cellar, he closed the door.

Qin Huairu didn't see He Daqing when she came in, and was wondering if he had stood her up when she heard someone come in.

Qin Huairu was relieved as she hid aside and watched He Daqing holding the things with a flashlight. Although she had been here once before, she was still a little scared to be alone in the dark place of the vegetable cellar.

"Uncle He, I've been waiting for you for a long time, why did you come just now?" Qin Huairu asked.

He Daqing put his things in a corner, quietly approached Qin Huairu and said, "You came too early last time. This time I came when I saw that it was almost time. Are you cold? Let me warm your hands."

Qin Huairu knew that He Daqing had no good intentions and wanted to take advantage of her. She quickly pulled her hand back and said, "It's okay, I'm not cold. Thank you for this, Uncle He. If it weren't for you, I don't know what I would have done."

Seeing that Qin Huairu still didn't let him get close, He Daqing felt a little angry. Why are you pretending when you're here?

But in order to buy time, he still said in a gentle voice: "It's okay, my family doesn't lack those few bites of food. If you need it in the future, just tell me. We adults will just bear with it. The children are still young, we can't let them starve."

Qin Huairu was grateful and said, "Uncle He, you are a good person. If it weren't for the child, I wouldn't be in such a difficult situation. When I feel better, I will return the food to you immediately."

The two were talking inside when they heard someone outside shouting, "Hurry up, someone is having sex in the cellar. Hurry up and help!"

This voice immediately frightened Qin Huairu so much that she trembled. She hurriedly said, "Uncle He, what should we do? Has anyone discovered us?"

He Daqing also deliberately rushed forward and hugged Qin Huairu and said, "Don't worry, let's hide first. There are people outside right now, and we will be seen by others if we go out."

Qin Huairu, who was frightened out of her wits, nodded after hearing what He Daqing said. She didn't even react when He Daqing hugged her.

He Daqing took a look with a flashlight, then carried Qin Huairu to a secluded corner.

"Let's hide here and don't make any noise. It's too dark in here. Maybe they won't find us."

As he said this, he held Qin Huairu in his arms and squatted in the corner. If you don't pay attention, you really can't tell that there are two people there.

Qin Huairu squatted on the ground in He Daqing's arms, trembling with fear.

Perhaps He Daqing's embrace gave her some sense of security, making her hold He Daqing's arm tightly, wishing she could get into his arms.

But she herself didn't notice how ambiguous their posture was.

Seeing that things were going so smoothly, He Daqing took the opportunity to unbutton his cotton coat, opened his clothes and wrapped Qin Huairu up.

The two of them were hiding there in fear, and the door of the vegetable cellar was forcefully opened.

Then I heard a group of people noisily entering the vegetable cellar, some holding flashlights and others holding lanterns.

Someone shouted, "It's dark in here, who would come here to break a shoe?"

Someone else shouted: "Everyone, look carefully, maybe he has hidden himself."

Listening to everyone's chatter, Qin Huairu, who was hiding in He Daqing's arms, was so frightened that she lost her soul.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Hey, is there a bag of cornmeal here?"

The shout attracted everyone over, and they saw that there was really a bag of corn flour there.

Someone shouted, "Hurry up and find someone, this means someone is inside."

At this time, an old man named Liu Haizhong was heard shouting, "Everyone hurry up and find him. We must bring this shameless person to justice. Let them parade through the streets."

Suddenly everyone's footsteps became more chaotic, and it seemed that they were searching carefully.

When Qin Huairu heard that she was going to be paraded through the streets, she was so frightened that her legs went limp. She grabbed He Daqing's arm even harder.

He Daqing saw that it was almost done, so he gently pushed from behind. Qin Huairu cried out "Aiya" and sat on the ground.

Suddenly, her face turned pale.

The sound was so loud in this small space that everyone turned their lights towards this side.

Someone shouted excitedly: "Found it, found it! It's over here!"

Soon, a group of people surrounded He Daqing and Qin Huairu.

Xu Damao also came over and used a flashlight to carefully look at the two people. He exclaimed: "Uncle He! Qin Huairu! Why are you two here?"

As Xu Damao finished speaking, everyone shouted.

"It really is He Daqing and Qin Huairu!"

"When did they get together?"

"Qin Huairu has such a good appetite! He Daqing could be her father!"

"This is so shameless!"

"Don't tell me, I've seen them both walk together after get off work often."

"Didn't they say Qin Huairu and Sha Zhu were having an affair before? Why is it Sha Zhu's father this time?"

Faced with everyone's discussions, Qin Huairu buried her head in He Daqing's arms in shame and dared not come out.

At this time, she was really panicked. It was the first time she encountered such a thing, and she just wanted to hide in fear. She never thought that it was He Daqing's arms.

Seeing this, He Daqing said, "Don't get me wrong, there is nothing going on between Huairu and me. I just saw that her family was in trouble, so I sent her some cornmeal. Nothing really happened."

Qin Huairu also quickly stood up and lowered her head and said, "Uncle He is telling the truth. I just came here to get the corn noodles. You misunderstood."

Xu Damao then said, "You came to the cellar in the middle of the night just to deliver some corn flour. Who would believe it if you told others? Everyone just saw that Qin Huairu was still hiding in He Daqing's arms. Even a fool wouldn't believe you if you said there was nothing going on here."

The people on the side echoed, "Yes, why can't they deliver it at any other time? Why do they have to deliver it in the cellar in the middle of the night?"

"Yes, you see, Qin Huairu was reluctant to leave He Daqing's arms just now!"

"He Daqing didn't even have time to put on his clothes, and he couldn't even button up his cotton jacket."

Listening to everyone's discussion, Qin Huairu knew that it was difficult to explain it clearly now. So she lowered her head, trembling and standing there with tears.

Liu Haizhong also came down at this time. He said, "Lao He, how could you do such a thing? We have no choice now. We can only send you two to the street office tomorrow morning. The street office will handle this matter when the time comes."

At this time, another voice was heard at the door.

"Dad, what's going on? How could you be like this with Sister Qin? You've disappointed us so much."

He Daqing first said to Sha Zhu: "Stand aside, I'll talk to you later."

Then he said to Liu Haizhong, "Old Liu, we are neighbors, can we just let this go? Don't worry, as long as you don't tell anyone, I, He Daqing, will definitely compensate you."

Liu Haizhong said, "Lao He, it's not that I won't help you. So many people saw it. No matter who reported it to the street office, I will also be the one to suffer. This is really not okay."

He Daqing continued, "Look, it's already like this. If people tell others about it, won't it affect the reputation of our compound? Our compound will no longer be known as an excellent quadrangle. I'm thinking about everyone."

At this time, Xu Damao said, "What Uncle He said makes sense, but there are ways to solve this problem. If you and Qin Huairu go to get the marriage certificate early tomorrow morning, then if someone makes a fuss at the street office, we will have an excuse, right?"

He Daqing gave Xu Damao an approving look.

Seeing that Liu Haizhong was still hesitating, he stepped forward and pulled him aside and said, "Lao Liu, you also help persuade everyone. I will give you ten dollars after the matter is completed."

Liu Haizhong was also a greedy person. When he heard that there was ten yuan, he nodded.

Then he came over and said, "Everyone, please don't make a fuss. He Daqing originally came here to discuss getting a marriage certificate with Qin Huairu tomorrow. They may not be able to wait until tomorrow for their wedding night, so everyone should understand."

After hearing this, many people laughed.

He Daqing took the opportunity to say, "Yes, yes, we will get the marriage certificate tomorrow, and we will give each family candy. We will also give each family five pounds of corn flour. We won't have a wedding banquet then, we will just treat everyone to a meal."

Seeing that things had developed to this point, Qin Huairu anxiously pulled He Daqing and said, "Uncle He..."

He Daqing knew what she was going to say, so he pulled her aside and said, "If you don't want to be criticized and paraded through the streets tomorrow, then listen to me. Otherwise, we might both be criticized and sent to a farm for reform, and we might even lose our jobs."

"Think about it. If you lose your job, how will your family survive? And if you are paraded through the streets, Banggeng and his family won't be able to hold their heads up high. Think about it carefully."

Qin Huairu was also stunned after hearing what He Daqing said. If she lost her job, her family would starve to death. She didn't dare to think about being paraded through the streets with a pair of old shoes. So she nodded in agreement helplessly.

Seeing that Qin Huairu was dealt with so quickly, He Daqing was very excited. I finally got you, the playful little widow. I thought your corn noodles were so delicious.

At this time, there was another commotion at the door. It turned out that Jia Zhang had come. When she saw Qin Huairu and He Daqing, she waved her hands, cried and rushed towards Qin Huairu.

Qin Huairu was his wife now, so how could He Daqing let Jia Zhang beat her? So he pushed Jia Zhang aside.

When Jia Zhang saw that she couldn't hit Qin Huairu, she sat down on the ground, slapped her thigh and screamed "Ah, ah!"

He Daqing did not argue with her, but lowered his head and whispered to Jia Zhang: "If you don't want Huairu to lose her job and your family to starve to death, then agree to this. I will give you three yuan a month as your retirement money. If you don't want it, then you can make a fuss. When Huairu is fired from the factory, I wonder how your family will survive? Do you want to go back to the countryside to farm?"

After hearing what He Daqing said, Jia Zhang stopped making trouble. She rolled her eyes and held up five fingers to He Daqing, meaning that she wanted five yuan a month.

He Daqing just wanted to clean up the mess quickly, so he nodded and agreed.

Seeing that the matter was resolved, Liu Haizhong said, "Okay, Lao He, go get a marriage certificate with Qin Huairu tomorrow. Let's not tell anyone about this. Otherwise, it will damage the reputation of our compound. It will not benefit anyone."

Then he said to He Daqing, "Old He, you should deliver the things you promised to everyone as soon as possible. Don't make them wait anxiously."

He Daqing understood that Liu Haizhong wanted to benefit him, so he assured him, "Don't worry, I will buy food tomorrow after I get the permits, and deliver it to you in the evening. Thank you all for this."

Seeing that the problem was solved, everyone left in twos and threes.

Qin Huairu also walked out with her head down under Jia Zhang's vicious eyes. He Daqing quickly picked up the 20 kilograms of corn flour and handed it to her. He patted her hand and said, "It's okay. As long as we get the marriage certificate, no one else will talk about this. You can rest assured that I'll be with you in the future."

After everyone left, Sha Zhu came over angrily and said, "Dad, are you really going to marry Sister Qin? You two are so different, are you suitable?"

He Daqing was feeling proud. After hearing what Sha Zhu said, he glared at him and said, "What sister Qin? Call her mom from now on. She will be your stepmother from now on. You should respect her."

"You've seen what happened today. Apart from getting a marriage certificate, is there any other solution? Do you want your father to be paraded through the streets, criticized, and sent to a farm for reform? So let it be! Anyway, your mother passed away early, and you are grown up, so it's time for your father to find someone who understands you."

After saying that, he ignored Sha Zhu and went home.