The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

Before the Spring Festival that year, because Sibei'er wanted to resign, Darong's mother beat him and made a fuss, but she failed to stop him. Sibei'er finally quit his iron rice bowl at the factory and went into business without hesitation.

After listening to Zhong Yunxing's words, Darong did not express any excessive opinions on the matter of the four generations, but just tried her best to appease and balance the emotions of both parties.

Grandma Darong's legs were completely broken and she could no longer walk. The two uncles finally agreed that each family would provide for her for 30 days.

When Darong's mother talked to Darong about this, she couldn't help but shake her head. In order to avoid the dispute over the difference between 30 days and 31 days, she directly changed the monthly support to daily support.

On the second day of the first lunar month in 1990, a sudden snowstorm swept through the town, coating the earth in silver and white.

The wind was cold and snowflakes were flying, and it seemed as if there was only a vast expanse of white between heaven and earth.

However, this snowstorm did not stop the young wives in every household from their eagerness to return to their parents' homes.

Darong was wearing a thick cotton coat and a red woolen hat on her head. She held Xiao Ruyi tightly in her arms and walked in the knee-deep snow, stepping back and forth.

Zhong Yunxing followed Darong closely, with large and small packages of gifts hanging on the handlebars. His eyes were always on the safety of Darong and the child.

The journey which should have taken more than 20 minutes by bike took the family of three more than an hour to get home.

"We are finally home. Come in quickly, come in quickly."

Darong's mother would look out the back window from time to time, and finally saw Darong and her family of three. She quickly came out and took little Ruyi from Darong's arms.

"Oh, look, this little thing is sleeping soundly."

Darong's father looked at little Ruyi in Darong's mother's arms and couldn't stop smiling.

"Mom and Dad, Happy New Year!" After putting everything in the house, Zhong Yunxing quickly wished Darong's parents a happy new year.

"Okay, okay, everything is okay!" Darong's mother was still speaking auspicious words happily.

After the family had lunch, Zhong Yunxing went back to the front yard to light the stove and warm up the house in advance to prevent little Ruyi from getting cold at night.

"Mom, I think Erhong's relationship is in jeopardy."

When Darong was helping Darong's mother pack up things, they suddenly started talking about Zhong Yunhong.

"What's wrong?

"Yesterday, on the first day of the Chinese New Year, Erhong got stubborn and sent her back to her parents' home."

"Oh, then it will fail. Why?" Darong's mother paused in surprise and asked Darong.

"She celebrated the New Year here. She was upset that my mother-in-law didn't give her a red envelope, so she was acting weird on the morning of the first day of the New Year. At first we didn't know what was going on. After Erhong sent her back, he came back and told us, and then we knew it was because of this."

Darong's mother didn't say anything after hearing this. In fact, according to the old customs in the southern suburbs, this is how it should be. When a daughter-in-law who has not yet married stays at home for the New Year, her future mother-in-law will prepare red envelopes for her.

When Darong was together with Zhong Yunxing, Darong's mother knew that Zhong Yunxing's family was not well off, so she never told Darong about this.

Darong's mother is actually a person who cares a lot about others. She just thinks that if Mother Zhong has the conditions, she will prepare the gift and Darong will be happy to have a surprise. If she doesn't have the conditions and doesn't prepare the gift, she won't tell Darong and she won't feel wronged.

Children are like this, they will never understand things that their parents don't teach them. So when Mrs. Zhong didn't give Darong a red envelope, Darong didn't feel that there was anything wrong with it.

It was the kindness of Da Rong's mother that led Zhong's mother to mistakenly believe that "everyone in the world is Da Rong", and now she treats Wu Meifeng in the same way.

"Hasn't the betrothal gift been paid yet? What if the betrothal money is lost?"

Darong's mother suddenly remembered that the last time she heard Darong say that Zhong Yunhong's marriage had been decided and the betrothal gift was planned to be given before the New Year.

"No, they said they would give it to me after the New Year's meeting with my in-laws. But later, I don't know what happened, Erhong kept stopping me and said we should talk about it after the New Year. My mother-in-law was short of money, so she listened to Erhong."

"Has Erhong thought about it a long time ago? Didn't you say that he didn't like that girl from the beginning?"

"If you don't like her, then don't mess with her. If she really did it on purpose, then... hmph."

Darong did not say the second half of the sentence. Although Zhong Yunhong was very good to her and Xiao Ruyi, if he really did this on purpose to separate them, it would indeed be unkind.

Before dark in the evening, Darong carried Xiao Ruyi back to the front yard. The stove at home was already burning warmly, and Xiao Ruyi was happily chewing on a small toy on the bed.

Darong and Zhong Yunxing were huddled together watching TV programs, and the family of three looked very happy and joyful.

"The factory will open on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, and I have to go back to work. I can only leave Ruyi to grandma's care."

Darong reached out and touched Ruyi's little feet. Although it was hard to take care of a child, she couldn't stay away from work all the time. After all, having a child meant more places to spend money.

"Well, it's okay. Mom said that you can just leave the kids there when you go to work. But have you made any progress on your job transfer? Have you asked Dad today?"

Darong has offended many people here, and the work in the factory is tiring. Zhong Yunxing actually hopes that she can be transferred away as soon as possible.

"I asked, and my dad said that the Chinese New Year is early this year, so there is no time to arrange things, and we have to wait until March at the latest."

Ever since Darong found out that her father had used his connections to transfer her to the fiber factory, she has been looking forward to being transferred there as soon as possible. The fiber factory offers high salaries and many people are scrambling to be transferred there.

"Okay, as long as there's news." Zhong Yunxing gently put his arm around Darong's shoulders, looking at the well-behaved little Ruyi beside him, feeling the beauty of life.

As soon as work started on the sixth day of the Chinese New Year, Darong and her team had to work a night shift. In fact, when the children were young, mothers were most afraid of working night shifts. Because Xiao Ruyi had not been weaned from midnight feeding, Darong was already in so much pain that she could not hold on in the middle of the night.

After asking for leave from the squad leader, Darong went back to the locker room to milk.

At that time, there was no advanced equipment like today. A breast pump was just a simple glass tube connected to a rubber ball, and it didn't have much power at all.

Darong stayed in the locker room for half a day, but the pain didn't ease much, so she had to endure the discomfort and go back to the workshop to work.

She persisted until the end of get off work, then Darong went back to the locker room, quickly changed her clothes, rushed out of the factory, and headed straight for Erdaohezi.

"Sister-in-law, you are finally back. We held the child for the whole night, but I don't know what happened to little Ruyi. She started crying as soon as we put her down."

When Darong came in, Xiaoping, with a tired look on her face, held Xiao Ruyi in her arms in front of her.