The door of the courtyard house has been welded dead

Xu Damao's Adam's apple rolled twice at the collar of his coarse prison uniform, and the wooden chair made a slight creaking sound.

White lime had fallen off the cement wall, and it glowed bluish-gray under the incandescent light, just like the coldness that Qin Huairu had exuded when she sent him the divorce letter.

When Supervisor Niu left, he patted Xu Damao on the shoulder and comforted him not to be nervous. One was a prisoner serving time for reform, and the other was his ex-wife who had been divorced for a year or two. They had no children together, so from a legal perspective, the two had no relationship anymore.

"sit down."

The man who was asking the question put the leather folder on the table. The sound of the wooden boards colliding made Xu Damao's shoulders tremble violently.

He stared at the half pen sticking out from the other person's sleeve. The golden tip of the pen made him dizzy under the light.

"We came to you to find out some information. Your ex-wife is Qin Huairu, right?"

His fingers unconsciously picked at the seams of his trousers, which still bore traces of today’s work. The patched clothes were just like his current life.

Xu Damao suddenly recalled the scene on his wedding day when he and Qin Huairu were in the department store buying new clothes, new pants, bed sheets, quilt covers and other new items.

He opened his mouth, but the taste of hay rose up in his throat. The steamed bread in the labor camp always had a lingering musty smell.

"Yes, it's her."

"What happened to her?"

The sound was like sandpaper grinding against a rusty iron door. After asking Xu Damao, he felt a little regretful and his nails dug deeply into his palms.

The sound of the second hand of the wall clock ticking could be heard clearly, and each tick ticked on his tense nerves.

Xu Damao was quite smart. In his opinion, there was no need to commit petty thefts, or rather, there was no need to look for his ex-husband who was thousands of miles away.

Coupled with the kind reminder from Supervisor Niu just now, he is now a little worried that Qin Huairu's affairs will implicate himself.

"When did you and Qin Huairu meet?"

The man who asked the question looked straight at Xu Damao's expression, and like Supervisor Niu, he did not answer him, but asked a more general question.

"Report, I've known her since she married into the Siheyuan. I don't remember clearly whether it was in 1952 or 1953, but at that time, she was the daughter-in-law of the Jia family in the middle courtyard of the Siheyuan. Her first man was called Jia Dongxu, and he died in 1962~!"

"She became a widow, and I later found out that she couldn't have children. Then, the two families got back together. I thought that she had three children, and no matter what happened in the future, there would be one to take care of me in my old age, so I got married~!"

"But, last year, the year before last, and the year before last, she sent me a divorce letter, which was the only letter I received after I arrived here. After that, there was no news. As for what happened to her afterwards, I have no idea at all~!"

Xu Damao supported his knees with his hands and looked at the two people in front of him calmly. One was responsible for recording and the other was responsible for questioning. It was exactly the same as the situation when he was arrested and taken to the Security Department.

He cut off all ties with the place very decisively. He was living a pretty good life in this labor camp now, and he didn't want to move to another place and get familiar with the place all over again.

"In your opinion, what kind of person is your ex-wife, Qin Huairu?"

This was another very general question. Xu Damao was a little confused by the question. What kind of person is Qin Huairu? He still needed to ask himself?
"She, how should I put it? She is not well educated. Or, she is just a typical rural woman. She thinks her children are very important to her. She would rather not eat well herself, but will find ways to feed her three children well."

"Also, she's very good at dealing with things, and she's very shrewd. For example, I couldn't have children, and after the news got out, she thought of ways to get close to me on purpose. I'm not bragging, I'm also in charge, and I must have told the organization the truth. It was really her initiative. I feel like it's similar to the kind of eating up the whole family in the countryside."

"You know, I can't have children. My house, money, and job will belong to her children in the future. I think she married me for this purpose~!"

The supervisor had a blank expression on his face, but one could still reveal something in his eyes. One of them couldn't have children and wanted to have one to support him in his old age, while the other wanted to make the whole family wealthy. It was fate that these two people could appear in the same yard at the same time.

The man who asked the question nodded thoughtfully. Although this kind of symbiotic relationship was uncommon, it was not uncommon. There were many similar marriages among the lumberjacks in the Northeast forest farms.

"Does she value money so much that she will do anything for it? Is she a person without any bottom line?"

"Crack~!"

"Yes, you are absolutely right. My ex-wife is a money-oriented person. When I was not arrested, I could be said to be in very good condition in the courtyard~!" Xu Damao narrowed his eyes and slapped his thigh, showing the shrewdness of the Xu family. It can be said that he could guess exactly what Qin Huairu was thinking at that time. When she was talking to He Yuzhu, she spoke more forcefully than anyone else, but when she was talking to him, she was as soft as water. Isn't it just that he treats people differently according to their status?

"She has three children, and her family shouldn't be short of money. My ex-husband's brother still has several hundred yuan in compensation, but she is still stingy and doesn't want to spend money on food or clothes. She said that her mother-in-law is holding back her money. How can I know if it's true or not? At that time, my salary was higher than hers, and I could make some extra money~!"

"In fact, we have a neighbor in the Intermediate Court, named He Yuzhu, who is also very kind to her. When her ex-husband got into trouble, he sent lunch boxes to her house and lent her money without asking for anything in return. In fact, I think he was attracted to her, but because I have a high salary and a good family, Qin Huairu didn't remember his kindness. Instead, she kicked He Yuzhu away and followed me. Because of this, the two of them even fell out~!"

"I wasn't like He Yuzhu at that time, trying to coax her. I never indulge women~!"

Speaking of the past, Xu Damao's face showed a smile from the bottom of his heart. No matter how to say it, Sha Zhu lost to her in this regard. When he thought about how Sha Zhu invested so much and it all went to waste, and Qin Huairu resolutely threw herself at him, even though she was undergoing transformation now, Xu Damao felt very refreshed.

"After she divorced me, did she choose to be with He Yuzhu?"

Xu Damao stretched his neck and looked across. He was very curious about this. No matter what, this bowl of tasteless broth should be taken over by Shazhu, if only Qin Huairu still had some conscience.

Unfortunately, the person asking the question shook his head, indicating that he did not.

"Her current husband is Cui Dake~!"

After getting this answer, Xu Damao laughed so hard that tears almost came out. It turned out that he was not the only one who was fooled by the widow. Sha Zhu, that idiot, couldn't even taste the saltiness of the third-hand broth.

As for who Cui Dake was, Xu Damao didn't know him and didn't care. He thought that Qin Huairu had found someone with better conditions than Sha Zhu and was sucking his blood.

"According to you, she is a capricious woman who forgets her principles when she sees profit?"

"Well, comrade, you know leeches, right? They're the kind in paddy fields that crawl on people to suck blood when transplanting rice. She's actually pretty much the same as a leech, specifically sucking blood from men. She doesn't care who the man is. If she can't suck blood out of a man like me, she'll just kick him. What husband-wife relationship? Impossible~!"

"If you have money, she will be more obedient than anyone else, because she wants to make money from you. In fact, even if she makes money, the family's food will not improve. Maybe she is afraid of poverty and likes to save money. She pretends to be hard for others to see. This woman is so good at acting. She just shows how hard her life is to make people sympathize with her and help her, just like He Yuzhu~!"

At this point in the conversation, Xu Damao had completely let himself go. What was conscience? In his eyes, Qin Huairu had none at all. He had bought so many things for her and even gave her money.

The fact that she sent a letter here proves that she knew I was here. Even if she had sent a photo, or one or two letters asking about my well-being, Xu Damao would not have done this. It is not worth a penny of belittling her.

Precisely because of her experience, she saw through Qin Huairu so thoroughly that even calling her a leech sounded good.

"This woman, Qin Huairu, would not be surprised at what she did for money. Even if it meant murder or arson, as long as the money was in place, she would be so cruel. Don't think I'm exaggerating, but that's just who she is~!"

It can be said that it hit the nail on the head. However, what surprised Xu Damao was that even though he had said this, the two people opposite him were not surprised at all. Instead, the man who asked the question pursed his lips and nodded, looking as if he agreed very much.

"She wouldn't really kill anyone, would she?"

"No~!"

"But, because of her, many comrades died~!"

Just as Xu Damao's heart was about to fall into his stomach, he was almost frightened by the man's words and fell under the stool.

Although he didn't sit down on the ground, Xu Damao was still surprised enough to stand up. His eyes, which were usually squinted, were now as wide as bells. What did he hear? Several lives were lost.

Even though he knew that Qin Huairu was such a woman, Xu Damao still found it hard to imagine that such a thing actually happened. Qin Huairu must be crazy.

"In your opinion as an ex-husband, would Qin Huairu, your ex-wife, sacrifice the country, or the collective interests, for her own personal interests?"

"She's too good at it. Don't think of testing her. She can't stand any money test. She's just a woman from the countryside. She has no education and no sense of the overall situation. She only cares about whether her family can live well. The key point is her children~!"

"She takes care of her children more than her own life. And her mother-in-law is also a money-hungry person~!"

"If the crime she committed is serious, my suggestion is to kill her. This is not to sever ties with her. People like her and her mother-in-law are like dogs that will never change their bad habits~!" (End of this chapter)