Siheyuan, Shazhu: I have both parents in this life

Chapter 140 This marriage is tied in a knot that can't be untied.
The matchmaker was furious. She had made so many trips, spending a lot of money on transportation, only to be disappointed by both sides. She left in a huff.

Neither family sought a matchmaker, yet the marriage seemed to be bound together with 108 knots, impossible to break.

Jia Dongxu managed to borrow the money and went to Qin Family Village.

When the Qin family saw that the young man was indeed handsome, they couldn't be picky anymore. The matchmaker must not have lied to them, otherwise it would have ruined their reputation.

Qin Huairu's mother directly proposed a bride price of 10 yuan, and also requested that the family purchase a sewing machine.

Qin Huairu's winks and calls of "Brother Dongxu" made Jia Dongxu feel lightheaded and his bones lighten. He agreed on the spot.

As he was leaving, he told Qin Huairu to wait for him, saying he would come to marry her soon, and Qin Huairu smiled sweetly.

As Jia Dongxu walked out of the village, he came to his senses. A sewing machine—how much does that cost?

When he got home, he didn't dare to hide it and told her about it. Jia Zhangshi immediately started wailing.

"Dongxu, you spendthrift! Waaah, what sins did my hometown commit to be bewitched by a vixen?"

"Mom, it's just a sewing machine, isn't it?"

"You make it sound nice, a sewing machine? I've never seen a sewing machine in this alley. How much would one cost?"

"Why don't you just not go through with this marriage?"

"Ah!" Jia Dongxu exclaimed in surprise.

"Honey, you should go and inquire about the price of sewing machines tomorrow," Old Jia said. He knew all too well what kind of person Jia Dongxu had been lately. His son hadn't gone to work today, and it was only after he noticed something was wrong that he got him a day off. If things continued like this, he would lose his job.

"What? Jia Laonian, you also support your son's wasteful spending? I've inquired about the bride price in the village, and it's only 3 or 5 yuan. If our family gives 10 yuan, how much face will his family have in the village? A sewing machine? He's dreaming."

That stingy Jia Zhangshi can even squeeze money out of the matchmaker; asking her to spend this much money would be like asking her to die.

"Hey, are you going to watch my Jia family line die out?"

"Bullshit! Without Qin Huairu, my son still can't find a wife?"

"Mother, I want to marry Huairu. I've already promised her."

"If you're so capable, go buy your own sewing machine and marry her. I don't have any money."

"Then I'll go borrow it."

"Waaah, why am I so unlucky to have such a son? I raised you with my own hands and feet, and you've already forgotten your mother before you even got married!" Jia Zhangshi continued to wail as she sat there.

She had a loud voice, and not only the neighboring family, but also several households in the front yard peeked over the hanging flower gate.

In the end, several women even went out of the hanging flower gate and ran to the house next to the Jia family to inquire about gossip.

This is quite a juicy piece of gossip! Not only does Jia Dongxu want to marry a rural woman, but he also needs to buy a sewing machine. Marrying a woman from the city doesn't cost that much!

When Qin Huairu arrived, it was lunchtime, so he stayed at the house in the back row and saw it.

"That's because you didn't see it. Don't let her rural background fool you, that girl has a face that's got a foxy charm."

"Really? Is it that good?"

"Apart from Xiaoman from the Central Court, there's probably no one around here who can compare to her."

"Xiaoman? How old is that girl? Is she prettier than Xiaoman?"

"No, but they have other things." The woman gestured to her chest and buttocks.

"Oh," the women said, looking like they'd just gotten the juicy gossip.

Despite her wailing, Jia Zhangshi still heard the commotion outside. She hastily wiped her face, slipped on her shoes, and rushed out.

What are you doing in front of my house?

"It's nothing, it's nothing, we're just chatting."

"Isn't there enough space in your front yard for you to sit? Why do you have to come to my doorstep?"

"We're done chatting, all done chatting, hehe." Having gotten their fill of gossip, the group turned and left.

"Hmph, a bunch of gossipy women."

The group didn't bother arguing with her. This Jia Zhangshi was not only sharp-tongued, but also skilled with her hands; her fingernails could scratch off entire areas with a single stroke.

Jia Zhangshi didn't ask about sewing machines, but Jia Dongxu did. The cheapest one was 100 yuan, a domestic Shanghai brand, which was equivalent to more than half a year's salary for him. He currently earns 16 yuan a month.

When he got back, he said that Jia Zhangshi refused to buy anything, and that Jia Dongxu hadn't paid that much money since he started working.

Jia Dongxu asked Jia Laonian for help, but Jia Laonian smoked so much that his face was obscured. He had no money; all his monthly earnings went to his family. His wife, Jia Zhangshi, bought his cigarettes and alcohol. He only had meal tickets in his pocket.

Jia Dongxu gritted his teeth and went to the factory the next day to borrow money. He borrowed from everyone he knew and even went to get an advance on his wages.

These people were initially unwilling to lend money, but Jia Laonian did not object to his son lending it, and even wrote IOUs. They lent out amounts of one or two yuan, three or five yuan at a time. The largest amount lent was twenty yuan from Jia Dongxu's master, which was equivalent to returning the money Jia Dongxu had paid when he became an apprentice.

When his master, Master Feng, borrowed money, he was thinking of not taking it back and not caring about his apprentice anymore. The IOU was written, but his master gave it back to him.

However, on his way home, Jia Laonian took the IOU from Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu was happy to be home, which prompted Jia Zhangshi to ask him about it several times, but the Jia father and son kept their mouths shut.

The next day, Jia Zhangshi was stunned; the sewing machine had been delivered home.

No matter how much she cried and wailed, Jia Dongxu protected the sewing machine, refusing to let her return it, and even unpacked it.

When Jia Zhangshi asked where the money came from, she pointed at Jia Laonian and started scolding him. She said that the father couldn't control his son and was even helping his son hide it from his mother. This was outrageous!

Finally, she bluntly said, "I don't care about this money. You have to figure out how to pay it back yourself, and you can't pay less each month."

But once the goods were bought, that damned vixen was definitely going to be brought back to torment her. So Jia Zhangshi found a matchmaker, gave her two yuan, and went to Qin Family Village to arrange the marriage directly.

The Qin family said they wanted to see the house and the sewing machine, and Jia Zhangshi generously brought them back to see. Then the two families set the wedding date for December 12.1st.

Of course, you have to invite people to the wedding, but the old lady said that the middle family wasn't allowed to go. She said she didn't need the Jia family's food, so the Xu family didn't go either.

She was so angry that she almost vomited blood because the gift money wasn't even given. She had hoped to recoup her losses with this small amount of money, but none of the wealthy families showed up.

She doesn't even realize how badly she's ruined He Yuzhu's reputation.

Xu Damao did go to see Qin Huairu, but even with Xiaoman around, he wasn't particularly impressed. However, he still muttered, "What a lucky break."

One point is that Qin Huairu is indeed good-looking, and another is that despite all his efforts to sabotage things, Jia Dongxu still got married and even married a beautiful wife.

The wedding banquet also turned into a joke. He Daqing certainly wouldn't cook for them, so Jia Laonian invited someone else. As a result, when the meat was bought, Jia Zhangshi chopped it in half and took it home.

In the end, the big meat dish became a small meat dish, and that wasn't all. Jia Zhangshi took the vegetable washing basin from home and filled it halfway back.

In the end, the chef added a few more vegetarian dishes to make it work.

The people from the Qin family truly witnessed something. Qin Huairu's mother almost took her daughter away, but since the ceremony was complete, she could only tell her daughter to go home if she felt wronged. Of course, Jia Dongxu's room was the scene of a grand drama all night, and neither family slept well.

The next day, both of them had dark circles under their eyes. Jia Dongxu was even more unsteady on his feet, walking as if he were floating. Qin Huairu, on the other hand, had a rosy complexion. Jia Zhangshi kept muttering, "Vixen, vixen!"

After Jia Dongxu and the others went to work, Jia Zhangshi started finding chores for Qin Huairu, such as washing clothes and cleaning the house; she was never idle.

Qin Huairu didn't think anything of it; after all, isn't this what getting married is all about?

Then the courtyard returned to peace, with only the He family still hoping for He Yuzhu's return, though their hopes were dwindling as he had been missing for a year.

Speaking of which, let's switch back to the peninsula, to December 1950.

He Yuzhu and his men rested in Xianxing. A few days later, the main force was dispatched. A political instructor came to the 6th Company, and company commanders were sent to the other two companies. Then those soldiers were taken away.

The Seventh Company only sent thirty soldiers, saying it was the first batch, and asked He Yuzhu, an experienced deputy squad leader, to help lead them.

Can He Yuzhu lead them? He really can, but his position isn't legitimate. This group of soldiers isn't made up of veterans; they're all greenhorns.

When they saw that the person leading them was even younger than them, some of them became resentful.

He Yuzhu didn't even need to lift a finger; Wu Wanli and the remaining two veterans from the 7th Company took care of it. In fact, they had already decided that He Yuzhu was the right person. It was normal for the company commander and political instructor not to listen to He Yuzhu's orders, even when they were there, they still gave orders quite a bit.

He Yuzhu tallied the students' educational backgrounds and special skills, and then divided the soldiers in that platoon into three groups.

Those who had received an education were all sent to artillery training, the strong and healthy were all trained in machine gun and grenade throwing, and the rest were trained as ordinary infantrymen. Those who showed outstanding performance would be given further consideration.

The reason for this arrangement was that the higher-ups needed to verify the battle achievements, and those of the 6th Army were excluded; only those of this side were counted.

Fortunately, although Xiong Jie and Mei Sheng are injured, they can still write things and ask questions without any problems. It's just that they are in China and need some time.

After the two finished writing the report, the higher-ups took a look and exclaimed, "Wow, this kid's got talent! The logistics guy we left behind has really done a good job; they've got it all!"

Wu Qianli was sent back immediately after being brought back; he returned to China earlier than Mei Sheng and the others.

After returning to China, the doctor examined the patient and immediately complained, "Why send it back when everything was already treated?"

However, Wu Qianli still received another blood transfusion because his face was frighteningly pale, and then he was given additional nutrition.

When the person who confirmed the credit found Wu Qianli, he was fine except for not being able to do strenuous exercise.

After reviewing Xiong Jie and Mei Sheng's information, Wu Qianli only said one sentence: "This is not complete." Then he added some more information, signed his name, and pressed his fingerprint.

The main details were the two bridge bombings, and Yu Congrong, who came upon hearing the news, also signed the document.

More than half a month later, the 7th Company's base was bustling with activity. They had everything they needed, except for ammunition, but training was fine.

The other companies would occasionally come over to chat with them, especially the 6th Company, who were comrades-in-arms who had been through life and death together several times.

He Yuzhu was also very generous with his knowledge, teaching me some of the sniping techniques, artillery techniques, and even some basic Korean and English.

This lecture had a significant impact. First, the camp found out, then the regiment, and He Yuzhu was directly invited to give a large lecture.

They taught Korean and English because the Chinese People's Volunteer Army suffered greatly due to language barriers during this period.

I couldn't get directions, and I couldn't communicate with prisoners of war. On the battlefield, prisoners couldn't understand what I was saying at all. I just shouted at the Volunteer Army with that kind of spirit, and they would only run faster.

Not only that, He Yuzhu was also asked to communicate with the prisoners.

The group of big-nosed men complained about the Volunteer Army's food, but after He Yuzhu led two officers around to check it out, the prisoners realized that they were eating the best food, and they quieted down considerably.

Then they began to subtly inquire about the Volunteer Army's treatment of prisoners of war and the situation back home from He Yuzhu.

There are regulations for dealing with prisoners of war, which He Yuzhu simply reads aloud. As for the situation back home, it would be a miracle if He Yuzhu told them the truth.

He did manage to extract a lot of information from them, such as what units the Allied Forces had and what their previous achievements were. He Yuzhu wrote it down and submitted it directly. Although he didn't receive a commendation, he did receive a written reward.

This stuff is so useful. In war, you need to know yourself and your enemy to win every battle. Right now, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army is completely clueless on the peninsula. Of course, the UN forces are in the same boat. They've never even heard of the Volunteer Army's designation.

The information obtained from the Kuomintang is outdated and has been revised several times.

In January 1951, Mei Sheng, Yu Congrong, and Wu Qianli returned to the 7th Company one after another, and the 1th Company began to be replenished with soldiers.

When Wu Qianli returned, he learned that He Yuzhu had stayed with their school, but the problem was that no one knew where he had gone.

Wu Qianli went to the regimental headquarters several times to ask for the man back, but the regimental commander said he didn't know where he was and that he had gone on a mission. Wu Qianli got anxious and said he would go to the division commander to ask for the man back.

The delegation leader had no choice but to make a series of phone calls to find out that a delegation from China had come to offer condolences, and He Yuzhu had been assigned to go there as a translator.

Upon hearing that he was only a translator, Wu Qianli didn't press for more details about where he was. However, he did ask about He Yuzhu's future plans and contributions, since the companies that fought the ambush had all received a collective first-class merit, and there were also individual first-class and second-class merits.

Based on He Yuzhu's merits, a first-class merit is a certainty; the question is how many he can receive.

The group leader only said that the evaluation was still being conducted by higher authorities. He Yuzhu had made great contributions, and there was more than one person who had done so. The final decision was still pending. He then told Wu Qianli that the decision would be made soon.

Actually, some of the credit couldn't be confirmed, such as the destruction of those supply points. This wasn't something He Yuzhu said himself, but rather what the soldiers said. Otherwise, where would all that equipment have come from? Without that equipment, they couldn't have blown up the bridge, let alone held off the enemy on the highway all night.

Wu Qianli lingered with the regimental commander for a while longer. The commander told him to let him know when the man returned before he went back to his company.

When he returned to the company, he was naturally questioned by everyone. Mei Sheng, Yu Congrong, Wu Wanli, and the others were all waiting to see him, but only one of them came back.

After Wu Qianli explained the situation, everyone had no choice but to wait.

However, there was a vacancy for platoon leader in the 7th Company. Wu Qianli had also turned down the position of deputy company commander, since they hadn't gone through life and death together. Why should he be the deputy company commander in their company?

This was something he and Mei Sheng had agreed upon, something they wanted to fight for for He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu was a little confused when he first received the mission, but after following the team, he found that the mission was not simple.

The bald eagles aren't used to the peninsula and can't come up with any new tricks yet, but the South Koreans have already taken over their capital in the previous phase.

Many of those who were left behind, scattered, or deliberately lurked began to cause destruction in various places.

At the beginning, He Yuzhu didn't do much; he was just a translator and an ordinary soldier.

Until one time, the delegation was ambushed. The person who came was actually an old acquaintance of He Yuzhu, from the South Korean First Division. These guys were no good on the front lines, but they were better than anyone else at sabotaging from behind.

They disguised themselves as soldiers from North Korea, and the delegation even put on a show for them. Then, that night, they took action. Their plan was to kill all the guards and kidnap the delegation.

However, they encountered a killer. He Yuzhu's sniper rifles were all left in the 7th Company. Those things were too conspicuous, not to mention that he had two. So when he went out, he always carried a Type 38 rifle, which he got from a new recruit.

It was quite a coincidence that the enemy spotted He Yuzhu when he went out to relieve himself. The one who was trying to sneak out got spotted instead. After He Yuzhu alerted the soldiers, he grabbed a Mosin-Nagant rifle that the enemy was using to disguise their identity, took a bullet belt, and went to find a sniping spot.

To be honest, it's a good gun, but it's a pity it doesn't have a scope. However, even without long-range sniping, He Yuzhu's gun suppressed the enemy so much that they didn't dare to show their faces.

He didn't know exactly how many he killed, but after the war, someone counted that as many as 20 people were killed by the Mosin-Nagant. Some of the enemy escaped, and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army had already sent people to pursue them.

　Thank you to readers Qiushui Lieyan, Xueshan Daoren, and (listening) Zhou Laosi for the generous donations!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)