Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 176 Becoming a Father Unexpectedly? A Grand Baby-Making Plan! (4k)

"Xueru, this is my former boss and his friends. Quickly, make some tea."

"Old boss, this is my girlfriend, Chen Xueru."

"Hello, leader!"

"Comrade Chen, don't call us leaders. We're just guests who came to ask for a cup of tea on a snowy day."

"Hello, Director Li!"

"Oh, Manager Chen, you're too kind..."

"..."

Li Hongbing led Gu Jianliang and his group to Chen Xueru's silk shop. By this time, there were hardly any customers left in the shop.

In the brief introduction, when Chen Xueru saw Director Li from the subdistrict office and the elderly woman who was the head of the neighborhood committee following Gu Jianliang, she quickly realized something was amiss.

Although this was Chen Xueru's first time meeting Gu Jianliang, Li Hongbing's former superior, she had heard about him and learned about him from Li Hongbing before.

As a self-employed business owner on Qianmen Street, Chen Xueru could not possibly be unfamiliar with the director of the street office and the director of the neighborhood committee. Judging from their manner of entering, they clearly respected Gu Jianliang.

at the same time.

Seeing that Chen Xueru recognized Director Li from the subdistrict office and the elderly woman who was the head of the neighborhood committee, Gu Jianliang felt a little helpless, but there was nothing he could do.

It would be abnormal if Chen Xueru didn't recognize them, which would also indicate that they hadn't done their jobs properly or diligently in the past.

Gu Jianliang knew that Li Hongbing and Chen Xueru had probably seen through his identity as a superior. Fortunately, although there had been some rumors about the public-private partnership reform in all industries in Beijing, it had not been officially announced to the public, so they might not be able to connect it to this matter.

After tea was served, everyone quickly began chatting, and Gu Jianliang took the opportunity to subtly inquire about the silk shop's operations.

Gu Jianliang's actions, which revealed the underlying meaning of the music, clearly caught the attention of Director Li of the Subdistrict Office and the Director of the Neighborhood Committee. Li Hongbing, on the other hand, appeared completely oblivious, as if he were simply having a casual chat with his old leader, Gu Jianliang.

"Alright, it's getting late, and the snow outside has stopped. We've troubled you enough, it's time for us to leave. Thank you for your hospitality, Hongbing and Comrade Chen."

As the snow outside stopped, Gu Jianliang, who had learned quite a bit about the situation, got up to say goodbye and prepared to leave with his men.

Li Hongbing didn't offer any polite attempts to persuade them to stay. Instead, as he saw them off, he specifically said to Gu Jianliang, "Old leader, in about a month, around New Year's Day, Xue Ru and I are planning to get married and register our marriage. We'll also have a simple banquet in our courtyard. If you're free that day, I'd like to invite you to attend."

"This is wonderful news! Hongbing, I congratulate you and Comrade Chen in advance. I wish you a long and happy marriage."

Upon hearing the good news that Li Hongbing and Chen Xueru were getting married, Gu Jianliang couldn't help but congratulate them. However, he was a little hesitant about Li Hongbing's invitation to the banquet. Instead of refusing directly, he said, "I'll have to see how things go on your wedding day. I've been quite busy lately and may not have time to attend. But even if I can't make it, as your former leader, I will definitely send you a gift."

It wasn't that he didn't want to attend Li Hongbing and Chen Xueru's wedding banquet; after all, Li Hongbing called him his old leader, and Gu Jianliang had to give him face. It was just that he was currently burdened with the important task of revising the imperial edict, and he really didn't have the time.

"Old leader, whether you have time or not, I have received your blessings."

Li Hongbing did not insist on Gu Jianliang's attendance, after all, he had already guessed that the other party must be busy with official business.

He might not have time to come, but Li Hongbing couldn't refuse to invite him.

"Alright, we're leaving now. You don't need to see us off. I'll come over for a cup of tea another time!"

"Take care, old leader!"

"Director Li, please let Aunt Qian come over whenever you have time!"

"..."

As they left and gradually walked away, Chen Xueru, back in the shop, couldn't help but ask Li Hongbing, "Is the public-private partnership reform really coming?"

After that interaction, Chen Xueru had obviously guessed it, mainly because Li Hongbing had already talked to her about it before.

"almost."

Li Hongbing nodded.

"That Leader Gu just now..."

Hearing Chen Xueru hesitate before speaking, Li Hongbing calmly said, "Don't overthink it. Just think of it as a guest or friend coming over for tea and a chat. You don't know anything else, so there's no need to ask about anything."

After today's events, even though Gu Jianliang didn't give any instructions, they already have a leading advantage compared to other merchants on this street.

Even without this connection, it's inevitable that the higher-ups would spend a fortune to buy a horse's bones in order to ensure the smooth progress of the reform. As the first merchant to step forward and take the plunge, even if it's just on this street, there will definitely be some benefits and conveniences.

What Li Hongbing sought was not actually these things, but mainly a smooth transition and to avoid the interference of malicious people.

They were lucky to run into Gu Jianliang today; otherwise, they wouldn't know how to use this connection.

At this time.

Remembering Xu Huizhen, Li Hongbing said, "By the way, I ran into Xu Huizhen on my way here. She was alone outside, and I thought she was about to give birth, so I helped her call a car and took her to the hospital."

"Just her alone, what does that mean?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xueru's expression darkened, and she immediately asked Li Hongbing for confirmation: "Could it be that the man surnamed He wasn't with them?"

"What I mean is, when I saw Xu Huizhen, there was no one else with her."

Upon hearing this, Li Hongbing couldn't help but explain.

"That's outrageous!! How can someone like that be a husband?"

Upon learning of this, Chen Xueru couldn't help but feel angry.

As Xu Huizhen was about to give birth and her belly grew larger, it became inconvenient for her to move around outside. She hadn't been to the tavern recently, and Chen Xueru hadn't seen her for several days.

As for her home, Chen Xueru has never visited it because she dislikes Xu Huizhen's current husband, He Yongqiang.

Her best friend was about to give birth, but her husband was completely indifferent to her situation. How could Chen Xueru not be furious?

Simply inappropriate!
"Let's go, do you want to go to the hospital?"

Seeing Chen Xueru's condition, Li Hongbing knew that it was impossible for her not to go to the hospital to see Xu Huizhen today, so he took the initiative to say so.

soon.

Li Hongbing helped Chen Xueru close the shop, then rode his bicycle with her to the hospital.

It's not too far from here to Peking Union Medical College Hospital, but it had just snowed outside, and the road was difficult to travel, so we weren't going very fast.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Chen Xueru immediately inquired about Xu Huizhen's condition from the on-duty nurse. She learned that Xu Huizhen had already given birth and that both mother and daughter were safe, which relieved her.

After asking for directions to the ward, the two arrived to find Cai Quanwu waiting outside.

"She has given birth, and both mother and daughter are safe."

Upon seeing Li Hongbing approach, Cai Quanwu immediately stood up, reported Xu Huizhen's situation, and then said to him, "Comrade, I've already put all the money you gave me into the hospital fees."

"Thank you, I'm sorry to have troubled you today."

Upon hearing that Cai Quanwu hadn't even charged him for the ride, Li Hongbing thanked him, then took out fifty cents from his pocket, handed it to him, and said, "I originally planned to come directly, but something came up and I was delayed. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting here for so long and prevented you from getting any work. Here's the money."

Cai Quan may be a good person, but Li Hongbing can't take advantage of him in this kind of thing, and he certainly can't let a good person suffer.

As for whether Xu Huizhen and Cai Quanwu can get back together like in the original drama, that's not something Li Hongbing should worry about.

Five cents is a lot, but not much either.

Given the weather outside, if Cai Quanwu could make one or two more trips after dropping off Xu Huizhen, he could earn that much money.

"The fare is two cents, here's your change of three cents."

Cai Quanwu was stunned for a moment when he saw the money Li Hongbing handed him, but he quickly took out three mao from his pocket.

Cai Quanwu was clearly a man of principle. He had initially thought that Xu Huizhen was pregnant and it wouldn't be easy for her to do the job alone, so he didn't plan to charge her. However, Li Hongbing paid her again, and he only took what he was entitled to, not wanting to take advantage of others. After Li Hongbing and Chen Xueru arrived, Cai Quanwu, having already received the fare, clearly knew that he was no longer needed there, and simply said goodbye and left.

"He Yongqiang is a bastard, he's not human!"

"In this heavy snow, how can you expect a pregnant woman to come to the hospital all by herself? Don't you have any conscience?"

"If I see him again, I'm going to slap him across the face."

"One isn't enough, so we'll have two, three, four..."

"I'm so angry! Thank goodness you're alright, Huizhen..."

"..."

When Li Hongbing entered the ward, he immediately saw Chen Xueru sitting on the edge of the bed, muttering curses at the heartless He Yongqiang, her face filled with righteous indignation.

Chen Xueru is that kind of person. While she dares to love and hate, she is always completely open and honest with the people she trusts.

If you encounter the wrong person, you can easily suffer losses.

Those words, even among close friends, can easily offend people, even lead to falling out and being betrayed, if you encounter someone who can't distinguish right from wrong.

Fortunately, Xu Huizhen is not that kind of person.

This is also why Li Hongbing didn't object to Chen Xueru and Xu Huizhen becoming close friends and confidantes.

"Li Hongbing, thank you for tonight!"

Xu Huizhen, who was lying in bed helplessly listening to Chen Xueru scolding her husband, suddenly saw Li Hongbing coming in from outside and said weakly, "I'll pay you back the money for the hospital stay when I'm discharged."

"You're welcome! Even if you and Xue Ru were complete strangers, I couldn't just ignore you now that we've run into each other."

Faced with Xu Huizhen's gratitude, Li Hongbing had no intention of taking credit, and even reminded her, "If you want to thank someone, thank the driver from earlier as well."

"By the way, where is he?"

Reminded by Li Hongbing, Xu Huizhen remembered Cai Quanwu and couldn't help but ask.

"They just left."

Li Hongbing replied.

Upon hearing from Li Hongbing that Cai Quanwu had already left, Xu Huizhen said with some annoyance, "Oh no, I forgot to ask him his name."

As Li Hongbing just said, besides thanking him, he should also thank Cai Quanwu.

"It's alright, Beijing is such a small place, we'll run into each other sooner or later."

Today is the first time Xu Huizhen and Cai Quanwu have met. They didn't know each other before, but since they both live in this area, it was only a matter of time before they met again.

Not long after.

After the three adults finished speaking, they quickly turned their attention to the newborn baby. Looking at Xu Huizhen's daughter sleeping peacefully, Chen Xueru's heart almost melted.

"Xueru, how about you become my daughter's godmother?"

Seeing how much Chen Xueru loved her daughter, Xu Huizhen couldn't help but make a suggestion.

Chen Xueru was the only good friend and confidante I made after marrying into the He family. Over the past year or so, the two had a very good relationship.

Although it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to have her daughter recognize Chen Xueru as her godmother, it was definitely not something Xu Huizhen came up with on a whim.

"That's great..."

Chen Xueru agreed to almost everything without hesitation, but then she remembered Li Hongbing and couldn't help but look at him.

If she were alone, she wouldn't need to consider others at all. But she and Li Hongbing were getting married soon, and the matter of becoming godparents still required taking his feelings into account.

at the same time.

Xu Huizhen also noticed Li Hongbing and immediately felt a little embarrassed.

When I mentioned this idea earlier, I completely overlooked Li Hongbing.

Xu Huizhen didn't mind Li Hongbing being her daughter's godfather. After all, if Li Hongbing hadn't appeared in time tonight, she wouldn't know what would have happened.

Moreover, Xu Huizhen had a good impression of Li Hongbing and thought he was a decent person.

Although she and Li Hongbing were friends, it was all because of Chen Xueru; they didn't have any special relationship.

Without Chen Xueru, it would have been absolutely impossible to bring up such a presumptuous matter.

"Hongbing, what do you think?"

Seeing Chen Xueru looking at him expectantly, Li Hongbing could only say helplessly, "You can decide for me!"

Since he wasn't born of himself, Li Hongbing didn't really like being someone's father, even if it was just a godfather.

However, Chen Xueru had already agreed, and she and Xu Hui were such good friends that Li Hongbing was too lazy to be the bad guy.

One more thing.

Even in the small tavern, Xu Huizhen's daughter wasn't an ingrate like Bang Geng; she was a rare person with a conscience who could distinguish right from wrong.

What neither Sha Zhu nor Dorgon could accomplish, Cai Quanwu managed to do.

To some extent, it's not only due to Cai Quanwu's abilities, but also because the child's values, personality, and morals are sound.

If it were a stick-shaped one, Li Hongbing would have kicked it out the door.

After acknowledging each other as godparents, Chen Xueru chatted with Xu Huizhen for a while before leaving with Li Hongbing to let Xu Huizhen, who had just given birth, rest well.

"Hongbing, you're not mad at me for what happened just now, are you?"

Chen Xueru could sense that Li Hongbing wasn't very enthusiastic about the idea of ​​becoming godparents, so she asked him directly after they came out.

"What's so strange about that?"

Li Hongbing felt somewhat helpless.

He was simply not enthusiastic, but in the end he didn't object.

Moreover.

If we get along well with this goddaughter, it's like having another person to boss around. If we don't get along, just pretend she doesn't exist. Anyway, I'm in charge, so what could I possibly lose?

"But you seem a little reluctant."

Having been together for so long, even if Li Hongbing hid his emotions well, she could still sense them to some extent.

“I’m not upset, it’s just that seeing how much you love children, I feel that other people’s children are never as good as our own. Let’s have a few more.”

As soon as Li Hongbing finished speaking, Chen Xueru, who had been worried that Li Hongbing might be upset, blushed instantly.

"Wait...wait a little longer!"

Upon hearing Li Hongbing's words, Chen Xueru immediately understood what he meant.

Although she was inexperienced in matters of the heart, with her marriage imminent, Chen's mother had already taught her the things a woman should know.

Seeing Chen Xueru's shy appearance, Li Hongbing, who was eager to get married and register their marriage as soon as possible, simply put his arm around her waist and pecked her on the cheek.

In the past, Li Hongbing did this out of consideration for the long term and out of respect for Chen Xueru. This does not mean that Li Hongbing lacked normal thoughts that a man should have. Now that there is only one month left, he is not so impatient as to not even be able to wait that long.

(End of this chapter)