Courtyard houses: Those who are capable are rewarded, and many children bring many blessings.

"Don't take it personally, I didn't know either. Da Zhuang's wife is your cousin! What, are you going back to your parents' home?"

"Of course, I'll go back to my parents' house for a few days if there's a ride available."

As they were talking, Jia Dongxu came out. Qin Huairu stepped forward and pulled him aside, complaining in a low voice, "Your mother gave me three yuan to stay at my parents' house until the first month of the lunar calendar. You're supposed to come pick me up on the third day of the new year, you hear me?"

"No, we're perfectly fine living at home, why would we let you go back to your parents' house?"

"I'm going back to my parents' house to save money!"

Jia Dongxu reached out and grabbed Qin Huairu's bundle: "Don't listen to her. If I can afford to marry a wife, I can afford to support her."

Qin Huairu twisted her body, dodging Jia Dongxu's hand that was grabbing her bundle: "I haven't been back to my parents' home for a year either. It just so happens that Xueru's husband is driving a donkey cart to visit his uncle."

Only then did Jia Dongxu recognize Niu Dazhuang: "Isn't this Uncle Niu's nephew? He married Xue Ru? What a coincidence!" He then pulled five mao from his pocket and gave it to Qin Huairu.

"I only have fifty cents on me, take it all with you!"

"Yeah, let's talk to your mom after the New Year. We both have our own children now, so we can't let her run the household anymore."

When Jia Dongxu heard Qin Huairu bring this up again, his head started to ache. He quickly said, "I'm going back to the workshop; I still have a lot of work to do."

After finishing his business here, Niu Dazhuang drove his donkey cart to the nearby supply and marketing cooperative to buy things.

This delay meant the sun was already setting. Once they left Beijing, the two stopped seeing each other.

"Your mother-in-law is quite calculating," Niu Dazhuang said first.

"Sigh! There's nothing we can do about it. There are four of us in the family, and only Dongxu earns money. We can't make ends meet if we don't save money! People in the village think I'm living a good life because I married into the city, but only they know how hard it is for them."

Niu Dazhuang kept secretly watching Qin Huairu. And you know what, she was really beautiful. With her hands tucked into her sleeves and placed in front of her chest, tsk tsk... she was quite well-endowed.

Qin Huairu clearly noticed him peeking, but instead of being annoyed, she teased, "Your wife doesn't have one! Xueru's figure is just as good as mine!"

"Hehe, you have a pretty good personality!"

"Hmph, you're not the first one to peek at me, I'm used to it! It'll be dark by the time I get home."

"It'll be too dark to get there. Why don't you stay at my place tonight? We can go back to our parents' home tomorrow."

Qin Huairu didn't know how many rooms their family had. Since Niu Dazhuang had said so, and it was her cousin's house, besides, it would be too embarrassing to have someone take her home so late at night.

"Alright, Xue Ru and I haven't seen each other for almost a year. It's perfect timing, let's have a good chat tonight. You can't let my Xue Ru suffer..."

With such a pretty young woman keeping him company, he wasn't bored at all. By the time they passed Changping County, it was already dark.

Fortunately, they were prepared. Niu Dazhuang lit the kerosene lamp, and the temperature dropped that night. A light northwest wind blew...

Qin Huairu shivered from the cold and instinctively leaned her body against Niu Dazhuang's shoulder.

The mountain road was rugged and bumpy, and the body that was originally leaning against my shoulder gradually moved closer.

The two remained silent, maintaining a tacit understanding, and Niu Dazhuang had already wrapped one arm around the other.

Qin Huairu didn't resist. She thought to herself, "It's just too cold. We're just huddling together for warmth. Special circumstances call for special treatment."

We traveled for over 40 miles along this mountain road, and it took us almost an hour of bumpy travel before we finally reached the village entrance.

Hearing the donkey's bell but still not seeing anyone, Qin Xueru, standing at the village entrance, anxiously asked, "Is that Dazhuang?"

At this moment, Qin Huairu quickly sat up straight, her pretty face flushed red, whether from the cold or from shyness, it was hard to tell.

Niu Dazhuang jumped off the donkey cart, stomped his feet—they were sore and numb from the cold—and exclaimed, "It's me! Look who I brought back!"

Normally, if Niu Dazhuang didn't have a beautiful woman to hold in his arms and got cold, he would walk with the donkey cart for a while, and then sit on it for a while when he got tired, so he wouldn't get too cold.

At this moment, Qin Huairu also jumped off the donkey cart, first tugged at her cotton-padded coat, and then jogged over.

"Xue Ru didn't expect this, did she!"

"Oh my! It's you, sis! I really didn't expect it. You must be freezing. Come home with me right now."

The two sisters walked ahead, with Niu Dazhuang following behind in a donkey cart. They first drove the donkey cart to the livestock shed.

After unharnessing the donkey, I used a burlap sack to wipe its body. If the donkey sweated that day, and I didn't dry it off, it would surely get sick the next day.

They unloaded the groceries from the car and covered them with burlap sacks before heading home.

When they got home, Qin Xueru had already prepared the water for washing your face: "Wash your face first, and I'll heat up the food. I'll also warm up a pot of wine for you."

After Niu Dazhuang finished washing up in the outer room, he went into the inner room. As soon as he entered, he was glared at by Qin Huairu.

Niu Dazhuang knew why she was glaring at him. In those days, when a concubine came to the house, she would just sit on the kang (a heated brick bed) at night with a curtain drawn behind her.

Niu Dazhuang pretended not to see anything, set up the kang table, took off his shoes, climbed onto the kang, and sat cross-legged in front of it: "It's so comfortable sitting on this warm kang. Sister, you should get on the kang and warm up too!"

"No, I'll go get the food for Xue Ru."

Not long after, the food was served. "Sis, please sit inside; it's warmer there."

Qin Huairu didn't stand on ceremony. She took off her shoes, climbed onto the kang (heated brick bed), and sat to Niu Dazhuang's right.

Qin Xueru picked up the warmed wine and poured a cup for each of the three of them: "Sister, drink some hot wine, it will warm you up in a little while."

Niu Dazhuang didn't dare drink too much. He still didn't know if the original owner had an alcohol allergy and kicked the bucket. If he drank too much and kicked the bucket, such a beautiful wife would be a bargain for someone else.

He doesn't drink, but he'll try to persuade others to drink.

"Xueru, this is your sister's first time visiting our house, won't you have a drink with her?"

"Xueru, have you forgotten who bought your big floral-patterned jacket fabric? You have to give your sister a drink."

"Xueru..."

After much persuasion, the two sisters finished off a whole bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor).

The two sisters had rosy cheeks and looked very pretty.

Qin Xueru's tongue was slurred as she spoke: "Dazhuang, I'm so dizzy. Can you clear the dishes? I found the curtain; remember to hang it up."

Qin Huairu was even worse than Xue Ru: "You big bad guy, your evil plan has succeeded!" After saying that, she lay back and lost consciousness.

These two sisters rarely drank alcohol. Qin Huairu only had a few drinks at her wedding, and Xueru was the same. Little did they know the consequences of drinking too much.

Niu Dazhuang rubbed his hands together, got off the kang (heated brick bed), moved the kang table away, and then dropped the curtain in the middle of the kang.

He placed Qin Huairu against the wall and his wife against himself.

That way, you won't notice anything wrong when you wake up tomorrow.

Turn off the light and go to sleep.

In her dazed state, Qin Huairu felt someone on her body. It was like a dream, but it didn't feel like a dream. Based on her past experience, she had never felt like she was floating on clouds before. This feeling was so comfortable that she didn't want to wake up!

The dream lasted a long time; I think I even heard a rooster crowing before the pleasant dream finally ended.

When I woke up in the morning, I touched my clothes and found I was still wearing them. I breathed a sigh of relief, confirming it was just a dream.

But when she stood up, she felt weak all over. Qin Huairu comforted herself, saying it was probably because she had drunk too much last night.

Just as Qin Huairu was about to investigate, Qin Xueru spoke up beside her: "Sister, you're awake! Don't listen to my husband's nonsense again, and never drink so much again. Are you alright, sister?"

"It's nothing, I just slept in my clothes last night, so I'm all wrinkled!"

"I didn't take my clothes off either, so why don't I feel this way!" she said, pulling the curtain open a crack to look at her man.

He didn't see anything. He muttered to himself, "Where have they been so early?"