Siheyuan (courtyard house): My name is Shazhu!

Yi Zhonghai was two years older than He Daqing, which is why He Yuzhu and his sister called him "Grandpa" in Yanjing.

If someone is younger than He Daqing, they are called "uncle." This is how people in Yanjing (Beijing) greet each other.

The elderly in Yanjing City care a lot about face. Greeting others is a must; otherwise, you are considered ignorant and impolite.

Things got much better after liberation. Before liberation, younger generations would bow or greet their elders with a deep bow.

"Daqian" was a Qing Dynasty etiquette, similar to bowing, often used to express respect. Some Han Chinese also learned it, and there was also a phrase "Ye jixiang" (May you be blessed).

Xu Damao always called He Daqing "Uncle He," and He Yuzhu also called Xu Fugui "Uncle Xu." This was because the two didn't get along and neither was willing to submit to the younger one.

The two elders never paid any attention to it.

Despite being called "Silly Pillar" in the courtyard, He Yuzhu is now only addressed as such by his elders. His peers still call him Pillar or He Yuzhu.

Even Xu Damao, although he didn't call him "Brother Zhu," didn't call him "Silly Zhu" either; he called him He Yuzhu. The nickname "Silly Zhu" probably came about a few years later, coming from Banggeng.

Later, when everyone called Qin Huairu "Silly Pillar," she called him "Pillar." Wasn't "Silly Pillar" happy? Many things need to be compared.

In Nanluoguxiang, I took He Yushui for half an hour on my bicycle before returning home.

"Rain, tomorrow after I get off work, I'll take you out to play again. We'll play less at night because it's hot during the day, so let's play a little longer."

"Okay, brother, remember to take me to the park." She's not very old, but she remembers going to the park clearly.

"Yushui, I have something to tell you. Dad might be going on a long trip. How about I take care of you?" He Yuzhu felt it was better to let He Yushui know.

"Brother, where did Dad go? When is he coming home?" He Yushui's mood shifted from sunny to cloudy again.

"Dad has his own job and can't stay with us all the time. You'll grow up and get married someday, right?"

I'm an adult, I can take good care of you. There are two ways to take care of the rainwater.

One option is for you to live at my senior's house, or hire a nanny to pick you up in the evening and cook for you. I'll go home around 8 or 9 pm.

"The other thing is, Yushui won't go to kindergarten. She'll come with me to work at the restaurant in the morning. I'll work, and you'll study. When I don't have work, I'll play with you," He Yuzhu said softly.

"Brother, I don't want Dad to leave. I want Dad to play with me. I'll be good." He Yushui cried.

"We can't interfere with Dad's work. It's not like he's never coming back; he'll be back after a few years of work. And doesn't the rain want to disrupt Dad's work either?"

"It will be several years before I can come back. I will miss our father." He Yushui was still crying, but she was a little better than before.

"When you miss your dad, I'll take you to see him, okay?"

"It's a deal, I'll hang myself with this ladle for a hundred years, no exceptions."

After the two of them pulled the spoon, they stamped it with their thumbs.

"Rain, you know Dad is gone, but don't tell anyone you know. Always say you don't know."

"Brother, why?"

"Our father has a mission. He will pretend to run away with the widow and abandon the two of us."

"When the time comes, brother, you need to see clearly how the people in the courtyard treat us. Are they good people or bad people?"

"Brother, what should I do?"

"When Rain found out, she cried, saying she wanted to go find her father. Putting everything else aside, will Rain really do that?"

"I will, but I will also miss our father."

"When the rain comes, the weather will be fine. I'll take you to see Dad. We go once a year."

And what do you think about living with my senior brother, or...?

"I'm with my brother, you can't abandon me." Before she could finish speaking, He Yushui interrupted her.

"I'll take you to a restaurant tomorrow, instead of going to kindergarten, okay?" He Yuzhu found talking to a seven-year-old child exhausting.

"good."

Tell He Yushui that He Daqing is leaving because he's afraid she'll miss her father and he won't be able to comfort her, so she can only go to Baocheng to find He Daqing.

He Daqing had just arrived in Baocheng and couldn't find a job immediately. He also had to go to Widow Bai's house, and the events from the TV show would repeat themselves.

This will have a great impact on He Yushui, as being abandoned by her own father in childhood is something many children cannot accept.

He Yuzhu could use force to enter the house and find He Daqing, but that's not the best approach. The best way is to go directly to where He Daqing works.

Having his own bicycle, and being able to go home at night, Comrade He Daqing let himself go and didn't go home all night.

The next day, after He Yushui finished breakfast, I took her to work.

......

"Hello, Uncle Qi, Uncle Ma..." To everyone's surprise, He Yushui's mouth was incredibly sweet, as if it had been coated with honey.

The restaurant staff were overjoyed, and within twenty minutes everyone was delighted.

You could tell from her lunch that He Yuzhu was originally going to pay for the food, but her three masters each took a little bit of food from the customers' dishes.

In less than ten minutes, a small plate full of vegetables, a cornbread bun, and a bowl of corn porridge were placed on the chair, and she sat on a small stool to eat.

The dishes were all non-spicy hearty dishes, better than what I eat at home. At noon, I only ate two vegetarian dishes with three other apprentices, and we only had a hearty dish every three days.

"Thank you..." He Yushui thanked everyone sweetly. Why hadn't she ever been so sweet-talking to him at home? This was the first time He Yushui had ever seen someone with such a sweet tongue.

"Zhu Zi, your sister is very likable. Your father has raised her very well. She has a chubby face and is very polite. She's better than you," Master said with a smile.

If she's doing well, fine, but why drag me into this? It's 'Silly Zhu' who lacks manners, not me, He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu said helplessly, "Master, thank you for liking her. I bring her to work, but I'm worried that people won't like her and that she'll wander around aimlessly."

"Rain is lovely, and she is quiet and cute. She spent two hours in the morning reading comic books and didn't wander around. She didn't play wildly in the kitchen either."

"The little girl is quieter; she's better than my three sons were when they were young," Master Ma said with a smile.

Girls are quieter than boys.

"Master, there won't be any customers later. I'd like to take Yushui to buy first-grade textbooks, is that alright?"

"Is it time for Rainy Day to go to school? Go ahead. Be back before five o'clock."

"Thank you, Master. I will definitely be back before five o'clock."

I took He Yushui by bicycle to the Xinhua Bookstore in Wangfujing, where there was a wide variety of books.

He Yuzhu not only wanted to buy first-grade textbooks, but also wanted to buy other books he needed so he could learn more.

After buying textbooks for He Yushui, I also bought two sets of comic books, which she eagerly awaited. I bought myself two medical books and more than a dozen other books.

We returned to Emei Restaurant at four o'clock.

The next morning, after the brother and sister finished breakfast at nine o'clock, He Yuzhu put 1.2 million yuan in his desk drawer and went to work at the restaurant.

After arriving at the restaurant, I explained the first-grade Chinese textbook to He Yushui. Surprisingly, she recognized a few characters, but not many.

The current Chinese textbooks use traditional characters and don't have pinyin yet, so I can only teach her Chinese characters slowly. I haven't taught her much; I teach her five to eight characters in total, in the morning and afternoon.

Because of He Yuzhu's past memories, teaching a few words to a child who hadn't yet started school was a piece of cake. And since he was a university student in his previous life, guessing some words wasn't difficult for him either.

At eleven o'clock, He Yuzhu went to prepare the dishes, while He Yushui, just like yesterday, sat on a small stool, engrossed in reading comic books.