Courtyard House: My Hidden Wheat Seeds Caused a National Sensation

He cleared his throat, as if to announce something extraordinary, attracting the attention of several neighbors who were sewing shoe soles and sunbathing.

The numbers on the grain ration book dwindled day by day, but Qin Jingru's name, like a rusty nail, was driven into He Yushui's life.

The small change my brother used to slip me occasionally could be exchanged for two pieces of fruit candy at the supply and marketing cooperative, but now we can't even save up the candy wrappers.

What worried her most was the wooden bed—ever since her cousin squeezed in, she had to count the beats when she turned over, because the slightest movement would cause her to bump into the other's hard shoulder blades.

At first, He Yushui gritted her teeth and endured it.

But when her brother's bankbook, pay slips, and even his job in the kitchen became topics of conversation at Qin Huairu's family dinner table, the thin corn porridge in her stomach suddenly churned.

Her own roof was still leaking, so why did she have to free her hand to hold someone else's umbrella? What disgusted her even more was Qin Jingru's eyes—they would light up when they saw the greasy cooked food in the grocery store window, and darken when they saw someone wearing a new pair of cotton shoes at the alley entrance, like a broken scale that could never calculate gains and losses.

The most hurtful thing is the gossip that seeps into the cracks in the wall: no sooner has the He family's food been swallowed than the cousins ​​start gossiping about the brother.

He Yushui had encountered those words twice, and they struck her heart like frozen coal dust, leaving deep, bleeding wounds.

Now my brother is in the hospital, his injured leg hanging in a cast like a heavy roof beam.

The workshop foreman said that it would take at least a hundred days to recover from such a serious injury, and the payroll figure was about to shrink.

Every few days, you have to carry your meat ration coupons to the grocery store to queue up and grab those two bare pork bones.

At thirteen, his shoulders were burdened with medical bills, food rations, and the exhaustion of countless sleepless nights; one more straw and he would break.

Qin Jingru, on the other hand, was like a bundle of old, soaked straw.

"Qin Jingru!"

A shrill child's voice ripped through the twilight.

He Yushui held up the empty enamel bowl, with only a few cold, hard scratches on the bottom. "What about the half-eaten cornbread I saved for tomorrow morning?"

My stomach feels so empty.

Qin Jingru huddled on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), twisting the frayed corner of her clothes with her fingers. "I have my food ration book now, why can't I eat?"

The newly issued brown booklet was now pressed down on the dresser.

A few days ago, Yi Zhonghai finally used his connections to get Qin Jingru a temporary household registration—a collective household registration, registered under the name of the street literacy class.

Each month, we could receive eight catties of grain: one catty of white flour was prominently displayed on the first page, followed by three catties of cornmeal, two catties of sorghum flour, and finally two catties of fresh sweet potatoes as a hastily written footnote.

But this thin piece of paper wouldn't last until graduation; hidden beneath the red stamp was a line of small print: Upon graduation, one must return to their place of origin.

"Eight catties of grain?"

He Yushui laughed until tears streamed down her face, but her lips curled into a downward smirk. "I already skipped this lunch! And you, you've even swallowed my life tomorrow morning!"

She suddenly slammed the bowl onto the earthen bed, the pottery rolling dully on the patched mattress. "Have you ever tasted the bitterness of hunger? Your intestines twisted into ropes, lying awake at night counting the cracks in the roof beams—I hate you so much!"

The last half of the sentence, choked with sobs, was thrown at the dim light bulb. The girl turned around and pushed open the cotton curtain, letting the night wind fill her patched jacket.

She ran through the frosty alleyways, the sound of her shoes hitting the frozen ground both broken and urgent, until she finally pounded on the peeling wooden door of the central courtyard.

Feeling wronged, He Yushui had no choice but to go to Yi Zhonghai, an old man in the courtyard, to seek justice.

She desperately wanted Yi Zhonghai to say something and immediately ask Qin Jingru, who was staying in her room, to leave.

To her surprise, Yi Zhonghai did not follow her wishes. Instead, he slowly and methodically explained his reasoning, leaving He Yushui completely confused.

Finally, they brought up the idea of ​​"neighborhood mutual assistance."

"Prioritizing the overall situation"

Those words, a persuasion that was both gentle and firm, left He Yushui speechless.

She returned to her room dejectedly. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Qin Jingru lying comfortably on her bed, giggling as she flipped through her collection of comic books under the bright light.

Those picture albums were something He Yushui had collected for a long time, and she usually couldn't bear to look at them more than a few times.

Then she glanced at the bright light above her head—she rarely turned on the lights after dark to save electricity, saving as much as she could.

But now, Qin Jingru is not only occupying her bed and flipping through her most treasured books, but she's also blatantly keeping the lights on!

He Yushui could no longer suppress the fire in her heart.

She rushed forward and started arguing with Qin Jingru.

Qin Jingru was not to be outdone. She sat up abruptly and retorted at the top of her lungs.

Although the two girls were young, their voices were shrill and piercing, making them particularly jarring in the quiet courtyard.

The commotion grew louder and louder, and soon it alerted the neighbors.

In the dead of night, this noise is really disturbing my peaceful sleep.

The neighbors had no choice but to get up, put on their clothes, and gather in front of the He family's door to try to mediate.

But the two girls were in a fit of anger and wouldn't listen to either of them, continuing to argue back and forth.

Seeing this scene, Yi Zhonghai frowned, and finally raised his voice, shouting, "Stop arguing! If we can't get through to them, then let's hold a hospital-wide meeting!"

Before long, the residents of the courtyard house gradually gathered in the central courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai stood in front of everyone and cleared his throat: "The purpose of today's meeting is to mediate the conflict between He Yushui and Qin Jingru."

"Which of you will speak first?"

"I'll go first!"

Qin Jingru stood up angrily, "Sister Yushui insists on kicking me out, but why should I leave? I haven't done anything wrong. These past few days, I've been sweeping, wiping tables, and tidying up the house—I've done everything!"

He Yushui immediately chimed in: "You did the work, but you don't understand thrift at all! Food is so scarce now, yet you never eat carefully."

They turn on the lights whenever they want, without any regard for conservation.

Furthermore, my family is in dire straits right now—my brother has lost all his savings, his job has been reassigned, his salary was already lower, and now he's injured and can't work for the time being, so his income has been reduced even further.

With his current salary, he can barely support the two of us, let alone a third person. That's why I want Jingru to go back to her own home."

Hearing the two talking, the people in the courtyard began to whisper among themselves.

Most people felt that He Yushui was right. She couldn't even take care of her own family, so how could she have the energy to take care of other people's daughters?

As Yi Zhonghai listened, a slight light appeared in his eyes.

He felt this was an opportunity—a perfect chance to bring up the hospital-wide mutual aid initiative again and mobilize everyone to donate money and supplies.

"Alright, I'll say a few words too."

As soon as Yi Zhonghai spoke, the surroundings fell silent.

"First of all, what they both said makes sense."

Zhu Zi is a kind-hearted, helpful, and neighborly person. He is a good role model in our courtyard.

He took in Qin Jingru, a complete stranger, providing her with a place to live and a school to attend; this is commendable and praiseworthy.

He then changed the subject: "But when doing good deeds, one must act within one's means."

Now that Zhu Zi's family has suffered a disaster, their savings are gone, and their income has dropped. It's really difficult for them to support Jing Ru now.

But it wouldn't be appropriate to just kick Jingru out.

First, where could she go if she left here? We can't just let a little girl sleep under a bridge, can we? Second, she's currently studying in the city, so it's not realistic for her to suddenly go back to the countryside.

Thirdly, it wouldn't be possible for her to stay temporarily at the Jia family's house—Dongxu is still hospitalized, and the Jia family is currently facing difficulties.

Once my injuries improved slightly, I planned to move back home to recuperate.

Furthermore, the Jia family's situation was similar to, or even more difficult than, that of the Zhu family.

Dongxu earned a meager salary in the cleaning team, and his food rations were always insufficient.

Huai Ru's household registration is still in the countryside, and she has two teenagers to take care of, so she faces difficulties at every turn.

In this situation, how could we bear to push that lonely and helpless girl away? Now is the time for us neighbors to show our strength and support each other.

When neighbors need help the most, we should lend a hand and help them get through this difficult time.

I thought to myself: why not contribute a little something to He Yuzhu's family and Jia Dongxu's family?

Of course, it's not about donating twice separately, but rather pooling the money together once and having the two families split it equally.

What do you all think?

After Yi Zhonghai finished speaking, the courtyard fell silent.

Nobody wanted to pay this money, but they couldn't find a reason to refuse.

"We're really starving..."

Qin Huairu stepped out from behind the crowd.

Although Jia Dongxu had broken a leg, she could still walk with crutches. The hospital was so crowded that there was no room to move around, so she came back first.

"Dongxu is injured now, and the doctor told us to buy some bones to make soup to help him recover, but where do we have any money left? We've already used up all the coupons we had to exchange for grain, and now we really have nowhere to turn."

As she spoke, she wiped away tears, and her pitiful appearance truly softened the hearts of many.

"I'll take the lead and contribute one hundred."

Yi Zhonghai stepped forward, and the amount he pulled out made everyone gasp.

"So many!"

"It has to be an old man!"

"Responsible!"

Amidst the exclamations of praise, Liu Haizhong's expression gradually darkened.

He didn't want to donate, but the atmosphere had gotten so heated that he felt he had no choice but to.

"Everyone knows I have two boys who are barely out of school, and they have no idea how much they'll eat... It's tough... I'll pay fifty."

He took out five bills and put them down.

Everyone's gaze immediately turned to the face of the third uncle, Yan Bugui.

Yan Bugui's face turned pale instantly—he was always frugal, trying to stretch every penny to its limit, and was tight-fisted with himself and his family. How could he bear to spend money for nothing? But the words stuck in his throat, and he couldn't find a reason to refuse. He could only grit his teeth and reach into his pocket, preparing to painfully pull out two yuan to get by.

Just then, a voice rang out: "Wait!"

The one who stepped forward was Yan Bugui's eldest son, Yan Jiecheng.

Everyone turned to look, and saw that he was holding a small feather fan that he had found somewhere. It was no bigger than the palm of his hand, and the feathers were pitifully short.

Waving such a small fan in the dead of winter looks rather comical.

He strolled slowly to the front of the group, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"I have a plan."

Everyone in the courtyard was stunned.

"Isn't there a wealthy and influential person living in our courtyard?"

"Money and connections?"

"That's right."

Yan Jiecheng waved his small fan, gently pointing the tip towards the backyard, "Li Jianye."

Isn't he able to procure food and has plenty of money?

Everyone was stunned by these words.

Everyone in the courtyard froze, their eyes fixed on Yan Jiecheng, as if they had never met him before.

Yi Zhonghai, a seasoned veteran who had seen it all, and Liu Haizhong, whose heart was only set on his official position—even Yan Bugui, who was always meticulous and would stretch every penny to its limit—

No, at this moment Yan Bugui was desperately pinching his philtrum, his face flushed red, afraid that he would faint if he couldn't catch his breath.

That's Li Jianye!

Scheme against him?

Do you think you have too much time on your hands?

"You...you bastard...have you gone mad?!"

Yan Bugui's finger was still pressed against his nose, but his voice was trembling uncontrollably, "What's wrong with you, you little brat? What nonsense are you spouting!"

"Father, don't worry, your son has a good plan."

Yan Bugui: "...?"

Yan Bugui pinched the philtrum even harder.

He suspected that his son was possessed by some evil spirit, as he not only spoke incoherently but also dared to daydream!

"Don't faint... If you faint, it's all over..."

He muttered to himself to encourage himself while panting heavily.

Suddenly, he rushed forward and slapped Yan Jiecheng across the face.

"What the hell happened to you today? Huh? Did you get your head stuck in a door or is it filled with mush? Come on! Come back with me! I'll teach you a lesson!"

Yan Bugui was secretly calculating: as long as he could drag his son home and close the door, he could get away with this.

This not only taught the arrogant brat a lesson but also saved him from the donation drive, killing two birds with one stone.

Unfortunately, his scheming was easily thwarted by his own son.

"Father! I'm not crazy, nor am I possessed."

Yan Jiecheng shook off Yan Bugui's hand, slowly raised the folding fan in his hand, and waved it around.

"Dear neighbors, every word I just said was not made carelessly, but is based on evidence!"

"You suicidal wretch! Are you really courting death?!"

Yan Bugui felt numb all over, wishing he could write a letter of severance on the spot and kick this damned thing out of the house.

He knew Li Jianye all too well.

He didn't even dare to think about what would happen if he offended him.