Courtyard House: A System Connecting Two Worlds, Resources for the Nation

It was already afternoon when Qin Jingru arrived in the village.

While on the bus, she held the canvas bag tightly in her arms; it was heavy, and she had a tattered jacket over it, as if afraid that others would see it.

These days, carrying two hundred yuan at night is almost like carrying a time bomb.

As she got closer to home, Qin Jingru couldn't quite describe whether she was excited or nervous; in any case, she was anything but calm.

She spoke perfectly well to Zhou Feng, but when it came to actually facing her parents, she hadn't figured out how to start the conversation.

I went out with my cousin empty-handed, but came back with so many things and even gave myself away. Will my parents be able to accept this?

"Jingru? Is it Jingru?"

The neighbor came out with a basin of water to splash some water, spotted a figure, and squinted to recognize him for a long time.

It was just that Qin Jingru's wool coat was too eye-catching, making her look like a city lady.

"Yes, Aunt Wang, it's me," Qin Jingru replied without stopping.

"You're finally back! Your parents have been talking about you for days. Come home now!"

Qin Jingru agreed and hurried home.

Her house was the third one at the east end of the village. It was a small courtyard with mud walls and three mud-brick houses. The gate was made of a few wooden planks nailed together, crooked and creaking in the wind.

The courtyard gate was ajar, and a dim light shone from inside.

Qin Jingru pushed open the door and went in. The courtyard was quiet, and there was a burnt smell coming from the kitchen, like the porridge had been overcooked.

"Dad! Mom! I'm home!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the curtain of the main room was lifted, and Qin's mother peeked out, holding a rice bowl in her hand.

"Jingru is back!" Qin's mother's face showed both surprise and joy, but surprise was clearly more prominent. "You child, you left with your cousin in such a hurry without saying when you would be back. Your father was worried sick, afraid that something might have happened to you."

Qin Jingru chuckled and, clutching her bundle, scurried into the house, saying, "I'm perfectly fine, what's the rush?"

Qin's mother followed behind her, muttering incessantly, "What's wrong with you? Do you know what kind of temper your father has? You ran off to the city all by yourself, and every night he stands at the village entrance gazing northwards, like a statue waiting for his daughter..."

"Mom, that's called the Waiting-for-Husband Stone," Qin Jingru corrected.

"Who cares about the stone? Your father's really worried." Qin's mother put her rice bowl on the table. "Have you eaten? There's still half a bowl of porridge in the pot. Shall I heat it up for you?"

"No rush, no rush." ​​Qin Jingru put the bundle on the kang (a heated brick bed), clapped her hands, and said, "Mom, call Dad over. I have something to tell you."

Qin's mother was taken aback: "What's wrong? Why are you being so mysterious?"

"Go and call them, you'll find out in a bit."

Qin's mother glanced at her, then turned and left the room.

A short while later, Qin's father followed him in.

"You're back?" Qin's father's voice was calm. His eyes swept over Qin Jingru twice, and then he suddenly frowned.

Only then did Qin's mother notice the wool coat her daughter was wearing, which looked quite expensive.

Before she could even ask, Qin Jingru had already taken a deep breath and untied the canvas bag she had brought back.

The backpack had a jacket on top; if you took the jacket away, you'd find something wrapped in oil paper underneath.

Then, peeling off the oil paper revealed a large piece of pork, with white fat and rosy lean meat. The oil paper was even seeping with oil droplets, and it must have weighed at least ten pounds.

Qin's mother's eyes widened immediately: "Where...where did this come from?"

Qin's father paused, holding the pipe handle in his hand, and squinted at the meat.

Qin Jingru didn't stop. She took out another wad of money from under her bundle, counted it out one bill at a time, and stacked it on the kang (a heated brick bed).

One, two, three... a total of two hundred and thirty yuan!

Qin's mother gasped, leaning back and almost losing her balance.

Qin's father stopped smoking completely, the pipe rod hanging in mid-air, and the ash fell onto his trouser leg, burning a small hole without him noticing.

"Where...where did this come from? Stealing so much money would be punishable by death!" Qin's father's voice changed drastically. "Jingru, tell your father the truth!"

Qin's mother also came closer, her eyes fixed on Qin Jingru, her expression changing from shock to fear.

"Honey, you wouldn't...you wouldn't have really done something bad, would you?"

Qin Jingru took a deep breath and pulled up a chair to sit down.

"Dad, Mom, please sit down first, I'll tell you slowly."

Qin's father and mother exchanged a glance and sat down as instructed, but their eyes never left the pile of money and meat.

"I came back this time to tell you something." Qin Jingru paused, "I...I've joined Brother Zhou Feng's group."

"Zhou Feng?" Qin's father was taken aback. "That city guy? The one we went to deliver timber to last time?"

His previous trip to the city had left a deep impression on him; he hadn't eaten such delicious braised pork in decades.

"Yes, that's him."

Qin's mother breathed a sigh of relief: "You're with him? What do you mean by 'you're with him'? Does it mean you're dating him or...?"

Qin Jingru took a deep breath and decided to stop being coy and tell everyone what had happened in the city over the past few days.

How did she get there? How did she meet Zhou Feng? How was Zhou Feng so good to her? He gave her beef, put a watch on her wrist, and… She paused, her voice lowering slightly, but she still finished speaking.

"We're not dating," Qin Jingru said, her head down. "It's just... it's just that he can't marry me, but I'll stay with him."

As soon as he said that, the room became so quiet that you could hear the light bulb popping open.

The rice bowl in Qin's mother's hand fell to the ground with a "clatter" and shattered into several pieces.

Her mouth was open, her eyes were wide, and her face went from white to red, then red to white again, like a revolving lantern.

Qin's father suddenly stood up, his chair tipping backward and crashing to the ground with a dull thud.

He stared at Qin Jingru, his eyes red, his lips trembling, but he couldn't utter a single word.

"Father, please listen to me—"

"Snapped!"

A crisp slap landed squarely on Qin Jingru's face.

Qin Jingru swayed to the side, half of her face burning with pain, and her ears ringing.

She covered her cheek, tears streaming down her face, but bit her lip to keep from crying out loud.

"You...you!" Qin's father pointed at her, his fingers trembling. "I raised you all these years just to let you become someone's mistress?! Huh? Have you no shame?!"

Qin's mother finally realized what was happening, and tears streamed down her face. She rushed over and hugged Qin Jingru, sobbing uncontrollably, "My daughter, what are you doing! We may be poor, but we can't do this kind of thing! Being someone's concubine, that's something people will talk about behind our backs! How will your father hold his head up in the village? How will our family face anyone?"

Qin Jingru covered her face, but didn't cry.

She had expected this to happen.

After Qin's father caught his breath and was about to raise his hand to hit her again, Qin Jingru looked up and stared straight at him.

"Father, you've already hit me and scolded me, can't you let me finish what I have to say?"

"What else is there to say!" Qin's father roared, his voice so loud the neighbors could hear. "You'd better return all this stuff to me tomorrow! Don't take a single penny! Don't eat a single piece of meat!"

"Send it back?" Qin Jingru wiped away her tears, her voice rising, "Dad, do you know how much this watch I'm wearing costs? One hundred and twenty-three yuan! How much can you earn in a year of farming? One hundred and twenty-three yuan, you'd have to save for three years!"

Mr. Qin was taken aback by her words.

Qin Jingru took a deep breath, rolled up her sleeves, revealing the shiny watch on her wrist.

Under the light, the watch face gleamed, and the second hand ticked away, making a soft "click-click" sound in the quiet room.

"And there's more." Qin Jingru pulled out a small paper package from under the bundle, opened it, and inside was a piece of beef wrapped in several layers of oil paper. "This beef costs more than 300 yuan per catty. Brother Zhou Feng gave it to me. Have you ever eaten this before? I've never known that beef could be so expensive in my life."

Mr. and Mrs. Qin looked at the piece of beef, then at the watch on her wrist, then at the pile of meat and money on the kang (a heated brick bed), their mouths agape, unable to utter a single word.

This isn't beef, it's more expensive than yellow croaker!

Qin Jingru put the beef back, wiped away her tears, and her voice softened.

"Dad, Mom, I know you feel ashamed. It's not a good name to be a concubine. But have you thought about what I can do at home? Farm? I'd only earn a hundred or two hundred yuan a year, not even enough to buy a new dress. Get married? Which of the young men in the village is capable? If I married someone, wouldn't I still be poor? I'd never have enough to eat or wear, have a bunch of kids, and that would be the end of my life."

She paused, her voice lower, but every word was clear.

"Brother Zhou Feng said that once I get back from home, he'll arrange a job for me in a factory. It'll be a permanent job, with a monthly salary and food and cloth coupons. Think about it, how hard is it to get into a factory these days? So many unemployed young people in the city can't get in, so why should I, a country girl, succeed? It's because Zhou Feng is willing to help me."

Qin's mother opened her mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

Qin's father stood there, his chest heaving violently. He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles cracked, and the flesh on his cheeks trembled.

"That's still not right..." His voice was hoarse, "You can't be someone's concubine! You're a daughter of the Qin family, a proper daughter, why should you suffer this injustice?"

"Dad, I don't feel wronged." Qin Jingru raised her head, tears still glistening in her eyes, but a smile played on her lips. "Brother Zhou Feng is good to me, really. He's not the kind of person who treats people like dirt. He feeds me well, dresses me well, and even promised to take care of our family. Just think, we won't lack rice, meat, or oil in the future. One piece of his beef is worth over three hundred yuan, enough for our family to eat for a year."

Qin's father's eyes instantly reddened.

How did he refute it?

What can you use to refute that?

My daughter is right, our family is poor.

How poor were they? They couldn't even afford to buy two pounds of meat for the New Year, and they had to divide a piece of tofu into three meals.

Qin's mother also started crying, her shoulders shaking with sobs. She wiped her tears with her sleeve, which became soaked.

"My dear daughter..." She held Qin Jingru's hand, "How can I live with myself after this? From the time you were little until now, I've never let you eat anything good, never let you wear any nice clothes, but I never thought of letting you go... go..."

She couldn't continue.

Qin Jingru grasped her hand in return, smiled, and tears welled up in her eyes again: "Mom, please don't say anymore. This is my own choice, no one forced me. Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who can't think straight. I trust Brother Zhou Feng. He won't let me suffer."

The room remained silent for a long time.

Qin's father slowly bent down, righted the overturned chair, and sat down heavily, supporting himself on his knees with both hands, his head bowed, his shoulders trembling slightly.

After a long while, he finally spoke, his voice muffled.

"Tomorrow, I'll take you back to Beiping."

Qin Jingru was taken aback: "Father?"

"I need to see for myself what your situation is like over there."

Qin's father raised his head, his eyes red-rimmed, but his gaze was firm. "If I see you being mistreated over there, like a concubine in the old society, groveling and being ordered around, I won't take any of that. I'll send it all back. You can forget about staying there. Come back with me. We have our own way of living, even if we're poor. We won't bring shame on ourselves!"

Qin's mother nodded repeatedly, "Yes, let your father go and see. We don't care about his things; we care about whether you're doing well."

Qin Jingru opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but seeing her father's stubborn look, she swallowed her words back.

She knew her father well; when he got stubborn, nothing could change his mind.

Since he made this request, let him go and see it.

You'll know whether Zhou Feng treats her well or not, and whether she's been wronged, once you see it.

"Alright, Dad, come with me." Qin Jingru wiped away her tears, smiled, and said, "You'll see when you see it. The person I chose was right."

Qin's father didn't say anything, took out a pipe stick from his pocket, filled it with tobacco, and started puffing away.

Amidst the swirling smoke, his brows were furrowed into a knot, a furrow he couldn't untangle.

Qin's mother sighed, got up and went to the kitchen, poured out the burnt porridge, and rinsed the rice again before putting it in the pot.

While busy working, she secretly wiped away her tears. The water in the pot boiled and bubbled, and her tears, like the water, couldn't be stopped.

Qin Jingru sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), rewrapped the meat and money, took off her watch, wiped it with a handkerchief, and put it back on.

She touched the slap mark on her face; it still hurt a little, but she felt relieved.

We've finally overcome the toughest hurdle.

As for how to explain things to Brother Zhou Feng after his father goes to Beiping tomorrow, she believes he will definitely have a way.

The next morning, Qin's father got up very early.

He changed into a clean set of clothes, which, although patched, were washed until faded and neatly arranged.

She combed her hair until it was smooth with a wet comb and then rubbed soap on her face.

That soap was something Qin's mother couldn't bear to use even during the New Year; she had kept it hidden away for more than half a year.

Qin Jingru looked at how he was getting ready and couldn't help but laugh: "Dad, are you going on a blind date?"

"Go away, go away!" Qin's father glared at her. "I'm going to meet someone; I can't let them laugh at us country folk for having no manners!"

Qin's mother rummaged through the cupboard and pulled out a piece of blue cloth. She wrapped a few cornbread buns in it, stuffed a few eggs inside, and handed it to Qin's father, saying, "Eat this on the road, don't go hungry."

Qin's father took the bundle and glanced at Qin Jingru: "Let's go."

The father and daughter went out and boarded a long-distance bus to the city.

It was almost noon when we arrived in Beiping.

Qin Jingru led her father through many twists and turns before finally arriving at the entrance of the courtyard house.