Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

She took small bites of the cornbread, and Su Yu scooped all the diced meat from her bowl into hers, while she herself only scooped a spoonful of the oily soup and drank it slowly.

After finishing work in the afternoon, Su Yu didn't collect the remaining fish and shrimp, but gave them all to take away. Back home, he quickly cooked them in a wok; the hot oil bubbled and the fish pieces were golden and crispy, the aroma wafting through the window cracks. He kept half a pound as a snack, and another half a pound to send to Su Yun; he cut off another pound to give to Director Zheng; and of the remaining three pounds, he took two pounds straight to the black market to test the waters.

Passing by the old locust tree at the village entrance, Su Yun was sitting under its shade keeping track of her work points. Su Yu quickly stepped forward, stuffed the oil paper package into her hand, put her index finger to her lips and shushed her, then turned around, picked up the load of loaches she had hidden the night before, and strode towards the county town.

At the entrance of the state-run restaurant, he skillfully turned into Director Zheng's office. He handed over a bamboo basket, and Director Zheng picked up a piece, tasted it, raised an eyebrow, and gave a thumbs-up: "Crispy, fragrant, and flavorful!"

With nine yuan in his pocket, Su Yu put the items into his spatial storage as soon as he left the city, then took out some freshly fried dried fish and stepped into the black market again.

He found a quiet corner, silently spread out oil paper, neatly arranged the dried fish, stood with his hands at his sides, neither shouting nor looking around, just waiting for someone to approach.

Less than five minutes later, a middle-aged man wearing round-framed glasses squatted down and asked politely, "Could I try a small piece?"

Su Yu nodded.

The man picked up a fish, put it in his mouth, chewed it slowly, closed his eyes to savor the taste for a moment, then opened them and asked, "How much is a pound?"

"You decide how much to give."

"Nine cents."

"middle."

A nearby vendor borrowed a steelyard balance, weighed the man, and found it weighed two jin and one liang. The man counted out eighteen yuan and nine jiao and handed it over.

Su Yu returned a penny to him, exchanged a few cloth coupons for a few more, and then turned and left the black market.

Pushing open the door to enter the courtyard, Xiao Yulan was squatting by a mud basin, busy with several slippery loaches in her hands. Although her movements were slow, she was extremely focused.

Looking at her mud-stained fingertips, Su Yu suddenly understood—she wasn't restless; she wanted to share his burden.

Su Yu: "Keep the money safe, this is the face cream I bought for you." He stuffed the banknotes he got from selling goods into her palm, keeping only two coins for himself in his pocket.

After about ten days of this, Su Yu had saved a little over a hundred yuan, earned more than ninety yuan from loach, and steadily made two or three yuan a day from dried fish.

As Xiao Yulan watched her little treasury grow bigger day by day, her lips almost never fell into a smile. She became more lively, her complexion became rosy, her waist became a little rounder, and her cheeks became slightly fleshy, making her look especially adorable.

Su Yu specially picked out two pairs of thick gloves for her, so she wouldn't have to worry about cutting her fingers while cutting pig feed. Su Guang looked at Xiao Yulan's now upright posture and nimble movements, and nodded silently—his nephew really had good judgment! This girl must have been so hungry before that she couldn't even swing a hoe, but now she's more efficient at cutting grass than anyone else. He'll only feel truly at ease when they have another child.

The day for distributing the grain finally arrived. The village first delivered the required amount of grain, and the remainder was distributed according to work points.

The accountant specifically listed Su Yu and Xiao Yulan's work points for the year separately—this was Su Guang's prior instruction: since the two were now married, the work they had done in the past could not be counted in their original family accounts.

No sooner had the grain been distributed than Liu Yan and Wang Guifen erupted in protest outside the brigade headquarters, shouting, "They used to eat our food, and they earned their work points with us, so why don't we get our share of the grain?"

Su Guang didn't even lift his eyelids: "You guys have such loud voices, you'd better report to the reservoir construction site first thing tomorrow morning. Enough with the nonsense, you know how they've endured all this before. One more word and you're packing your bags and leaving tomorrow."

Before the words were even finished, the brigade cadres all stood up, dusted themselves off, and left work, ignoring the two people who were still frozen in place.

Su Guang sneered as he walked, "Do you really think I'm a pushover? You two can't be controlled? All you ever do is think about taking advantage of others. Did you owe me something in your past life?"

The two slunk back home—who would dare to go head-to-head with the brigade leader?

Wu Jun, Xiao Yulan's maternal uncle, stepped into the Xiao family's courtyard carrying twenty catties of new grain. Not seeing anyone, he immediately asked, "Where did Yulan marry?" After getting the address, he turned around and rushed over here.

Knocking on the door, I ran into the young couple carrying sacks of grain into the water vat—the wood wasn't completely dry yet, so they couldn't make a sturdy grain cabinet and had to temporarily store it in the water vat for a few days.

When Xiao Yulan saw him, her eyes lit up immediately: "Uncle? What brings you here!"

Wu Jun put the grain sack on the ground: "I came to see you. I heard you suffered a lot at Liu Yan's place, so I thought I should bring you something practical."

Xiao Yulan smiled and said, "Now that I'm living with my third brother, do you think I've gained weight? Is Grandpa still in good health?"

Su Yu hurriedly pulled him into the house: "Sit down, sit down! Yulan, make a bowl of malted milk powder for your uncle to warm his stomach."

He had already stockpiled a lot of tonics at black market pharmacies, all for Xiao Yulan.

Xiao Yulan stuffed a jar of lard and ten yuan into Wu Jun's hand: "Take these back to your grandfather. We'll definitely visit him when we have some free time in a couple of days."

Wu Jun waved his hand repeatedly: "Keep it for yourself, we are better off than you..." but his voice was a little weak.

Su Yu smiled and pressed his hand down: "Uncle, Yulan has been taken care of by you since she was a child. If you don't accept this small token of your appreciation, she will feel uneasy."

Wu Jun looked up and examined her closely—the girl before him was dressed in brand-new clothes, without a single patch; she wore clean cloth shoes, her eyes were bright, and her shoulders were straight; she was no longer the listless, swaying woman she used to be at the Xiao family's house. He choked up, silently accepted the gift, and tears streamed down his face without a sound.

"Seeing you like this, I finally feel relieved... Your mother suffered so much, and I was so afraid you would follow in her footsteps. Now that I see you two living peacefully and harmoniously, I feel at ease. I'm so sorry to your mother; I didn't even get justice for her when she passed away..."

As he spoke, the rough-looking man squatted on the threshold and began to sob.

Su Yu held his shoulder, her voice deep and steady: "Uncle, don't worry. I won't let Yulan suffer even a fraction of the injustice she has endured; I will earn back for her every bit of happiness she desires."

Wu Jun wiped his face and nodded vigorously: "Uncle believes you! Just look at the clothes you bought for her—even our brigade cadres might not be able to afford them, and you still bought them all for her... I'll be at ease as long as you two are doing well. Alright, I'm going back now. Your grandfather has had a hard life, so spend more time with him when you have time."

Xiao Yulan nodded: "Yes, Uncle, please take care. We'll go see him in a couple of days."

Wu Jun clutched the jar of lard, carefully folded the ten yuan and put it close to his body, then hurried back with light steps, repeatedly thinking to himself: Heaven has eyes, Yulan really met Su Yu.

Su Yu escorted him all the way to the village entrance, watching his figure disappear before turning back.

"The day after tomorrow we'll go to the county town to buy some soft food for Grandpa, and also bring some nourishing medicinal herbs."

"Okay, I'll listen to Third Brother."

—In those years of food shortage, someone was willing to bring twenty catties of rice to her door. This kindness was heavier than the grain itself. Although she had no worries about food and drink, she accepted this sentiment with both hands. Her grandfather had a bad class background, so she dared not send him clothes, but she could secretly swallow the food, as long as no one saw her.

……

As dawn broke, Su Yu got up. Starting today, work hours changed: 9 AM and 2 PM. The work in the fields was mostly finished; now it was just a formality to earn work points. Men, women, young, and old—anyone who could still move their legs—was driven to the field ridges to "work." Su Yu was very puzzled—the laziest one had consistently earned full marks on work points for the past few months.

He shouldered his bamboo basket and headed into the mountains. It was only a little before six o'clock, still a long way from work.

The overgrown weeds and shrubs on both sides of the path at the foot of the mountain seemed to have been carefully cleared, revealing a narrow dirt path; the fallen leaves covered the ground thickly, rustling underfoot. It was harvest season, and Su Yu bent down to check if her trouser legs were tied up properly, then wrapped her collar tightly with a blue-printed cloth, before plunging into the depths of the forest.

He didn't wander aimlessly, but followed the well-trodden paths from the original owner's memories; when he reached a dead end, he took out his machete and shaved off a piece of bark from a tree trunk as a mark. The further he went into the woods, the quieter it became, and the air was filled with a slightly sour and sweet scent—the aroma of ripe wild blueberries.

He deftly picked the purplish-black fruits one by one, gently placing them into the bamboo basket, afraid of crushing them; then he carefully examined the fruit tree, quickly identifying the withered but clearly outlined yam vines and kudzu leaves, and made shallow marks on a nearby stone before turning back the way he came.

Halfway there, several pheasants fluttered down onto low branches, pecking at fruit. Su Yu glanced at them, a slight smile playing on her lips, but kept walking—without a suitable tool, chasing them would be a waste of energy, so she pretended not to see them.

He hurried home with light steps, and the hot porridge on the stove was bubbling away. Xiao Yulan had already put breakfast on the table.

Su Yu pushed the bamboo basket in front of her: "Wash these wild fruits and remove the thorns. I'll make jam when I get back at noon."

Xiao Yulan grabbed the wild fruit and squatted down by the well to scrub it vigorously, the muddy water dripping into the bottom of the basin through her fingers; Su Yu turned around and went back into the house, poured the raisins into an enamel bowl, scooped two spoonfuls of thick sugar syrup and kneaded them repeatedly until the sugar coating frosted over and the astringency faded, completely suppressing the sour and bitter taste.

I've already collected about a hundred pounds of dried raisins. Tomorrow morning I need to take them to the supply and marketing cooperative to see if they'll buy them, and what price they'll offer. I need to have a general idea of ​​what they'll do.

Xiao Yulan wiped her hands and straightened up: "Third Brother, I've already eaten all the honey you brought last time. Can you make some more when you have time?"

Su Yu was scraping the sugar stains off the edge of the bamboo tray with a knife, without looking up: "Honeycombs are hard to find in the mountains these days, but today I spotted an old beehive on the back slope, as big as a bamboo basket. It's a pity I didn't bring a hook or a chimney, so I couldn't dig it out by force."

Xiao Yulan quickly lowered her voice: "Third Brother, you have to be careful! The other day, Su Laosi was stung so badly that his head was covered in blisters, and he had to stay at the clinic for three days before they released him."

She said "Old Fourth Su" aloud, but she knew in her heart that Su Yu hated it when she called that family "Uncle" and "Aunt".