Traveling back to 1952, starting a comeback from a relief station

Whether He Daqing ran away or not had absolutely nothing to do with Wang Anping.

But right now.

He didn't intend to let He Daqing go so easily.

After spending the past few days in the courtyard, Wang Anping had already figured out the background of the people in the courtyard quite well—He Daqing was a man with some tricks up his sleeve.

In the drama.

He followed the White Widow for so many years, and in the end, he slunk back to his courtyard house to retire.

To put it bluntly, he had long seen through Sha Zhu's nature:

It's ultimately unreliable to rely on an outsider for old age. It's better to go back to the nursing home and live off Sha Zhu's filial piety; that would be much more comfortable.

that's the truth.

Moreover, not long after He Daqing returned to the courtyard house, he hooked up with Lou Xiao'e's mother, whose square dancing could cause fights among the old men. This is enough to show that He Daqing not only has tricks up his sleeve, but also a thick skin.

Leaving this person in the yard is a good way to keep Yi Zhonghai in check.

Those two, Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui, are no match for Yi Zhonghai at all.

Chen Xueru was taken aback:

"You mean, He Daqing is going to run away with a widow?"

"Is it... worth it?"

"He has his own children, why would he give up a perfectly good life to go with a widow and raise her son?"

She paused, then added:

"He's not exactly handsome, but he looks quite wealthy!"

"Those clothes you just wore cost over thirty yuan to make! And he said the job was pretty good, he could earn forty or fifty yuan a month."

"With these qualifications, even a young, unmarried woman from the countryside could find someone."

Wang Anping shrugged and said casually:

"Maybe that's just his taste."

"I imagine living with a widow would be more exciting."

"He Daqing used to work on the streets, and in his early years he even sold steamed buns from door to door."

"The old neighbors in the courtyard said that he liked this kind of thing when he was young. It is said that he often went to the Eight Great Hutongs to find mature women."

Chen Xueru slapped her thigh and suddenly realized:

"Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember it."

"I used to come to this store often when I was a child. I think I saw this person before, carrying steamed buns and selling them on Qianmen Street."

"Later it was replaced by a seven or eight-year-old boy."

"It must be his son."

"She has a rather stubborn temper."

Wang Anping nodded, pondered for a moment, and said:

"Judging from He Daqing's posture, he's probably determined to go with Widow Bai."

"so."

"Please adjust their clothes."

"It would be best to drag it out until they've packed everything, are just waiting for the clothes to arrive, and then immediately board the train and run away."

Even a fool could tell that Wang Anping was plotting against someone.

However, she didn't ask any further questions.

Since it didn't concern him much, he immediately nodded in agreement.

"Alright, leave it to me. I'll let you know the time before I give the clothes to that white widow."

After leaving the silk shop, Wang Anping rode his bicycle back, heading straight for Nanluoguxiang.

As I passed the entrance of an alley, I saw a dazed-looking figure swaying back. It was none other than Sha Zhu.

Wang Anping rang the bicycle bell a few times.

Shouting at the top of his lungs:

"Hey you idiot up there, have you got any sense of propriety? Move aside a little, or don't blame me if I bump into you!"

When Sha Zhu heard the urgent sound of the bicycle bell behind him, he quickly moved closer to the wall in the alley. When he looked back and saw that it was Wang Anping, his face immediately fell.

After Wang Anping rode past him on his bicycle, he turned and yelled at the back of him in an annoyed tone:

"Are you trying to summon a spirit?!"

"Are you riding so fast in a hurry to be reborn?"

"What a jerk! It's just a bicycle, what's the big deal!"

Although he was cursing, Sha Zhu was secretly itching to do something—unlike Wang Anping, who could do whatever he wanted without his father's supervision.

He's completely controlled by He Daqing now, and he has no freedom at all.

Right now, Sha Zhu is working as an apprentice in the kitchen of a steel rolling mill.

In fact, he learned a lot of skills from He Daqing when he was a child, so his cooking skills are not bad. But he is old enough to be considered. He has only been an apprentice for a year and will have to wait two more years to graduate.

A monthly salary of 18.5 yuan.

Every penny had to be handed over to He Daqing, leaving him with no pocket money at all.

Seeing Wang Anping's carefree and unburdened state, Sha Zhu couldn't be more envious.

Whenever he thought of Wang Anping, Sha Zhu couldn't help but think of the girl he had seen that day—she was really pretty.

He wanted to ask the girl if she was Wang Anping's girlfriend, but the two had never gotten along, so he swallowed his words and could only keep them to himself.

Wang Anping rode his bicycle into the courtyard house.

He parked the car at the gate of the yard, picked up a paper bag and a bag of water, and went inside.

After entering the house, I first opened the stove door, added some coal to make the stove burn brightly, and then boiled water to prepare to cook noodles.

Inside that oil paper package was half a roast chicken that he had bought on his way back, costing him one dollar and two cents.

While I was cooking, Yan Bugui came over.

Wang Anping sighed inwardly:

That old fellow has a really keen nose!

"Teacher Yan, have you had dinner yet?"

Wang Anping asked without looking up.

Yan Bugui leaned closer, his eyes fixed on the oil paper package, swallowed hard, and said:

"No, I'm making it at home."

"You bought some delicious food again? Life is so different now."

"But it's quite a coincidence that He Daqing just came back with some good stuff, he said he bought a whole roast chicken."

"In this courtyard, only your two families can eat as much as they want."

"You can't say that."

Wang Anping glanced at him.

"If we're talking about who's most deserving of the best food, then it has to be Yi Zhonghai."

"His salary is higher than Master He's, and he has no children to support. The money he has saved is enough for him to eat roast chicken every day."

Wang Anping started giving Yi Zhonghai eye drops again.

Yan Bugui rolled his eyes at him, annoyed.

"No children to support" is a much harsher statement than "No elderly to support," and it has been a lifelong worry for Mr. and Mrs. Yi Zhonghai.

Only someone as unscrupulous as Wang Anping would dare to joke about this.

Wang Anping didn't care what Yi Zhonghai would think if he heard this. When he heard that He Daqing had also bought roast chicken, he immediately knew what was going on: he guessed that the old man was preparing to run away and wanted to treat himself well before leaving.

He touched his chin.

He glanced at Yan Bugui, who was staring intently at the roast chicken, and chuckled mischievously, saying:

"Teacher Yan, would you like some roast chicken?"

Yan Bugui gave Wang Anping a disgruntled look:

"That's obvious, who wouldn't want to eat something good?"

Wang Anping nodded solemnly:

"That's true, roast chicken is a good thing."

"Unfortunately, the doctor said I'm lacking in nutrition and need to replenish it. This is only half a roast chicken, so there's definitely no share for you."

Yan Bugui's expression froze:

You can eat it all by yourself, but you're deliberately teasing me. What the hell are you talking about?

However, he came here not for this, but for other things. After thinking for a moment, Yan Bugui still spoke up.