Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Don't touch my parents!

In the end, he could only obediently stand there and quietly stare at her.

Chen Shuxiang carefully pulled the child into her arms, gently rocked her body, and patted and soothed her with a soft voice.

However, after being shaken seven or eight times, He Yushui's crying gradually subsided.

Her little mouth was smacking, as if instinctively searching for food.

"Daqing, go and cook some rice porridge. Our daughter is hungry again."

"Okay, I'll go get it right away."

"Zhu Zi, go to the cellar and get some soybeans, and while you're at it, bring back a few potatoes and a cabbage."

"Okay!"

He Yuzhu walked briskly out of the house, went to the kitchen and picked up a finely woven small bamboo basket and a rough porcelain bowl.

He turned and pushed open the door, his figure disappearing into the cold air outside.

Before leaving, his gaze inadvertently swept over the partition between the inner and outer rooms—there wasn't even a thick cotton curtain hanging there.

He secretly wondered: Should he make a cotton curtain himself? That way, the cold wind brought in from the doorway wouldn't be blowing directly towards his mother and sister anymore.

But right now, he doesn't have any cotton on hand at all.

However, there were other things that could be used—the old military overcoats worn by Japanese soldiers, and the thick cotton-padded coats that had been taken from traitors.

He Yuzhu silently pondered the uses of those military overcoats and cotton-padded jackets, trying to figure out how to explain their origins in a plausible way, which turned into a minor hurdle.

I need to think about it carefully tonight and see if I can tear it down and modify it. Maybe I should ask the old lady in the courtyard for help? But I'll have to sound her out first.

I would never dare to ask an outsider—if I don't keep a tight tongue, the news will leak out very quickly.

They dared not touch the tailor shops outside, for fear that the moment they handed in the fabric, gossip would reach the ears of the detectives.

These days, there's nowhere to buy decent cotton. Even if you can find it for sale, its origin isn't necessarily clean—many families don't fill their cotton-padded jackets with cotton at all, but with dried, stiff straw.

It looks quite thick, but a gust of wind can seep right through it, making people uneasy. That's why Yi Zhonghai and his colleagues wear the work uniforms issued by their company every day—they just want to be warm and practical.

He deftly filled half a basket with soybeans and carefully selected five or six potatoes—potatoes back then weren't as big as they are now; later, a single large potato could fill a whole plate.

He picked up a large cabbage covered in wet mud, climbed down the ladder into the cellar, and steadily returned to the kitchen.

First, pour the soybeans into an earthenware basin, add water, and soak them carefully. Then, pick up the gleaming peeler and carefully peel the potatoes.

"Yo."

He Daqing, watching from the side, couldn't help but laugh and make a joke.

"This kid's finally got the hang of things; I don't even need to say a word to him."

"I'm not the youngest in our family anymore."

He Yuzhu casually replied, his hands never stopping for a moment.

"Honey, did you hear that? Our Zhuzi has really grown up!"

"Do you even need to tell me?"

Immediately, Chen Shuxiang's smiling voice came from the inner room.

"If it weren't for my son's quick thinking yesterday, my son and I might have really been in danger."

As she was talking, she suddenly remembered that she hadn't paid the doctor's fee yet—Zhu Zi hadn't mentioned it at all today, probably because he was too busy to remember.

She gently placed He Yushui back on the kang (a heated brick bed), got up and walked to the old elmwood box at the head of the kang, carefully rummaging through the bottom of the box to find a blue cloth bundle.

Gently unwrapping the bundle, inside lay two dazzlingly bright yellow croakers, a roll of silver dollars neatly wrapped in red paper, and dozens of scattered old silver coins—this was the entirety of the He family's most prized possessions.

Of course, she also had her own dowry, hidden in an even more secret place, which she dared not easily show to others, because it was even more conspicuous than the small yellow croaker.

If He Yuzhu knew all this, he would definitely be wondering: Why doesn't this plot make sense? Where did the He family get such a large fortune? This was never mentioned in the original story.

Could it be that... He Daqing secretly subsidized Widow Bai's expenses later?

Chen Shuxiang counted out ten silver dollars, carefully wrapped them in a clean, faded cloth, and quietly slipped them under her pillow—thinking she would have Zhu Zi deliver them to her first thing tomorrow morning.

He stuffed the bundle back into the bottom of the box, sat back down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and looked at the sleeping He Yushui. Suddenly, he remembered something: He had mentioned early that morning that martial law had been imposed in Dongtangzi Hutong.

What should we do? Should we send He Daqing to deliver it? No, that's too dangerous. Let's wait until the curfew eases a bit, then we can have Zhuzi make the trip.

She herself didn't realize that she had unknowingly come to regard her son as a capable little adult. Yesterday, her son's decisive actions and prudent words made her believe from the bottom of her heart: this matter can definitely be handled well by her son.

He Daqing cooked the millet porridge until it was thick and sticky, then ladled out a bowl of clear rice water and carefully carried it into the inner room.

Watching Chen Shuxiang patiently feed the baby with a small spoon, a worry quietly rose in his heart: Wife, you have to hurry up and produce milk, otherwise the baby will only drink rice water and won't be full.

After peeling the potatoes, He Yuzhu separated the cabbage leaves one by one, washed them, and cut them into evenly sized pieces.

After finishing his work, he looked up and asked, "Dad, should the potatoes be shredded or sliced?"

"Slice it into strips; it will absorb the flavor better when stewed."

"Okay!"

"Knock knock knock..."

The rhythmic sound of chopping vegetables immediately filled the kitchen, like a tapping on one's heart.

He Daqing looked up at his son, who was focused on chopping vegetables, and a slight smile unconsciously appeared on his lips—this kid has a rare talent in terms of comprehension and skill in his hands.

He turned around and continued to prepare the pig's trotter: first, he cleaned and singed the hair off the trotter, then put the iron pot back on the stove to blanch it and remove the fishy smell, and then he laid out the peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon and other seasonings he needed on the cutting board one by one.

While she was busy working quickly, she couldn't help but glance at her son from time to time, her eyes filled with unconcealed joy and warmth.

He had seen and remembered all the changes in his son over the past two days—though he vaguely felt that something was different, he was mostly overjoyed.

As night slowly falls, the enticing aromas of dishes from various households gradually waft through the alleyways of the courtyard houses.

Inside the Jia family's house, as usual, came Jia Zhangshi's endless complaints and veiled grumbling—in the afternoon, her son went to play with Zhu Zi, but was rudely locked out.

She had been holding back her anger and wanted to rush out and yell at everyone, but when she thought about how she had lost face in front of everyone that morning, she forced herself to suppress her anger.

Right now, she's mostly secretly competing with the He family. Once she's calmed down, she'll have her son coax that silly boy and at least get him some good food.

Jia Dongxu couldn't resist the temptation and swallowed both eggs in one gulp.

Jia Zhangshi couldn't bear to scold her precious son, so she vented all her resentment on the He family—they clearly had so many eggs stored up at home, yet they wouldn't even share a single one with the neighbors!