Siheyuan: abandoning moral qualities and enjoying an immoral life

.......

Qin Huairu pouted in anger and worked harder, rubbing the rag vigorously with both hands, as if she was rubbing Wang Hongtao: Humph, I let you make fun of me! You are still angry after making a joke! I have never seen a man as stingy as you!

……

"Hello, sir. Does Qin Huairu live in this courtyard?"

Outside the gate, a girl of about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a sweet and naive look, came to the door.

The third uncle raised his lame glasses and said, "Little girl, who are you to Qin Huairu? What do you want from her?"

As the manager, it is his job to find out the identity of outsiders.

"Oh, I'm her cousin Qin Jingru. She asked me to come here for a blind date. She said there's a guy called Shazhu in your courtyard..."

"Oh, Qin Huairu's cousin, come in, it's true that Qin Huairu lives in this courtyard."

……

"Qin Huairu, is Qin Huairu at home? A relative is here to visit!"

"Third uncle, who is here to look for our Huairu?" Jia Zhang walked out and asked.

"This little girl said she was Qin Huairu's cousin and came to see Qin Huairu for something."

Yan Bugui pointed at Qin Jingru, but didn't mention the blind date.

Jia Zhang only glanced at Qin Jingru, but her eyes were soon attracted by the bag in Qin Jingru's hand. She walked over and asked kindly:

"Is this little girl our Huairu's cousin? Why is she so pretty?"

"I'm Qin Huairu's mother-in-law, you can just call me Aunt Jia."

"Give the bag to your Aunt Jia, I'll help you carry it. You must be exhausted from the journey, right?"

It was the first time that Qin Jingru went out alone to visit relatives, so she handed over the bag honestly.

"Aunt Jia, where is my sister? Is she home?"

"Your sister is helping the neighbors with work in the backyard. Why don't you go over and look for her? She's in the rooms in the far corner on the left hand side after passing through the moon gate."

Jia Zhang weighed the bag and felt it was quite heavy, so she wanted to send Qin Jingru away as soon as possible and open it to see what was inside.

"Oh, okay, I'll go take a look then."

……

When Qin Jingru walked into the backyard, she saw Wang Hongtao cleaning the windows. She thought she had seen the wrong person: Why is this bad guy here?

Qin Jingru rubbed her eyes again. That’s right!

She walked over curiously: "Brother Tao! Is that you?"

Wang Hongtao turned around when he heard the voice: "Qin Jingru? Why are you here?"

"Oh, I almost forgot, you came to the city for a blind date!"

"Looking for your sister, right? Come in, your sister is here."

"Jingru is here?" Qin Huairu saw Qin Jingru stand up and rub her waist. It was indeed tiring to tidy up these three rooms.

"Sister, what are you doing? Whose house is this?" Qin Jingru asked instead of answering.

"Whose? The guy at the door, Wang Hongtao from Qinjiatun. Do you remember him?"

"His? Didn't he just come to the city? How did he get such a big house?" Qin Jingru said in disbelief with her eyes wide open.

"They said that they were distributed throughout the factory. Someone from the street office brought it here yesterday. They have all the keys and paperwork. There's no way they're wrong."

"what!!!"

"Ah, bullshit! Why don't you come over and help me? Can't you see that I can't even straighten my waist?"

"Oh……"

"You, go to my house and wait for me. I'll let Sha Zhu know for you. Then you can come over to Sha Zhu's house, have a meal together, chat, or something, and get to know each other."

Although Sha Zhu is jealous of Qin Huairu now, he is not yet unable to extricate himself from her, so Qin Huairu really wants to bring them together.

"Okay, thank you sis!"

"By the way, sister, do you know how much a car driver makes a month?" Qin Jingru asked secretly.

"How would I know that? There will definitely be a lot of them, why are you asking?"

"It's okay, it's okay, I'll just ask."

……

With the help of the Qin sisters, Wang Hongtao felt relieved. He was responsible for cleaning the windows, fetching water and taking out the trash, and left it all to them.

Because the workload was so huge, even with the capable Qin sisters, it took them over an hour to finish the work.

"Thank you, Sister Huairu, and Sister Jingru. I just arrived in the city and I am broke, so I don't have much to thank you for. I will thank you properly when I have time."

"I have to go out and prepare some things now. The house is empty and there is nothing. I won't keep you here."

"By the way, Sister Huairu, take a look at these and see if you see anything you like. If you do, take it away. I'm not going to use it anyway."

Perhaps because they left in a hurry, the previous resident left behind a lot of things, including large items such as tables, chairs and cabinets.

Wang Hongtao picked up some of the things he didn't like and put them aside, such as the crooked chair and the yellowed sheets and pillowcases.

"Yes, yes! Give me all the ones you don't want."

Wang Hongtao was disgusted but Qin Huairu was not. She thought the lame chair could just be fixed with new legs. Although the sheets and pillowcases were a little yellow, they were still cloth after all. Maybe they could be cleaned after washing?

"Okay, then you can take them all. I'm planning to go out too."

……

Chapter 18 A Promissory Note

Only after the Qin sisters left did Wang Hongtao have time to look around the house.

The house is in the northwest corner of the backyard, a little further north from Xu Damao's house. The two large rooms are four meters wide and five or six meters deep, about 20 square meters each, and the three rooms together are about 50 square meters.

There is an octagonal table in the middle of the entrance, with four long benches on the side. However, there are only three left now. The lame one was just given away. Although they are not made of good materials, they are sturdy.

Further inside was a coal stove that was almost new. In the old city, you could live without the three turns, one sound and seventy-two legs, but you must have a stove.

In the 1960s and 1970s, in the slums of downtown Beijing, not only did every household have to burn a stove all year round, but there was basically no such thing as a kitchen.

In winter, we have a stove in the house for both heating and cooking.

What should I do when cooking and the pan is full of oil smoke? There is no other way but to open the door and window.

It is not that cold in spring, summer and autumn. Next to the door or under the window outside every house, there will be a wall buttress more than one meter high made of single bricks, with an iron stove inside for daily boiling water and cooking.

When it rains, they put an iron plate on top. When the rice is cooked, what should they do when cooking? They have to bring the stove into the house, open the door, and cook at the door.

Next to the stove was a large cupboard, also made of ordinary materials, and empty. The pots, pans, and other things were probably taken away by the ex. If the beasts in the yard had come in, they would have definitely emptied it out, leaving you with a room full of dust.

Next to it are rice jars, flour jars, washbasin racks and other miscellaneous items.

There is a portrait of a great man hanging on the main wall, with the words "Serve the People" written in big red characters next to it, which also reflects the unique atmosphere of that era.

The most eye-catching thing when entering the inner room is a long kang, which is two meters wide and more than three meters long. In front of the kang is a coal stove sunk into the ground, which can be used to make fire.

After the fire is lit, the empty fire in the earthen kang will enter the kang hole, and the kang will be heated. People sleeping on the hot kang will feel warm.

Apart from this, there is nothing else in the inner room. It seems that I need to buy cabinets, thermos and other things first.

After deciding what to buy, Wang Hongtao prepared to go out. When passing by the Jia family, Wang Hongtao took the initiative to go over and say hello to Jia Zhang.

"Aunt Zhang, are you sewing shoe soles?"

When Jia Zhang saw that it was Wang Hongtao, she smiled and replied, "Yes, although I am in poor health, I can't stay idle all the time, otherwise I will be disliked by others at home."

As she spoke, Jia Zhang looked at Qin Huairu, implying that she was afraid that Qin Huairu would despise her.

"Mom, when have I ever disliked you? Really..."

Qin Huairu was also wronged. With her family status, it was good enough that she was not despised. How could she have the courage to despise Jia Zhang?

Jia Zhang curled her lips: "You didn't say it, but who knows what you think in your heart?"

"Forget it, let's not talk about this. What does Xiao Wang want to talk to me about?"

"Well, Aunt Zhang, look, I just moved to the city. I don't have any oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, or anything else at home. I haven't received my salary or allowance yet. I want to borrow some money from you to get by."

Wang Hongtao thought that instead of waiting for others to come to him, it would be better for him to ask for a loan first. You see, I'm in such a difficult situation that I have to borrow money to make a living. You guys would feel embarrassed to take advantage of me, right?

Jia Zhang: ????

Jia Zhang thought she had heard it wrong, and repeated it again incredulously:

"Xiao Wang, you're looking for me? To borrow money?"

Wang Hongtao said as if it was a matter of course: "Ah! I don't know anyone in this courtyard. I am only familiar with you, Aunt Zhang. Who else should I look for? "

"My neighbor is having a hard time, so why not lend a hand? Right, Aunt Zhang?"

"It's not like I won't pay you back after you say that. I'll pay you back as soon as the factory pays you back!"

"this….."

Jia Zhang looked embarrassed. She was familiar with borrowing money from others, but this was the first time someone asked her to borrow money.

"Forget it, since Aunt Zhang is so embarrassed..."

"Hey, I'd better ask Second Master. I thought..."

Having said that, Wang Hongtao turned around and was about to leave.

"Wait a minute, Xiao Wang, Auntie didn't say she wouldn't lend it to you."

"Well, how much do you plan to borrow?" Jia Zhang felt inexplicably nervous when she saw Wang Hongtao's disappointment.

Looking for Liu Haizhong? What should we do if the two families become familiar with each other?

This silly boy is a very honest person. He can't bear to refuse such a favor. If he lends the house to Fatty Liu, he will lose face!

Could it be that he really died by running into old Liu's house?

Wang Hongtao frowned and did some calculations: "I need to buy vegetables, rice, oil, salt, bowls and chopsticks, and coal briquettes. It will cost at least 40 or 50 yuan!"

"It's okay, Aunt Zhang. If you really don't have money, I'll go ask Uncle Er. I heard he has a high salary, about 70 or 80 a month!"

"Yes, yes! Aunt Zhang will come into the house and get it for you right away!"

……

Five minutes later, Wang Hongtao went out to purchase things with the money borrowed from Jia Zhang.

Jia family.

Jia Dongxu looked at his mother, not knowing what to say:

"Mom, why did you lend the money to that new guy? Fifty dollars in exchange for such a pile of junk?"

"What do you mean new here? I have a name, Wang Hongtao! Don't keep calling me new here, or people will blame me for not being polite!"

Hearing what Jia Dongxu said, Jia Zhang was unhappy:

"Also, I borrowed the money, not gave it to you. I have to pay it back! Look, the IOU is still in my mother's hand!"

"look!"

"My mother lent him fifty dollars, and he took the initiative to write an extra two dollars in interest! Isn't he a very honest person?"

Jia Zhang handed the IOU to Jia Dongxu:

IOU

I, Wang Hongtao, today borrow 52 yuan from Zhang Xiaohua, and agree to return it within 30 days.

1961 9 Month 22 Day.

(This IOU is in duplicate and is kept by both parties of the debtor respectively. Both copies cannot be requested repeatedly.)

The fingerprints of Jia Zhangshi and Wang Hongtao were pressed below.

Jia Dongxu always felt that something was wrong when looking at the IOU, but he couldn't put his finger on it.