Chapter 290: Qin Huairu and An Jiahe

Just a few taels of pork, optional.

It wasn't Jia Zhangshi's ultimate goal; she mainly went for An Jiahe, wanting to turn An Jiahe into someone like Yi Zhonghai but not actually Yi Zhonghai.

The Jia family had truly reached the end of their rope.

During this time.

Not to mention being anxious and worried.

and they couldn't even eat well.

Jia Zhangshi often dreamed, dreaming of the good days when Yi Zhonghai was still alive and the Jia family lived well—three days a meat meal, two days a white flour steamed bun.

Qin Huairu was a widow.

An Jiahe was a bachelor who hadn't taken a wife.

They were roughly the same age.

If the two of them got together, something might actually happen.

Jia Zhangshi was covering her bases with double insurance.

Rather than Qin Huairu later discovering that Jia Zhangshi had been swindled out of her money and angrily remarrying, it would be better for Jia Zhangshi to help Qin Huairu find a man who could support the Jia family and get married.

Best to do it before Qin Huairu learns the truth.

In that case.

Jia Zhangshi thereby seized the initiative.

An Jiahe lived in the house that originally belonged to the Jia family.

After thinking it over.

Is there anyone better than An Jiahe?

Based on these considerations.

Only then would Jia Zhangshi verbally tell Qin Huairu to help An Jiahe!

……

Following Jia Zhangshi's instructions, Qin Huairu came to An Jiahe's home.

Although the door was open.

She still knocked with her hand.

They just moved in; one should leave a good impression.

"Who's there!"

"My name is Qin Huairu, a neighbor in the courtyard; I used to live in this house."

"Is there something you need?"

An Jiahe appeared before Qin Huairu.

Looking at this person before her.

Qin Huairu puffed out a laugh.

On An Jiahe's clean white face, at some point a bit of pot soot appeared, making him look a little silly and cute.

"Sorry, I was rude." Qin Huairu pointed at the soot on An Jiahe's face: "You've got soot on your face; what are you doing?"

An Jiahe raised his arm.

He wiped his cheek with his sleeve.

Originally just a streak of black-gray soot, under An Jiahe's godlike maneuver he somehow expanded the area countless times, his right cheek covered in black, looking like a spotted cat.

Qin Huairu, holding back laughter, offered a solution.

"You should just wash your face with water; your wiping method won't clean it at all."

"Thank you." An Jiahe, who had just turned around, quickly turned back, looking at Qin Huairu and said: "You're Qin Huairu; you just said you used to live in this house."

"Yes yes yes, this house has always been ours, the Jia family's; recently something happened and we moved to the back courtyard."

"Could I ask you for a favor?"

The Jia family looked at Qin Huairu pitifully.

Qin Huairu's heart.

Jumping about like a little deer.

Didn't dare to meet An Jiahe's gaze.

Don't look at Qin Huairu being over thirty, having given birth to three children, yet never knowing what love is. Marrying Jia Dongxu was to marry into the city, eat the city's grain rations, mostly for transaction. Following Yi Zhonghai was because the Jia family treated her poorly, Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu looked down on Qin Huairu in various ways, purely out of revenge.

An Jiahe's funny, comical scene instantly opened Qin Huairu's long-sealed heart, and she felt An Jiahe was not bad.

"We're neighbors in the same courtyard, we see each other all the time; whatever you need, just say it."

"What's going on with this stove? After lighting the fire, smoke pours out from the stove opening."

"I came for this matter." Qin Huairu took the fire tongs from An Jiahe's hand: "Inside needs to be blocked with half a brick; you removed the brick, so the smoke will definitely flow out backwards through the stove opening."

"So it's about the brick; you say why my hands are so cheap, why did I mess with it? After all this fuss, I thought the house was unfamiliar."

An Jiahe didn't notice at all.

His action of squatting beside Qin Huairu at this moment.

It caused the Yagangchang's beautiful widow to fall into a kind of inexplicable ripple.

A feeling of dry mouth and tongue.

It sought out Qin Huairu.

Empty hand.

He pinched his own thigh.

Using this pain, he forced himself to become a bit clearer.

She and An Jiahe were still apart; even if An Jiahe had a wife and children, or even if he had no wife, Qin Huairu had no standing to share a life with An Jiahe.

A reputation that's all over the street.

Who wants it.

Qin Huairu reckoned it wouldn't take long for her scandal of running around with people to reach An Jiahe's ears.

What's more, an evil old lady, Jia Zhangshi, lives in the back courtyard.

「Comrade An。」

「Call me by my name。」

「Can I? 」

「Isn't a name just for people to call? 」

An Jiahe, then I'll call you by your name, and there are a few things to note. Qin Huairu pointed out several leaks in the house, saying to An Jiahe: "The tiles up there are no good; I can't find the leak point, light rain is fine, but if it rains hard, you need to put a basin underneath. This pane of glass can't be scrubbed hard, or it'll break easily. When you get up at night to go out, you need to lift the left-side door panel a bit when pushing it, so it doesn't make noise and disturb the neighbors' rest."

「I understand。」

In our courtyard there are two headmen; you know the first, Liu Haizhong, who likes to put on airs; the second is Yan Fugui, who does nothing without profit. For any matter, go to them two. Opposite is He Yuzhu's family; in the courtyard he's an official of the steel plant, overseeing ten canteens. Back there is another household, Xu Daming's family, the steel plant's film projectionist.

「You're really a good person。」

Qin Huairu's throat.

As if a stone had been lodged.

Her eyes felt hot.

Tears welled in her eye sockets.

Since she moved into the courtyard, this was the first time anyone had called her a good person—know that the courtyard houses hundreds, the steel plant tens of thousands.

Whenever anyone mentions Qin Huairu, it's usually with an idiom criticizing her lack of wifely virtue.

Being praised.

First time.

Qin Huairu, not wanting to show her weak side in front of An Jiahe, made an excuse that the room was a bit hot, wiped away the tears in her eye sockets, found a reason, and ran off to the back courtyard.

She returned to the Jia family.

She ignored Jia Zhangshi.

She lay down directly on the bed.

Although Qin Huairu's excuse was that she felt unwell.

Jia Zhangshi, who had eaten many more years of salt than Qin Huairu, still saw through her little tricks, indicating she had some ideas.

Do you really think Jia Zhangshi never had a youth?

She began widowhood at twenty-two and has continued to this day; in terms of experience as a widow, Jia Zhangshi surpasses Qin Huairu.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

Not afraid that Qin Huairu had no intentions toward An Jiahe.

Things depend on human effort.

With Jia Zhangshi around, An Jiahe is destined to be a different kind of Yi Zhonghai.

Her gaze fell on the portrait of Jia Dongxu on the wall.

She silently said to herself.

Son, don't blame Mom; Mom has no choice either—she can't just watch the Jia family fall apart.