Chapter 44

That afternoon, Minister Liang brought Secretary Liu to the dean's office of Huaxia University. After Dean Jiang learned of their purpose, he said, "This He Yuzhu truly has limitless prospects. Minister Liang, you don't know that on He Yuzhu's outline exam paper there is also a leader's comment, and moreover, guess what he wrote?"

Minister Liang heard Dean Jiang's words and said, "Oh? What did he write, Dean Jiang?"

Dean Jiang said with an envious tone, "He wrote, 'Hits the nail on the head, a pillar of talent.' Although unsigned, I still recognize the leader's handwriting; the leader's expectations for this kid are not low."

Minister Liang glanced at Dean Jiang in surprise and said, "The leader actually gave such a comment; I'm really curious what kind of sage this Comrade He Yuzhu is."

Secretary Liu beside him said, "Minister Liang, you may not know, but this Comrade He Yuzhu came from our factory. He was once just an apprentice; later his father went to Baocheng with a widow, and this kid himself sought out Lou Dong and insisted on a head chef position, only then getting into university."

"'There's still such a thing?' Minister Liang, hearing this, was even more surprised. Just as they were talking, a knock sounded at the door. Dean Jiang said 'Please come in,' and then He Yuzhu pushed the door open and entered."

After greeting Dean Jiang, He Yuzhu looked toward Liang and Liu on the sofa. Secretary Liu hurriedly introduced, "Comrade He Yuzhu, this is Minister Liang of our Metallurgy Department."

After He Yuzhu finished greeting Minister Liang, Liang said, "Young man, you look very energetic," then took out a safety manual from his bag and handed it to He Yuzhu, saying, "This is what the leader asked me to give you, and it's also the first printed employee handbook."

He Yuzhu received the manual, saw the inscription and signature, and clutched it to his chest like a treasure, saying to Minister Liang, "Thank you, leader, thank you, leader."

Just as He Yuzhu finished speaking, Secretary Liu pulled a watch and a stack of money from his bag, handed them to He Yuzhu, and said, "Comrade He Yuzhu, this is 500 yuan in cash awarded by the Metallurgy Department and a Mei Hua brand watch awarded by our factory."

"I can't take this, Secretary Liu," He Yuzhu said.

"Comrade He Yuzhu, this is your reward; if you don't accept it, what's the difference between you and Yan Hui?" Minister Liang said.

Hearing Minister Liang say that, He Yuzhu accepted the watch and money, saying, "Then thank you, Minister Liang and Secretary Liu."

Seeing He Yuzhu accept it, Liang secretary nodded and said, "Just now I and Dean Jiang already applied; this year Huaxia University's individual advanced has your name."

After He Yuzhu expressed his thanks to everyone, he left Dean Jiang's office.

He went downstairs to the female dormitory building, had someone call Gao Yue, and while waiting for her to come out, He Yuzhu put the watch on his wrist. When Gao Yue came down and saw He Yuzhu looking at the watch, she ran over and said, "Zhuzi, you're wasting money again."

He Yuzhu took off the watch and handed it to Gao Yue, saying, "This is the reward from Yagangchang; I brought it for you."

After receiving the watch, Gao Yue said, "I don't want it; it's for men, I'd look awful wearing it," and then gave it back to He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu took the watch back, put it on his wrist, and said, "When we get married, I'll buy you a ladies' one."

Upon hearing about marriage, Gao Yue spat and said, "Who wants to marry you?" He Yuzhu saw that Gao Yue wasn't blushing, nodded and said, "Okay, I've practiced enough already; Xiao Yue, look at this."

After saying that, He Yuzhu took out the employee manual from his bag; Gao Yue saw it, took it over, saw the signature below, and stared, saying, "Is this really true?"

"It's genuine, couldn't be more real," He Yuzhu said with a smile.

"Zhuzi, you're amazing," Gao Yue said, then looked around, saw no one, gave He Yuzhu a quick kiss on the cheek with a smack, hugged the manual, and ran back to the dormitory building.

He Yuzhu stood there stunned, then after reacting said, "This little girl, her boldness keeps growing," and then remembered, saying, "My book."

Time flew by, and it was already March 18, 1953; the day after tomorrow, the sixth day of the lunar month, is also the wedding day of Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu. Yi Zhonghai had long sought He Yuzhu to ask him to help with the wedding feast, but He Yuzhu refused, saying, "Elder Yi, you think too highly of me; I haven't set foot in the kitchen for over a year, I've been busy studying—do you want me to cook again? You're not afraid I'll mess it up for you, are you?"

Yi Zhonghai heard He Yuzhu mention studying and understood; he thought, He Yuzhu is now a college student—should he cook for Jia Dongxu? Is Jia Dongxu worthy of that? So he stopped pressing He Yuzhu. After Yi Zhonghai left, He Yuzhu continued lying on the Luohan bed, reading his book.

After the renovation was finished, He Yuzhu sold his old bed and cabinet, then had Lao Lai make a desk and wardrobe for He Yushui; the rest of the main room's furniture were secondhand items He Yuzhu bought from the consignment store. At the consignment store, seeing sofas for sale, he didn't dare buy one, fearing future problems, so he bought a set of Luohan beds plus some round-backed chairs and tea tables.

They arranged a circle around the fireplace, placed a side table to the right of the Luohan bed with a desk underneath and added two official's hat chairs; upon entering, the room had a distinctive atmosphere.

To the right of the side table are the bedroom and bathroom; lighting the kang in the bedroom, soon the bathroom's washbasin began to heat up; after opening the water pipe and letting in cold water, it didn't take long for the water to become hot; sealing the kang opening, they laid a towel inside and covered their face with it—such a small pleasure is indescribable.

Soon it was the sixth day, the wedding day of Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu. That afternoon the day before, Yi Zhonghai came to borrow a bicycle, but He Yuzhu refused, saying he had something to do; he said the school had arranged for him to go out for research, needed to ride, gave Yi Zhonghai fifty cents, saying help me bring the gift tomorrow if I don't return, then rode his bicycle to Huaxia University.

Yi Zhonghai, helpless, went to borrow Xu Damao's bicycle; Xu Damao initially said public vehicles couldn't be lent, but unable to resist Yi Zhonghai's soft and hard persuasion, he agreed.

At 5 a. m., Jia Dongxu rode his bicycle himself to Qinjia Village; if he went too late, he feared missing the auspicious hour at 11 a. m. After riding for over an hour, the cook hired by Yi Zhonghai arrived, greeted the few people in the courtyard, and had them stack up the stove. Looking at the kitchen vegetables, the cook called over Yi Zhonghai and said, "Master Yi, you're not making things difficult for people, are you? The vegetables are enough; you look at the meat—ten tables, each table needs four meat dishes; you look at the meat, do we have five catties?"

Yi Zhonghai saw the meat prepared by Jia Zhangshi, cursed inwardly, and said to the cook, "Master Liu, don't rush; yesterday when we went to buy meat, only this much was left; I'll immediately arrange people to buy more." After saying that, Yi Zhonghai found Jia Zhangshi and said, "Jia family's sister-in-law, what's going on? You prepared only this much meat for ten tables?"

Seeing Yi Zhonghai come to her, Jia Zhangshi said, "I tell you, Master Dongxu, it's not that I don't want to buy meat; it's just that Dongxu was only recently made permanent, his wages are that low, we originally had no savings—alas, Master, what can I do?"

Yi Zhonghai helplessly sighed, then said helplessly, "Alright, leave the rest to me; you go attend to other things." After saying that, he went out, took some money, and gave it to Yan Jiefang and his brother to buy meat.

When it was nearly noon, 11 o'clock, Jia Dongxu rode his bicycle, carrying Qin Huairu who wore a padded red jacket and had a red flower on her head, into the courtyard house. Qin Huairu was already pretty; this outfit made her even more beautiful, causing all the unmarried young men in the courtyard to stare, especially Xu Damao, who kept fixing his gaze on her two little rabbits.

Amid the crowd's escort, Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu held a ceremony in the courtyard; it was called a ceremony, but actually they just bowed before a portrait of the great leader, then bowed to Jia Zhangshi. While bowing to Jia Zhangshi, she called someone to bring another stool and said to Yi Zhonghai, "Master Dongxu, Dongxu is your apprentice, that is, your son; you also sit here."

Yi Zhonghai originally didn't want to go, but unable to resist Jia Zhangshi's persuasion, he sat in the chair; however, watching Jia Dongxu and his wife bow to him and to Jia Zhangshi, the more he watched the more awkward it felt. An old lady glanced, then turned and went back inside.

After the ceremony concluded, everyone returned to their rooms to wait for the meal to be served; since the weather was still a bit chilly, they didn't set up tables in the courtyard, and from the front yard to the back yard, nearly every room had its dining spread laid out.