Chapter 1638

"Oh? Who's here?"

Liu Yin was sitting by the kang, supporting her little granddaughter as she learned to speak, and smiled as she teased Li Yue when she saw her son enter the room.

Li Yue saw her second uncle and smiled so hard her little teeth were exposed.

"Ya ya—"

"Hahaha!"

Welcomed by the laughter in the room, Li Xuewu nodded to the few people sitting in the main room and entered the inner room with a smile.

The courtyard was lively today, and the Li family was even livelier.

Sitting in the main room were Yan Jiefang's wife Comrade Ge Shuqin, Liu Guangfu's wife Fan Xueying, Jia family's Xiaodang and Huaihua, and his younger sister Li Xue.

They were all either young ladies or young wives.

And the old ones?

The old ones were all in the north room. It was originally small, and a kang couldn't seat so many people; if you didn't have the qualifications, you really couldn't get in.

Walking into the inner room, the old lady was sitting on the kang, along with Jia Zhangshi, who hadn't been seen for quite a while, gesturing and talking about something.

Qin Huairu and Zhao Yafang were sitting by the edge of the kang, and on the other side were Liu Yin, who was coaxing Li Yue, and the rarely seen Third Aunt Hou Qinghua.

Li Tang was well-behaved today, sitting next to the old lady, quietly observing the people in the room, looking at this one, looking at that one; he didn't recognize any of them.

When he started remembering things, many of the neighbors in the courtyard had already moved away, especially those who had returned today; he basically had no impression of them.

But when he saw his second uncle, he climbed up like a little monkey, stretching out his hands to be held; every time his second uncle pampered him, he would give him something good to eat.

"Jia Auntie, Third Aunt, you're here."

Li Xuewu greeted them first when he entered the room; after all, he was at home, and the old lady was sitting on the kang, so he couldn't lose this etiquette.

Hou Qinghua's reaction was a bit awkward, but Jia Zhangshi was quite enthusiastic, responding with a smile: "Hey, Xuewu is back."

"He came once in the morning, but seeing the old lady wasn't home, he went out again." Liu Yin explained with a smile: "He was worried about his grandmother."

As she spoke, she took Li Yue in her arms and gestured for him to sit by the edge of the kang.

It was such a small place, but his mother knew his intentions and let him sit closer to the old lady, so the old lady could see her second grandson.

Li Xuewu only glanced at them when he entered the room; his attention was still on the old lady.

At this time, he took Li Yue from his mother's arms and asked the old lady with a smile: "Where did you go to play today? Are you tired?"

Li Tang was like a little monkey; he was afraid when strangers came to the house, but now that he saw his second uncle, he climbed onto him.

Li Yue was over a year old, and his little legs were already nimble; he couldn't stay still in his arms and crawled toward the old lady.

"Not tired, went to the city to see the excitement."

The old lady patted his hand lovingly and asked with a smile: "Are you busy? When did you get back?"

"I got back yesterday morning and went straight to the unit." Li Xuewu held the old lady's hand and explained: "I intended to come over last night, but the unit had something urgent that delayed me."

"I'm fine, don't let work be delayed." The old lady's eyes were full of her grandson, looking him over carefully.

Jia Zhangshi sat cross-legged on the side and teased: "You still have to say that affection skips a generation; this is different when it comes to grandsons."

She said happily: "As soon as she sees her grandson is back, she doesn't look at anyone else."

"Hahaha—" A room full of women, laughing sharply and harshly.

Li Xuewu patiently chatted with the old lady for a while before looking at the others.

"Did you all come together for the weekend?"

"It's just that there's time today—"

Qin Huairu spoke up at this moment, explaining helplessly: "I said I'd come back to take a look, and everyone heard the news and came one after another."

"How is it?" Li Xuewu raised his chin and gestured toward the middle courtyard, asking: "When I came back last time, Yushui said it was pretty good."

This was a way of speaking. Last time he met Yushui, Yushui told him Aunt Yi's health wasn't good; where did "pretty good" come from?

But then again, no one had any grudges against anyone, and neighbors living together all wished each other good health, so they could only ask with "pretty good."

Just like greeting during the New Year, "Happy New Year!"

You don't know if their New Year is good or not, but you have to greet them like that; you can't say "Did anything happen to your family during the New Year?" That would get you beaten to death.

"Not at all—" Jia Zhangshi looked at Liu Yin and said: "When we came back, she was short of breath. Li Shun checked her, right? She wasn't good even then."

"Hmm, just to help her breathe a bit easier." Liu Yin explained: "We've seen it in the hospital, just to let her suffer a little less."

"How can she not suffer." Third Aunt Hou Qinghua sighed while pounding her knees: "People, don't get old; once you're old, you're full of illnesses."

"You're very worry-free now—"

Liu Yin smiled and teased: "Yan Fang is already in kindergarten, just cooking breakfast and dinner, can that tire you out?"

"That's more worry-free than before." Hou Qinghua was waiting for this sentence, glancing at Jia Zhangshi inside the kang, and said: "The children are all successful, I'm enjoying blessings."

Her face carried hidden pride: "It's just this body; I've lived frugally my whole life, but I can't enjoy blessings; just staying still brings illness."

Li Xuewu glanced at them. They were talking about caring for Aunt Yi, but why did they all end up at his house?

"Have you all been to the backyard?" He asked deliberately: "Who is taking care of her over there?"

"Seeing Sha Zhu's wife." Liu Yin stood by the cabinet, nodded, and explained: "She's been taking care of her there ever since she finished her confinement."

"To say that Seeing Sha Zhu's wife is really something—"

She took the thermos and refilled the hot water in the teacups of the people in the room, praising: "While breastfeeding the child, she's also taking care of Aunt Yi."

"It's thanks to her that Uncle Yi can go to work with peace of mind." Qin Huairu echoed: "Otherwise, how could he be at ease."

"That's right, Uncle Yi and Aunt Yi didn't pamper Seeing Sha Zhu for nothing."

Hou Qinghua raised her chin and said: "Not to mention those years, didn't Seeing Sha Zhu borrow the light of Uncle Yi and his wife for building the house, getting married, and having children?"

She sighed: "Just building those three big tiled rooms cost so much; without Uncle Yi, where would that old bachelor get the money?"

Everyone inside and outside the room heard the flavor of her words, but she was old and was on the same "level" as the late Second Aunt and Aunt Yi, so saying a few words about Seeing Sha Zhu at this time didn't count for much.

At least no one in the room refuted her, but the words weren't pleasant to hear.

Qin Huairu picked up her teacup and looked at Liu Yin. Seeing Liu Aunt didn't want to pick up the topic, she didn't either, but looked at Li Xuewu and explained: "We went to see Uncle Yi when we came over in the afternoon. Since we were all together and hadn't seen each other for a long time, we all came here."

Actually, there were a few feelings of emotion. After all, they had lived in this courtyard for so many years; they said they went to the Workers' New Village to enjoy blessings, but it's hard to leave one's native land.

The courtyard has the courtyard's good, and the building has the building's good; people are always greedy, especially for memories that are hard to part with.

Li Xuewu nodded and looked at Jia Zhangshi, who was sitting on the kang, asking with a smile: "Did you go to see Aunt Yi too?"

Jia Zhangshi could hear the teasing in his words, but she was already an old lady, so what was she afraid of?

Besides, did she ever care about face when she lived in the courtyard?

"I didn't go to see her—" Jia Zhangshi curled her lip and said: "I was worried about Huairu and the children."

Qin Huairu glanced at her mother-in-law and didn't expose her thoughts.

It wasn't that she was worried about her and the children; she was clearly afraid of being gossiped about if she didn't come, and afraid of ghosts and gods if she did.

Don't look at Jia Zhangshi acting like a lunatic when she's scolding people; she's also scared to death when she encounters this kind of thing.

Even when she lived in the courtyard, she wouldn't join in the fun when someone had a funeral. The older she got, the more she was like this; simply put, she was afraid of death.

This kind of thing is a bit evil. When an old person passes away, it's very likely to hook a series of others, not the old ones, then the ones who died unexpectedly.

"Oh—it doesn't matter if you see her or not."

Liu Yin, as the host, couldn't say anything unpleasant since they had come to her house as guests, so she could only round it off: "They're all that old."

She gestured toward the old lady on the kang and said: "Our old lady was thinking of letting her go live at Xuewu's for a few days."

"Go ahead, the rooms are all ready."

Li Xuewu followed his mother's words and invited the old lady: "Just in time to talk to Gu Ning; she doesn't even have anyone to talk to when I'm not home."

The old lady didn't believe his words at all. She would believe it if the eldest grandson's wife and the eldest grandson's wife talked a lot, but the second grandson's wife? Stop joking.

However, she could feel her grandson's earnest heart and just smiled and nodded: "We'll see, we'll see."

Li Xuewu could feel that after being injured once, the old lady's physical condition and spirit weren't as good as before.

There was no other way; after encountering a change, she could only recuperate slowly.

Fortunately, there was no shortage of doctors in the family; medicine and diet therapy together.

"Fine, it's fine to go live at Xuewu's for a while." Jia Zhangshi also advised her: "It'll be noisy there, and you won't sleep well."

"Hmm, we'll see." The old lady still said the same thing.

Li Tang couldn't sit still, put on his little shoes himself, and ran to the main room. The talking there was slightly more restrained but more cheerful.

Li Xuewu glanced over, raised his chin, and asked: "How old is Xiaodang? She looks like a big girl."

"She's eleven, twelve after the New Year."

Qin Huairu replied with a smile: "Isn't she a big girl now."

She introduced them like this and beckoned to the main room: "Xiaodang, Huaihua, did you greet Wu Shu?"

"Hehehe, they greeted me."

Li Xuewu nodded with a smile. When he entered the room just now, many people greeted him, so he didn't really notice if the children had greeted him or not.

At this moment, he exchanged pleasantries with Qin Huairu and observed the few children who had entered the room together.

Besides Li Tang, the older one was Xiaodang, 11 years old, then Huaihua, 9 years old, and Yan Fang, almost 5 years old.

He Yuzhu's family's He Zhuang wasn't here; otherwise, he would have been ranked before Li Tang. He Zhuang was born in February 1967, a few months older than Li Tang and Li Ning.

"Wu Shu—" Huaihua followed her sister's greeting.

"Hey, Huaihua is also a big girl now."

Li Xuewu smiled and observed the few little girls standing in the room. Their appearances weren't ugly, but if you had to say who was good, it had to be Yan Fang.

Yan Jiefang's appearance wasn't ugly, and Comrade Ge Shuqin was good-looking; the little girl followed her mother's appearance.

However, when the courtyard was messy in the beginning, many people said the child wasn't Yan Jiefang's. Li Xuewu's eyes weren't a DNA tester; he really couldn't tell.

Shen Guodong joked, teasing Old Biaozi, saying that this child was very likely his, but Old Biaozi didn't believe it.

You tell me, how is that?

This kid actually went to see Yan Fang and came back emphasizing with certainty that this child definitely wasn't his.

Why?

Because this child didn't look ugly.

Does this make sense?

After Old Biaozi explained it, it actually made some sense.

Old Biaozi said that his ugliness wasn't something the child's mother's beauty could cover up or balance; Yan Fang's appearance clearly exceeded his "creative" ability.

If she really were his daughter, with his ugliness and Comrade Ge Shuqin's beauty, the balance should have been a passing grade.

But this little girl could be seen as a beauty in the making from the time she opened her eyes; she inherited the advantages of both her father and mother.

And as she grew up, her appearance had a few similarities to Yan Jiefang, and then no one talked about these old sesame and rotten grain matters anymore.

Yan Fang looked at her timidly and stood by her grandmother's legs; the little girl looked much healthier than before.

Li Xuewu had seen her once when she was little. With the current medical and upbringing conditions, being able to survive meant Comrade Ge Shuqin had turned back from the wrong path and Yan Jiefang hadn't lost his conscience.

If it were an ordinary family, Yan Jiefang's daughter, even if they were biological brothers, wouldn't necessarily be that close.

It had been so many years, and Yan Jiefang and Comrade Ge Shuqin still hadn't wanted another child, just fearing the family conditions weren't good and they would make the older one suffer.

Shen Guodong could take care of Yan Jiefang and arrange management work for him in the motorcade, also because he looked at the face of this friendship.

The younger generation in the courtyard truly paid the price of growth.

Yan Jiefang's lame leg, if he hadn't provoked trouble in the beginning and been broken by his father, wouldn't have ended up like this today.

If you think about it carefully, I'm afraid even he himself couldn't tell if he hated his father or thanked him.

Now Yan Jiefang's life was something ordinary people couldn't compare to. Starting with one car, now the three siblings each had a car, which was quite arrogant.

You could say Hou Qinghua dared to sit on the Li family's kang edge and look down on Jia Zhangshi, but she definitely had some capital.

Although it was three cars for the three siblings, Yan Jiefang also bought a house separately, but the Yan family's life was much quieter than before.

Yan Jiefang had the look of an older brother; at least he was much stronger than Yan Jiefang, and now the house Yan Jiekou and Yan Jie Di lived in was bought by Yan Jiefang.

The first house of the family was left for the mother Hou Qinghua and the younger brother and sister. Yan Jiefang's meaning was to provide a dowry for his sister when she got married.

The first house was left for Yan Jiekou to get married.

As for Hou Qinghua living with her youngest son and daughter, there was the meaning of taking care of her children, and also the intention of letting her youngest son provide for her old age.

Yan Jiefang understood what this meant. Although the family was harmonious now, and his mother also knew how to help them take care of the children, and the whole family ate dinner together every day, the contradictions of the past still left traces.

To be honest, Hou Qinghua was afraid of Comrade Ge Shuqin. Don't look at Comrade Ge Shuqin not saying much on weekdays; she was a strong-willed person who said one thing and meant it.

Yan Jiefang knew the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law couldn't get along, so when they separated the family, he bought another house and the couple moved out.

But they were all in the Workers' New Village, so it was quite convenient to visit.

Sometimes Hou Qinghua would take the initiative to go to their house to clean up, wash and scrub, etc., using her own words that she couldn't enjoy too many blessings.

Comrade Ge Shuqin wasn't a bad person either. Although she didn't speak well of her mother-in-law, she never spoke ill of her, and they never even blushed at each other.

When her mother-in-law came to the house to do housework, she would compensate in other places, either giving money during the New Year or buying meat and fish, which was very clear.

Comrade Ge Shuqin came with her mother-in-law. First, she left the children at the Li family, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went to see Aunt Yi together.

After returning, she intended to go back, but her mother-in-law was chatting with old neighbors, so she could only wait here.

When she saw Li Xuewu enter the room, she stood up nervously. She was about to call him leader, but the words stopped at her lips.

Actually, she didn't say anything when everyone was greeting him just now; if you aren't a staff member of the group, you can't experience Li Xuewu's influence.

"Is your name Yan Fang?" Li Xuewu observed the little girl and asked with a smile: "What do you call me?"

"Call him Second Uncle." Hou Qinghua smiled and stroked her eldest granddaughter's hair, teaching her how to address him.

From here, you could still hear that she had already determined this was the child left behind by her eldest son Yan Jiefang.

If you followed Yan Jiefang's address, you should call him Second Uncle; Li Xuewu was one year younger than Yan Jiefang and one year older than Yan Jiefang.

"Second Uncle—" The little girl shouted timidly. Although she was still observing him, she shrank back between her grandmother's legs, a bit shy.

"Have you seen your Second Uncle?" Liu Yin grabbed melon seeds and peanuts from the basket on the kang for the children and said: "Do you still remember Second Uncle?"

"I remember—" This time she answered the question actively. She glanced at her grandmother and took the melon seeds and peanuts with both hands.

Although the economic situation had been getting better and better in recent years and the supply of materials had been getting more stable, you could see from the subtle details that the common people's lives were still tight.

Just look at the melon seeds and peanuts used by the Li family to entertain guests; ordinary families really didn't have this condition, and they really had to buy some to taste during the New Year.

Look at Li Tang; he didn't even look at them. He didn't lack this at home on weekdays, and he had long been tired of it. He didn't lack candy or biscuits, so could he lack these dried fruits?

If you talk about dried fruits, his second uncle brought them from the Northeast every year; none of the children on this street had such rich snacks in their hands.

Xiaodang was big after all, standing quietly by her mother's side, but Huaihua and Yan Fang could talk. The three little girls peeled peanuts and melon seeds together. Li Tang looked at them curiously; were these things that delicious?

"Look at how the children have grown up, can we not be old—"

Liu Yin pampered them and found some candy for them, sighing with emotion: "I still remember when they were born, like it was yesterday."

"Isn't that so, in a flash—"

Hou Qinghua raised her chin and said: "This courtyard raises people; those who marry in, those who live here, all have children."

She said pointedly: "Look, Seeing Sha Zhu's family just added a second boy, born in September, right? I heard Wen Saner's daughter-in-law gave birth again, right?"

"Born in June." Liu Yin explained: "They said they'd come back for the New Year, but I don't know if they can make it back, the child is so small."

"You all chat, I'm going to the backyard to take a look."

Li Xuewu came to see the old lady. Hearing them chat about family matters, he said this and got up to leave the inner room.

Ji Yuxiu had just returned from outside. Seeing him come out, she said a few words, and when he went out, Li Xue followed him.

"Can't stand listening to them chat—"

Seeing her second brother look at her, Li Xue curled her lip and glanced at the room through the north room window, asking: "Was she deliberately talking about Yu Li?"

"Don't bother with her, she's just like that." Li Xuewu walked toward the backyard and said to her: "Have you been to the backyard? If you're tired, go back to the east courtyard."

"I'll accompany you." Li Xue followed, explaining as she walked: "I went to see them with Mom the day they came back."

"Hmm." Li Xuewu nodded and said: "If you're afraid of this, go live at my place with Grandma; your second sister-in-law is willing to have you go."

"I know—" Li Xue wrinkled her nose, looked at her second brother, and asked: "Are you going back to Liaodong on Monday?"

"Hmm, what for?" Li Xuewu looked back at her and asked with a smile: "Are you coming with me? Aren't you afraid people will find trouble with you?"

This was referring to Li Xue and others conducting audit investigations in Liaodong Industry, where many people were punished or even fired because of her "impartiality."

With a second brother like Li Xuewu and a supervisor like Jing Yunong, who would dare to make things difficult for her in the group's financial system?

Not to mention their section chief, even the department managers were smiling when they saw her; they weren't exactly subservient, but they didn't give her cold looks or scold her either.

That's why she had the ability to show her upright side: young, capable, principled, and uncompromising.

Let's put it this way, although she was only a deputy section chief in the finance section, some people had already started to curry favor with her and send her things.

But just by looking at the watch she wore, the bag she carried, and her daily attire, no one dared to look down on her.

Send her gifts? They had to weigh the consequences.

"With you there, what am I afraid of—"

Li Xue curled her lip and said: "I'm worried about you, but I also know I'm just worrying for nothing."

"Hmm—" Li Xuewu smiled and hugged his sister's shoulder; this was a closeness the siblings hadn't had in a long time.

After Li Xue started working, Li Xuewu treated her as an adult and wouldn't tease her easily, but now he felt, "It's so good to have a younger sister."

"Pfft—" Li Xue didn't appreciate it and pushed her second brother's hand away when they entered Uncle Yi's house.

"Oh, Xuewu is here—"

Yi Zhonghai was at home, watching Dilia feed his wife from a stool.

Seeing the siblings enter, even Aunt Yi, who was lying on the pillow, looked over.

It had indeed been a long time since they had seen each other; not only had Aunt Yi, who was bedridden, become thin and haggard, but even Uncle Yi had become thin and unrecognizable.

"It's quite warm in this room."

Li Xuewu's tone was very relaxed, not like someone visiting a patient, but like someone coming to visit as before.

"Your Aunt Yi is afraid of the cold, especially after the weather changed." Yi Zhonghai took a stool to greet them and said: "Sit down quickly, I didn't expect you to come."

He took the initiative to make tea. Li Xuewu didn't stand on ceremony; drinking a cup of tea could make the old couple feel much more at ease.

If he had really stood on ceremony, both of them would only think he was being polite and that there was no affection to speak of.

Seeing her second brother like this, Li Xue also took the teacup.

Naturally, it couldn't compare to the Li family, but Uncle Yi wasn't short of money, and everything in the house looked new.

The tea smelled fragrant too; people were willing to spend money after they got old.

"Didn't they say there was a meeting, and research to do." Yi Zhonghai brought the tea over and sat down again.

He looked at Li Xuewu and asked: "Are you not busy now?"

"It's almost the end of the year."

Li Xuewu didn't ask about Aunt Yi's condition right away, just took a few looks and explained casually: "Year-end summary, and there's a staff representative congress to hold. Yesterday's meeting was a preparatory meeting."

"Oh—oh—" Yi Zhonghai nodded; this was clear now, observing him and asking: "Is it cold in Steel City now?"

"It's okay, the big river hadn't frozen over when I left." Li Xuewu held the teacup and took a sip, saying: "It's hard to say now."

He looked out the window; the snow falling today wasn't small, and added: "If it snows in the Northeast, it should be freezing over."

"Winter came early this year—"

Yi Zhonghai nodded slowly and said: "If it freezes, the soil layer will be frozen solid, and the engineering work won't be able to be done."

"There isn't much work left anyway." Li Xuewu put down the teacup, sniffed, and said: "The ground engineering in the Steel City industrial zone is all finished. Now it's mainly underground engineering, which is estimated to last until next year."

He thought for a moment and continued: "The results of the East German technology introduction have basically landed, and the projects will be completed one after another by the second half of next year."

"I've heard a bit about this." Yi Zhonghai nodded: "They even called us to a meeting, saying they wanted to update a batch of technical data."

"You can't trust the Germans completely."

Li Xuewu smiled and said: "If they were really doing well, they wouldn't have to dismantle planes and sell parts."

"Hehehe—" Yi Zhonghai found what he said interesting and laughed, saying: "How many days can you stay now that you're back?"

"Can't stay, there are things to do in Liaodong."

Li Xuewu looked at Aunt Yi and said: "If it weren't for Director Li asking me to stay longer, I would have gone back yesterday. Now I have to wait until Monday."

He moved the stool forward, leaned closer to Aunt Yi, and asked: "Is Dilia's cooking palatable? Is it delicious?"

Aunt Yi just nodded slowly. She had been observing him ever since he and Li Xue entered the room, but now she couldn't speak.

Seeing her breathing was a bit difficult, she was indeed very weak.

Dilia was very patient, feeding her with a small spoon, a spoonful of rice porridge, a spoonful of water, and occasionally wiping the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief.

Li Xuewu watched; the room was very clean. Although there was a patient bedridden, there was no strange smell.

Anyone who has taken care of the elderly knows that it's hard to avoid smells when they urinate in bed, no matter how you clean it.

But looking at it now, Dilia was indeed doing her best.

Hearing Li Xuewu ask this, Aunt Yi's eyes were a bit moist. She patted Dilia's knee, who was feeding her in front of the bed, and nodded again.

"Is this praising her for being good?"

Li Xuewu was still smiling, his face showing no worry or heaviness, and nodded: "As long as it's good, it's not in vain that you pampered them once."

When Aunt Yi was in good health, He Zhuang was raised by her, which allowed Dilia to quickly return to work at the sales department.

He Yuzhu could live so freely; if it weren't for Uncle Yi and his wife, he definitely wouldn't have today.

Li Xuewu didn't dislike her. Watching her eat a mouthful of rice porridge, he nodded and comforted her: "Take good care of your health. Isn't there a little grandson here now? You have to take care of your health so you can bring up the grandson for them."

"Hmm, hmm—" Aunt Yi nodded first, then shook her head regretfully, her face full of helplessness.

Li Xuewu tucked the envelope he had prepared under her pillow. Seeing her look over, he didn't wait for Uncle Yi to speak, but said with a smile: "I didn't buy you anything. If you like to eat something, tell Dilia to buy it for you, okay?"

"Yushui said you gave money last time to let her buy things." Yi Zhonghai finally had a chance to speak: "Why bother with this? Your Aunt Yi doesn't lack anything."

"A token of my heart." Li Xuewu didn't emphasize too much, looked into Aunt Yi's eyes, nodded, and said: "Even if you can't bear to part with He Zhuang, can't bear to part with the little grandson, can't bear to part with the two of them, you still have to take good care of your health."

He turned to look at Uncle Yi and said: "Uncle Yi, you are a master craftsman in the factory and can enjoy some benefits."

"Privately, let's not talk about our relationship. If you have any needs, just ask, and I'll find a way."

Li Xuewu patted the edge of Aunt Yi's bed lightly and continued: "I've already greeted the hospital. I don't need to mention my father; you two are brothers, just say the word if you have anything."

"Sigh—" Yi Zhonghai sighed and nodded: "Your Aunt Yi will maintain like this for now, and I can consider myself not having any regrets."

He looked at his wife, his face full of sadness: "Anyway, one day more is one day. Having her here gives me something to look forward to when I go to work."

"Hmm, I can understand." Li Xuewu nodded: "Old couple, old couple, isn't living just about having a companion when you're old?"

He looked at Aunt Yi again and then looked at Dilia, asking: "Who is coaxing the child?"

"Yushui is at home." Dilia had long been accustomed to his care; she was no longer the one who feared him when she first saw him.

"Knowing I couldn't handle it these days, she comes back to live whenever she has time and helps me a lot."

"Don't get too tired, if you have anything, ask the front courtyard."

Li Xuewu observed her and said: "If my mother isn't home, just ask the west courtyard to help, don't try to be strong."

"Hmm, I know." Dilia looked at him and smiled, still a bit shy.

Li Xuewu also smiled and said: "How often does your brother come back?"

"He came back the day before yesterday, turned around here, and left again."

Dilia explained: "It's convenient to come back now; he said he missed the child."

"Hehehe—" Li Xuewu smiled and looked at Uncle Yi, saying: "Now you can see the benefits of living close, right?"

He Yuzhu married Dilia, and Dilia's brother married Wang Yamei. The sisters-in-law worked in the same store and were very close.

Dilia had Aunt Yi's care before, and Wang Yamei had her parents' help; both families lived very comfortably.

It's just that Aunt Yi's health isn't good now, but she has done good deeds. When she took care of the Deaf Old Lady in the beginning, now Dilia comes to take care of her.

Even He Yu Shui and Qin Huairu often come to visit and help wash and scrub.

Whether Uncle Yi's reputation in this courtyard is good or bad, Aunt Yi is respected by everyone; almost no one would say anything bad about her.

Even someone as tricky as Jia Zhangshi wouldn't say anything bad about Aunt Yi, because she couldn't say it, and she felt guilty in her heart.

Don't look at Jia Zhangshi not daring to come see her; when it comes to life and death, who cares about those things anymore?

If you ask Li Xuewu, it's not that Jia Zhangshi doesn't dare to come; it's that she has no face to come.

Li Xuewu chatted about family matters for a while, finished a cup of tea, and then got up to leave.

He didn't forget to give a few instructions before leaving, and Uncle Yi sent them out.

"Zhuzi and the others are in the inverted room."

Seeing Uncle Yi send them out without going back, Li Xuewu knew his intention and gestured toward the front courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai nodded. After they were far from home, he sighed: "Your Aunt Yi's heart disease is that she's worried about being burned by fire after she's gone, saying that's ashes to ashes."

"She was worried about this when she could still talk, and she kept chanting it. Zhuzi and I discussed it, and we'll handle the funeral according to her wishes."

He paused and said: "I don't think that much. When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out; who cares if it's burned by fire or buried in the soil."

"As long as she isn't exposed in the wilderness and trampled by wild dogs, that's enough."

He looked at Li Xuewu and sighed: "In the early years, wasn't it like pulling firewood to the city every day?"

"In the middle of winter, who would dig a pit for you? You'd just throw it somewhere, and it wouldn't take half a night for wild dogs to divide it up. Now—"

"Now you definitely don't have to worry about that."

Li Xuewu naturally understood his feelings. Even the graveyard where they caught crickets when they were young only appeared later.

Early years?

No, and if there were, they were very few, unless it was like their family's ancestral grave, finding a geomancer to choose a place in the mountains, otherwise there wouldn't be any grave mounds left.

Think about it, in those years, people couldn't even afford to eat, where would they get the money to arrange a funeral? The saying in the opera about buying a mat for two coins and rolling it up to throw it away was already an embellishment.

A mat? A mat costs money!

Being able to wear a set of clothes when you leave is a luxury; clothes are money, what a pity to bury them.

A coffin of ordinary material cost at least two taels of silver. How much could a poor family save in a year? There was no such thing at all.

It was after liberation that they didn't allow random burials, and there were crematoriums, which saved a lot of trouble and rectified people's worries.

Uncle Yi said it like this because there was no other way. It was benevolent enough for Seeing Sha Zhu to provide for their old age and send them off; were they still counting on people to visit their graves and burn paper after they died?

Why did he say early years? That's what he meant. In the years of war, living was a luxury, and dying was a relief.

When they were gone, they couldn't even guarantee if their descendants could survive; what was the use of having a small grave mound?

If the descendants survived and didn't have money to offer sacrifices, it was even more distressing. If the descendants were cut off and someone leveled the grave mound, it was even more depressing. It was better to just end it all.

Whether you have descendants or not, you only know if it's good or bad when you're old. Don't talk about unfilial descendants; a father is to blame if his son is not filial.

For a period of time, DINK became popular, and later people suffered from the choice of not having children, but as time passed, that generation of old people lost their discourse power in the era. Even if they had bitterness, they had nowhere to speak.

Some say that the period when children are born and then distance themselves from you during adolescence is already repaying the debt, giving you the joy of reliving childhood and experiencing parenting.

Later, family affection needs to be maintained with adult thinking, and even whether they will be genuinely sad when they send you off.

If you can't even learn how to get along with your children, can't do it well, and can't figure it out, how failed must this person's life be to blame unfilial children on having a child?

Li Xuewu was experiencing Uncle Yi's mood. When he arrived at the inverted room, he felt Seeing Sha Zhu's performance should be recognized.

Li Xue didn't follow. She returned to the east courtyard. It was getting dark, and there were still people talking at home, as if they were waiting for the gathering in the inverted room to disperse.

"We discussed the coffin."

Everyone sat down again, and Seeing Sha Zhu reported the results they had just discussed: "There haven't been any coffin shops in the city for a long time; we have to build it ourselves."

"We have this convenient condition."

He gestured toward Shen Guodong and said: "Guodong will find a way to find good wood, and we'll ask Old Biaozi to draw the measurements, and we'll help process it."

There are requirements for the wood used for coffins. Regardless of whether it's in the south or north, and regardless of the material, there's no new material.

You can definitely find dry material and old material in the countryside in these years. According to the old saying, when a child is born, they will plant a few trees.

These trees will grow as the child grows. When the child grows into an old person and passes away, the trees left by the parents will be used to build the coffin, which counts as the final fatherly and motherly love.

Now there are few such requirements, mostly because when people get old, they buy wood while they are in good health and hang it on the beam to dry in the shade, preparing for the future.

Or it's the children's filial piety, arranging it when the parents reach a certain age.

But there are few in the four-nine city, because they try to cremate as much as possible. Now that there are special requirements, they have to find a way.

So if you want dry material, you really have to find a way through Shen Guodong, selecting better wood from the wood shipped from Jicheng and transporting it back.

Uncle Yi sat by the edge of the kang and just nodded, looking like he left everything to Seeing Sha Zhu.

Actually, thinking about it, even if he had to arrange these things himself, even if he had the money, he wouldn't necessarily be able to do it.

I don't know if it's easy to get wood, but where can you find tools for carpentry? Even if you found them, where can you find a carpenter?

Old Biaozi isn't a carpenter who builds coffins; this kind of carpenter is divided into several types. Those who only know how to build coffins are called small carpenters, just a craft to make a living.

Those who can build furniture and houses are called big carpenters; that's a scarce talent who can accumulate family wealth and even have the opportunity to get rich.

"The remaining burial clothes are easy to prepare." Seeing Sha Zhu arranged: "I'll buy fabric and cotton, and ask the sewing cooperative to help make them; it's very simple."

With this resource, everything is simple.

Seeing him finish, Uncle Yi looked at everyone standing or sitting in the room and said: "I've caused you trouble."

"What are you saying—"

Shen Guodong waved his hand and said: "You've dedicated your whole life to this courtyard, is this little thing worth you being polite?"

Not only Shen Guodong, but also Yan Jiefang, Liu Guangfu, and others were in this room, as well as Li Xuewu's father Li Shun and Li Xuecai.

Actually, you can tell from the people in this room, or the people talking at the Li family, the bond of this era regarding death.

If you don't come when something happens, it's assumed you refuse to participate in this small circle of mutual help, and no one will go to your house when something happens in the future.

Regardless of whether you contribute people or effort, or whether you need to contribute people or effort, you must appear at the scene. If you really can't come, just take the initiative to contribute money.

If the men can't come, can't the women come?

Look at Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi; the last meaning of her coming here is to observe and learn.

She is also an old person, and she will leave one day. Can she not be better than Aunt Yi, and can she not be worse than Aunt Yi?

She compared herself with Aunt Yi her whole life; at least in terms of treatment after death, they must be consistent. She was pondering whether she should save up for a coffin for herself.