In winter, daylight always comes later. At the end of the fifth watch, the moon has already set to the west, but the sun is still sleeping.
In Jia's house in the courtyard, Qin Huairu woke up from her bed on time. She opened the quilt, put on her cotton-padded jacket, and got off the kang gently, while Mrs. Jia Zhang and her children beside her were still sleeping soundly.
In the dim light, she covered the naughty stick with the quilt that had leaked a corner, and drove out of the room in a leisurely manner.
Qin Huairu couldn't bear to turn on the light and groped her way to the stove. She had to prepare breakfast for the family.
"well!"
Through the screen window, Qin Huairu saw the lights of several houses in the courtyard, and sighed silently. At the beginning of the day, her eyes were already full of exhaustion.
The man in the family left early, so she took over his shift. During the day, she did the same work as a fitter like the men in the factory. By the end of the day, she was already exhausted.
But the mother-in-law at home is still in good health, but she can't do anything to help her. She has to get up early in the morning to make breakfast for the family.
It has been like this for three or four years. Qin Huairu doesn't know how she persists.
She also thought about giving up on herself, but seeing Banggeng and the others growing up day by day, she felt that it was worth it no matter how hard she suffered.
…
The sky was gray and bright, and the east had already turned white. The courtyard that had been silent all night suddenly became lively. The women prepared breakfast and woke up the men at work. The men brought toothbrushes and towels to the patio of the courtyard.
Start washing.
In the backyard, Su Cheng was still sleeping soundly. He had some wine with Xu Damao last night. It was almost twelve o'clock in the morning when he got home. People don't have much entertainment these days. It's normal to lie on the kang at eight or nine o'clock.
Twelve o'clock is already very late.
Coupled with the fatigue of traveling during the day, Su Cheng couldn't bear it even with his young and strong body. He returned to the house and pulled up two benches and set up a simple stretcher bed next to the old lady.
Then he fell down and went to sleep.
"Makoto!"
The old lady pushed the sleeping Su Cheng. Seeing that Su Cheng didn't respond, she called out softly,
"Baby monkey, it's time to get up!"
Su Cheng opened his eyes and had a headache. He couldn't help complaining about that bitch Xu Damao. He clearly agreed that it would be the last drink, but he could still arrange for him to have another drink. He would never drink with him again!
Then he rubbed his swollen head and said helplessly to the old lady,
"Grandma, can't you let me sleep a little longer this early in the morning?"
"Eat breakfast first, and then go back to sleep later."
In the opinion of the elderly, sleep can be replenished, but three meals a day must be eaten on time.
Su Cheng raised his head and looked up. On the square table in the room, the remaining steamed buns and cabbage stew from yesterday were steaming. There was also a pot of stick porridge on the side. It must have been prepared by the old lady early in the morning. He could only
I resisted my sleepiness and got up, but I didn't forget to give the old lady a few words,
"Grandma, please don't bother yourself like this in the future. Let's just go to the alley entrance to buy some bean juice and fried dough sticks for breakfast."
The reason why Su Cheng said this was because he couldn't help it. As a rough old man, how could he cook? But asking an old lady in her eighties to make breakfast for him, wasn't this nonsense?
But the old lady was unhappy after hearing this, and said dissatisfiedly,
"We can do it ourselves, so why waste money on it?"
After a pause, the old lady became cheerful again and said,
"If you feel sorry for grandma, you should find a granddaughter-in-law for grandma as soon as possible, and then ask her to make breakfast for us!"
Yes, Su Cheng has learned the lesson of marrying a wife as soon as possible!
But it is indeed necessary to put this matter on the agenda as soon as possible. There is really a lack of a woman in the family. Not to mention cooking and heating the bed, he will go to work in the future, and the old lady must have someone to look after her at home alone.
Didn't Qin Huairu want to introduce her cousin to me yesterday? I'll find a chance to talk to the old lady later.
Afterwards, Su Cheng chatted with the old lady for a few more words before getting ready to go out and wash up.
…
Backyard, patio.
"It's so early!"
"Maiko, morning!"
"Hey, it's good morning, Uncle Wang.
Like the men in the courtyard, Su Cheng put a towel on his shoulders and came to the patio of the courtyard with a cup and toothbrush in his hand.
When you meet an elder and say hello casually, this is probably the sense of instant recognition among neighbors.
At this moment, Xu Damao appeared beside Su Cheng with his head pulled up, saying hello,
"Oh, it's good morning, Seiko!"
Su Cheng was brushing his teeth when Xu Damao's doggy voice sounded in his ears. Thinking about his head that was still a little swollen at the moment, he stopped getting angry, rinsed his mouth and cursed,
"Xu Damao, don't come to me for drinking in the future!"
Xu Damao smiled coquettishly. Yesterday, he vaguely remembered that he had a few glasses of wine, and he felt a little dizzy. He pulled Su Cheng and had to finish the two bottles of wine on the table with him before he could enjoy himself. He said with a smile,
"Brother, I was wrong! Isn't it okay that I was wrong?"
Looking at Xu Damao, this rogue sheep, Su Cheng lost most of his inexplicable anger, and laughed and cursed,
"No, I don't dare to take it!"
…
When Su Cheng came back from washing, his grandmother and grandson sat next to each other on the square table.
Su Cheng served the old lady a bowl of porridge, broke off a steamed bun, put some stewed meat in it and handed it to the old lady, saying,
"Grandma, who is in charge of our street office now? I just came back and I need to get some certificates there."
The old lady took a bite of the steamed buns, thought about it and said,
"The director of the sub-district office is the wife of Zhang Ermin from the alley next door. Her name should be Liu Aihong. You don't even know her. How about grandma accompany you?"
"Don't! I can handle this."
Su Cheng rejected the old lady's kindness and complimented him by saying,
"You, just use it as a Dinghaishen needle at home."
When the old lady heard this, she became happy and said with a smile,
"You're such a sweet little monkey."
Then Su Cheng changed the subject and asked the old lady tentatively,
"Grandma, I will work in the steel rolling mill in the future. The factory should give me an apartment. Can you move out with me then?"
Su Cheng's words are not unreasonable. Nowadays, factory workers are all allocated housing. When you reach a certain length of service in the factory,
You can also ask the factory for a certificate and apply for a certificate to transfer the house to your name.
And Su Cheng also hid some of his little thoughts here. The factory allocates probably small bungalows, which are reserved for some leaders in Dongdan, but in fact there are several vacant houses in the courtyard, right now
There is a fairly spacious house next to his house. If he insists, he can ask the factory to allocate the house to this courtyard.
But Su Cheng didn't say it out loud. If possible, she wanted to take the old lady out of the courtyard. In fact, he was not very willing to get involved in the disputes in the courtyard.
When the old lady heard Su Cheng's words, she frowned and said with some confusion,
"Shengzi, you should move out when the time comes, but grandma has lived in this courtyard all her life. If you ask me to leave, grandma, I can't bear to leave."
The old people are nostalgic and have a sense of their hometown. This courtyard has been the old lady's life. If you let her move away, sometimes it will be more uncomfortable than letting her die.
"well!"
Su Cheng looked at the embarrassed old lady and didn't want to make the old lady uncomfortable. He sighed silently. His previous idea of moving out of the courtyard was abandoned, so he said,
"Grandma, don't worry about it. I think there is an empty house next to us. This courtyard is also the property of the factory. When the time comes, I will ask the leader to ask the factory to allocate the house here to us. You can just
Just relax."
Hearing Su Cheng's words, the big stone in his heart fell, and the old lady put a smile on her face again and said,
"That's good. When the house comes down, grandma, I will urge you to get a wife and give birth to a big fat boy for me!"