Qin Huairu looked at him and said, "I told my mother-in-law that I plan to take that step forward."
Sha Zhu couldn't believe it: "Which step?"
Qin Huairu feigned anger: "Don't play dumb, I'm planning to marry you!"
"..."
That night, the courtyard erupted in commotion again.
The commotion came from the middle courtyard, or more precisely, from the room of Sha Zhu.
The first to be woken up were Yi Zhonghai's family, followed by Liu Haizhong, Xu Damao, and Qin Jingru, before the fat man finally arrived with Chen Yanshan.
Upon arriving at the destination, they found that Jia Zhangshi had officially taken up the post of "spirit summoner," sitting on the ground crying and making a scene: "Dongxu! Open your eyes and see! Your wife is going to marry Shazhu! Dongxu..."
The fat man gasped, "Is it that exciting?!"
Chen Yan chuckled and playfully slapped him, while Yan Jiecheng chimed in, "Fatty, you're right, this is too exciting."
Now, only Yan Jiecheng from the Yan family still associates with him. Those two little bastards, Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang, now run away like mice before a cat whenever they see Fatty.
When it came to his pillar, Yi Zhonghai became righteous and indignant again: "What is this all about? Does Jia Zhangshi think it's funny to have the neighbors listening in the middle of the night?"
Jia Zhangshi ignored him and yelled at the top of her lungs, "Listen up, everyone! Someone's going to die! Sha Zhu said he's going to burn me alive!"
Yi Zhonghai quickly tried to smooth things over: "Sister-in-law, what are you yelling about? Zhu Zi was just trying to scare you, do you think he would really burn it?"
"What? You don't know?! He and my daughter-in-law, the two of them are inside..."
Yi Zhonghai wanted to rush up and cover her mouth: "Hey, sister-in-law! Stop talking nonsense! Isn't it embarrassing to say such things?"
As a result, Jia Zhangshi launched an attack on Old Yi: "Yi Zhonghai, stop pretending to be a good person while wearing a hat. You're no better than him, bringing my daughter-in-law cornmeal in the middle of the night!"
Yi Zhonghai's hair almost stood on end like steel needles. How could she have said that?
A commotion arose around them, and the fat man chatted animatedly with Yan Jiecheng: "Did you know about this?"
"How would I know! If I had known, I would have delivered some to Widow Qin overnight too..."
Across from them, Xu Damao chimed in, "You? Your family would be willing to give cornmeal to a widow?"
Yan Bugui quickly glared at Yan Jiecheng, and his third aunt also hurriedly came over and pulled Yan Jiecheng aside.
As more and more people gathered, Yi Zhonghai lost control of the situation and quietly said to an older woman, "Quickly go and call the deaf old lady over."
To make matters worse, someone added fuel to the fire: "Jia Zhangshi, you keep saying that Shazhu and Qin Huairu are inside, so why don't you call them out!"
No one else would kick someone when they're down but Xu Damao!
The fat man joined in the commotion: "Silly Zhu, get out here!"
This prompted Liu Guangtian, Liu Guangfu, Yan Jiecheng, Yan Jiefang, and Yan Jiekuang to all shout, and soon their shouts were deafening.
Yi Zhonghai's face was as cold as an icebox!
Madam Jia stamped her feet and beat her chest: "Everyone in this courtyard is bullying us orphans and widows! How am I supposed to live?"
Just then, Sha Zhu finally came out of the house.
He had figured it out long ago; it was Qin Huairu who grabbed his waist and desperately tried to pull him to the ground, preventing him from getting out.
She knew Sha Zhu's personality all too well! He was a bit dim-witted and easily angered. The more a scene her mother-in-law made outside, the better…
At that point, without her provoking him, Sha Zhu will admit their relationship on his own. The deed will be done!
But damn Xu Damao, and Fatty, and Liu Guangtian...
They added fuel to the fire, allowing Sha Zhu to rush out ahead of time.
Sha Zhu roared, "Alright, stop howling!"
His loud voice startled Jia Zhangshi before he addressed everyone, "Everyone, everyone! I, He Yuzhu, have always considered Qin Huairu as my sister; we have no other relationship. There's something else I haven't had a chance to tell you all yet, which is that I'm dating Ran Qiuye, Teacher Ran, from Uncle San's school. We'll be getting married soon, and I'll invite everyone to our wedding candy!"
Whoosh... The courtyard suddenly fell silent.
All eyes turned to Sha Zhu's house. Qin Huairu, her face pale, lifted the curtain and, supporting herself against the wall, slowly walked out.
Ignoring Jia Zhangshi and her three children who were still sitting on the ground making a scene, he walked towards their house without looking back.
Seeing that her goal had been achieved, Jia Zhangshi stood up, dusted herself off, grabbed the stick, and said, "Let's go home!" She then walked away as if nothing had happened...
After they went back inside, the deaf old lady was slowly helped over by an older woman, and asked in confusion, "Where is everyone?"
Even after they got back inside, Chen Yan was still gossiping: "Where did that Teacher Ran come from?"
The fat man explained to her, "Bang Geng's homeroom teacher in elementary school came from a family with a very high social class; her parents were returned overseas Chinese. Now they don't let her teach anymore; they made her clean instead. Otherwise, she wouldn't have even looked down on Sha Zhu."
Chen Yan exclaimed in astonishment: "Overseas Chinese!"
Yu Li looked at the siblings with amusement: "What happened? I heard a commotion in the yard."
"Something big has happened! Qin Huairu's mother-in-law went to Sha Zhu's house to catch him cheating, and Sha Zhu publicly announced that he was going to marry a female teacher. Let me tell you, the expression on Qin Huairu's face when she came out of Sha Zhu's house was absolutely priceless!"
Looking at Chen Yan and Yu Li, who were both excited, the fat man could only manage a wry smile.
Sure enough, once women start gossiping, men have nothing to do with it.
Chen Yan made an even more shocking statement: "I wonder if Qin Huairu will hang herself tonight!"
The fat man was so frightened that he quickly stopped her: "Don't talk nonsense, or you'll frighten the baby in your belly."
"..."
As the saying goes, words must be spoken to be clear, and a lamp must be lit to shine. In order to defend her happiness, Qin Huairu also put aside her pride and was determined to marry Sha Zhu.
For several days in a row, everyone in the courtyard could hear Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu arguing, especially the fat man with his keen ears, who could hear the content of their argument clearly.
That evening, Qin Huairu cooked a pot of cornmeal porridge and steamed some steamed cakes for the children.
He ladled himself a bowl of porridge, then skewered two pieces of steamed cake with his chopsticks and said to Xiao Dang, "Open the door for Mom."
After that, right in front of Jia Zhangshi, they took it to Sha Zhu's room.
Ever since that night when Sha Zhu publicly announced his intention to marry Ran Qiuye, he has been resisting any close contact with Qin Huairu.
But Qin Huairu wouldn't have it! She'd been eyeing this long-term meal ticket for so many years, and now she was suddenly going to marry another woman? Why should she?
Qin Huairu now goes to Sha Zhu's house three times a day.
In the morning, I would barge in and dress him, put on his pants, and wash his face; at noon, I would barge in and do some washing, rinsing, and mending; and at night, it was even more exciting. I would stay in Sha Zhu's room for half the night and even wash his feet!
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