150 Gu Dahu (edited)
On a hot summer afternoon, holding a slice of sweet watermelon is truly a blissful experience.
Guan Yuehe deliberately sat on a small stool, enjoying the cool breeze from Guan Yuehua's fan, and sighed comfortably.
Gu Yu, who was next to her, followed suit and took a loud breath.
Guan Yuehua, sitting on the sofa, rolled her eyes, but didn't stop fanning herself.
"Isn't my brother-in-law taking a break today?"
"My dad is away on a business trip," Gu Yu answered quickly.
Gu Yu now really enjoys "business trips." Whenever the adults go on business trips, they always bring back delicious food and fun toys. At this moment, Gu Yu clenched her fist and vowed, "When I grow up, I want to go on business trips too!"
"You should graduate from the preparatory class first," Guan Yuehe said, shattering her dream.
Gu Yu covered her ears and pretended not to hear.
The jingling sound of ice cream vendors could be heard outside the alley entrance.
Starting around last year, some people began buying a box of popsicles from food factories at cost price, then riding their bicycles through the streets and alleys to make a profit from the price difference.
Upon hearing this sound, the children in the alley couldn't sit still and started yelling for pocket money to buy popsicles.
Children with pocket money don't need to ask adults for help. For example, Gu Yu put down the watermelon rind and ran out.
"I want to buy cream popsicles! Five of them, one, two...!"
The children exclaimed in envy.
Guan Yuehe scoffed, "So rich!"
Guan Yuehua gritted her teeth. Her daughter's savings seemed inexhaustible, as she endlessly bought tin frogs and popsicles.
She's just turned four, still in preschool, and can't even write numbers one through ten properly, yet she has more stationery than a third-grade student.
Guan Yuehe muttered under her breath, "Isn't Guyu just like you? Extravagant and vain."
When Guan Yuehua looked over, Guan Yuehe looked away.
There are quite a few wealthy kids in Ginkgo Hutong.
Yuanbao, who lives across the street, can take out a dollar without asking an adult, and runs off shouting, "Uncle Popsicle, wait for me!"
Jin Jiahe was at a loss. His parents had gone back to the factory to catch up on production, and his brother Wu Jiawang would only come back at noon to cook him a meal before going out to collect recyclables. He stayed home to play with the other kids in the yard.
The problem is, all his friends have money to buy popsicles, but he doesn't!
"I... I want my brother to sell popsicles too, waaaaah..."
Shunshun couldn't stand it anymore and covered his mouth with her hand. "I'll lend you the money. When your brother comes back, you can ask him to pay you back."
"...Ouch, I want a cream popsicle too." Jin Jiahe's wailing came and went quickly, and now he was already reaching out his hand, waiting for the popsicle vendor to give him a popsicle.
Guan Yuehua came out to see what was going on. This bunch of kids lined up from under the ginkgo tree at the entrance of the alley all the way to the gate of No. 2 Courtyard.
There were even children dragging their parents over, as if afraid the popsicles would sell out.
At this moment, Ding Laowu walked out of the No. 3 courtyard. This guy was actually wearing a blue suit, which looked very wealthy.
站二号院门口的白大妈嫌弃地啧了好几声，和旁边的二大妈小声道：“大热天穿这玩意儿，陆昌揍他那一顿是连着脑子一块儿揍了？”
"Isn't that right?"
The two middle-aged women exchanged glances; in their eyes, Ding Laowu was already synonymous with a fool.
Upon seeing Ding Laowu, Guan Yuehua glanced at him and then looked away, continuing to watch Gu Yu, who was slowly moving forward in the procession.
She still remembers Ding Laowu's past dealings with scrap metal. He was lucky that the police didn't catch him for trafficking in cultural relics.
It could also be a blessing in disguise.
Earlier this year, the police arrested a gang that trafficked in cultural relics, but Ding Laowu was still recovering from injuries at home and managed to escape unscathed.
At this moment, Ding Laowu, who had been gloomy recently, was inexplicably smug and arrogant. When he saw Guan Yuehua, he gave a light snort. He no longer had the warm attitude he had shown towards her before, and had completely forgotten that he had once wanted to send gifts to Guan Yuehua and her sister to cultivate a relationship.
The snort had barely ended when Guan Yuehua, with her fiery temper, immediately glared at her: "Are you a pig, snorting like that?"
Ding Laowu shrank his neck, almost forgetting that before Guan Yuehua got married and moved out, his mother would always manage to scold his mother until she couldn't get over it.
He dared not reply, fearing that if he only gave one sentence, Guan Yuehua would have a hundred insults waiting for him.
Then he suddenly noticed Guan Yuehe appearing behind Guan Yuehua, staring at him with narrowed eyes, as if asking: Who are you snorting at?
Ding Laowu froze.
He knew perfectly well that he could only be a bully at home; no one would tolerate him outside, and Guan Yuehe would certainly not. He had seen Guan Yuehe act as a "tyrant" in the alley countless times, beating up men, women, and children alike, and even criminals without hesitation... He couldn't afford to mess with her.
Ding Laowu no longer dared to be arrogant. He turned his head to the other side and walked quickly away. He didn't even bother to acknowledge his nephew and niece when they greeted him.
Why is my uncle ignoring me?
Ding Sansao, who lived in the gatehouse of No. 2 courtyard, heard her child's voice, glanced out the window, and saw Ding Laowu's back as he hurriedly ran away. She turned back and whispered curses to Ding Laosan.
"I don't believe he can live a peaceful life; he'll cause trouble again sooner or later!"
"If he tries to persuade your mother to give up our house to open a shop again, I'll go to the factory and sue them. Let's see if the factory doesn't take the house back!" Ding San's wife was furious. Although she was still speaking in a low voice, the spatula in her hand was waving around in front of Ding Lao San with a loud whooshing sound.
Ding Laosan hung his head and dared not refute. Only when the youngest child in the family came back with an ice pop did Ding Sansao put away her sour face.
The children at the alley entrance already have an ice pop in their hands. They're all the same ice pop, but they still compare whose one tastes better.
Gu Yu ran back halfway to get a big bowl, which now contained five cream popsicles. She grinned at Guan Yuehua and Guan Yuehe with a smug smile: "Look at me, I'm the richest kid!"
"Mr. Gu, is there a share for me?"
"Hehe." Gu Yu took one for each of them, then ran to courtyard number three to give some to her grandmother, Grandma Fang, and Grandpa Lin.
The last one was hers, which she licked and ate with gusto, saying gleefully, "Dad, Grandpa, and Uncle don't get any!"
Grandma and Grandma Fang's vegetable shop closed early today; they've already gone home. Grandpa and my uncle are still working at the barbershop, and Dad's still away on a business trip... It's not that she doesn't want to treat them to a meal!
Gu Yu clutched the pocket containing the change tightly with her other hand. The change she had just received was enough for her to continue eating her cream popsicle.
Guan Yuehua suddenly said, "If you go back to your hometown, you won't be able to eat there either."
Other children have winter and summer vacations, but the factory's preschool class doesn't. Seeing that the other older children were on vacation and playing at home, Gu Yu also made a fuss about wanting a vacation, and even said that she wanted to go back to Fengshou Brigade with her second uncle to play with Juanjuan.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yu's smile vanished instantly. She frowned in worry, then suddenly had a brilliant idea and said with a grin, "I'll have Uncle Popsicle go to the Harvest Brigade to sell popsicles too!"
Guan Yuehe gave her a thumbs up, praising her for being really smart.
Gu Yu now enjoys being praised for her intelligence.
Guan Yuehua felt she couldn't bear to look at the two of them and wanted to go back to Courtyard No. 3 to talk to Jiang Guiying.
Before we even left Courtyard No. 1, we discovered that this little tail had followed us.
"Didn't you say you were coming to visit your aunt?"
"I found it." Gu Yu stepped forward and tugged at her clothes, determined to be her mother's little shadow today.
Guan Yuehe saw through Gu Yu's little scheme and laughed, "She's been bragging to everyone lately that her mom was the top scorer in the college entrance exam. If she doesn't follow you, how will she show off to her friends later?"
The National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) has just ended this year. Among the students from Yinxing Hutong who took the Gaokao this year, one student achieved particularly good results. Everyone is guessing whether she will be admitted to Peking University or Tsinghua University.
As people guessed, they inevitably mentioned Guan Yuehua, who had achieved the best score in the alley since the resumption of the college entrance examination.
The elderly folks called Guan Yuehua the top scorer in the college entrance examination from Ginkgo Hutong. When Gu Yu heard this, she simply dropped the words "Ginkgo Hutong" and told everyone, "My mom is the top scorer in the college entrance examination!"
Gu Yu's classmates in the Yu Hong class were all children of employees of the Zhuoyue Garment Factory. When the children heard that Gu Yu's mother was a top scorer in the college entrance examination, they all admired her immensely.
Gu Yu has been making headlines in the nursery class these past few days.
This was something Guan Yuehua hadn't expected.
All I know is that Gu Yu says Guan Yuehe is her aunt every day in the Yuhong class. If anyone asks who Guan Yuehe is, Gu Yu says that her aunt can knock down bad guys with one punch.
Gu Yu shifted uncomfortably, then glanced up at her mother. Thankfully, her mother didn't laugh at her.
She thought angrily to herself: "My aunt is a mouthful of filth too."
—
In the evening, before it was time to study, the power suddenly went out, and Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku talked about what had happened during the day.
Especially during Grain Rain.
She looked at Guyu and thought that Guyu was easy to raise, cute, and had a pleasing personality.
But her sister was so angry with Gu Yu that she kept sighing all day.
She found it very funny when her sister got the short end of the stick.
Seeing her laughing and talking happily, Lin Yiku never imagined that she herself might be driven to the point of exasperation by her child at this time next year.
But then again, he might get so angry he'd be furious.
The power was out and the fan was not working, so Zhou Hongqi across the street invited them to cool off under the ginkgo tree.
This call even drew out the lively neighbors from other courtyards.
A small round table was placed under the ginkgo tree, with a kerosene lamp on it. Almost everyone who came out to cool off carried a fan.
In the past, when people had nothing to do and there was no television or radio, everyone would go home early at night and get into bed, so they had more children.
Although there's no TV to watch now, people don't dare to stay in bed all the time when they have free time. First, the family planning supplies they can get aren't enough, and second, even if they've had their tubes tied, they're afraid that it wasn't done properly and they might suddenly have a baby, which would be troublesome.
The elderly folks were talking about how a woman from courtyard number eight had gone back to her hometown to visit relatives and wouldn't be back until next year. Everyone guessed that she might be pregnant again and had secretly gone back to her hometown to give birth before returning.
The city is very strict, especially for those with jobs. If they are found to have secretly had a second child, they either have to go to the hospital for an abortion and be punished, or they will be fired.
Those who want to keep their jobs and have another child have no choice but to come secretly, and returning to their hometown is the safest option.
However, my second brother told me that family planning is being promoted back in our hometown, emphasizing that each couple can only have one child now. It will likely become even stricter in the future.
Guan Yuehe and Cao Lili sat on the periphery of the crowd, talking about the sunflower seed king's grocery store on Changhu Street.
Since she moved to Courtyard No. 1, she has had fewer opportunities to talk to Cao Lili.
Cao Lili and Chang Zhengyi were originally the most fashionable people in Ginkgo Hutong, but they were later surpassed by Guan Aiguo and lost their first place.
However, the couple is still very fashionable.
If you didn't know, who would guess that this couple isn't even thirty yet, but their eldest child is already eleven?!
Cao Lili is living a happy life now. After working for several years, she has become a sales team leader in a department store. Her relationship with Chang Zhengyi has remained as close as ever for over a decade, and they often go out and keep up with the latest trends together. She has a son and a daughter, and is also supported by her parents-in-law, elder brother, and sister-in-law.
Only when life is good do people have the leisure to put on makeup and dress up.
Guan Yuehe leaned closer to examine her, then gave Cao Lili a thumbs up, saying, "Your makeup skills are the best I've ever seen."
Cao Lili raised an eyebrow proudly, "I specially found someone to learn how to do it." When people need makeup for their weddings, they ask her to help and give her a red envelope. Each red envelope contains at least five or six yuan, and sometimes as much as ten or twenty yuan.
Otherwise, even if she were to hold onto her own and Chang Zhengyi's salaries, she couldn't possibly save money while spending it recklessly.
“Baoning also wants to learn. I’ll teach her after she finishes her college entrance exam next year.” Seeing Guan Yuehe’s surprise, Cao Lili quickly added, “It’s not free; you have to pay tuition.”
“I’m not that generous,” Cao Lili laughed heartily.
Guan Yuehe laughed, "That's already very generous. Others have to do hard labor for several years before they can take on apprentices."
"Let's see. I'm not even sure I'll be able to take on this apprentice." Cao Lili said sincerely, "It would be best if she got into university. I don't need the tuition fees."
Bao Ning's grades are actually quite good, but they fluctuate, so getting into university is really uncertain.
He told her he wanted to learn a skill, simply to put his mind at ease, so that even if he didn't get into university, he would still have a trade.
While they were talking about Luo Guifang's three daughters, the other neighbors were mentioning Ding Laowu.
The neighbors all said with certainty, "He must have found another way to make big money."
"I'm afraid it's not some legitimate way. That kid Ding Laowu only remembers the money and not the beating. Next time he gets beaten up, he might not be as lucky as last time."
That's what most people think, but inevitably a small number of people have ulterior motives, wanting to see what connections Ding Laowu has made, as they also want to make big money.
His eyes darted around, trying to find out if he knew what Ding Laowu had been busy with lately.
Cao Lili pouted and whispered to Guan Yuehe, "Aunt Ding was planning to buy Ding Laowu a job in May, to work as a registrar at the car repair shop under the car factory, but he refused. I guess he looks down on the thirty yuan a month salary."
He didn't even fancy Ding Xianguang, saying that the little money he earned in a month wasn't enough for him to live a carefree life.
Of course, Aunt Ding only cared about Ding Laowu. Since Ding Laowu refused to have a proper job, she wouldn't think of buying a job for her eldest grandson, Ding Xianguang.
"He wouldn't even take such a good job as a registrar; he's got a lot of ambition." If it weren't for Aunt Ding offering so much money, he wouldn't have found such a good job. "A job that costs a full two thousand!"
Guan Yuehe took a breath. Based on the current selling price of bungalows, this job was equivalent to a ten-square-meter house.
Cao Lili added, "When Aunt Kang found out about this, she took her son to borrow money overnight and bought the job. It's too late for them to back out now."
Guan Yuehe didn't find it strange.
Once you've done a job that pays well quickly, it's hard to find a way to earn a little money by doing hard, tiring work.
She didn't think Ding Laowu would regret not buying a job.
—
After enjoying the cool air outside for an hour, Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku carried their small stools home.
Aunt Hu glanced at their backs and couldn't help but admire them, saying, "That couple reads and plays tapes every day at this time without fail. Oh, I think they changed the tapes recently. I wonder what foreign language they're learning."
Anyway, no matter what foreign language it was, it all sounded like gibberish to her.
The neighbors in Courtyard No. 2 thought that Aunt Hu was making a fuss over nothing.
Guan Yuehe lived in Courtyard No. 2 for almost ten years, and studied there for almost ten years as well. Before there was a television, Guan Yuehe would still be busy translating documents after getting home from work in the evenings. What was the difference between that and working two jobs?
Therefore, they were not particularly surprised when they learned that Guan Yuehe had been assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and promoted to section chief.
With that kind of perseverance in learning, she can't do anything wrong.
The young couple, after returning home, held another family meeting before starting their studies for the day.
The main topic of this family meeting was discussing when Comrade Lin Yiku should undergo tubal ligation.
Lin Yiku brought up the matter as soon as Guan Yuehe confirmed her pregnancy.
They're both government officials; they definitely can't secretly go back to their hometowns to have a second child. Once the baby is born, they'll have to have the abortion sooner or later.
However, they are discussing in advance whether to have the surgery after she finishes her postpartum confinement period or when the baby is a few months old.
There's a section on family planning on the company's bulletin board. It doesn't say that you have to get sterilized immediately after giving birth, but it does clearly state that after having a child, one of the couple must have the procedure.
Guan Yuehe suddenly remembered the past, forgot about the meeting, and burst into laughter.
"We'll ask Sitian then; our family can help her complete one of her targets."
He laughed and said, "The men in the alley who get sterilized are all brought back on handcarts. I'll borrow a handcart to bring you back too."
She was amused by her own words and couldn't help but laugh, but Lin Yiku pinched both cheeks, making her stop laughing.
Lin Yi was helpless. Before the child could even get angry enough to make him furious, she had already made him so angry that he wanted to sigh.
Listen to what they're saying? Pull him back on a cart? That's outrageous.
Guan Yuehe stopped laughing when she was done, and she and Lin Yiku looked down at their bellies at the same time. Although they weren't swollen, there was definitely a baby inside.
—
The tubal ligation surgery is still a long way off, so we can put it aside for now.
Guan Yuehe thought that once she gave birth, perhaps the neighborhood committee staff would come to her and Lin Yiku to persuade them to get sterilization surgery.
Her appetite has increased a bit, and Lin Yiku is busy with training every day, so she needs to replenish her body with oil and water.
So she asked her second brother to send her a chicken every two days.
My second brother is meticulous; every time he sends something, it's already been processed.
In addition to the chicken her second brother gave her, she also took out all the meat coupons she had saved.
For several days in a row, we've been making soup and eating meat every day, either chicken or pork.
Fortunately, conditions are much better now. The neighbors know that they eat meat every day, so they don't stare at them. Instead, they go to the store to find Guan Weiguo and ask him to bring them a chicken.
Lin Sitian went back to Ginkgo Hutong for dinner and heard Guan Yuehe mention that after the child was born, Lin Yituo would have to get a tubal ligation, and that they should go to the workers' hospital at the car factory.
“We have a very experienced doctor in our hospital who performs the best tubal ligation surgeries. In the past five years, not a single case has been missed.”
Unlike some people who can get their partners pregnant after undergoing sterilization surgery.
Guan Yuehe waved her hand, "You mean that guy from courtyard number five? I heard from Aunt Hu that he went to another hospital specifically for the surgery, but because his uncle is there, they faked it. His wife is really unlucky!"
Lin Sitian was shocked. "There's more to this story? How come I didn't know? Tell me about it quickly."
"I heard it while I was enjoying the cool air at the entrance of the alley at night."
It was quite a misunderstanding. The man disliked that his wife had only given birth to a daughter, and the factory's women's federation came to his door every day to persuade him to get a tubal ligation. Even his workshop supervisor had a talk with him.
He faked the birth of his son and had someone else father his son. Unexpectedly, he got drunk and forgot about it, and his wife got pregnant.
"He had a vasectomy, and his wife was pregnant. He almost got framed for having an affair and was fired from the factory!"
"How did you find out later?"
"The elderly folks in courtyard number five discovered it by accident while they were out digging for wild vegetables." As for how digging for wild vegetables and the discovery are connected, that's a bit of a convoluted story.
In short, Guan Yuehe said confidently, "There's no gossip that the elderly folks of Ginkgo Hutong can't find!"
“These are the elderly folks in our alley.” Lin Sitian gave a thumbs up admiringly, then got back to the main point, “Brother, when you go to our hospital, you must get an appointment with Dr. Huang.”
Lin Yiku realized there was no way to avoid this question. After a few seconds of silence, she politely declined, saying, "It's more convenient to have the surgery done at the military hospital. I can also take a military vehicle back after the surgery."
He was afraid that Lin Sitian would have someone find a cart to transport him back when he went to the workers' hospital at the car factory for surgery.
Lin Sitian didn't think anything was wrong and gave him a lot of advice.
He turned and went into the kitchen to find Guan Yuehe, winking at her and laughing as he reminded her that he could ask her for folk remedies later.
Lin Yiku, sitting in the living room: "..."
He's still at home, and people are joking about him without even telling him.
Chen Lizhong, who had come back for dinner, wanted to laugh, but when he saw his brother-in-law's serious face, he didn't dare to laugh. He scratched his head, got up, and went to stand outside the door.
He even greeted Yuanbao, who was across the street eating a big chicken leg.
Yuanbao smiled at him, got up and went back into the house, saying to her parents, "That handsome Uncle Chen is here again."
"Really? I'll go take a look." Zhou Hongqi picked up his rice bowl, looked out the window a few times, and turned to Yuanbao, saying, "He's a little bit worse than your dad."
Jin Junwei watched the mother and daughter watching intently from the window, speechless.
Across from them, Chen Lizhong glanced at his watch, went back inside to remind Lin Sitian that it was time for them to go home.
Lin Sitian sighed. That's the downside of not living close by. Every time she comes back, after dinner, she wants to talk to her parents or Yuehe, but before she can say more than a few words, it's time to go home.
Otherwise, it's not safe to ride a bike home too late.
"There's been a lot of trouble outside lately, let's talk another day." Guan Yuehe also packed a few steamed buns she had made herself for her to take home and eat.
Lin Yiku reminded them, "If you have connections, you might as well buy a motorcycle."
"A motorcycle? An electric scooter?" Lin Sitian turned her gaze to Chen Lizhong. "Can you find some materials and modify one?"
Chen Lizhong couldn't do it, and joked, "I'm good at raising pigs, not donkeys. It's impossible for me to build an electric donkey. I'll ask my parents to ask where I can buy tickets."
Lin Sitian looked at Guan Yuehe, who was laughing so hard she was holding her waist, and couldn't help but laugh out loud herself.
"Once we buy an electric scooter, we'll take you on a tour around Beijing."
"Bring my brother too."
Thinking about leaving, Lin Sitian hurriedly reminded Guan Yuehe, "Make sure to set aside time for National Day. Come to my place for dinner then. I've already told Xu Cheng and Zilan, and they'll be coming too."
At the beginning of this month, Ding Xuewen successfully received his graduation certificate and went to the TV station to report on his graduation.
This is a joyous occasion, and according to past custom, everyone should gather together for a meal.
Ding Xuewen had just started work and was very busy, while Guan Yuehe was unable to find time due to her pregnancy and work. Ding Xuewen suggested they meet again during the National Day holiday.
Chen Lizhong and Lin Sitian's spacious courtyard had long been designated as their future gathering place.
Guan Yuehe nodded and smiled, "Our family of three will definitely be there."
Ding Xuewen is a single person.
"Stop chatting, let's go home early." Lin Yiku gently patted her head. "I'll see you out."
"Do we even need to deliver this? Brother, you can rest." Lin Sitian said, then pulled Chen Lizhong and ran out.
Lin Yiku walked to the alley entrance and watched the two of them ride away before letting out a sigh of relief, feeling both annoyed and amused.
Every day, I seize every opportunity to provoke him.
Guan Yuehe hasn't been paying attention to him lately.
Author's Note: The second update might be a bit late. [Purple Sugar]
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