"Yushui, what's wrong? Is there anything I can help you with?" Li Chu asked He Yushui as he sat down on another sofa.
He Yushui picked up her handbag, which had a hole in the bottom: "Brother Xiao Chu, can I use your sewing machine? My schoolbag has a hole in it."
Li Chu thought He Yushui wanted to talk to him about something, but it turned out to be nothing more than this: "Hey, I thought you wanted to talk to me about something. Give your bag to Sister Qiunan and let her help you fix it."
Ding Qiunan walked over, took the bag from He Yushui, looked it over, and then walked to the sewing machine. He Yushui followed her.
Ding Qiunan pulled up a stool for He Yushui to sit down next to her: "Yushui, did you sew this bag yourself?"
He Yushui shook her head: "No, Sister Qiunan, how could I sew a bag? This was sewn for me by an older woman. I was going to ask her for help, but then I remembered that she's pregnant and needs to rest at night, so I came to you instead. Thank you so much, Sister Qiunan."
"It's alright, there's no trouble at all. You're not feeling well these days, so if you ever need any needlework that you can't do, you can just bring it to me."
"Thank you, Sister Qiunan, you're so kind." He Yushui smiled sweetly at Ding Qiunan.
At this moment, Li Chu walked up from behind, holding a few candies in his hand, and handed them to He Yushui: "Yushui, here you go."
He Yushui looked at the candy in front of her, stood up and waved her hand, "Brother Xiao Chu, no need, I don't want it."
Ding Qiunan said from the side, "Here, take the rainwater."
Li Chu extended the offer again, and looking at her, He Yushui took it shyly, saying, "Thank you, Brother Chu!"
"You're welcome. Rain, have you had dinner yet?"
"I've already eaten with Brother Chu." As soon as she finished speaking, He Yushui's stomach growled, and the girl lowered her head in embarrassment.
Ding Qiunan gave Li Chu a wink, and Li Chu nodded without saying anything before heading to the kitchen. Ding Qiunan then pulled He Yushui down to sit.
Li Chu went to the kitchen and saw that the coal stove was still burning, so he added some coal. He didn't cook anything new, but just reheated the leftover food. After the food was reheated, he enlarged the stove and moved it under the chimney to warm up the bedroom as well.
She placed the heated food on the living room table and said, "Yushui, come on, have some rice. There's not much food, just what's left over. Just make do with it. Let your sister Qiunan cook it over there."
He Yushui glanced at Ding Qiunan, then at Li Chu, said thank you, and sat down at the table. She picked up a steamed bun and began to eat it in large bites. If you looked closely, you would notice that He Yushui's eyes were red.
Li Chu sat on the sofa and picked up a book, but her mind wasn't on it. This little girl received 25 jin of rations every month, which should be enough for her; she couldn't possibly be so thin from hunger. Li Chu wondered how He Yuzhu had managed to take care of his sister.
He Yuzhu never came home to cook for his sister after get off work; instead, he would go out drinking. Several times, almost everyone in the courtyard had fallen asleep before they heard He Yuzhu come back from drinking.
In the past, when He Yushui didn't have lunch, the older woman could still take care of her. But now that the older woman is pregnant, her body is heavy, and she's an older pregnant woman. She's lucky if she can even get the old lady in the backyard to eat, let alone take care of He Yushui.
Li Chu sighed, thinking, "This little girl is really pitiful."
Before long, He Yushui finished her meal. Before Li Chu could say anything, she took her bowl and plates to the pond in the yard to wash them.
After she put down the bowls and chopsticks and came over, Ding Qiunan had already repaired her schoolbag.
He Yushui took the schoolbag and looked at it: "Sister Qiunan, you did a really good job. Thank you. And thank you Brother Xiaochu too." She then bowed to the two of them.
Ding Qiunan helped the little girl up: "We're all neighbors, no need to be so polite." She reached out and patted He Yushui's head: "Yushui, if no one cooks for you in the afternoon, come to my house for dinner when your brother Xiao Chu and I get off work."
He Yushui looked at Ding Qiunan and said, "Sister Qiunan, I can cook, but... but when I came back today I found that there was no food at home, and I didn't have any money to buy any, so I couldn't cook." As she spoke, He Yushui lowered her head.
"If you need any help in the future, just come to me. Go back now, it's getting late," Ding Qiunan said to her.
"Thank you, Sister Qiu Nan, and thank you, Brother Xiao Chu." He Yushui thanked them again.
Li Chu waved his hand: "Alright, Yushui, don't be shy, go back now."
After seeing He Yushui off, Li Chu saw Xiao Hei circling around the door again: "Xiao Hei wants to go to the toilet. This little guy is really smart. He only taught it once and he remembered it. Qiu Nan, look, it hasn't been pooping or peeing anywhere in the house for the past two days."
Ding Qiunan watched Xiao Hei circling around and couldn't help but laugh. She teased it a couple of times with her foot, and Xiao Hei barked at her. "Alright, Li Chu, you should take it away quickly. Can't you see how impatient it is?"
Li Chu then picked up Xiao Hei and took it outside the yard. After watching it finish relieving itself, they returned together.
After returning home, the young couple washed up and went upstairs.
Lying in bed, Ding Qiunan nestled in Li Chu's arms and, thinking of He Yushui again, asked, "When did He Yushui's father pass away?"
"Old He used to be the head chef at your factory. I don't know exactly when he left, I was in college back then."
"Why would he give up such a good job and go with a widow, and not even want the two siblings?" Ding Qiunan asked again, unable to understand He Yushui's father's actions.
Li Chu thought for a moment and said, "I don't know the specific reason, but I have heard a rather interesting explanation."
What do you mean?
“Once, when I was chatting with my third uncle, he said that he and his sister went to look for Lao He once after he left, but Lao He refused to see them. He said that he had heard it from others, that it seemed that there was a problem with the He family’s class status, and Lao He was afraid to stay in Beijing, so he ran away.”
"There's a problem with the ingredients?" Ding Qiunan was a little surprised; this was no small matter.
"Yeah, He Yuzhu keeps saying his family is poor peasants, bullshit, it would be a miracle if they were poor peasants."
"What do you mean? Why are there problems with poor peasants?"
“Their family has been urban residents since the Republican era, and their household registration has always been in the city. Old He has always cooked for people in the city, and the children are all in the city. When class status was determined after liberation, their family could not possibly be poor peasants. They would definitely be classified as craftsmen, just like the rich eldest son who cleaned our house.”
"Oh, is that so?"
"Hey, honey, it's such a long night, why are we talking about other people's things? Come on, let's do something good for our health." With that, Li Chu mounted his horse.
"Um, Li Chu, no... You have to go to work tomorrow too, go to sleep early, okay..."
*Snap*... The light went out.
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