With ten yuan in hand, Jia Zhangshi left the Yi family. As long as she didn't reveal what happened back then, Yi Zhonghai would never escape her grasp for the rest of his life.
Unless Yi Zhonghai has his own biological son, he will fulfill any request, no matter how unreasonable.
He didn't even need to remind Yi Zhonghai that his son was Yi's child. No matter how much Yi Zhonghai suspected it, as long as there was even a 1/10 chance, Yi Zhonghai would be his plaything for life.
Huang Xiaojuan is now also suspicious of this matter. It's completely different from Yi Zhonghai's usual behavior. It seems that Yi Zhonghai loses his temper whenever the Jia family is involved.
Even if she were incredibly naive, Huang Xiaojuan knew what was going on. Yi Zhonghai would only act this way because of the children; he would never do something so irrational.
The thought of Yi Zhonghai having a house full of children and grandchildren, while she herself had nothing, filled Huang Xiaojuan with a sense of loss. This made her resent her own womb. If it weren't for her unreliable womb, how could she have ended up in such a miserable state?
The thought of being kicked to the curb by Yi Zhonghai forced Huang Xiaojuan to make plans for her future. To avoid ending up with nothing, she secretly kept a little over twenty yuan when she put the money back, and also hid her jewelry along with it.
If he didn't hurry up and plan for his future, what would he do if Yi Zhonghai wanted to meet Jia Zhangshi in person? Seeing Huang Xiaojuan standing there motionless, Yi Zhonghai assumed it was because he had slapped her twice.
Perhaps feeling some guilt towards Huang Xiaojuan, Yi Zhonghai stopped blaming her and instead lay in bed recovering from his injuries. He had his doubts about what happened back then. If Jia Zhangshi insisted the child was hers, Yi Zhonghai wouldn't believe it no matter what. But Jia Zhangshi remained silent, even insisting the child belonged to Old Jia.
This left Yi Zhonghai unsure whether Jia Dongxu was his child. Yi Zhonghai wasn't unaware that Jia Zhangshi was plotting against him, but coincidentally, Jia Dongxu's birth date matched the one he had been told.
Yi Zhonghai had asked Jia Zhangshi before, but she always denied it, insisting that the child had nothing to do with her. The more Jia Zhangshi said this, the more suspicious Yi Zhonghai became.
Yi Zhonghai didn't care much about this matter before, but as he got older, he became more and more concerned about it. He even became obsessed with his child.
Just as Yi Zhonghai was pondering these matters, Qin Huairu also arrived at the Intermediate People's Court. Seeing that Sha Zhu wasn't home, Qin Huairu went back to the Jia family's residence.
"Why are you back so soon? Isn't Sha Zhu home?"
“Mother-in-law, not only is Sha Zhu not home, but He Yushui is not home either.”
“If they’re not home, that’s fine. Go again tomorrow. We’re barely making ends meet right now, so don’t be so reserved. If you keep being reserved, not only will we adults go hungry, but your two children will go hungry too. Sometimes you have to think more about your children.”
After saying that, Jia Zhangshi shook the large black 10 in her hand, as if scheming against Yi Zhonghai was a glorious thing.
"Don't look down on Sha Zhu's family just because they're not doing well now. Don't forget, He Yushui is a vocational school graduate. Once He Yushui graduates, her salary won't be lower than Sha Zhu's."
"If Sha Zhu were a little more ruthless, he could make He Yushui earn money for him for a few more years. He could even find a way to use He Yushui's dowry."
Hearing her mother-in-law's words, Qin Huairu simply nodded. She had also made a decision in her heart: to make good use of Sha Zhu.
“Zhu Zi, I believe you will understand me, after all, you are so good to Bang Geng and the others. You certainly don’t want Bang Geng and the others to suffer.”
Madam Jia paid no attention to Qin Huairu's self-talk. She had once been just as kind as Qin Huairu, but reality had forced her to become the very thing she hated.
Even Jia Dongxu, who was initially strongly opposed to this, has now fallen silent. No parent would be indifferent to their child's future.
Given my circumstances, a promotion is practically impossible. With my meager salary, providing a good life for my family will be extremely difficult.
If he could find a way to bring more money back from elsewhere, his children would be better off. Now, Jia Dongxu has no choice but to accept this outcome.
"Huai Ru, it's all my fault. If I were more capable, you wouldn't have had to do this. But don't worry, I will definitely find a way to change this situation."
After Jia Dongxu finished speaking, he hugged Qin Huairu. While the two comforted each other, Huang Xiaojuan furtively took a registered letter. Seeing that no one was around, she immediately stuffed the letter into her bosom.
Wei Hua, who happened to be out shopping for New Year's goods, was also curious as to why Huang Xiaojuan was being so cautious! He secretly used his spatial powers to retrieve the letter and discovered that it was written by He Daqing to Sha Zhu.
Upon seeing the letter, Wei Hua understood what had happened. Everyone has their own stance, and since Yi Zhonghai and his group had offended him, Wei Hua didn't want them to get away with it.
After stuffing the letter back into Huang Xiaojuan's arms, Wei Hua was thinking about how to tell Sha Zhu about it. Seeing He Yushui carrying her things, Wei Hua beckoned to her.
"Rain, come here for a second."
Upon hearing Wei Hua's words, He Yushui's face instantly flushed red. At fifteen or sixteen, He Yushui was already experiencing the first stirrings of love. She had thought Wei Hua wanted to say something to her privately.
Seeing Wei Hua's handsome appearance, He Yushui, even though she was shy, slowly walked over.
"Brother Weihua, what do you need me for?"
“Rain! Did you see that postman just now? I heard him looking for you and your brother. But Huang Xiaojuan took the letter.”
"I happened to need to mail a letter too, so I found the postman. I chatted with him for a bit while mailing the letter. I was surprised to find out that He Daqing had been mailing you letters for several years. And he also sent you ten yuan a month for living expenses."
"But then I thought about it and it didn't make sense. If He Daqing really sent you living expenses, why were you living so miserably a few years ago? So miserably that in 1953 you siblings still needed help from others."
“I still remember the year you two ran out of food. Qin Huairu even came to our house to talk about it. My parents gave Qin Huairu five steamed buns and asked her to give them to you two siblings.”
Upon hearing Wei Hua's words, He Yushui even dropped what she was holding.
“Brother Weihua, you said that Sister Qin’s things were given to you by you back then. Are you sure you’re not mistaken? It was 5 steamed buns, not 5 cornbread.”
"Little girl, who are you insulting? My parents were already working back then. They earned as much as seventy or eighty yuan a month. Do you think we would eat cornbread during the Spring Festival?"
"Qin Huairu came to my house to play the victim. She said that she had just given birth and had nothing good to eat, which resulted in not having much breast milk. My parents gave her half a steamer of steamed buns and even asked her to deliver five steamed buns to you two."
"If you don't believe me, you can call Qin Huairu over and ask her about what happened back then."
He Yushui had no doubts about Wei Hua's words. She had already harbored suspicions about the matter. Now, all her doubts were resolved.
Given Qin Huairu's status in the Jia family, if she had actually stolen five steamed buns, she would definitely have been scolded by Jia Zhangshi. At that time, nothing had happened in the Jia family.
It was obvious that Qin Huairu had replaced the steamed buns the Wei family had given them with cornbread. Yet, the siblings remained grateful to Qin Huairu.
To verify whether Wei Hua's words were true, He Yushui picked up the things on the ground and immediately pushed her second-hand bicycle away from the courtyard.
Watching He Yushui walk away, Wei Hua smiled. He could tell from He Yushui's dark complexion that she wouldn't give up easily.
He Yushui skipped lunch to investigate the child support issue. She didn't find the postman until the afternoon.
"Comrade, my name is He Yushui, and my father's name is He Daqing. Why did you hand over our letters to someone else?"
"So you're He Yushui. What's your brother's name? What proof do you have that your name is He Yushui?"
"Comrade, this is my student ID. You can go to the police station to verify it if you don't believe me. As for my brother's name, it's He Yuzhu."
The postman took the student ID and looked at it. Then he returned the student ID to He Yushui.
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