After memorizing Jia Dongxu's grave location, Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu made a rare visit the next day to burn some paper money. As for the tombstone and other items? They had long since forgotten about them.
To avoid getting the place wrong, Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu cooperated for once. They moved some stones from elsewhere, hoping that this would help them remember the location.
A few days later, Jia Dongxu's incident seemed to have never happened. Everyone went back to their lives as usual. Qin Huairu also successfully entered the steel rolling mill, and because she had just started working there, her salary immediately reached 32.5 yuan.
Wei Hua didn't know why Qin Huairu only earned 27.5 yuan in the original novel. A first-class fitter in the steel rolling mill earned 32.5 yuan, and a second-class fitter earned 38.5 yuan.
Wei Hua didn't bother to care about things he couldn't understand, since it had nothing to do with him anyway.
It's unclear whether it was Jia Dongxu's death that made Yi Zhonghai stop his underhanded tactics. Since Yi Zhonghai wasn't causing trouble, Wei Hua could only focus on his work.
This brought a rare period of peace to the courtyard house for a few months, as everyone just wanted to live a good life.
After taking over the job, Qin Huairu had no time to scheme against others. She focused on diligently learning the skills from her master, which led her to overlook her own situation.
With Wei Hua's arrival, Qin Huairu's master could no longer be Yi Zhonghai. The steel rolling mill found Qin Huairu a level-five fitter, and she was a female fitter.
The female fitter would never take advantage of Qin Huairu. Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai were just ordinary acquaintances. After a month or two of busy work, Qin Huairu discovered that she was pregnant with Jia Dongxu's child again.
It wasn't that Qin Huairu didn't want to go to the hospital for an abortion. It was simply that doing so would damage her reputation. Her husband had just died, and to abort his child would put her in a very difficult position.
Moreover, there's Jia Zhangshi in the family; if he really did that, she would definitely make a huge fuss. Making a big fuss would be the real problem. Fortunately, although Jia Dongxu is dead, he still played a useful role.
Even though Jia Dongxu died outside, the steel mill still provided some subsidies for his children. The subsidies weren't much, but they were better than nothing.
In order to gain more benefits, Qin Huairu had to go to the hospital to get a certificate and report her pregnancy. It must be said that workers in this era were indeed very fortunate; even if their children died, the steel mill would take care of them.
Soon, everyone learned that Qin Huairu and Yang Tao were both pregnant. After the news broke, the conflict between Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e escalated. No man would willingly take on such a situation.
The once-good relationship between Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e gradually began to crack. This was especially true now that people were increasingly disapproving of capitalists.
Many ordinary people were starving, while capitalists continued to live in luxury. Class conflict slowly erupted under these circumstances.
This gradually gave Xu Damao a bit of confidence. Although he didn't dare to do anything openly, Xu Damao had other thoughts. Every time he went out to show a movie, he would always glance at other women a few more times.
After seeing this many times, the other widows understood Xu Damao's intentions. In such circumstances, when people were barely surviving, what sense of propriety or shame remained?
As long as Xu Damao gives enough, plenty of women will climb into his bed. Xu Damao happens to be the kind of person who has neither lack of money nor food.
Not long after, Xu Damao had an affair. Once a man has an affair, he naturally won't treat his wife as well.
Lou Xiao'e was unaware that her husband had a lover and thought that Xu Damao disliked her for not being pregnant yet.
In her quest to conceive as quickly as possible, Lou Xiao'e made numerous trips to the hospital and took a lot of medication. But no matter how hard she tried, her belly remained flat.
This is where the role of a good best friend comes in. Just when Lou Xiao'e was having a terrible headache, Yang Tao began to instill in her the idea that having a child is not a one-person affair.
It's not just women who have problems; men are more likely to have issues too. Hearing this, Lou Xiao'e didn't immediately understand. But she couldn't conceive, and she had to find the reason. She had undergone so many tests at the hospital, but nothing was wrong.
This made Lou Xiao'e wonder if the problem lay with Xu Damao.
"Peach, is there really something wrong with our Da Mao? But how am I supposed to explain this to him? He's a man, after all. How could he possibly agree to do this kind of test with me?"
"Xiao'e, is there a problem? We'll know after the tests. If he doesn't want to go for the tests, can't you find a way to persuade him to go? Haven't you always wanted a child? Just have him come with you for the tests, and when you get to the hospital, you can find a way to get him to get tested too."
"If there's no problem, that's naturally a good thing. If there is a problem, get it treated as soon as possible. The best age for a woman to have children is between 20 and 26. Continuing to delay will not do any good for you or your Xu Damao."
Hearing Yang Tao's words, Lou Xiao'e decided to find some time to have Xu Damao go to the hospital for a check-up with her. With something on her mind, Lou Xiao'e became even less strict with Xu Damao.
Xu Damao was unaware of Lou Xiao'e's worries; he was currently preoccupied with showing movies. Given the current unfavorable situation, the importance of propaganda was becoming increasingly apparent. Xu Damao would go out to show movies almost every few days.
Having figured things out, Lou Xiao'e decided to take Xu Damao for a checkup when he returned. But secrets don't stay hidden forever. Xu Damao's constant philandering hadn't been discovered by Lou Xiao'e, but the Lou family had already received the news.
After Xu Damao went out to show the movie, Director Lou sent someone to pick up Lou Xiao'e and take her back to the Lou family home. Then, he drove to the place where Xu Damao was showing the movie.
Led by the housekeeper and others, they found Xu Damao directly. Xu Damao and another widow were caught red-handed by Lou Xiao'e.
Faced with this situation, Xu Damao could only kneel down and beg for mercy. Over the years, Xu Damao had come to know more and more about the Lou family and their way of doing things. If he couldn't gain Lou Xiao'e's forgiveness, he might very well end up as a corpse.
Under Xu Damao's persistent pleas, Lou Xiao'e slowly began to waver. In the end, she had no choice but to forgive him and took him back to the courtyard house that very night. Lou Xiao'e, who had initially felt some guilt towards Xu Damao, now completely disliked him.
Early the next morning, they forcibly took Xu Damao to the hospital in which the Lou family had a stake. Lou Xiao'e's mother and Xu Damao's parents also accompanied them.
Faced with Lou Xiao'e's mother, Xu Damao's parents could only apologize repeatedly. Xu Fugui even slapped Xu Damao several times on the spot.
Under pressure from his mother-in-law, Xu Damao had no choice but to undergo the relevant examinations with Lou Xiao'e. However, after receiving the results, Xu Damao found it difficult to accept the fact. The report clearly stated that he was infertile.
Seeing this, not only Xu Damao couldn't accept it, but even Xu Fugui and his wife couldn't accept it. Because Xu Damao was their only male heir. If Xu Damao was infertile, the Xu family line would end.
"Doctor, this is no laughing matter. How could my son, Damao, have this disease? Please examine my son again; this is extremely important."
Upon hearing Xu Fugui's words, the doctor looked at Lou Xiao'e and her daughter. After receiving a signal from them, the doctor took Xu Damao for another examination. However, the result was still the same: Xu Damao was infertile.
Seeing that the results were the same twice, Xu Fugui and his wife finally gave up hope. But Xu Damao remained unconvinced, believing the Lou family had done it deliberately. To find out if he really had the disease, Xu Damao immediately left the hospital and went to the First People's Hospital of the city for another examination.
Xu Damao didn't believe the Lou family's influence extended to the First People's Hospital. If the Lou family had that kind of power, they wouldn't be hiding like this now.
However, the test results from the First People's Hospital were exactly the same as the original results, clearly stating that Xu Damao had infertility.
Even so, Xu Damao refused to believe it. He visited eight hospitals in one day, each a leading authority, but the results were all the same.
After visiting all the hospitals, Xu Damao had to accept the cruel reality. At that moment, Xu Damao finally understood why none of the women he had been with had gotten pregnant – he had a problem with that.
No matter how hard he tried, no one would get pregnant. He was like a hen that crowed but never laid eggs. Dejected, Xu Damao stared blankly at the ceiling. This kind of blow was indeed cruel for a man.
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