Courtyard House: Railway Police at the Start

Chapter 11: Sucking

Tang Zhenghong had good eyesight. He lit a cigarette at the intersection of carriages 6. His target was sleeping and not making any noise. With nothing else to do, he took out the manual his master had given him and started flipping through it.

"What are you flipping through? I just saw your master talking to you for ages. What's going on?"

The visitor was Liu Yuanshan, the water supplier, who was responsible for boiling and delivering water on the train. In addition, he was also responsible for selling tickets in the hard sleeper carriages. So this position was usually held by the train conductor's confidants or relatives. He looked to be around thirty years old. He offered Tang Zhenghong a cigarette and they started chatting familiarly.

Tang Zhenghong quickly accepted the gift and thanked him politely, "There is a situation; my master asked me to keep an eye on things. My name is Tang Zhenghong, what's your name, buddy?"

"Liu Yuanshan, you can just call me Yuanshan. I've never seen you before, is this the first time? You're lucky. But you can't just stand here forever. Those people are all like rats, they'll be startled by the slightest sound."

"Yeah, I'll have a smoke and then I'll leave."

Liu Yuanshan was very talkative, and the two became buddies in the time it takes to smoke a cigarette. Pointing to the booklet in Tang Zhenghong's hand, he said, "It must have been tiring on the train. Take your time to look through it when you get home. Our train departs from Beijing every Monday and Thursday. For example, if your team runs the Monday train, another team will take over the Thursday train. Your team will get a few days off before the next train to Manzhouli. If you're lucky, you can get at least three days off in between."

Tang Zhenghong nodded. The manual states that, for example, the direct passenger express train from Beijing to Moscow departs from Beijing every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

Each duty team has a specific line segment and train number to be responsible for. Rest and duty times are adjusted within a team, but in special circumstances, they may be swapped with other teams.

"Hey buddy, where do you live? Let's get together when we're back in Beijing and have some free time."

"That's great! I live in Nanluoguxiang. What about you, Brother Yuanshan?"

"I live near Zhengyangmen."

"What a coincidence," Tang Zhenghong said, refilling his cigarette. "It's really a coincidence. I know an auntie who lives around here and runs a small tavern."

"Oh, you mean Xu Huizhen? I used to frequent her little tavern before the merger."

Xu Huizhen, whom the two mentioned, was currently teaching He Yushui needlework.

Now, He Yushui comes to the front gate after school first. Sometimes she helps take care of Xiaoli, who is only three years old, and sometimes she helps out at the tavern. She even gives her portion of food to her future second aunt, so she eats her meals here.

He Yushui lost her mother at a young age and no one taught her needlework. She sewed her own clothes with clumsy stitches when they were torn. Over the years, a girl who lost her mother at a young age and whose father ran away has a natural affinity for Xu Huizhen.

Xu Huizhen also quite liked He Yushui, who was quick and efficient, and taught her, like a mother, some things that girls should pay attention to.

"This is all done. Even if you get your period, you'll have something to change into. By the way, your brother is getting on in years and hasn't thought about getting married. It's better to have a woman in the house to manage things."

He Yushui was surprised by her second aunt's bold words and blushed with embarrassment.

"My silly brother is always talking about the three main rooms in our house. He has such high standards. All the girls the neighborhood committee introduced him to in the past two years have fallen through. Either he didn't like them, or they thought he looked too old. We'll see, there's nothing I can do about it."

Now Xu Huizhen has also tacitly acknowledged that He Yushui calling her "Second Aunt" has nothing to do with Cai Quan, and plans to get their marriage certificate this year: "Your second uncle said that the people in your courtyard are not simple, so tell your brother to be careful."

"Hey, if my silly brother had listened to me, he would have gotten married two years ago."

Xu Huizhen hesitated for a moment before asking, "Your father...?"

"You'd better not mention him. Just pretend he doesn't exist. You don't know, when my silly brother came back from Tianjin, he took me to look for him, but he wouldn't even let me in the door."

Seeing He Yushui's stubborn expression but sad expression, Xu Huizhen felt a pang of sympathy and hugged her tightly, saying, "Okay, let's not talk about him anymore. From now on, this is your home."

He Yushui smiled through her tears: "That's why I feel you and my second uncle are so close. People say we're like mother and daughter, and I think it's no less true."

...

"What? You want me to cook a meal for the old lady? Sir, do you think I'm too idle or something?"

Sha Zhu looked unwilling. Wouldn't it be better to spend this time squatting at the door and watching Sister Qin for a while? Besides, if he couldn't watch her, he could take a nap. He had no relation to that old lady, so why bother?

"Zhu Zi, you're such a good boy. The old lady is so old and it's not easy for her. We have to respect our elders. It's a tradition. Besides, I've already bought the meat. It'll be fine if you have a bite. It'll save you the trouble of cooking at home. I haven't seen her come back to eat these past few days."

Ever since He Yushui acknowledged her family, Sha Zhu has been unable to control her. Therefore, when this matter was brought up, his face turned ugly, and he stubbornly muttered, "It's better that she didn't come back. I don't know how much better it would be if I ate by myself."

"I praised your cooking skills to the old lady, saying you're the best in our area, but she didn't quite believe me. If you're really not willing to help, then forget it. I'll go to the front yard to find Nan Yi. You're the only one we've watched grow up, so we should ask you about this kind of good thing first."

Sha Zhu's eyes widened, and he chuckled to himself: "A good thing? I could live a perfectly good life myself, but I have to serve an old lady? You old man, you're not content with just sending your old lady, you have to drag me along too? What kind of good thing is that?"

"Zhu Zi, how can you think like that? Who is the old lady? She gave shoes to our army. If you cook a meal for her, everyone will praise you. When your reputation grows, you can find a partner, right?"

Sha Zhu scratched his slightly itchy head and suddenly realized, "Now that you mention it, it's true. But let's make it clear first, I'll provide the cooking skills, and you can keep whatever dishes I cook, plus you have to pay for my meal."

A barely perceptible smile appeared on Yi Zhonghai's lips, his face genuinely sincere: "Just hearing that is enough. What, you expect me, an old man, to help you over there?"

"Hehe, you go first, I'll get some seasonings and come right away. We can't ruin our cooking skills, we must make sure the old lady wants to eat the next meal after this one."

At this point, Sha Zhu paused for a moment, then called out to Yi Zhonghai's retreating figure, "Uncle Yi, we've made a deal, this is the only time!"

But Yi Zhonghai pretended not to hear and went to the backyard to tell the deaf old lady the good news.

The Jia family.

Sha Zhu shouted so loudly that Jia Zhangshi must have heard it. Somewhat puzzled, she put down her chopsticks and ran to the window with her short legs to look out.

Since her son got married, Jia Zhangshi seemed like a different person. She stopped causing trouble in the yard and quietly stayed at home every day taking care of her grandson and making shoe soles.

After a while, Madam Jia returned to the dining table and sat down: "Dongxu, I just heard your master go to find Shazhu? And I heard Shazhu yelling something about 'this is the only time,' do you know what happened?"

"I know, the old lady in the backyard is craving something sweet and wants Zhuzi to cook her a meal."

Madam Jia suddenly realized: "That's right. The deaf old lady has been quiet for two or three years, but now that there's no news, she's started craving food again. I think she's got her eye on Zhu Zi's cooking skills. Just you wait and see, that silly Zhu Zi will be very busy from now on."

"Zhu Zi doesn't have any elders at home, so it's a good thing that my master and the deaf old lady help take care of him. He can also practice his skills at the same time. Now, everyone in the factory only recognizes Nan Yi."

Madam Jia glared at her son with exasperation: "You always think the best of people. Sigh, if it weren't for me managing this family, it would have been taken advantage of sooner or later."

Qin Huairu didn't care about any of that; her mind was entirely focused on her husband and son. She shared half of her cornbread with Jia Dongxu, saying, "Dongxu, you work so hard, eat more. Mom, let's not exchange our meat coupons with anyone else this month; let's buy some meat for Dongxu to nourish himself."

Madam Jia nodded in agreement, but looked troubled: "We do need to replenish our supplies. We need to give the corn stalks some meat too. But we're afraid our grain won't last until the end of the year, and then you might have to go back to Qin Family Village again."

There's no shortage of food in the countryside now; Qin Huairu and Jia Dongxu have often gone back to their hometown to exchange for some coarse grains.

"Okay, Dongxu works hard, so we need to make sure he's well-fed. I'll go back this week."

Jia Dongxu held his wife's hand under the table with gratitude on his face, and the couple smiled at each other.

Seeing that the two men were no longer paying attention to her presence, Qin Huairu, the daughter-in-law, had eyes that were practically brimming with seductive charm.

Madam Jia cursed inwardly as a vixen, coughed, got up, and picked up Bang Geng: "I'll take Bang Geng out for a walk."

The tacit understanding between these three adults.

Jia Zhangshi was making room for the two of them. Their house only had partitions with curtains hanging in them, and Jia Zhangshi would always find an excuse to go out.

When Jia Dongxu saw his mother leave, he hurriedly picked up his wife and carried her into the inner room.

"The curtains aren't drawn yet."

"It's okay, no one can see it."

"Hey, don't look..."

"My son has been hogging it all day, now it's my turn to have a taste, mmm... slurp."

Qin Huairu quickly put her fingers in her mouth and bit them to stop herself from making a sound.