Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 213

On this day, which was close to the Spring Festival, He Yuzhu took some time to visit Xue Ru Silk Shop. Of course, he knew all the shop assistants, so there was no need to announce his arrival; he went directly to the back.

After knocking on the office door, Chen Xueru's voice came from inside: "Come in."

He Yuzhu pushed open the door and came in, and to his surprise, there was a guest in the office, and a white girl at that.

Chen Xueru said with a smile, "Boss He, come here quickly, let me introduce you to a friend of my elder brother's family."

He Yuzhu said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you had guests here."

In front of outsiders, He Yuzhu still had to keep his distance from Chen Xueru and not give himself away.

Chen Xueru smiled and said, "Don't be so polite. There are no outsiders here. This is my new friend from the North, named Elena."

Then He Yuzhu was introduced to Elena.

"Hello, Comrade Elena."

"Hello, Comrade He Yuzhu." Elena spoke excellent Chinese, though she still had a distinctive accent.

The two clasped hands, and He Yuzhu praised:

"I never expected Comrade Elena's Mandarin to be so standard, it's truly remarkable."

"You're too kind, my Mandarin isn't very good."

The three sat down, and Chen Xueru gave a brief introduction. It turned out that Elena had only been in Beijing for a short time, but she had already fallen in love with traditional Chinese culture, especially cheongsams. She had ordered several outfits from Xueru's shop, and the two became good friends.

After chatting for a while, He Yuzhu asked, "I wonder if Comrade Elena could learn Russian from you?"

He Yuzhu had always wanted to learn a foreign language. Going to the north to do business in the 80s would be a good option, so he needed to learn Russian in advance.

“Okay, this is very simple, I’m willing to teach you.”

Chen Xueru looked at He Yuzhu with some suspicion. She had never heard him mention wanting to learn Russian before, so why did he suddenly want to learn a foreign language?

Could it be because Elena is pretty?

Or is it dissatisfaction with how well she serves him in bed?

He Yuzhu quickly made an agreement with Elena to set aside an hour each day to study Russian.

A moment later, Elena got up to leave. Chen Xueru saw her out, then came back, locked the door, and threw herself into He Yuzhu's arms.

After a long kiss, Chen Xueru pouted and asked, "Zhu Zi, didn't you have your eye on Elena?"

He Yuzhu reached out and patted her pert bottom: "Is that how you see me? I really want to learn Russian."

"Really? I don't believe it!" Chen Xueru laughed playfully.

"Fine, that's what you think of me. I'm not the kind of person who does things recklessly."

"I'd love for you to do something reckless. You always drive people crazy. I don't know how you have such a strong drive."

"Don't you like it?"

"I love it, I love it to death."

He Yuzhu chuckled twice, then carried Chen Xueru to the bedroom.

An hour later, feeling refreshed, he emerged from the bedroom, leaving Chen Xueru still lying in bed, savoring the wonderful life.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, He Yuzhu introduced Elena to Xu Huizhen in his study, and then the two of them started learning Russian together.

"Здравствуйте."

“товарищ”

He Yuzhu has an exceptional memory. After learning the pronunciation of the letters, he immediately began learning words. After one lesson, he successfully activated the system.

You have mastered a new language—Russian, at level 1.

As expected, the system was very helpful. With the system's support, He Yuzhu's learning speed in Russian improved significantly. By the time of the Spring Festival, he was already able to read Russian books, albeit haltingly.

Xu Huizhen came in with red paper and said, "Zhuzi, are you writing the couplets yourself again this year?"

Li Keran had previously praised He Yuzhu's calligraphy as being exceptional, a true masterpiece, which left Xu Huizhen completely bewildered. Even now, she still finds it hard to believe that He Yuzhu's calligraphy is so good.

"Of course, I'll write it myself. I can't just pay for Uncle San's couplets."

Ever since Yan Bugui borrowed a local house and tables and chairs that year, he has been writing couplets outside He Yuzhu's shop every year to earn extra money, and this year is no exception.

Although I lent him the space, if you want to buy couplets from him, you can't pay a penny less. Yan Bugui is not the kind of person who would give gifts.

Xu Huizhen placed the red paper on the table: "Alright, then you write."

Before they knew it, it was New Year's Eve. After lunch, He Yuzhu took some paste and pasted up the couplets. Then he washed his hands and went into the back courtyard, preparing to go back to the courtyard house for the New Year.

"Manager, something terrible has happened! Our couplets have been stolen!" a shop assistant rushed in, flustered.

"Are you kidding me? Who stole the couplets?"

"Really, would I lie to you about something like this, shopkeeper? Our couplets are gone."

"Is it true?"

"After you put it up, someone will come up and tear the couplet down in the blink of an eye and run away."

"What? Someone stole the couplets?" Xu Huizhen asked in disbelief.

"I'll go take a look."

He Yushui was very curious. She skipped and hopped out, her pigtails swaying, and came running back in a moment later.

"Brother, sister-in-law, it's true, our couplets have been stolen."

In fact, He Yuzhu had already used his spiritual power to check when the waiter came to inform him. The couplets outside had indeed been removed by someone else, leaving only paste.

He Yuzhu was speechless. He hadn't expected anyone to steal couplets. He could only say, "It's okay. I'll go back and write another one to put up. Then we'll go back to the courtyard house."

He Yuzhu went to the study. Fortunately, he had bought a lot of red paper before, and there was still a lot left. He cut a new set and then He Yushui ground the ink. He Yuzhu then wrote a new couplet.

He Yushui skipped out to deliver it to the shop assistant, and Xu Huizhen said, "Won't it get stolen again?"

"No way, it must have been someone who was too poor to afford couplets."

He Yuzhu didn't care. After all, it had only been a few years since liberation, and there were still many poor people, many of whom couldn't make ends meet.

"Okay, these are minor matters. Pack your things and go home for the New Year."

Xu Huizhen didn't care. She couldn't let such a small thing spoil her New Year's mood. It was already New Year's Eve. Although she didn't usually live with He Daqing, she still had to go back to her hometown to celebrate the New Year together.

They quickly got everything ready, but with wind and snow outside, riding bicycles was impossible, so they had to hire two rickshaws to take them to the courtyard house.

He Yuzhu smiled as soon as he entered the courtyard. Jia Dongxu was practicing walking in the yard with crutches. He asked:

"Jia Dongxu, what's wrong with you? When did you turn into Tieguai Li?"

Chapter 158 Granny Zhang Steals a Bicycle

Jia Dongxu's face turned pale with anger, and he shouted, "What's it to you, you idiot Zhu?"

He Yuzhu stepped forward and slapped him hard across the face, shouting, "You've got some nerve, daring to call me 'Silly Zhu'!"

“You…” Jia Dongxu covered his face, unable to speak.

Today is Lunar New Year's Eve, and I didn't expect to be beaten by He Yuzhu when he came back. My leg was broken before, and it's still not fully healed. I have to use crutches to walk.

Even if my leg wasn't fully healed, I wouldn't be a match for He Yuzhu; I simply couldn't beat him.

Hearing the commotion, Qin Huairu rushed out, first helping Jia Dongxu up, and then said, "Why did you hit someone?"

He Yuzhu said, "He deserves to be beaten. He never learns his lesson. If he calls me 'Silly Zhu' again, I'll break his legs."

"I can't be bothered with you, let's go."

Qin Huairu helped Jia Dongxu inside, muttering something under her breath, but it was hard to make out what she was saying.

Then, He Yushui helped Xu Huizhen inside. At this moment, He Daqing also came out after hearing the commotion and asked, "What happened?"

“It was nothing trivial; I just gave Jia Dongxu a couple of pointers.”

He Daqing didn't say much, and was busy asking Xu Huizhen how she was doing lately and when her grandson would be born.

Jia Dongxu was sullen after being hit, and after Qin Huairu tried to comfort him for a while, she didn't bother to say anything more.

This husband is a disgrace; he's been to prison two or three times. If it weren't for the fact that life would be even harder after a divorce, she would have divorced Jia Dongxu long ago.

Granny Zhang shouted, "That damned idiot Zhu! This is outrageous! Heaven, please send down some lightning to strike him dead!"

The Jia family was unhappy throughout New Year's Eve, especially the He Yuzhu family, who ate the best food, with big meals of fish and meat every day, and everyone had new clothes made and dressed up in their finest, making Granny Zhang extremely envious.

Time flew by, and it was already the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. The factory had resumed operations, and Jia Dongxu, leaning on his crutches, went to work. When he returned from get off work, he saw He Yuzhu still in the yard and asked curiously:

"Zhu Zi, why didn't you move it back?"

Since the Spring Festival, Jia Dongxu had been hoping that He Yuzhu's family would move away so that they wouldn't be hanging around in front of him every day. Now it's already the fifth day of the Lunar New Year and he still sees He Yuzhu in the yard. He couldn't help but ask him a question, otherwise he wouldn't have wanted to talk to He Yuzhu at all.

"My wife is pregnant, so she's been staying at the courtyard house lately."

He Yuzhu wanted to go back, but Wen Yuping wanted to fulfill her responsibilities as a stepmother and take care of the pregnant Xu Huizhen, so she tried her best to persuade him to stay. He Yuzhu and his wife had no choice but to stay a few more days.

Jia Dongxu exclaimed in surprise, "What? You're not moving out yet?"

"None of your business. This is my home too. I can stay here as long as I want," He Yuzhu said irritably.

"you..."