Comfortable life in Siheyuan

"Huai Ru, why don't you go to the new neighbor in the front yard and borrow some money tomorrow, so that we can have a good harvest!" Jia Zhang said stammeringly. "Mom, our family should just live a simple life, don't think about those unrealistic things. I don't know him well, we have only met a few times." Qin Huai Ru retorted. "Well, since you can't bring it up, I will go meet him tomorrow." Jia Zhang still didn't give up, and was still immersed in her own fantasy.

The next morning, Banggeng was holding a small shovel in the yard, carefully cleaning the snow on the corridor. Jia Zhang followed behind him, glancing at the front room from time to time. Finally, Cui Dake opened the door, holding a basin in his hand and walked out of the yard. Jia Zhang then slowly moved to the door. After waiting for a while, Cui Dake, who had finished his work, walked into the yard with the basin in his hand, and Jia Zhang hurried to meet him.

"You are the new tenant, you are so handsome!" Jia Zhang said attentively. "Auntie, you are from the middle courtyard, I saw you yesterday." Cui Dake greeted her humbly and responded with a smile.

"I'm so sorry for what happened yesterday. I made you laugh. I'm from the Jia family in the middle courtyard, and Qin Huairu is my daughter-in-law." Aunt Jia said with a smile on her face. "Hey! What's the big deal? Every child has been naughty when they were young!" Cui Dake smiled and comforted. "Are you living alone? You're not young anymore, it's time to get married!" Jia Zhang asked with concern.

"Auntie! I'm originally from the countryside. I can't even feed myself in my hometown, how can I afford to marry a wife?" Cui Dake explained. Hearing Cui Dake mention the countryside, Jia Zhang also felt the same way.

"That's right. Life in the countryside is so miserable. We often have no food to eat and there is endless farm work to do. Even if we work so hard for a year, we can't save much money." "Yes, fortunately I'm in the city now, and I can finally live a comfortable life." Cui Dake echoed.

"My daughter-in-law has a younger sister in her hometown. She is only eighteen years old this year. Do you think I should bring her here for you to meet after the New Year? Don't worry. I just see that you are a positive and motivated young man, so I want to find you a match." Jia Zhang looked at Cui Dake with admiration.

"Auntie, thank you for your kindness. You can see my conditions. They are really not up to par. If the girl follows me, she will suffer." Cui Dake smiled and rejected the proposal.

"What are you talking about? You have a city hukou and you have a house to live in. It shouldn't be easy for you to find a wife! My niece is marrying up because she is marrying you!" Aunt Jia continued to persuade.

"Auntie, really, no need, I don't have this plan at the moment." Cui Dake refused directly. Although Cui Dake's house is small, he is a real urban hukou, and now he is also a person who eats commercial grain. He really doesn't want to find a rural wife and live a life of hardship.

"Then I'll listen to you. Let's forget about this matter. It's my niece who is unlucky. But brother, my auntie wants to ask you for a favor. Can you please help me?" After laying the groundwork for so long, Jia Zhang finally got to the point.

At this time, the third uncle who lived in the front yard was about to go out, but he saw two people chatting out of the corner of his eye, so he stopped and put his ear against the door to hear more clearly.

"What's the matter, Auntie? I don't know if I can help." Cui Dake was very smart and planned to listen first before making any plans.

"I'm not afraid of you laughing at me when I say this, but my family has a very hard life! My child's father passed away when I was young, and I finally found a wife for my son. After he had a child, he passed away a few years ago. Now there are five people in our family, and we have to rely on my daughter-in-law's salary to make a living. Life is really difficult! I want to borrow some food from you so that we can get through this year." After saying this, Jia Zhang sobbed twice.

Cui Dake was in a terrible mood. He had seen this kind of trick many times in the countryside, and he was not a fool. "Auntie, I have only been a regular employee for a few months. I live alone and don't have much food. Do you want to ask other families?" Cui Dake tried his best to keep smiling.

"That's fine. It's okay if you don't have food. How about you lend me five dollars? My daughter-in-law will pay you back after the New Year and next month's expenses." Jia Zhang changed her tactics again. It was really one thing after another.

Cui Dake looked at the smiling old woman in front of him, and he felt more and more unhappy. "Auntie, you really think highly of me! I have only been a regular employee for two or three months, and I cleaned the house two days ago. I really can't take out five dollars." Cui Dake's face twitched. He was really speechless about this situation, and even had the urge to throw the urine pot in his hand at her face.

"Then see if you can lend me some money. I won't mind. I will definitely remember your kindness." Jia Zhang clasped her hands together and said sincerely.

Cui Dake looked at Aunt Jia helplessly and said sincerely, "Auntie, please wait a moment. I'll go in and get something." Hearing this, Jia Zhang was overjoyed and quickly agreed, "Okay, okay! My child, Auntie really didn't make a mistake about you. You are such a kind and good boy!"

Jia Zhang waited at the door happily. Time passed by minute by minute. After several minutes, Cui Dake finally came out of the house. He handed a piece of paper to Jia Zhang and said, "Auntie, please take a look at this IOU. It clearly states that I lent you two dollars. As long as you sign here, I will give you the money right away."

It must be said that Cui Dake is quite clever! Even Yan Bugui, who had been standing in the room watching, admired him at this moment.

Jia Zhang looked through it carefully, then looked embarrassed and said awkwardly: "Dake, you see I can't read a single word, let alone write. What can I do? We are neighbors, don't you trust me about this?" In fact, Cui Dake was deliberately making things difficult for her. On the one hand, he didn't want to lend the money to Jia Zhang, and on the other hand, he wanted to take this opportunity to completely prevent similar things from happening in the future.

"Auntie Jia, I can't do anything if you're like this. I'm just like this. I like to follow the rules in everything." Cui Dake said in a businesslike tone.

Jia Zhang thought about it for a while, and finally asked, "Then can I press my handprint?"

Cui Dake looked at Jia Zhang in surprise, as if he couldn't believe that this old woman could say such words.

Auntie, you are so brave to sign it without even knowing what is written on it.

"Okay!" Cui Dake was a little angry and laughed. He turned around and went back to the house to get out a piece of charcoal.

"Auntie, just rub your finger here and make a handprint here!"

The two of them quickly completed the transaction, and Jia Zhang smiled and felt that she had gotten a good deal.

Cui Dake took the IOU, turned around and went back to the house with a smile on his face.