Siheyuan: When I became the control group of Qin Huairu

In the next few days, Yang Hehua will have banquets to prepare.

She basically goes out early and comes back late every day. After returning home, she is so tired that she basically falls asleep after taking a shower. She doesn't pay much attention to what is happening in the hospital.

As the snow fell heavily and the temperature continued to drop, the road surface was frozen.

The finished workpieces of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill could not be transported out, and the missing raw materials could not be transported in. After a meeting, the factory director and a group of leaders decided to take a holiday early.

December 25th of the lunar calendar is the first day of the holiday and also the day when salaries are paid in advance.

The New Year is coming in a few days, so it is natural for the factory to distribute year-end benefits.

However, it is distributed by the heads of various departments.

Yang Hehua queued up to collect her salary.

"Yang Hehua, a level six chef, salary is 60.1 yuan. Chef Hehua, just count and make sure there is nothing wrong, then sign your name!" Xiao Liu, the financial officer in charge of paying salaries, said with a smile.

Yang Hehua took the small stack of money she handed over and said, "Okay, Xiao Liu, wait for me for a moment!"

As he spoke, he started counting.

其实60.1元很好数，现在的钱币是55年起发行的第二套钱币，面额有1分、2分、3分、1角、2角、5角、1元、2元、3元、5元10种，还有10元券1种。

The finance department gave me 6 10-yuan notes and one dime note.

In less than ten seconds, Yang Hehua figured it out.

After putting the counted money into her inner pocket, Yang Hehua began to sign her name. After signing her name, she quickly stuffed a handful of White Rabbit candies into the accountant Xiao Liu's hand and said, "Comrade Xiao Liu, I wish you a happy new year in advance!"

It was not the first time that Xiao Liu from the Finance Department had dealt with Yang Hehua. She smiled and stuffed the White Rabbit candy in her hand into her pocket. She replied, "Master Hehua, you too, happy New Year! Go to the cafeteria quickly. Sister Lanhua said that Director Luo from the cafeteria took away the year-end benefits for your cafeteria workers early in the morning!"

People in finance like to deal with Yang Hehua, one reason is that the food she cooks is delicious, and another is that she will share some delicious food with them from time to time.

"Okay! I'll go first!"

Yang Hehua left in a very cool manner. The people standing behind Yang Hehua naturally saw the handful of candies that Yang Hehua stuffed into the pocket of Xiao Liu from the finance department, but they did not dare to joke about it. After all, it was a New Year's greeting between co-workers. If you make a fuss about it, it would not work at all.

"Qin Huairu, apprentice, salary 18 yuan, please count and sign your name after confirming that there is nothing wrong!"

There were more than a dozen people in line, and it was finally Qin Huairu's turn. She had a very keen eye and saw the money in Yang Hehua's hand. Looking at the amount, and then at her own hand, which looked thick but was actually very little salary, her heart was filled with jealousy and envy.

The money in Qin Huairu's hand were all one-yuan notes, eighteen in total, and of course they looked thicker than the seven notes in Yang Hehua's hand.

But it wasn't really Xiao Liu from the Finance Department who was causing trouble for her, he just took it.

Qin Huairu counted carefully twice before writing her name and returning to the workshop.

When I returned to the workshop, I got my year-end benefits from the workshop director, including a half-pound meat ticket, a canned fruit ticket, a pound of flour, two ounces of sausage, and two pounds of bean sprouts.

Carrying her New Year's benefits, Qin Huairu happily returned to the courtyard. As a result, as soon as she entered the hanging flower gate, she saw Yang Hehua, who was holding two net bags and a cloth bag in her hands, chatting with Zhou Qi's grandmother.

Qin Huairu took a serious look at what was in Yang Hehua's hand. The pork belly looked to be about two or three pounds, and there were also seven or eight oranges, canned yellow peaches, a hen, and a sausage that was about sixty to seventy centimeters long.

There was also another cloth bag whose contents could not be seen, but it was extremely full.

The more Qin Huairu looked at it, the angrier she became.

She knew that this invisible thing might contain fine grains that were heavier than what she had obtained.

In addition to these, there must be other bills and so on.

Qin Huairu returned home angrily and found that no one was at home. After putting down the things in her hands, she lay down on the kang.

Zhou Qi's grandmother noticed the look in Qin Huairu's eyes before she left. She mentioned it to Yang Hehua when they were chatting, and Yang Hehua smiled and said she knew.

Finally, he took three oranges from the net bag and gave them to Zhou Qi’s grandmother.

On the way home, Yang Hehua caught a glimpse of He Yuzhu carrying things in his hands and coming in from the Chuihua Gate with his wife Su Qinmi.

It was just a glance.

Yang Hehua quickly withdrew her gaze and closed the door.

The weather is getting colder and colder, and the snow in the yard is getting deeper and deeper, almost one meter high.

Usually, after Xiuxiu and Manman get up, they don’t go into the yard to play, and they close the doors of the house to prevent cold air from coming in.

However, since there was a fire in the room, the kitchen window was kept open to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

"Sister-in-law, you have a holiday today. Did you say when you will start work?" Xiao Qian came over with Xiaobao on her back and naturally took the things in Yang Hehua's hand and put them on the eight-immortals table.

Yang Hehua was shaking off the snow on her body at the door: "They said they would go on the ninth day of the first lunar month!"

This is what the canteen director Luo Qiongfen said at the time, but she added that if the weather remained so cold and the roads were still frozen, the start time of work might be delayed.

After the New Year, it will be 58 years.

After the heavy snow comes the severe drought.

Then natural disasters will come.

This cannot be stopped by human power.

Xiao Qian looked very happy. After calculating, she said, "That's about half a month's vacation!"

"That's right!" After shaking off the snow on her clothes, Yang Hehua took off her scarf, shook it twice, and placed the slightly damp scarf on the stool next to the stove to dry.

"This is because of the heavy snow. Otherwise, we would have been working on the third day of the new year."

"Qianqian, what are we having for lunch!?"

"I just made it. Have some rice porridge with shredded potatoes and scrambled eggs!"

Xiao Qian had indeed just finished, and at this moment Xiuxiu and Manman also surrounded Yang Hehua and called her mother.

As for Xiaobao on Yang Hehua's back, he was chewing the carrot strips that Xiao Qian had peeled for him.

"Okay! I'll get it!"

It was not yet half past eleven, and Yang Hehua quickly brought out the two dishes that were warm in the iron pot, and then scooped rice porridge for everyone.

Xiao Qian has been following Yang Hehua for so long and knows some of her habits. The rice porridge she makes is no longer like before, with less rice and more water. It is a very thick bowl, and it smells very fragrant just by smelling it.

Xiuxiu and Manman didn't go out to play in the morning, so they didn't need to wash their hands and just sat obediently at the table waiting.

After dinner, Yang Hehua took a nap and rubbed her eyes and asked the three people who had woken up earlier, "Tomorrow's temple fair, does anyone want to go with me to buy New Year's goods?"

This shout startled the three of them, and they responded loudly: "Go, go, go!!!"

"Of course I'm going!"

The festive atmosphere begins with the 23rd day of the lunar year, when the New Year begins.

Some of the ladies living in the courtyards have already started buying New Year's goods.

Yang Hehua's family has not bought any New Year's goods mainly because Yang Hehua is the only one who goes to work and Xiao Qian cannot leave with the three children. In addition, there have been banquets to prepare in the past few days, so they have not bought any New Year's goods yet.

In fact, as soon as the twelfth lunar month begins, every household starts preparing for the New Year.

In the old days, people in Beijing loved to go to temple fairs such as Baita Temple, Huguo Temple, and Longfu Temple to buy New Year's goods.

At the end of every year, these places have "continuous gatherings" every day.

There is everything to eat, drink, use and play at the temple fair, as well as a wide variety of department stores and performances.

The folk song goes: "Sugar melons are offered to the Kitchen God, the New Year is coming, girls want flowers, boys want firecrackers, old ladies want new cotton shirts, and old men want new felt hats."

In fact, there is more than just these New Year goods.

There are so many things to prepare and buy for the Chinese New Year, including food, daily necessities, clothes, accessories, toys, offerings, dry, fresh, raw, cooked...

They are collectively called "New Year's goods".

Moreover, it is not yet time to destroy the four olds, so these temple fairs are naturally very lively.

Xiuxiu and Manman had never been to the temple fair, but they had heard about it from the children in the courtyard.

Xiao Qian felt that the temple fairs in their towns and counties could not compare with those in the capital, so of course she wanted to go and see them.

"Okay!" Yang Hehua got off the kang: "Then let's go together tomorrow!"

The custom in Sijiu City is to stew meat on the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month. Today is the 25th, and tomorrow is the 26th. I'll take my family to the temple fair, avoid the crowds, and smuggle some good things out of the space.

After all, it’s New Year’s Day, and unless the family conditions are very poor, people will basically prepare some meat dishes.

In addition, people in northern China avoid using knives during the Chinese New Year, and avoid steaming, stir-frying, frying, and baking (which are homophones for "fight", "quarrel", "fry", and "fall"). Most Chinese New Year meals have to be prepared before the year before.

"Oh...oh..." Xiuxiu and Manman were so happy that they circled around Yang Hehua. Xiaobao, who was not woken up by Yang Hehua just now, woke up now.

After howling a few times to vent his anger after waking up, he sat up alone.

Xiuxiu and Manman knew that it was their noises that woke up their younger brother, so they ran over to help him put on his clothes or shoes.

Yang Hehua sorted out the New Year goods she brought back in the morning. There seemed to be a lot of things, but they were really good.

In particular, the canteen director Luo Qiongfen stuffed a bicycle ticket into his hand in front of everyone in the canteen, which was the most valuable thing.

What he meant was something like, thank you for your hard work in preparing the banquets for the past few days.

The year-end benefits for other people in the canteen are similar, with a little more than those for the workers in the workshop, but not as good as Yang Hehua’s.

However, they also knew that this year-end welfare item was more or less dependent on Yang Hehua's banquet, as the unit that was in charge of the planned materials had approved a lot more things for them, so they felt envious for a bit, but then let it go.