Siheyuan: Cooking journey

"without……"

"Gone?!"

He Yushui burst into tears.

"Old lady, why did you leave?"

The old man's eyes were red and he turned his back to everyone.

An old lady kept wiping away tears.

He Yuzhu looked helpless and knocked He Yushui's head hard.

"I mean, it's okay, she just fell asleep."

"what?"

He Yushui had tears in her eyes and looked confused.

The old man and the old woman were also stunned. The hospital had issued a critical illness notice, so how could he be fine now?

He Yuzhu didn't explain much and took Ran Qiuye away.

…………

Go home.

He Yuzhu held the enamel pot quietly in his hand, wondering what he was thinking.

Ran Qiuye saw that he looked troubled, so she stepped forward, hugged him tenderly, and asked softly:

"what happened?"

"nothing."

He Yuzhu shook his head and pretended to be full of emotion and said:

"After being scared by the old lady, I realized how fragile life is and that it could disappear at any time. Life is impermanent, so we should cherish what we have now."

Ran Qiuye leaned on his arms, her face pressed against his chest, and whispered shyly: "I haven't gotten pregnant for so long because you don't cherish me and don't work hard enough..."

He Yuzhu took a deep breath. This was intolerable.

The next day.

A normal working day.

Ran Qiuye went out and I don’t know what he was busy with.

He Yuzhu was alone in the office, flipping through the newspaper boredly, his head aching slightly.

For five years, Ran Qiuye encountered the same dilemma as Lou Xiaoe - she was in good health but unable to conceive.

Although Ran Qiuye never said a word, and was not as depressed and absent-minded as Lou Xiao'e was when she was not pregnant, He Yuzhu could still feel the loss in her heart.

But when it comes to pregnancy, there is really no magic bullet.

I can only rely on medicine to nourish my body for comfort and seek a little psychological comfort.

He Yuzhu was immersed in his thoughts when Director Yang suddenly knocked on the door, looked around cautiously, and then closed the door and walked in. This mysterious look surprised He Yuzhu, and he couldn't help but complain: "What's going on? It's like a meeting between underground party members."

"It's not your business yet."

Director Yang frowned, paced around the office with his hands behind his back, and looked quite embarrassed.

"I don't even know how to tell you."

He Yuzhu felt more and more puzzled: "What is it? What can't be said?"

"I'm afraid if I tell you, you'll be at a loss."

Director Yang patted his forehead, gritted his teeth, and said impatiently, "It's your own business, but you make me worry about it. Well, I tell you, make your own decision..."

"You know there's a working group over in Xiangdao, right?"

Director Yang looked solemn.

He Yuzhu shook his head: "Not sure."

"Whether you know it or not, I'll tell you straight away."

Director Yang thought for a moment and said bluntly,

"The location of this working group's office in Hong Kong is no secret. About half a year ago, they discovered someone was following and monitoring them. The comrades of the working group arrested that person and found out that he was a private detective who was hired to gather information. Following this clue and with the help of some friends, they found the Lou family..."

“Lou family!”

He Yuzhu's heart was in turmoil, and he couldn't help but interrupt the other party.

"You mean, Xiao'e is in Xiangdao?"

"Correct."

Director Yang nodded solemnly.

"About two years ago, the Lou family moved to Hong Kong to settle down. As long as you have money, Hong Kong will not reject anyone."

He Yuzhu was unable to calm down, and asked in a trembling voice: "Any specific news about Xiao'e?"

"No."

Director Yang shook his head regretfully.

"Once the private detective was arrested, the Lou family moved away, and even with the help of friends, we couldn't find them. Although Hong Kong is not big, there are still millions of people. If they really wanted to hide, it would be difficult to find them."

"Xiangdao..."

He Yuzhu murmured to himself, his excitement unable to calm down for a long time.

Compared to the Eiffel Tower, Hong Kong Island is much closer, but it is also out of reach and impossible to leave.

"Hey……"

Director Yang looked at him and sighed.

"Don't get excited yet. I haven't told you the really tricky part yet. This message is just a daily report from the working group over there. It's not any important intelligence. Your wife wrote it down after seeing it. It just so happens that a new working group is going to take over the work there recently. Your wife wants to ask your opinion on whether you want to go. There are two options: one is to stay there for about a month and return with the handover working group; the other is to stay there with the working group and come back in five years. You have to think carefully. The news is from half a year ago. If the Lou family is worried and afraid, they may have left Xiangdao, and you may not be able to find them even if you go there. It's so big outside, who knows where they are. What if five years are wasted, what will happen to the person in your family now?"

He Yuzhu took a deep breath and said firmly: "Tell Auntie, I'll go."

I was powerless before, but now the opportunity is in front of me, how can I ignore it?

"Have you thought it through?"

Director Yang advised seriously,

"This is a normal job transfer. You can't come back whenever you want."

"I've thought it through. When do we leave?"

He Yuzhu was firm in his attitude.

Outside the office, Ran Qiuye covered her mouth tightly with her hands, but could not stop the tears from falling.

The test report in the other hand was also held weakly in his hand.

Morning and night, I thought that was eternity.

I had anticipated the scene of separation, but had almost forgotten it because it had not come for a long time. I did not expect that separation would come so suddenly, catching me off guard, making me reluctant, unwilling and unprepared.

Suddenly, the child no longer has the opportunity to call daddy...

What can I do? After all, I promised it. It was agreed upon.

All the beauty is only temporary and belongs to another woman.

Having these five years is enough and I have no regrets in life.

Ran Qiuye tried to comfort herself in this way, but her tears became increasingly difficult to control.

I didn't see Ran Qiuye the whole afternoon.

When I got home from get off work, I saw that her eyes were red, as if she had been crying.

He Yuzhu couldn't help but sigh.

The thing that makes Ran Qiuye sad is definitely the problem of not being able to get pregnant.

Thinking of this, He Yuzhu stepped forward and hugged her, comforting her softly: "Don't think too much, Wang Deqing and Guilan next door haven't had children for so many years, I don't care."

"Ah."

Ran Qiuye's body trembled slightly, her eyes were sore, and she snuggled up to him.

The hug lasted for a long time.

After calming down a little, Ran Qiuye gently pushed him away and smiled: "Okay, I'm fine, I just couldn't think straight just now."

As she spoke, she rolled her eyes at him coquettishly, her cheeks slightly red, and hummed, "There's no need for any secret recipe, it's obviously because you don't work hard..."

He Yuzhu became angry and took the opportunity to hold her hand.

Ran Qiuye blushed even more and winked playfully: "Here comes that."

He Yuzhu was helpless. No wonder she was so presumptuous. He dared to provoke her but not to take responsibility.

But then, He Yuzhu couldn't help but frown.

In view of his daily efforts and extraordinary memory, he only then remembered that Ran Qiuye had not had sex for nearly two months.

Such a time span could very well be a sign of pregnancy, but since it’s here, maybe it’s no big deal.

Every woman's physical condition is different, and the length of the cycle is affected by many factors.

Maybe it was because of this arrival that I knew I was not pregnant, so I felt sad.

He Yuzhu understood why Ran Qiuye was suddenly sad. After all, she knew best how long it had been since she last came, and she must have been expecting something in her heart.

Now that hope is dashed.

"Okay, I'm going to cook."

Ran Qiuye playfully stood on tiptoe, tapped his cheek lightly, and turned around to get busy.

During these five years, Ran Qiuye's cooking skills have improved significantly from scratch.

He Yuzhu was also happy to enjoy the food she cooked. Looking at her busy and skilled back, he felt a surge of tenderness in his heart. He walked up to her and said, "You take a rest today, I'll do it."

"Why are you so nice to me, you lazy bastard? Ever since you taught me, you never did anything again."

Ran Qiuye smiled playfully and said jokingly,

"Did you do something wrong and you want to please me?"

"I have something to tell you..."

Just as He Yuzhu opened his mouth, a cheerful figure rushed in.

"Uncle Zhuzi, Sister Ran, I'm here to eat again!"

Zhou Xiaobai looked very happy, as if he had just finished running. His little face was rosy and looked particularly beautiful.

He Yuzhu glanced at her, his brows twisted unconsciously, and he muttered: "You are already a grown-up girl, don't run around all day, you should act a little more like a girl. Ever since Wang Deqing and his wife moved into the courtyard, Zhou Xiaobai has come to visit Wang Deqing's wife Guilan every now and then. Guilan is in the hospital, always working overtime and can't be found, so Zhou Xiaobai sneaks over to eat with her, several times a month, and over time, she has become very familiar with Ran Qiuye."

"I won't pay any attention to you. I'll just listen to Sister Ran."

Zhou Xiaobai held onto Ran Qiuye's arm and acted like a spoiled child, refusing to let go and even complaining.

"Sister Ran, Uncle Zhuzi yelled at me and made him sleep on the floor tonight."

"OK, no problem."

Ran Qiuye blinked with a smile in his eyes and said jokingly,

"Listen to Xiaobai, let Uncle Zhuzi sleep on the floor, and we'll go to bed."

In He Yuzhu's mind, there was no difference between the floor and the bed.

After dinner, Zhou Xiaobai went home happily.

She only goes home on weekends and has to rush back to the commune tomorrow.

The sky gradually darkened.

After washing up, I prepared to rest.

He Yuzhu smelled the faint fragrance in the air, and his heart was in turmoil.

On the one hand, we have been together day and night for five years.

On the one hand, there has been no news for seven years. Counting on my fingers, the child should be six years old, but I have never seen him once.

The balance naturally tilted to one side.

But even so, He Yuzhu felt indescribable feeling in his heart when he thought about leaving Ran Qiuye for five years and letting her stay alone in an empty house for five years. The words came to his lips, but he swallowed them back.

"Do you have anything to say before dinner?"

Ran Qiuye snuggled in his arms, rubbed against him, and hugged him tightly.

"I have to go out for a while, to Xiangdao, where she is."

He Yuzhu took a deep breath and didn't intend to hide it.

"When do you leave?"

Although Ran Qiuye tried her best to act calm, her body couldn't help but tremble slightly after she said that.

"I'll leave tomorrow."

He Yuzhu hugged her tighter, wishing she could melt into his bones and blood.

The night is quiet.

In fact, I have known this for a long time, but I still don’t want to shed tears.

But at this moment, Ran Qiuye's tears were like beads that had broken off the string, and she couldn't stop them. They blurred her eyes and her heart.

I don’t know what to say, or what I can say.

I only wish I could have more nights like this one.

Compared to the brief moments we were together, this night felt particularly long.

The night became less peaceful.

"you..."

He Yuzhu subconsciously wanted to push her away, and heard sobbing sounds with a faint fragrance in his ears.

"You're kidding. That hasn't come yet. It's just for this night. Let me keep a good memory."

At night, it was pitch black.

He Yuzhu's heart was trembling, and his eyes were shaking as well, as if being pulled by something.

No words, no resistance.

He held her wrist tightly.

The pulse beats like rolling beads, smooth and energetic, as if the heart is full and about to overflow.

The Sun Also Rises.

Its daybreak.

Ran Qiuye slowly opened her eyes and looked at the empty space beside her. Tears slid down the corners of her eyes and soon wet the pillow.

Time passed quietly.

Ran Qiuye sat up and widened her eyes.

I don’t want to eat, I don’t want to get up, but I have to eat for the sake of my children.

Dry your tears.

She saw a thick stack of notebooks next to it.

Ran Qiuye was slightly stunned, and subconsciously picked up a book and opened it.

A sketch.

The familiar and brilliant smile is bright and charming; the unfamiliar outfit is so fashionable and beautiful.

My hands were shaking, but I couldn't help turning the pages.

Sketch after sketch, book after book, countless sketches, all of the same person.

Tears fell silently.

Ran Qiuye turned the pages one by one, and his empty heart was slowly filled.

The last notebook was removed.

Ran Qiuye's vision became blurred.

There, two figures appeared lifelike.

The man smiled gently, and the woman had bright eyes and a sweet smile.

What was lost seemed to come back again.

Trains, cars.

The transportation was changed for four days.

Finally crossed the border and arrived in Hong Kong.

The working group consists of more than a dozen people, and there is a special team leader whose surname is Lu. Team leader Lu is a taciturn middle-aged man.

He Yuzhu's identity is a specialist, he doesn't have any specific work and seems dispensable.

But Team Leader Lu and his team members don't think so.

The originally arranged team was suddenly assigned a specialist who had no specific tasks and was not in charge. On the surface, he looked like an imperial envoy, but upon closer inspection, it was obvious that he was a Jinyiwei holding the imperial sword.

Along the way, He Yuzhu discovered that both Team Leader Lu and other people in the team were extremely respectful to him, spoke very politely, and used honorifics everywhere.

He Yuzhu didn't take it too seriously.

Half of his heart was occupied with Ran Qiuye and the child, and the other half was occupied with Lou Xiaoe and the child. He had no time to think about anything else.

After arriving at Xiangdao, there were special police officers to lead the way.

The working group’s office is located on Hong Kong Island.

You have to take a ferry over there.

The car first drove towards Kowloon.

Along the way there are farmlands and vegetable fields, low houses, or wastelands.

The people in the working group can still take it calmly.

When we arrived in Kowloon, we saw skyscrapers rising from the ground, colorful and bustling. Everyone in the group looked nervous and didn't know where to look.