Volume 1, Chapter 64: Sixty Catties of Red Berries, Forty Catties of Sour Jujube Paste

"You... are you here to borrow some coal?" Yi Zhonghai asked probingly.

Shazhu nodded heavily, showing no sign of displeasure at the word "borrow."

Having already taken so many slaps from Su Jianshe today, did he still care about such things?

He stared fixedly at the pile of coal resting under the stove in the room, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes.

Yi Zhonghai noticed the coal as well and cursed inwardly.

He had long told his old woman to hide the coal properly, but she simply wouldn't listen!

Now look at where things stood: the winter subsidy quota was gone, and this coal couldn't be lent to Shazhu either!

"First Uncle, please lend me some coal," Shazhu pleaded.

"The coal in my house is completely burned out. If I don't have a fire going tonight, I reckon I'll freeze to death in my room."

Shazhu said this with a hint of bashfulness.

Just then, First Aunt walked out of the room holding a bottle of red mercurochrome and chimed in with Shazhu's remarks, "Zhuzi, don't blame your aunt for running her mouth."

"Our family's coal isn't exactly plentiful, either."

"We always have to save some for the old lady in the back courtyard."

"Or are you expecting to snatch it from someone else?"

This made a fair amount of sense. Yi Zhonghai's awkward expression eased slightly as he looked at Shazhu and sighed, "Zhuzi, why don't you go check and see if the Jia family has any spare coal."

"As for this coal here, we've got to save some for certain people too, haven't we?"

"We can't very well let someone spend the dead of winter without a single lump of coal, can we?"

Having brought up the concept of "morality," Yi Zhonghai had said all that needed to be said, his intention being to prompt Shazhu to leave.

Shazhu's expression shifted through several shades before he finally nodded awkwardly and turned to walk away.

Seeing Shazhu about to depart, First Aunt raised the bottle of red mercurochrome, wanting to call out to him, but Shazhu was shivering from the cold and had no mind for such matters now.

"Never mind!"

Bam! Shazhu slammed the door shut heavily.

First Aunt curled her lip in annoyance and went back inside with the mercurochrome.

Yi Zhonghai still felt as though something wasn't quite right.

Perhaps he really should have agreed to Shazhu's request.

After all, Shazhu would never be able to have children of his own now, and in the future, he might have no one to rely on except the old couple.

"Old woman, old woman..."

...

Across from the Yi residence was the Jia family.

Jia Dongxu lay in bed, tightly wrapped in a cotton quilt that hadn't been fluffed in years. The cotton inside had lumped into hard strands, and aside from adding weight, its warmth-retaining properties were virtually zero.

"Ma! Ma! When is the winter subsidy coming down?!"

"Go and ask Yi Zhonghai! Don't let that old codger pocket the subsidy for himself!"

Jia Dongxu dragged out his voice and shouted continuously.

In the main room, Mrs. Jia curled up on a chair, feeling the chill just as acutely.

This house hadn't been repaired in years, and the gaps between the roof tiles were due for a fresh layer of grass ash; otherwise, the wind just blew right on through.

"Don't even talk about the winter subsidy!"

Mrs. Jia's narrow, triangular eyes stared fiercely toward the door, as if she could pierce right through the wood and glare at Yi Zhonghai.

"That old thing! Not only did he fail to frame Su Jianshe, but he even ran his mouth about dragging you off to the police station!"

"As for the winter subsidy, there's not even a shadow of it! How we're supposed to survive the bitter depths of this winter is anyone's guess!"

"Huairu! Huairu! What on earth are you dawdling for?!"

At Mrs. Jia's shout, Qin Huairu lifted the curtain and stepped into the room while wiping her hands. "Ma, I had to cook dinner, didn't I?"

"None of us have eaten yet, and Gangeng was just crying out that he was hungry."

"Oh, for goodness' sake! Then hurry up about it!" Mrs. Jia's face darkened with displeasure. "Just heat up three corn buns for today—one for me, one for Dongxu, and one for Bangeng."

"Once they're hot, go over to Shazhu's place and take a look. See if there's anything edible, and cobble together a meal to make do over there."

"Oh, and while you're eating, casually drop a hint for Shazhu to come over and help us fix the roof tiles."

"The grass ash in the tile seams is all gone; he needs to come and patch it up."

If an outsider didn't know any better, they would think Shazhu was a long-term hired laborer for the Jia family—eating their food, using their things, and yet still being ordered about as "idiot Shazhu"!

Qin Huairu didn't feel anything was wrong with Mrs. Jia's instructions; she was merely feeling a bit self-conscious.

After all, Shazhu already knew about Yi Zhonghai's attempt to have Bangeng recognize him as a godfather. Would he still be willing to help?

"Ma, there probably isn't much food left in Zhuzi's house at this hour."

"Besides, Zhuzi was beaten so badly by Su Jianshe just now; how could he possibly have the strength to fix our roof right now?"

"I think I'd better just heat up four corn buns," Qin Huairu said softly.

At that moment, Jia Dongxu hurled one of his shoes straight out from the inner room.

"Just go eat at his place! Why waste our own food!"

"Aren't you his little sweetheart anyway?! What, you're trying to move our family's belongings over to his house now?!"

"Have you got no shame left at all?!"

When a husband and wife reached the point of exchanging such remarks, a fight was inevitable.

Yet Qin Huairu simply covered Bangeng's ears and stood there pitifully.

She couldn't leave the Jia family; if she left this place, she would undoubtedly freeze to death this winter.

Mrs. Jia rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine, just steam one extra then!"

"Add another tier to the steamer!"

"Don't act like our family owes you some massive debt of gratitude!"

Having scolded Qin Huairu, Mrs. Jia retreated into the inner room, sat down on the heated brick bed, and picked up a shoe sole to begin stitching.

Jia Dongxu rolled his eyes, blaming her for being far too wasteful.

Qin Huairu should have been given just one corn bun every two days—that would have been more than enough.

Mrs. Jia clicked her tongue. "Let her starve to death, then! Who's going to do the chores around here after that?"

"Who's going to bring food back to the house?"

"Times are tough right now! Even if you're raising a donkey, you still have to let the donkey eat its fill!"

Early the next morning, Su Jianshe woke up bright and early.

Chu Yan, lying beside him, pulled him back, wanting him to catch a little more sleep.

But Su Jianshe's heart was burning with energy, and he quickly put on his clothes.

"No, I can't sleep anymore."

"As children of the Red Flag, how can we let our neighbors run into trouble the moment they step outside their doors?"

"I need to go wake that bunch of people up right now to clear the snow, so we can ensure the roads are clear for everyone."

Su Jianshe spoke with an air of absolute righteousness.

Chu Yan obediently lifted the quilt, wanting to go with him.

In such freezing weather, how could Su Jianshe let Chu Yan suffer from the cold?

Seeing Chu Yan getting up, Su Jianshe stuffed the quilt right back over her. "No, you don't need to come."

"With that bunch of old fogies, even all together they're no match for me. You go back to sleep for a bit."

"Then I'll get up and fix breakfast for you."

Chu Yan nimbly climbed out from the other side of the bed and quickly put on her clothes.

"You, oh you." Watching Chu Yan, Su Jianshe smiled helplessly. "If someone let me sleep in during the dead of winter, I'd be as happy as a clam."

"That won't do."

Chu Yan walked around the bed and wrapped her arms around Su Jianshe's sturdy waist. "If Construction Brother wears himself out, my heart will ache."

"Construction Brother, go handle your business, I won't get in your way."

"I'll bring breakfast over to you once it's ready."

"All right, all right, don't go to too much trouble, just whip up something simple."

His wife meant well; if he flatly refused, Chu Yan would surely start letting doubts creep into her mind.

Su Jianshe smiled and played along.

At that moment, the system check-in prompt arrived unexpectedly ahead of schedule.

"Ding! The host has gotten out of bed. Would you like to check in for today?"

"Yes."

Su Jianshe responded promptly.

Daily check-ins were like opening an unknown gift box, always filling him with anticipation.

"Check-in successful! Obtained sixty jin of red fruits and forty jin of sour jujube paste!"

"The checked-in items have been deposited into the storage space, and their origins have been properly arranged."

Red fruits were the northern colloquial term for Chinese hawthorn.

Because winter red fruits had been stored for some time, their tartness had greatly diminished, making them quite pleasant to eat directly.

There were various ways to prepare red fruits, such as sugar-coated haws, hawthorn cakes, hawthorn slices, and hawthorn powder, all of which could elevate their flavor.

However, the ultimate delicacy was undoubtedly the in-season jujube-paste-filled red fruit.

After removing the pits, one filled them with jujube paste, steamed them, and then left them out in the snow to freeze overnight.

The sweetness of the sour jujube paste blended perfectly with the mild tartness of the red fruit, and the fruit itself became wonderfully tender and chewy.

When you wanted a snack, you simply warmed them up slightly. That taste—combining sweet and sour in a refreshing and appetizing harmony—was sheer perfection.

Sitting on the threshold, savoring the jujube-red-fruits while watching the snow fall outside the door, could truly be described as a celestial enjoyment.

"No, I can't let my imagination run wild anymore. The more I think about it, the hungrier I get!"

Su Jianshe shook his head vigorously.

Chu Yan leaned in with a bright smile. "Construction Brother, what are you thinking about?"

"What's that about the more you think, the more your mouth waters?"

"Jujube-paste red fruits—want to taste some?"

Su Jianshe gently stroked Chu Yan's head and smiled.

Hearing this, Chu Yan's eyes flashed with a bright light, and saliva began to secrete involuntarily in her mouth.

"I do!"

"Except..."

"Never mind."

Chu Yan smacked her lips and pressed her face against Su Jianshe's chest. "Actually, they aren't that delicious."

"If we have them, you'll end up having to brave the snow to go look for red fruits again."

Knowing Chu Yan's intentions all too well, Su Jianshe lowered his gaze to look at the serene woman in his arms, his smile filled with deep contentment.

Love was a two-way street.

One-sided devotion was utterly exhausting.

He doted on Chu Yan, and in return, she loved him deeply.

Such a marriage was true happiness.

"It's nothing, the red fruits and jujube paste issued by the factory are still piled up in the warehouse."

"If we don't eat them soon, I'm afraid they really will go bad," Su Jianshe said.

Chu Yan frowned, a trace of doubt flashing in her eyes. "Is that so?"

"I actually forgot... when were those issued?"

Despite saying this, Chu Yan's heart was overflowing with happiness.

Construction Brother is truly so thorough and attentive!

Which family could be like theirs, having so many provisions that they even forgot when they received them?

"Naturally," Su Jianshe smiled. "Just wait and see."

"We'll be able to taste the jujube red fruits tonight."

"Construction Brother!"

Chu Yan trusted Su Jianshe implicitly; if he said it was so, then it must be so.

She playfully planted a kiss on Su Jianshe's cheek.

Meanwhile, over at the Yi residence.

Yi Zhonghai tossed and turned in bed, unable to find sleep.

No! I've got to go check on it again!

Thinking of the coal, he quickly got up.

Leaving the warm bedding, a piercing chill instantly assaulted him, making him shiver involuntarily.

The aunt on the bed was woken up by the disturbance and looked at him with sleepy eyes.

Seeing Yi Zhonghai get up yet again, the aunt looked slightly exasperated.

"How many times have you gotten up this whole night?"

"No matter how much you fuss over it, the coal is still going to burn at the exact same rate."

"Tsk! You don't understand!" Yi Zhonghai poked and prodded at the coal in the stove. "If you don't turn it over, it burns too fast."

"If you stir it, it burns slower."

"Now that the winter subsidy is gone and the family has no spare cash."

"We have to save every little bit we can, otherwise what are we going to rely on to live when we're old?"

Scolding the aunt out loud, Yi Zhonghai was actually trying to convince himself as well.

With his mind weighed down by so many worries, how could he possibly sleep peacefully!

Yi Zhonghai had thought he could bury the matter of paying six thousand yuan in compensation to Su Jianshe deep in his heart and manage to forget it.

Yet yesterday Su Jianshe had brought it up again, wearing that smug expression, which had once more triggered the irritation festering in Yi Zhonghai's chest.

Coupled with the cancellation of the winter subsidy, if Yi Zhonghai could sleep soundly under such circumstances, it would simply be a miracle.

"Bah! That damn brat, he's ruined us!"

"If it weren't for him, how could our family have come to this!" the aunt complained incessantly as she lay in bed.

Yi Zhonghai supported his old waist, his back hunched over as he sat back down on the edge of the bed, looking exceptionally desolate.

Tossing and turning all night might be something a young person could handle, but at his age, it was truly difficult to endure.

"Sooner or later, I'll find a way to deal with that kid!"

"I can't let him run wild in this courtyard anymore!" Yi Zhonghai said through gritted teeth.

Hearing this, the aunt suddenly sat straight up. "Hey! Old man, do you think... what if we let little Su take care of us in our old age?"

"Him?" Yi Zhonghai's eyes widened. "Don't even think about it! Even if he volunteered to take care of me in my old age, I wouldn't want it!"

Angered to the point of nearly dropping dead by Su Jianshe, and still expecting him to provide for their old age? In your dreams!

In his heart, Yi Zhonghai knew that if Su Jianshe were genuinely willing to provide for them, it would be a blessing so great it meant their ancestors' graves were smoking with good fortune.

But... the two of them had already crossed swords and built up a deep grudge; there was zero possibility of that happening.

"Just swallow your pride a bit!" the aunt persisted patiently. "You humble yourself, apologize to him, and talk things through nicely."

Before her voice had even faded away, a rapid pounding echoed from outside the door, shaking the wooden panels back and forth.

"Yi, get up right now! Out to shovel snow!"

"What kind of conscience do you have, you're still sleeping?!"

"If you don't shovel the snow, how are the neighbors supposed to walk outside?!"

Outside the door, Su Jianshe's shouting rang out like a summons from the netherworld.

Yi Zhonghai's heart gave a violent wrench, almost causing him to suffocate.

Glancing at the sky outside, he figured it couldn't be much past six o'clock, and pitch-black darkness still blanketed the surroundings.

"Provide for our old age? Just him?"

"When he gets old, it'll be a miracle if he doesn't kick us out onto the street—you expect him to provide for us?"

Listening to the door rattle as if it were about to fall off its hinges, the aunt instantly shut her mouth.

Expecting Su Jianshe to provide for their old age was no different from expecting a weasel to stop eating chickens.

With a creak, the door swung open.

*Smack!* A crisp, resounding slap rang out immediately.

The moment Yi Zhonghai opened the door, he caught a solid blow to the face, sending a surge of fury straight to his head.

Su Jianshe awkwardly pulled back his hand and cleverly shifted the blame right onto Yi Zhonghai's head. "Hey, why didn't you make a sound when you opened the door? You jarred my hand right hurt!"

What kind of logic was this? You hit me and you're still blaming me?!

Yi Zhonghai was about to retort, but Su Jianshe cut him off mid-sentence.

"Tsk, Lao Yi, your political consciousness is dropping lower and lower! Can't you see how heavy the snow is outside? You're still sleeping, are you a pig or what?! Hurry up and grab your tools to clear the snow, you're really devolving the older you get! And you're an eighth-grade machinist, too—you haven't got an ounce of civic consciousness!"

When it came to wielding the weapon of "morality," Su Jianshe played the game far more skillfully than Yi Zhonghai ever had.

Hearing these words, Yi Zhonghai felt his face burn with a stinging pain, and his heart pounded furiously against his ribs.

He had opened the door only to take an unprovoked slap to the face, and now he was being cursed at for lacking civic awareness, failing to make contributions, and acting like a pig.

How could this not enrage Yi Zhonghai, who had grown accustomed to lording it over others?

Yet, the weapon of moral high ground was specifically designed to leave you with no room for counterargument.

Yi Zhonghai gasped for breath for a long while, but not a single reason to talk back could form in his mind.