I am Jia Dongjin in the Siheyuan (Courtyard House)

Chapter 103 Twins

The Ma family's courtyard house.

Ma Quansheng squatted in front of the door and smoked again. For the first time, his heart was filled with sorrow. He didn't know when it started, but his beautiful wife would throw a tantrum whenever she was unhappy. Every time, he had to humble himself and be submissive before Zhang Qin's mood would brighten.

The discovery of twins was originally a joyous occasion, and the couple happily returned to their courtyard house.

Unexpectedly, when she entered the courtyard, she ran into Jia Dongjin and his wife. Seeing Qin Huairu comfortably riding home on her bicycle, Zhang Qin started to glare at them.

Ma Quansheng was a smart man. Zhang Qin was originally Jia Dongjin's girlfriend, and the two almost got married. He knew that Zhang Qin was jealous of Qin Huairu's comfortable life.

Both are pregnant new brides, but Qin Huairu eats well and is driven around by bicycle, so she doesn't even have to walk. Zhang Qin, on the other hand, is pregnant with twins but has to walk to and from get off work with her big belly, which is really tough.

Ma Quansheng could understand his wife's difficulties, but he had only been working for a short time and had already spent all his savings on the wedding. Now that the pregnant woman needed nutrition, he didn't have any spare money to buy a bicycle.

Moreover, he didn't have bicycle tickets, or rather, enough industrial coupons.

"Zhang Qin, you're quite pregnant, so you should just stay home and rest. I'll ask the textile factory for leave for you, and you can go back to work after your postpartum confinement. My salary will increase to 45 yuan next year, which will be enough for us and the baby. Don't worry, I'll work more overtime in the future, and we'll buy a bicycle in a few years."

When the two got married, Ma Quansheng bought Zhang Qin a watch. Of the four essential items in the traditional Chinese wedding package, only a bicycle, a sewing machine, and a radio were missing.

He had already decided that if all else failed, he would ask Jia Dongjin for help to buy a cobbled-together bicycle and radio. This would save him a lot of money, and he might be able to buy them by the end of next year.

Say what you're told, and sing what you're told.

With the pressures of life mounting, Ma Quansheng lost the high spirits and ambition he had when he was dating. Now he doesn't want anything else, and only hopes to live a balanced life.

As for the old bicycle and radio, which look shabby, who cares? Jia Dongjin is happy every day, and others are too busy envying him to care. No one will laugh at him.

"You said it yourself, my child and I are just waiting for a better life."

With the man considering her feelings, Zhang Qin's anger dissipated completely. She clutched her stomach and regained her former gentleness.

Ma Quansheng is right. Cadres are different from workers. They don't need to take exams to improve their rank. Instead, they are promoted based on seniority and progress. Once they are promoted, their wages and benefits increase accordingly, faster and more steadily than those of workers.

In addition, cadres have a high status and their work is mostly mental labor, unlike workers who are as physically demanding. The only drawback is that their quota is not as high as that of workers and other manual laborers.

At that time, the economic gap between people was not large, and many people missed this era. This was an important reason, as they only knew that incomes were relatively equal and did not understand the horrors of poverty and hunger.

Both Ma Quansheng and his wife are urban residents. Ma Quansheng himself is a cadre, and Zhang Qin also has a job. Their economic conditions are much better than the average person.

The couple and their future children all received rations, so the family wasn't particularly short of food; what they lacked was high-quality food. But high-quality food is scarce for everyone, including many leaders—it's an unsolvable problem.

Even Ma Quansheng's family is struggling these days, let alone ordinary families, who are struggling just as much as ever.

At this time, everyone is working hard, trying every possible way to find good food; no one wants to be poor and stuck in poverty.

The Shichahai beach, where Yan Fugui often went fishing, was now crowded with anglers. Even in the distant Chaobai River and other unclaimed areas, especially the areas where Jia Dong went, there were suddenly many more net workers and anglers. Everyone was working hard for their families.

"Don't worry, I am a cadre after all. As long as I work hard, my salary will increase much faster than that of ordinary people. Our good days are yet to come."

Ma Quansheng was speechless for a moment. He suddenly remembered Jia Dongjin, who was diagonally across from him. Jia Dongjin's salary had increased to 80 yuan, which, with subsidies, was almost twice that of Ma Quansheng.

Zhang Qin was a smart woman, and she immediately thought of Jia Dongjin across the street, her expression becoming complicated again.

Ma Quansheng now regrets it. After moving to No. 95 Courtyard, everything went wrong, except for the twins, of course. But then he realized that the twins were conceived at his father-in-law's house and had nothing to do with the courtyard.

"It rained heavily on the day we moved, which is very unlucky. Is it a warning from God?"

After sighing, Ma Quansheng squatted down by the door to smoke and relax.

The night was dark and windy, and he couldn't help but curl up. Under the light of the room, the young man's figure showed a hunched back for the first time.

"Victory is assured, let's go to the pigeon market!"

He Yuzhu crept closer furtively. Ever since he stopped getting the extra savory food from the special kitchen, every cell in his body was craving protein and fat, which was enough to make the future steel mill chef feel unbearable, not to mention he had a younger sister to support.

Let's go!

The world is vast, but one's wife and children are paramount. A young man jumped up and exclaimed, "Why can't I buy food with money? There's no such logic in this world!"

Putting aside Ma Quansheng's attempt to scale the gap in the backyard wall and his first foray into the pigeon market, Jia Dongjin and his wife were also chatting. Qin Huairu had recently developed a particular fondness for spicy food, and her appetite for pickled fish was astonishing, causing Jia Zhangshi to keep staring at her belly and mentioning several times that pickled fish meant a boy and spicy fish meant a girl.

Qin Huairu felt wronged and could only vent to Jia Dongjin at night. When women get stuck in a rut, they are prone to being unreasonable. In fact, Qin Huairu and Zhang Qin are not fundamentally different.

Caught between his mother and daughter-in-law, Jia Dongjin was much like Ma Quansheng, desperately trying to please them and showering them with compliments.

"Huai Ru, I love both sons and daughters. Don't keep asking, it's giving me a headache. Seriously, sons are always smelly, what's so good about them? I love my daughter the most. My sweet little Dang, don't you think? Daddy loves our little Dang the most."

Jia Dongjin picked up Xiaodang and teased her. Xiaodang laughed happily, and the child's innocent smile saved her father from another disaster.

"Girls are good. Girls are not only a warm and comforting daughter, but they also resemble their fathers in appearance."

While putting Xiaodang to sleep, Jia Dongjin started talking about genetics again, saying that girls resemble their fathers and boys resemble their mothers, which finally calmed the woman down.

"Dongjin, how do you know so much?"

Jia Dongjin was taken aback. He was secretly relieved that he hadn't shown off his XX and XY DNA. He could only criticize the woman for not studying hard enough, saying that he would do more housework in the future to give her more time to study, which made Qin Huairu's love for him grow even stronger.

"Dongjin, it seems like you haven't had a bowel movement for several days."

Qin Huairu looked very friendly. She took out a clean bamboo strip, ready to repay her husband's love with practical actions.

"Don't worry, Dongjin. I specially polished the bamboo strips with sandpaper that I got from Yang Chunhua. Look how smooth the bamboo strips are. I guarantee you'll feel more comfortable than last time."

"I'm sorry, the burden I left at the factory this morning may have disappointed you."

He decided what to do with his chrysanthemums. Jia Dongjin sighed deeply, raising his eyebrows and shrugging his shoulders, expressing his deep regret for Qin Huairu's disappointment.

Progress is paramount; everything else must give way to progress.

Jia Dongjin decided to be a pure and innocent person. Unlike Ma Qianbu, he was not yet at his wit's end and would not risk going to Pigeon City.

After he could no longer bear it, he found a secluded bend in the river far away and worked hard all day, catching thirty catties of fish. He then went to Old Huang at the restaurant and exchanged them for forty catties of flour, thus achieving the freedom to eat steamed buns made from two kinds of flour every few days.

"Consider yourself lucky. Look what this is."

The carefully crafted bamboo slips were of no use, and Qin Huairu looked annoyed. She handed the man an envelope containing five black ten bills.

"You're the head of the household, so we can't let you suffer. As the only large animal in the family, we're counting on you to pull the millstone for a few more years. It's getting cold, so you can't catch fish anymore. From now on, go to the pigeon market and try to buy more fine grains. I didn't expect you to be so delicate; you'd be better off with a coarse grain."

"Ma Quansheng is truly amazing. I specifically asked him about it. This kid eats cornmeal every day, yet he's perfectly fine. Could he really be made of special materials?"

"What are you talking about? Everyone goes through this. Who hasn't suffered like this when they were young? You can only say that your adoptive parents were too good to you. A few years ago, before you came to the courtyard, Yan Jiefang was stabbed by Old Man Yan like a pig being slaughtered. That was truly a miserable experience."

As the saying goes, an outsider's perspective is often clearer. Qin Huairu's insightful observation revealed the true nature of the matter, making Jia Dongjin feel grateful to his adoptive parents while also realizing their shallowness once again.

While Jia Dongjin hesitated about the pigeon market, Ma Quansheng had already returned victorious from the pigeon market.

Qin Jingru was right. Ma Qianbu had spoken with great conviction, but he couldn't resist the pregnant woman's need for nutrition. Finally, on a dark night, he climbed over a gap in the backyard wall and secretly went to Pigeon City for an adventure.

Every family has its own troubles, but Ma Quansheng is the most miserable. Unlike He Yuzhu, who can sneak food in the cafeteria, or Jia Dongjin, who has cooking skills, he has no fish to exchange for food. He has money but can't buy any food and can only look on. To make matters worse, he has a greedy wife.

His first adventure was a success; he bought ten catties of fine grains at the pigeon market. However, fine grains were not for men, so he had to save them for his wife, Zhang Qin.

After receiving Jia Dongjin's reminder, Ma Quansheng realized that he had been to restaurants before, but the cheapest meal he had ever had cost the couple 7 yuan, which was simply too expensive. From then on, he gave up the idea of ​​going to restaurants.

He was too bookish and unlike Jia Dongjin, who knew how to be flexible. After establishing a good relationship with the restaurant, he went directly to the kitchen to buy staple food, so he didn't waste money on expensive dishes.

Coincidentally, He Yuzhu, who mocked Jia Dongjin, also met with misfortune.

He Yushui felt sorry for Jia Dongjin, so she secretly told him to eat more vegetables, even squash and sweet potatoes would do. But nowadays everyone eats vegetables every day, and the girl was too naive; her advice was practically meaningless.

But Jia Dongjin should accept this favor.

But then he realized that this woman wasn't a good person either; she was just taking the opportunity to laugh at him, and she was no different from Zhang Qin in essence.

He Yushui then made a request, which finally made Jia Dongjin overjoyed. He rushed through the hanging flower gate and was about to become the chrysanthemum ambassador.

"Zhu Zi, I'm here. Reinforcements are on their way. You have to hold on."

Upon learning that He Yuzhu was also constipated due to eating too much cornmeal, Jia Dongjin ran faster than a rabbit and rushed into the He family's house.

"Dongjin, I'm sorry, I've disappointed you."

But reality is cold. He Yuzhu grinned and told Jia Dongjin triumphantly that the rain had lingered at the Jia family's house for too long, and Yi Zhonghai, as the He family's outside help, had already helped to poke the chrysanthemum in advance, so there was no need for Team Leader Jia to make a fuss.

Even in a famine, a cook might not starve, but that's about it. He Yuzhu had no choice but to give his sister, He Yushui, the little fine grains he had.

"Oh, it seems He Yuzhu still trusts Yi Zhonghai."

After realizing that He Yuzhu and Yi Zhonghai's friendship was stronger than gold, Jia Dongjin shook his head, his face full of sighs.

When the Spring Festival of 1959 arrived, due to difficulties, everyone's New Year's Eve dinner this year was generally not as good as last year. Many families had exhausted their accumulated food reserves and the oil and fat in their bodies. If the unit benefits were good, they could still make do, but if the benefits were bad, they could only tough it out.

In the front yard, Yan Fugui's family still ate sauerkraut dumplings, and the only meat was dried small fish. The four children had indeed gotten used to it. Rumors were flying everywhere outside, but those who knew understood. Even the youngest, Yan Jiedi, didn't dare to act spoiled and could only obediently eat sauerkraut dumplings, occasionally taking a bite of dried fish.

It wasn't until Yan Fugui, the family head, mentioned the idiom "strive for self-improvement" to liven up the family atmosphere that the Yan family burst into laughter. Everyone remembered Yang Ruihua's prediction from last year, and sure enough, everyone had gotten used to it.

"Dad, I admire you more than anyone else, you're the one!"

Yan Jiefang gave a genuine thumbs-up, praising his father, Yan Fugui.

Yan Jiekuang didn't say anything. He carefully took out six candies and placed one in front of everyone. "These are the candies I earned. Everyone get one to sweeten your New Year."

"Where did you come from? Tell me honestly."

Yan Jiefang graduated from junior high school and carried heavy bags for several months, so much so that he almost vomited blood. When he saw candy, he pounced on it like a hungry tiger.

"Jie Kuang, our Yan family produced a top scholar in the imperial examinations; you can't steal from us!"

Yang Ruihua's face turned pale with anger. She picked up a feather duster and prepared to discipline the child.