Chapter 10: Their Home in the Courtyard

This courtyard looks so big from the gate, and you can still tell how magnificent it used to be.

Wu Xiuxiu followed Ding Hongjuan and Dong Xiaoye to the depths of the alleyway, arriving in front of a large mansion. She looked at the gate, and her pupils widened slightly.

She had never seen such a grand house before!

Although the gate was somewhat mottled, and the surroundings looked a bit old due to lack of maintenance, you could still tell it was once a magnificent mansion.

In her memory, this courtyard belonged to a Qing Dynasty prince, a four-in-four-out courtyard, very large.

After the Qing Dynasty fell, it was bought by a merchant, but after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the government confiscated the courtyard and distributed it to ordinary people who had no place to live.

Because the courtyard was so large, it was divided among twenty families. Each section housed several families, making it very lively.

Her family lived in the last section, the fourth courtyard, in the west wing. They had two rooms, both side rooms.

These two rooms were allocated to her grandfather when he was still alive. After his death, her father inherited them.

Her father worked at the fertilizer factory, and the factory had employee housing that could be allocated to him. But according to regulations, if they received employee housing, they could no longer live in the courtyard. They had to vacate the courtyard rooms and give them to others.

There were always many people without housing, and housing was always in short supply.

After discussing with her mother, her father decided not to take the employee housing and stay in the courtyard.

This courtyard, in modern terms, was in a prime location. Everything was within reach, and there were shops of all kinds nearby. It was incredibly convenient to buy anything.

The employee housing at the fertilizer factory was located in a remote area, with a bad location. Even going to the department store would take half an hour by car, unlike the courtyard, which was not far from the department store.

Moreover, the employee housing allocated to her father, although also two rooms, was not as large as the two side rooms in the courtyard.

The house her family had in the courtyard, although side rooms, were both large and could be divided into several rooms.

The two employee housing rooms her father could get were small and could not be divided into several rooms.

When her brother took over her father’s job at the fertilizer factory, he could also receive employee housing. But for the same reason, he chose to give up the allocation and let the Wu family continue to live in the courtyard.

“Xiuxiu is out of the hospital!”

Wu Xiuxiu followed her mother and sister-in-law into the gate, passed the shadow wall and came to the first section of the courtyard. She saw a woman in her thirties picking vegetables.

The woman immediately put down the vegetables in her hand and greeted them with a smile.

Wu Xiuxiu searched her mind for the woman in front of her and found that she was the widow Lin who lived in the first section.

This widow Lin was a pitiful person. Her husband died in a factory accident the previous year, leaving her alone with two children under ten years old.

Fortunately, her husband’s factory took care of the three of them, giving them a monthly allowance, so their life was not a problem, just a little hard.

After knowing who the other party was, Wu Xiuxiu politely nodded to her and smiled slightly, “Sister Lin, picking vegetables?”

“Yeah, my sister gave me some spinach this morning, and I wanted to clean it and stir-fry it later. Xiuxiu, how’s your body? Are you completely recovered?” Widow Lin said with concern.

She had a good relationship with the Wu family, so she was genuinely concerned about Wu Xiuxiu.

“I’m completely recovered, thank you for your concern.” Wu Xiuxiu replied with a smile.

“That’s good. Don’t do such foolish things impulsively in the future. Getting wet and getting a fever can be fatal…

Even if you don’t die, you can damage your brain. Thankfully, you look normal, your brain’s fine.” Widow Lin showed a relieved expression.

Hearing this, Wu Xiuxiu’s brows moved slightly, almost imperceptibly.

Hearing her words, it seemed she knew that Wu Xiuxiu had deliberately gotten herself sick by getting drenched in the rain.

Wu Xiuxiu glanced at her mother and sister-in-law, wondering if one of them had told the widow Lin.

Ding Hongjuan and Dong Xiaoye noticed Wu Xiuxiu’s gaze and used their eyes to tell her that it wasn’t them.

Ding Hongjuan and Dong Xiaoye were also curious as to how the widow Lin knew, as none of their family members had revealed a word about Wu Xiuxiu deliberately getting drenched in the rain to avoid going to the countryside.

The Wu family all thought that there were too many gossipy people in the courtyard, and if anyone in the courtyard found out, it would be spread to everyone in the courtyard immediately.

If everyone in the courtyard knew, it was inevitable that someone with a bad heart would spread the word to the street office, especially Zhou Lin.

But everyone in the courtyard saw Wu Zhipeng carrying Wu Xiuxiu to the hospital that night, but the Wu family didn’t say that Wu Xiuxiu had a fever from getting drenched in the rain, they only said that she had a fever, so the people in the courtyard should not know that she had a fever from getting drenched in the rain.

Moreover, listening to the widow Lin’s words, she seemed to know that Wu Xiuxiu had deliberately gotten herself sick by getting drenched in the rain, and probably also knew the reason why she did so.

Because everyone in the courtyard knew that Zhou Lin kept urging Wu Xiuxiu to sign up for the countryside program, and had been to the Wu family’s house several times.

The widow Lin was a clever woman, and seeing the expressions of the three women in the Wu family, she knew what was going on.

“I heard it from Chang Da Ma in the third courtyard,” the widow Lin informed them.

“This morning, I was about to go out to buy groceries when I saw Aunt Chang and a bunch of aunties and older women from the courtyard gathered in the courtyard of this first courtyard, I didn’t know what they were talking about, so I got curious and went over to listen, and found that they were discussing Xiuxiu.

Aunt Chang said she heard that Xiuxiu was hospitalized because she wanted to avoid going to the countryside, so she deliberately got drenched in the heavy rain.” The widow Lin told them everything she knew.

“I thought it was someone in your family who told Aunt Chang, but looking at your expressions, it wasn’t anyone in your family who told her. I wonder how Aunt Chang found out?” The widow Lin had a puzzled look on her face.

Hearing that she heard it from Aunt Chang, the Wu family members all frowned, their eyes flashing with a hint of disgust.

Aunt Chang, also known as Old Lady Chang, was a notorious gossip and loudmouth in the courtyard, who loved to pry into the affairs of each household in the courtyard, and if any household had something going on, she would immediately spread it to everyone in the courtyard.

This old woman loved to gossip and spread rumors, and if there were any conflicts, quarrels, or fights between the residents of the courtyard, at least half of it was related to her, she was particularly annoying and disliked by everyone.

The Wu family all disliked this old woman, and they rarely spoke to her, so they would definitely not tell her about Wu Xiuxiu deliberately getting drenched in the rain to avoid going to the countryside.

How did she find out? The Wu family was baffled.

“Oh my goodness – Xiuxiu is back from the hospital!” Suddenly, a particularly sharp voice, similar to the sound of an old hen, came from a few meters away.

This voice belonged to Old Lady Chang.

The Wu family and the widow Lin immediately looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a woman with a particularly long face, a somewhat pointed mouth, and a large black mole on the corner of her mouth, who looked like someone who loved to gossip and talk about people, about fifty years old, standing at the entrance of the second courtyard a few meters away.

It was Old Lady Chang.

Just as they were talking about her, she arrived. Wu Xiuxiu looked at Old Lady Chang with a sideways glance, sizing her up.

This old woman looked like she wasn’t a good person, she was annoying.

“Everyone, come out! Xiuxiu is back from the hospital!”

Old Lady Chang suddenly shouted, and before the Wu family could react, they saw her turn around and run towards the courtyard behind her, shouting as she ran that Xiuxiu was back, and telling everyone to come out.

The Wu family was a little stunned, especially Wu Xiuxiu. What was Old Lady Chang doing?

What was she calling everyone out for? To welcome her?

No, someone like her wouldn’t be so kind.