“Silly Guy, my buddy is getting married next month,” Jia Dongxu said.
“Congratulations! Don't worry, I'll definitely give you a wedding gift. Do you need me to help arrange the banquet? Don't worry, buddy won't charge you a labor fee,” Hé Yǔzhù said earnestly.
Jia Dongxu forced a smile, “I can't afford a great chef like you. To tell you the truth, because it’s a bit urgent, Huairu and I won't be having a banquet. We'll just get the certificate…”
“New things handled in new ways, that's a good thing.”
Hé Yǔzhù interrupted him, but his eyes glanced at Qin Huairu's belly, and he suddenly realized, “Oh, could you be pregnant?”
“Ah~” Qin Huairu exclaimed, her pretty face turning crimson. She stood up and ran out.
“Silly Guy!”
Jia Dongxu glared at Hé Yǔzhù angrily and quickly got up to chase after her, “Huairu, wait up, don't fall…”
No way?
Hé Yǔzhù had only said it casually, but was it true? He calculated; Jia Dongxu had only returned less than half a month before him. Could she have gotten pregnant and found out in such a short time?
Could it be that he's happily become a father?
He thought they wouldn't come back after leaving, but Hé Yǔzhù had underestimated Jia Dongxu. Not long after, the two returned hand in hand, especially Qin Huairu, whose shy and pretty appearance almost blinded Hé Yǔzhù’s titanium alloy… eyes.
This time, Jia Dongxu got straight to the point, “Silly Guy, nothing else matters. Before we went for training, we talked about buying a house…”
“Stop talking, I know what you mean.”
Hé Yǔzhù said, “I promised First Granduncle, and I promised you. After I got back, I would sell the house to you. A real man, an unbreakable promise. But…”
When Jia Dongxu heard the first few words from Hé Yǔzhù, his face lit up with joy. He even gave Qin Huairu a look, appearing very smug. However, he hadn't expected Hé Yǔzhù's tone to change immediately.
“Your mother came and made a scene, bullying Yushui… She’s just a twelve-year-old child, my sister! Under these circumstances, do you think I would sell the house to you?”
“Silly Guy, you can't do this! Haven't I apologized to you?” Jia Dongxu's face instantly turned extremely ugly.
“If apologies were useful, what would police be for?”
Hé Yǔzhù retorted without hesitation, “Your brain is lacking oxygen too. Usually, you call me by my nickname, and I don't bother with you. But when you need something from me, you keep calling me ‘Silly Guy,’ is that how you ask for favors?”
Jia Dongxu strained his neck and said angrily, “I’m not the only one who calls you ‘Silly Guy.’ If you don’t like it now, what were you doing before?!”
Hé Yǔzhù remained calm and said slowly, “Whether you like to call me that is up to you; whether I like to hear it is up to me. Today, I’m telling you, this house is not selling!”
“If you don't sell it, then don't sell it!”
Qin Huairu was surprisingly resolute and pulled Jia Dongxu away, “Do we have to be afraid of not finding a house just because we have money!”
“Ambitious!”
Hé Yǔzhù gave a thumbs-up and praised, “Jia Dongxu, grab your things. Good riddance!”
“You… Silly Guy, don't get too cocky!” Jia Dongxu resentfully picked up the net bag and left with Qin Huairu.
“Why would I be cocky about my own house?”
Hé Yǔzhù found the man inexplicable. But if Jia Dongxu couldn't buy his house now, he wouldn't move in directly opposite his place. Even if he couldn't avoid his death, and Qin Huairu couldn't avoid becoming a widow, would he himself perhaps escape this calamity?
“Brother, I thought you and Jia Dongxu were going to fight!” Hé Yushui jumped in from outside, looking at Hé Yǔzhù with a strange expression, “But how will you explain this to First Granduncle?”
“Why are you so violent, little girl? Do you know what it means to subdue the enemy without fighting? Besides, does our family's house need to explain anything to others?” Hé Yǔzhù waved her away.
He didn’t see that although the little girl pouted as she left, after stepping out of the room, the corners of her lips curved slightly upwards, showing an indescribable joy.
However, Hé Yǔzhù didn't have the time to think about a little girl's strange thoughts. After closing the door, he took out the Chinese translation of the Book of Poetry from his storage space and began to copy it.
The Book of Poetry is a work by the Austrian poet Heine. Hé Yǔzhù had accidentally bought the Russian version of the Book of Poetry at a bookstore in Russia, and he happened to have this book in his collection, so he directly took it to copy.
…
Although Jia Dongxu was a man, his strength was no match for Qin Huairu's. He finally stopped at the main entrance, rubbing his wrist, and said displeasantly to Qin Huairu, “Are you crazy! Why did you leave before we finished? Do you think money can buy everything? Houses are not all the same. If my master hadn't specifically requested it from Silly Guy before, he wouldn’t have agreed to sell it to me at such a low price.”
Qin Huairu was also unhappy, “Is this my fault? Your mother offended him, and you never told me what was going on here. How would I, a country woman, understand your city folks’ schemes!”
Jia Dongxu wanted to teach Qin Huairu a lesson, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He stuffed the net bag into Qin Huairu's hand, “You go back first, I'm going back to the factory.”
Qin Huairu took the net bag and asked, “Then what about our wedding house?”
“I'll go and discuss it with my master again.” Jia Dongxu waved his hand irritably and strode away.
Watching Jia Dongxu's retreating figure, Qin Huairu suddenly regretted it… She felt that the orphaned Hé Yǔzhù, who had a house, should have been her true love. How could she have been so thoughtless and given herself away like that!
…
In the evening, just as Hé Yǔzhù finished cooking, Yi Zhonghai arrived with a bottle of Erguotou.
“First Granduncle, are you planning to have a drink here?” Hé Yǔzhù asked.
“Yeah, you're not welcome?” Yi Zhonghai asked.
“Of course… I can’t,” Hé Yǔzhù added with a long pause.
An owl entering a house, does not visit without reason!
Hé Yǔzhù's alarm bells started ringing, and he began to ponder the man's intentions.
Hé Yushui was a well-behaved child. After Yi Zhonghai entered, she greeted him, then found an empty bowl, served herself some dishes, and took a steamed bun to eat in her room.
Yi Zhonghai invited Hé Yǔzhù to have a drink. After three cups, he finally got to the main point, “Dongxu came to see you today?”
“Yes, he wanted to buy my house, but I disagreed,” Hé Yǔzhù said.
“No… wasn’t it already settled?”
Yi Zhonghai was a little displeased, “You suddenly changed your mind, how can I explain to Dongxu?”
Hé Yǔzhù smiled, “Do you need to explain? Just blame it all on Jia Zhangshi, and it'll be settled, won't it?”
Yi Zhonghai sighed and couldn't help but advise, “Zhuzi, you don't need that many houses, wouldn't it be good to sell one to Dongxu?”
“First Granduncle, it's not that simple…” Hé Yushui explained the situation.