Siheyuan: The Era of Struggle

Chapter 300: Parents have shortcomings
Just as he was about to enter the yard with the car, he ran into Li Xuewen's wife Zhao Wenhui, who was walking out with an umbrella in her hand and red eyes.

Every failure makes one wiser. Ever since the neighbors made obscene rumors about the two of them, He Yuanchao always reminded himself that this is not the materialistic age of later generations, and that in this era, one must be strict in one's lifestyle.

The country has only been established for ten years, and ordinary people still have some feudal ideas. If they are involved in a scandal or lawsuit, not only will their personal future be hindered, but it is not uncommon for people to be forced to death in some vicious cases.

He Yuanchao came to this era unexpectedly. Although he had reached the deputy section level and made some connections, he was not arrogant enough to believe that these could stop the gossips of the people.

In line with the principle of avoiding trouble, He Yuanchao turned sideways and was about to say hello to deal with the situation, but unexpectedly Zhao Wenhui spoke first.

"Section Chief He is back."

After saying this simple sentence, the tears in Zhao Wenhui's eyes seemed to have been turned on and flowed down her cheeks.

Seeing this scene, He Yuanchao, who originally didn't want to cause trouble, had to bite the bullet and say a few words of concern because of the friendship between neighbors.

"What's wrong, sister-in-law? Is there any difficulty at home?"

"No...there's no difficulty at home."

After Zhao Wenhui finished speaking, she opened her umbrella, walked out of the yard, and hurried towards the entrance of the alley.

Glancing at Zhao Wenhui's somewhat frail figure, He Yuanchao shook his head and was about to push the cart into the yard when images of people drinking drugs and jumping into the river to commit suicide emerged in his mind.

"Is this woman really that desperate?"

Thinking of Zhao Wenhui's expression of determination mixed with grief and anger, He Yuanchao couldn't help but mutter something in his heart.

Just as I was hesitating whether to go out and take a look, a pair of hurried footsteps came from the yard.

Li Xuewen put on his cotton jacket as he walked. He walked around the screen wall and saw He Yuanchao standing at the gate holding his bicycle. He was stunned for a moment, then he walked up to him quickly and asked:
"Did Section Chief He see my wife when he came back?"

"I saw him walking out of the alley."

Hearing the urgency in Li Xuewen's tone, He Yuanchao didn't waste any words. He raised his hand and pointed in the direction Zhao Wenhui was going.

One was running, the other was chasing. Did the couple have a fight? He Yuanchao was puzzled, but he also knew that this was not something he should pry into.

Li Xuewen got the news, forced a smile and nodded, then walked out of the yard and trotted in the direction He Yuanchao pointed.

Seeing that Li Xuewen followed him out, He Yuanchao felt relieved that he didn't have to go out and cause trouble in the heavy snow.

To be honest, He Yuanchao really didn't want to get into these bad things. It wasn't that he had lost his morals, nor was it that he had become a cold-hearted cadre. It was just that he knew too well the moral character of some of his neighbors.

Whenever there is something going on between men and women, no matter the reason or the outcome, there will always be people who stir up trouble out of nothing and gossip secretly.

He Yuanchao hated these troublemakers to the core, but he had no other good solution except criticizing and warning them through relevant departments.

Seeing the snow flakes falling from the sky becoming more and more dense, He Yuanchao shook his head, stopped worrying about things that were out of his control, and pushed his bicycle into the yard.

When passing by Li Xuewen's house, He Yuanchao subconsciously turned his head and looked through the window.

Seeing that the house was dark and there was no movement, He Yuanchao was a little confused, but he didn't think much about it. He walked to his door, picked up the car and went into the house.

"I'm back. Hurry up and sweep the snow off your body."

Zhang Min, who was sitting at the dining table reading a book, saw He Yuanchao, stood up, put down the book in his hand, picked up the chicken feather blanket on the table, walked up to him and handed it to him.

After putting away the bicycle, He Yuanchao took the feather duster from his wife and asked casually, "What time did you come back? Did you get caught in the rain?"

"The department is not busy during this period, so I left work early and went home at around 4 o'clock." "If you leave early during work hours, be careful that your leader will make things difficult for you."

He Yuanchao took off his coat and held it in his hand. He used a feather duster to clean the remaining snow foam on it, while his mouth was not idle either.

Zhang Min ignored her husband's teasing. Seeing that he had almost finished cleaning, she picked up the kettle on the stove and added some water to the wash basin.
"Come and wash your face. I'll go to the kitchen to serve the meal."

As she spoke, Zhang Min put the kettle on the stove, turned around, opened the door and left the house.

Seeing Zhang Min busying around, He Yuanchao's heart was instantly filled with satisfaction, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

When the two first met, if He Yuanchao hadn't been attracted by her beauty, to be honest, he would have been a little scared of dating a child of a high-ranking official.

In addition to the complicated family background, the main problem is that people are afraid that the wife will be arrogant and unreasonable, and marrying her will end up marrying trouble.

"It's a good thing that I insisted on getting in touch with her. Otherwise, how could I find such a beautiful, hardworking and family-oriented wife?"

He Yuanchao wiped his hands with a towel, thinking with great satisfaction in his heart that the dirty thoughts of coveting someone's body had long been forgotten.

Just as I was enjoying it, Zhang Min's voice came from outside the house.

"Yuan Chao, help me open the door."

"coming."

He Yuanchao responded, quickly put down the towel and walked to the door to open it. Seeing Zhang Min holding the food with slightly trembling hands, he couldn't help but laugh:

"Silly wife, you have to take it all at once!"

As he said that, He Yuanchao reached out and took the food from his wife's hand.

Zhang Min smiled and said nothing when she heard that. She turned around and walked back to the kitchen.

He Yuanchao placed the food on the table and waited for Zhang Min to return to the room with the bowl, chopsticks and pickles before they sat down around the table to eat together.

Dinner was simple, with porridge, mixed flour steamed buns, potatoes stewed with cabbage, and a large bowl of pickled radish.

While eating the mixed flour buns in his hand with pickles, He Yuanchao said to Zhang Min vaguely: "Did our neighbors Li Xuewen and his wife have a quarrel this afternoon?"

Zhang Min looked up at He Yuanchao, swallowed the porridge in her mouth, and then asked, "Why are you suddenly concerned about his family's affairs?"

Hearing the inquiry in his wife's tone, He Yuanchao was afraid that she might misunderstand, so he quickly told her what had just happened at the gate.

"You said Zhao Wenhui wanted to commit suicide?"

As soon as He Yuanchao finished speaking, Zhang Min said with some surprise.

Ahem~~
He Yuanchao, who was almost choked by his wife's words, coughed twice before correcting himself: "I'm not sure, I just suspect it."

After hearing what He Yuanchao said, Zhang Min shook her head and said with a slightly indignant look: "If you heard what Zhao Wenhui's mother-in-law said, I guess it wouldn't be suspicion."

"Oh! Tell me, what's going on?"

Seeing that Zhang Min, who was always cold to outsiders, was feeling sorry for Zhao Wenhui, He Yuanchao couldn't wait to know what outrageous thing Li Xuewen's mother had done.

(End of this chapter)