Chapter 49: He Yushui's Choice
They had sent Shazhu away.
Li Aiguo felt somewhat excited and decided to make a grand lunch.
Fried dough sticks!
He kneaded the strong flour into strips.
He set up the black iron wok.
He pried open the coal stove’s plug.
He poured in the cooking oil.
Once the oil boiled, he threw in the dough sticks.
He picked up his chopsticks and stirred twice; when the dough sticks turned golden, he took them out from the inside.
Thus, the delicious fried dough sticks were ready.
Of course,
the taste might not be quite as delightful.
For some reason, these dough sticks weren’t as plump as those sold on the street.
Instead, they were thin and lean, resembling twisted fried dough sticks.
He pinched one, bit into it, and the fragrance filled his mouth, though it was a bit hard on the teeth.
Li Aiguo glanced at the system panel: Culinary skill: 15.
He thought if there was a chance, he should improve his cooking skill as well.
After all, food is the primary necessity of the people; man is iron, rice is steel.
Since the dough sticks were fried up, he couldn’t waste them and had to gnaw on the tough, tooth-grinding pieces little by little.
Just then, a timid voice came from outside the door.
“Brother Aiguo, are you home?”
Li Aiguo stood and opened the door, seeing He Yushui standing outside, her face full of worry.
“Sister Yushui, come in quickly.”
“Have you eaten? I fried some dough sticks; you try them.”
Seeing the twisted dough sticks, the worry on He Yushui’s face vanished instantly, and she nearly laughed out loud.
“Brother Aiguo, when I was little, I learned to fry dough sticks with my father.”
“To fry dough sticks with a golden hue, crispy outside and soft inside, fluffy and elastic, you need alum, the oil temperature must be high, and you can’t use strong flour.”
As she spoke, she finally couldn’t resist the temptation of the dough sticks, pinched one, popped it into her mouth, and started crunching.
“So many details I didn’t know about.”
Li Aiguo chuckled and placed two twisted sticks on a plate in front of He Yushui.
“When there’s a chance, I’ll definitely ask Old Master He for advice.”
He Yushui was moved by his words, her hand holding a dough stick hovering in midair.
She sighed softly, lowered her head, and whispered, “Brother Aiguo, I know what my brother did. I really can’t bring myself to plead for him, but if he’s sentenced, it will affect me too.”
“Could you please, for the sake of all the times I helped clean your house, spare my brother this once?”
“Don’t worry, once he’s out, I’ll make sure he kowtows to you and makes amends.”
Li’s father was a train driver, traveling far and wide, often bringing back small trinkets.
When He Yushui was young, she and a group of children often played at the Li family’s house.
This girl was different; when other kids grabbed toys, they would run off.
She stayed behind and helped clean the house spotlessly.
Li Aiguo and He Yushui had a good relationship.
However…
Li Aiguo pinched a dough stick, nibbling on it as he spoke, “Did Yizhonghai send you here?”
“Ah! No...” He Yushui tried to deny it, opening her mouth but uttering no sound.
Finally, she nodded silently, “Yes, they said only you can help me.”
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Silence fell over the room.
He Yushui felt her heart tremble along with the crunching sounds.
She could hardly breathe.
Until Li Aiguo laughed heartily twice.
“Sister Yushui, this time I’ll spare Shazhu, but knowing his nature, sooner or later he’ll end up inside.”
He Yushui nodded silently.
“So, if you want to settle this once and for all, you should cut ties with Shazhu,” Li Aiguo said softly.
“Cut ties?”
He Yushui was confused.
Li Aiguo nodded, “Once you cut ties, you are you, and He Yuzhu is He Yuzhu. There’s no longer any connection between you two. Whatever He Yuzhu does won’t affect you.”
Her situation would be completely different.
If she cut ties, she would truly sever the sibling bond with Shazhu for life.
Seeing He Yushui hesitate, Li Aiguo did not try to persuade her.
Shazhu taking the blame for everyone else had driven He Yushui to a dead end.
She was a smart girl and could understand this clearly.
Sure enough,
after thinking for a long time, He Yushui lifted her pale face, bit her lip, and said firmly, “Brother Aiguo, I want to cut ties with Shazhu.”
Her tone was resolute.
Li Aiguo sighed deeply and reminded her,
“This kind of thing must be handled decisively. You must get the proof of termination before Shazhu is sentenced.”
“Remove Shazhu from your family registry.”
“Also, I remember your house is privately owned.”
“Since He Daqing is gone, you have a share of the house.”
“You can ask the neighborhood committee to allocate the house to you.”
After hearing Li Aiguo’s words, He Yushui’s eyes reddened. She stood up and bowed to Li Aiguo, “Brother Aiguo, thank you so much. Without you, I really wouldn’t know what to do.”
Li Aiguo smiled, “Don’t cry. We are neighbors; helping you is only right.”
He Yushui bit her lip, said nothing more, and ran out into the sunshine.
Li Aiguo was right—she had to cut ties with Shazhu quickly.
...
Unsurprisingly, He Yushui’s intention to sever ties with Shazhu caused a huge uproar in the courtyard.
Yizhonghai did not expect that sending He Yushui to persuade Li Aiguo would result in He Yushui herself being convinced by him.
He immediately opposed He Yushui cutting ties with Shazhu.
He, along with Yizhonghai and Yan Bugui, the three elders in charge, stepped in to persuade He Yushui together.
By this time, He Yushui had already taken advice from Wang Xinmin’s father, Wang Zhenshan, and deeply understood that if she did not sever ties, her future was ruined.
She flatly refused the three elders.
With no other choice, Yizhonghai went to find Director Wang of the neighborhood committee, hoping he would reject He Yushui’s application.
This was the first application for severing ties in the courtyard district; it affected the neighborhood’s atmosphere and harmony, so Director Wang had to consider carefully.
Therefore,
Director Wang decided to hold a courtyard meeting to hear the opinions of the residents.
Li Aiguo received the meeting notice just after finishing dinner.
The meat was black pork, procured by Wang Dakui from the pigeon market, fresh and blood-red, perfect for shredded pork noodles.
Shredded pork noodles required no special skill: fry the pork strips until cooked, add water, wait for it to boil, then add noodles and vegetables.
He threw in the leftover dough sticks from lunch.
Shredded pork noodles with soaked fried dough sticks—simply heavenly!
Eating the fragrant noodles, Li Aiguo looked up at Xu Damao, “Big Brother Damao, you mean the meeting tomorrow night will discuss He Yushui’s matter?”
“Yes! The neighborhood committee’s Officer Liu just informed my father. I thought you didn’t know, so I came to tell you.”
Xu Damao hadn’t told the whole truth.
He came drawn by the aroma.
Seeing the pork strips in the noodles, his eyes lit up.
His family wasn’t short on money, but they had no meat ration coupons.
Meat ration coupons were issued monthly.
Divided into upper, middle, and lower ten-day periods, city residents were allocated 93.75 grams per period.
One period lasted ten days.
That meant every ten days, each resident could get less than two taels of meat coupons.
In a month, a resident with ration books could receive at most six taels of meat coupons.
Xu Damao was currently a temporary worker, not a registered city resident; the Xu family only had meat coupons for Xu Jixiang.
Those limited meat coupons couldn’t be wasted; the Xu family had to save them for Xu Damao’s wedding banquet.
...