The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

Chapter 88 Small Conflict

In the dim adobe house, faint light flickered on the black and white TV. The TV program had long lost its appeal, and at this moment, Darong just felt drowsy.

Mother Zhong brought a plate of chopped radishes from the outer room and placed it in front of Darong.

"You look better after two days at home. How is your eating? Are you still vomiting?" Mother Zhong deliberately started chatting with Darong.

"It's okay, much better than before. I don't vomit so much anymore." Darong forced herself to respond.

"You're pregnant now, you need to rest well, but you can't stay at home all day. You see, going out for a while will help you get better."

Mother Zhong's words sounded like she was concerned about Darong, but Darong knew that this was actually implying that she should continue working instead of staying at home to take care of the baby.

"Yes, I just told Yunxing that I will go back to work the day after tomorrow."

Darong suppressed her inner emotions and acted like a well-behaved and obedient person. She began to doubt whether she could really find her place in this family.

After dinner, Darong was finally able to return to her small western room to rest for a while.

"Do we have to wait another three years for your unit's housing allocation?" Darong finally asked Zhong Yunxing this question.

Zhong Yunxing certainly understood what this meant. He was silent for a moment, then hugged Darong in his arms.

"What's wrong? Are you unhappy?"

Zhong Yunxing went to help his brother move furniture in the afternoon and did not hear the conversation between Zhong's mother and Darong. He did not return home until dinner time.

"No, I just want to have my own home."

Darong did not choose to complain to Zhong Yunxing. She knew that she was his mother and her complaints would only make Zhong Yunxing embarrassed.

But it is because of her sensible character that her feelings are often ignored. Darong's powerful appearance outside has not affected her willingness to compromise when facing her family.

But who can be a natural life expert? After all, Darong was only 20 years old at that time.

"Mom, are there no eggs at home?"

The next morning, Zhong Yunxing, who was working the early shift, got up early and planned to make some eggs before going to work, but he did not find the egg basket in the cabinet.

"I've run out of eggs and haven't bought any yet."

Mother Zhong was carrying a bucket of water and pouring it into the water tank. At that time, there was no running water in Erdaohezi, so every day they had to collect water from the water pipe outside the backyard and pour it into their own water tank.

"Why didn't you buy it? I want to have a drink now but I won't be able to have it when I leave."

"If you want to drink it, ask your wife to buy it for you!"

Zhong Yunxing was just saying it casually, and he didn't mean to complain, but Xiaoping, who was lying in the east room, continued the conversation with a sarcastic tone.

Zhong Yunxing was stunned after hearing Xiaoying's words. He was a little unresponsive for a moment. Although he was married to Darong, his salary had always been given to Zhong's mother.

He didn't understand what Xiaoying meant by this. He turned around and looked at Mother Zhong who was still pouring water silently. He said nothing and went out to work on an empty stomach.

In fact, Darong had woken up a long time ago. There were three palm-sized adobe houses in total, so Darong could hear clearly what was said in the outer room.

Darong gritted her teeth, pretended she heard nothing, put on her clothes, went out of the west room, washed and tidied, and helped Mother Zhong prepare breakfast.

"Hurry up and get up. You're already a grown-up girl. Why are you lazy all day and not getting up?"

After Zhong Yunhong put on his clothes, he started to scold Xiaoping who was lazy in bed. He was actually a little dissatisfied with Xiaoping's attitude towards Zhong Yunxing.

Ever since Zhong Yunxing got married, Darong has treated Xiaoping with the same sincerity as she treated Xiaoying, and Zhong Yunxing has always handed over his salary to his family and never given it to Darong.

Zhong Yunhong saw all of this and sincerely admired Darong's character, so when Xiaoping spoke rudely to Zhong Yunxing, he was even more dissatisfied than Zhong Yunxing.

"Oh, I know, I know." Xiaoping climbed out of the warm bed and put on her clothes with dissatisfaction.

In fact, when Darong first came home, Xiaoping really liked this sister-in-law. She was beautiful and dressed fashionably. The love she showed to protect Darong at the wedding was genuine and without any adulteration.

But Xiaoping is a little girl after all, and a little girl's thoughts can always be easily influenced by others.

But everything seemed to change in a hurry. Before Darong could react, she had already tasted the bitterness of being a new wife.

Because of what Xiaoping said in the morning, Zhong Yunxing had been looking depressed at work.

"What's wrong, Daxing? You look unhappy today?" Yan Zeyou patted Zhong Yunxing's shoulder and asked happily.

"It's okay. You thought about changing the gear on the machine in the second workshop. I just came over there. That gear is broken. It should be changed before noon, otherwise it would have broken down."

Zhong Yunxing changed the subject, arranged the work, and went back to the workshop with a wrench.

Seeing that he was unhappy and unwilling to speak, Yan Zeyou tactfully stopped asking. After Zhong Yunxing left, he also walked towards the second workshop with the spare parts.

"What's wrong, Zhong? I've seen you unhappy since this morning."

Zhong Yunxing strolled into Sister Liu's workshop and was stopped by her again. The couple had a tacit understanding and both cared about Zhong Yunxing very much.

"Nothing."

He originally wanted to send Sister Liu away like he did Yan Zeyou, but this female comrade's gossipy heart was not so easily appeased.

Sister Liu is a few years older than Zhong Yunxing. Faced with her repeated questioning, Zhong Yunxing had no choice but to truthfully recount what happened in the morning.

"Your mother didn't say a word?"

"I didn't say it."

"That's not what Xiao Ping said, that's what your mother said, Xiao Ping just said it. Did you ask your mother for money because you didn't have enough money?"

When Zhong Yunxing was staying in the factory two days ago, Sister Liu found out that Darong had taken leave and was not at work.

Of course there would be no salary if he was not working. Zhong Yunxing gave all his salary to Zhong's mother, so he couldn't just not spend anything outside.

"Well, before I move in to the factory, I asked for some money as a backup."

After hearing what Sister Liu said, Zhong Yunxing finally realized the meaning of Xiaoping's attitude.

"That's right. This is not about you. This is about your wife not working these days. Did Darong wake up when Xiaoping said this?"

Sister Liu looked at the silly boy in front of her and felt a little angry. As a daughter-in-law, she was most afraid of the picky nature of her husband's family and the dullness of her husband.

"When I got up, she was still asleep. Xiao Ping scolded me, and I went out without going into the house to check."

Sister Liu shook her head and smiled, then patted Zhong Yunxing's shoulder with some sympathy.