1961, winter. Heavy snow.
Inside a small room in the Siheyuan, He Yuzhu lay on the bed, his eyes filled with anguish and indignation.
Of all the eras to cross into, why did I have to end up in Silly Zhu from the television drama Siheyuan?
In the television drama, Silly Zhu was always helping the widow Qin Huairu in the courtyard. Taking advantage of his convenience as a chef, he brought home food in a lunchbox every day.
Otherwise, Qin Huairu, her brood, and her mother-in-law would probably have starved to death as a whole family long ago.
Yet the widow’s family nearly turned him into a childless old man, treating him like a fool and playing him for his entire life!
How humiliating... How tragic!
I absolutely cannot follow Silly Zhu’s old path again. I must live with dignity and climb upward step by step.
Only with true strength can I ensure that good is rewarded with good and evil with evil in this world!
He Yuzhu was so troubled that he did not sleep all night. He looked up at the wall clock and realized it was almost time to go to work.
Life had to continue, and the days still had to be lived.
He Yuzhu put on his padded jacket and trudged through the thick snow. Just as he walked from the middle courtyard to the front courtyard, he saw a figure that was both familiar and unfamiliar.
Though she was bundled up in a navy-blue coat during the depths of winter, the graceful curves of her figure were still discernible.
It was none other than Widow Qin Huairu, who had exploited Silly Zhu’s infatuation and sucked him dry for decades.
To keep Silly Zhu firmly under her control as a long-term source of grain coupons, she had ruthlessly broken up several of his potential marriages.
This could no longer be described as ordinary selfishness. She was utterly and unreservedly vicious!
“Silly Zhu, why are you only heading out now? I’ve been waiting for you forever.”
Her voice was gentle, even carrying a hint of seduction. It had to be said that Qin Huairu was flawless in appearance, figure, and even voice.
Such a simple form of address alone was enough to make anyone’s heart flutter.
“The lunchboxes have all been washed. Here.” Qin Huairu smiled and handed over a net bag of lunchboxes.
With three children, a mother-in-law, and herself, Qin Huairu’s meager apprentice wages alone were not enough to survive. Without someone to help her, they simply could not make it.
This was the usual routine every morning. In the past, Silly Zhu would always take them with a smile and cheerfully reply, “Got it.”
But today, He Yuzhu did not reach out to take them.
“I’m feeling a little sick. I’m going to ask for leave, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to do it today.”
Qin Huairu was an intelligent woman. She noticed the flash of indifference in Silly Zhu’s eyes, and that was an ominous sign!
If Silly Zhu stopped helping her, she might truly have to risk everything. In any case, she had brought a contraceptive ring...
Everyone with even a little common sense understood what it meant for a widow to be wearing a contraceptive ring!
Qin Huairu spoke softly, “You’re sick? Then don’t go. I’ll go to the factory and ask for leave on your behalf.”
He Yuzhu replied neither warmly nor coldly, “No need. Just have Xu Damao ask for leave on my behalf. His workplace is closer to my Canteen.”
“He left early today and took the day off.” Qin Huairu smiled as she spoke. “I heard someone introduced a woman to him recently. What was her name... Lou Xiaoe, I think. Supposedly, she’s very pretty.”
Those words were like rolling spring thunder, echoing beside He Yuzhu’s ears!
“Say that again. Xu Damao isn’t married?”
“Silly Zhu, what’s wrong with you today? Did your fever muddle your brain? You don’t even know whether Xu Damao is single?”
He Yuzhu understood. He had crossed through time several years earlier. At this point, Lou Xiaoe had not married Xu Damao yet!
He still had a chance to escape the calculating Qin Huairu and marry the beautiful and kind Lou Xiaoe!
In the television drama, Lou Xiaoe and Silly Zhu not only fell in love, but also had a child.
Unfortunately, Qin Huairu interfered and broke them apart, leaving them to regret it for the rest of their lives.
Xu Damao was Silly Zhu’s lifelong archenemy. He was full of wicked schemes, but he had one major weakness: after heavy drinking, he almost always blacked out.
As the factory’s film projectionist, the fellow often had opportunities to drink with the leaders.
To curry favor and flatter them, he drank recklessly every time, often passing out on the ground and remembering nothing the next day.
He could make use of this weakness, find the right opportunity, and seize Xu Damao’s leverage!
Thinking this, He Yuzhu casually said, “I won’t trouble you. I’ll go to the factory myself to ask for leave, so the Canteen Director won’t have a reason to make trouble for me.”
After saying that, he strode through the thick snow toward the Steel Rolling Mill, leaving only a dejected Qin Huairu behind.
Looking at the empty lunchboxes in her hands, dejection and panic welled up in her heart. Her negative emotions exploded all at once!
He Yuzhu was striding along the road when he suddenly saw an account-credit interface appear before his eyes.
The system! The standard equipment of a transmigrator!
Without revealing anything, He Yuzhu examined it as he walked. The interface had two options.
【Exchange】, 【Generate】
He opened Exchange and saw a list of available items. Vegetables, fish, meat, eggs—everything was available.
The numbers under System Currency continued to slowly fluctuate, and a line of text appeared before his eyes.
Qin Huairu’s negative emotions +100, +21, +7, +1, +1...
He Yuzhu suddenly realized that by refusing Qin Huairu’s lunchboxes just now, he had clearly left the widow feeling extremely troubled!
The negative emotion currency slowly settled at 154. Pork belly in Exchange cost eleven dollars per pound, meaning that after a few retorts to Qin Huairu, he could buy fourteen pounds of pork belly!
This was 1961! What did fourteen pounds of pork belly represent?
He opened the generation option next. The variety of items inside was bizarre and endless, but the prices were extraordinarily high.
It seemed that from now on, whenever he encountered people like Qin Huairu, the scheming Xu Damao, the Official-obsessed Second Uncle, or the petty Third Uncle, he would have to tear into them ruthlessly!
Only then could he obtain System Currency and exchange it for abundant food supplies. In 1961, this was practically the most useful system imaginable!
He Yuzhu could not help feeling delighted, and he walked faster and faster.
It was strange when one thought about it. Silly Zhu had an exceptionally fierce temper and was known as the Siheyuan God of War.
Yet someone like that was bullied and trampled on by everyone. Just what had gone wrong?
“Master He, good morning.”
Hearing the greeting, He Yuzhu looked up and saw an acquaintance from the factory. He quickly smiled and returned the greeting.
Before he knew it, he had arrived at the entrance of the Steel Rolling Mill, where many faces were familiar.
The younger workers called him Master He, while those somewhat older or around his age who knew him well simply called him Silly Zhu.
He Yuzhu finally understood. The reason the people of the Siheyuan Courtyard treated him like a fool truly lay with himself.
Silly Zhu had let others drain him for decades, raised someone else’s children, and nearly ended up a childless old man!
The fact that so many people casually blurted out the words “Silly Zhu” demonstrated one thing.
Other people did not respect him at all.
If he wanted others to respect him, he had to climb upward step by step. Nothing else mattered—money and power were the foundation of other people’s respect!
Starting today, he would make everyone understand what kind of person He Yuzhu was!