Siheyuan: Game of Red Dust

Chapter 32 Chores
When Li Weidong entered the front yard, he saw Yan Fugui washing his bicycle.

Li Weidong said hello and was about to go home, but Yan Fugui suddenly called him.

"Weidong, wait."

"What's wrong? Third uncle." Li Weidong asked with a puzzled look.

"Weidong, why haven't I seen you these days?" Yan Fugui asked.

"Isn't he busy with work? He comes back quite late at night." Li Weidong replied.

"Then why didn't I hear you knocking?" Yan Fugui opened and closed the gate of the courtyard every day. Only he and Liang Ladi had the key. Liang Ladi didn't get along with the people in the courtyard, and the machine repair factory where she worked was far away, so she had to leave early every day. Yan Fugui was too lazy to open the door for her because it was not beneficial, so he asked her to have a key made for her.

"Oh, I made an agreement with Sister Liang, and she always opens the door for me. No, Third Uncle, are you interrogating a prisoner here?" Li Weidong said with an unhappy look on his face. He was originally happy to be home after work, but before he even got home, Yan Fugui stopped him and asked him all sorts of questions. It made no one happy.

"Hey, how can you talk like that? I'm just concerned about you. I'm not saying anything bad, but asking a widow to open the door for you in the middle of the night won't look good if it gets out. Didn't I tell you that Liang Ladi isn't sociable, so you should avoid her. If you come home late at night, just call me and I'll open the door for you."

Yan Fugui was actually angry, too. He had originally planned to talk to Li Weidong about Yan Jiecheng's work on the weekend evening, but Li Weidong and his family had a dinner together and didn't invite him. He was so angry that he didn't go. Then, when he calmed down and was ready to look for Li Weidong, he hadn't seen him for three days. During these three days, Yan Fugui waited for him to open the door at night, but he didn't see him until midnight.

"Uncle San, are you okay? If not, I have to go back to eat. I've been busy all day." Li Weidong was a little impatient.

At this moment, a voice suddenly came.

"Hey, our great engineer, why are you back so early today?"

Li Weidong looked back and saw that it was Liang Ladi standing at the door.

It turned out that Liang Ladi had seen Li Weidong a long time ago. She had been looking for Li Weidong these days. Last weekend, after buying cloth, she went fishing. When she came back, she was busy cleaning the fish and forgot to ask Li Weidong what color cloth he used to make clothes and what color to make curtains?

When she saw Li Weidong today, she was about to go up and ask him, but she saw the third uncle stopped Li Weidong and was talking to him. She stood by the window and eavesdropped. When she heard that Li Weidong was a little impatient, she hurried out to rescue Li Weidong.

"This time, you don't need me to open the door for you at night, right?" Liang Ladi said to Li Weidong, blinking his big eyes.

When Li Weidong saw Liang Ladi blink, he realized that she had heard it just now, and then his heart warmed. Reputation is still very important in this era.

He just said that Liang Ladi helped him open the door, and he regretted it after he said it. It would be embarrassing if others knew that they were alone in the middle of the night.

Who would have thought that Liang Ladi had heard it from inside the house and, to cover up for him, even admitted it. The noise was quite loud, and the neighbors in the front yard must have heard it. Her relationship with the neighbors in the yard wasn't great to begin with, and she expected more gossip from them.

"Sister Liang, I finished my work today, so I came back early. You don't have to open the door in the future. Uncle San is right. It does affect your reputation. I will ask the street office tomorrow to add a door from my backyard. After all, my work has no fixed date, and it's not good to trouble you all the time." Li Weidong said to Liang Ladi.

At this time, the third uncle suddenly said to Li Weidong hurriedly: "Weidong, how can you open the door from the backyard? What if bad guys come in? It's better not to open it. Just call me to open the door when you come back in the evening."

"Uncle San, what you said is true. If a bad guy breaks in, won't he come into my house first? I'm not afraid, so why should you be afraid? Besides, my house is locked. Even if a bad guy comes in from my backyard, he can't get into our yard. Not to mention that there are people in our yard during the day, so what are you afraid of?" Li Weidong asked back.

"Weidong. This is not a small matter. The three of us uncles need to hold a meeting of the entire hospital and ask for everyone's opinions." Yan Fugui said anxiously.

"No, Third Uncle, are you kidding me? I need the approval of the whole courtyard just to open a door in my own backyard?" Li Weidong said with a nonchalant expression, and then turned to Liang Ladi, "Sister Liang, do you want to talk to me about something?"

"It's the cloth you bought last time. Which one is for making clothes, and which one is for making curtains?" Liang Ladi said.

"They are all clothes making. I have curtains. Oh, come on, let's talk in your room." After saying this, Li Weidong ignored Yan Fugui and went into Liang Ladi's room.

Yan Fugui saw Li Weidong enter Liang Ladi's house and hurried back to the house. The third aunt saw her husband hurried back and asked, "What's wrong? What's going on?"

Yan Fugui said, "Li Weidong is back. He said he was late coming home from work and wanted to ring the door in his backyard."

"And then?" Auntie asked again. "What then?" Yan Fugui didn't react immediately.

"Didn't you say that Li Weidong opened a door from his backyard? Then what happened made you rush in." Auntie Three said.

"You are so confused. Li Weidong opened the door from his backyard. From now on, if you come back late at night, I won't have to open the door. If I don't open the door, how can we ask him for benefits or favors?" Yan Fugui said to the third aunt with a look of disappointment on his face.

"He came back late these days, but he didn't look for you, right? Besides, it's none of your business if he opens a door in his own backyard. By the way, Old Yan, have you asked about Jie Cheng's matter?" said the third aunt.

"Not yet. Liang Ladi asked him to make clothes. No, I have to find Lao Yi." Yan Fugui walked around the room and hurried to the middle courtyard.

"Hey, Old Yan..."

Liang Ladi's home
As soon as Li Weidong entered the room, he said to Liang Ladi, "Sister Liang, you shouldn't have gone out. This is not good for your reputation."

"What reputation do I need? I'm not planning to look for another one. As long as the children are fine, that's enough." Liang Ladi said.

In fact, when watching TV dramas in his previous life, Li Weidong really liked the character of Liang Ladi. Liang Ladi raised four children alone. Life was difficult, but he didn't care about his reputation. He used his looks to earn food for his children (limited to some of his actions, nothing out of the ordinary). He was carefree and straightforward, but he also had principles. He dared to love and hate, and dared to pursue happiness.

Compared to Qin Huairu, she suffered much more and was much more tired. Let's not talk about anything else for now, let's first talk about their job levels. Liang Ladi was a fifth-level welder, while Qin Huairu was a first-level fitter in the original novel and was still a first-level fitter after the reform and opening up. What does this mean? She didn't focus on improving her job level at all.

As for Liang Ladi, regardless of her talent, she must have worked hard.

Li Weidong said, "Sister Liang, do you think I can be the godfather of these children? I like these children very much."

Liang Ladi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly gave Li Weidong a charming look and said, "Do you want to be the child's godfather? Or do you want to do the things that a godfather does?"

Li Weidong smiled awkwardly and said, "Sister Liang, don't joke. I'm serious."

Liang Ladi suddenly stared at Li Weidong blankly, then threw himself into Li Weidong's arms, hugged Li Weidong and said, "Dongzi, if you can treat the child well, I will listen to you in everything."

Li Weidong said helplessly, "Sister Liang, the child should be back soon."

As if sensing something, she looked at Li Weidong's bewildered look and laughed. She sniffed his scent twice before pulling away and whispering in his ear:
"You're a very honest person, but..."

He glanced down slightly and laughed...

Li Weidong also scratched his head awkwardly, grinning awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

Liang Ladi blinked and said with a sweet smile: "Alright, your sister has seen everything. As a man, this is normal."

Li Weidong could only laugh awkwardly.

"By the way, Dongzi, how do you make clothes with that piece of cloth?" Liang Ladi said.

"Just make two black Zhongshan suits, and the rest are for Damao, Dazhuang and the others." Li Weidong said.

Liang Ladi said with a charming look, "So you had been eyeing my sister for a long time. When did you say that? Was it that night at the black market? Do you want to see it again? Do you want me to show it to you again?" As she said that, she put her hand on her belt.

"Well, Sister Liang, I'm going to go back and cook. You don't have to cook tonight. Come to my place for dinner and tell the kids about it." Li Weidong ran out of the house before he finished speaking. There was a giggle coming from behind.

Only after Li Weidong ran into the middle courtyard did Liang Ladi stop laughing and pat her chest. She had been startled just now, having never expected that a simple hug would result in such a reaction.

"But at least the test shows that he is a good person and has no other purpose. Besides, it's so big..." He chuckled again.

(End of this chapter)