Yi Zhonghai's Siheyuan

Time flies and it is the winter of 1998. In a courtyard house in Beijing, an elderly man is lying on a recliner enjoying the sunshine. From time to time, the sounds of his grandchildren playing can be heard from the yard. This man is none other than Comrade Yi Zhonghai, the eighth-level fitter at the former steel rolling mill.

Since moving out of No. 1980 Nanluoguxiang in 95, he used his later experience to start doing business, including real estate and catering. He cannot be called a business tycoon, but he has enough to provide for his descendants.

Just as I was enjoying the sunbath, a voice came from the gate of the compound, "Old Yi, Old Yi! You should keep an eye on Rongrong and Guigui. Look how dirty they are playing! Come, go back to the house with grandma and I'll wash your hands for you."

This was Huang Yulan who had just finished shopping in the department store. She had kept the house in order all these years. Now that the business has been handed over to her son, she finally has time to enjoy herself. She never expected that she would have to take care of her grandson.

Faced with his wife's accusations, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to respond helplessly, "Old woman, just let them play! There is nothing that children don't like to play." After saying that, Yi Zhonghai fiddled with the two walnuts in his hand.

He didn't want to care how his grandchildren played. They were playing right under his nose anyway, so how could they get hurt?

Watching Huang Yulan taking Rongrong and Guigui to wash their hands, drinking a cup of hot tea and preparing to go to sleep, there was another knock on the door.

Helplessly, he had to get up and open the door to see which bastard was causing trouble. When he opened the door, he found Xu Damao and Sha Zhu standing at the door.

Since moving out of the courtyard, I have only told Xu Damao and Sha Zhu where I live. These two people would occasionally come to me for a drink and chat.

Xu Damao was the first to speak, "Uncle Yi, you have a very good ear. Look what I brought."

Yi Zhonghai looked at Xu Damao with a frown, "What else could it be? Pig head and braised beef! It smells like Zhuzi made it. No! Was it Zhuzi's kid who made it?"

Sha Zhu who was standing by squeezed next to Xu Damao, gave him a thumbs up and said, "Hey! Uncle Yi, if you hadn't told me that you were this, you would have known that it was made by my He Xiao just by smelling this."

"Come on, come in and sit down. Go to the kitchen and heat up some snacks. It just so happens that Xuanzong sent two bottles of Wuliangye a few days ago. You two are blessed today." As he said that, he opened the door and welcomed the two of them in.

After the three of them sat down, Yi Zhonghai first filled the glasses of wine for the two of them, and then they all drank a glass to warm themselves up.

After Xu Damao finished drinking, he took a bite of food to subdue the wine, and then said, "Uncle Yi, you don't know that Qin Huairu passed away."

Hearing this, Yi Zhonghai was shocked at first and then asked, "Bang Geng doesn't care about her?"

Sha Zhu at the side couldn't help but sigh and said, "Ah, ever since Bang Geng got into trouble and was shot, his wife has ignored Qin Huairu and even opposed her. She is really pitiful!"

It turned out that Banggeng had been doing nothing after returning to the city. Qin Huairu had begged everyone for help to find a job for Banggeng, but to no avail. Finally, she agreed to divorce Wang Yuehua in exchange for a job for Banggeng. Over the years, he also understood that Qin Huairu could never give birth to a child for him, so he did it without saying a word. After the divorce, Wang Yuehua sold the courtyard house to Xu Damao and left the courtyard.

The job that Banggeng bought through connections was an apprenticeship in a steel rolling mill. At that time, a large number of people who had returned to the city and were unemployed stayed at home, which made Banggeng very arrogant. He ignored the people in the yard and walked with his head held high all day long.

When he first started working, Bang Geng could pay his salary to his wife every month for safekeeping. Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long as he got addicted to gambling and followed his father's path.

Later, when he had no money, Bang Geng decided to steal things and gathered a few friends to steal things from the steel mill. He was finally caught by the security department of the steel mill and sent to the police station.

It happened that a severe crackdown was underway at that time, and he was taken to the execution ground and ended his life the next day after he was arrested.

It has to be said that when Banggeng's wife Li Cuicui first married into the family, she was very honest and even gave birth to a daughter for Banggeng. Qin Huairu wanted to learn from Jia Zhangshi to give her own daughter-in-law a little power, so she kept bullying Li Cuicui. Qin Huairu also had many complaints about her granddaughter, always muttering that she was a money-loser.

Li Cuicui is an honest person. Besides, she doesn't want to be driven back to the Loess Plateau. The more this happened, the more Qin Huairu suppressed Li Cuicui.

Unfortunately, with the death of Banggeng not long after, the family had to rely on Li Cuicui. Since Qin Huairu learned those tricks from Jia Zhang, she became lazy and selfish. Huaihua and Xiaodang also ran away from home because they couldn't stand Qin Huairu's temper, and there has been no news of them since then.

As for Jia Zhang, she froze to death in Zhangjia Village because she had no one to rely on one day after Banggeng was shot. The night before her death, Jia Zhang had a dream. In the dream, Banggeng came to her and said, "Grandma, I'm so cold. Please bring me some clothes!"

In recent years, with the development of economy and culture, Li Cuicui, a woman, can now set up stalls on the street to make money. She keeps her daughter with her because she is afraid that Qin Huairu will abuse her.

Since making money, Li Cuicui has become more confident and vented all the grievances she had suffered from Qin Huairu. Not only did she ask Qin Huairu to help her with washing clothes and cooking, she also often denied her meals.

Qin Huairu tried to complain to her neighbors several times, but unfortunately everyone avoided her. The Jia family had always had a bad reputation and everyone stayed away from them.

As her body became weaker and weaker, Qin Huairu realized that she might die. Just two days ago, Qin Huairu suddenly fell to the ground while washing clothes. Her neighbors called an ambulance and took her to the hospital together.

After arriving at the hospital, the doctor found that Qin Huairu had already died. Everyone vaguely heard Qin Huairu muttering before she died, "Banggeng, mom is here to accompany you! Damn Jia Dongxu, damn Jia Zhang! I don't want to marry into your family in my next life..."

As for other neighbors in the courtyard, such as Yan Bugui and his wife, who were stingy all their lives and ruined the family's morals, the old couple and their son and daughter went to other places to make a living early, and when they were found dead, their bodies had already rotted beyond recognition.

Even so, when Yan Jiefang and his friends came back, they still blamed the neighbors in the courtyard for not helping them. The brothers and sisters even used knives to fight for the family property. In the end, the three brothers and sisters were arrested and sentenced. As for Yan Jiecheng, no one saw him again after he went to prison.

Liu Haizhong accidentally fell into the toilet and drowned in the winter a few years ago. Since there were no relatives around, the street office came forward to help clean up the situation. After handling the matter, the street office received a call from Liu Guangfu. After reimbursing the expenses, they took Liu Haizhong's ashes and went to a manure pit in the countryside to scatter all the ashes into the pit.

The Lou family has never returned to the mainland since they went to Hong Kong. I don’t know if it’s because the sea is too rough or they are still scared...

"Shazhu, Shazhu! Are you raising fish?" Xu Damao couldn't help but shout when he saw Shazhu in a daze.

Sha Zhu was startled at first, then he couldn't help but spit back, "Bah! Xu Damao, you deserve to be punished! Uncle Yi, don't worry about it, I'm going to drink Xu Damao to death! Let's have a drink."

"Okay, okay, are you two trying to cheat me into drinking? I tell you, there are only two bottles of wine, and I haven't had enough!" After saying that, Yi Zhonghai also raised his glass and clinked it with his.

There was laughter and joy in the house, and heavy snow was falling outside...

(The end of the play...)