Living in a Siheyuan

I heard someone calling me.

He Daqing was also a little confused. He turned his head and looked at Li Pingan carefully. He asked uncertainly, "Who are you? The son of Li Quezi, the owner of the back house?"

After all, when He Daqing left, Li Ping'an was only about ten years old. I haven't seen him for so many years, so I'm a little uncertain.

"Yes, Uncle He. I didn't expect that you could still recognize me after not seeing me for so many years."

"Haha, it's mainly because you were obedient at that time, much better than that brat in my family. Why did you come to Baoding?"

"Uncle He, I'm working in a steel mill now. This time I came to the parts factory to purchase a batch of parts. But the goods haven't been delivered yet. We'll wait here for two days."

He Daqing wanted to continue chatting with Li Pingan, but the waitress refused. She said to He Daqing, "Master He, someone is waiting for you over there."

Li Pingan saw this and said, "Uncle He, go do your thing first. I haven't finished eating yet. We'll talk later."

He Daqing also said, "Then eat slowly first. If you don't have enough, tell Uncle He. Uncle He will treat you today. I'll go over there and see what's going on."

He Daqing went to the two men, and Li Pingan slowly started eating. I was thinking about where to find someone to ask about the donkey, but now there is someone ready.

He Daqing came over wiping his hands when Li Ping'an was almost done eating.

He sat opposite Li Ping'an, and the two of them lit up a cigarette and started chatting.

"I just want to tell you that you are safe. How is your family doing recently?"

Li Pingan knew what he wanted to know, so he said, "Alas! Uncle He, you are not in the Forbidden City. It is hard to describe the courtyard houses now!"

He Daqing asked curiously: "What's wrong? Has anything happened in these years?"

Li Pingan did not hide it and said, "Uncle Yi Zhonghai got Parkinson's disease two years ago. His hands were shaking so badly that he was demoted to a first-class worker in the factory. Last year, he got so angry that he became hemiplegic. Now he is lying at home."

"Jia Dongxu, who lives next door to yours, had his legs broken two years ago. He was bedridden for more than a year and committed suicide last year. His mother, Jia Zhang, also fell into a cesspool and became mute. Now only his wife, Qin Huairu, lives at home with their two children and a mute mother-in-law."

"Brother Zhuzi also went to work in the kitchen of the steel mill, but he has not yet married and has always been alone. Yushui will graduate from junior high school next year."

He Daqing was a little surprised when he heard that Yi Zhonghai was lying at home with hemiplegia. He was even more surprised when he heard that Jia Dongxu was gone. This was Yi Zhonghai's old man and apprentice!

Later, when he heard that Sha Zhu was still single, he asked, "Why is this bastard still single? Isn't this going to make the He family extinct? Why hasn't he found a wife yet?"

"A few years ago, a matchmaker introduced him to a couple, but Zhuzi went to their house and got drunk, beat up his future father-in-law, and smashed everything in the house. In the end, he even cursed the matchmaker back."

"No one introduced me to anyone after that. I went on a blind date again last year, but someone said that Zhuzi had an ambiguous relationship with the widow Qin, the wife of Jia Dongxu in the courtyard. Who would be willing to go with me now?"

"Bang!" He Daqing slammed the table angrily.

"I knew this bastard was unreliable. Look at what he did, are they human? I wonder how he took care of the rainwater in the past few years?"

Li Pingan suddenly remembered that everyone said that He Daqing sent living expenses to He Yuzhu and He Yushui. I wonder if it's true or not?

So he said, "Alas, you don't know Uncle He. When you left, Zhuzi was only fifteen or sixteen years old and couldn't go to work. It didn't rain much either. The two of them picked up garbage every day to make a living, and they only survived by having a steamed bun from one family and a bowl of porridge from another family. It wasn't until Zhuzi was seventeen or eighteen that Yi Zhonghai found someone to get him into the steel mill. Only then did life get better."

"What!? They have to pick up trash to make a living? Didn't I give them living expenses?"

He Daqing stood up suddenly and asked.

Li Pingan pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Uncle He, when did you give them living expenses? When Yu Shui was hungry and sat at the door crying, I secretly gave her steamed bread. I never heard them say that you gave them living expenses. I heard from Brother Zhuzi that you took all the money away from home, leaving no money. They came to look for you a few days after you left, but you didn't see them and locked them outside the door all night. Everyone in the yard knows these things!"

He Daqing became angrier and angrier as he listened. He said, "How would I know they came to see me? I haven't seen them since I left."

"I sent them ten yuan a month for living expenses. I was afraid that Sha Zhuxiao wouldn't be able to withdraw the money, so I asked Yi Zhonghai to give it to him. And when I left, I had already arranged for him to be an apprentice in the kitchen of the steel mill. We had agreed on it at the time, so how come he couldn't get in?"

After hearing this, Li Pingan knew that this was Yi Zhonghai's doing. But he couldn't say it directly, so he could only hint, "That's strange. Everyone knows that Zhuzi brought Yu Shui to see you. And he and Yu Shui had been picking up scraps for more than two years before they entered the factory. Yi Zhonghai never told you about sending money."

Now He Daqing also understood that something must have gone wrong with Yi Zhonghai. Thinking back to the idea that Yi Zhonghai had given him at the time, and letting him and the White Widow run to Baoding, He Daqing became more and more angry.

Li Pingan asked tentatively: "Uncle He, why did you leave Brother Zhuzi and Yushui behind and come here? They were so young at the time."

Sighing, He Daqing said, "Uncle is not afraid of you laughing at him. Your aunt passed away early. She couldn't help herself after she met the White Widow. Afterwards, she threatened me that if I didn't come here with her, she would sue me for being a hooligan. You know, Dragon Country had just been established at that time. Most of the criminals were taken to shooting range. I was also scared."

"Later, when I was hesitating, Yi Zhonghai somehow found out about this. He promised to help me take care of Shazhu and Yushui, and asked me to come with the White Widow first. When things calmed down, he would write to me and I would go back. Who knew so many things would happen?"

"Well, Uncle He. Do you think Yi Zhonghai has something to do with this? He sent you away, didn't send you living expenses to Zhuzi and the others, and didn't let Zhuzi take over your job. If he has nothing to do with this, how can it make sense?"

He Daqing also thought for a long time and said: "Then why do you think he did this? What benefit does this bring to him? Yi Zhonghai is not short of that money, right?"

Li Pingan continued to induce: "That's right, Yi Zhonghai is not short of money, but he is short of people. He is short of people who can take care of him in his old age."

"Doesn't he have Jia Dongxu to take care of him in his old age? How could he still be short of people? Jia Dongxu was still fine at that time."

"Uncle He, do you think Jia Dongxu's mother is a crazy woman who can let her son be taken care of by others in his old age? I guess Yi Zhonghai is worried about Jia Dongxu, so he looks for an honest man like Brother Zhuzi."

After listening to Li Ping'an's words, He Daqing finally figured it out.

But after thinking it through, he became even angrier. He thought about how he and his son were being played around by others. Yu Shui had to suffer so much at such a young age. He was still raising someone else's son.

He Daqing took off his sleeves and threw them on the table, then went back to settle the score with the White Widow.

Li Pingan said, "Uncle He, actually what happened to you back then was not a big deal at all. It was probably serious at the time, but now so many years have passed, the police need evidence to handle cases. If you don't admit it, the White Widow's words alone don't count. Now Yi Zhonghai is paralyzed and lying at home. He can't even speak clearly. It's even more okay."

After listening to this, He Daqing said to Li Pingan: "Thank you for today, if it weren't for you, I would have been kept in the dark. When I get back, I will go to your house and have a few drinks with your father."

After hearing this, Li Pingan said with some sadness: "Uncle He, my parents passed away the year before last. My father had an accident at work in the factory, and my mother was very sad. She followed my father in less than a month."

He Daqing only asked about his own family's affairs, and really didn't care about Li Ping'an's family. He didn't expect that such a big change would happen in his family.

He patted Li Ping'an on the shoulder and said, "Your parents will probably be happy to see how successful you are now."

"It's okay, Uncle He. I got married last year. My wife gave birth to twin boys in March this year. I'm living a good life now."

Hearing that Li Ping'an already had two sons, he thought about how his own bastard didn't even have a wife and had ruined his reputation. He wanted to fly back immediately and beat He Yuzhu up.

The two chatted for a while. Li Pingan took the opportunity to say, "Uncle He, I just tried it. The donkey meat hotpot here is very delicious. Can you pack some for me? I want to take some back to give to others."

"What's wrong with that? As long as you have food coupons and meat coupons, I can ask the kitchen to make more whenever you need it."

"Then I'll come tomorrow at noon. You can pack more for me then. I have plenty of meat and grain coupons."

After He Daqing promised to make fifty more donkey meat hotpots for Li Pingan tomorrow, Li Pingan asked again, "Uncle He, where does your donkey meat come from?"

He Daqing listened and said in confusion: "It was sent by the meat processing factory. Why? You still want donkey meat?"

"I'm asking on behalf of my friend, who wanted to buy a few donkeys at the time. I just want to ask if there are many donkeys here."

"You've asked the right person. I know an old village chief who raises a lot of donkeys. Sometimes when they have too many, they secretly come to sell a few. We've sent quite a few to our restaurant. If you want one, I'll take you there tomorrow and we can discuss it then."

"I'll take care of things here in the next two days, and I'll be back the day after tomorrow. When you come back, uncle will treat you to a drink."

The two chatted for a while, and then Li Ping'an took back two portions of donkey meat BBQ.

The next day, he first came to the hotel, packed up the fifty donkey meat hot buns he had agreed to, and sent them back to the guesthouse. In fact, he had put them into the space halfway.

Then, He Daqing and I went to the suburbs to find the man to buy the donkey. It was easier to get things done with an acquaintance, so the two of them quickly agreed to trade in the woods in the suburbs at around 11pm.

Li Pingan went there alone in the evening and bought five donkeys, two males and three females, spending more than 400 yuan.

At this point, Li Ping'an's trip to Baoding was basically completed, and he was just waiting for the goods from the parts factory.

The biggest gain is that He Daqing was persuaded by him to return to Siheyuan. I believe Siheyuan will be more lively in the future.