Siheyuan: Sending the whole courtyard to jail at the beginning

At night, in the silence, the faint light of the fireplace flickers, bringing people a feeling of warmth and tranquility.

At this time in the Kang family, the eight sisters were already lying on the kang, covered with thin quilts, hugging each other in groups of three or two, and sleeping soundly.

It seemed as if they were recalling today's delicious candies, cakes, and fragrant stewed pork in their dreams.

By the stove, under the dim light of a diesel lamp, Kang's mother sat on a small stool pasting matchboxes. The matchboxes in a frame beside her clearly showed that she had been pasting them for a long time.

After making another one, Kang's mother stretched her sore body a little, then turned around to check on her daughters, to see if any of them had kicked off the quilts, and looked from the head to the end of the kang.

"Oh..." When she saw the cloth curtain at the end of the kang that was not lowered and the empty bed underneath, Kang's mother sighed heavily with a feeling of loss and self-blame.

"Dangdangdang..."

The sudden knock on the door startled Kang's mother. Almost like a conditioned reflex, she hurriedly picked up a pair of sharp scissors from the side and put them in her hand, because only in this way could she feel at ease.

It is obviously not easy for a woman to survive with a bunch of children.

"Who is it here in the middle of the night?" Kang's mother walked to the door, put her ear against it, and asked vigilantly.

Outside the door, when he heard his mother's voice, the little bastard's heart immediately rose to his throat, and he choked and whispered, "Mom, it's me, Xiaojiu."

Hearing her son's voice, Kang's mother was overjoyed and hurriedly opened the door, as if she was afraid that if she opened the door too late, her son would run away.

But when she saw her son, the bright smile on her face turned cold and she asked in a cold tone: "Why did you come back? Didn't I tell you..."

"Bang! Mom, I was wrong. I am unfilial. I am sorry for you and dad. Woohoo, mom, I don't want to be a gangster anymore. I miss you and I want to go home."

Before Kang's mother could finish her words, Kang Jiu suddenly knelt in front of her mother, hugged her legs tightly, cried bitterly, and said with great self-blame.

This frightened Kang's mother, and she asked anxiously, "Big brother, what happened to you? Did you get bullied outside? Or did you offend someone? Don't worry about Jiu'er. At worst, I'll go apologize to him and kneel down to him. If that doesn't work, our family will just run away from the city."

Hearing his mother's words full of care and worry, Kang Jiu cried even harder, which made his mother very anxious.

"Just tell me, are you going to make Mom die of anxiety?"

"Woo woo, mom, no, I wasn't bullied, and I didn't cause any trouble. I just felt guilty and ashamed when I heard what you said."

"Mom, my eldest brother woke me up today. I was wrong. I don't want to mess around anymore. I want to go home and be filial to you. Can you give me another chance?"

"I will walk the right path with my elder brother, make a lot of money, and be filial to you, Mom!"

Although Kang Jiu was choking and speaking unsteadily, his mother understood what her son meant.

Kang's mother couldn't help but touch her son's head gently and let him cry. No, it should be said that she let her son feel relieved.

She knew that her life was hard, but wasn't her son's life also hard?

Kang Jiu's crying gradually subsided, and Kang's mother comforted him, "Silly child, what nonsense are you talking about? No matter how wrong you are or how much of a jerk you are, you are still my child. When I scolded you and told you to get out of the house, it was all just words spoken in anger."

"Because mom really doesn't know how to educate you, how to get you on the right path. I don't want to watch my son do bad things, fight, kill people, get killed, or be arrested by the police."

"Mom, I admit that I was a bad boy and became a gangster, but I really didn't kill anyone. That's all nonsense."

The little bastard quickly explained.

"Okay, Mom believes you. Be good and get up quickly. If you kneel for too long, you will hurt your body. Let's go inside and talk."

"Hey, Mom, let me help you."

The little bastard immediately wiped away his tears happily, and a happy smile appeared on his face again.

"Why should I help you? Your mother is not old, is she?"

When they entered the house, the mother and son were a little dumbfounded, because on the kang in the room, eight little heads were all looking at them eagerly and full of expectation.

"Yeah, big brother is back, that's great, big brother is back tonight."

"Great, I won't be afraid anymore with my big brother here at night."

Seeing their eldest brother Kang Jiu coming in, the eight sisters all threw back their quilts, jumped down and hugged him.

Hearing this, Kang Jiu's nose couldn't help but become more sour, "Brother is right, this family needs me, mother needs me, and my sisters need me even more."

"Hey, hey, hey, that's enough, everyone. Go back to bed quickly. You're wearing so little, what if you get frozen?"

Kang Jiu was very happy in his heart, but he pretended to be angry and shouted at his sisters.

Most of the sisters went back to bed obediently, but there were still two little koalas hanging on Kang Jiu's body who were reluctant to leave.

"Brother, I want to sleep with you tonight."

"Brother, I want to sleep with you, too."

The seventh and eighth sisters, the youngest in the family, hugged him tightly with their little hands, looked at him pitifully and said, "I won't let go unless you agree."

"Okay, okay, I'll hold you two to sleep tonight. Go to bed first."

"Okay, big brother, I'll go make the bed for you."

"I'll go as well."

"Xiao Ba, don't fight with me."

"I do not."

"Brother, wash your face and feet. I've already poured water for you."

"Brother, I got you a towel."

Looking at his noisy sisters, the little bastard's face was filled with a happy smile that never stopped.

Fortunately, Lin Beijun was not here, otherwise he would be so jealous of the little bastard.

On the kang, the sisters gradually fell asleep, but Kang Jiu could not fall asleep. He patted his seventh and eighth sisters in his arms while looking at the ceiling with his eyes open.

"Boss, are you asleep?"

At the side, the mother's voice suddenly sounded.

"Mom, you haven't fallen asleep yet?" Kang Jiu responded in a low voice.

"Mom couldn't sleep, and I was afraid I was dreaming, so I called you to see if you were there."

"Mom, I'm here. I'll be home tonight and every night from now on. You can just sleep peacefully from now on."

"Well, my eldest son has finally grown up. Oh, I have to trouble Xiaojun again. I really have to thank him."

"By the way, Boss, your eldest brother came today, why didn't you invite him to your home for dinner? It's not right for you to do that. Why did Xiaojun buy so many things? How much did it cost?"

"Your eldest brother is alone at home now, and he has a girlfriend. His life is not easy. Come with me tomorrow and take half of those things back to your eldest brother."

"Mom, my eldest brother is filial to you, so you can just keep it with peace of mind. This is his kindness. And you don't know, my eldest brother is very powerful now. Do you know where he works now? What position does he hold?"

The little bastard started talking about today's events like a machine gun, including Lin Beijun's work, and how he dealt with the beasts in the hospital as soon as Lin Beijun came back, and so on.

Even Kang's mother was stunned by what she heard.

"Mom, my eldest brother told me that he wanted me to go to the security department of the steel mill and work under him."

"Really? That's great, but won't this be too much trouble for Xiaojun?"

"Mom, you're being too polite. I've been following my eldest brother since I was a kid. Although we're not blood brothers, we're better than blood brothers. We've kowtowed to each other, drank blood wine, and sworn brotherhood."

"Oh, Mom, there's one more thing. My eldest brother said that the living environment in this compound is too bad, and our house is too small, so he asked us to pack up our things and move back to the courtyard."

"He will solve the house problem. He will make the hospital and the street give us an explanation. Either they will compensate us for the house or they will pay us money. Director Wang of the street is actually my eldest brother's aunt. She will definitely be very helpful."

"And I don't have to worry about my sisters going to school. Next semester he will transfer them to the Red Star Primary School under the steel mill. Not only will it be close to home, but the school there will also be better than the current one."

"As for your job, my brother said that if you still want to work, he will arrange for you to work in the steel mill, and find you a job that is light and not tiring. But my brother and I would rather you enjoy your life at home. You have worked so hard for so many years, and you should take a good rest."

"Ah? H-How can this be possible?"

"Oh, Mom, since my eldest brother has made up his mind, you don't have to worry about it. My eldest brother and I will take care of the family affairs. You can just enjoy your life at home from now on."

"No, I'm not old, I still have to go to work, and the more money I can earn, the better."

"Okay, whatever you like, it's late, Mom, go to bed early, I'm sleepy."

"Okay, okay, go to sleep. I'll go to sleep now."

Kang's mother said this happily, with tears of happiness, sweetness and emotion rolling down her eyes.

On the other side, at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill, in the small dark room of the Security Department.

"Squeak..."

As the big iron gate opened, Liu Haizhong, the second aunt and Liu Guangfu's family of three all had dark circles under their eyes and looked up numbly and mechanically.

During this day and night, they seemed to have experienced all the sufferings of a lifetime: cold, hunger, fatigue, pain, and fear.

Liu Guangfu didn't know how many times he cried and cursed Lin Beijun and the Security Department tens of thousands of times in his heart.

From the moment they were brought into the small dark room, they were handcuffed to an iron pipe. It was okay for Second Aunt, who was short, so it wasn't too uncomfortable for her to stand. But it was miserable for tall people like Liu Haizhong and Liu Guangfu, who couldn't even stand up straight.

You mean sit? Is there a fucking seat here? Either stand, squat, sit on the ground, or lie on the ground, but they were handcuffed and couldn't sit or lie down at all, so they could only stand or squat. There were blood marks on their wrists. Although they were not beaten, they still suffered a lot.

That’s not all. From yesterday afternoon till now, they had only eaten one cold meal and drank water three times. They were thirsty and hungry.

Every once in a while, someone from the security department would come and bang on the door, yelling at them and not letting them sleep, which almost drove them crazy.

"You can go now." The guard came in and said in a playful tone as he uncuffed them.

"Let's go? What are you thinking about? What's wrong? Haven't you stayed in the small dark room enough?"

After the handcuffs were removed, all three of them sat down on the ground, and it took them a long time to come to their senses.

"Ah, no, no, no, let's go now, let's go now."

Liu Haizhong was the first to wake up. He pulled his wife and children and hurried out.

When they walked out of the small dark room, they still couldn't believe that they were free.

Looking at the guard who locked the door, Liu Haizhong hesitated for a while, but finally asked the question in his heart: "Comrade, who let us go?"

"Who else could it be? Of course it's our Section Chief Lin. Otherwise, even if the factory director or department head wants to release the person he arrested, it won't work."

"Alright, alright, let's go."

"Lin Beijun?"

This answer stunned Liu Haizhong's family. They never thought that he would be the one to let them go.