The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

"Here." Sibei stuffed two loaves of bread into Xiao Ling's hands.

"Is this for me?" Xiao Ling's eyes moved, with a flattered expression on her face.

"Ah."

Sibei continued walking forward without even looking up. Today, several of his classmates had agreed to go to the cinema to watch a movie by climbing over the wall. Xiao Ling, a girl, insisted on following them.

Xiao Ling looked at the bread in her hand. This was the first time she had eaten "return meal". From the time she met Sibei'er to the time she started pursuing him, she had brought him breakfast for two years.

Sibeier had never been polite and had never asked her what she wanted to eat in the morning. It was unclear if he was really dull or simply didn't care about Xiao Ling.

In fact, Xiao Ling really treated Sibei'er as a treasure in her hand. In Xiao Ling's eyes, Sibei'er was the best-looking, most handsome and most manly boy in the world. Xiao Ling was the perfect example of "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder".

In order to make sure Sibei had a good meal every day, she would often steal her brother's eggs for him to eat. She was just worried that Sibei didn't have enough to eat, so she would go hungry and skip breakfast. This girl was really sincere in her love for Sibei.

"You are so nice to me." Xiao Ling looked at the bread in her hand, her eyes slightly red with excitement.

In fact, she just didn't know that Sibei was tired of eating bread and wanted to give away all the bread in the house as soon as possible. Not only her, but almost all the classmates who played with her on weekdays got some.

Only the silly girl Xiaoling treated it as a blessing and was so excited that she was laughing all day long.

"Someone is coming, someone is coming, run."

Dajiang shouted softly, and several boys on the wall jumped down quickly, but Xiaoling was too timid to jump down.

"I told you not to come, but you insisted on coming. Come down quickly." The four generations below complained to Xiao Ling anxiously.

Xiao Ling gritted her teeth and jumped down from the top of the wall. As soon as she landed on the ground, she cried out "ouch" and squatted down, holding her ankle.

"Oh, what trouble."

Although he was scolding her, Sibei still carried Xiao Ling on his back and trotted out of the alley behind the cinema.

"You can't do this. You have to go to the hospital. Look, your ankle is swollen." Dajiang came over and said to Xiao Ling who was crying.

"Fourth brother, please carry her home."

"Ah."

Sibei responded, carried Xiao Ling on his back again, and walked towards Xiao Ling's home.

Although Xiao Ling's family is also in the town, it is at the very edge. Her family has an agricultural household registration and owns a few acres of thin land.

Sibei was carrying Xiao Ling on his back, but he could not walk any further before they were halfway there. He put Xiao Ling down on a big rock and sat her down. He unbuttoned his cotton jacket and took a deep breath to rest.

"You don't look fat, but you look quite heavy." Sibeier joked to Xiao Ling while fanning herself with his hat.

"You're still laughing at me. It hurts so much." Xiao Ling pouted and sat on a big rock, covering her ankle.

"Who told you to follow me? Didn't I tell you to go home? You're just stupid, who can you blame?" Sibei'er would never indulge Xiao Ling and always argued with her whenever he opened his mouth.

Although Sibei was slow in coming to understand, he understood Xiao Ling's feelings for him to some extent. They were only teenagers and not stupid, so how could he not have feelings for her?

The two of them argued for a while beside the big rock, and Sibei carried Xiao Ling on his back again. Although he always argued with her, it was Sibei who did not abandon Xiao Ling and run away at the critical moment.

Although Xiao Ling endured the pain in her feet that day, she felt indescribable happiness in her heart.

"Sister, is there anything to eat?"

After sending Xiao Ling home, Sibei hurried home to find something to eat. He had consumed a lot of energy on the journey, and his stomach was growling with hunger before it even got dark.

"It's not cooked yet. Have some bread first." Darong was busy preparing dinner in the kitchen. The steamed corn bread had just been put on and would take some time before it could be taken out of the pot.

"I'm not going to eat it anymore. I'd rather starve than eat that bread." Sibei scooped half a bucket of cold water from the jar and drank two big gulps.

"Oh, it's winter now, and there's hot water in the house but you don't drink it. Be careful not to hurt your stomach."

Darong quickly snatched the water scoop from Sibei'er's hand and swung it at his butt.

"Hey, it's okay. I was feeling anxious when I walked. Drinking something cool will make me feel better."

Sibei jumped away from the water scoop swung by his sister and spoke with a smile on his face.

"What have you been doing? You're already this old, but you're always going out and having fun. Be careful, our mom will come back and beat you up."

Although Darong said this, she knew in her heart that her mother would never be willing to beat her older brother. He had been slower in speech and less intelligent than others since he was young, and Darong's mother was always afraid that he would suffer, so she favored him in everything.

"Xiao Ling sprained her ankle and couldn't walk, so I carried her home." Sibeier picked up a piece of radish from the chopping board and chewed it in his mouth.

"Carried it back home? No wonder you were so hungry."

Xiao Ling's home is not close to Sibei'er's home. On weekdays, Xiao Ling takes a detour every day to go to school with Sibei'er. Darong admires her perseverance.

Now that her brother had carried her all the way back home, Darong was quite appreciative of this unruly older brother. After all, a boy should be responsible.

While they were talking, the radishes had already been put into the pot. Darong worked efficiently and in a short while the steamed steamed bread was ready and the radishes and cabbage were also fried and ready.

As soon as Darong's father and mother entered the door, they had a ready-made dinner. No wonder the old people say that people who give birth to a daughter as their first child are the most blessed.

"Sibei'er, Huazi, don't run around today. Let's go to Zhouzhuang together and give that half bag of noodles to grandma."

Before going to work in the morning, Darong's mother carefully instructed the four brothers to go to grandma's house to deliver things, and told Xiaoying to lock the gate at home and then go to work with Darong's father.

She was not too worried about home. Darong would go to work in the early morning and would be home before noon. As long as she was at home, Darong's father and mother could work outside with peace of mind.

"Hua Zi, come with me to the south field first." Sibei and Lao San carried half a bag of noodles and went out together.

"Where are you going?" The third brother didn't know that Xiao Ling's home was in the south field.

"Xiao Ling sprained her ankle when she jumped over the wall yesterday. I went over to take a look."

"Oh, we're going to see my sister-in-law." The third brother glanced at the fourth brother with a sly smile on his face, thinking that it was no wonder that Xiao Ling didn't go home today.

"Don't talk nonsense, little brat, you know what I mean."

Sibei frowned slightly. He usually didn't care what his classmates said at school. He was a boy and he wouldn't suffer any loss no matter what they said. But he still didn't want his family to make blind guesses. After all, he felt that he didn't like Xiao Ling.

The third brother snorted and didn't say anything. He saw clearly that it was just his silly brother who was not smart all day long.