The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

After Grandma Darong saw her second aunt, she could no longer control the tears she had been holding back.

Darong's mother was adopted when she was young, but Darong's eldest uncle, second aunt and third uncle are Darong's grandmother's biological children.

When my grandmother was young, for some unknown reason, none of her children could be raised. The oldest lived to be three or four years old, and the youngest died before she was born.

After six or seven children died, Darong's grandfather could no longer bear it. He listened to the advice of the elderly and adopted a child from his brother's family.

This child was Da Rongma, who was only 9 days old at the time.

Darong's mother said that the elderly at that time could not refuse the adoption request from the eldest son in the family who had no children, so she was separated from her biological mother when she was just born.

Poor Darongma's mother fell ill and died during her confinement period due to excessive missing her father, leaving behind Darongma's two older sisters who had to leave their hometown and go abroad with their father since they were young.

When Grandma Darong saw her own daughter, she couldn't help but feel sad. She cried and sobbed about how difficult it was for her.

"Mom, don't cry. When they come back tomorrow, I will ask Dayi and ask him to explain clearly. We will live in the house opposite each other in the future. It will be a big deal if we don't talk it out." Darong's mother sighed and comforted Darong as she looked at her crying grandmother.

The children sat aside in silence. Darong was washing dishes in the outer room, listening to the voices of people in the house.

Grandma Darong’s legs and feet have never been in good condition. She had half of her feet bound when she was a child. Although they were unbound in time with the intervention of the new government and she did not suffer from a real disability, the soles of her feet are still a little crooked.

In the past few years, the family lost its breadwinner, and she was very tired working alone, and her legs and feet became even more unsteady.

That day, Darong's father took the children back home, while Darong's mother lived in Zhouzhuang with her second aunt and grandmother.

"Dad, why does my grandma live such a miserable life?"

Because there were too many children for the car to fit, and it was getting dark and he was worried about letting Darong and her children go home by themselves, Darong's father pushed the car and walked home with the four children.

"Your grandma was scared of being bullied. Your grandpa died early. At that time, the people in the village were not as good as those in the town. They always bullied the orphans and widows who had no one to rely on."

Darong's father said this in a low voice, and in his heart he looked down upon the behavior of those country people.

The next morning, Darong took Xiaoying to her grandmother's house. Darong knew her mother's temper too well, and she was afraid that she would find it difficult to control her anger once her aunt came back.

Although Darong and Xiaoying jogged to grandma's house, they were still not as fast as their uncle who rode back on his bike.

Before entering the yard, Darong heard her mother scolding her uncle.

"I'm not scolding you for being good or bad, I'm only scolding you for not saying anything. Did our mother tell you about taking eggs from you? We have a hot kiln at home and you didn't say anything. Are you still a man?"

Darong walked into her grandmother's room and saw her uncle sitting on a stool in the corner with his head against the wall, letting his sister scold him without saying a word.

Although Darong's mother is not the biological daughter of this family, she still has quite a lot of prestige in front of her younger brothers. Since Darong's mother got married, the family has been almost entirely supported by Darong's parents.

When my uncle got married, he didn't have a house, so Darong's father asked his friends in the team to waive the labor costs and help build a yard opposite the house for him to live in. Darong's parents also contributed half of the cost of materials for building the house.

At that time, because every family had many sisters, there was no such term as "brother-supporting demon", and brothers and sisters did not care about gains and losses. Not only in Darong's grandmother's family, but also in Darong's aunt and uncle's family, they all took care of each other in this way.

"You should explain it clearly to your wife. You can kneel down and kowtow to her. We won't care as long as you don't kowtow in this room. Your wife must come over and apologize to our mother, otherwise I won't let her pass."

Although my second aunt is the biological daughter of Grandma Darong, my second uncle is a very interesting person. Before dawn, he said that he forgot to lock the door at home, and hurriedly got on his bike and rushed home with his wife and children.

I guess my second uncle probably didn't sleep all night thinking of this excuse.

Darong's mother understood what was happening but she didn't say anything. Her second uncle was timid and cowardly, and her second aunt had been a coward since childhood. Even if she stayed here, she would never speak up to help.

"Sister, I dare not. What if she wants to divorce me? The child is so young." Darong's uncle endured the scolding for a long time. He had no choice but to say this.

"You, you, you." Grandma Darong said "you" three times in a row and tears started falling again.

"Mom, you know she really hit me..."

Darong was very confused when she saw her uncle's cowardly look. She just couldn't understand why her uncle was so afraid of her aunt.

Darong took Xiaoying and sat in the outer room. When the third uncle saw the two sisters coming, he also came out from the inner room.

"Your uncle is such a coward." Darong's third uncle muttered in contempt after sitting down on a small bench in the outer room.

Darong is only four years younger than her third uncle. This year, her third uncle is already 22 years old and has reached the age to get married. However, due to his poor family conditions, agricultural household registration, and no house, no one has introduced him to a partner.

"You don't dare, but I do. We are a family, and you let her be the queen here."

Darong's mother's voice suddenly became louder, and Xiaoying in the outer room shuddered subconsciously.

"Sister, sister, I beg you, please don't get involved, okay?"

Darong listened to her uncle's voice and felt that he was really about to cry.

"Uncle, what are you afraid of?" Darong couldn't control her temper for a moment, she lifted the curtain and looked at her uncle and asked.

"What are you afraid of? I'm afraid she'll really stop living with me and go back to her parents' home and I won't be able to take her back."

"What's there to be afraid of..." Before Darong could finish her words, she was interrupted by her uncle's roar.

"What do you know as a little kid? Take your sister back home now and stop calling everyone's door and meddling in everyone's affairs all day long."

The uncle didn't dare to get angry with Darong's mother, but instead took out his anger on Darong.

Isn’t there a saying that a mother is what her daughter will be like twenty years later? What kind of cowardly child can this hot-tempered mother, Darong, raise?

After hearing her uncle's roar, Darong did not argue, but silently lowered the curtain and walked directly to her uncle's house opposite.

My aunt was sitting on the kang holding her child, listening happily to the noise in the opposite room. When she raised her eyes, she saw Darong walking in with a peaceful face.