The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

After arriving in the city, Darong was always depressed and couldn't muster up any energy. Her great aunt was a temporary worker doing piecework and could earn wages as long as someone came to take her shift.

Darong commutes to and from get off work every day with Xiaofen, her next-door neighbor. The two girls are of similar age and quickly became familiar with each other.

"DaRong, go to the back row and borrow a pair of scissors." Xiaofen tried to untie the straps on the package for a long time but failed. She was obviously getting anxious.

Darong didn't say anything, stood up and walked towards the back row.

"Can I borrow a pair of scissors, please?" Darong walked to the back row and asked politely to the person in the first seat.

"What?" The man looked up at Darong.

Darong is from the southern suburbs and has a strong southern suburbs accent. At that time, people did not have a strong concept of speaking Mandarin and could hear their local accent wherever they went.

"I want to borrow a pair of scissors." Darong repeated.

"Borrow it?"

If the first time was because he didn't hear clearly, then the second time was obviously deliberate.

People in Yutian City have an inexplicable sense of superiority. Even though three generations of a family can fit into one bungalow, they still feel that city people have an aura of nobility.

Darong looked at the person in front of her, she could already sense the contempt and provocation in the other person's tone.

"I want to borrow a pair of scissors." Darong suppressed her displeasure and repeated her words again.

"Scissors?" Sure enough, the other party was deliberately provoking and picking trouble. This time he repeated it in Darong's accent, causing people in the back row to chuckle softly.

Darong's eyes had already swept over the scissors on the next table. She took two steps forward slowly, picked up the scissors on the next table, and then, with all her strength, stabbed them directly into the table.

The person sitting in the seat jumped up from his chair with a scream, staring at Darong with horror on his face.

"This is a pair of scissors, can you lend it to me?" Darong still spoke softly and politely, but the people in the back row looked at Darong with complicated eyes.

Later, rumors gradually spread that Nanjiao was once a bandit's den, and the versions became more and more exciting and rich. Darong didn't bother to pay attention to it. After all, she was only taking over for a month, so she didn't care about it.

"You are really arrogant today. Don't you know that Su Mei is the most annoying one? Normally, no one dares to mess with her."

On the way home, Xiaofen smiled like a flower. Darong's fuss today could be considered as revenge for Xiaofen. In the past, Xiaofen had mistakenly taken Sumei's work and was scolded by her.

But because Xiaofen was caught in the wrong, and she was a rather cowardly person, she didn't dare to say a word back. She just sat in her seat, feeling aggrieved and crying.

"I didn't provoke her, she just wanted to make things difficult for me." Darong is actually a very calm person, she doesn't really like to shout and yell and form cliques.

"She has made things difficult for everyone." Xiaofen curled her lips with a look of resentment.

Darong had actually been feeling unhappy about her breakup with Pei Bin. Originally she was just in a bad mood, but Jin Sumei's ridicule completely provoked her to rage, so she simply vented her emotions without reservation.

After Darong returned home, she helped her great aunt with cleaning and cooking. In fact, there was nothing wrong with her great aunt's health. It was just that before Darong came, Darong's mother had already sent a letter to her great aunt, telling her roughly what had happened.

"Rong, go to the store and buy two bottles of wine for the guests coming to our house in the evening." Great aunt took out some money and handed it to Darong.

"okay."

When Darong came back from buying wine, the old man had already arrived at the house with his friends. Darong naturally didn't know him, but she saw a middle-aged man wearing an old military uniform, who looked open-minded and cheerful.

After greeting the guests politely, Darong went into the kitchen to help her great aunt.

The urban area of ​​Yutian has a relatively high population density. After the earthquake in 76, many newly built buildings have "single-family" accommodation arrangements, that is, two families live in the same unit, with one room for one family.

At that time, the housing system was still allocated by the work unit, and it was considered lucky to be allocated a house. No one would be picky about the accommodation environment. After all, the conditions were much better than those in the bungalow period.

Darong's uncle is a retired veteran, and his father's generation were also heroes, so the government gave him considerable consideration in his work arrangements and housing allocation, and allocated him a one-bedroom apartment.

When the two men started drinking, time seemed to stretch unusually long. After Darong and great aunt finished their work in the kitchen, they sat aside and watched TV while serving bowls to Juer.

Darong listened to the conversation between her uncle and his friend intentionally or unintentionally, and roughly understood that the two were old comrades-in-arms who stayed in Yutian after demobilization.

But these probably have nothing to do with Darong. The house is so small that she has to listen whether she wants to or not.

After three rounds of drinking, both of them were a little tipsy, but the old man insisted on sending his old comrade home, and he didn't come back until late at night.

Darong was sleeping in a daze and heard the conversation between her great aunt and great uncle.

"What do you think about introducing the boy from the Liang family to Darong?"

"How old are you? The conditions are pretty good."

"I also think the conditions are good. Darong is a sensible child, but the age difference is a bit big. Lao Liang's kid is born in the Year of the Ox, so the age difference is 6 years, right? He is working in the Industry and Commerce Bureau now."

"That's not true. She's 7 years older. It's just that although our Darong is good, she doesn't have a job after all."

Although my great aunt asked the question with concern, there didn't seem to be much worry in her tone.

Darong listened to the conversation in the inner room without any ripples in her heart. She had an inherent understanding of city people: selfish, arrogant, and pretentious. Therefore, people in the southern suburbs were generally not willing to date city people.

Just as the people in the city look down on the people in the southern suburbs, the people in the southern suburbs also have a bit of disdain for the people in the city.

"Lao Liang has always praised Da Rong for being sensible and reasonable. Why should his family worry about arranging a job for her?"

My great aunt and great uncle got married very late, and they had a child when they were already very old. Now they are serving in the army, so even though they are a generation apart, there is not much difference between looking at Darong and looking at her daughter.

When Darong heard that there was no more talking in the inner room, she fell asleep again in a daze.

The next day, Darong went to work as usual. When she arrived at the entrance of the alley, Xiaofen was already waiting there.

"Da Rong, Su Mei's brother is going to our factory for inspection today. What did you say about yesterday? Will Su Mei ask her brother to retaliate against you?"

"Who is her brother?" Darong was just there to take over the shift temporarily. She had hardly talked to anyone except Xiaofen, so naturally she didn't know anyone.

"I heard that her brother is a leading cadre. She has been bullying others because she has her brother's support." Xiaofen curled her lips, her tone full of disdain.

Darong thought to herself, whoever love is who, she should go home to attend classes after finishing work for this week.