The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

"Hey, these two are selling popsicles here again."

Xiao Ling raised her head and looked in the direction of the voice. The person who spoke was called Dayong. He graduated from the same school as Xiao Ling and Sibei'er. He had previously fought with Sibei'er because of Xiao Ling.

"What are you doing here?" Xiao Ling gave Dayong a cold look.

"Come and see what has become of you following him." Dayong said sarcastically.

Dayong actually liked Xiaoling and had pursued her when they were in school. However, because Xiaoling only had Sibei in her heart, she directly rejected Dayong, making him feel humiliated for a moment.

It is true that Xiao Ling looked down on Dayong. After Xiao Ling rejected him, he took the opportunity to take revenge and threw all of Xiao Ling's schoolbag and books into the toilet.

At that time, they were just in the second grade of junior high school. Xiao Ling was so angry that she sat in the classroom crying. Although Sibei never admitted that he liked Xiao Ling, he took action without hesitation when he saw Xiao Ling being bullied.

Sibei was good at fighting, and Dayong didn't get the upper hand at that time. Since then, he never bothered Xiao Ling again. However, the two of them had a grudge against each other, and Dayong always wanted to compete with Sibei and try to get the upper hand over him in every way.

Sibeier didn't even raise his head or open his eyes, and ignored Dayong, continuing to eat his steamed bun. In fact, he looked down on Dayong, who was annoying in his way of dealing with people and was a coward in fights. He just relied on his family's good conditions to look down on others all day long.

"You're still eating corn noodles? How many restaurants still eat corn noodles now? You can really swallow it." Dayong did not want to miss the opportunity to ridicule Sibeier and continued to provoke him with words.

Dayong's mother is a worker in a fiber factory, and his father is the deputy director of a woolen mill. Their salary is almost three times that of other families. In addition, Dayong's two older brothers are also working, so his family conditions are unmatched by ordinary families.

"I earn what I eat myself, so I feel more proud than you who just sit there doing nothing and eat what's provided at home." Sibeier sullenly replied with disdain.

Dayong was not angry and still looked at Xiao Ling with a playful smile.

"Ling'er, you should come with me from now on. My father has arranged everything for me. I will be able to enter the woolen mill next month and become a formal employee. My mother also said that when I get married, she will provide all the four major items, including the color TV ticket."

"I won't follow you even if you have eight items. Look at how shaggy you are."

Xiao Ling felt like she couldn't listen to a word. There was nothing about Dayong's appearance that met Xiao Ling's taste. Not only was he ugly, but he was also fat and stupid.

"Okay, fine, you will regret it one day." Dayong said harshly and kicked the ice cream box hard.

Sibei endured for a long time, but when he saw him kicking his ice cream box, he immediately stood up. Dayong was a little scared of Sibei and turned around and wanted to leave.

Xiao Ling, who was standing by, took a quick step forward, jumped up and slapped Dayong in the face, leaving a bloody mark on Dayong's face instantly.

When Sibei saw Xiao Ling taking action, he also jumped up.

Dayong was not as agile as his elder brother to begin with, and with Xiao Ling's help, he was no match for four hands with his two fists. He lost somewhat embarrassingly with scratches all over his face.

Sibei dusted off the dust on his body and picked up the crushed ice cream box.

"Half a box of popsicles are crushed. All my work these days is in vain." Sibeier touched the crushed popsicles with some heartache.

"I can't even compare to your popsicles?" Xiao Ling complained with her messy hair and pouty lips.

When fighting with Dayong just now, Xiao Ling was thrown to the ground several times. It was early autumn and Xiao Ling was only wearing a pair of pants, so her legs were hurt from the falls.

"Are you okay?" Sibei looked up at Xiao Ling, who was covered in dirt.

In fact, Sibeier was not indifferent to Xiao Ling. He had already gotten used to Xiao Ling being around him every day. He just didn't like Xiao Ling's personality, so he refused to talk about his relationship with Xiao Ling.

"My legs hurt, my arms hurt, my feet hurt..."

"Doesn't your mouth hurt?"

Sibei rolled his eyes at Xiao Ling in annoyance, and Xiao Ling laughed out loud.

The popsicles were dropped and stepped on, and they could no longer be sold. Sibei'er simply picked up a few that were still worthwhile and took Xiaoling home.

"Hey, are you stealing landmines? You're covered in dirt."

Before entering the alley, the third brother, who was getting ready to go to school, happened to run into Sibei and Xiao Ling who had just returned. He looked them up and down and joked to Xiao Ling, who was covered in dirt.

"I'll steal a popsicle and bring one to you. Is Xiaoying gone?" The fourth brother spread out a small quilt and let the third brother pick out a popsicle to eat.

"Who are you fighting with again?" The third brother looked at the five or six popsicles in the quilt bag and picked out a big piece of cream that he usually couldn't bear to eat.

"Follow Dayong, if you see his brother, beat him up."

This is the bad thing about Xiao Ling's character. She never keeps things to herself. Instead, she makes a big fuss whenever something happens. She wants to have the upper hand in everything and doesn't care about the consequences at all.

After hearing this, the third child didn't say anything, just smiled, ate his popsicle and walked towards school.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, the house of Darong's grandmother had been built, and Darong's family helped her grandmother and third uncle move into the new house.

"It's okay now. I don't have to endure my aunt's anger anymore." Xiaoying put down a plate of dumplings and said happily to her grandma.

Grandma didn't have much belongings to begin with, so when she moved, she took almost nothing with her except for some necessary items and cooking utensils, and she finished packing everything in just one day.

"Mom, we borrowed a lot of money to build this house, so we really don't have money to buy furniture. Let's make do with what we have now and then slowly buy more furniture later."

After Darong's mother covered the wooden frame with the cloth, she spoke to Darong's grandmother with some shame.

Darong's mother is such a person. Even though she has given 200% of her ability, anything she fails to do for her family is still her responsibility.

"That's good, that's good." Grandma Darong's eyes were a little moist, and she lowered her head and murmured softly in response.

"Da Rong, have you been hired as a regular employee now?" The third uncle in the west room asked curiously while watching Da Rong who was still busy packing her things.

"It will be soon. After the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, we will go to work in the new factory. They said that once we enter the new factory, we will be treated as regular employees."

Although Darong's work during this period cannot be said to be smooth, there have been no more troubles. She has a new master, who is a very capable person.

Every time the workshop director wanted to find fault, she would stand in front of Darong to protect her. Although the workshop director did not like Darong, he was somewhat considerate of Darong as the new master, so the friction was obviously reduced.

"Third uncle, are you in a relationship?" Darong straightened up and asked her third uncle with a smile.