The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

After Darong and Xiaoying chatted for a while, Sibeier came back from the night shift. He was obviously in a bad mood today and fell directly on the kang as soon as he entered the door.

"Fourth Brother, what's wrong with you? Why are you unhappy?"

Darong looked at Sibei lying on the bed and asked worriedly. In the past, Sibei was the person with the least worries. He didn't take anything seriously and just focused on making himself happy.

"Brother, what's wrong with you?" Xiaoying was a little worried and walked forward to pull Sibei who was lying on the kang.

The four brothers said nothing and continued to lie huddled together on the kang.

"Just tell me what's the matter. It's so frustrating seeing you lying there without saying a word." Darong also walked to the edge of the kang and pulled Sibei'er's legs.

"Sister, I was cheated by someone." Sibei sat up from the kang and said dejectedly.

"Cheated? How did you cheat? What happened?"

"I learned business from someone, but that person was a liar..."

"Did he cheat you out of money? How much money did he cheat you out of? Was it from my home or from outside?"

Darong couldn't help but get nervous after hearing what Sibei said.

"It wasn't a big scam, but I felt bad because I lost all my money. Sigh..."

"Do you have any money to borrow?"

"No, it was all my own savings. Now it's gone, and everything is gone."

Sibei became angrier and angrier as he spoke. He took off the gloves from around his neck and threw them against the wall.

"Don't lose your temper. What if you hit our sister?" Xiaoying glared at Sibei.

"Hey, I'm not stupid, please stop bothering me."

Sibei actually has the best temper among the group, and has never spoken a loud word to Xiaoying since they were young.

Xiaoying burst into tears when she was suddenly yelled at by Sibei.

"Tsk, don't cry, don't cry, I was wrong, okay? I was just in a bad mood. I was almost done, but now it's all gone."

When Sibei saw Xiaoying crying, he tried to comfort her, but Xiaoying didn't appreciate it at all. She turned around and went into the inner room.

"How much did you lose? Did you really not borrow money from outside? Don't take the blame for nothing."

Darong knew that Sibei'er had always wanted to go into business, but his family members did not agree with him doing business and had never given him capital, so she was very worried about where the money he lost came from.

"I lost more than 800 yuan, but don't worry, it's all my own money. In fact, I have been selling goods with Xiao Ling. This money is all saved by ourselves. We have no external debt."

After Sibei noticed her sister's worry, she quickly told her how she had saved the money by doing small business over the past year.

After listening to Sibei'er's words, Darong felt relieved. He and Xiaoling started out by selling vegetables, and saved a few hundred yuan without any investment. They then purchased more goods and started selling jeans, which is how they got this little savings.

The reason why it is said to be a profit without any investment is that the vegetables sold by these two people are all grown by Xiao Ling's family. The vegetables harvested in autumn are all sold in the market by Xiao Ling, so Xiao Ling's parents, who have their own land, have to spend their own money to buy vegetables.

If this happened to someone else, Darong might not believe it, but since it was Xiao Ling who did it, Darong would not doubt it at all.

"As long as there is no foreign debt, that's why your parents don't approve of you doing business. The risk is too great."

Darong grew up with Sibei'er, so she could still tell whether he was lying or not.

After confirming that Sibeier was not lying, Darong finally put her mind at ease.

"Sister, don't tell our parents, so they won't scold me again."

"I won't tell you, but..." Darong smiled and pointed towards the inner room.

Sibei smiled awkwardly, stood up and went into the small room.

Xiaoying was sitting on the edge of the bed with tears still in her eyes. When she saw Sibeier coming in, she turned around and left, leaving only her back to Sibeier.

"Hehehe, good sister, I was wrong, don't be angry, just treat me as a fart and let it go."

Sibei pushed Xiaoying's shoulder with a smirk on his face.

Xiaoying burst into laughter after hearing the four generations' nonsense.

"Good sister, don't tell our parents about my affairs. When I make money and turn my life around, I will buy you delicious food and drinks."

Sibei clasped his fists towards Xiaoying with pleading eyes.

"What's the matter? Do you still want to do it?" Darong stood at the door, feeling a little anxious when listening to Sibei'er's words.

"Damn it, I just don't believe it." Sibei didn't notice Darong's emotions and answered firmly.

"You don't even have the capital, what can you do?"

“Take my brain… hehehe… don’t worry, sister. I won’t mess around.”

In that era, most people around me were still working hard for stable jobs and income, but Sibeier had his own pursuits and dreams.

In the days that followed, the four generations spent less and less time at home, even though this road seemed full of hardships and difficulties.

But no one expected that the unreliable boy could always maintain his persistence and belief in his dream.

Zhong Yunxing’s lie had expired. After Darong had stayed at home for a week, she followed Zhong Yunxing back to Erdaohezi.

The morning mist filled the streets. Darong huddled in her thick cotton coat, listening to the rustling of tree branches. Unknowingly, another year was coming to an end.

"Our class is the day shift the day after tomorrow, and I want to go back to work." Darong muttered softly while sitting on the back of the bicycle.

"Ah? What did you say?" Zhong Yunxing was pedaling his bike, the cold wind blew past his ears, he couldn't hear what Darong said at all.

"I said, I will go back to the factory to work the day after tomorrow." Darong pulled down her scarf and repeated it loudly.

"Can it be done?"

"I think that's fine."

Zhong Yunxing didn't say anything else. At that time, factories could not easily fire employees, so there were often people who took long-term sick leave and drew a salary without working. He didn't think it was a big deal for Darong to take a break.

But Darong knew very well that since Mother Zhong had already said it, she was obviously dissatisfied with her pampering.

As soon as Darong entered the room, Mother Zhong quickly held her hand and said repeatedly, "You're back. Come sit on the kang and warm yourself up."

Zhong Yunsheng had returned from vacation. He just called Darong "sister-in-law" and turned to continue studying in the side room.

Xiaoping was also uncharacteristically unenthusiastic today and just called out "sister-in-law" like Zhong Yunsheng did and then stopped talking.

Darong felt a little tired. She was too lazy to think about the stories behind the indifference. She just forced a smile out of habit and sat quietly in the corner.