Siheyuan, my new life

Qi Wenzhang took the cigarettes his father had placed on the octagonal table, lit one, took a puff, and coughed a few times to calm his breathing. Then he lowered his voice and said, "Dad, there's something I don't know what to do. Tonight, Xu Fugui and Yue Xiangqian rushed at that law enforcement officer and were quickly knocked to the ground. I vaguely saw Xu Fugui, lying on the ground, throw something from his waist into the weeds by the street. Thinking back, it should be a handgun. Dad, Xu Fugui was carrying a handgun. Could he be an enemy agent? Do you think I should report him to law enforcement? Or maybe I should tell Brother Zhuzi, so he can get a reward for his service?"

Qi Liushun frowned and pondered for a moment before slowly shaking his head and saying in a low voice, "Xu Fugui is unlikely to be an enemy agent." Seeing that his son was about to speak, he waved his hand and continued, "You were too young before, and there were many things I didn't tell you. Now that you're about to graduate from high school, the most important thing is your job. To avoid any unnecessary trouble, there are some things I should tell you. Xu Fugui used to be the car driver for the former owner of the Lou family's steel rolling mill, who was known as Lou Bancheng, for several years. His wife was also the personal maid of Lou Tanshi, Lou Bancheng's third concubine. So it's not surprising that Xu Fugui has a pistol."

Seeing his son's still somewhat unwilling expression, Qi Liushun sighed softly: "Actually, Xu Fugui carried a pistol with him every day before Liberation. At that time, almost all wealthy families would equip their bodyguards and servants with pistols. After all, there was chaos and bandits at that time. If the rich were not careful, they would be kidnapped and extorted by bandits. Therefore, these wealthy families would spend money to buy a lot of weapons. The former Lou's Steel Rolling Mill's security team even had heavy machine guns and mortars, so it is not surprising that Xu Fugui had a pistol. However, since he became a film projectionist in the propaganda department of the steel rolling mill, I have never seen him carry a gun again. I guess this is because he goes to the black market at night. For safety, Xu Fugui carries a cell phone for self-defense."

Qi Liushun flicked his cigarette and continued, "They say you need to catch a thief red-handed and an adulterer caught in the act. Even if you report Xu Fugui, as long as he denies it, without finding a pistol on him on the spot, you probably won't be able to bring him to justice. This Xu Fugui has connections with all sorts of people. Once he finds out that you reported him for carrying a pistol, he'll probably try every means to retaliate against our family. They say it's better to offend a gentleman than a petty person."

Qi Wenzhang sighed helplessly: "Okay, I understand."

At this moment, Qi's mother came over with a bowl of noodles and an egg in it. Qi Liushun glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was already past four in the morning. He quickly said, "It's getting late. Eat your noodles and get some more sleep. After dawn, the people in the courtyard will definitely come looking for you. Remember to deal with them the way Zhu Zi taught you. You absolutely cannot let them know that Zhu Zi helped you."

Qi Wenzhang was exhausted and hungry. As he shoveled noodles into his mouth, he mumbled, "I know, I definitely won't let it slip."

As the sun rises in the east, a new day begins. Although the residents of courtyard house number 95 braved the freezing cold last night to search for Xu Fugui and the others and ended up taking a roundabout route, they still had to struggle to get up early in the morning, take weary steps to wash up, eat breakfast, and prepare to go to work.

However, when many people came to the water tap in the middle courtyard to fetch water and wash up as usual, they heard a shocking piece of news: Qi Liushun's eldest son, Qi Wenzhang, had returned to the back courtyard.

You should know that Qi Wenzhang went to the Old Imperial City Black Market with Xu Fugui and the others last night. Now, Xu Fugui and the others have disappeared, and only Qi Wenzhang has returned alone. At this time, quite a few people have gone to the backyard, most of whom are the family members of those who went to the black market and have not yet returned. The rest are some curious people who went to see what was going on.

Soon, the doorway of the Qi family's west wing in the backyard was crowded with people, all talking at once in a chaotic mess. From afar, Hao Aiguo's wife's piercing scream could be heard: "Qi Liushun, tell your son to come out and explain himself. Why is it that only he came back by himself? Why didn't our Hao Aiguo and the other neighbors come back?" Several other women chimed in.

Qi Liushun was also a bit overwhelmed. Although he had anticipated that this morning would be troublesome, he asked his wife to go to Xu Fugui's wife first, thinking of explaining things to her. However, when his wife went to Xu Fugui's house, she went to the Central Courtyard to fetch water. His wife actually went directly to the Central Courtyard and told her there. As a result, after being overheard by people nearby, the news quickly spread.

At this moment, Qi Wenzhang walked out of the house, still half asleep. He had heard the commotion at the door earlier, so he rubbed his eyes and said loudly, "Dear uncles, aunts, uncles and aunts, my dad originally wanted to tell you privately, but since Auntie San wants to know why I was the only one who was released, I will tell you here."

Upon hearing Qi Wenzhang's words, everyone present fell silent, eager to know what had happened.

So Qi Wenzhang recounted the events of the previous night in detail. Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to admit that He Yuzhu had someone rescue him. Instead, he said that after being interrogated by law enforcement, they determined that he had only gone to the black market to buy grain. In particular, when Xu Fugui and Yue Xiangqian took the lead in attacking the law enforcement officers, he did not participate and simply stood still. Therefore, after criticizing and educating him, he was made to write a self-criticism before being released.

After hearing Qi Wenzhang's account, everyone began to whisper among themselves. No one expected that Xu Fugui and Yue Xiangqian would dare to attack the law enforcement officers who were trying to stop them. Several other people were also arrested for resisting.

Fang Dahu, who had been standing at his door, said loudly, "Alright, now that the article has made things clear, everyone stop crowding around here. Go home and eat if you need to, or go to work if you need to. What's the point of you discussing it here now that it's already happened? Go back and try to find out more."

The neighbors who had been watching the commotion walked back to their homes in twos and threes, whispering amongst themselves. Only Yue Xiangqian's wife and Hao Aiguo's wife entered Xu Fugui's house together.