Siheyuan: Starting from a Truck Driver

"Damn it, a bottle of purple medicine is wasted like this!" He scolded, "You useless piece of shit, go home and apply the medicine!"

Yan Jiecheng, Yan Jiefang and his three brothers shrank their necks and ran away in shame.

Behind them, the neighbors were talking, obviously laughing at them for not being able to handle an old lady.

Soon after, the people in the house dispersed.

Liu Haizhong didn't dare let his two sons stay here any longer, for fear that Jia Zhang would go crazy again.

Let them move in after the soundproofing is installed.

In this conflict, no one paid any attention to Jia Zhang, the most unlucky person.

Although the Yan brothers were scratched by her, the wounds healed in a few days and there might not even be any scars left.

Jia Zhang's situation is different. The two fallen front teeth cannot regenerate.

The only way to make up for it is to get dentures, but dentures are expensive and Jia Zhang simply cannot afford it.

The ten dollars Yi Zhonghai gave her was just a drop in the bucket, and it was even more impossible for Qin Huairu to pay for her teeth implants.

Jia Zhang could only blame herself for her bad luck.

She cried and shouted there for a long time, but seeing that no one paid any attention to her, she had no choice but to go back to the kang and lie down.

I don’t know whether Qin Huairu did it on purpose or she really forgot, but she didn’t even invite Jia Zhang to dinner that night.

As a result, Jia Zhang was so hungry that she couldn't sleep and tossed and turned all night.

On the other side, although Li Weidong's home was not far from the home of the original resident Xu Damao, he and Yu Li did not go to see the excitement. Because a guest suddenly came to their home. Hu Guangliang handed Li Weidong a red invitation and told him that they had already discussed that they would get married when Ye Zi was discharged from the hospital next month, and hoped that Li Weidong and his wife could attend. The invitation was written with a brush, which was very formal, but the handwriting was not in Hu Guangliang's style. It was probably written by his family. Li Weidong agreed and said that he would attend their wedding even if he needed to take leave. If there was anything he could help with, Hu Guangliang could just ask. Hu Guangliang immediately followed the topic and praised Li Weidong, saying that they needed a best man who could take a beating, and this position would be given to Li Weidong. Although Li Weidong was reluctant, he still took it. He also reminded Hu Guangliang not to let Ye Zi go too far on the wedding day, otherwise he would not be soft-hearted when making trouble in the bridal chamber. Hu Guangliang's smile froze after hearing this. He wanted to take this opportunity to tease Li Weidong, but he didn't expect Li Weidong to be so tightly controlled. Now he understood that if he tried to play a trick on Li Weidong, he would probably end up suffering.

After the two talked about business, they started chatting again. Hu Guangliang heard the noise from Xu Damao's house and curiously asked Li Weidong whether his neighbor had been released. Li Weidong smiled and replied that he would be imprisoned for at least two or three years for the crimes he committed. Besides, there was no place for him in the steel rolling mill now. Even if he was released, he could not come back. Hu Guangliang also heard the commotion next door. Li Weidong explained that there were too many people in the yard and a little thing could cause a dispute. Hu Guangliang nodded to show his understanding. Whether it was neighbors or brothers, there would be friction if they lived together for a long time. Although the community where he lived was not as lively as Li Weidong's, it was gloomy and terrifying, and conversations between neighbors had to be treated with caution. When talking about things between neighbors, there were always endless topics to talk about. Hu Guangliang heard Li Weidong talking about the gossip of the courtyard, and he couldn't help sharing some things about his own community. Finally, Hu Guangliang sighed that he and Ye Zi would move to the dormitory after marriage. The dormitory he and Ye Zi applied for had been approved. It had two bedrooms and a living room, which was enough for them to live in. They didn't have to worry about not having enough space when they had children in the future. Li Weidong was very envious of this, because he expected that he and Yu Li might have to spend the next few years in the courtyard house, which was not an ideal living environment. The old courtyard house was dilapidated and full of insect pests. People had to go to the toilet and take a bath outdoors, and they had to boil water and cook outside because it was too dangerous to make a fire inside the house. Only wealthy people like Li Weidong would spend money to renovate the kitchen inside the house, and others could not afford such a luxury. As for waiting for the steel plant to allocate a new house, it was simply a foolish dream.

That night, Hu Guangliang stayed at Li's house for a long time before leaving. Before leaving, Li Weidong pulled him aside and asked quietly: "Do you still remember Jia Fugui, the chef of the prospecting team? How did he become?" Hu Guangliang was born in a large compound, so he was naturally more informed than Li Weidong. He glanced into the house and saw Yu Li washing dishes in the kitchen. Then she put two fingers together, made a gesture to her temple, and made a "biu" sound, which reassured Li Weidong. He nodded and said: "This is the fate that Jia Fugui deserves." Li Weidong had no regrets about Jia Fugui's ending, because he believed that no matter how much punishment was imposed on acts involving betrayal of interests, it would not be excessive. Maybe Jia Fugui's incident reminded Hu Guangliang of another thing. He called Li Weidong to his ear and said in a low voice: "When I came here today, I saw a woman sneaking outside your yard. I thought she was an enemy spy. I wanted to send her to the police station after catching her. As a result, she said she was from your yard. She was the woman who divorced Xu Damao, named Lou Xiao'e." Since the Qaidam prospecting team incident, Hu Guangliang has become more vigilant and almost suspected that everyone is an enemy. Hearing this name, Li Weidong raised his eyebrows. Lou Xiao'e has divorced Xu Damao. According to common sense, she should have noticed the change in the situation and moved out of the capital. Unexpectedly, she has not left yet. "What did she say to you?" Li Weidong asked. "Nothing, I let her go after confirming her identity." Li Weidong nodded thoughtfully. Xu Damao was no longer in this yard. Lou Xiao'e came to him, probably because she had forgotten something in the house. But the house had been checked by the masses, and all the valuables were taken away by Xu Damao's parents. The remaining things were neither valuable nor easy to move, and the neighbors all disliked them. Yi Zhonghai had people put them in the corner of the pile of miscellaneous items and take them directly when needed.

"Okay, I got it. You go back first, otherwise Ye Zi will know that I kept you so late and might misunderstand that I am doing something bad." Hu Guangliang smiled and shook his head, pushing his bicycle out. Li Weidong walked him all the way to the gate, until Hu Guangliang's figure disappeared at the entrance of the alley. He was about to turn around and go back to the house when he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye. The other party seemed to realize that he was exposed and quickly hid. Li Weidong remembered Hu Guangliang's words and tentatively called out: "Is it Lou Xiaoe?" Hearing the call, a plump figure slowly walked out from the corner, and when he got closer, it was indeed her. "It's so late, why are you here?" Li Weidong asked.

Lou Xiao'e looked at him hesitantly, unsure whether she should be honest. After a while, she lowered her head and said softly, "I forgot where something is and I want to get it back." "Then why don't you just go in and get it? Aren't you afraid that someone will find out and arrest you as an enemy if you do it so secretly?" Speaking of the experience just now, Lou Xiao'e bit her light red lips but did not respond.

She had originally planned to go in openly, but the Lou family was not doing well recently, and her parents were even considering leaving the capital. If her whereabouts were exposed at this time, it would cause trouble, especially since there was an ambitious Liu Haiyang in the courtyard who always wanted to make meritorious deeds and seek an official position. Li Weidong understood her difficulties and guessed that she had a secret that was difficult to tell, so he did not ask any more questions.

"If you don't want to go in, I can help you. But Xu Damao's room has been emptied and the things have been almost cleared out. I can't guarantee that I can find what you are looking for." At first, Lou Xiao'e was very happy to hear that Li Weidong was willing to help, but she felt nervous when she heard the latter part. But she thought about it and realized that if those things were really found, the police might have already searched the whole city for them, and Li Weidong would not be able to talk to her so calmly.

Now she was faced with two choices: one was to trust Li Weidong and ask him to help her get the things, even though there were risks; the other was to take the risk and go in by herself, but if she was seen, things would become more complicated. Although asking Li Weidong for help was also risky, he had always had a good reputation, and apart from liking to bicker with Yi Zhonghai, there seemed to be no other problems. Lou Xiaoe thought for a moment and had already made a decision in her heart.

She said to Li Weidong, "Brother Weidong, can you help me get it, please?" Li Weidong nodded in agreement. It was just a piece of cake for him, and helping her was also a good deed. In his opinion, Lou Xiao'e was the kind of girl who put love first, which could be seen from some of her behaviors.

When she followed Xu Damao, Lou Xiao'e always believed in him, no matter what he said. But in the end, she was caught in a dilemma. The same thing happened after she got along with He Yuzhu. She was plotted against by a deaf old lady and became pregnant with He Yuzhu's child.

The following is a Chinese translation/paraphrase of the given text:

Among all the people who helped her, only Li Weidong was like a bright beacon, giving her a little warmth. Thinking of this, her heart was filled with gratitude. Seeing her lost in thought, Li Weidong felt helpless and could not help. This woman had a straightforward and innocent character, and it was hard for him to imagine how her parents could trust her to handle affairs.

"Lou Xiao'e, do you have anything else to say?" he asked again.

Lou Xiao'e came back to her senses and nodded in a panic. In front of Li Weidong, she took out a key from her pocket and opened the copper lock on the wooden box. As the lid of the box slowly opened, waves of dazzling golden light shone in front of their eyes. Li Weidong almost blurted out after seeing the pile of gold.

He had been working hard and doing things carefully, but the wealth he earned was only a few thousand yuan. But what about Lou Xiao'e? The gold in her hand was worth far more than tens of thousands of yuan. Li Weidong was even more certain that this was by no means all her property. He couldn't help but sigh at how rich the rich really were, and how much wealth they accumulated.

This also explains why Lou Xiao'e was able to turn around and become a business woman more than a decade later. Although she was not good at business, she could still stay rich by relying on the wealth accumulated by her family as long as she was not so extravagant and wasteful.