Siheyuan: Sizhu starts blindly and takes a new path

After learning that Qin Jingru had a miscarriage, Xu Damao's mother came to the courtyard to see if Qin Jingru had any physical injuries from the miscarriage and whether it would affect her ability to continue the Xu family line. When she entered the house and saw Xu Damao stewing a chicken, she asked him why he was stewing a chicken during any festival.

"It's not that we have no meat at home. I went to the pigeon market early in the morning and saw a guy selling chickens at a very low price, only 8 cents each. I guess they were stolen goods. The chicken is just a little small, just over 2 pounds. But it's better than nothing. I haven't eaten meat for a long time since my divorce from Lou Xiao'e, and I'm really craving for it." Xu Damao explained to his mother.

Qin Jingru sniffed the aroma emanating from the pot and stared straight at the casserole of stewed chicken.

Xu's mother took a look at Qin Jingru's performance and looked down on her: She is just a country girl who has never seen the world. She can be so greedy for a chicken.

Seeing her son sweating from the heat, Xu's mother asked again: "Why are you stewing chicken in the house on such a hot day? Aren't you too hot?"

"Didn't I tell people a few days ago that I had no money? It would be a bit embarrassing to eat chicken today. Besides, if the kids from Qin Jingru's sister's family see me and ask for chicken, I won't give them to them. It's better for me to go into the house and eat it alone. When I brought chicken into the yard, I put it in the bag and took it back secretly. No one knew." Xu Damao was extremely proud of his operation.

"Okay, go ahead and eat. I'll come over to take a look and then I'll be going back soon. Your dad is alone at home and there's no one to cook for him." Just as Xu's mother was pushing the door to go out, someone was blocking the way outside.

When Sha Zhu saw that Xu Damao's door was open, he bypassed Xu's mother, went into the house and ran to the stove. He lifted the lid of the pot and saw a hairless chicken taking a medicinal bath. "So, Uncle San, can you conclude that Xu Damao stole my chicken?"

Xu Damao pushed Sha Zhu and said, "What do you mean I stole your chicken? You are just blackmailing me. Are you being unreasonable?"

Sha Zhu knocked Xu Damao down with one punch and said, "You stole my chicken and you dare to push me. Have you never been beaten before?" Then he kicked Xu Damao twice.

Xu's mother quickly ran over to block Xu Damao and stopped Sha Zhu from hitting him. "The chickens were stolen from your family, not from mine. What right do you have to hit me?"

"The chicken in my cage is missing. No one in the front yard saw the chicken run away, and it couldn't be found in the yard either. It just so happened that it was stewed chicken in your house. If it wasn't you who stole it, then who would have?" Sha Zhu was sure that Xu Damao was the chicken thief.

"Shazhu, stop talking nonsense. My Damao didn't steal the chicken. He bought it. I can prove it." Xu's mother wanted to protect her son's reputation.

"You are his mother, of course you will protect him and cover up for him. He is a chicken thief."

"I didn't steal it." said Xu Damao.

"You stole it." Sha Zhu pointed at the other person's nose.

The two began to go back and forth on this sentence.

The third uncle just stood by and observed the expressions of the two men without saying anything.

Sha Zhu's fighting power was too high, and Xu's mother was afraid that her son would be beaten again, "Uncle, you should say something too, and we will all listen to you."

"I dare not say it. My family helped someone before and ended up hitting someone. If we continue to talk, who knows if we will end up helping to steal chickens." The third uncle was a vengeful person, and he squeezed Xu Damao at the right time.

Xu Damao regained his intelligence: "If you can't control it, then let's hold a meeting. I want to hold a meeting to prove my innocence and let Sha Zhu apologize to me in person."

The neighbors were once again gathered in the front yard. Although the weather was warm and it was comfortable to stay in the yard at night, and it was interesting to have meetings and eat melons, but with so many meetings, the next melon came before the previous one was digested. They felt a little tired of eating melons, and everyone wanted to take a break.

However, when the third uncle said that this was neither an emotional issue nor a moral issue, but a legal issue, everyone became excited again.

Stealing is particularly abominable in this era, especially stealing from a neighbor in a yard. This is worse than stealing from a rabbit.

The second uncle did not come to the meeting this time, saying he was not feeling well. He probably knew he had lost his prestige and was too embarrassed to show off. The first and third uncles were still sitting in their original seats.

The third uncle first asked Sha Zhu to tell what happened.

"Everyone has seen the three chickens I raise at home. I brought them back from the mountains and raised them from small to large. I plan to use them as supplements for Yu Li when she gets pregnant in the future.

When I came home from get off work today to feed the chickens, I found that one of the three chickens in the cage was missing. I asked Yu Li, and she said that the chickens were still there when I fed them at noon. She was not at home in the afternoon, and she did not notice it when she came back. I thought the chicken might have run away by itself, so I went to the front yard to look for it first, and also asked the third uncle's family. The third aunt said that she was outside chatting with Yang's wife all afternoon today, and did not see my chicken run away, and did not see any strangers enter the yard. We went to the backyard, but did not find my chicken in the backyard. Xu Damao's family was stewing chicken. Here, it is on the table in front of the two stewards. This is the evidence. Moreover, Xu Damao could not explain the origin of the chicken. If he did not steal it, who stole it?"

Xu Damao immediately jumped out: "I didn't steal it, I bought it."

"Where did you buy it?" Sha Zhu asked

"I bought it at the vegetable market this afternoon." Xu Damao replied

"Which market did you buy it from?"

"Chaoyangmen Vegetable Market."

"How much did you pay for it?"

"8 cents."

"It takes at least an hour and a half to go from the steel mill to Chaoyang Market and back to the yard. What time did you get off work and where did you feather the chicken?" Sha Zhu continued to ask. Uncle San was upset. Why did he steal my words? "Besides, how could you buy a chicken for 8 cents? Who sells chickens so cheaply? They must have stolen it."

"It's none of your business. You're a policeman."

"I am the victim. A chicken was lost from my house and you stole it."

The third aunt suddenly said, "That's not right, Xu Damao, I saw you when you came back, and Sister Yang was there too. We all saw that you didn't have a chicken in your hand."

"Yes, I was there at the time, and I didn't see him holding a chicken." Sister Yang confirmed what the third aunt said.

"Yes, it's such a hot day and everyone is cooking outside. If Xu Damao bought the food openly, why would he cook it secretly in the house?" A neighbor expressed his guess.

Xu's mother once again stood up to defend her son and said, "I bought it. I just brought it here to nourish my daughter-in-law."

"Xu Damao's mother, you are lying. You came in when we were looking for chickens just now, and you didn't have any chickens in your hands. Even if you did, tell me, where are the chicken feathers you plucked?" Sha Zhu disagreed with what Xu's mother said.

Xu's mother was speechless.

"I was wondering why Xu Damao was always lying, and now it turns out this is the reason." The neighbor couldn't stand it anymore and commented.

Xu Damao was driven to panic by the discussion and told the truth, "I bought it at the pigeon market this morning, plucked it in the workshop during the day, and brought it back in a lunch box. Is that okay?"

"Xu Damao, can you tell me again where you bought it?" Sha Zhu asked meaningfully.

Xu Damao was startled and said the wrong thing in a hurry: You can go to the pigeon market and buy them, but you can't tell people about it in the market. If you tell people about it and hand it over to the police station, it will be speculation. Also, the chickens are stolen goods. If you go to the police station to investigate, they will definitely be exposed. If that happens, you will be speculating and helping thieves sell the stolen goods, and you may even lose your job.

Sha Zhu now knows that Xu Damao is not a chicken thief, but he hopes that Xu Damao will admit the crime of stealing chickens and not admit that he bought chickens at the pigeon market. Although Xu Damao may lose his job, will he become even crazier and uncontrollable without a job? You must kill the snake once, you can't kill it once and not kill it, giving it a chance to breathe, otherwise it may hide in a dark corner and wait for revenge. Sha Zhu is married now and will have children in the future. What if Xu Damao takes revenge on the children?

Sha Zhu needs Xu Damao to live normally now and not let him go to extremes, so he wants to leave Xu Damao a way out. The main reason is that this incident is not enough to defeat Xu Damao in one go.

The third uncle called Yan Jiecheng to his side, and looked at Xu Damao with a rage in his heart. If Xu Damao dared to say again that he bought the chicken at the pigeon market, he would immediately ask his boss to go to the police station to report the case. He would use the police to teach Xu Damao a lesson and avenge himself.

The old man also realized the seriousness of the matter. He didn't want a typical speculator to appear in the yard he managed, so he said sternly: "Xu Damao, what nonsense are you talking about? Just admit that you stole the chicken from Zhuzi's house. We won't do anything to you. We will just solve it in the yard. Do you want to go to the police station? Don't you want to work anymore?" The old man seemed stern, but in fact he was giving Xu Damao a way out. It depended on whether he would back down.

Xu's mother didn't want her son to admit that he stole the chicken, as that would ruin his reputation, and she was anxious.

Xu Damao figured out the severity of the crime of stealing a chicken and the crime of speculation and profiteering, and said, "Okay, I admit it. I stole the chicken from Sha Zhu's house. I was greedy and wanted to eat meat, so I stole his chicken." Xu Damao angrily admitted the crime.

The third uncle was frustrated, while the first uncle was secretly relieved. The two of them discussed how to deal with the problem. "Xu Damao must pay 3 yuan for stealing the chicken from Zhuzi's house. Since Xu Damao refuses to change his bad behavior, he will be punished to clean the yard every morning for two months. Zhuzi will supervise and inspect the cleaning. If Zhuzi is not satisfied, he will have to clean the yard again that day."

"No." Sha Zhu and Xu Damao objected at the same time.

"Let Sha Zhu supervise. What if he finds fault with everything?" Xu Damao objected.

"Then you won't clean it properly so that he won't have any bones to pick out."

"No, I don't agree anyway."

"Objection is invalid. If you don't agree, let's hand this matter over to the police station." The third uncle used his trump card.

Sha Zhu took the opportunity to say affectionately: "I raised that chicken from childhood. I treat it as a family member. I named it, raised it and taught it. I put in a lot of effort. How can 3 yuan not be enough?"

"3 yuan is not enough, what do you want?"

"You have to pay more."

"How much?"

"5 dollars."

"Your chicken is made of gold."

"In my mind, 8 yuan is an understatement for Xiaohong. Without 8 yuan, I will think of Xiaohong every day, so you just sweep the floor well." Sha Zhu threatened.

"Okay, Shazhu, I've got it. Let's ride the donkey and read the opera." Xu Damao handed over 5 yuan.

Sha Zhu took the money and said, "Let's wait and see who will be unlucky in the end. Walk slowly, I'll come to my house and take your casserole pot away later." Sha Zhu took the casserole chicken on the table as evidence back home.