Siheyuan: I Raised Ten Thousand Wild Boars

After some explanation, Camellia finally calmed down, and Li Guohua also figured out his current identity.

His current name is Li Guohua. He is 18 years old this year, graduated from a technical secondary school, and has always been the pride of his family.

After graduating from technical secondary school, he was assigned to a textile factory, where he encountered spies causing sabotage in the capital.

During the fight with the arresting officers, the spy ran into Li Guohua's workshop in panic. Finally, when he saw that he could not escape, the spy took out a grenade and prepared to find someone to die with him.

Li Guohua happened to be near the place where the spy detonated a grenade and was knocked unconscious. When he woke up, he didn't recognize anyone and couldn't even speak.

He was treated in the hospital for a long time but did not get better. His family took him to see many old Chinese doctors, who said that he had a soul-loss disease and one of his three souls and seven spirits was gone, so he was like a fool.

Finally, they sought help from an old Chinese doctor, who said that if he stayed at home and took good care of himself, he might recover someday. The family could only take him home to recuperate, hoping that he would recover someday.

Li Guohua couldn't help but purse his lips. It was still a ridiculous story. The original owner graduated from a technical secondary school and finally got a good job. But he was shocked not long after he started working. He was so unlucky.

It is so hard to find a job nowadays. Everyone is assigned their own position. If I want to go back to the textile factory, I am afraid there won’t be a place for me.

There are five people in Li Guohua's family. His father, Li Chuwu, is from a rural area near the capital. When he was young, he couldn't make ends meet in the countryside, so he came to the capital to make a living.

After liberation, because he came from a poor peasant family for three generations, he was assigned by the street to work at a scrap collection station. Only then did his job stabilize and he worked there for many years.

Every day, they carry a large basket and collect waste everywhere. They collect not only waste items generated in people's lives and production, but also livestock skins and bones. The waste items range from cow skeletons weighing hundreds of pounds to rabbit hair, duck feathers, goose feathers, toothpaste tubes, etc. weighing only a few grams.

The work is very hard. Sometimes, after walking for a day, I feel like my legs are not my own. My monthly salary plus bonus is only 27 yuan.

However, my father supported the whole family with just 27 yuan.

My mother, Chen Lan, is a housewife. Most couples in this era are like this, with the man working outside and the woman working inside.

Men work outside to earn money, while women prepare three meals a day, do housework, and take care of children at home. Sometimes they have to take time out of their busy schedule to make shoes and clothes for their family, or do some small handicrafts to earn some money for food.

The reason why my mother was not at home today was that I heard from Chahua that she went to the countryside to help Li Guohua seek medical treatment and medicine.

The eldest brother, Li Guoliang, is 21 years old this year. When he was young, his family was not well off, so he didn't study much and just went out to hang out. At that time, the family was poor and the world was not peaceful, so Li Chuwu let him play and even helped take care of the children at home.

He has been doing this for more than ten years. Now he can only go to grain stations, railway stations and other places to carry heavy bags and do hard labor to earn money. Every day he has to beg uncles to reserve a job for him tomorrow.

It really fits the saying, if you don't work hard when you are young, you will regret it when you are old. But think about myself, a social animal, working overtime day and night, and I wake up here when I wake up. The second brother doesn't laugh at the eldest brother, we are the same.

Then there is Li Chahua, who is 11 years old this year. It is said that her mother is from the south and fled to Beijing.

Camellia was born in March. His mother said that March every year is the season when camellias bloom all over the mountains in his hometown, so she named him Camellia.

Camellia didn’t know exactly where her mother’s hometown was. She didn’t know whether her mother didn’t tell her or she didn’t remember it.

She will be entering the fourth grade in the second half of the year. During the past year or so since she was ill, it was her mother and Camellia who took care of and protected her.

Thinking about how she was so young and had to protect herself, I couldn't help but laugh, and felt a little pity for her.

The rest were some things about family. Li Guohua listened carefully to Camellia's story and remembered some important information.

For example, the family’s monthly income is only 27 yuan from my father. Even with my eldest brother’s part-time job, it is barely enough to cover the monthly expenses.

There are two rooms in the house. One is the east wing where we eat now. Outside is the kitchen, inside is where my elder brother and I sleep, and there is also a back room where my parents and younger sister live.

Alas, my soul has taken over this fool's body, I'm afraid I can't go back. I should make the best of it and think more about the future.

I had an accident at the textile factory this time, and I don't know if the factory has compensated me. No, I have to find out more about it later and see if there is any way to go back to work.

After strolling around the capital for half a day, experiencing great emotional ups and downs, and chatting with Camellia for so long, Li Guohua was a little hungry, so he picked up a steamed bun from the bowl and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Cough cough cough."

I ate too hastily, swallowing it before I had fully chewed it, and it almost made me feel sick. I took the water from Chahua and drank a few gulps before I felt better.

Oh my god, this steamed corn bread is so unpalatable. It must be a little hard because it has been left for a while, but it is still acceptable. The only difference is that it doesn't feel like batter when you bite it. It feels a bit like sand, too rough, and uncomfortable. It also makes my throat hard to swallow.

As an adult, Li Guohua did not act pretentiously and ate two steamed buns with water. He did not feel too hungry, so he stopped eating. He was missing the white flour buns that he never ate before.

"Brother, now that you've finished eating, do you still want to go out for a ride?" Chahua asked curiously, holding a wooden stick on the ground.

You are such a clever little devil. I told you that my illness was cured, but you still used this thing to test me.

Li Guohua stood up, took the wooden stick, held one end in his hand and placed the other end diagonally on the ground, then stomped on it hard, and the stick broke. This could be regarded as a farewell between the present Li Guohua and the past.

"Okay, let's keep this as firewood for cooking in the evening." Li Guohua put the broken stick next to the firewood.

"Yeah!" Camellia laughed happily. She was finally sure that her second brother's idiocy was really cured. Her parents would definitely be very happy to know about it, and the family's life would be better again.

After dinner, Li Guohua did not think about going out for a walk. He was a dull person, otherwise he would not have worked in the computer industry for so long.

Looking at Camellia teasing the little goldfish in front of a glass bottle, Li Guohua got up and walked into the inner room, ready to see where he would live and fight in the future.

The room was a bit dated, but it was clean, yes, very clean.

There is a window on the east wall, and under the window is an old desk. On the desk are some books and a wooden pen holder, which contains pencils, pens, brushes, etc., some of which have had their paint worn off.

To the left of the desk is a wardrobe, which is also very old. I pushed it and it was wobbly, and it might fall apart if I moved it a little.

There was a double bed next to the wardrobe, with an old quilt neatly folded on the bed and two patched pillows at the head of the bed.

Li Guohua squeezed it with his hands and found that it was filled with straw, not cotton or anything else.

The walls were covered with newspapers, which made it look very neat. However, you could still tell from the top of the house that it was quite old.