The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

"Sister, it's so late, is there no one to pick you up from get off work?"

Darong got off work late today. Usually, her younger brother would wait for her at the factory gate after work. But today, for some reason, she waited for a long time but didn't see any sign of her brother.

Seeing that fewer and fewer people were leaving the factory, Darong didn't dare to wait any longer. It was past 10 o'clock in the evening and there were basically no people walking on the street.

Darong walked along the main street she usually walked on, all the way to the entrance of the alley in the family dormitory area. Seeing the pitch-black area ahead, Darong gritted her teeth and walked in.

It was the early winter of 1985. At that time, Nanjiao was still an ordinary small county town. Except for the street lights on the main road, the alleys of the residential houses were pitch black.

As bad luck would have it, just a few steps into the alley, Darong heard the sound of a bicycle chain behind her and a man asking a frivolous question.

She couldn't help but quicken her pace, but the cyclist behind her never showed any intention of overtaking her.

Darong was 17 years old at the time and had just joined the factory as a temporary worker this month.

A few days ago, Darong heard that there was a man riding a bicycle harassing young women in the nearby alleys. Although the dormitory and family compound here organized two blockades, the man seemed to be very familiar with the terrain and managed to escape successfully each time.

Darong's heart was beating fast as she walked. If she went any further she would reach the quiet Fangshan (note: the back wall of the house) alley. There was a row of houses back to back about several dozen meters apart. Although her home would be right across the alley, once the alley was blocked she would have no chance to escape.

Darong thought in her mind and walked in another direction. Although she had to walk a longer way to get home, this road was full of dormitory bungalows that were lined up door to door. If anything happened, she would at least have a chance to ask for help.

But just as they approached the fork in the road, the man on the bike overtook Darong and blocked the road Darong wanted to take with one foot on the ground.

Darong was already very scared at this time, but she could only pretend to be calm and steady herself.

She tried to act as if nothing had happened and walked around the man, but how could that man give up such a good opportunity?

"Come on, sister, go over there and talk to your brother."

Because there were no street lights, Darong couldn't see the man's face at all, but based on her voice she estimated that he was only about twenty years old.

"No, my eldest brother comes to pick me up from that road every day. Today, something happened and I was delayed. It would be bad if I ran into him." Darong adjusted her breathing to make her voice sound less shaky.

"I know there's a dormitory alley for a small paper mill over there. No one usually walks there during the day. Let's go there."

Darong's voice became softer and softer, and there seemed to be a hint of shyness in her tone, which made the man on the bicycle feel itchy.

"Okay, let brother cherish you." The man said as he reached out and held Darong's hand.

Darong did not resist and turned with the man into the alley that led to the dormitories opposite each other.

As long as you pass through this alley, if you want to get to the alley of the small paper factory, you must pass through the alley in front of Darong's house.

Darong was quite cooperative along the way, but the man on the bicycle was very alert. Although he was already aroused, he still did not get off the bike. Instead, he held the handlebar with one hand and pedaled with one leg.

If someone appeared in this posture, he could pedal hard and escape at any time.

But his other hand was always holding Darong's small hand, and he would rub it from time to time, which made Darong's face turn pale with anger. Fortunately, there was the cover of night, otherwise she would not be able to continue pretending.

When the two men reached the intersection of the alley where Darong's home was, Darong suddenly pulled her hand back, raised her foot and kicked the man and his car to the ground. Then Darong ran towards her home crying and shouting.

The fourth brother has just arrived home.

"Isn't my sister back yet?" Sibeier didn't see his eldest sister when he entered the house.

"Didn't you catch it?" Seeing that only Sibei'er had returned, Darong's father quickly put on his shoes and prepared to go out to look for him.

But before he could put on his coat, he heard crying and shouting coming from outside the yard. The family didn't even bother to change their shoes and rushed out of the house.

Darong fell into her mother's arms safely. Seeing her sister crying like this, Sibeier rushed out of the alley without thinking.

At this time, lights were turned on in the dormitories in the front and back rows, and the boys who usually played with the fourth generation also put on their clothes and rushed out of the house.

The man was kicked by Darong and one of his legs was trapped under the bicycle, so when Sibei rushed out, he had just crawled up from the ground.

He pushed the bike as hard as he could, then jumped on it and pedaled hard, rushing towards the dormitory of the small paper mill.

After four generations of chasing him through two alleys, the man finally got away. He leaned against the wall, gasping for breath, and only then did the people following him catch up.

"He got away again. This bastard is so cunning. He must be from this area. He is as familiar with this place as I am." Sibei'er had almost recovered and angrily cursed the man who escaped.

Sibei'er is only one year younger than Darong. He is at the age of middle age with full of vigor and vitality. He usually likes to dominate and fight for justice.

Now that he saw the people who bullied his sister running away, he couldn't swallow the anger in his heart.

"Damn it, I'll get rid of that bastard sooner or later." Dajiang, who caught up with them, also looked indignant.

The group failed to catch up with the cyclist, so they had to walk back in disappointment. After they had taken a few steps, they saw Darong's father chasing after them.

"You little rascal, I can't stop you even if I shout at you. What if that person is armed with a weapon?" After seeing Sibei'er, Darong's father started scolding him.

It’s not that he didn’t want to catch the bastard on the bicycle, but he was more worried about the safety of these guys.

"Uncle Yuan San (Uncle: pronounced [bāi], Yutian's way of addressing his uncle), how come you only have one shoe left?" Dajiang, who was standing aside, looked at Darong's father in a miserable state and couldn't help but laughing with his hands covering his mouth.

Darong's father, Yuan Shouli, is the third child in the family. Normally, the children in the front and back yards call him Third Uncle or Third Uncle.

"I'm just worried that you guys don't know the seriousness of the situation, and you might get hurt." Darong's father was panting heavily. Even with his physique, he couldn't catch up with the group of boys.

"Well, Dad, you just don't know how skilled we are. That's because he's riding a bike and we can't catch up with him, otherwise we would have given him a good beating." Sibei said confidently as he walked over to support his father.

But before he could finish his words, he was hit on the neck.

"You're the one causing trouble all day long, and you think you're Huo Yuanjia after winning two fights in the alley." Darong's father looked at his silly son in annoyance.

Yutian’s Sibei’er is a general nickname. Any eldest son born in the fourth generation of a family is collectively called Sibei’er.

But there are rules for the four generations. There is only one fourth generation in a family. For example, if the father is the fourth generation, then the son cannot be called the fourth generation even if he is the eldest son of the fourth generation.

Although my family has restricted the repetition of four generations, it is possible that the son-in-law who marries into the family will also be a fourth-generation descendant.