Siheyuan: I just want to live

The sun was shining brightly throughout the morning and children came running over several times. Chen Feng took out the money without hesitation every time and never owed a penny.

Near noon, another child asked curiously, "Uncle, will you come again in the afternoon?"

Chen Feng's face was filled with a amiable smile, and he gently replied: "Don't worry, kids, uncle will definitely be waiting for you here in the afternoon!"

After hearing this answer, the children finally felt relieved and went home happily to have lunch.

Chen Feng looked at the children walking away, his heart filled with relief and joy. His smile became brighter and brighter, like a flower blooming in spring.

Today, thanks to the help of these lovely children, Chen Feng actually harvested nearly 3,000 kilograms of grass in just one morning.

Compared to his hard work of mowing the lawn alone, the speed was several times faster. Although he paid two dollars for it, Chen Feng felt it was worth it because he successfully saved a lot of precious time.

After seeing that all the children had left, Chen Feng raised his arm and looked at the time, and found that it was already twelve o'clock.

Chen Feng took out the lunch box and steamed buns from the space, found a clean place and started eating.

After a quick meal and a short rest, Chen Feng picked up his sickle and started cutting grass again. Although the children helped today, it was still not enough for the rabbits in Chen Feng's space to eat.

Not to mention Chen Feng who was working hard at mowing the grass, the group of children returned home, saw that their parents had already prepared the meal, and immediately started to wolf it down.

One of the children hurriedly finished the porridge in his bowl, stood up and ran outside.

The child's mother grabbed the corner of the child's clothes and said, "Goudan, you want to go out and play again, right? You can't go there this afternoon! Come with me to pick grass for pigs!"

How could Goudan be willing to go with his mother to cut grass for pigs! He earned 8 cents in a morning of cutting grass, but his mother would not give him a penny for helping her cut grass for pigs for a whole day.

So he struggled and said, "Mom! I want to go out and play. I don't want to go with you to pick pig grass. Donkey Egg, Stone and I have agreed to play together in the afternoon. They are waiting for me!"

Donkey Egg and Stone were also the kids who cut grass for Chen Feng today.

They were two years older than Goudan and much stronger, so they earned five cents more than Goudan this morning.

Goudan thought that if he didn't go this afternoon, he would have less money than Ludan and Shitou tomorrow, so he must go today to continue helping Chen Feng cut grass.

While Goudan was struggling, his mother accidentally tore the pocket on his clothes.

A few coins in his pocket also fell to the ground, colliding with each other and making a few crisp sounds.

When the people eating at the table saw the coins dropped on the ground, they were stunned for a moment.

Goudan's mother was the first to react. She said to Goudan sternly, "Goudan! Where did you get the money? Did you steal money from home?"

Goudan's father also reacted at this time. He immediately put down the bowl in his hand and quickly returned to the bedroom.

He found a small jar from under the bed, poured out the coins inside and started counting them.

Goudan was frightened by his mother’s sudden and harsh question. He stood there in a daze, forgetting to speak.

Seeing the child who dared not speak, Goudan's mother said to him harshly, "You don't admit it, right? Wait a minute and I'll see if you admit it or not!"

She stood up and walked to the yard, then found a convenient wooden stick and stormed back into the house.

When Goudan saw his mother entering the house with a wooden stick, he said in horror, "Mom, don't hit me! I didn't steal any money from home!"

At this time, Goudan's father, who had just finished talking about money in the bedroom, came out and said to his wife, "Fengxia! Don't hit the child yet! There's still money in the house!"

When Goudan's grandmother heard that the money at home was not missing, she also stood up from the bench, came to Goudan's side, and protected Goudan.

She shouted angrily at Goudan's mother who was holding the wooden stick, "Zhang! Didn't you listen to what Jianlin said? The money in the house is not missing! Why don't you throw away the wooden stick? How dare you still want to beat my precious grandson!"

It’s no wonder that she loves Goudan so much. Their Li family has only one son for three generations before Li Jianlin.

Li Jianlin is 40 years old now. He has five children and only has one son, Goudan. It seems that their family will be ruled by only one son.

She couldn't bear to watch her daughter-in-law beat her precious grandson, so when she heard that there was still money missing from the house, she quickly stood up to protect him.

Zhang Fengxia did not throw away the stick in her hand, but said to her mother-in-law, "Mom! Even if Goudan didn't steal our family's money, it's even worse for him to steal money from other families!"

At this time, Goudan's grandfather, who was still sitting at the table, spoke up, "Fengxia! Put down the stick first, and let's ask Goudan. If he really stole someone else's money, it won't be too late to beat him then!"

After hearing what her father-in-law said, Zhang Fengxia lowered the wooden stick in her hand.

At this time, Goudan's grandmother also squatted down and said to Goudan kindly, "Goudan! Tell me, where did you get your money?"

Goudan looked at his grandmother and said to her in a voice that was about to cry, "Grandma, I didn't steal any money! I didn't steal any money from home, nor did I steal any money from outside!"

Grandma rubbed his head and then asked in a very kind voice, "Grandma knows that our Goudan is the most well-behaved child! How could he possibly steal money? Goudan, tell me, where did you get all this money?"

Hearing his grandmother's comfort, Goudan told her what happened that morning.

After Goudan finished speaking, Zhang Fengxia still didn't quite believe what he said.

So she said to her father-in-law, "Dad, listen! Goudan must be lying. Who would use money to buy grass? Ten kilograms for one cent!"

Old man Li glanced at his daughter-in-law and said, "Whether it's true or not, we can find out by asking around. Didn't Goudan tell us where that person is?"

He turned around and instructed his son, "Jianlin, go to the place Goudan mentioned and see if the person is there. If he is not there, go to other children's homes and ask if it is the same as what Goudan said."

When Li Jianlin heard what his father said, he immediately replied, "I know, Dad! I'll go right away!"

After saying that, Li Jianlin hurriedly ran out of the yard and ran towards where Chen Feng was.

Li Jianlin also met Shitou's father on the way to the village. Li Jianlin saw that he and he were walking in the same direction.

So I asked curiously, "Brother Dasheng, where are you going?"

Li Dasheng heard Li Jianlin talking to him, so he casually said, "I'm going to the village to find someone!"

When Li Guotao heard Li Dasheng say that he was going to the village to look for someone, he asked in confusion, "Brother Dasheng, are you going to look for that grass seller too? I'm going too, so let's go together!"

Seeing that Li Jianlin also said he was going to look for that person, Li Dasheng asked, "Did you also notice that Goudan and Shitou were cutting grass and selling it for money today?"

When Li Jianlin heard him ask this, he said

"Just now my wife tore Goudan's pocket and found that he had money. She thought he had stolen the money and wanted to beat him, but he said that someone was collecting grass and he made money by selling it."

After Li Jianlin finished speaking, he turned to Li Dasheng and asked, "Brother Dasheng, how did you find out that stones are rich?"

Li Dasheng said, "Shitou had just finished his meal, and while running, he tripped over the door sill and fell, and the money in his pocket fell out."

"I asked him nicely, but he wouldn't say anything. I beat him up, and he confessed everything. So I came out to take a look. If that person wasn't there, I would have beaten him up again when I got back!"

When Li Jianlin heard that Li Dasheng was going to hit Chen Feng with a rock if he couldn't find him, he quickly said, "Brother Dasheng, don't be impulsive! If we can't find that person, let's ask other kids."

Li Dasheng retorted, "Since there is no such person, Shitou must have lied. There must be something wrong with where he got his money! Ask the other kids, what if they have already done the tradition? Or beat him up again, and Shitou will confess everything!"

After hearing what he meant, Li Guotao quickly added, "Goudan said that the man will come again in the afternoon. He is not here now. He may have gone home for dinner."

"We can't find him this time, let's come back this afternoon to check! Brother Dasheng, don't always think about beating the child! What if he gets hurt?"

Li Dasheng probably thought what Li Jianlin said made sense, so he nodded and said

"Jianlin, what you said makes sense! Let's come again in the afternoon. If we still haven't seen that man, I'll go home and beat that brat with stones at night!"

Li Jianlin was fine with the first half of Li Dasheng's sentence, but when he heard the second half, he was speechless again.

I thought that Shitou might not be able to escape the beating today.

But when he thought that if he didn't find the person who collected the grass today, his dog would not be spared a beating.

While the two were talking, they had already left the village. They saw Chen Feng's bicycle parked on the side of the road from a distance.

Li Jianlin was relieved when he saw the bicycle. At least Goudan didn't lie completely. There was indeed someone here.

Although Li Jianlin still didn't know why the man bought the grass, maybe it was to entertain the children?

Li Jianlin and Li Dasheng looked at the bicycle going away and looked at each other. Neither of them said anything, but at least they quickened their pace towards the bicycle.

Chen Feng was still mowing the lawn diligently, not knowing that a child had already been beaten because of his act of buying the lawn.

Chen Feng felt that it was a good deal to spend two yuan to buy nearly three thousand kilograms of grass. In his opinion, it was not a lot of money.

However, he didn't know that the villagers in the village might not earn 5 cents after working hard all day.

He gave the children an average of a dime or so. Shouldn't the children's parents ask where the money came from? If the children gave unrealistic answers, wouldn't they be beaten?