Siheyuan: I just want to live

After Aunt Jiang left, Chen Feng walked into the bedroom. He carefully put the brand new quilt into the quilt cover, and then carefully smoothed every wrinkle, making the bed look extra tidy. Then, he spread out a brand new bed sheet and changed the pillowcase to a clean one. Looking at the brand new bedroom, Chen Feng nodded with satisfaction.

After finishing the bedroom, Chen Feng went to the kitchen without stopping. He took out some of the fermented glutinous rice he bought today and skillfully mixed more than ten kilograms of flour at home with soup and water to make dough. Then, he put the fried vegetables in three lunch boxes and put them into the space together with the basin.

Returning to the bedroom, Chen Feng quickly changed into a light summer outfit, and packed up the sheets and pillowcases he had changed, and brought them into the space. After entering the space, Chen Feng first put the dirty sheets into the washing machine to wash, then took out the wash basin and placed it in the living room, while the pot of food continued to stay in the fresh-keeping area of ​​the space.

Stepping out of the room and into the yard, Chen Feng started the welding machine and welded out a four-cubic-meter iron box. After some polishing and cleaning, the iron box became smooth and shiny. He laboriously moved it into the room and placed it in a suitable location.

Then, Chen Feng came to the mill and moved all the wheat except for the more than 100 kilograms of wheat reserved for seeds into the mill. He filled the hopper with wheat grains, adjusted the air flow, and the mill began to work. With the roar of the machine, Chen Feng continued to sift the flour, and then poured the sifted flour into the iron box in the room. This process requires patience and carefulness, and there can be no carelessness.

After four hours of hard work, he finally finished all the flour. He took out the washed sheets and hung them on the balcony to cool. Seeing that the noodles in the basin had risen, Chen Feng put them in the fresh-keeping area. After taking out a lunch box and eating, Chen Feng went to the bathroom to take a hot bath. After the bath, Chen Feng quickly changed into autumn clothes and got into bed.

It was already past eight o'clock in the evening. Chen Feng felt a little sleepy, so he closed his eyes and prepared to go to sleep.

During the time when Chen Feng entered the space, the people in the courtyard were not idle. They sat together and enthusiastically discussed the piece of meat that Chen Feng brought back.

Everyone was full of expectations, imagining what kind of benefits their unit would distribute tomorrow. Would there be meat? If so, would it be more than what Chen Feng brought back? And everyone had various ideas about the meat.

Some people suggested making delicious braised pork, some thought it would be more suitable to make sausages, and some thought dumplings would best reflect the deliciousness of the meat. Some even suggested pickling the meat and saving it for the New Year. The one who made this suggestion was Auntie San, who, like Yan Fugui, was a notorious stingy person.

This discussion continued until people returned from work, and then everyone went home to eat. The whole courtyard was filled with a strong atmosphere of life, like a vivid painting of the city.

Jia family

Banggeng's crying started again, the sound was so deafening that it was impossible to ignore. The reason for all this was that Chen Feng cooked the meat so well that the aroma filled the whole house. Qin Huairu looked at her beloved son crying so sadly, her heart was filled with helplessness and heartache, but she was powerless and could only try her best to comfort him.

At the same time, Jia Zhang kept complaining to Qin Huairu: "Look at you, as a mother, how can you not even get some meat for your child? Look at how wronged the child is! You are such a useless waste, you can't even take care of a child!"

Jia Dongxu sat aside, silently listening to his mother's reproach to Qin Huairu. Every word was like a sharp sword, piercing his heart. He felt that every word of his mother's accusation seemed to be directed at him, as if to imply that he was also a loser, a man who could not bear the responsibility of the family.

Jia Dongxu lowered his head, sat on the edge of the kang, and smoked one cigarette after another. His eyes were confused and helpless, and his heart was full of guilt and self-blame. He knew that he had no ability to give his family a better life, nor could he satisfy his children's desire for delicious food. At this moment, he had no choice but to remain silent.

Qin Huairu did not dare to refute her mother-in-law's preaching. She could only endure it silently, constantly coaxing Banggeng softly, hoping to calm his crying. She understood that in this family, her status was humble and she had to obey her mother-in-law's wishes. Even if she had many grievances and dissatisfactions in her heart, she could only swallow her anger.

Facing the nagging Jia Zhang, Jia Dongxu finally couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Mom, can you please stop complaining! The factory will distribute benefits tomorrow, and then there will be meat for Banggeng to eat. Please stop blaming Huairu and take a rest! It's getting late."

Then he yelled at Bang Geng fiercely, "Stop crying! If you cry again, I will beat you up! Go to bed!"

Banggeng was so frightened by the sudden roar that he dared not cry anymore. Perhaps it was because he was beaten too hard last time and he still remembered the pain. At this moment, he could only shrink his head silently, fearing that he would anger his father again.

Seeing that Banggeng had stopped crying, Qin Huairu gently took the hands of the two children and led them to climb onto the kang to rest. Jia Dongxu followed suit and lay down beside his wife and children.

Seeing that everyone ignored her, Jia Zhang felt a little disappointed, but she didn't say anything more and quietly got into her bed. The room suddenly became quiet, with only the slight breathing and occasional turning over. In this quiet night, everyone fell asleep with their own thoughts...

The next morning, before the sun rose, Chen Feng got up early. He quickly washed up and started to prepare steamed buns. This time, he used more than ten kilograms of flour, but due to the limited capacity of the steamer, he had to steam it in two pots.

When the first pot of steamed buns came out of the pot, the steaming and fragrant smell made Chen Feng feel extremely excited. He looked at the white steamed buns in the winnowing basket, and his heart was filled with joy. These steamed buns looked so tempting, as if telling him the beauty of life.

Chen Feng thought: "From now on, I can finally say goodbye to those mixed noodles with unknown ingredients. In comparison, white noodles are more pleasing to the eye!"

He kept two steamed buns and put the rest into the space to keep them fresh. Then, he took out the dishes he had cooked last night. Although they didn't look good, they were still delicious. However, compared with the steamed buns, these dishes seemed to pale in comparison.

Chen Feng took a bite of the steamed bun, and the sweet taste instantly filled his mouth. Every bite made him intoxicated, and the satisfaction was indescribable. He couldn't help but sigh: "This is real delicacy!"

As time passed, Chen Feng slowly enjoyed this simple and delicious breakfast.

After breakfast, seeing that it was almost time, Chen Feng pushed his cart out and went to work.

Other people who were going to work in the yard had already left, leaving only the women and aunts at home washing and chatting by the pool. Chen Feng passed by without disturbing them, but just walked by.

After leaving the courtyard, he soon arrived at the scrap yard. He opened the door, cleaned up the message room, and re-lit the stove. Chen Feng took out a book and sat at the table to read.

Soon, other people also came to work one after another. Zhou Ping was the last one to enter the scrapyard from outside, walked to the window of the message room, and knocked on the glass.

Chen Feng opened the window and asked Zhou Ping who was standing outside, "What's wrong, Brother Ping? Do you want me to help you with something?"

Zhou Ping waved his hands and said, "Hey! What can I do for you? I just want to know how you ate the meat you brought home yesterday!"

Chen Feng saw that he was just asking about this, so he said, "I fried a big pot of meat and cabbage last night. I haven't finished it yet, so I brought some here for lunch today. Do you want to try it?"

Zhou Ping quickly shook his head to indicate that he didn't need it, and then continued, "I brought it home yesterday and asked my wife to chop a pound of it and made dumplings with it and the cabbage. It was so delicious! I pickled the rest for the New Year! Did you eat it all? Didn't you save some for the New Year?"

When Zhou Ping talked about eating dumplings, he licked his lips unconsciously, as if he was savoring the delicious taste of yesterday's dumplings.

Seeing him asking again, Chen Feng continued his words and said, "No meat left, all done. Won't the station give out benefits during the New Year?"

When Zhou Ping heard him say this, he thought he would get something good during the Chinese New Year. So he said

"What good things can be given out during the Chinese New Year? The meat this time is a surprise. In previous years, we only got some snacks like sunflower seeds and half a pound of oil! The Chinese New Year is pretty much the same!"

"Okay, I'm not going to chat with you anymore. I'm going to go talk to others about what they ate yesterday!"

As he said that, he walked inside. Chen Feng watched him leave without saying anything more. He closed the window and continued to sit down and read his book.

Nothing disturbed him today, and when it was almost time to get off work, everyone lined up to go to Xiaojuan's office to collect their wages, and Chen Feng followed suit and stood at the end.

Chen Feng took a look and found that the person in front of him was the stationmaster. He couldn't help but feel curious and blurted out, "Stationmaster, are you here to collect your salary in person?"

When Stationmaster Li heard the voice, he turned around with a strange look on his face. He looked at Chen Feng and said, "Stationmaster is also a human being. He has to support his family, so he naturally needs to get paid!"

As soon as Chen Feng said this, he immediately realized that he had said the wrong thing. Seeing Li Guotao's reaction, he quickly added: "What I mean is, how come you are ranked last? According to common sense, you should have been ranked first a long time ago."

After hearing this, Station Master Li replied as a matter of course: "Since you came out late, you are naturally the last one in line. Can you cut in line?"

These two sentences made Chen Feng realize that his question was not of a good standard, so he shut up and said nothing more. He lined up silently, waiting for his turn to receive his salary.

Li Guotao noticed that Chen Feng stopped talking, so he turned his head and continued to queue quietly. The whole team was quiet, with only the slight sound of footsteps and breathing intertwined.