Siheyuan: I just want to live

It was a little after three in the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly, Sha Zhu held Yu Shui tightly in his right hand, carried two heavy lunch boxes in his left hand, and walked slowly into the courtyard.

The lunch box in his hand contained their dinner, because they had already eaten at the host's house at noon. As soon as he entered the middle courtyard, Sha Zhu saw Jia Zhang sitting at the door of her house, cursing at Chen Feng. Sha Zhu handed the key and lunch box to Yu Shui, asked her to go home and open the door first, and then he went straight to Jia Zhang.

Jia Zhang was quite capable. She sat at the door and scolded Chen Feng for three or four hours. If it were an ordinary person, they would have given up scolding and started to clean up the house.

But she was still cursing and didn't even drink a sip of water. Although the kettle and bowl were broken by Chen Feng, she was still very powerful.

When I got closer, I was shocked! The Jia family was in such a terrible state, as if everything had been looted. Even the table they usually used for eating had two of its four legs broken and lay crooked on the ground.

Seeing this, Sha Zhu couldn't help but joked, "Aunt Jia, are you being robbed? Usually robbers just rob things, but why did they smash the pot at your place? Is everyone okay?"

There was a hint of gloating in Sha Zhu's words, because he had never forgotten that just a few days ago, Jia Zhang had extorted a full ten dollars from him!

After hearing Sha Zhu's ridicule, Jia Zhang's anger instantly flared up. She opened her mouth and started to curse: "Sha Zhu, Sha Zhu, you are such a heartless bad guy! You are exactly like Chen Feng. You two will both die without any offspring! Even if you die, no one will bury you!"

When Sha Zhu heard this, he immediately became unhappy. He retorted, "Oh! How can you, an old woman, be so ungrateful? I cared for you out of kindness, but you insulted me in return? In my opinion, your family has become such a miserable state now, and it is all your own fault. You deserve it! Okay, I don't want to bother with you anymore, I'm leaving!"

Before he finished speaking, Sha Zhu turned around and walked back home. Seeing Sha Zhu leaving, Jia Zhangshi started to cry loudly again. But this time, she added Sha Zhu's name to her cry.

"Old Jia! Open your eyes! Now even Sha Zhu dares to bully me! Hurry up and take Chen Feng and Sha Zhu away together! Don't you know! I'm almost being bullied to death..."

After Shazhu returned home, he took out his bowl and chopsticks and put the food he brought back into the bowl. He then said to Yushui who was writing, "Yushui, stay at home and don't run around. I'm going to the old lady in the backyard."

Yu Shui raised her head, her eyes fell on Sha Zhu, she smiled and said, "I understand, you can go without worry! I will stay at home obediently and will never run around." After listening to her, Sha Zhu picked up the bowl with confidence and walked towards the backyard.

When he arrived at the door of the deaf old lady in the backyard, he knocked gently and shouted loudly: "Old lady, are you home? I am Shazhu, and I came here specially to visit you!"

The deaf old lady in the house heard Sha Zhu's voice and quickly responded: "Oh, it's Sha Zhu! The door is not locked, just come in!"

After receiving the response, Sha Zhu opened the door and walked into the deaf old lady's room. As soon as he entered the room, he saw the deaf old lady half lying on the bed, and asked with concern: "Old lady, how do you feel today? I went out to take care of a banquet today and brought back some dishes. I thought you might like it, so I brought it here for you to try!"

As Sha Zhu spoke, he placed the food he brought on the small cabinet beside the bed, then walked to the deaf old lady and carefully observed her expression and physical condition.

The deaf old lady looked at Sha Zhu with a smile on her face, her eyes revealing her love and kindness for him.

The deaf old lady looked at Sha Zhu in front of her with a happy smile on her face, muttering cheerfully: "My eldest grandson loves grandma the most. He always thinks of bringing delicious food to grandma whenever he goes out! Unlike Chen Feng next door, who lives so close, every time he makes something delicious, he never thinks of sending some to grandma!"

Sha Zhu listened to the deaf old lady's complaints about Chen Feng, but he didn't take it too seriously. He still responded with a silly smile: "It's Chen Feng's business if he doesn't send you. Don't be angry, grandma. I have a good grandson like you. I promise to send you delicious food every day. I won't pay attention to him! I have a grandson to take care of you, so you don't need him at all!"

However, the real thought of the deaf old lady was that she hoped that Sha Zhu could scare Chen Feng so that Chen Feng would also send her some delicious food. Unfortunately, Sha Zhu did not understand this meaning at all. Seeing this, the deaf old lady did not say anything more to avoid causing Sha Zhu's misunderstanding.

Then, she cleverly changed the subject and asked with concern: "How is your work in the factory recently? Have you encountered any difficulties?"

When Sha Zhu heard the deaf old lady asking about work, he showed a brilliant smile on his face, and then answered happily: "You know, the chef in our cafeteria retired before New Year's Day! And now, I have become the new chef! Moreover, my cook level has been upgraded to level eight, and my salary has increased a lot, becoming 35 yuan!"

After hearing what Sha Zhu said, the deaf old lady also smiled with joy. She held Sha Zhu's hand tightly and patted it gently, while smiling with emotion, she said: "That's great! My good grandson is really promising! You are not young anymore. It would be even more perfect if you can find me a grandson's wife in the future."

However, when Sha Zhu heard the deaf old lady mention finding a wife, he blushed slightly, whether because of shyness or other reasons, and quickly changed the subject, asking anxiously: "What happened to the Jia family? Why was it smashed into that state by Chen Feng? Aunt Jia is still crying so sadly at the door!"

When the deaf old lady heard Sha Zhu's question, she curled her lips in disdain and said, "What else could it be? I can guess it even though I'm in the house! It must be that Jia Zhang was saying something bad about Chen Feng, and Chen Feng heard it! That's why he got smashed!"

"That Jia Zhang, she always spreads gossip in the courtyard. Now her house has been smashed by Chen Feng. Let's see if she dares to do it again in the future?"

After learning the reason why Jia's house was smashed, Sha Zhu did not dwell on this issue too much. After all, he was still thinking about the ten yuan that was blackmailed!

After chatting with the deaf old lady for a while, Sha Zhu returned to the middle courtyard and started to prepare dinner. It was still early, less than five o'clock, and Sha Zhu and Yu Shui had already started eating. After Yu Shui filled his stomach, he went back to his room to play by himself.

Sha Zhu looked at the meat and vegetables that were swept away by the rain, shook his head helplessly, and then took out a handful of peanuts from under the bed.

He chewed peanuts and ate pickled vegetables while enjoying Erguotou. At this moment, coupled with the scolding of Jia Zhang outside the door, Sha Zhu felt that this day was really comfortable and pleasant.

When Shazhu had almost finished drinking, Jia Dongxu led his wife and children back to the courtyard. As soon as he entered the middle courtyard, he saw Jia Zhang sitting in front of her house crying.

Jia Dongxu quickly put down the stick in his arms and ran over. Qin Huairu also hurriedly took the stick and walked over with Xiaodang in her arms.

Jia Dongxu came to Jia Zhangshi, quickly helped her up from the ground, and asked with concern, "Mom, what's wrong with you? Why are you crying? Who bullied you?"

When Jia Zhang saw Jia Dongxu, she cried even harder. She kept mumbling, "Dongxu! I don't want to live anymore! When you were not at home, I was bullied to death! That little bastard Chen Feng smashed our house!"

Jia Zhang didn't say anything at all as to why Chen Feng would smash their house. In any case, in Jia Zhang's opinion, smashing her house was wrong!

Qin Huairu also came to the door of Jia's house at this time. After hearing what her mother-in-law said, she quickly put down Xiaodang, let go of the stick in her hand, and ran into the house to check.

As soon as she walked into the room, she saw the mess on the floor. Qin Huairu picked up the dented aluminum pot, and saw the grains scattered on the floor because the noodle jar was broken. She slowly walked to the door, sat down leaning against the door frame, and silently shed tears.

When Jia Dongxu saw Qin Huairu like this, he let go of Jia Zhang's hand and went into the room to take a look.

Then he came out and asked Jia Zhang, "Mother, how did you offend Chen Feng? Why did he destroy our house like this?"

Jia Zhang said aggrievedly, "Mother didn't ask me to mess with him! Today, I was chatting with your Aunt Han and a few others, and Chen Feng rushed out from the backyard, like a madman, and smashed our family and the Han family with an iron rod."

"He even knocked me out! After I woke up, an old and frail woman like me didn't dare to go to the backyard to cause trouble for him. I could only cry here and wait for you to come back."

After listening to Jia Zhang's story, Jia Dongxu didn't dare to go looking for trouble with Chen Feng alone, so he had to comfort Jia Zhang and said, "Mom, don't cry for now, let's clean up the house first. When my master comes back, I will go find him and let him take charge of our family."

Jia Zhang thought what he said made sense, so she wiped away her tears and said, "Okay, son! I'll listen to you!"

Jia Dongxu then said to Qin Huairu, who was sitting beside him crying, "Okay, stop crying! Hurry up and clean up and see if there is anything else that can be used."

Qin Huairu stood up after hearing this, but she couldn't stop crying. She found the flour bag and carefully put the scattered grain that was not soiled into it.

Then, she and Jia Dongxu cleaned up the pots, pans, and other garbage that were broken by Chen Feng little by little. Jia Zhangshi took Banggeng and Xiaodang outside, watching them and not letting them in, for fear that the broken porcelain pieces would hurt the children.