Siheyuan Shangpeng

He Yuzhu looked at Shang's father and didn't dare to speak.

Father Shang understood what He Yuzhu meant by his eyes and said unhappily, "Just tell me, you're already crying, what are you afraid of?"

He Yuzhu then spoke to Shang's mother.

"My mother suffered heavy bleeding when she gave birth to Yu Shui. Although she was rescued at the time, her health has been poor ever since. She died soon after giving birth to Yu Shui. My mother..." At this time, she also looked at Shang's father.

"Look at what he is doing. He is your uncle-in-law, not a monster. Don't be afraid of him. Just say whatever you want to say." Shang's mother said as she looked at He Yuzhu's hesitant expression.

"Oh! My mother has always been thinking about you. Before she died, she told us that we must find grandpa and aunt. She said... She said that after you left, there was news from you, but after we moved, there was no news from you." He Yuzhu's eyes became red again as he spoke.

Shang's mother silently shed tears as she listened to He Yuzhu talking about his sister. He Yushui in her arms also shed tears as she listened to her brother talking about his mother.

"Your brother-in-law's name is He Daqing, right? Oh... that's your father. What's his story? I heard that your father and..." Father Shang saw that these people were sad when he mentioned his sister-in-law, so he changed the subject and asked about He Daqing.

“Uncle-in-law, don’t mention that man, he is not worthy of being my father.

Not long after the Chinese New Year in 52, he ran off to Baoding with a widow. Yu Shui and I went to look for him. We waited for him at the door of the widow's house for the whole night, but he didn't even come out to call us. Yu Shui was only 6 years old at that time.

I remember it very clearly. It was snowing that day and we were waiting for him at the door. Our voices were hoarse from crying in the rain. We waited until the next afternoon but still didn't see He Daqing, so we had no choice but to come back.

I was only 15 years old at that time and was still an apprentice in Cuihualou. You don’t know, but I had no salary at that time, and my family didn’t leave me a penny when he passed away. It was my master who took pity on me and lent me some money, so we were able to survive the first two months.

But when I went to work in the third month, I was not allowed to enter the door. The waiter said that my master didn't want me anymore and asked me to find my own way.

What other options do I have? Luckily, Uncle Yi next door helps me. I pick up scraps during the day and sell them for some money to survive until now.

Aunt, I’ve been suffering. I don’t know how I managed to get through these three years.

Woo woo..." Then she started crying again.

Shang's mother also started crying.

"Wait...Brother Zhuzi, stop crying for a while. I have something to ask you." Shang Peng suddenly said.

"You said you didn't get in during the third month you went to work? The waiter said your master didn't want you anymore? Did you go ask your master about it?"

"He doesn't want me anymore, why should I go looking for him? Am I going to be humiliated?" He Yuzhu stopped crying and replied.

"Haha...Brother Zhuzi, you are so confused.

According to what you said, your master gave you money to help you in the first two months, so he wouldn't ignore you from the third month onwards. If that was the case, did your master ask you for the money he lent you in the first two months? You just heard a waiter say that, so you didn't ask your master's opinion?"

"Ah...this..."

"Brother Zhuzi, let's analyze this from the beginning. I have something to ask you.

Uncle... um... He Daqing is fine." Shang Peng saw that He Yuzhu was about to stiffen his neck and speak, so he had to change the topic.

"He Daqing, how did he treat you and Yu Shui before he left? I want to hear the truth."

"Well... before he left, he was very nice to us, especially to Yushui. He would fight anyone who said something wrong about Yushui. Once, Jia Zhang, the old hag in the middle courtyard, said that He Yushui was a money loser. He Daqing went to the Jia family with a kitchen knife and said he was going to chop Jia Zhang to death. Jia Zhang was so scared that she peed her pants. Uncle Jia and the eldest master had to persuade her to let her go."

"Brother Zhuzi, when you took Yu Shui to look for Auntie... er... He Daqing, did you see him in person? Did anyone know about it before you went to look for him?"

"We didn't see him. We arrived in the afternoon and waited all night. We waited until the afternoon of the next day but he didn't come out to see us.

Let me think about it, when we went there, the first uncle in the middle yard and the third uncle in the front yard knew about it, and they gave Yu Shui and me a steamed bun each.”

"Brother Zhuzi, who knows about the academy where you studied cooking? Who knows that your master gave you money?"

"Well, most people in the courtyard know where I learned cooking, but only the uncle knows that my master gave me money. Xiaopeng, what do you mean? I don't understand."

"Wait a minute, who told you that He Daqing and the widow ran away?"

"It was an old man. When I woke up that morning, I found that my house was full of thieves. I wanted to look for He Daqing, and the old man came to my house in a hurry and told me that He Daqing and the widow had run away.

I was stunned at the time, and He Yushui also started crying. I had no choice but to take Yushui to the steel mill to find He Daqing. After we got there, we found out that He Daqing had resigned, and they didn't know about it either.

What happened to Xiaopeng? You've confused me."

"You'll know in a moment. One last question. Does the uncle have no children?"

"Yes, everyone in the courtyard knows about this. They all say that the aunt is sick and can't have children."

"Hehe... Now I basically know what's going on. Brother Zhuzi, let my father take you to see your master tomorrow. If I'm guessing correctly, your master doesn't care about you at all, and he even thinks that you left because you didn't want to implicate him. Do you believe it?"

"This? That's impossible? How did you know?"

Mr. Shang suddenly interrupted and said, "Xiaopeng, are you saying that there is..."

"Dad, do you still remember what our extinct family did? If that boy's uncle hadn't been demobilized and returned home, he would have succeeded."

Father Shang suddenly slapped his head and said, "Yes, this is really similar to ours, both are extinct, but Zhuzi has a father?"

"The uncle ran away? According to what Brother Zhuzi said, the uncle loved He Yushui so much that it was impossible for him to run away suddenly. He must have had his reasons, but it shouldn't be a big deal. Either the widow caught him or he was cheated by someone." Shang Peng said confidently.

"Xiaopeng, are you saying that He Daqing doesn't want us? Then why doesn't he want to see us?" He Yuzhu suddenly said excitedly.

"Brother Zhuzi, don't get excited, let me tell you a story, and you will understand after listening to it.

Just listen carefully, and after listening, think about what similarities there are between them and you.

If you don't understand what I'm saying to you, I find that you don't use your brain to think right now, you just say whatever you want without considering the consequences.

Think about it yourself, have you been using your brain less and less to think about problems recently? "