Siheyuan: Starting from Building a Village

When others started to rush for life and work hard, Liu Guozheng also started his day, a life that seemed to be a one-line life that would never change.

Today, there was a new change in his daily life - there was a little girl named Liu Lele in the office.

Liu Lele is pretty and charming. She is the daughter of Liu Guohao and He Yushui, and is two months older than Liu Xiaoxiao.

Although she is only one year old, her intelligence is like that of a four or five year old. She grew up drinking special milk powder provided by Liu Guozheng, which is a "fortified version" of milk powder only provided to children born in Hope New Village.

In contrast, other children such as Chen Weiguo and Nan Yi's children drank the "simplified version". Even so, the effect was surprisingly good, making these children's growth and development surpass that of their peers.

When they were in Hope New Village, Liu Lele and Liu Xiaoxiao were like a pair of little shadows, always playing together.

Upon learning that Liu Xiaoxiao was going to the office again, Liu Lele immediately showed great interest and insisted on going with her.

Her motive was actually quite simple. On the one hand, she wanted to take this opportunity to get to know Liu Xiaoxiao's new friends. After all, for a lively and active little girl, making new friends is always an exciting thing.

Secondly, they wanted to avoid He Yushui's strict mother. Like other mothers, He Yushui strictly controlled her children's diet and did not allow them to eat too many sweets and snacks.

When Liu Xiaoxiao returned home yesterday, she boasted to Liu Lele that she had eaten two extra candies and two cans of canned fruit. Liu Lele was envious of her smug look, so Liu Lele was determined to follow Liu Xiaoxiao to the office, maybe she could take the opportunity to get some snacks to satisfy her craving.

There was a gleam of anticipation in her big watery eyes, as if she had already seen those tempting candies and cans waving at her.

As expected, Liu Lele's decision brought unexpected surprises.

When they arrived at the office, the scene in front of her made her eyes light up immediately. In the open space in front of the door, a group of children were playing with laughter. Seeing the office car slowly approaching, they all stopped, with envy in their eyes, and kept waving to Liu Xiaoxiao.

After getting off the bus, Liu Xiaoxiao first introduced her sister Liu Lele to her friends, and then couldn't wait to start distributing candies.

Handing out candy was more than just a sharing exercise for her;

Only at such moments could she confidently ask Liu Guozheng for candy without worrying about Lou Xiaoe's objection. This little strategy allowed her to secretly hide a few more candies in her pocket and enjoy that small sense of victory.

Liu Xiaoxiao seemed to enjoy the feeling of being spoiled by her father, especially when Lou Xiao'e was unwilling but helpless.

She likes the feeling of distributing candies in front of her friends, and the sense of recognition she gets from the candies. Although this recognition is based on candies, it is undoubtedly a special joy for Liu Xiaoxiao.

Seeing Liu Xiaoxiao's satisfied look, Liu Lele also felt an inexplicable happiness. Although the children's happiness is simple, it is extremely real and precious.

Lou Xiao'e was a little worried.

She feels that relying on candy to maintain friendship is not appropriate and is worried that her children will rely on this simple way to make friends when they grow up, and that such friendships may not be solid enough.

Her ideal friendship is based on mutual understanding and support, not the exchange of candy.

However, Liu Guozheng's view is completely different. He thinks that the children's happiness and friendship are pure, without any complicated motives. He believes that the willingness to share candy with friends is a manifestation of the child's kindness and generosity, and is also a sign of successful family education. While speaking, he did not forget to flatter his wife, which made Lou Xiao'e feel happy and smiled, and she no longer insisted on her worries.

Liu Guozheng also added: "As long as the children are happy, that's enough. They will naturally learn to deal with other complicated problems when they grow up." This sentence was like a reassurance, which put Lou Xiao'e at ease.

As for those profound truths, Liu Guozheng believes that they are what children need to learn and understand when they grow up.

At present, the most important thing is to let children enjoy the joy of childhood and experience simple happiness.

By noon, Liu Xiaoxiao's words were verified: you can hold the can and eat a whole bottle of canned fruit as long as your stomach can hold it.

This free and easy way of eating made Liu Lele very excited. The same was true for lunch. The dishes on the table were free to eat. Liu Guozheng's loose management allowed the children to enjoy unprecedented freedom.

Liu Lele realized for the first time that Dada (Liu Guozheng) was better than both her father and mother. This feeling made her feel warm inside and she felt that Dada was the best person.

Happy times always pass quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was already afternoon. After dinner, Liu Guozheng and the two girls were preparing to return to the village. As soon as they walked out of the office gate, they unexpectedly ran into Sha Zhu who was returning from get off work and was shopping.

When Sha Zhu saw Liu Lele, he was obviously stunned for a moment.

This girl looks so much like He Yushui, she is a carbon copy of He Yushui when he was a child.

Sha Zhu’s thoughts instantly went back to the past, and he remembered the little girl who used to follow him and call him “Brother” over and over again.

For a moment, Sha Zhu couldn't calm down.

He didn't know since when, the distance between the brother and sister became farther and farther, like an insurmountable gap, dividing their relationship in two sides.

The feeling of loss and emotion made him stop for a long time. It was not until Liu Guozheng was about to leave that he mustered up the courage to ask, "Liu Guozheng, who is she?"

Sha Zhu's voice trembled. Years of loneliness made him long for the warmth of family affection deep in his heart.

Liu Guozheng introduced with a smile: "Le Le, this is your uncle." He pointed at Sha Zhu and said to Liu Lele.

"Uncle?" Liu Lele was a little confused. After all, she was only one year old and didn't understand many things. Although she had never seen Sha Zhu and had never heard of him from her mother, the blood connection could not be severed.

Sha Zhu's eyes were red, and his voice was trembling: "Be good, uncle will buy you something delicious." He took out a wad of money with trembling hands. Over the years, without Qin Huairu's "bloodsucking", he had saved up a lot of money, and usually carried ten or eight yuan on him.

Liu Lele was holding a lot of snacks in her arms. Although she often ate snacks, it was always a happy thing to receive delicious food bought by an elder whom she had never seen or heard of. She said happily: "Thank you, uncle."

Sha Zhu looked at Liu Lele and felt a warm feeling in his heart.

Years of loneliness and solitude seemed to be relieved at this moment.

He suddenly realized that he still had relatives, relatives connected by blood. This feeling made his eyes moist and the loneliness in his heart was alleviated a lot.

Watching the car go away, Sha Zhu stood there for a long time without moving.

His eyes followed the gradually disappearing car, as if he wanted to freeze the beauty of this moment in his heart forever. It was not until the car completely disappeared from his sight that he came back to his senses as if waking up from a dream.

Sha Zhu shook his head vigorously, trying to dispel the complicated thoughts in his mind.

He straightened his back, took a deep breath, and felt the long-lost relaxation and pleasure.

At this moment, his mood seemed to become lighter.

"Brother Zheng, why?" After walking for a long time, Lou Xiao'e couldn't help but ask the doubts in her heart.

"There's no need to ask so many questions. We just met suddenly. Lele's appearance must be very similar to Yu Shui when she was a child, otherwise why would He Yuzhu have that expression?" Liu Guozheng said lightly.

"But He Yuzhu is a pretty good person and treats Lele very well. Do you think this can be considered a blood-related family relationship?" Lou Xiao'e said with emotion.

"Maybe. It could also be that Lele is too much like Yushui, which reminds He Yuzhu of the difficult time when their father suddenly left and they were helpless. I think He Yuzhu should have been very nice to Yushui at first, but was later influenced by the deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai."

Liu Guozheng took a breath and continued, "In my opinion, He Yuzhu must be a very pure person, pure like a fool, pure to the point of not knowing what is right and what is wrong, pure to the point of being stubborn to the end."

"Hahaha, Brother Zheng, you are really funny. That's not pure at all, that's just stupid." Lou Xiao'e couldn't help laughing out loud, and there was a bit of teasing in that smile.

"Maybe." Liu Guozheng still had that indifferent tone.

Perhaps today's sudden encounter will touch the softest part of Shazhu's heart and plant the seeds of hope.

Yes, it is hope. In Liu Guozheng’s view, children, or the next generation, are hope and the future.