Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

It turned out that when Xu Wannian was dying, he told his eldest son that there were jewels hidden in the wall behind the screen.

After the old man's funeral, Xu Jianshe could no longer contain his anxiety and wanted to see what treasures were hidden inside. However, Xu Jianshe's family lived next door, and he was afraid that if he moved during the day, Xu Jianshe's family would discover them.

So he and his two sons had to act at night. However, after working for a long time and tearing down the wall, they still couldn't find the jewels that their father had mentioned before his death.

Xu Jianshe, who had found nothing, lay down on the bed and said to his wife, "It's strange. Dad said there were jewels hidden in the wall. We tore down the wall but still couldn't find them. Could he be confused and talking nonsense?"

Mrs. Xu was silent for a while, then suddenly said, "Could it have been stolen by Jianshe?"

So, early the next morning, as soon as Xu Jianshe got up, Xu Jianshe and his family banged on the door, shouting at Xu Jianshe to open it.

Hu Yingzi's heart tightened and she said, "Jianshe, listen to the door being smashed. I'm afraid they are here with bad intentions."

Xu Jianshe quickly asked his two sons to get up. They were too tired these past few days. The children had a rare good night's sleep last night and had not gotten up yet.

Xu Jianshe said to his eldest son, "Pengcheng, if there's a quarrel later, go to Second Grandfather's house and call for help."

Xu Pengcheng and his younger brother Xu Pengju quickly put on their clothes and got ready.

As soon as the door opened, Xu Jianshe's family of six came in aggressively. Xu Jianshe asked, "Xu Jianshe, did you steal the things in the screen wall?"

Xu Jianshe sneered, "Brother, what are you talking about? Why don't I understand?"

Xu Jianshe said, "My father said there was a treasure hidden in the screen wall, but I tore down the wall and still couldn't find it. Did you take it?"

Xu Jianshe argued, "What nonsense are you talking about? I haven't been back for several years. How could I steal? Besides, I don't even know if this is a good thing or not."

Xu Jianshe was also puzzled. After he took the things away, he rebuilt the wall. But if you look closely, you can definitely see the difference. The difference between the new wall and the old wall is very obvious. Why didn't the old man notice it?

On second thought, the old man lived in Beijing at that time. After returning from Beijing, he lived in Xu Jianshe's house for a while. After a long period of wind and rain, maybe the difference between the new and the old is not so obvious? Who knows?

No matter what, he refused to admit it. Hu Yingzi also said: "The old man has been partial to us all his life, and he never told us this secret. Brother, you can't make up stories without any evidence. If you really can't, we will report it to the police and let them clear our name."

When the two families were arguing, Uncle Xu Er and Uncle Xu San came over. Xu Jianshe quickly asked the two elders to judge the matter and he told them the whole story.

Second Uncle Xu and Third Uncle Xu were also shocked. They had never heard of any jewelry in their eldest brother's family. So Second Uncle Xu asked, "Master Jian, when did your father tell you?"

Xu Jianzhu had a sad face, and he felt as if the jewels he had just got flew away. He said, "My father said this two days before he died. I heard it so clearly."

Uncle Xu said, "Although our ancestors had a few acres of land, which was considered good in the village, we were not a wealthy family. How could we have any jewelry? Even if we had it, the year 1942 was bad and people almost starved to death. We emptied our family savings and exchanged them for food. I guess your father is talking nonsense, right?"

Uncle Xu also said, "That's right, you guys tore down the wall, so if you can't find it, then it doesn't exist. Don't make a fuss over something that doesn't exist."

Xu Jianzhu actually had no idea. He just lied and the other party denied it. He had no idea what to do. But he was still angry and sat there smoking, not leaving.

Everyone was sitting there doing nothing, feeling a little awkward, so Xu Jianshe tried to find a way to talk: "Second uncle, third uncle, my father is gone, and I want to sell this house. You two families have many children, do you want one?"

Before the two uncles could speak, Xu Jianshe spoke up: "Why did you sell the Xu family's ancestral home? Besides, you are not my father's biological son, so you have no say in this house."

Hu Yingzi closed his eyes and blamed Xu Jianshe for being a fool. Why did he have to talk about selling the house in front of Xu Jianshe? If he sold it secretly and then left, wouldn't he have so many troubles?

Xu Jianzhu was in a bad mood, it would be strange if he didn't make trouble.

Xu Jianshe said: "Everyone has known for a long time that I am not my father's biological son. We knew it before the family split up. We agreed at the beginning that I would take care of my father in his old age, and this house is mine. I have the final say."

Xu Jianshe stiffened his neck and said, "What do you mean by old age support? I took care of Dad in his last few years!"

Xu Jianshe defended himself, "I send money to my father every month, and I have kept the remittance receipts. I am always right wherever I go!"

In the countryside of this era, in a situation like Xu Jianshe's, if the Xu family is powerful and wants to make things difficult for Xu Jianshe, he really won't be able to sell his house.

As long as everyone is united and doesn't buy, Xu Jianshe will have no way to stop them. Even if someone wants to buy, they don't want to cause trouble and offend the Xu family.

However, Xu Jianshe had a very good relationship with Uncle Xu's family. It was Xu Jianshe who found Xu Jianshou a job. Because Xu Jianshou had this job and received a salary every month, Uncle Xu's family was able to safely survive those three difficult years. Uncle Xu had seven children in total, the youngest of whom was younger than Xu Pengcheng. You can imagine the difficulties in his family.

Later, because of poor family conditions, Xu Jianshou could not find a wife in the city, so he had to find a wife in the village. Xu Huizhen also helped to arrange a job for the wife. Therefore, Uncle Xu always remembered this favor and always told Xu Jianshou to treat Xu Jianshou like a brother in the capital.

Therefore, in this situation, Third Uncle Xu must stand on the side of Xu Jianshe. Second Uncle Xu, influenced by Second Aunt Xu, also looked down on his eldest brother He Xu Jianshe's behavior, especially in recent years, when Xu Jianshe left Old Father Xu alone in his hometown without paying any attention to him, which was not something a filial son could do.

It is understandable that Xu Jianshe is not close to Old Man Xu, but Xu Jianshe has been spoiled by his father since he was a child and is the favored one. It is unjustifiable for him to be disrespectful to the elderly.

In addition, Uncle Xu's eldest daughter Xu Jianmei and eldest son Xu Jianmu both gained a foothold in the capital with the help of Xu Huizhen, which was ultimately due to Xu Jianshe's relationship.

Therefore, Uncle Xu also stood on Xu Jianshe's side, otherwise, Aunt Xu would not forgive him after returning home.

Finally, it was Uncle Xu who bought the house. Xu Jianshe gave a friendly price of only 480 yuan. You know, the house of the old Xu family was built very well. If it was sold to someone else, someone would be willing to buy it for more than 500 yuan.