The Great Era of Siheyuan

On a remote street in Baoding City, Old Man Wu, who had disappeared for several days, came to the gate of a courtyard, pushing a wheelbarrow with Jia Zhang and Bang Geng.

This courtyard is located in a remote corner of the street. The surrounding walls are slightly mottled, and the traces of time are clearly visible on the bricks and stones. They are covered with mosses that grow year after year, but have now dried up due to the long drought.

The ground of the yard was paved with irregular bluestones, with a few weeds growing between the cracks. The door was open, and it creaked slightly when the wind blew.

Through the door, you can see a dilapidated water tank on the left, and in the right corner, there are some messy firewood piled up, and a rusty axe leaning against it. Facing the courtyard gate is a simple wing room, the paint on the doors and windows has peeled off, revealing the old wood grain inside.

There was an old locust tree in the middle of the yard, its lush branches and leaves rustling in the breeze. Under the shade of the tree, there was a wooden table with one leg missing, barely supported by a few stones.

When Old Man Wu saw the courtyard in his memory, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally arrived, but why did it seem like someone was living in it?

At first, I borrowed a bicycle in the city, but later I returned it and bought a wheelbarrow again, carrying a few bags of food and luggage, and taking the old and the child with me. After two days and two nights of hard journey, we finally arrived in Baoding.

Originally he planned to take the train, but the inspection was too strict and he couldn't explain the origins of his bags of rice, so he ended up having to walk.

"Grandma, I want to eat steamed buns and fried dough sticks, go buy them for me!"

Bang Geng held Jia Zhang's hand and shook it constantly. They walked for three days. Although it was quite hard, the journey was full of novelty and dazzling for Bang Geng. As for Qin Huairu, he had long forgotten her.

"Okay, okay, my dear grandson, grandma will buy it for you later! Let's wait for a while!"

Jia Zhang first coaxed Bang Geng with a smile on her face, and then spoke to Old Man Wu.

"Old Wu, my grandson wants to eat steamed buns and fried dough sticks. Did you hear me? Let's go buy some food first!"

Jia Zhang called Old Man Wu without any hesitation. In her opinion, since she was a girl in her forties or fifties and married an old man of seventy-two or seventy-three years old, he should take good care of her.

Old man Wu, who had been pushing the cart all the way, was now sweating profusely from exhaustion. He sneered a few times after hearing this.

"Damn it, you really think you're a gangster. You've been asking for this and that along the way. Wait until the household registration is transferred, and then I'll show you how I'll deal with you."

Old man Wu thought to himself.

"Don't worry, we've arrived. Let's go buy food after we've packed up. Please wait a moment!"

After saying this, Old Man Wu's face changed, and he strode into the yard. He wanted to see who dared to rob his house. Soon after, Old Man Wu's angry curses were heard.

"Who the hell are you? Why are you in my house? If you don't explain yourself today, I'll beat you to death!"

Old Man Wu asked while grabbing an old man who looked about 60% like Sha Zhu.

Although Old Man Wu is over seventy years old, he has practiced martial arts for many years and is in good health. He looks to be in his early fifties. He has an extremely hot temper and will start fighting if he disagrees with something.

"Who are you? This is not your home, this is my home! If you don't get out, don't blame me for kicking you out!"

The man he caught said in a hoarse voice, although he was a little nervous, he was not too scared in broad daylight.

"Well, you've taken over my house and you want to drive me away. Damn it, that's so unreasonable, right? Just wait and see how I deal with you!"

As they talked, the two men started to wrestle with each other.

Jia Zhang was sitting outside with her legs crossed. When she heard the noise inside, she ignored it and even thought, "Go ahead and beat them all to death. If they die, I will immediately buy a train ticket back to the city." These days, she had been begging and serving Old Man Wu. Not only did she get her money back, she also took a lot from him. Otherwise, she would not have agreed to come to this broken place.

Hearing such a loud noise, a middle-aged woman with a fair face and quite charming style came out of the house. Seeing this situation, she immediately asked in surprise.

"Third uncle?"

"noob?"

Old Man Wu and the beautiful woman looked at each other in surprise.

"Uncle San, why are you back? Hurry up and get up. What's going on? Why are family members fighting with each other?"

The beautiful woman separated the two people with a smile.

"Hmph, why did I come back? If I hadn't come back, I wouldn't even know when my home would be gone. Xiaobai, can you tell me what happened?" Old man Wu asked, pointing at the man who was knocked unconscious by him.

"You're talking about him. His name is He Daqing. We met in Nanluoguxiang. After liberation, he had no livelihood in the city, but we fell in love after a few visits. I was not used to the environment there, so I brought him to Baoding. Third uncle, what's wrong with you? Don't you have a big house in the old city? Why are you here?"

The White Widow looked at him curiously.

"The house has been disposed of, and I have found you a sister-in-law! You are old now, so you will retire in your hometown! Cuihua, bring our grandson in to meet people!"

Old Man Wu shouted to the outside.

When Jia Zhang heard the shouting, she patted her butt, twisted her body and walked in with the stick, saying impatiently.

"You don't want to live in a good city, but you brought me to this shabby place. Old Wu, I tell you, if the house is gone, we should go back as soon as possible. If we walk quickly, we can reach the Forbidden City tomorrow night... Are you, He Daqing?"

Before Jia Zhang could finish her words, she felt as if her throat was choked and she couldn't speak when she saw He Daqing.

"Are you the sister-in-law of the Jia family? This is Bang Geng, right? What are you doing?"

He Daqing didn't expect to meet Jia Zhang here. He looked at them in confusion, not understanding how she got together with this old man.

"Well, the situation inside is a bit complicated, let's talk about it later. Banggeng, come over here and call Grandpa He!"

Jia Zhang was very embarrassed when she met He Daqing. After all, it was a bit embarrassing for her to remarry at such an old age. But she changed her mind and thought that she was married in a formal way, which was different from He Daqing who left his children and ran away with the widow. She immediately felt justified.

"You all know each other, right? In that case, you can just pay me back the rent for all these years. Five dollars a month, and we'll forget about it."

Old Man Wu said to the White Widow.

"Uncle San, you still want to ask me for money? If I hadn't come back, this house would have belonged to someone else. It would be fine if you didn't give me the money, but you're asking me for it? What do you mean?"

When the White Widow heard this, she immediately got furious.

"I have the title deed to this house, and I have informed the village about it. How can I let someone else take it? Besides, who dares to take advantage of me with this land?"

Old Man Wu sneered.

"Uncle San, we are family after all, right? The house in our village was collapsed by the rain and is uninhabitable. Please be kind and my children will still call you Uncle San! We are all family, so please forget about the money, okay?"

When Widow Bai heard this, she thought of her third uncle's temper and personality, and her anger suddenly faded a lot. She said with a wry smile.

After hearing this, Old Man Wu thought about it and it seemed to make sense. After all, Jia Zhang's grandson was not his own grandson, but the son of Widow Bai was his nephew's grandson.

Old man Wu looked at the White Widow, and then his eyes suddenly became a little hot. This White Widow is much stronger than Jia Zhang.

"He Daqing, right? Go outside and move the things back with Cuihua. Xiaobai, let's go inside and have a good discussion to see what to do about this."

"Okay! But you have to understand me, Uncle San. Our family hasn't been doing well these years, so how can we afford the money?"

Widow Bai knew the man's mind very well. When she saw the look in Old Man Wu's eyes, she instantly understood his idea. She immediately started to act coquettishly, casting seductive glances with her peach blossom eyes without making any expression.

"Don't worry, Third Uncle will definitely understand you, but let's talk about the details first! I also want to hear about what you've been doing here over the years. Cuihua, don't just stand there like an idiot. Go and help him move the things in, or they won't be stolen."

Old Man Wu waved to the two of them and went into the White Widow's room.

Old Man Wu and the White Widow were both experienced in the love field, and they hooked up without making a sound. Only Banggeng was left standing in the yard, looking around and running around.