Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

Tietou's father sighed and said solemnly: "Uncle, I promise you, but when you divide the family property, you must compensate Jianshe. Otherwise, I will feel guilty. After all, this is Jianshe's only son, a living being."

Mr. Xu: "Don't worry, I know my limits. They are still young and can have more children in the future."

At night, Tietou's father found Xu Jianshe and said to him, "Jianshe, don't blame me for not telling you the truth. I am the only one in my family. I live in this village and have to rely on the help of my clan to make a living. I can't afford to offend anyone. Besides, what's the point of telling you? Can you really kill Shengli? Then you won't be able to live like this."

Anyway, what they meant was that if you want to report to the police, we can't testify for you, so just ask for some compensation when the property is divided.

Xu Jianshe was a simple and honest person, and his father had taught him to be a little foolishly filial since he was a child. He could only hold his head and cry silently.

Mr. Xu divided the family property between his two sons. In this era, parents should not separate the family property, especially those with few children, who like to live together as a whole family, as there is strength in numbers.

The Xu family originally had three and a half main rooms, but later the three rooms of the neighbor to the east were for sale. The two houses were built together, both were blue brick and tiled. So Mr. Xu spent money to buy the east room and opened a door in the wall to facilitate communication.

The three rooms in the east house were divided among the second son, and the old man and the eldest son's family lived in the three and a half rooms in the west house. Of course, there were wing rooms in the yard. As for furniture, farm tools, pots and pans, etc., they were divided fairly, and the second son was given 200 yuan as compensation.

Two hundred yuan was a lot of money in that era. When families with many sons divided their property, they not only did not get money, but also had to get foreign debts.

Hu Yingzi was not happy at home. The old couple's partiality was as obvious as lice on a bald man's head. Her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law also bullied her, so she was naturally eager to get a share of the family property.

Considering the old man's partiality, this time he had to pay a heavy price. It seemed that for the sake of his grandson, the old man was willing to risk everything. Otherwise, if Hu Yingzi continued to make trouble, the matter would get out of hand and Shengli's reputation would be ruined.

Even if the police had no evidence and could not arrest Shengli, there was no smoke without fire. The charge that Shengli had killed his cousin could spread 40 miles. The best way was to cut the Gordian knot and shut Hu Yingzi up. It turned out that the old ones were the wisest.

After the separation, Hu Yingzi decisively blocked the door between the two houses. Out of sight, out of mind.

The following year, Xu Jianshe said he found a temporary job for his wife in the city, and moved to the city with his wife and several children. The main reason was that Shengli's reputation in the village was ruined, and yellow mud fell into his crotch, which was either shit or shit. Some children even began to reject him.

Hu Yingzi and Xu Jianshe were so angry that one Buddha was born and the other ascended to heaven. The second wife's son was killed, but the first wife moved to the city to settle down. If it weren't for Mr. Xu's money and effort, how could Xu Jianshe have such ability?

Hu Yingzi said to her husband, "Jianshe, Xu Shengli is twelve years old. He is not an ignorant child. I don't believe that he could do such a cruel thing without the instigation and connivance of his parents. If the top beam is not straight, the bottom beam will be crooked. You should stay away from your eldest brother in the future. He doesn't have us in his heart."

What Hu Yingzi said makes sense. If other families have not split up, cousins ​​live under the same roof and get along just like real brothers. When they fight, they unite to face the outside world. But the Xu family is just the opposite. Xu Jianshe's children often bully Huzi and Xiao Huizhen. This is closely related to the words and deeds of the adults in the family. In other words, Xu Jianshe and his wife did not take the second wife seriously and often bullied her. Shengli followed suit, which led to this result.

From then on, the eldest wife did not often go back to Xujiawan. Xu Jianshe did all the physical work such as fetching water and chopping firewood for Mr. Xu. Mrs. Xu was in poor health and was often hospitalized. The 200 yuan that Xu Jianshe received from the family was also sent to the hospital.

There is no other way. My mother is in the hospital. How can you, as her son, not pay for it? Mrs. Xu passed away within two years. After Hu Yingzi gave birth to another son, her life returned to normal.

There is another thing that Xu Huizhen will never forget.

In 1980, Mr. Xu passed away. On the night after the old man was buried, the Xu Jianshe family, who had been working hard for several days, went to bed early.

In the middle of the night, Hu Yingzi got up to go to the bathroom and saw the light of a flashlight flickering in the west room. She opened her sleepy eyes and heard a noise next door. So she curiously pressed against the wall and listened carefully.

Then I heard Xu Jianzhu say softly, "Shengli, be quiet, don't let anyone hear the noise." Then there was the sound of moving bricks and stones.

Hu Yingzi's curiosity was aroused. He went back to the house and woke up Xu Jianshe. The two of them moved a stool, quietly climbed up, and looked over the wall. In the moonlight, they saw Xu Jianshe and his son dismantling the screen wall. Two people were removing bricks with a tile knife, and one person was holding the bricks and gently placing them on the ground.

They were not sleeping in the middle of the night, like thieves. No one would believe that there was no trick. Xu Jianshe took Hu Yingzi back to the house quietly and said, "Yingzi, what do you think they are doing? Is there some treasure hidden in the wall?"

Hu Yingzi: "Who knows? Let's wait and see. If they dig up treasures, there should be a share for us, right?" So the couple quietly observed what was happening in the big room.

Not long after, Shengli said with suppressed joy, "Dad, I found it." With the weak light of the flashlight, Shengli picked up an iron box. After Xu Jianshe took it, he said, "Go on, your grandfather said there is another one."

After fiddling with it for a while, Xu Shengli said, "I found it. This one is heavier."

At this time, Xu Jianshe stepped on a stool, jumped onto the wall, and shouted: "Brother, what did you find?"

Xu Jianshe was startled and the box in his hand fell to the ground with a clang, and then he heard the sound of metal collision.

Xu Jianzhu said in a panic: "Nothing, nothing. Why are you shouting so loudly? It's scary."

Xu Jianshe climbed up the wall, climbed onto the screen wall, and jumped to the ground, wanting to see what was in the box. Qianjin saw this and ran into the house holding one of the boxes.

Xu Jianshe went up to grab the remaining box. He wanted to see what was inside. This screen wall had not been touched for more than 20 years. If there was something inside, it must have been hidden before the family split up. One share belonged to the second room.

Xu Jianshe refused to give it to them, so the two of them fought over it. As a result, the lid of the box opened, and the contents fell to the ground, and several people went to grab them again.

At this time, Hu Yingzi also crawled over. Xu Shengli hated Hu Yingzi so much over the years because she ruined his reputation. Seeing that Hu Yingzi was also going to grab it, he swung the tile knife in his hand and chopped at Hu Yingzi, hitting her right in the face. Hu Yingzi screamed and fell to the ground.

The scream pierced the night sky, and in this silent night, it was particularly shrill. The neighbors were awakened and got up to see what was going on. Xu Jianshe grabbed two long things, but when he heard his wife's scream, he didn't care about grabbing anything else. He went forward to pick up Yingzi, opened the door, and walked out. If they started fighting, he alone would not be a match for this family.