Men and women eating in the courtyard

When Yan Jiekuang ran away, Li Xuewu had already entered the house, and Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to walk out of the courtyard with a straight face.

As soon as the old man went out, a half-grown boy with a pot haircut ran in from outside the courtyard with two little girls.

The three children are Banggan, Xiaodang, and Huaihua of Qin Huairu's family.

Li Xuewu stood at the small window next to the pot and looked out, watching the three children running into the yard.

Unlike most children in this era who have sallow faces and thin muscles, the three children in Widow Qin's family have round faces and clean clothes.

She wanted to integrate into this group as soon as possible. After sleeping all afternoon, Qin Huairu knew from others that she had entered the factory, let alone the "old news" that she had returned this morning.

Li Xuewu told Liu Yin that he wanted to go out for a walk, and then went out.

Snow has begun to fall in the sky again, and the mud on the road has frozen solid, making it no longer slippery when you step on it.

Exiting the alley entrance is Jiaodaokou South Street. Looking north is Andingmen, looking east is Dongzhimen. Dongzhimen is the direction to work. At the end of the road is the steel factory. It takes 15 minutes to bike and an hour to walk.

There are not many pedestrians on the street now, but there are quite a few carriages and cars. The surroundings are in dilapidated condition, and some walls have collapsed.

Li Xuewu walked to the back alley, one step at a time, to a more dilapidated courtyard house. In the second room of the house, a light as bright as a bean shone in the window.

Li Xuewu asked softly at the door: "Is Guodong at home?"

There was a response from the room, and a young man of eighteen or nineteen years old opened the door curtain.

This is someone I remember deeply, maybe because I hung out with him.

Shen Guodong shouted in surprise: "Brother Wu, why are you back? Ah, come in quickly."

As he spoke, he let Li Xuewu into the house with a look of surprise.

In the room, an old lady in shabby clothes was gluing a matchbox. She might not have been able to see clearly, but she was brushing the paste carefully. When she looked up, she saw Li Xuewu coming in, and she looked at her carefully.

Li Xuewu found a matza and sat at the small table, and greeted: "Grandma, are you in good health?"

Seeing that his grandma was still looking at her, Shen Guodong must have not recognized her, so Shen Guodong said to her: "Li Xuewu, I, Brother Wu, am here to see you."

Only then did the old lady know who was coming, and she said politely: "Ah, Xuewu, are you back?"

Shen Guodong poured a glass of water for Li Xuewu and said: "My ears were no longer strong the year before last, and my eyes were no longer good. You have to speak louder."

Li Xuewu took the water glass and put it in his hand. He raised his voice and said, "Grandma, it's me, Xuewu. I came back yesterday."

The old lady nodded and said: "It's good to come back, it's good to come back, it's too dangerous."

Shen Guodong interrupted the old lady and said: "What year has it been? There is no danger."

The old lady muttered: "Why are you so embarrassed if you're not in danger?"

Shen Guodong's parents were wiped out by the war in 1945, leaving the old lady alone with her grandson. She sold off a small amount of property and raised Shen Guodong up.

The old lady probably remembered the tragic events in her early years, so she said it would be good to come back, which was also meant to comfort her.

Shen Guodong ignored the old lady's words and asked, "Brother Wu, are you still leaving when you come back this time?"

Li Xuewu picked up the matchbox and helped to paste it, and said: "I'm not leaving, I have to arrange work, it's the steel rolling mill outside the city."

Shen Guodong was happy for Li Xuewu and said: "The relationship is good, our buddies can hang out with Brother Wu again."

Li Xuewu put down the pasted matchbox, looked at Shen Guodong and said, "I'm eighteen or nineteen, and my health is getting worse day by day. You still want to hang out?"

Ever since Li Xuewu entered the room, Shen Guodong felt that the Brother Wu in front of him was different from the Brother Wu of the past. He was sharper but as steady as a mountain.

"Brother Wu, since you left, our life has been like Wang Er's New Year. Every year is not as good as the previous year. I can't study well. I can't do it when I look at my breasts. So I stopped reading. I can't stop reading. Come out. Just carry grain bags at the grain depot, or hire temporary workers to unload train wagons at the train station, paying 20 cents for a car of coal."

Shen Guodong's voice became lower and lower, and Li Xuewu looked at the environment in the room. There was a kang, an earthen stove, simple pots and pans, a small low table, and a few small horses.

Li Xuewu asked: "Second child, where is Da Zhuang? Old Biaozi didn't help you?"

When Shen Guodong heard Li Xuewu's question, his eyes turned red and he replied with a trembling voice: "Dazhuang is broken."

Li Xuewu couldn't help but feel heartache when he thought of the naive young man in his memory. He had grown up with him since childhood.

Li Xuewu's voice was also a little deep as he asked: "How did you fold it?"

If a person who works on the street gets sick or dies unexpectedly, it is called "gone". Those who can be called "broken" either entered the number or died during a conflict.

Shen Guodong rubbed his face and said: "Old Biaozi followed his third uncle to run a pigeon market stall. At first, he collected eggs and millet from the countryside and sold them in the city. Later, his third uncle saw that scalping would make more money, so he encouraged him. Lao Biaozi found a few people to work with him."

Li Xuewu cursed in a low voice: "Old Biaozi doesn't say that his third uncle is a coward, how dare you believe his ideas?"

Li Xuewu knew who Lao Biaozi's third uncle was. He was a few years older than Lao Biaozi. The youngest member of the family had been cunning since he was a child. He was quite capable of stealing and stealing. If he asked him to do something, he would either stretch his legs or stretch his crotch.

Shen Guodong also said with grievance: "Old Biaozi is moved. Since you left, we have lost our backbone. We are not allowed to go to Houhai. Those brats on the street no longer greet us. Old Biaozi I also kicked him. Isn’t this because I want to make some money to make a living?”

Li Xuewu cursed in a low voice: "Things with their heads on their buttocks are called Guoer, and they are called Cangguoer."

Shen Guodong grinned and said: "It was okay at first. The high prices we paid were all coming to us to change. But one day, someone blocked us. There were seven people on the other side, four on our side, and Lao Biaozi. The third uncle ran away, and the three of us were stuck inside. It was Da Zhuang, who brought a fork and two bags. One of them disappeared at that time, scaring the other party away. We also ran away, but we were not two days old. Zhuang was still found and it was broken in the second month.”

Li Xuewu heard Shen Guodong's voice choked up when he talked about Da Zhuang. He knew that he was also feeling uncomfortable, but he still asked: "How do you live with Da Zhuang's family, only his mother and sister are left?"

Shen Guodong said: "How can we still live? We can keep them. When the news came back that Dazhuang was gone, Lao Biaozi's third uncle sent 50 yuan to the family, saying that he would give 10 yuan every month to support them."

Li Xuewu said angrily: "This grandson still has some conscience, what are he doing now?"

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