Free Days in Siheyuan

Chapter 1121 Self-inflicted evil

Xie Zhiying also fell silent. He patted the man's shoulder, wordlessly but with full of concern.

At this moment, any language seems pale and powerless.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered the scene when he first met the man.

At that time, the other party was still a child, and it was not an exaggeration to describe him as skinny.

It was already winter, and the boy's thin clothes were tightly attached to his thin body, unable to hide his protruding bones at all.

The boy didn't look out of place among the dead bodies. In fact, compared to those dead bodies, the boy's image at that time was even more terrifying.

If it weren't for the remaining warmth in the other's heart, he would have almost buried the boy as a corpse.

The young boy was extremely thin back then, and Xie Zhiying would feel a palpitation every time he saw him.

The other person's skin was stretched tight over his bones, like a close-fitting skeleton suit.

His arms and legs were like two thin bamboo poles, especially his leg bones, which almost broke through the thin layer of skin when he moved, protruding outside, which was shocking.

During that period, whenever Xie Zhiying saw the other person, she would become worried unconsciously, always fearing that one of his bones would penetrate his skin in the next second.

The other person was so thin at the time that he seemed like he would fall down if a gust of wind blew past him.

Xie Zhiying didn't think he was a kind person, but he couldn't help but soften his heart and picked it up.

Now that young boy has grown up.

Xie Zhiying patted the man's shoulder and comforted him, "Don't think about it. It's over. You live a good life, which is better than anything else. After a while, we will ask a matchmaker to find a wife for you. By then, a wife, children and a warm bed are better than anything else."

Xie Zhiying comforted him clumsily. The man couldn't help laughing. He wiped his tears fiercely: "Brother Xie, I'm lucky to have you!"

Xie Zhiying really couldn't play this affectionate trick. She coughed lightly, turned her head away awkwardly, and yelled, "Okay, how old are you? You still think you are a child. Aren't you ashamed to cry like this? Okay, okay, go and do your thing. I have to go back too."

After leaving the man, Xie Zhiying did not go back to the guesthouse directly, but turned and went to an alley.

Following a pattern of short, long, and short knocks, Xie Zhiying knocked on the door of the house at the end of the alley.

After knocking three times in a row, he stopped what he was doing and waited quietly for the reaction of the person inside.

A minute later, the door suddenly opened. A young man in his 20s opened the door. When he saw Xie Zhiying, his face lit up and he shouted into the house, "Dad, Dad, look who's here?"

"What are you shouting about? Where is Alkali Hun'er?" As soon as the young man finished speaking, an old but powerful voice came from the room.

"Who's coming?"

Young man: “You’ll know when you come out.”

A moment later, an old man in his 50s came out of the house. When he saw Xie Zhiying, he was startled at first, then smiled and greeted him warmly: "Brother Xie, you are here, come in, come in!"

After saying that, he turned around and kicked the young man, cursing, "Why are you still standing here? You don't have any sense at all. Go get your uncle Xie a glass of water."

Then he turned his head and looked at Xie Zhiying with a smile on his face again: "Brother Xie, you haven't been here for a long time. This time you come, you must drink a few more glasses."

Xie Zhiying waved his hand and refused, "No, brother, I have something to do today. I'll come over some other day, and we can have a good drink then. And don't let the children work, I have to go back soon." The old man frowned and said with some dissatisfaction, "What's the big deal? You don't even have time to drink a sip of water."

Xie Zhiying: "Brother, I really have something to do today. I came here to pick up my eldest nephew. The old man at home is still eagerly waiting to see his grandson. If he knew that I was drinking here and delayed him from seeing his grandson, he would definitely beat me with his walking stick."

"Okay then, but let's make it a deal. Next time you come over, you have to drink as much as you can at once."

The old man also knows something about the Xie family's situation.

Knowing that it is rare for the other party's nephew to come over, I didn't insist on it.

"Okay, okay, I'll drink up all the good wine you've hidden away, brother."

As soon as these words came out, the old man smiled and said, "Okay, I've been waiting for you to say this. I won't let you leave if you don't finish the drink."

Seeing that his old man was happy, the young man dared to bring up the tea.

"Uncle Xie, have some tea."

Xie Zhiying took the tea, took two sips, then explained the purpose of his visit and asked the old man if he had any other dishes today. If there were any, he could prepare a few for him so that he could use them to entertain his eldest nephew.

"Yes, there must be. If someone else asks, there may not be any, but you must have it. Wait here, I will prepare it for you, and I will definitely make sure our eldest nephew enjoys the meal."

Before Xie Zhiying could say anything else, the old man hurried into the kitchen and started busying himself.

Looking at his old man's back, the young man gave Xie Zhiying a thumbs up.

"Uncle Xie, you have to be the one who has the final say in front of the old man. If it were me, the old man would definitely say, "What the hell are you dreaming about..."

Before the young man finished speaking, the old man's roar could be heard from the kitchen again: "You little bastard! Did you touch my things again?"

The moment the voice came, the young man trembled subconsciously, and a trace of panic flashed across his face.

It’s broken, the old man found out.

He pretended to be calm and said towards the kitchen: "What is it? I don't know, you can look for it again, I haven't been to the kitchen recently."

As the young man spoke, he looked at Xie Zhiying for help.

Xie Zhiying looked at him with a half-smile and asked in a low voice: "What did you touch your father's thing again?"

The young man didn't want to say it at first, but seeing Xie Zhiying's expression that said if you don't tell me, I won't help you, he still whispered: "I thought those small jars in his kitchen were pretty, so I took two."

Xie Zhiying looked him up and down: "Do you believe what you said?"

"Believe it, why not?" The young man gritted his teeth and squeezed out these words.

"Stop messing around and tell the truth. What did you break again?"

The young man hesitated for a long time, and finally, when he saw the old man in the room was about to come out, he told him what he had done.

"I just wanted to find two jars to store some things. After searching for a long time, I couldn't find any suitable jars at home, so I remembered the bottles and jars in the kitchen. I thought that with so many bottles and jars, my father wouldn't usually pay attention to them, so I... secretly took two."

The young man felt more and more guilty as he spoke, and by the end he was almost silent.