Comfortable life in Siheyuan

Liu Guangtian ran out of the courtyard without looking back, as if his butt was on fire, completely ignoring the anxious shouts of the second aunt behind him. He stopped panting in the middle of the road, but his eyes were full of confusion and helplessness - at this moment, he had no idea where he should go.

After standing in the dark street corner for a while, Liu Guangtian took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. After careful consideration, he finally decided to leave this place. Just like that, he disappeared silently into the night...

About half an hour later, Liu Guangtian appeared in front of a small courtyard on the outskirts of the city. This was the home of his master Lin Haidong. It was said that Lin Haidong had always lived here alone, and his children were all far away. The journey was not short, and it took Liu Guangtian half an hour to get there. Fortunately, his clothes were shabby and he looked very miserable, so he did not encounter any danger along the way.

However, when he stood at the door of his master's house, Liu Guangtian began to hesitate again. He wandered in front of the door for more than ten minutes, wondering whether he should knock on the door. Finally, after a fierce inner struggle, Liu Guangtian mustered up the courage and gently knocked on the slightly old wooden door: "Dong! Dongdong!" Every knock on the door seemed to knock on his nervous heart, making his heart beat faster.

Master Lin's slightly sleepy and puzzled voice came from inside: "Who is it? You come to see me so late? I've already lain down to rest!" Liu Guangtian swallowed nervously and said with a slightly trembling voice: "Master, it's me, Guangtian." At this moment, Liu Guangtian's tone of voice was obviously trembling a little, half of which was due to the cold night. After all, the clothes he wore were a little thin; and the other half came from the fear and uneasiness deep in his heart.

With a slight "creaking" sound, the door slowly opened. Master Lin stared at the trembling apprentice in front of him, and a feeling of concern surged in his heart, but he did not say much, just silently motioned him to come in. After entering the house, Master Lin walked straight to the table and quickly poured a cup of hot tea, intending to let his apprentice warm up first.

However, just as Master Lin turned around and was about to hand the teacup to Liu Guangtian, something unexpected happened - Liu Guangtian suddenly knelt on his knees with a dull "thump" sound, and his whole body fell forward to the ground.

Upon seeing this, Master Lin quickly put down the cup in his hand, walked quickly to his apprentice, stretched out his hand to help him up, and asked with concern: "Guangtian, get up quickly! It's so late, why did you suddenly come to my place? Have you had dinner?"

Hearing the Master's caring question, Liu Guangtian's last bit of defense instantly collapsed, and tears burst out like a broken dam. He choked and replied, "Master... I, didn't eat..."

Seeing his disciple with tears in his eyes, Master Lin's heart softened, but he still pretended to be serious and said, "Don't cry yet. How can a man cry like a girl? I don't like this."

After Liu Guangtian calmed down a little, he slowly told his master the whole story: "Master, do you know? The company just paid my salary yesterday, and I wanted to save more money so that I could rent a house and move out, away from that home. Who would have thought that today my mother actually found the money I hid, and not only that, she also ran to complain to my father. Look at all these injuries on me, they are all because of them!" As he spoke, Liu Guangtian took off his shirt, revealing his body covered with scars.

Then, Liu Guangtian continued to narrate: "I was beaten so hard that I couldn't stand it anymore and ran away from home. But before I left, I took the money with me..."

Lin Haidong had always known that Liu Guangtian was often beaten at home, but he didn't know he was beaten so badly. Looking at the countless new and old scars on his apprentice's body, he was not cold-hearted.

"Put on your clothes first, don't catch a cold. Master will get you something to eat." Then he walked into the kitchen.

Liu Guangtian got dressed and sat at the table waiting for his master. After a while, Lin Haidong came out with a bowl of steaming noodles.

"Guangtian, eat it while it's hot." Lin Haidong put the noodles in front of Liu Guangtian.

Liu Guangtian looked at his master gratefully, picked up his chopsticks and started to eat voraciously. Looking at him, Lin Haidong felt a pang of sadness in his heart.

After Liu Guangtian finished eating the noodles, Lin Haidong said, "Guangtian, what are your plans for the future? You can't keep avoiding it like this."

Liu Guangtian was silent for a while, then raised his head and said, "Master, I don't want to go back. Do you have a house to rent? One that's cheaper. I want to live alone."

"You live alone, do you have bedding, clothes, food and daily necessities? The money you have is not enough! Well! How about this, you stay with me for a few days. I'm the only one at Master's house usually, so it's okay for you to live here first. But you came out in such a hurry, did you bring the food certificate?" Master Lin said with concern.

"No, I was in a hurry to get out and didn't bring anything with me. I will go back secretly tomorrow and get some things out. Master, thank you for taking me in." Liu Guangtian stood up and bowed deeply to Master Lin.

In the backyard of the courtyard, Liu Haizhong sat steadily in the living room. The second aunt stood at the door, looking out of the door, with a panicked look on her face.

"Stop hanging around at the door. He's such a grown-up, he can't get lost." Liu Haizhong frowned and complained with a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone.

"This bastard actually dared to rob money. He's really brave! I'm just worried that he will run away and spend the money." The second aunt rubbed her hands anxiously and muttered with a pout.

"If he doesn't want to get beaten, he naturally wouldn't dare to spend all the money. No matter how much you worry, it will be in vain." There was a hint of indifference in his eyes, as if he had long been accustomed to his son's behavior.

"Yeah, that's true. He doesn't have much money on him anyway, so he will probably come back obediently after spending it. After all, he has nowhere else to go when he runs out of money." The second aunt nodded as if to comfort herself, and then concluded.

After the two finished their conversation, they stopped talking and went to bed. However, at this moment, Liu Guangfu, who was hiding in the room, heard the conversation between his parents outside clearly. He felt more and more depressed and his heart was cold. In his opinion, whether his second brother Liu Guangtian would come back or not, his future life would probably be difficult.

If the second brother really left, then he would have to bear all the beatings and scoldings in the future; and if the second brother dared to come back, his parents would definitely not let him off easily, and he would also be severely punished. In short, no matter what, this beating was inevitable. Thinking of this, Liu Guangfu couldn't help biting his lips tightly, silently praying that he could get through this difficult time safely.