Siheyuan: I am Jia Dongxu's cousin

After staying at Lou's house for an afternoon, Zhang Weiguo and his parents left.

When leaving, seeing Lou Xiao'e's reluctant look, Zhang Weiguo wished he could marry her home right away.

After returning to the courtyard, Zhang Weiguo originally planned to let his parents rest for a day before leaving. But his parents said they were worried that their younger brothers and sisters would be left alone for a day. So Zhang Weiguo took his parents to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought a bunch of things for them to take back. Although they repeatedly refused on the way, saying that he was spending money recklessly, they still bought about 50 yuan worth of things and took them back under Zhang Weiguo's insistence.

Zhang Weiguo was in a very happy mood after finalizing his marriage with Lou Xiao'e.

Zhang Weiguo hummed a little tune and walked back to the entrance of the alley with a happy pace. He saw the third uncle arguing with a young man with a sallow face, wearing a patched long gown and carrying a long pole on his shoulder.

"Look, there are threads coming out of your cloth shoes. How about I exchange them for something worth two yuan at a lower price?"

At this time, except for state-owned enterprises, most other sellers use barter as a means of selling goods, otherwise they will be charged with speculation.

Hearing what the third uncle said, the boy's face turned red and he said angrily: "You...you look like a scholar, how can you be so unreasonable? I won't change it to you."

After the man finished speaking, he snatched the cloth shoes from the third uncle's hand, picked up the carrying pole and prepared to leave.

"Well, if the price is not right, we can still negotiate." The third uncle hurriedly stopped the man who wanted to leave.

"Let me go, I won't sell it to you."

Just as the two were arguing, Zhang Weiguo spoke.

"Uncle San, what are you guys arguing about? I heard it at the entrance of the alley."

The third uncle saw that it was Zhang Weiguo and said to him, "Weiguo, you open the appraisal gift. Look at this pair of cloth shoes. Is there a thread? Is it right for me to negotiate the price with him?"

Zhang Weiguo looked at the cloth shoes in the man's hand. They were exquisitely made with fine stitching. They were a pair of shoes with good workmanship. As for the loose threads mentioned by the third uncle, it was just a gimmick to lower the price.

The young man saw that the third uncle knew Zhang Weiguo, and subconsciously thought that he and the third uncle were in the same group. He said angrily: "You are all in the same group, so is it okay for me not to change?"

After saying this, the man broke free from the third uncle's hand and was about to leave with his carrying pole.

At this time, Zhang Weiguo found that the boy looked familiar, so he asked in confusion, "Pan Jianguo?"

The young man stopped when he heard Zhang Weiguo's words, turned around and asked, "Do you know my elder brother?"

Zhang Weiguo asked why he looked so familiar, and it turned out that he was related to Pan Jianguo.

"You and your elder brother were roommates in college. By the way, how is your elder brother doing now?"

The young man seemed to be thinking of something sad, and said with a sad expression: "My...my eldest brother passed away."

"What?" Zhang Weiguo couldn't believe it.

In his memory, Pan Jianguo has always played the role of the big brother in the dormitory.

I still remember that before Zhang Weiguo went abroad to study, Pan Jianguo once said to him, "Weiguo, I don't have as good a talent as you. My biggest wish is to be assigned to a good unit after graduating from university, so that I can reduce the burden on my mother, take care of my younger brothers and sisters, and help my father with his medical treatment."

"Uncle, this young man has some relationship with me. You can put aside your business first. I will take him back to my home." Zhang Weiguo said, turning to the young man and saying, "Come with me to my home and I will tell you about your brother."

The boy seemed reluctant to go home with Zhang Weiguo, and said, "I still have something to exchange, I..."

Zhang Weiguo interrupted before he could finish his words: "Your brother and I used to have a very good relationship. How about this, I want all your things, and you can go back with me now."

"Okay..." The boy heard that Zhang Weiguo was going to exchange all his things, and he didn't care whether what Zhang Weiguo said before was true or not. After all, only by exchanging his things would he have money to buy medicine for his mother, and his sister was also waiting for him to come back home hungry.

After both of them sat down, Zhang Weiguo spoke directly: "Tell me how your brother died? What is the current situation of your family?"

Later, Zhang Weiguo learned about Pan Jianguo's situation from the boy.

It turned out that in the second year after Zhang Weiguo went abroad, Pan Jianguo successfully graduated and was assigned to the Sijiucheng Grain Station by the school. Pan Jianguo graduated with a liberal arts degree, so being assigned to the grain station was a good place to go.

The situation of the Pan family had improved greatly after Pan Jianguo worked for two years, but things happened unexpectedly. When the enemy agents were destroying the grain station, Pan Jianguo was shot in the heart and died on the spot in the fight with the enemy agents while trying to protect the grain warehouse.

Pan Jianguo also died in the line of duty, and he is considered a martyr. The grain station also gave a subsidy of 500 and let Pan's family inherit the job. But the bad thing was Pan Jianguo's uncle. He found Pan's father and said, "Second brother, your second son is only 14 years old now, and it will take another 4 years for him to inherit the job. Why don't you let his cousin go first, and then let him go when he turns 18. We won't use him in vain, and let your nephew give half of his salary to your family every month."

Pan's father originally disagreed, but he couldn't persuade his eldest brother and called his parents over. Finally, after repeated persuasion from his parents and eldest brother, Pan's father agreed. But since getting the job, Pan Jianguo's uncle has become a different person and doesn't admit what he said before. He even said that this job was given to his son by Pan's father himself.

After many fruitless attempts to find his eldest brother, Pan's father, who was already seriously ill, died on a snowy day. What was even more outrageous was that after Pan's father's death, he took over Pan's house and Pan Jianguo's 500 yuan pension with his parents. He directly drove Pan Jianguo's mother and younger siblings out. Pan's mother fainted in anger and now needs to rely on medicine to stay alive.

Zhang Weiguo was very angry after hearing this. Uncle Pan Jianguo and his family are really beasts.

Then he asked, “Where do you live now?”

“We rented a small house on the street with my mother and sister.”

"So how do you live?"

"My mother and sister usually make matchboxes at home, and I work as a peddler to exchange things for others." The boy could not hide the despair on his face after he said this. Zhang Weiguo had no doubt that if he didn't have a mother and sister to take care of, the boy would have left this world long ago.

"Huh..." Zhang Weiguo sighed helplessly. Although the Pan family had gone too far, it was still their family affair. Even if Zhang Weiguo, an outsider, wanted to help, he had to have a good reason.

Zhang Weiguo took out 50 yuan and some food coupons from under the bed and handed them to the boy.

The young man looked at the things Zhang Weiguo handed over and was stunned. He really needed the money, but he couldn't take other people's things for no reason.

Zhang Weiguo saw the boy's expression and said, "Take it. Your elder brother and I used to be good friends. Give me your home address later, and I will try my best to find a way to deal with your family's problems."