Siheyuan: I just want to live

After Chen Feng washed up in a hurry, he ate a steamed bun and some leftovers. Then he put on his school bag, took a set of wine glasses, took out his bicycle and locked the door.

When Chen Feng passed by the central courtyard, he glanced at the Jia family and found that the door was still closed.

Chen Feng turned his head to look at Yi Zhonghai's house and found that the door of Yi Zhonghai's house was open. At a glance, he saw Yi Zhonghai sitting in the living room. Sha Zhu was also at Yi's house, leading a child to kowtow to Yi Zhonghai. Judging from the size of the child, it should be Yu Shui.

Chen Feng ignored them and continued to push his bicycle towards the gate. When he was almost at the front yard, he ran into the Jiang family brothers Xiaolong and Xiaohu. Chen Feng watched the two brothers holding hands and jumping towards the middle yard.

I couldn't help but ask curiously, "Hey! It's so cold, why are you two not staying indoors so early? Where are you going to play?"

The two brothers were stunned when Chen Feng called them. Then Xiaolong said to Chen Feng happily, "Grandma asked us to go to the backyard to wish Uncle Chen Feng a happy new year. I didn't expect to meet you here. Uncle Chen Feng, where are you going?"

When Xiaolong was talking, Xiaohu also nodded. Chen Feng couldn't help but smile warmly when he saw their cute appearance.

Chen Feng parked the car, squatted down and touched the heads of the two children. He happily took out two one-dollar bills from his pocket and stuffed them into their hands. He said, "Uncle has to go out to do something, so you don't have to go to the backyard. Here, this is your New Year's money. Hurry and go home, don't get cold!"

Xiaolong touched the coins in his hand and shouted to Chen Feng happily, "Thank you, Uncle Chen Feng! Happy New Year, Uncle Chen Feng!"

Xiaohu lagged behind by half a beat and immediately followed his brother in shouting, "Happy New Year, Uncle Chen Feng!"

Chen Feng said with a smile, "Happy New Year to you too! Well, it's cold, let's go home quickly!"

"We got it. We'll be back soon. Goodbye, Uncle Chen Feng!"

"Goodbye Uncle Chen Feng!"

After that, the two brothers held hands and skipped away, returning to their own home. The one who was a step behind was Xiaohu!

Chen Feng looked at the two brothers leaving, and when he saw them return home, he also withdrew his gaze.

He continued to push his bicycle towards the gate, and when he passed by the front yard, he saw Yan Fugui jogging home in a hurry. Chen Feng did not call him, but walked out of the gate directly.

Chen Feng stepped out of the courtyard, got on his bike and started to speed up. After riding a few dozen meters, Chen Feng seemed to hear Yan Fugui calling him. However, Chen Feng did not look back, but rode forward on his own, and soon Chen Feng disappeared at the entrance of the alley.

This made Yan Fugui, who was standing at the gate of the yard with his four children, slap his thigh in frustration. Looking at Chen Feng who had disappeared, he could only take the children home in dejection.

The third aunt looked at Yan Fugui, who had excitedly called the children out and now looked depressed, and couldn't help but ask, "Dad, what happened to you? You were out for less than two minutes, and you come back like this?"

Yan Fugui sat on a bench in the living room with a bitter face. When he heard the third aunt's question, he slapped his thigh again and said in annoyance, "I wanted the children to wish Chen Feng a happy new year, but I didn't make it in time! Chen Feng has already ridden out on his bike! Don't I regret not running faster?"

Yan Fugui's words puzzled Auntie San, and then Auntie San said blankly, "If you didn't make it, then you didn't make it. What's there to regret?"

In fact, the four children were also a little confused. They didn't know why Yan Fugui suddenly called them out of the house, took them to the door, and then brought them back. Now they all turned to look at Yan Fugui, wanting to know the answer.

Yan Fugui looked up at his family members who were looking at him with question marks on their faces. He sighed and said depressedly, "Hey, do you know? I just wanted to go to the backyard to wish the deaf old lady a happy new year. What did you see? I saw Chen Feng giving New Year's money to the two brothers of the Jiang family! Do you know how much New Year's money Chen Feng gave them?"

Yan Fugui looked at his bewildered family members, and suddenly he held up two fingers, raised his voice a few notches, and said excitedly:

"It's two dollars! Chen Feng will give them one dollar each! If the children wish Chen Feng a happy new year, won't Chen Feng give our family four dollars? Chen Feng is not married yet and doesn't have any children. He doesn't have to pay back the four dollars!"

"Spend it sparingly. These four dollars are enough for our family to live on for ten days! My heart aches when I think of losing these four dollars!"

After listening to Yan Fugui's explanation, everyone in the Yan family felt very sorry and distressed. Although everyone felt disappointed because they did not get the New Year's money, everyone had slightly different ideas.

The third aunt and Yan Fugui had similar thoughts. They were distressed not only because of the four dollars themselves, but also because the loss of this money meant a reduction in family income.

For a family that is not wealthy, every penny is particularly important, and the loss of four dollars will undoubtedly have a certain impact on the family's financial situation.

In contrast, the younger children thought completely differently. They naively believed that if they could get even one dollar of lucky money, their usually stingy father might be more generous and leave them a dime or two for pocket money.

The eldest child in the family had a longer-term plan. He fantasized that if he had the one dollar lucky money, he could show off in front of the girls in the class when school started, thus winning more attention and envy. This little vanity might be part of the process of growing up.

Everyone in the Yan family has different thoughts. Although on the surface they all seem to be regretting the same thing, their inner thoughts are different. These subtle differences also reflect the role and status of each person in this family.

The third aunt saw that Yan Fugui was still sulking and not in a good mood, so she comforted him, "Dad, don't be angry. Chen Feng will come back eventually. When he comes back, can't we just let the children wish him a happy new year?"

Yan Fugui was still depressed and said, "Who knows when Chen Feng will come back? We may not run into him even if he comes back."

Yan Jiecheng suddenly said, "Dad, let's wait at the door. As soon as Chen Feng comes back, we will definitely run into him. Then we can ask everyone to come out and wish him a happy new year. Isn't that enough?"

After hearing this, Yan Fugui's face immediately turned from cloudy to bright, and he immediately said with a smile, "Okay, this is a good idea! Let's do as the boss says! Let's wait and see for Chen Feng!"

Yan Fugui looked at the children and immediately ordered, "Big brother, you guys, each stand guard at the gate for an hour. If you see Chen Feng, immediately shout to notify the family! I think we should start with the eldest! From oldest to youngest, Jie Di should be the last. Okay, big brother, you go out and wait first!"

After hearing Yan Fugui's instructions, Yan Jiecheng did not refute anything. He turned around and walked out of the room, came to the gate of the courtyard and waited for Chen Feng to come back.

Of course Chen Feng knew nothing about the Yan family's plan. He was riding his bicycle towards the outside of the west city.

Along the way, we were blown by the cold wind of Siberia and under the seemingly cold sun in the early morning. We passed Xidan, followed Fuchengmennei Street, and went out of Fuchengmen. We drove on the difficult-to-ride suburban dirt road and headed straight for the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.

When he arrived at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, Chen Feng parked his bicycle outside the south gate and walked up the mountain alone, carrying his schoolbag.

There were quite a few people coming here to worship today. When Chen Feng was climbing up the mountain, he saw several groups of people coming down. However, they all came with their families, and only Chen Feng was alone.

Chen Feng soon arrived at his grandfather's tombstone. His grandfather was not buried alone here. There were also the original owner's parents and uncles beside him, but their tombs were all cenotaphs, and only his grandfather's tomb contained ashes.

Chen Feng did not bring any yellow paper firecrackers with him this time because it was inappropriate to burn paper in front of a group of Marxist-Leninist proletarian revolutionary fighters.

He didn't bring any flowers either, because the winter in the old city was too cold, so Chen Feng didn't buy any flowers. He only brought some cigarettes and alcohol.

Chen Feng took out a bottle of Maotai and Zhonghua cigarettes, as well as a piece of cloth from the space. Chen Feng first used the cloth to wipe the nine tombstones in this row. The two extra tombs were for his parents' comrades-in-arms. When his grandfather worshipped them in the past, he would also wipe their tombstones clean, and Chen Feng did the same this time.

After Chen Feng cleaned the tombstones, he placed the wine glasses on the table, opened a bottle of Maotai, and filled a glass in front of each tombstone. Then he poured the remaining wine in a straight line in front of the tombstones, and finally lit three Zhonghua cigarettes in front of each tombstone.

After finishing, Chen Feng stood in front of the tombstone of the original owner's parents for a long time without saying a word. Chen Feng didn't know what to say. He didn't know if he was their son now. He wanted to speak but didn't know how to say it.

Finally, Chen Feng sighed, knelt down, kowtowed three times to each of the row of tombstones, and then walked away in a depressed mood.

Chen Feng was in a bad mood all the way down the mountain. He didn't know why, but he felt very uncomfortable. It was not like other days, when he was bored but still very happy.

When Chen Feng was approaching the south gate of Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, he was met by a group of people. The leader was an old man in officer's uniform, surrounded by about 10 to 20 men and women, young and old.

Chen Feng just glanced at them casually, then leaned aside, ignored them, and continued to walk forward. Just as Chen Feng crossed paths with them, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted.

"Chen Feng, you came so early today. I thought you would come in the afternoon."

Chen Feng turned around and saw that it was Li Guotao. He was also in the crowd. He didn't know what his relationship with the old man was, and he actually came to Babaoshan to worship together.

Chen Feng looked at Li Guotao who came out of the crowd and said in a low mood, "Stationmaster, are you here to worship as well? Who is it? Do you want me to come with you?"

When Li Guotao came out, the crowd moved forward a little and then stopped not far away, obviously waiting for Li Guotao.

Li Guotao looked at Chen Feng, who was obviously in a low mood, and took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to him. Then he said, "They are my two cousins, who also died in the war. You don't have to go with them."

Then he comforted Chen Feng and said, "Don't be sad, Chen Feng. There are still many days to come. Look forward!"

Chen Feng took the cigarette, nodded to Li Guotao, and said seriously, "I understand, webmaster, thank you for your concern!"

Li Guotao patted Chen Feng on the shoulder, and then said, "Okay then! You go back first! I'll go up first too!"

Then he turned around and followed the crowd, and Chen Feng continued to walk outside the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery. The two parted ways.