Siheyuan: Grassroots Counterattack

After putting away the luggage, Li Tianyi closed the door, then got off the bus and went to the station to buy some food. It would take almost a week to reach the destination, and he couldn't always eat dry food.

But at the current Sijiucheng Station, the food in the state-owned stores was just some candies and snacks, which were far less diverse than what we have today.

Li Tianyi bought a little of everything before returning to his own box. His bed was the lower bunk. After putting his things away, Li Tianyi went to sleep with his clothes on.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Tianyi was awakened by voices. He looked up and saw that the train had already departed and there were already two people in his carriage.

A man in his forties wearing cadre uniform, and a woman who looked like a cadre.

Yes, in that era, sleeper berths, especially soft sleeper berths, were prepared for these cadres. Even if ordinary people could afford it, they could not buy a ticket.

Li Tianyi had no desire to speak. He went to the toilet to relieve himself and then returned to the carriage to sleep.

The train moved slowly forward. In order to kill time, Li Tianyi took out a book from his luggage and started reading.

On the other side of the courtyard, Xu Damao pushed his bicycle out early in the morning. Yan Bugui wanted to stop him to ask, but failed because Xu Damao ran away very fast.

When they were far away from the courtyard, Xu Damao slowed down. "Fortunately, I ran fast. If Yan Laoxi had stopped me, wouldn't my good fortune have been ruined?"

It turned out that yesterday afternoon, the matchmaker Zhang from the neighborhood found Xu's mother and said that she wanted to introduce a girl to Xu Damao. Because of what happened to Lou Xiao'e before, the Xu family told the matchmaker not to bring the girl home, but to go to the park for a blind date.

The matchmaker also knew what was going on and explained the matter to the girl's family. The girl's parents also understood the Xu family's difficulties and agreed to meet in the park.

Xu Damao set out early this morning in order to avoid the people in the yard.

When they arrived at the park, the girl had not arrived yet, so Xu Damao went to have breakfast nearby and then returned to the park to wait for her.

The agreed time soon arrived and a young girl was seen walking towards him from a distance. Xu Damao nervously adjusted his clothes and when the girl came up to him, Xu Damao quickly introduced himself.

The girl listened a little absent-mindedly. She had not liked Xu Damao since she met him. He had a long face, mean eyes, and spoke in a shrill voice. He did not look manly at all.

After Xu Damao introduced himself, the girl also briefly introduced herself, and then the two began to have an awkward conversation.

Xu Damao tried his best to make the girl laugh, but the girl had a gloomy face and looked unhappy. Before noon, the girl found an excuse to leave.

Xu Damao knew that his blind date was not successful, probably because the girl didn't like him. He was depressed, so he went to the young widow.

This young widow was hooked up by Xu Damao. Her surname was Wang. Her husband died of illness and she had a two-year-old son. Because her life was so difficult, she married Xu Damao.

Although Xu Damao was stingy in the yard, he was very generous to his lovers, so these people were willing to associate with Xu Damao.

Just when Xu Damao was about to pick up his gun to go into battle, the door was suddenly kicked open and a group of women suddenly rushed in.

Little Xu Damao was so scared that he immediately wilted, and the two people on the bed also grabbed the clothes on the bed to cover their private parts.

After putting on her clothes, Widow Wang hid behind Xu Damao and cried quietly. Xu Damao's face was gloomy and he looked as if he had lost all desire to live.

In front of them sat several strong men, who were Widow Wang's brothers from her mother's family. From what they said, someone had informed them that Widow Wang was having an affair with a young man, so they broke in.

"Xu Damao, right? What are you going to do?" One of the sturdy men said viciously, "You bullied my sister, I will kill you."

"Brother, brother, I will pay you back, okay?" Xu Damao was frightened. In this era, having promiscuous relationships between men and women was a very serious matter. Parading through the streets as a warning was a minor matter, but in serious cases, the offenders would be sentenced to prison.

"Pay compensation? That's all my family needs from you? How can my sister live like this in the future after you guys made such a scene today?"

Xu Damao looked back at Widow Wang, who was crying with tears in her eyes. It would be a lie for him to say that he didn't like her. Widow Wang was only two years older than him, young and beautiful, and very free in bed. He enjoyed being with Widow Wang very much.

But Xu Damao was not willing to let a young man who had never been married marry a divorced woman. He naturally understood what the widow Wang's brothers meant, but he was unwilling to do so in his heart.

"So what do you want?"

Widow Wang's brothers saw that Xu Damao didn't want to take responsibility, so they simply said, "Little sister, don't cry anymore. She doesn't want to marry you. Go to the police station and report the case, saying that Xu Damao raped you. Since this bastard doesn't want to take responsibility, then go eat peanuts."

"Brother, I don't want anything to happen to Damao." Widow Wang said crying.

The eldest brother of the Wang family looked at Widow Wang with an expression of disappointment, while Xu Damao beside him was already scared out of his wits, "Brother, let's talk it over nicely. I'll take responsibility. Isn't it enough for me to take responsibility? I'll go home and inform my parents, and then I'll go get the marriage certificate with Wang Yan."

"Humph, if you don't accept my offer, then I'll punish you. What if you run away? Where can we find you? Xiao Zhao, go to your aunt's room and get some paper and pen. Ask Xu Damao to write a written document. If you don't come back, I'll take the document to the police station to report the case."

"No, no, I will be back before tonight." This time Xu Damao was really scared. He wanted to go home quickly to discuss this matter with his parents.

After the document was written, Xu Damao ran out of the door in a panic. As for the bicycle, the Wang brothers would not let him ride it and would confiscate it and return it to him after they got the certificate.

After Xu Damao's figure completely disappeared, Widow Wang, who had been crying, stopped crying and hurried into the house to take out snacks to entertain her brother and sister-in-law.

"Little sister, have you really decided? I don't think this man is honest." The speaker was Widow Wang's third brother, who was very worried about his sister.

"Third brother, don't worry. I know what kind of person Xu Damao is. Although he is a playboy, he is generous." Widow Wang signaled to her brothers not to worry.

"Hey, I don't want to be like this. If it weren't getting more and more difficult now, I wouldn't be hanging out with someone like Xu Damao."

"It's all because of my useless brothers. They can't support you and your son." Widow Wang's eldest brother blamed himself.

The Wang family is from a village outside the old city. Originally, the Wang family’s younger sister married into the city and they were very happy. However, they did not expect that their brother-in-law died after only three years of marriage, leaving behind an orphan and a widow. How would they live?