Siheyuan: A Family of Loyal and Brave People

In late spring and early summer, the temperature is suitable at night.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong directly set up two tables in the open space in the central courtyard and held a banquet to entertain their neighbors to celebrate their wife's return from prison.

Due to time constraints, the banquet was simple, with eight dishes in total on each table, including cold and hot dishes and soup.

He Yuzhu doesn’t even need to set up a special kitchen. He can just prepare the dishes in his own house and serve them on the table.

The dishes were served and all the guests arrived.

It goes without saying that the first and second aunts were the protagonists. Except for Yan Bugui's family, all other residents in the courtyard sent representatives to congratulate.

The face of the two managers still counts in the courtyard.

When it comes to their wives, Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong rarely show a united front today. Instead of attacking or hindering each other, they stand up together and raise their glasses to toast the guests.

The neighbors stood up and were about to raise their glasses to echo the gesture, but unexpectedly, the first and second aunts became distracted and sat in their seats without moving, attracting everyone's attention.

Yi Zhonghai hastily nudged his wife with his elbow, and the aunt, who had come to her senses, quickly picked up her glass and followed.

After one drink, the banquet officially began. Neighbors hurriedly picked up their chopsticks and enjoyed the hard-earned delicious food.

Only the first and second aunts looked uninterested and seemed to be worried about something.

"What's wrong with you?

The food Zhuzi cooked is not to your liking?"

Yi Zhonghai picked up a piece of meat for his wife and asked softly.

These neighbors are not the kind of people who would eat quickly or all the meat would be eaten up.

"no.

It’s just that today the three of us were released from prison, and Auntie…”

The first aunt had no appetite because she was thinking about the third aunt.

The three of them shared the joys and sorrows in prison.

But as soon as we returned to the courtyard, something changed and things became much more distant.

It is inevitable that an old lady feels a little depressed.

“Oh, don’t worry.

Didn't you just lend her some food at noon?

The third aunt is probably in the house with the children right now, so you don't have to worry about her and just enjoy your meal."

Yi Zhonghai gave some advice, but had no intention of inviting the third aunt over.

Husband and wife are one body. Yan Bugui's reputation was ruined, and even the third aunt was implicated.

Yi Zhonghai didn't want to invite Yan Bugui and his wife to ruin the atmosphere.

"Let's eat first, and then you can pack some leftovers for them later."

Yi Zhonghai couldn't bear to see his wife sad, so he quickly came up with a solution.

If the third aunt can't come over, the first aunt can.

When the banquet was over, the neighbors had enjoyed their meal and probably didn't care too much about the matter.

"Ah."

The aunt nodded, and the melancholy on her face instantly dissipated a lot.

……

There was a lively banquet being held in the central courtyard, but Yan Bugui's home in the front courtyard was unusually deserted.

The Yan family, young and old, sat together, staring blankly at a plate of steamed buns on the table.

When they thought of the banquet being held in the yard and looked at the cold and hard steamed buns in front of them, Yan Jiecheng and the other children suddenly felt that they no longer tasted good.

"Dad, Mom, it's too shabby to eat steamed bread without anything.

At least you have to order some pickles.

Otherwise, the taste is too bland.”

Sijiu City is a place where people pay attention to details, such as food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Logically speaking, if the family was not so poor that they could not even afford to eat, they would not just eat steamed corn bread.

There should always be something to add a sense of ceremony.

"Shut up, it's good enough that I have steamed bread for you to eat.

One for each adult and half for each child.

No one can take more.”

As the third aunt spoke, she took out two steamed buns from the plate. She did not eat them directly, nor did she pass them to Yan Bugui. Instead, she carefully broke them into two even-sized halves.

After dividing, put it into the four children's bowls in turn.

"Eat, and don't hang around outside after eating, go back to bed early.

When you fall asleep, you won’t be hungry anymore.”

Reality is cold and cruel, and only in dreams can Yan Jiecheng and his friends find some warmth.

"Eat, what are you standing there for?

If you don’t eat it, I will.”

The third aunt ignored the four children who were sitting there in a daze, and picked up a steamed bun, tore off a small piece, put it in her mouth and chewed slowly.

Seeing their mother's firm attitude, Yan Jiecheng and the others finally gave up the idea, lowered their heads and slowly ate the steamed buns in their hands.

It would have been fine if Yan Jiecheng was older, but Yan Jiedi was crying while eating.

When their mother was away, they had no one to confide in when they suffered.

I thought life at home would be better after Auntie was released from prison, but who would have thought it would still be as difficult as before.

The children of the Yan family felt quite disillusioned and lost.

Just when Yan Jiecheng and others were immersed in certain emotions and unable to extricate themselves, there was suddenly a knock on the door outside.

Several people from the Yan family raised their heads and looked towards the door.

Before the Yan family could respond, the door was gently pushed open, and then the first and second aunts, each holding a plate, walked in one after another.

"Aren't you having a feast in the middle courtyard?

Why did you come to me? "

The third aunt put the steamed bread into her arms to hide her embarrassment.

The sisters were eating delicious food and drinking spicy drinks, but the third aunt was eating coarse food, which made her feel a little embarrassed.

"Since you didn't go, I came to see you."

As soon as the old lady entered the door, a fragrance wafted into the house.

Yan Jiecheng and the others fixed their eyes on the plate in the old lady's hand.

“When Zhuzi distributed the food, there was some left.

I'll get it for you to try."

The second aunt explained with a smile.

"This is not good."

The three aunties felt a little embarrassed, but Yan Jiecheng and the others immediately stood up, walked forward, and carefully but impatiently took the plates from the two aunties.

Looking at the steaming shredded pork, Yan Jiecheng was so greedy that he grabbed one and stuffed it into his mouth.

This move prompted his younger brothers and sisters to follow suit, but also brought a scolding from his third aunt.

"You are not allowed to use your hands. If you use your hands again, you can't eat it."

Yan Jiecheng's behavior was so shameful that the third aunt felt so ashamed that she wished she could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

“Let them eat.

It was sent here for them to eat.

When we were in prison, we had to snatch food from prison, and sometimes we didn’t even have time to use chopsticks.

Just grab it and stuff it into your stomach."

An old lady smiled and comforted her.

"Hey, who said it wasn't.

If you move slowly, you won’t get anything to eat.

When you are that hungry, you don’t have the time to care about your dignity.”

The second aunt also followed suit.

"Thank you so much."

The third aunt moved her lips and held her breath for a long time before uttering a word.

If the first and second aunts hadn't come to the rescue, the Yan family's dinner today would have been too miserable.

This is undoubtedly cruel for the three aunts.

After all, today is the special day when she escaped from death and escaped from suffering, so she should celebrate.

"Don't say such polite words.

I managed to survive those difficult days in prison.

Can it be harder outside than in prison?

It’s hard, but there’s always a way.”

An old lady sighed and consoled him.

I remember that the old lady who was rescued failed to give birth to a child and was blamed and ridiculed by others. Her life was really difficult.

But as long as you persist, there will always be a day when the clouds will clear and the moon will appear.