Siheyuan: A Family of Loyal and Brave People

The winds are strong on winter nights. The howling wind makes the windows shake constantly, and the window paper swells like a sail, as if it will break at any time.

He Daqing and his son, who drank more than a pound of white wine, slept soundly and were not disturbed by the wind outside the house at all.

Suddenly, a black shadow shot out from outside and hit the window accurately.

"Bang!"

The wooden window made a dull sound, and the window paper shattered, leaving a large hole. The cold wind that found the hole rushed into the house, blowing up the furniture in the room and making it a mess.

The temperature dropped suddenly and a cold wind blew in his face. He Yuzhu, who was curled up in the quilt, was shivering with cold. He opened his eyes in a trance and shook his head, trying to dispel the smell of alcohol in his body.

After being blown by the cold wind for a while, He Yuzhu finally woke up. He wrapped himself in the quilt and sat up, looking at the leaky window, squinting his eyes with a solemn expression.

I was sleeping well, but it was really bad luck to be woken up by the cold in the middle of the night. But fortunately I woke up, otherwise I would have been sick if I had been exposed to the wind all night.

"Dad, wake up, the window is broken!"

He Yuzhu woke up his father who was sleeping next to him and said in a deep voice.

He Daqing also felt the change in temperature and quickly woke up. He rubbed his eyes and muttered, "What's going on? I just changed the window paper the day before yesterday. This shouldn't happen."

In the era of material scarcity, winter is the most difficult season. Due to the lack of means to keep warm, the elderly, the young, the sick and the weak can easily die. He Daqing dare not be careless.

“Don’t worry about that for now.

Hurry up and find a way to block the window." He Yuzhu, who was frozen like a stupid dog, just wanted to solve the problem quickly so that he could go back to sleep.

"There is no window paper at home, so I can only use something to block it."

He Daqing said this as he got up, put on his coat, got out of bed, and walked towards the window.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly stepped on an irregular object, lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"Ouch~"

"Dad, are you okay?"

Hearing his father fall, He Yuzhu quickly got up from the bed to help.

"Sigh~"

He Daqing covered his head and groped in the dark. Soon he caught the culprit, a stone as big as a fist.

"Why are there stones in the house?"

He Daqing, feeling the pain, shifted his gaze towards the window, then looked at the stone in his hand and suddenly understood, then became angry.

"Who is so lacking in public morality that he dares to smash our windows!"

If the window was broken by the wind, He Daqing could only blame himself for his bad luck, but since it was human error, he couldn't bear it.

"I'll go out and take a look!"

Angry, He Yuzhu went out in the cold wind, looking around, trying to find the shadow of the murderer. What responded to He Yuzhu was the whistling wind and endless darkness.

The murderer had already escaped and he could find nothing.

"Zhu Zi, come back quickly.

If you have anything to say, let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

He Daqing sealed the windows with some debris and called his son back.

It was the middle of the night and the neighbors were all asleep. It would be difficult to find the murderer and there was no need to waste time.

"But, Dad..."

The young and energetic He Yuzhu was not going to give up easily. He could not swallow his anger if he did not fight back since the others had come to attack him.

"Stop talking, come back and go to sleep first.

Let's wait till tomorrow morning to find the murderer.

Our walls are high, the murderer can’t get away.”

The Siheyuan used to be the residence of a prince, and the anti-theft facilities were very complete, and it was difficult to get in without going through the main gate. He Daqing thought for a moment and guessed that it was someone in the courtyard who did it.

He Yuzhu stretched his neck and searched outside the house for a while, but finally he couldn't bear it anymore and went back to the house to rest.

He Yuzhu was so angry at this humiliation that he lay in bed unable to fall asleep and stayed awake until dawn.

……

Cheng Hao woke up naturally, sat up, stretched, and let out a comfortable hum.

Cold weather is best for sleeping. Cheng Hao slept very soundly last night and his sleep quality was excellent.

Putting on a thick cotton-padded jacket, Cheng Hao climbed out of bed and prepared to find something to eat.

After a night, his stomach was empty and he felt a little hungry.

The home had simple cooking utensils and few ingredients. Cheng Hao was too lazy to cook, so he decided to go out and buy a few buns and a cup of soy milk.

As for the local specialties of Beijing, such as fried liver and soy milk, Cheng Hao is still not quite used to them and can only stay away from them.

As soon as he walked out of the house, Cheng Hao saw He Yuzhu searching around the courtyard with his head down, as if he was looking for something.

Cheng Hao quietly walked behind He Yuzhu and called out, "Zhuzi, what are you looking for so early in the morning?"

He Yuzhu shuddered, turned his head, lowered his eyebrows and smiled bitterly, "Brother Hao, don't mention it.

I don’t know which wicked bastard smashed my window last night, causing my dad and I to be cold for half the night.

My nose is still in pain now."

He Yuzhu was sniffing, his voice was a little hoarse, and he had dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he had suffered a lot.

"What?!

If anyone dares to be so presumptuous, I will beat him up if I catch him." Cheng Hao frowned and clenched his fists.

"Okay, your words are enough.

I can handle this myself, you go ahead and do your work."

He Yuzhu was somewhat touched and somewhat ashamed. He was a stubborn person, and now that he had made a fool of himself in front of his acquaintances, he was even more determined to catch the criminals himself and get back at his wits' end.

“You don’t know how long it will take you to find it if you keep looking like this.

How about we go out and eat something first, then come back to catch the murderer after we have enough energy?" Cheng Hao suggested.

He Yuzhu is usually quite clever, but when he gets angry he becomes reckless and loses his train of thought.

Instead of continuing to waste time in the hospital, it is better to go out and clear your mind and wait until you calm down.

"Okay, but I'll have to treat you this time."

Every time Cheng Hao went to He Yuzhu's house for dinner, he would bring expensive ingredients, which made He Yuzhu feel a little guilty.

"no problem."

The two walked out of the yard side by side.

Inside the Jia family's house, Jia Dongxu looked through the window at He Yuzhu and the other man leaving, and pounded his thigh in anger.

Jia Dongxu was in a good mood watching Sha Zhu working in vain in the yard, but his mood was ruined by Cheng Hao.

"Gu, gu~"

At the same time, Jia Dongxu, who had not eaten for a long time, felt a rumbling in his stomach. He covered his shriveled belly and sighed, "Mom, when will you come back? I'm starving!"

Before Jia Dongxu got married, he was managed by Jia Zhang.

Jia Dongxu had to hand over his monthly salary to Jia Zhangshi, who was in charge of the family's financial power.

The last of the Jia family’s funds were taken to the police station by Jia Zhang, leaving Jia Dongxu penniless and unable to even go out to buy food.

This was also the reason why he was eating everywhere in the yard last night.

If a grown man had any means, he wouldn't have to beg at someone else's door.

Just as Jia Dongxu was distracted, there was a knock on the door.

"Dongxu, are you home?"

Jia Dongxu's heart trembled when he heard the familiar voice. He was silent for a moment before he went out with crutches to open the door.

"Uncle He, what brings you here?"