Siheyuan: Starting from Building a Village

Lou Xiao'e walked in front angrily and didn't want to walk with Liu Guozheng. She had made up her mind that tomorrow she would never come back to Xincun and let Liu Guozheng go gambling.

"Why are you still angry?"

Liu Guozheng took two quick steps and walked up to Lou Xiaoe.

"Liu Guozheng, you are a big liar."

Lou Xiao'e pouted her lips, her eyes full of disappointment.

"How come I'm a big liar?"

"Then tell me when did you become addicted to gambling?"

Lou Xiao'e stopped and stared at Liu Guozheng hatefully, tears welling up in her eyes and about to fall.

"Silly girl."

Liu Guozheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and gently wiped the tears from Lou Xiaoe's cheeks.

Liu Guozheng looked into Lou Xiaoe's eyes and said seriously, "If I say this is to play the long game and catch the big fish, would you believe me?"

"Really?"

"How can this be false? Besides, when have you ever seen me gamble? When I was in the village, I never played cards even when Erlang asked me to."

Lou Xiao'e was stunned for a moment, then thought about it carefully. It was true. Could it be that she really had misunderstood?

"Then tell me, why today?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but the people around here are all wearing work clothes, which means they are all workers in a certain factory."

"What does that have to do with your bet?"

"You have to know how many people will be harmed by Hou Si and his men doing this?"

"No way? If you don't have money, you can just not play, right?"

"Then why were you so angry just now? It's because once you're addicted, you can't control yourself."

"Well, they deserve it. They asked for it."

"Alas, that can't be said. Everything is caused by Hou Si and Jia Dongxu. They use a very slow first hand to lure people in, and there must be their agents in the crowd. If you see others winning all the time, from ten dollars to fifty, would you be tempted?"

"This... I'm not tempted. I don't even care about fifty dollars."

"Oh, my silly wife, just because you don't think highly of me doesn't mean others don't think highly of me. You have to know that fifty yuan is two months' salary for an ordinary worker. If you can win fifty yuan with ten yuan, and you have seen someone succeed with your own eyes, who wouldn't be tempted?"

“Brother Zheng, wouldn’t it be like that if they say that, they’re going to hurt a lot of people?”

"That's for sure. As long as someone can't resist the temptation, they will definitely lose money. After losing money, they are unwilling to accept it. Over time, they become addicted. When they lose all their money, they will think of other crooked ways. By then, who knows how many victims they will have."

"But, you saved them temporarily, can you save them forever?"

"I'll save them for now. Once I win all their money, I can at least give them some peace of mind for a while."

"Hopefully."

After hearing Liu Guozheng's explanation, Lou Xiao'e felt a little embarrassed, her face turned red, and she lowered her head, not daring to look at Liu Guozheng.

"Aren't you angry now?"

"Uh-huh."

"Hahaha"

"dare you laugh."

.............................

Courtyard house

"Dongxu, this is getting rich."

There was surprise in Yan Bugui's little eyes. As soon as Jia Dongxu entered the Chuihua Gate, he smelled the aroma of roast duck.

"Uncle Yan, your shouting almost made me throw away the roast duck."

As he spoke, Jia Dongxu hid the roast duck behind him.

"Dongxu, it has to be you. How about a drink tonight? I have a bottle of good wine that I'm reluctant to drink."

Smelling the aroma of roast duck, Yan Bugui licked his lips.

"Old Yan, you still like wine? Ask everyone in our courtyard, who doesn't know that your wine is diluted with water?"

Sha Zhu, Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu are back.

"Shazhu, you idiot, what do you know? I mixed it on purpose to avoid getting drunk."

Yan Bugui was unhappy when his secrets were exposed.

"I don't understand, but I know that wine tastes better without water."

Sha Zhu has always looked down upon the Yan family. From the oldest to the youngest, the whole family is always scheming. Even their own people are scheming against each other. Life is too tiring.

"Dongxu is great. He earned money and now knows how to improve the family's food. Not bad, not bad."

Seeing Jia Dongxu's current changes, Yi Zhonghai was very satisfied and did not think about how Jia Dongxu made money.

"Master, let's drink together tonight and ask Sha Zhu to cook two more dishes."

Money is a person's confidence, especially a man's confidence. A man's strength depends entirely on money.

"Uh... forget it, Dongxu. I finally bought a roast duck. You guys can eat it by yourselves."

Thinking of how Jia Zhang had been eating and grabbing a few days ago, Yi Zhonghai felt a little nauseous.

"Brother Jia, I don't dare to eat with Aunt Jia anymore. It's too dirty."

Sha Zhu has always been outspoken and says whatever he thinks.

"Shazhu, I'll apologize to you for what happened last time. This time it's just the three of us."

Speaking of the last time, Jia Dongxu also looked helpless. How could he end up with a mother like that?

"Dongxu..."

Qin Huairu stopped talking.

"what happened?"

"Can you give some of the roast duck away first? Bang Geng has become a little thin recently."

After saying this, Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu felt a little embarrassed, as if they had never eaten Peking duck before, and they even had to snatch the food from the children.

"Huai Ru, take this duck bone home and make some duck bone soup tonight. Bang Geng wants to eat meat, so I'll buy some tomorrow."

Jia Dongxu's face looked a little unhappy. What a thing this woman is. She has long hair but little knowledge.

Seeing Jia Dongxu's face change, Qin Huairu took the duck rack and went home reluctantly.

"Shazhu, let's go to my master's house, let's have a good drink tonight."

"Okay, Brother Jia, I'll exchange it for peanuts."

Yi Zhonghai nodded secretly, thinking that one never learns from experience.

"Old Yi, how can you drink without me? Besides, it's been a long time since we had fun together, right? Then take this opportunity, I'll bring a bottle of good wine, and we'll get together..."

Yan Bugui didn't want to miss the opportunity to eat meat.

There was no way out, Yi Zhonghai couldn't save face and had to agree.

Since Yi Zhonghai had agreed, Jia Dongxu and Sha Zhu had nothing to say.

Yan Bugui went home to get some wine. Jia Dongxu asked Shazhu, "Shazhu, if you have any wine at home, bring it with you. Don't wait for Yan Laokou to bring a bottle of wine mixed with water."

"Do not worry."

After Yan Bugui came over, the four of them went into the central courtyard together. They did not even go back to Jia Dongxu's house, but went directly to Yi Zhonghai's house.

Jia Dongxu bought a roast duck, but his family only got the duck bones. Jia Zhang was not satisfied and brought out a bowl, wanting Jia Dongxu to give him some of the duck meat. Jia Dongxu was so angry that he was gasping for breath.

Finally, Yi Zhonghai took the initiative and gave out half of the money, and only then did Jia Zhang go back reluctantly.