Siheyuan: Starting from Building a Village

Courtyard No. 95, Middle Courtyard

Tan Guihua was feeling very uneasy at home. It was almost ten o'clock in the evening. Yi Zhonghai had been out for five or six hours and had not returned yet.

"No, I can't just sit there and wait. I have to go out and look for her."

Tan Guihua decided to take the initiative to look for it, so she walked out of the house. It was dark outside and there was not a trace of moonlight. Tan Guihua plucked up her courage and walked out of the courtyard.

She came back into the hall.

It's too dark and scary.

"Silly pillar, silly pillar."

Tan Guihua knocked on the door of Sha Zhu's hut, trying to wake him up and ask him to help find Yi Zhonghai.

"Auntie, what's going on?"

Sha Zhu was wearing his clothes and saw Tan Guihua through the light, walking back and forth outside the door.

"Silly Zhu, your uncle hasn't come back yet, I beg you to help look for him."

Tan Guihua nervously pulled Sha Zhu's hand and said.

"Ah, nothing will happen, right? Do you know where the old man went?"

After hearing what Tan Guihua said, Sha Zhu was also a little surprised. Yi Zhonghai never had the habit of coming home late. Even if he went out to drink and eat with friends, he would not come home later than eight o'clock.

"I just don't know, that's why I'm worried."

"Auntie, don't worry. I'll get everyone in the yard together and go out to look for her."

Sha Zhu was also willing to do so. He took a washbasin from the house and started knocking on the door.

“Ding ding ding…”

Sha Zhu is also a talented person. He knocked on the washbasin and ran back and forth twice.

"Damn it, that bastard is beating the gong in the middle of the night. He has no sense of public morality."

"Damn it, I have such a bad temper. Where is my iron rod?"

"Fuck it! I just fell asleep. Who is this person? Running around banging a basin? Are you sincere?"

“…”

Suddenly, there was a continuous banging sound, like hot oil poured into boiling water, and the courtyard was boiling. The adults' shouting and scolding and the children's crying suddenly became a noisy mess.

"Silly Zhu, what are you doing? You'd better explain to us, or you won't be able to escape this."

Xu Damao shone the flashlight into the yard and saw Sha Zhu holding a basin and knocking it back and forth.

"Da Mao, how do you know it's Sha Zhu?"

Li Dabao also lives in the backyard. He seldom comes back to live here. Unexpectedly, when he came back one night, he encountered that bastard Sha Zhu banging pots in the yard in the middle of the night. It was so noisy.

"Come, take a look."

As he spoke, Xu Damao shone the flashlight directly on Sha Zhu's face.

The people in the compound saw that it was really Sha Zhu, and there seemed to be a Tan Guihua standing next to him.

"Everyone, I'm sorry, I do have an urgent matter today and I need your help."

"What's the matter? The old man hasn't come home yet. Let's go out and look for him together."

Sha Zhu also knew that this was not a good thing to do, and hurriedly explained that he didn't dare to act arrogantly now, at least when Xu Damao and Li Dabao were in the courtyard, he didn't dare to act arrogantly because both of them could beat him.

"Silly Zhu, damn, you are such a good dog. Yi Zhonghai has long ceased to be the manager of the courtyard, but you still call him a big boss all day long."

"That's right, Silly Zhu, since you have such a good relationship with Yi Zhonghai, you can just go and look for him yourself. Is there any need to wake us all up?"

"Shazhu, I don't think we need to look for him anymore. This Yi Zhonghai is probably asleep in the Eight Great Hutongs. We can't disturb him."

"Oh, Erlu is right. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Hahaha, Yi Zhonghai is really old but his heart is young."

"Hey, do you think Yi Zhonghai's thing is still usable? It should be around fifty now, right?"

"It's hard to say. That thing can't be used, but don't we still have hands and a mouth?"

"You're so dirty."

After listening to the discussions of the people in the compound, Tan Guihua was so angry that she almost had a heart attack.

"What are you talking about? Can't you see how anxious this lady is?"

Sha Zhu was also anxious. He knew that Tan Guihua had always had a bad heart. If she got angry and sent to the hospital, it would be a big deal.

"Everyone, I beg you, please help me find it, thank you very much."

Sha Zhu was anxious, and Tan Guihua was even more anxious. She was afraid that Sha Zhu would offend everyone again, and then no one would be willing to go to Yi Zhonghai. Wouldn't that be the end of it?

Seeing that Tan Guihua had spoken, the people in the compound were too embarrassed to say anything. They knew that Tan Guihua had a bad heart. Besides, Tan Guihua had always had a good reputation in the compound and rarely had conflicts with her neighbors.

"Okay, okay, all the women should go back to sleep and take care of their children. Now that we are up, all the men should go in groups of two or three, and voluntarily get married."

At Xu Damao's call, the men in the compound who got along well with each other formed a team, took flashlights, and all left the courtyard. They dispersed and went to all directions, and agreed to meet at the gate of the compound in half an hour.

Wang Sigen, Li Dabao and Xu Damao formed a group of three and followed the alley to the west to search.

"Da Mao, is it true that, as others say, this old man Yi Zhonghai went to the Eight Great Hutongs?"

"Hehe, that's hard to say. Even though Yi Zhonghai always looks like a gentleman, who knows what he is like in private?"

"Da Mao, you're right. Before liberation, Yi Zhonghai often went to the Eight Great Hutongs."

"Brother Wang, is this true?"

"I don't know if it's true or not. I just heard it from others, so I guess it's about the same."

"That's right. Brother Zheng always says, there's no smoke without fire."

"Hahaha."

"But what Brother Wang said is possible. After all, Yi Zhonghai was still young at that time. Now he is in his fifties. Is he still so angry?"

"It's possible. After all, Yi Zhonghai's physical fitness is excellent."

"By the way, are we really going to look for it?"

"Find an egg, find a corner, and stay there for half an hour, and your mission is complete."

"It still has to be you, Damao."

"Dabao, Damao, let's go. I know there's a big rock pier ahead. It's not cold now, so let's sit and wait."

"okay."

After waiting until the time was almost up, the three of them started to head back.

By the time we arrived at the compound, everyone had returned and told each other about the situation, but it turned out that nothing had been found. There was nothing you could do now. Even if you called the police, they would just tell you to go home and wait. If no one had returned after 24 hours, they would then file a case.

After the final discussion, we decided to just leave it at that. We’ve searched for the person and done our best. We still have to go to work tomorrow, so we all went back to sleep.

"Auntie, go back and have a good rest first. I'll help you look for it tomorrow."

"Zhu Zi, you should go back and have some rest too. You've worked really hard tonight."

"Auntie, what you said is out of line."

"Okay, let's talk about it tomorrow."

There is no way to worry now. Tan Guihua can only go home first. Maybe Yi Zhonghai will come back by himself the next day?