Siheyuan: Starting from the Old Society

Sha Zhu's laughter was particularly harsh in the quiet night, alarming the windows of several households in the courtyard. He ignored those inquiring eyes, and felt that the depression in his heart finally dissipated a little. He had had enough of Xu Damao's character of bullying the weak and fearing the strong!

"Shazhu, you are really good, do you dare to hit Xu Damao?"

The third uncle, Yan Bugui, was wearing a tattered cotton-padded jacket and walked over unsteadily, holding a feather duster in his hand. He looked like a skinny old rooster.

"Uncle, did you see that?" Sha Zhu glanced at him and said unhappily, "He has a dirty mouth. What's wrong with me teaching him a lesson?"

"Lesson? You were really ruthless. You even broke Xu Damao's nose!" Yan Bugui said, and gestured seriously, "If there are any sequelae left, can you afford to pay for it?"

Sha Zhu rolled his eyes at him, not wanting to waste time talking to this old man. He was about to turn around and leave when he saw the first uncle Yi Zhonghai and the second uncle Liu Haizhong also rushing over after hearing the noise.

"What's going on? Why are you making so much noise so late at night?" Liu Haizhong, with a beer belly, yelled impatiently.

"Uncle, Shazhu hit someone! You have to help me!" Xu Damao covered his nose and ran behind Liu Haizhong with a sad face, like a wronged puppy.

Liu Hai was the most nosy among them, and the one who was beaten this time was Xu Damao, the projectionist at the factory. He immediately became excited and pointed at Sha Zhu's nose and cursed: "Sha Zhu, you are getting more and more outrageous! Xu Damao is your brother after all, how can you hit him?"

Sha Zhu sneered and was about to open his mouth to refute, but he saw Yi Zhonghai frowning, as if thinking about something. He was moved and thought of the period literature he had read before crossing over. He suddenly understood that Yi Zhonghai was probably trying to take this opportunity to play up his fine tradition of being a "moral model" and portray himself as a typical example of "correcting mistakes as soon as they are made".

Thinking of this, Sha Zhu decided to take the initiative. He pretended to be full of regret, lowered his head, and said with a sob: "Uncle, Uncle, I was wrong! I shouldn't have hit Brother Xu..."

"It's good that you know you're wrong!" Liu Haizhong interrupted him triumphantly, as if he were the embodiment of justice, "Hurry up and apologize to Xu Damao, and this matter will be over!"

Sha Zhu raised his head, a sly light flashed in his eyes. He looked at the neighbors who were watching the fun, and suddenly cried out: "Brother Xu, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have hit you, but I was forced to do it!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?!" Xu Damao was suddenly panicked. He clearly remembered that it was Sha Zhu who started it first!

Sha Zhu seemed not to hear him and continued to cry, "I work so hard in the cafeteria, working so hard to make only a few dollars a month, but what about you? You rely on the fact that you are a projectionist and do nothing all day long. You just cheat and say bad things about me and ruin my reputation! If I don't teach you a lesson today, you really think I am easy to bully!"

Sha Zhu's words were so tearful that those who heard them were sad and cried. The neighbors around him looked at him with sympathy, and their eyes turned to Xu Damao with a little strangeness.

Xu Damao suddenly panicked. He pointed at Sha Zhu and stammered, unable to speak.

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai knew that he couldn't let Sha Zhu continue talking. He cleared his throat and was about to speak, but he saw Sha Zhu suddenly take something out of his arms and hold it high above his head...

Sha Zhu's laughter was particularly harsh in the quiet night, alarming the windows of several households in the courtyard. He didn't care, he only had one thought in his mind: he was finally no longer the Sha Zhu who could be manipulated by others!

Xu Damao ran all the way, his nose blood dripping onto his greasy white shirt, just like the scene in a horror movie. He was angry and scared, he had never suffered such a loss since he was a child. This idiot Zhu was so bold that he dared to attack him!

"Uncle! Uncle! It's bad! Sha Zhu hit someone!" Xu Damao rushed into Uncle Yi Zhonghai's house, crying and complaining.

Yi Zhonghai was sitting at the table drinking tea. When he heard the noise, he put down his teacup, frowned and asked, "Da Mao, what's wrong with you? Why are you howling like a ghost in the middle of the night?"

"Uncle, you have to make the decision for me!" Xu Damao cried with snot and tears, "Shazhu is crazy, he beat me up!"

Yi Zhonghai frowned even more when he heard this. Although Sha Zhu was usually carefree, he didn't look like the kind of person who would hit someone, did he?

"Stop crying. What's going on? Tell me clearly!"

Xu Damao recounted the entire incident with exaggeration, naturally concealing the fact that he had provoked Sha Zhu, and put all the blame on Sha Zhu.

After hearing this, Yi Zhonghai also started to wonder. He knew that Xu Damao and Sha Zhu didn't get along well, and they often quarreled with each other, but this was the first time they had ever hit each other. It seemed like this was not a simple matter!

"Okay, I get it. You go back first and we'll talk about this tomorrow." Yi Zhonghai waved his hand, signaling Xu Damao to leave.

Xu Damao wanted to say something else, but Yi Zhonghai glared at him. He covered his nose and cursed in his heart: Old fox, pretending to be a good guy again! Wait and see, this matter is not over yet!

The next morning, the whole courtyard knew that Sha Zhu had beaten Xu Damao. People were talking about it, some said Sha Zhu deserved it, and some said Xu Damao had brought it upon himself.

Sha Zhu went to work as usual with two dark circles under his eyes, as if nothing had happened. He knew in his heart that this matter was definitely not over, and Xu Damao would definitely not let it go, but he was no longer afraid. The punch yesterday seemed to have opened up his Ren and Du meridians, making him understand a truth: in this world, if you don't want to be bullied, you must be more ruthless than others!

However, Sha Zhu didn't know that even bigger troubles were waiting for him. His beating soon reached the ears of the factory leaders. Factory Director Zhao Dongsheng was a very principled man and he would never allow such violence to occur in his factory.

"Call Shazhu to me!" Zhao Dongsheng slammed the table and said angrily.

Sha Zhu's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition came to his mind...

Sha Zhu's laughter seemed particularly abrupt in the silent night, startling the windows of several households in the courtyard, and the dim lights came on one after another.

"Silly Zhu, what are you yelling about in the middle of the night?!"

The second uncle came out of the house with his coat on. He was already dissatisfied with Sha Zhu, and now he found an opportunity to vent.

Sha Zhu hadn't recovered from the pleasure of defeating Xu Damao yet. When he saw Liu Haizhong coming out, he retorted without showing any weakness: "I am happy to do so! What's it to you?"

"You..." Liu Haizhong was so angry at Sha Zhu's attitude that he blew his beard and glared, "I am the second uncle in the courtyard, how can I have no say in things?! You are rebelling!"

"Second uncle? I think you are more like an idiot!" Sha Zhu got angry when he thought of how Liu Haizhong always took advantage of his position as an "official" in the hospital to bully others. "If you are really capable, don't show off in the hospital all day long. If you are capable, go to the factory and be a leader!"

"You! You..." Liu Haizhong was hurt by Sha Zhu's words. The biggest regret in his life was that he had not been able to get a government position. Now that Sha Zhu had exposed his shortcomings in public, he suddenly felt hot on his face.

"What's wrong with me? Did I say something wrong?" Sha Zhu became more and more excited. "Look at yourself, you are already old, what else can you do besides taking advantage of your age? You only know how to bully us youngsters. Are you worthy of being the second uncle?"

"Rebellion! Rebellion!" Liu Haizhong was so angry that he was shaking all over. He pointed at Sha Zhu's nose and couldn't say a word for a long time.

The neighbors who were watching the fun also started whispering. Normally they were suppressed by Liu Haizhong and had been holding back their anger for a long time. Now that they saw Sha Zhu dare to go against Liu Haizhong, they felt very happy.

"Shazhu is right! This second uncle should have been replaced long ago!"

"That's right! He just puts on airs all day long, and I've never seen him do anything good for the hospital!"

"I think Sha Zhu is much better than him. At least Sha Zhu is honest!"

......

Listening to the discussions of the neighbors, Liu Haizhong felt as if he was being roasted on a fire, and lost all face. He glared at Sha Zhu fiercely, turned around and wanted to go back to the house.

However, Sha Zhu grabbed him and sneered, "What's the matter? Second Master, you want to leave now? I haven't finished my words yet!"

"What else do you want to do?!" Liu Haizhong shook off Sha Zhu's hand with force, his eyes wide open in anger.

"What do I want to do?" Sha Zhu sneered, took out the yellowed book from his arms, and shook it in front of Liu Haizhong, "Don't you want to know what this is? I'll tell you now!"

Liu Haizhong looked at the tattered book and became even more confused. He really couldn't understand why Sha Zhu would treasure a tattered book so much.

Sha Zhu ignored the doubts in Liu Haizhong's voice. He slowly turned the pages of the book. His eyes suddenly became sharp and an inexplicable aura emanated from him, making everyone around him feel a chill.

“What…what is this?!”

Liu Haizhong looked at the contents on the page and his face turned pale instantly. He took a few steps back in horror, and his fingers pointing at Sha Zhu were trembling.

"You...are you a human or a ghost?!"

......

Sha Zhu's laughter was particularly abrupt in the silent night, as if it had broken some taboo, or as if it was venting some long-suppressed emotions. He looked at Xu Damao's back as he fled in panic, and an unprecedented sense of joy surged in his heart.

"Shazhu, are you okay?"

A gentle voice came from behind him. Sha Zhu turned around and saw that it was Qin Huairu. There was a trace of worry on her face, but her eyes were shining with a complex light.