Siheyuan: Cao Liang's rise

Four Nine Cities.

In a separate courtyard.

In the yard, Cao Liang was leaning on an armchair, his body and head covered with snowflakes.

But Cao Liang didn't care at all and closed his eyes as if he was asleep.

A figure slowly walked up to him, reached out and patted the snowflakes on his head, and said in a scolding tone: "Old man, it's snowing so hard, why are you lying here instead of staying indoors? What if you catch a cold?"

The person who came was Cao Liang’s wife Meng Xiaoxing.

Meng Xiaoxing is already fifty years old at this time, and there are some wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, but they can no longer conceal her elegant temperament.

"It's Xingzi! I've told you so many times, I'm still very young! Don't call me that."

Cao Liang opened his eyes slightly, curled his lips helplessly, and then said: "Don't you know my physique? Even if I sleep here for three days and three nights, I will be fine."

Although Cao Liang is fifty years old, he still looks like he was in his twenties, making people feel that he will never grow old.

"Then you need to pay more attention."

Meng Xiaoxing reminded, "Also, today is New Year's Eve. Gangzi and the others will be back. If you have nothing to do, come and help me and mom prepare dinner."

"Why rush? It won't be too late to talk about it after they arrive."

Cao Liang joked, "It's impossible for a large group of people to eat and only a few of us to cook, right?"

"You are just lazy!"

Meng Xiaoxing helplessly reached out and poked him on the forehead, then went in to help Chen Huilan prepare dinner.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, I'm here to see you."

Not long after Meng Xiaoxing left, a childish voice was heard, and a small round ball in a flowery cotton jacket rushed towards Cao Liang like a cannonball.

Seeing this, Cao Liang quickly stood up and squatted on the ground.

The next second, the little girl jumped into his arms. Cao Liang said happily: "Oh, my precious granddaughter, you finally come back to see grandpa. I missed you so much."

"Grandpa, I miss you too!"

The little girl was only five or six years old. Her name was Cao Xiaoyun and she was Dabao’s daughter.

"Xiao Yun, I told you not to run so fast!"

Behind him, Dabao and a young woman with a scholarly temperament walked in.

"Dad, we are back to see you."

Cao Liang smiled and nodded, "Dabao and Qiuxue are back! It's good to see them back."

The woman was Dabao's wife, Ye Qiuxue. After Dabao graduated from university, he stayed in the school to teach. Ye Qiuxue was his college classmate.

Hearing this, Dabao said depressedly: "Dad, I am a father now, and the youngest professor in the school, why do you still call me by my nickname?"

Cao Liang smiled faintly and said, "Why, have you grown wings? Can I still yell at you? No matter how old you are, you are still my son."

"Yes, yes, you are right."

Dabao had no choice but to give in.

If you make this old man angry, he will really take action.

"Dad, I'm going to help in the kitchen."

After Cao Liang nodded, Ye Qiuxue went to the kitchen.

Cao Liang held his granddaughter, looked at Dabao, and asked, "Has Tuanzi arrived yet?"

Dabao replied: "I called her when I came back, and she said it would take a while for her to come back."

Tuanzi is now studying at Dabao's school.

The girl works very hard and continues to study even during the holidays. She came back and stayed for a few days some time ago.

"Liangzi, the men are here to eat the New Year's Eve dinner. Is the meal ready?"

The voice came before the person arrived. Not long after, Gangzi and his friends walked in with their families. The one who spoke just now was Wang Dong.

"Grandpa Cao."

"Uncle Cao."

Several second- and third-generation children greeted Cao Liang.

The women all went to the kitchen to help consciously, and it was obviously not the first time they had done so.

Otherwise, Cao Liang wouldn’t have said that to Meng Xiaoxing just now.

There were several small cars parked outside the yard, all driven by Gangzi and his friends.

Over the years, Cao Liang has built his own business empire in Beijing, covering almost every industry.

Gangzi and his friends naturally made a lot of money by following Cao Liang.

But time flies, and we are all fifty years old and have become grandfathers.

Of course, except Wang Dong.

He got married late, and now his eldest son is only in his teens, and the youngest is only two or three years old.

But he has the most children among the few.

Cao Liang has only two children, a son and a daughter.

Gu Wen has three and Gangzi has four.

The monkey also has three, but Wang Dong has five.

Just because everyone laughed at him and said that no one would take care of him in his old age, Wang Dong tried his best to give birth, which made his wife suffer.

Afterwards, the men chatted in the yard.

The women helped in the kitchen to prepare dinner while the children played in the yard.

For a moment, it was lively and warm.

...

Under a bridge.

A weathered figure curled up in an old quilt, with messy hair and shivering.

There was a thermos next to him, but it was frozen into snowflakes.

He lay there with lifeless eyes.

Step~step~

There was a sound of footsteps.

An old man with white hair and a horse face appeared here. He looked at the figure curled up in the bridge hole, shook his head helplessly, and walked over slowly.

He sat next to him and said softly: "Today is New Year's Eve. I brought you a roast chicken and a bottle of wine."

What I got in return was silence.

The horse-faced old man sighed and said helplessly: "Silly Zhu! I told you at the beginning that the Jia family is an ungrateful family and Qin Huairu will not give birth to a child for you, but you just don't believe it."

"Now, your belongings and house have been taken away, and you have been kicked out. What do you want?"

The old man with a horse face was Xu Damao. He was already sixty years old at this time. His hair had turned white and wrinkles appeared on his forehead.

"If you came here to see me laugh, now you're done and you can leave."

A hoarse voice came from under the quilt, but it was full of despair.

"Okay, I'm being nosy. I've left the food for you. Liangzi is still waiting for me to eat. I'll be leaving first."

Xu Damao stood up and took a few steps, but suddenly stopped. "I will come back to take care of your affairs when the time comes. Now I am leaving."

He had already seen that Sha Zhu no longer had the desire to live.

Judging from his appearance, it will probably only be a few days.

Until the end, no one except Xu Damao came to see him.

Thinking back on his life, Sha Zhu showed a self-deprecating expression on his face.

I thought that I had been devoted to the Jia family all my life, but this is the result I got in return.

If I had not listened to Yi Zhonghai's advice and helped the Jia family, I would have given all the delicious food in my home to the Jia family.

But he ignored his younger sister He Yushui. If he had not broken up with Yushui, she would probably be very worried about him now, right?

If I had been willing to marry a virtuous woman, I wouldn't have ended up like this, right?

Given my current conditions, couldn't I find any kind of wife I wanted?

But how did I get stuck in this?

This... is all fate...

Sha Zhu sighed for a while, then tightened the quilt around himself.

I don't know how long it took, but the quilt was no longer moving...

(Complete the book!)