Siheyuan: I live next door to Xu Damao, my last name is Cao

The sunlight penetrated the thin clouds and sprinkled on the open space of the courtyard, which should have brought a hint of warmth, but it could not dispel the tension and suspicion that permeated the air.

Everyone in the courtyard was filled with suspicion and uneasiness, with vigilance in their eyes, and took the persimmons from Jia Zhang.

He looked so cautious, with his hands trembling slightly, as if what he was holding was not fruit, but a bomb that could explode at any time, bringing unpredictable disaster in the next second.

When your teeth gently bite open the skin of the persimmon, the sweet juice instantly spreads in your mouth, and the rich fruity aroma makes you feel relaxed and happy.

"Wow! This persimmon tastes absolutely amazing!"

In the crowd, Aunt Li muttered softly, squinted her eyes, and had an intoxicated look on her face, as if she was completely immersed in this wonderful world of taste and couldn't extricate herself.

However, just as she finished her words, she suddenly opened her eyes as if she was pulled back from a beautiful dream into a cruel reality, and her expression instantly became flustered.

I saw her hurriedly closing her mouth, as if she was afraid that saying one more word would bring disaster.

Her eyes, which were originally full of satisfaction, were now filled with worry. She looked around furtively, her heart always hanging, fearing that the involuntary words of praise she had just uttered would lead to some unexpected serious consequences.

Although the taste of persimmons is considered to be the most delicious in the world, the faces of the people gathered here at this moment are still covered with a thick haze, as if a downpour may fall from the gloomy sky at any time.

Everyone felt as if a huge rock weighing a thousand pounds was pressing down on their hearts. The heavy feeling kept falling down and almost suffocated them.

Amid the anxious chewing sounds, time slipped away silently like the sand in an hourglass.

Every time someone swallows a persimmon with difficulty, the tension in their heart increases.

Everyone kept glancing at other people around them, their glances filled with endless fear and temptation, as if they wanted to catch even the slightest clue from other people's facial expressions that they were about to get a stomachache from eating these persimmons.

Even Mr. Zhang, who is usually steady and calm, couldn't help but subconsciously reach out and rub his stomach gently after swallowing a mouthful of persimmon.

He rubbed his palm slowly on his stomach and looked around vigilantly, scanning everyone's face, trying to get a little comfort from other people's reactions, but everyone he saw had the same nervous expression, and his brows furrowed even tighter.

Although Cao Wei patted his chest and vowed that if any problems really arose because of these persimmons, he would definitely take out a full thousand yuan to cover the cost without hesitation.

However, when everyone recalled the miserable appearance of the Jia Zhang family yesterday, they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.

Just yesterday, the Jia Zhang family suffered from vomiting and diarrhea and were in unbearable pain. They rolled around on their beds and wailed.

Their foreheads were covered with beads of sweat, as if they had just been drenched by a rainstorm; and from their mouths came constant groans of pain, which sounded like wails from the depths of hell and were creepy enough to make one's hair stand on end.

Especially when they thought about the fact that they had to drink the disgusting golden juice in order to detoxify, just imagining that scene made everyone present feel their scalp tingling and their stomachs began to churn uncontrollably.

No one would be willing to experience this kind of torture that is worse than death.

Now, all the persimmons had been eaten, but everyone was still standing there in a daze, not even daring to breathe.

Their eyes were fixed on their stomachs, as if they could penetrate their stomachs and see everything that was happening inside.

Everyone pricked up their ears, concentrating on capturing every slight sound coming from their bodies. Even the slightest bowel sound would instantly make their already tense nerves even more tense.

At this time, a light breeze blew quietly, blowing the leaves in the yard, making a rustling sound.

This should have been a very common natural sound, but in this unusually silent atmosphere, it seemed so abrupt and harsh.

However, no matter how hard this breeze tried, it could not blow away the thick, inky haze that shrouded everyone's hearts.

One second, two seconds... After a long while, the expected pain did not come, and there was no strange feeling in the body. It was as if what he had just eaten was just an ordinary fruit. All the previous worries turned out to be a false alarm.

"It seems like everything is fine."

Aunt Li finally couldn't hold it back anymore and let out a long sigh. It seemed like the sigh had been accumulated for a long time. As she let out the sigh, her shoulders relaxed and she felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders. Her body sank slightly.

People around him echoed.

"Yeah, it's really okay!"

"It seems to be a false alarm."

Everyone's tense nerves slowly relaxed and the color gradually returned to their faces.

The originally pale cheeks flushed again, the tense nerves finally relaxed, and there was even a hint of embarrassed smile on her face.

There was self-mockery in that smile, as if he was finding it funny that he had been overly worried before.

On the other side, Jia Zhang, Jia Dongxu and Bang Geng were gathered together, forming a small, slightly tense circle.

Jia Zhang's brows were twisted into a knot, and veins bulged on her forehead like winding little snakes. She stared at the persimmon stem in her hand that had been eaten clean. Her eyes seemed to want to burn a hole in the stem, as if it was the culprit.

"Eat them all, don't leave any!" She urged viciously, with a hint of desperate determination in her voice. Her tone was unquestionable. As she spoke, she pointed at Jia Dongxu and Bang Geng, her fingers trembling slightly due to the force, and her eyes were full of unquestionable toughness.

Banggeng's eyes were red, and the persimmon in his hand was deformed by his squeezing, and the flesh was slightly squeezed out from between his fingers.

He muttered softly, "Grandma, I really can't eat anymore..." His voice was tearful and full of grievance.

But what responded to him was Jia Zhang's stern gaze, which was like a sharp knife, making Bang Geng tremble all over.

Banggeng had no choice but to suppress the grievance and fear in his heart. He gritted his teeth and stuffed the persimmons into his mouth one by one. Every time he swallowed, his throat seemed to be choked by something, as if he was swallowing a heart full of reluctance. His little face turned red like a ripe tomato, and his throat made a "gurgling" swallowing sound from time to time. The sound was particularly clear in this tense atmosphere.

Jia Dongxu said nothing. His face was pale and bloodless, and his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, each of which sparkled in the sunlight.

The memory of yesterday's stomachache is still vivid in his mind. The excruciating pain seems to still echo in his stomach. At this moment, he is terribly scared.

But under the coercion of Jia Zhang, he still gritted his teeth and swallowed the persimmons in big mouthfuls. He looked like a warrior rushing to the execution ground, with a bit of tragic heroism.

His hands trembled slightly as he brought the persimmon to his mouth. Every time he took a bite, a painful expression appeared on his face, as if he was making a difficult decision: whether to trust his mother and continue eating, or to resist the fear of the unknown.

Finally, they finished all three persimmons.

Seeing that they had finished eating the persimmons, Cao Wei looked calm and walked unhurriedly in front of the crowd.

He stood tall and straight with his back, revealing a sense of confidence and composure, and his steps were steady and powerful, as if every step was measuring the outcome of this farce.

His eyes swept across everyone's faces one by one, and they were sharp and firm, finally stopping on the Jia Zhang family and those who ate persimmons.

After a brief pause, he opened his mouth slightly. His voice was clear and steady, neither too high nor too low, but everyone present could hear it clearly.

"You guys have finished eating the persimmons. Now can you tell me whether you have stomachaches or not?"

As he spoke, there was a hint of scrutiny in his eyes, as if declaring his dominance over this farce.

Cao Wei raised his chin slightly, looked at everyone with firm eyes, waiting for a response. His eyes seemed to say that the truth was about to be revealed.

Those people in the yard who had eaten persimmons were originally whispering to each other, their voices rising and falling like a group of chirping sparrows.

Hearing Cao Wei's question, they suddenly became quiet, as if the mute button was pressed.

A trace of tension and concentration appeared on everyone's face. They all put their hands on their stomachs, narrowed their eyes slightly, and carefully felt every subtle change in their bodies.

Some people frowned slightly, as if they were afraid to miss any discomfort. Aunt Zhao's brows were tightly knitted together, like a tightly tied knot. She stared at her stomach and muttered, "Please don't let it hurt."

The voice was trembling and full of worry.

Some people rub their stomachs gently, trying to find possible abnormalities from this action, while others rub their stomachs slowly with both hands, from left to right and then from right to left, their eyes full of vigilance, not missing any abnormalities.

After a long while, the first response came from the crowd: "No."

There was a hint of relief in his voice, as if a huge stone had been lifted from his heart. After he finished speaking, he let out a long sigh, his chest heaving violently, an expression of relief on his face, and his whole body relaxed and limp a little.

Immediately afterwards, responses such as “No” and “I really don’t feel anything” came one after another, and more and more people spoke up, their tone full of relief, and their voices echoed in the yard.

Everyone's face gradually regained its color, their tense nerves finally relaxed, and there was even an embarrassed smile on their faces, as if they found their previous excessive worry funny. Some people even patted their heads gently, as if blaming themselves for being timid.

Cao Wei nodded slightly, without showing too much pride on his face, but there was a barely perceptible flash of certainty in his eyes, which was the firm belief in his own judgment.

Then, he turned his gaze to Yi Zhonghai, with an unquestionable sharpness in his eyes. That look was like a sword, piercing straight into Yi Zhonghai's heart: "Uncle Yi, do you feel uncomfortable after eating persimmons? Do you think there is anything wrong with my persimmons?"

Yi Zhonghai was still holding on to a glimmer of hope, but when he heard Cao Wei's question, the expression on his face froze instantly, like a frozen picture.

His Adam's apple rolled up and down, he swallowed hard, a gurgling sound came from his throat, a trace of panic flashed across his face, and his eyes began to evade.

He subconsciously thrust out his stomach and pressed his hands on it unconsciously, as if to squeeze out a trace of pain from his stomach. His brows were tightly furrowed into the shape of the Chinese character "川", and he concentrated on feeling the movements in his stomach.

He kept thinking in his mind: "I hope nothing happens. How will I live if I lose this thousand dollars?" That thought kept circling in his mind like a buzzing fly that could not be driven away.

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai felt like he had fifteen buckets of water in his heart - up and down.

How he wished he could feel even the slightest discomfort to prove that his previous doubts about Cao Wei were justified, but his stomach was calm, without any sign of pain, like a pool of stagnant water, without a single ripple.

His face turned pale in an instant, like a piece of white paper, and then because of his extreme unwillingness and regret, it slowly turned purple, like an over-ripe eggplant. Dense beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, sparkling in the winter sun, and each bead of sweat was like the crystallization of his inner pain.

His hands were tightly clenched on the corner of his clothes, his knuckles turned white due to the force, the veins on the back of his hands were bulging, he looked cramped and nervous, his feet moved restlessly on the ground.

The amount of his family’s savings flashed through Yi Zhonghai’s mind like a kaleidoscope.

He knew in his heart that if it really wasn't a problem with Cao Wei's fruit, he would really have to pay Cao Wei one thousand yuan in compensation according to the promise he had made in the heat of the moment.

This one thousand yuan was a huge sum of money for their family! They had been living very frugally on the two thousand five hundred yuan, and they wanted to spend every penny wisely.

If I pay it out this time, I'll only have 1,500 yuan left.

Thinking that he might be stretched financially in the future because of this compensation, Yi Zhonghai felt as if his heart was being stabbed by a knife.

He thought of his wife who had been nagging about getting a new pot. The old pot was full of patches and made his wife sigh every time he cooked.

I thought about the old radio at home that should have been replaced long ago. The sound was often intermittent and I couldn't hear the broadcast content at all. But all this became out of reach because of this possible compensation. Those little wishes were shattered in an instant and turned into nothing.

Cao Wei seemed not to have noticed Yi Zhonghai's extremely ugly expression, his eyes were firm and resolute.

In his heart, the thousand dollars is not just monetary compensation, but also a defense of his reputation.

He raised his head slightly and looked into the distance, as if he had already seen the scene of Yi Zhonghai obediently taking out the money. He was determined to get that one thousand yuan.

The corners of his mouth rose slightly, revealing a barely perceptible smile, which was the confidence that victory was in sight and the expectation that this farce would soon come to an end. In this winter sun, his figure appeared particularly determined.

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

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