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

On a winter afternoon, the biting cold wind whistled past, like an extremely sharp knife, mercilessly cutting Yi Zhonghai's face, and at the same time deeply hurting his already broken heart.

He dragged his legs, which felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, slowly forward.

Every step he took felt like he was carrying a towering mountain on his back, weighing him down to the point where he could hardly breathe.

The road under his feet seemed to be covered with sharp thorns, and every step brought a piercing pain, but he was unaware of it and just walked forward numbly and mechanically.

Finally, he arrived at his door. The threshold that he could easily cross with just a lift of his foot on ordinary days now seemed like an insurmountable chasm before his eyes.

His body suddenly stopped in front of the threshold, and time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Everything around him became silent, and the whole world seemed to be left with only his heavy and rapid breathing, which rose and fell, echoing in the dead silence.

For Yi Zhonghai at this moment, it seemed that he needed to use all his strength to complete that short step. He raised his foot tremblingly, and then put it down hesitantly. After repeating this many times, he finally mustered up the courage to step into the house.

At the same time, sunlight shone in sporadically through the door frame, which looked a little shabby and mottled.

These tiny rays of light were like fragmented rays of hope, weakly shining on his face that was filled with fatigue and frustration.

The intersection of light and shadow outlined deep and shallow, long and short lonely shadows, aptly reflecting his extremely gloomy mood at this moment.

Not far behind him, an old lady was jogging and chasing after him. She was panting, her chest heaving violently, her forehead covered with beads of sweat, and her hair, soaked by sweat, stuck to both sides of her cheeks in a mess, looking very embarrassed.

She looked at Yi Zhonghai's back, his slightly bent back, like an old tree bent by the hardships of life. She felt mixed emotions in her heart, and the expression on her face was as complicated as an overturned spice jar, with all kinds of emotions surging and intertwined.

Among them, there were deep complaints about Yi Zhonghai's impulsive behavior. The life pressure and grievances accumulated over the years almost burst out at this moment.

There is a heart-wrenching pain that the savings accumulated with great effort are about to be wasted. Those days of frugality and the years of accumulating every penny seem to flash by before my eyes.

There was also an indescribable sense of loss and helplessness, as if a corner of the sky had collapsed, as if their originally peaceful lives were completely shattered at this moment, and the days ahead fell into endless darkness and unknown.

She stood behind Yi Zhonghai, looking at his back which was deeply scarred by the years and the pressure of life, and she could no longer suppress the emotions in her heart.

Finally, he couldn't help but speak, his voice trembling slightly, a trembling mixed with anger and heartache, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from the bottom of his heart.

"Old Yi, what kind of drug did you take? One thousand yuan! That's a huge sum of money. Do you know how long it will last for our family? How could you be willing to spend it on gambling with Cao Wei? Think about it carefully. Haven't you suffered enough at his hands?"

"Every time you do this, our family suffers, but you never learn a lesson or learn a lesson. This thousand dollars is the hard-earned money that our family has saved for two or three years by living frugally. Every penny is soaked with our hard work. Now you say it's gone, how are we going to live in the future?"

The auntie became more and more excited as she spoke, her eyes slightly reddened and tears welled up in her eyes. She seemed to see the days when she had to calculate carefully to save money, and spend every penny carefully. She saw the hope that she had saved up bit by bit in her daily life, but now that the thousand yuan was about to disappear, her heart was filled with despair, as if an invisible big hand was strangling her throat.

Yi Zhonghai was already in an extremely depressed mood, as if he had fallen into a dark abyss. It was pitch black all around him, without a trace of light.

When I heard the old lady’s complaint, the anger in my heart exploded instantly like a powder keg that was lit.

He turned around abruptly, looking unhappy, his eyes revealing irritability and annoyance, anger and regret towards himself: "Alright, stop talking! How can I feel good? Who would have thought that the Jia Zhang mother and son were so unreliable! I was also confused at the time, thinking that if there was really a problem with the persimmon, it would give us some relief, but I didn't expect this result."

As he spoke, he sat down heavily in his chair, making a dull sound, like the last whine of a worn-out old clock.

He rubbed his face vigorously with both hands, as if he wanted to rub all the bad things out of his mind and try to escape this cruel reality, but those images kept appearing in his mind like ghosts.

Yi Zhonghai's thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the days in the past when he worked hard to save money.

He remembered that he would go out before dawn every day and rush to work in the dim morning light. The streets were silent and deserted, with only his lonely footsteps echoing.

He worked diligently there, gritting his teeth and persevering even on the most tiring and difficult tasks. His clothes were soaked with sweat and his back was covered with layer upon layer of salt stains, just to earn a few more cents and add a glimmer of hope to this family.

When he returned home, he did not dare to slack off in the slightest. He saved as much as he could. When his clothes were torn, he patched them again and again. The patches piled up like a mottled painting recording the hardships of life. The meals were also as simple as they could be, often just plain rice and tea, with almost no oil in the vegetable soup.

He still remembered one time, in order to save a little money on vegetables, he walked several miles to the corner of the vegetable market to buy the cheap vegetables that others had left over. The cold wind cut his face like a knife, and his hands and feet were frozen red, just to reduce the family's expenses.

But now, this thousand dollars is about to be wasted because of my impulsiveness.

He thought about his family's future life, which would become tight because of the compensation, and those little wishes that he had originally planned to improve their lives became unattainable luxuries.

My wife has been talking about buying a new pot. The old pot has been used for many years and the bottom of the pot is full of patches. I have to be very careful every time I cook, for fear that it will suddenly break down. But now this simple wish cannot be realized.

There is also the old radio at home, the sound is often intermittent, but I have never replaced it because I am reluctant to spend money. I originally thought that I could save some money to buy a new one, but now there is no hope at all.

Thinking of this, Yi Zhonghai sighed deeply, his heart full of regret. He lowered his head and hugged his head tightly with both hands, as if this could help him escape this cruel reality. Tears could no longer be held back and welled up in his eyes, slowly sliding down his cheeks.

When the aunt looked at Yi Zhonghai's appearance, the anger in her heart gradually subsided, and was replaced by deep heartache.

She slowly walked to Yi Zhonghai and gently patted his shoulder. The action was full of tenderness and comfort, like a ray of warm sunshine in winter: "Forget it, forget it, things have already come to this, there is no point in complaining. Let's think about how to live in the future."

Yi Zhonghai raised his head and looked at the aunt, his eyes full of guilt, as if expressing endless apologies: "It's all my fault, I was too impulsive, if only I could be more cautious."

The lady shook her head and said helplessly: "It's too late to say these things now. We can only grit our teeth and get through this difficult time."

At this moment, Jia Zhang's sharp and piercing crying sound was heard from the yard again. The sound was like a sharp blade, piercing through the doors and windows and straight into the hearts of Yi Zhonghai and Yi Yama.

The two looked at each other, with a hint of helplessness and bitterness in their eyes.

They knew that although the farce caused by persimmons seemed to have ended, the subsequent impact was far from dissipated, and their lives, because of the one thousand yuan, were completely disrupted and fell into an unknown predicament.

Afterwards, Yi Zhonghai took out the money, in front of everyone in the hospital, his hands trembling slightly, as if the thousand yuan weighed a thousand pounds, and every bill was like his dearest.

He handed the thousand yuan to Cao Wei reluctantly, his movements slow and heavy, as if he was performing a painful farewell ceremony.

His eyes were full of reluctance and helplessness, as if he was watching his years of hard work leaving him bit by bit. Every look revealed endless pain, which was the reluctance to let go of past efforts and the worry about future life.

It's not that he doesn't want to default on his debt, but the situation forces him to do so.

During this period of time, his reputation in the hospital had been slowly declining due to various things. Now the whole hospital knew about the bet. If he did something like refusing to admit defeat again, he couldn't imagine how he would live in the hospital in the future.

Maybe when he goes out, someone will point at his nose and scold him. Those unpleasant words will be like knives, cutting his dignity, making him unable to raise his head in this courtyard and becoming the object of everyone's scorn.

What's more, there is the threat of force from Cao Wei. Sha Zhu is considered a man of some strength in the courtyard, but he can't beat Cao Wei. If he refuses to pay, I'm afraid Cao Wei will do something irrational.

He is an old man, how can he be a match for Cao Wei? Not only will he have to pay compensation, but he might even be beaten up, which will make him physically and mentally exhausted. The burden of life will completely crush him.

Cao Wei looked at Yi Zhonghai's reluctant expression and felt secretly proud in his heart, but his face remained expressionless. There was a glimmer of cunning in his eyes, which was the secret joy after success.

He quickly took the money from Yi Zhonghai's hand with quick and decisive movements, as if he was taking his own spoils.

He casually folded the money in his hand and stuffed it into his pocket, as if the thousand dollars was just a trivial matter, with a satisfied smile on his face.

Having easily earned another thousand yuan today, Cao Wei was in a particularly good mood. He was thinking about taking his wife to a restaurant later to have a good meal and enjoy the happiness brought by this unexpected money. He had already begun to look forward to the taste of delicious food. The sumptuous dishes on the table appeared in his mind, and the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously.

The neighbors around looked at this scene, and some of them showed sympathy. After all, everyone knew that it was not easy for Yi Zhonghai to save so much money, and they felt sorry for his experience. The little scenes of their daily life together emerged in their minds, and they empathized with his predicament.

Some of them looked indifferent, as if this was just an insignificant farce that had nothing to do with them, so they turned away and went about their own business.

Others were whispering, discussing the ins and outs of the incident in low voices, speculating on subsequent developments. Various versions of the story were quietly circulated among the crowd, becoming a topic of conversation after dinner.

Jia Zhang watched Yi Zhonghai pay the money to Cao Wei, feeling both annoyed and unwilling.

She collapsed on the ground, still crying and cursing. Sometimes she accused Yi Zhonghai of being useless, sometimes she cursed Cao Wei for being so cruel. Her voice was sharp and piercing, like a wounded beast howling in despair.

Her voice echoed in the yard, but no one wanted to pay attention to her. Everyone was annoyed by her unreasonable behavior. They shook their heads and sighed, expressing helplessness and disdain for her behavior.

Banggeng and Jia Dongxu stood aside with their heads down, faces filled with shame. They wished they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into to avoid the strange looks of everyone. Their hearts were filled with self-blame and helplessness. They knew that all this was caused by their own and their family's mistakes, but they were powerless to change it.

Although the courtyard had returned to calm on the surface, everyone had different thoughts in their minds.

Yi Zhonghai looked at Cao Wei's departing back with mixed feelings. He knew that his life had undergone tremendous changes because of the one thousand yuan, and the days to come would be even more difficult.

But he also understood that all this was the consequence of his own choices and he could only bear it silently, his heart filled with bitterness. This bitterness was like Coptis chinensis, spreading throughout his body.

An old lady looked at Yi Zhonghai's lonely expression and felt heartbroken.

She gently pulled the corner of Yi Zhonghai's clothes and said softly, "Let's go home. Life must go on."

Yi Zhonghai nodded, took a deep breath, cheered himself up, and followed the aunt slowly towards home. His steps were heavy and slow, as if every step was measuring the hardships of life, and every step seemed to be walking towards the unknown darkness, but he had to move forward.

As they left, the people in the yard gradually dispersed and returned to their own homes. The courtyard returned to its former tranquility. However, the impact of this storm left a deep mark in everyone's heart that would take a long time to dissipate.

The one thousand yuan, like a heavy stone, weighed on the hearts of Yi Zhonghai's family. It also became an unforgettable memory in the hearts of everyone in the courtyard, reminding people of the impermanence and hardship of life.

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