Chapter 028 Harmonious Courtyard
The residents of the slum came out in a hurry, following Shi Yue and Shi Qiu Shui's footsteps. A large group of people turned into the alley next door, their faces full of excitement as they watched the excitement.
The big guys walked quickly and arrived at the door of Song Chunsheng's house. But even though they came so quickly, they were still not as fast as Li Xiuying. When they arrived, Li Xiuying was swinging a big broom to beat Old Mrs. Ding and Song Chunsheng.
She swung her arms, and swung the big broom with great force. The bamboo broom head "banged" and hit Old Mrs. Ding and Song Chunsheng on the heads.
She beat and scolded him.
"Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you say bad things about me behind my back? It's none of your business whether I get a divorce or not, and now you, a piece of shit, are complaining about it behind my back? What's the matter? You bastards are allowed to be so uncivilized, but we women can't get a divorce? You're still talking to me about "since ancient times"? "Since ancient times, your grandma's legs!" The Qing Dynasty has been gone for years, and you're still trying to bring up the old society."
Shi Yue felt something was amiss, so he poked the onlookers in front of him and asked, "Hey, what's going on?"
The people watching the excitement in front looked back in confusion: "I don't know?"
Although he lived next door to Song Chunsheng's house and was the first one to hear the noise, he really didn't know why the Song family was in turmoil.
He scratched his head and said, "I only heard that Li Juan brought back a strange old lady. She came in and said something to Song Chunsheng. Then they started arguing. Later, Song Chunsheng seemed to say something like, 'Divorced women are not serious.' Then the old lady started fighting with Song Chunsheng.
The woman next to him curled her lips and said, "What? You don't know."
"I've been listening to everything. Li Juan just came back and told Song Chunsheng that she was moving out today and that she wanted a divorce. Song Chunsheng kept saying that divorced women are not decent. Just look at Li Xiuying, the divorced woman from the alley next door. She's already old but still goes out to dance with old men. She's so coquettish and you can tell she's not a decent person. Tsk tsk, Song Chunsheng has a dirty mouth. I can't even say what he said. It's so disgusting!" The old lady pouted in disgust, then pointed at Li Xiuying, who was holding a big broom, and said, "Who do you know? Li Xiuying! The divorced Li Xiuying from the alley next door!"
Song Chunsheng's neighbor: ...
Shi Yue:......
Shi Qiushui: ...
The people who followed from the compound: ...
Song Chunsheng had no reason to blame Li Xiuying for hearing him say bad things about her, so he got beaten.
What kind of person is Li Xiuying? When she gets anxious, she will even report her own man. If you provoke her, you will be like stepping on a steel plate.
Even Gao Cuifen looked at Song Chunsheng with great surprise.
She didn't even dare to say that in front of Li Xiuying, so where did Song Chunsheng get the courage from?
Song Chunsheng, who was being chased and beaten, was crying tears of joy in his heart.
What a misunderstanding! If he knew that the old lady who came back with Li Juan was Li Xiuying, he would definitely not dare to say that!
Didn’t he know that it was Li Xiuying?
Regret, these were the only four words left in Song Chunsheng's mind. If he could be given another chance, he would definitely not use Li Xiuying as an example again, absolutely not!
"Sister Li, don't be angry, don't be angry, this is all a misunderstanding, my son didn't mean that, he didn't mean to say...ah!"
Old Mrs. Ding really had a kind heart towards Song Chunsheng. Even when Li Xiuying was beating her with a big broom, she still wanted to explain for Song Chunsheng. But Li Xiuying didn't listen to her explanation and just swung the big broom and beat him.
"Fuck you! Don't think I wasn't watching. Just now, when your son was talking about me, you nodded, didn't you? So you think I'm not serious and a good person? Well, okay, since you said that, I can't let you talk about me for nothing!"
She slapped Old Mrs. Ding in the face with the broom head made of thin bamboo strips, making crisp "pa pa" sounds and leaving blood streaks on her face.
The people around him grimaced.
The thin bamboo strips used to make broom heads are specially processed. Such thin bamboo strips are thin and tough, and it will hurt a lot when they hit people!
Li Xiuying was quickly beaten beyond recognition by Old Mrs. Ding and Song Chunsheng. During this time, Song Chunsheng and Old Mrs. Ding did think about resisting, but with the broom in hand, Li Xiuying was invincible and unstoppable. Song Chunsheng and Old Mrs. Ding tried their best but failed to resist.
Seeing that Old Mrs. Ding and Song Chunsheng's faces were covered with bloodstains, Ma Yulan stepped forward at the right time and cleared her throat: "Ahem, Lao Li, Lao Li! Stop it now!"
She said, "I know you're angry because Song Chunsheng said bad things about you behind your back, but people living in this world are bound to have such villains. Let's not bother with him. You're not young anymore. If you get angry at a junior like him and end up doing something bad, that would be bad, don't you think?"
Shi Yue raised his eyebrows, Shi Qiu Shui blinked, and the father and daughter looked at Ma Yulan at the same time.
Ma Yulan’s words were so insightful.
It also emphasized that the reason why Li Xiuying was so angry was because Song Chunsheng said bad things about her, and it also implied that Song Chunsheng was a villain.
Moreover, once Ma Yulan said, "Don't bother with him," no matter whether Song Chunsheng was beaten or not, everyone would say that Li Xiuying was generous and let him go.
Of course, the most important thing is Ma Yulan's last sentence. She started by mentioning her age and emphasizing Li Xiuying's status as an elder. She implicitly implied that Song Chunsheng was ignorant and contradicted his elders.
When Ma Yulan said this, it was clear that Song Chunsheng was in the wrong. Even if he was not convinced, he had no place to complain and could only swallow his anger and accept the loss.
Li Xiuying and Ma Yulan had lived together for so many years that they had already developed a tacit understanding. When she heard Ma Yulan say this, she decisively threw the broom aside.
"Since Lao Ma has said so, I won't bother with him." Li Xiuying finished speaking, then stood aside, covering her head. "But he must apologize to me. My health has been poor to begin with, and I was so angry with him just now that my head is dizzy. He can't just let me be angry for nothing, right?"
Ma Yulan nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, yes, he should apologize to you."
She turned her head, frowned, and urged Song Chunsheng and his mother, "Did you hear that? Apologize to them quickly!"
Song Chunsheng: ???
He pointed at his beaten-up pig face and asked, "I apologize?"
First, he was beaten by Gao Cuifen, then by Li Juan. Song Chunsheng's face was already bruised and blue, with old wounds overlapping new ones. Now, Li Xiuying had beaten him with bloody marks. It was really horrible to look at. Ma Yulan glanced at him and immediately looked away.
She nodded. "Xiao Song, Li Xiuying asked you to apologize, so just apologize. Look, today's incident was caused by you. If you hadn't been so mean and gossiped about her behind her back, she wouldn't be so angry. Don't you agree?"
Song Chunsheng nodded frustratedly.
It was indeed he who spoke ill of Li Xiuying behind her back first, but didn’t Li Xiuying also beat him?
After he and his mother had fought like this, he still wanted to apologize to Li Xiuying? Why?
Ma Yulan saw Song Chunsheng's reluctance. She sighed and said, "Alas, Xiao Song, it seems you don't want to listen to me. After all, I'm an outsider. If you don't want to listen to me, then don't listen. Just see what your hospital administrators say."
She pretended to be disappointed and took a step back. The director of the hospital who was called out had no choice but to step forward.
"Well, Song Chunsheng, what they said is correct. This incident was indeed caused by your bad mouth. You should apologize to them right away."
Afraid that Song Chunsheng would continue to complain, he added, "If you don't apologize, the old lady will get angry and hit you again, and I won't be able to stop her."
Song Chunsheng felt wronged, but he was afraid of being beaten again.
He made a bitter face and apologized reluctantly: "I'm sorry, Aunt Li, I was wrong. I shouldn't have said bad things about you behind your back."
"Humph!" Li Xiuying raised her head and glared, "If you say something bad about me behind my back next time and I find out, I won't let it go so easily!"
Song Chunsheng quickly waved his hands: "No, there won't be a next time. I will definitely not say bad things about you behind your back again."
He really didn't dare to do it anymore. Next time, even if he said something bad about the King of Hell, he would not dare to say anything bad about Li Xiuying!
Hiss—it really hurts when Li Xiuying hits people!
Li Xiuying rolled her eyes. She was actually hoping that Song Chunsheng would say something bad about her again so that she would have the chance to beat him up again!
But I guess Song Chunsheng, this coward, really doesn't dare to do it.
Li Xiuying pouted in disdain and pulled Li Juan out: "Go, Juan'er, go pack your things."
"Ah? Oh, I'll go right away." Li Juan reacted stupidly for a while before she remembered that she came back to pack up and move.
She had such a great time watching Li Xiuying beating Song Chunsheng just now that she had forgotten about it.
When they heard that Li Juan was going to pack up her things, Song Chunsheng and Old Mrs. Ding, who were collapsed on the ground, realized that she was really going to move out and really wanted to divorce Song Chunsheng.
No, they absolutely will not allow Li Juan to divorce Song Chunsheng!
Don't get me wrong, they don't have feelings for Li Juan, they just don't want to spend money to marry another wife. Because of the incident that Li Juan caused during the day, the reputation of their Song family has been ruined. If Song Chunsheng wants to marry another wife, it will definitely cost him a lot more.
Thinking of this, Song Chunsheng and Old Mrs. Ding could no longer sit still and quickly reached out to stop Li Juan.
“Snap—”
Li Juan mercilessly slapped Song Chunsheng's outstretched hand away. She glared at him with eyes filled with resentment: "You don't want me to leave? Are you not afraid of death?"
Seeing Li Juan's eyes, Song Chunsheng subconsciously shrank back.
Over the past period of time, every time Li Juan was about to attack him, she looked at him with this kind of eyes.
Song Chunsheng was a little timid. Li Juan was very reckless in fighting. If he really pushed her into a corner, she might really kill him!
Thinking of this, he quickly withdrew his hand and stopped stopping Li Juan from entering the house. Let her move out. Li Juan had no job and no means of making money anyway. She couldn't stay outside and would come back sooner or later.
Li Juan might even have to beg him to take her and her daughter back home. By then, he would have to make it clear to Li Juan who is the boss of the family! Who is the head of the family who has the final say?
Because he didn't know that Li Xiuying had arranged a job for Li Juan, Song Chunsheng was still daydreaming here.
Shi Qiu Shui saw it clearly. While Li Juan was packing up, Song Chunsheng kept smiling like a fool. She didn't know what Song Chunsheng was smiling about, but she felt that Song Chunsheng might not be very smart.
Well, not only his brain is bad, Song Chunsheng's popularity is not very good either. He and Old Mrs. Ding have been sitting on the ground for a long time, and none of the neighbors in their yard came forward to pull Song Chunsheng up.
But it's also true that if Song Chunsheng was popular, the management of their college would definitely stand up to speak for Song Chunsheng, and would not follow Ma Yulan's wishes and directly ask Song Chunsheng to apologize to Li Xiuying.
Tsk tsk tsk, Song Chunsheng really has a bad relationship with these neighbors in the yard who he sees every day.
Li Juan, who went to pack her things, quickly came out with her daughter, carrying a small bag. She said she was packing, but in fact she just packed the few clothes she and her daughter had.
When she married into the Song family, she only brought a few pieces of clothing with her, so when she left, she only took those few pieces of clothing with her. She didn't want to take away other things from the Song family.
Li Juan: "Aunt Li, I'm done packing, let's go back."
"Okay, let's go back. It's getting late. Let's go back and pack up..."
Li Juan didn't even pay attention to Song Chunsheng, and turned to follow Li Xiuying and walked out. The large group of people who came to watch the excitement also followed them back to the slum after watching the excitement.
On the way back, Li Xiuying openly told everyone that she wanted to take in Li Juan and her daughter. Everyone welcomed Li Juan and Song Nan one by one, and several enthusiastic aunts and grandmas took Li Juan's hand and asked about her well-being.
Shi Qiu Shui was walking next to Li Juan, but her eyes were not on Li Juan. Instead, she was looking at Li Juan's daughter Song Nan. She looked at this girl who was two or three years older than her, but not as strong as her.
To be honest, Shi Qiu Shui was quite curious about Song Nan.
Li Juan is indeed a competent and good mother. No matter whether it is a dispute during the day or a fight at night, Li Juan will lock her daughter in the room at the first time and prevent Song Nan from getting involved in these messy events.
That's why Shi Qiu Shui hadn't met Song Nan until now.
Song Nan inherited Li Juan's thin and petite figure, and her appearance is also more like Li Juan. Judging from her facial features, she is a pretty girl, but unfortunately, because she is too thin, there is not a bit of flesh on her face, and she looks skinny and not very pretty.
Since Shi Qiu Shui came to the 1990s, the children she met were not all white and chubby, but they all had well-proportioned and healthy bodies. She had never seen anyone like Song Nan, and she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Song Nan.
"Give."
Shi Qiu Shui rummaged through her pockets and took out a candy that Shi Yue had put in there for her in the morning and handed it to Song Nan.
The candies with exquisite packaging suddenly appeared in front of Song Nan. She was stunned and didn't know what Shi Qiu Shui meant.
Seeing that she didn't take it, Shi Qiushui pushed his hand towards Song Nan again and said, "Here's some candy for you."
Song Nan lowered his eyes and looked at the candy in front of him, but still didn't take it.
She knew that the candy the little girl in front of her was handing to her was milk candy. Although she had never eaten it herself, she had seen her classmates at school eat it and heard them say that the milk candy tasted sweet and fragrant and was delicious.
She had been tempted before, but she knew she couldn't afford it. Even though a pound of milk candy only cost two dollars and fifty cents, she just couldn't afford it because she didn't have a penny.
Other children would have pocket money and New Year's money, but she never had any. She knew that not only did she have no money, but even her mother had no money. Only her father and grandmother were qualified to use the money in the family. She and her mother, two outsiders, were not qualified to use it, so they were not qualified to have money either.
So she didn't dare to accept Shi Qiu Shui's candy. She was afraid that after eating the candy, she would not have anything of corresponding value to return it.
"Hey, eat it!" Shi Qiu Shui didn't know what Song Nan was thinking. Seeing that she didn't move for a long time, he directly peeled off the candy wrapper and stuffed the candy into Song Nan's mouth.
“Hmm—”
As soon as the candy entered her mouth, Song Nan originally wanted to spit it out, but when the sweet taste of the candy spread in her mouth, she suddenly couldn't bear to do it.
This candy is so sweet, soft and has a milky flavor. It tastes much better than the candied melons that my mother secretly hid for me during the Chinese New Year.
Shi Qiushui: "How is it? Is it delicious?"
Song Nan nodded honestly: "It's delicious. This is the most delicious candy I have ever eaten!"
Shi Qiushui nodded in agreement: "Hehe, I also think this is the most delicious candy I have ever eaten!"
She watched Song Nan eating candy and became greedy herself. She dug into her pocket and took out a candy, then put it into her mouth. Feeling the sweet taste, she squinted her eyes happily.
“So sweet and delicious!”
This is much more delicious than the candy she had eaten in the Dayu Dynasty!
Because her family was wealthy, she had eaten at almost all the candied fruit shops, big and small, in Youzhou City during the Dayu Dynasty. However, even the candies made by the top fruit shops in Youzhou City could not compare to the taste of the one in her mouth now.
In fact, this is easy to understand. After all, it spans hundreds of years. The sugar-making technology in the 1990s alone is much more advanced than that of the Dayu Dynasty. What's more, the candy making in the 1990s also used so many scientific principles and advanced raw materials, so it must taste better than the candy of the Dayu Dynasty.
The small piece of candy melted quickly even when it was just held in the mouth. When Song Nan felt the sweet taste in his mouth disappear, he realized that he had eaten Shi Qiu Shui's candy.
Her face was red and she was about to say something when she had already reached the slum.
"Li Juan, Song Nan, come here."
Li Xiuying's voice interrupted what Song Nan was about to say. Song Nan paused and followed Li Juan to find Li Xiuying who called them.
Li Xiuying led Li Juan and Song Nan into the west wing and brought them to the door of Li Fangfang's bedroom. "You can stay here first. Come in and take a look around. See if you like the room."
Li Fangfang's bedroom is not very big, just a small room of about ten square meters. There is a 1.5-meter double bed and two large wardrobes in the room. These two items were bought when Li Xiuying and her ex-husband got married. In addition, there is a large desk with a cabinet in the room, which is full of various books.
Because Li Xiuying cleans occasionally, the room is clean and tidy. It is many times better than the room that Li Juan and Song Nan, mother and daughter, live in the Song family.
Li Juan nodded gratefully at Li Xiuying: "Satisfied, satisfied. Thank you, Aunt Li, for taking me in!"
Li Xiuying waved her hand and said, "Don't bother with the extra stuff. Just take your daughter and put your things away. I'll go find you a new set of sheets and quilt covers so you can change into them."
"Okay, thank you, Aunt Li."
"Oh, I told you to stop being polite. If you continue to be so polite, I will be unhappy. Just wait, I will immediately..."
Li Xiuying returned to her room to look for bed sheets and pillowcases when she suddenly heard someone knocking on the door. She quickly pushed the door open and saw that it was Gao Cuifen.
Li Xiuying was not happy: "Gao Cuifen, what are you doing here?"
Gao Cuifen: "Why are you so angry? I'm not here to see you. I'm here to see Li Juan."
Li Xiuying frowned: "Why are you looking for Li Juan?"
Gao Cuifen was impatient: "Why do you care so much?"
She was too lazy to talk nonsense with Li Xiuying and just shouted loudly: "Li Juan, Li Juan!"
Li Juan heard the noise and came out, looking at Gao Cuifen in confusion.
She didn't know anyone in this courtyard, so naturally she didn't know why Gao Cuifen was looking for her.
Gao Cuifen stuffed the two clothes in her hand to Li Juan: "I see that the clothes you and your daughter are wearing are a bit short. I happen to have some clothes here that you couldn't wear before. Can you see if you can wear them?"
She ignored Li Juan's reaction and spread out the clothes to measure them: "It seems a little big, but it's okay, I can wear it."
After measuring one piece of clothing, she took out another and said, "This long half-sleeved one is for your daughter. Don't look at its size, but I think it will be a good size for your daughter to wear as a skirt. If it doesn't work, you can take it back and have it altered. Make the waist fit in. Here..."
Li Xiuying: "Gao Cuifen, come on, it's just two washed-out rags. You're talking so much about them. If someone doesn't know, they might think you've given them something good."
Although she was harsh in her words, Li Xiuying did not ask Gao Cuifen to take the things back.
Because she knew that although the clothes were not very good, they were clean and wearable, and were better than what Li Juan and Song Nan were originally wearing.
Gao Cuifen curled her lips, ignored Li Xiuying's nitpicking, gave the clothes to Li Juan and went home. Just when Li Xiuying and Li Juan were about to turn around and go home, Ma Yulan also arrived.
Ma Yulan held a bottle of malted milk in her hand and stuffed it towards Li Juan: "This is what my eldest daughter bought for me during the Chinese New Year. No one in my family likes to drink it. I heard that this stuff can nourish children, so I gave it to Song Nan."
She put down her things and turned away without waiting for Li Juan to refuse.
Then came Old Lady Yang, Shi Yue and his daughter, Xiao Liu and his wife...
The neighbors in the compound sent some food and daily necessities to Li Juan one by one. They also had a common saying, that is, the things sent were things they could not use and did not like to eat.
Of course Li Juan knew that she would not need it, and not liking to eat it was just an excuse made by the neighbors in the courtyard to help her and her daughter. Her current financial situation did not allow her to refuse everyone's kindness, so she could only hide her gratitude to everyone in her heart and prepare to repay these people in the courtyard when she had the conditions in the future.
That night, Li Juan and Song Nan lay on the comfortable and soft big bed, enjoying the rare peace. As the night deepened, just as Li Juan was about to fall asleep, Song Nan suddenly said, "Mom, I like this courtyard."
Li Juan was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement and said, "Mom likes this compound too."
I like the harmonious atmosphere of this compound and the friendly neighbors.
But Li Juan didn't know that harmony was her biggest misunderstanding of this slum.
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