Just after finishing dinner and putting down his bowl, Xu Damao and his wife came over. As they walked out from the front porch, Xu Damao shouted, "Brother Chu, something terrible has happened!"
Li Chu, who was carrying pots and pans out of the living room, almost threw them at the guy's face.
Lou Xiao'e heard her husband rambling on and on, and quickly reached out to pull him back.
"What are you yelling about? There's no way you're behaving like that."
"Xu Damao, I think you're asking for trouble. You've just entered someone's door and you're already shouting. Are you announcing a bad thing?"
Li Qin, who was inside, lifted the curtain and came out. She didn't hold back at all and immediately started to argue with him.
"Big sister's here too!" Xu Damao greeted Li Qin, who was standing under the eaves with her hands on her hips, with a meek and obedient expression.
Lou Xiao'e, the eldest sister, also called out.
"Hmm, Xiao'e, come in and sit down. Damao, tell me, what's the matter that made you shouting as soon as you came in?"
"Something happened to He Yuzhu."
!!
He Yuzhu and Qin Huairu have been in the south for half a year now, and not a single word has come back to them.
Before leaving, she said she would write to Li Chu after settling down there, and send living expenses to the child every month, but so much time has passed and there has been no news at all.
"What happened?"
Li Chu put the bowls and plates in his hands into the sink and asked curiously.
"Come on, come inside first. Why are you all standing in the yard? Aren't you cold?"
As soon as he entered the room, Xu Damao saw Li Chu's military uniform hanging on the clothes rack. The bright yellow epaulets almost blinded him. Next to it hung Ding Qiunan's military uniform, with two red stripes and four silver stars on the epaulets.
"Tsk tsk, Brother Chu, you know what, this military uniform looks really good with the shoulder insignia, especially those yellow beans."
"Stop joking around, tell me, what happened to He Yuzhu?"
"The news was brought back by Er Mao, who goes to the south to buy goods. He just got back today and told me about it when he went to my place for dinner with some friends."
"Hey~ When did Wenxuan get back?" Xu Damao asked in surprise when he saw Li Wenxuan pouring water for him.
"Uncle Damao, Aunt Xiao'e, I just got back at noon today."
"Good lad, you've gotten quite tanned from this trip, and you look much more robust. Xu Yang was just asking you yesterday when you'd be back."
"I'm on vacation for a few days, and I'll go see Xu Yang tomorrow since I'm free."
“Yangyang doesn’t work anymore. He helps me out at the restaurant. You can go directly to his house to find him.”
"Huh? Xu Yang quit his job?"
"Well, he and Pingping both took unpaid leave. They don't earn much money and have a lot of work to do, so it's better for them to come back and help out at home while I pay them a salary."
Xu Damao no longer cares about the money he earns in the factory. But it's true, these days, as long as the food is decent, running a restaurant is practically like picking up money.
These days, what businesses make money? One is opening a restaurant, another is importing and selling novel clothing designs from the south, and then there are all sorts of random gadgets like digital watches, hair clips, and cassette tapes.
"Da Mao, finish what you just said before you talk about anything else." Ding Qiunan was still waiting to hear the gossip, but they started talking about something else instead.
"Hehe, sister-in-law, I'll tell you now."
"Cough cough... Er Mao said that during the past few days he was there, he was with some people who came from our area to make a living there. They said that Qin Huairu was beaten by several women because she crossed over into the scrap collection business and did not pay any fees to the people there. The beating was quite severe, and they even threatened to make sure she could not continue collecting scrap there in the future."
As a result, He Yuzhu went to reason with them. To be honest, were those people reasonable? They took him down in no time. However, he wasn't as lucky as Qin Huairu. Qin Huairu was beaten by a woman, while He Yuzhu was beaten by some burly men. They beat him up and sent him to the hospital in no time.
After hearing about this, Er Mao, who knew He Yuzhu in our area, found out about the hospital and even went to check it out. Good heavens, it wasn't just a hospitalization; the patient was on the verge of death and was being resuscitated. Being unfamiliar with the area, Er Mao didn't have much to do. Out of consideration for his fellow villager, he could only leave Qin Huairu ten yuan and leave.
Li Chu didn't have any particular reaction after hearing this. In the past few years, he had been making a living there, and such things were almost unavoidable. So whenever he went to the south, he always went with a large group of fellow villagers, just so that everyone could stick together.
But the others in the room didn't think so. Li Qin found it unbelievable that such a thing had happened: "They beat people up like that, and the police didn't do anything about it?"
"Sister, of course the police will take care of it, how could they not? But there are too many migrant workers in the south, so whether they can catch the perpetrator is uncertain."
Upon hearing Xu Damao's words, Li Qin immediately understood what he meant, shook her head, and remained silent.
"Da Mao, when did this happen?"
"Er Mao just came back this morning. It happened three days ago, the day before he left. We don't even know if He Yuzhu is still alive. Anyway, according to Er Mao, the situation was quite serious. He said that a rib had pierced his lung tube."
No matter how much we despise He Yuzhu's character, he is still a living, breathing person. We used to be neighbors and had a long-standing relationship for decades. Hearing this news all weighed heavily on our hearts.
"Sigh, why not enjoy a good life? Who can we blame?" Ding Qiunan muttered to herself as she picked up a water glass from the coffee table and handed it to Lou Xiao'e, gesturing for her to drink.
"Da Mao"
"Brother Chu, you go ahead."
"You should find Yushui tomorrow and tell her about this. After all, he's her own brother; blood is thicker than water."
If you don't know about this, that's fine, but if you do know and don't tell the younger sister, that would be a bit inappropriate, since we usually keep in touch.
"I understand, Brother Chu. I'll personally go to her workplace after I finish grocery shopping tomorrow morning."
"Speaking of grocery shopping, I just remembered that the newspaper reported that the Daihatsu minivan made in Jinshi has rolled off the production line. Don't you want to find a way to get one for you? Aren't you cold riding your three-wheeled motorcycle in the dead of winter?"
Life and death were too heavy a topic, so Li Chu simply changed the subject.
Xu Damao perked up as soon as the topic of cars came up. He chuckled and said, "I was just about to tell you about this. Forget about Dafa bread. I asked around, and there's no way I can get a spot in line. I can't even buy one if I want to."
However, I found someone to show me a Roma Jeep, one that was retired from another company. With some repairs, it should last for a few more years without any problems. We're currently negotiating with them, but I don't know if I can get it.
Xu Damao had long coveted the two Jeeps that Li Chu had gotten for the children. As soon as he heard that the cars could be registered under the restaurant's name, he asked around to find out where he could buy them.
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