When Liu Guangtian returned home, he saw his father, Liu Haizhong, sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) smoking.
He hurriedly stepped forward and offered the two cigarettes that Wang Dabao had given him.
"Dad, this is what my Uncle Dabao gave me when I ran into him outside. I didn't even have time to smoke it, but I brought it back for you. Please keep it."
Liu Haizhong took the cigarette box, opened it, and saw that there were two cigarettes left. He nodded in satisfaction.
"What's all the commotion outside? And what's with all that mess on you? It's so slutty."
Liu Guangtian rattled off the story, which immediately made Liu Haizhong frown.
Liu Guangfu also chimed in, sounding somewhat indignant on behalf of his second brother: "Second brother, that idiot Xu Damao deserves a beating, are you just going to let him off like that?"
"No, Xu Damao's attitude was quite good today. He knew he was in the wrong and gave me a few cigarettes."
Liu Guangtian laughed heartily, a hint of smugness on his face.
Liu Haizhong glanced at him and said, "As for the cigarettes, you two can each keep one, and I'll keep the rest for you."
Upon hearing this, Liu Guangtian almost burst into tears.
Liu Haizhong kept his word. After taking the pack of cigarettes from Xu Damao, he indeed gave one to each of the Liu brothers, Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu.
Liu Guangtian was almost in tears, while Liu Guangfu was overjoyed.
"Alright, Guangtian, change your clothes. Guangfu, sweep the floor. I'm going to the outer room to hear what's going on outside. It's so lively." With that, Liu Haizhong took a cigarette and went out.
Liu Guangtian slapped his younger brother aside: "Are you stupid? There were seven or eight cigarettes. If you hadn't asked, we could have each smoked a few more."
Liu Guangfu covered his head, looking aggrieved, and said, "It's not Second Brother, you said those words yourself, how come you're blaming me?"
Liu Haizhong listened intently in the outer room for a long time and discovered that it was the deaf old lady causing trouble.
Liu Guangtian changed his clothes and came out: "Dad, Xu Damao said that Uncle Dabao found me a job last night?"
Liu Haizhong exhaled a puff of smoke and said slowly, "Yeah, it's just some odd jobs. I'll help Yu Li sell sweet potatoes tonight. When I make money, Yu Li will give you some, but it won't be much, just enough for a pack of cigarettes."
"You don't need to put in much effort, since Yan Jiecheng will help you anyway."
Liu Guangtian nodded, "Okay then. Xu Damao also asked me to help Qin Huairu with something."
Liu Haizhong thought for a moment and said, "That's fine. After all, Jia Dongxu is paralyzed, and Qin Huairu sets up a tea stall at night. You can help out with the cooking and do whatever you can."
Liu Guangtian hummed in agreement and then left.
......
It was still quite lively outside.
Sha Zhu was a little confused; how did this matter involve Liu Haizhong?!
An older woman looked troubled: "Grandma, Old Liu went out early this morning. We're showing a movie in our courtyard today, and he went to discuss something with the neighbor next door. He probably won't be back for a while."
The deaf old woman snorted, "Then we'll wait until he gets back. This matter needs to be resolved today."
"Okay, Grandma, you can rest assured. As soon as Lao Liu comes back, I'll have him come to see you. Is that alright?"
Liu Haizhong's wife said happily.
Sha Zhu, standing nearby, also advised, "Grandma, why don't we calm down first? Uncle isn't here, and Auntie said he'll come to find you when he gets back. If there's anything you need, just tell him."
The deaf old woman glared at him. "Do you all think I'm senile and can be fooled? I'll wait here for Liu Haizhong to come back. Zhuzi, go get me a stool."
The older woman originally wanted to gloss over the matter first, so she could go home and inform Liu Haizhong later.
Who would have thought that the deaf old woman would cause such a scene?
"Oh dear, that won't do! It's so cold outside, you'll catch a cold and hurt yourself, ma'am," an older woman quickly advised.
Sha Zhu was also a little helpless: "My dear grandma, just listen to your grandson and go back inside. I'll take care of anything for you."
At this moment, Liu Guangtian came out of the house. Seeing the scene, he said with a grin, "Oh, what's going on? The old lady still won't give up?"
The deaf old woman pointed her cane at Liu Guangtian, who was grinning, and said, "You still have the nerve to come out? It's all because of your family's commotion last night that this whole mess happened today."
Liu Guangtian frowned. "Grandma, I was the one who got beaten up last night. Do you think I was happy about it?"
Just as the deaf old woman was about to speak, a voice came from the moon gate, "What's going on? Why is it so noisy so early in the morning?"
Everyone looked and saw that it was Yi Zhonghai coming over wearing a coat.
Yi Zhonghai walked into the crowd and, after understanding what had happened, sighed: "We really have to talk about Old Liu about this. You can't beat a child like that. No matter how much of a grudge you have, he's still your own child, right, he's an old lady?!"
Finally, Yi Zhonghai looked at Liu Haizhong's wife.
“Yes, what Uncle Yi said makes sense. I’ll talk to Lao Liu when he gets back, and I’ll make him apologize to the old lady.”
Seeing Yi Zhonghai mediating, Liu Haizhong's wife immediately spoke up.
Yi Zhonghai nodded, then winked at Sha Zhu, "Alright, when Lao Liu comes back later, I'll talk to him too. Last night I was worried he might have hurt Guang Tian and the other brother. It's terribly cold today, Zhu, you help the old lady back inside to warm up."
"Grandma, if my dad stops hitting me, I promise I'll light the stove for you every day from now on."
Liu Guangtian certainly didn't want to be beaten every few days.
Seeing Liu Guangtian's attitude, the deaf old woman's expression softened slightly. "Alright, just don't burn down my old ancestor's house."
After saying that, he was helped by Sha Zhu and slowly walked towards the house with his cane.
The storm has temporarily subsided.
"Alright, you two sisters keep busy, I'll head back first." Yi Zhonghai said, turning to leave.
But an older woman tugged at his coat, saying, "Old Yi, don't rush off, come to my house for a bit."
As she spoke, the older woman winked.
This completely baffled Yi Zhonghai. Liu Haizhong wasn't home; Liu Haizhong's wife had invited him to her house for a while. She even gave him a meaningful look!
It wasn't until he saw the curtain at Old Liu's house lifted, revealing Liu Haizhong's chubby face, that he realized they were just fooling the old lady.
After sitting at Liu Haizhong's house for a while, Yi Zhonghai left.
The commotion at Old Liu's house last night was quite significant; only Wang Dabao, who wasn't staying in the yard, escaped unharmed.
Hearing Yi Zhonghai in the outer room advising Liu Haizhong to beat his children less in the future, Liu Guangfu in the inner room almost burst into tears of gratitude.
It turns out Yi Zhonghai is a good person!
Next time I run into Yi Zhonghai in a group fight, I'll definitely go easy on him.
This was the only way Liu Guangfu could think of to repay Yi Zhonghai!
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