"Rain, look what your brother brought you!"
Pushing open the side room next to Yi Zhonghai's house, Sha Zhu carried the sweet potato on his back and looked at his younger sister in front of the desk with a grin.
He Yushui saw that Sha Zhu was carrying his brother's hands behind his back, and knew that he had brought food. When she saw the hot sweet potato, her eyes were full of surprise. "Good for you, my silly brother. You still remember your sister. It was worth washing your clothes for you."
"What are you saying? I'm your brother, not your stupid brother. If you keep talking nonsense, I'll beat you up."
Sha Zhu pretended to be angry, huffed and puffed as he put the sweet potato on the table, and instructed, "Hurry up and feed it to it while it's hot. I bought two, and I'll also send one to the old lady in the backyard."
"You only bought two? Then I'll share half with you."
As she spoke, He Yushui picked up a sweet potato and was about to break it open.
However, before she could finish speaking, Sha Zhu had already closed the door and left.
Arriving at the backyard, Sha Zhu pushed open the door to the deaf old lady's room and went inside. Wow, the old lady was sleeping soundly, wrapped in a blanket.
Without waking the deaf old woman, Sha Zhu heated the sweet potatoes on the kang (a heated brick bed) and helped the old woman stir the stove to prevent them from falling off and freezing her.
It has to be said that among the people in this compound, Sha Zhu and the deaf old lady were the two who truly went there for each other.
Perhaps it was because Sha Zhu was making too much noise poking at the stove that the deaf old woman sat up abruptly on the kang (a heated brick bed), grabbed her cane from the head of the kang, and frowned as she looked at Sha Zhu beside the stove.
"Oh, it's Zhu Zi! You didn't even call me when you came. You scared me half to death."
The deaf old woman put down her cane and saw the sweet potato wrapped in newspaper on the kang (a heated brick bed).
It's amazing that newspapers can still be used like this these days.
In ten years, this newspaper will have two uses. One is for reading, and the other is for pasting on the wall. If you dare to use it to wrap things or wipe your butt, you can try it, you might get shot out.
"Oh, this is a roasted sweet potato."
The deaf old woman reached out and touched it; it was still warm. "Zhu Zi, did you bring this over?"
Sha Zhu started collecting the ashes from the stove. Now that the old lady had woken up, he wasn't worried about making a noise.
"Yes, I just bought it from Yan Jiecheng and his wife in the front yard. Grandma, your teeth aren't good, but this is different. Just peel off the skin and slurp it up. Eat it while it's hot, it's sweet."
The deaf old woman glanced at Sha Zhu and sighed, "It still has to be my grandson. He always thinks of me when there's something good to eat. Grandma didn't spoil you for nothing."
As she spoke, the deaf old woman peeled open the sweet potato and took a bite: "Oh, this is really delicious, and it's not hard to eat."
“You’re my grandma, who else would I care about if not you? Besides, Uncle Yi wanted to buy it for you too, but he didn’t send it to you after he saw that I bought it.” Sha Zhu tidied up the ashes and put them aside before sitting down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) to chat with the old lady.
The deaf old woman smacked her lips at the sweet potato, raising an eyebrow: "You said you bought these sweet potatoes from the eldest son and his wife of the Yanbu Gui family?"
"Yes, they're going to show a movie in the yard, so Yan Jiecheng and his wife are setting up a small stall to sell sweet potatoes. They just tested the stove today, so I'm just doing this to support them. I'll buy one for you and one for Yushui."
Sha Zhu chuckled beside her, pleased to see the deaf old woman enjoying her meal.
"Hmph, showing a movie has exhausted all the people in the courtyard. Not only does Yan Bugui's wife sell melon seeds and peanuts, but now his son and daughter-in-law are selling roasted sweet potatoes. They're making all the money."
As she spoke, the deaf old woman threw a piece of sweet potato peel on the ground. "They should have brought the roasted sweet potatoes to me as soon as possible, instead of making me pay for them. They're really not good people."
“Oh my, my grandma, these sweet potatoes aren’t from our own farm. Yan Jiecheng bought them from outside. Let’s just spend a little money. Your grandson has that much money.”
"Is this about money? It's about attitude. Yan Bugui is the second oldest in the courtyard now, but he hasn't improved his awareness at all. Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui didn't learn anything from how Zhonghai acted when he was in power."
The deaf old woman grew angrier as she spoke, “No, I have to find a reason to teach these two a lesson. Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you’re a big shot in this compound. You’re no match for me.”
Sha Zhu waited for the deaf old woman to finish eating the sweet potatoes, then helped her clean up and put the ashes in a winnowing basket before walking out.
"Alright, old lady, you've eaten such a big sweet potato, you're full. Go lie down and get some more sleep so you'll be well-rested for the movie tonight."
......
In the front yard, seeing Wang Dabao get up to go back, Liu Haizhong also decided to go home for a short rest, otherwise he would get hungry if he stayed awake for too long, and one sweet potato wouldn't last him long.
Wang Dabao, Liu Haizhong and his son, Xu Damao and his group walked towards the backyard while talking.
As soon as the group reached the moon gate in the backyard, they heard a commotion inside.
Wang Dabao really wanted to slam his fist on the table and ask, "Which tenement can compare to the chaos of the Hongxing Courtyard?!"
Liu Haizhong quickly walked a few steps into the backyard and saw that it was his second aunt and Qin Huairu having a little argument.
Because the central courtyard needed to make room for movies, and also for aesthetic reasons, all the clothes-drying areas in the courtyard were moved to the backyard.
Now that it's winter, these clothes sometimes take a whole day to dry, so I just have to leave them hanging there.
Those who are diligent and live close to their homes will pick the fruit and take it back to dry in the evening to prevent it from freezing, and then put it back to dry the next day when the sun comes out.
Although Yan Bugui's house wasn't close to the backyard, his second aunt was incredibly hardworking.
I took the clothes back home as soon as it got dark last night, and rushed back to get them early this morning after roasting some melon seeds.
When they returned, they found that Qin Huairu had taken over the clothes-drying area.
Aunt Erda saw that Qin Huairu's clothesline was taking up too much space and couldn't help but mutter a few words.
Qin Huairu also felt quite wronged. She has three children at home, and she has to wash their clothes almost every day. There was a lot of space to hang the clothes to dry in front of the door, but in the backyard, the clothes could only be folded up. It would take two days to dry them, let alone one day.
The two started arguing and didn't get along.
Seeing Qin Huairu wiping away tears with red eyes, Xu Damao felt he should say something. Before Liu Haizhong could speak, Xu Damao went over to her.
“I say, Auntie Er, Sister Qin, we’re all neighbors in this courtyard, why ruin our relationship over such a small matter? It’s not worth it. Here, I’ll find two more bamboo poles to set up a frame for you to use later.”
"Alright, I'll leave this to you, Damao."
Seeing Xu Damao's enthusiasm, Liu Haizhong snorted and finished giving his instructions. After saying goodbye to Wang Dabao, he turned and headed home.
Liu Guangtian chuckled and wanted to go home, but Liu Haizhong, who had turned around, gave him a task: "Guangtian, you stay here for a while. Watch Da Mao set up the scaffolding before you come back."
After Liu Haizhong left, Liu Guangtian approached Xu Damao and said, "Brother Damao, you really are a kind-hearted person, always trying to be a good guy."
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