Meng Tao didn't want to stay at someone else's house, since she didn't know the person. Both sides were cautious and it would be troublesome and inconvenient.

Yu Lili pulled Meng Tao and said, "It's okay! Our house is spacious enough, I have my own room, and my parents are very easy to talk to. Taohua invited me to lunch in the county town, and now that you have come to Mengzhou and are at my doorstep, shouldn't I show my hospitality as a host?"

Unable to persuade Yu Lili, Meng Tao and Zhou Cuiling had no choice but to follow her.

When we arrived at Yu's house, we found that it was indeed very wide, a courtyard facing the street, in a very good location. The street outside was not a main road, and usually there were no cars coming and going. Because the staff quarters of several units were located here, the whole street was built very neatly, with two rows of soft and bright street lights, and two big apricot trees on the roadside.

Yu Lili said that this place used to be called Xingzi Lane. Later, this street was built across it and Xingzi Lane was divided in the middle, becoming Zuo Xingzi Lane and You Xingzi Lane. Her home belongs to You Xingzi Lane, which is right at the end of the street.

The Yu family had a large courtyard, so there should be quite a few people living there. The main house and the side rooms seemed to be full, and the lights were on. Yu Lili pulled Zhou Cuiling and Meng Tao and walked excitedly to the main house. As soon as they entered the door, they shouted, "Dad, Mom! I'm back! I'm back with my friends!"

In the living room of the main house, Father Yu was sitting with a few men drinking tea and chatting, while Mother Yu was knitting a sweater. When they heard the shout, they all looked over. Mother Yu quickly put down her work, walked over happily, and said with a smile: "Oh, my Fifth Miss is back! Why are you so late? Are these two girls your friends? They are so pretty, it's great!"

Father Yu shouted over there: "Lili, treat your friends well and ask your mom to make you something delicious!"

Then he continued drinking tea and chatting with his old friends.

Zhou Cuiling handed two kilograms of snacks she bought on the street to Yu Ma. Yu Ma said she was too polite and took the three girls to the west room. She asked Yu Lili to pour tea and took out some fried peanuts and melon seeds for Meng Tao and Zhou Cuiling to eat. She chatted with them with a smile and went to the kitchen to cook.

Meng Tao looked around the west room, which was divided into an inner and outer room. Yu's father and mother slept in the inner room, and there was a bed, a desk, and a round table in the outer room. Yu Lili said that her eldest nephew slept on that bed. Her eldest nephew's parents, her eldest brother and sister-in-law, lived in the east room with their other three nephews and nieces, and Yu Lili lived in the side room.

Yu Lili said that her parents had six children, and only her eldest brother was a boy, while the rest were all girls. However, her parents did not favor boys over girls. They divided the yard before her eldest brother got married. Her eldest brother later occupied the main house. There were originally four side rooms, and later one was added, so that each daughter had one.

Yu Lili has two older sisters who are married and live in this courtyard with their husbands and children, so Meng Tao and Zhou Cuiling saw that the lights were on in the wing rooms just now.

Meng Tao felt that in such an era, it was really amazing that Yu's father and mother were able to raise all six children and treat them equally, giving each of them a share of the property.

The door was not closed, and I could hear the idle chatter in the living room. Someone asked in a loud voice, "Has the yard at No. 9 Zuoxingzi Lane been sold?"

Someone answered: "Who would buy it? It's so expensive."

Someone else said, "Eight hundred yuan. If we lower the price, we can probably get it for six hundred yuan."

"Six hundred is too expensive, five hundred is about right."

"Five hundred may not be enough. There are three brothers. How come each of them can't get more than two hundred?"

"You prodigal son, what a nice house! The old man has kept it clean and tidy. Why don't you just keep it? Why sell it?"

"Yes, that yard was built in the 1940s and 1950s, so it's still very new. The foundations of the three main rooms are raised with stone strips and cement, so they're not afraid of moisture in the rainy season. They're built with red bricks and covered with green tiles, and the beams are high and airy and bright. Behind it is the staff quarters of the Transportation Bureau, so they needed some space when they built the wall, so we reinforced and raised the other three walls for him, and also helped build a septic tank and a bathroom and toilet for the family... The old man loves to grow flowers, and the flowers he planted all over the yard are so nice to look at. If I had 600 yuan, I'd buy it and live there in my old age."

"Alas, this is what it means to not have a son of your own. Who will take care of your nephews and nieces? They don't lack a place to live either. Why don't you sell it and spend energy to come and take care of it from time to time?"

“…”

Meng Tao couldn't help but be moved as she listened to the discussions outside: she was just thinking of buying a house, and when she heard the news, she secretly wrote down the house number of the courtyard they mentioned, and decided to go and see it later.

She didn't plan to let Zhou Cuiling and the others know for the time being. After all, buying a house was not a trivial matter, and she couldn't explain it in a few words because she had to take out so much money at once. She hadn't thought of an excuse yet.

So she stayed at Yu's house for one night. The next day, Meng Tao, Zhou Cuiling and Yu Lili took the bus back to Xingyang County. Zhou Cuiling and Yu Lili took another bus directly back to Yanchong Commune, while Meng Tao remained in the county.

Meng Tao had planned to go to Mengzhou again the next day to see the house, but someone from the old Meng family in Liuzhuang came. This time they were Meng Lai Fu and Geng Guifen, and Meng Jinbao, Meng Jingui and Meng Jingang also followed, riding in a borrowed ox cart from the production team.

Meng Tao felt that something was unusual. So many people came together and drove the ox cart directly to the hospital entrance. Could it be that they were here to visit Meng Jinniu?

The Meng family sat around Meng Jinniu's bed. Meng Laifu and his wife kept silent, but their sons were chatting with Meng Jinniu about family matters. At noon, everyone went to the canteen to get food. There were only patients in the ward. The doctors and nurses were off work, leaving a few people on duty. Meng Laifu and his sons suddenly stood up. Some lifted the quilt, and some tried to pull Meng Jinniu up, ignoring that his legs were still in plaster and he couldn't move at all. They wanted to lift Meng Jinniu up! Meng Tao sat on the long bench at the door and watched. She had no choice. Wouldn't you let her visit her relatives? But the father and sons treated her like air, not talking to her or paying attention to her, and occupied the small space. She could only retreat to the door and stay.

Geng Guifen stretched out her hand to pull Meng Tao away, but Meng Tao grabbed her by the front of her clothes with both hands and threw her hard onto Meng Laifu, who was standing by the wall. The couple pressed directly against the wall. Meng Laifu gasped in pain, his mouth twisted, and he touched the back of his head and cursed Meng Tao:

"You crazy girl? If I break my brain, I'll make you pay with your life!"

Meng Tao snorted coldly: "Is this what happened to your brain? When you hit Jinniu on the head with such a thick stick and broke his legs, did you ever think about whether he would live or die? Did you pay with your life?"

Meng Laifu: “…”

Meng Jinniu reacted at this time and realized that his so-called relatives were not there to visit him, but to take him back!

Meng Jingui mentioned it that day, and he thought Meng Jingui was just talking. He didn't expect that they would really do it! Meng Jinniu sobbed: "You... I'm in this state, and you still won't let me go? You must let me die again? Go away, go quickly! I don't want to see you again!"

Doctor Lin came in with two nurses. Seeing that Meng Jinniu was not in good condition, he hurried forward to check and asked what happened? Why were there so many people here? Meng Tao pointed at Meng Laifu and the others and said to Doctor Lin, "Meng Jinniu was seriously injured because of them, but they are taking him away now!"

The other patients in the ward, as well as Zhang's father, were stunned by what happened at Meng Jinniu's bedside. Now that they had come to their senses, they all spoke up to testify for Meng Tao and accuse Meng Lai Fu and his son.

Doctor Lin frowned and said, "Who are you? Why are you taking the patient away? Meng Jinniu just had surgery not long ago, it is not suitable to move him, otherwise he will be injured again, the consequences will be serious, can you bear the responsibility?"

Meng Laifu: "I'm his father, and my family has no money to treat him."

Doctor Lin: "Meng Jinniu has already paid part of the medical expenses in advance."

Geng Guifen: "That money was borrowed. My family is so poor that we can't even afford to eat. How can we pay it back? We have to return it!"

Doctor Lin: “…”

Meng Tao said: "Doctor, the money was paid by Meng Jinniu's grandfather, and it should be compensated to Meng Jinniu. I am Meng Jinniu's cousin, and I have been here all the time. If they don't pay for the subsequent medical expenses, I will be responsible."

Doctor Lin nodded: "No matter what, Comrade Meng Jinniu is admitted to the hospital, we must be responsible for him. No one is allowed to do anything that is detrimental to the patient, otherwise we will call the police!"

When Meng Jingang heard that they were going to call the police, his face changed immediately. He reached out and tugged at Geng Guifen's clothes, then lowered his head and quickly walked out of the ward.

Geng Guifen was worried about her own son and hurried to follow him, but she turned around to look at Meng Laifu and pulled him up.

Meng Laifu had already left, so there was no point for Meng Jinbao and Meng Jingui to stay. Of course, they had to follow. Meng Jingui walked in front of Meng Tao and said to her, "You, you come here!"

Meng Tao saw that Dr. Lin was talking to Meng Jinniu, so she walked out of the ward. Even if Meng Jingui hadn't called her, she would have followed him.

Meng Jingui waited outside the door and said to Meng Tao: "My grandfather originally wanted to give me to the third master as his grandson, so it's time for me to go to Linshui Village..."

Meng Tao walked without stopping, without even looking at Meng Jingui: "My grandfather told me in a dream that he doesn't want anyone else except Meng Jinniu!"

"Impossible! You told me to go when I was a kid!"

"That was what your grandma said herself. My grandpa didn't agree. Your grandma is so vicious that she made my grandpa abandon me and adopt you, just to get my grandpa's resettlement fee! Just give up on this idea. My grandpa didn't want you when you were little. Now that you've become like this, you're so ugly, he won't want you even more!"

Meng Jingui was so angry that he was speechless: What has he become? He is so ugly? This is my adopted grandson, is there still a beauty pageant?

Yesterday I saw the little fairy urging me to update, but I kept quiet and didn’t dare to say anything, because: I can’t do it!

The situation these two days is special, tomorrow will be normal, update early. Good night, fairies!

(End of this chapter)