◎Second update◎
Zhou Hu raised his little face with an innocent look. How could he steal money? He was a good boy, how could he steal money!
His father asked him to take some money over, and he listened to his father.
"What did you say?" Liu Nianhua was still a little dazed when he heard Xiaohu calling him dad again, "Your dad came to see you? When did it happen? Why didn't you tell mom?"
"Just last month, my father saw me at the entrance of the alley and asked me to go inside to talk."
That day, my father was wearing a black shirt, covering his face tightly, with only a pair of eyes exposed. But who was he? Zhou Hu! How could he not recognize his father?
He opened his mouth and wanted to call dad, but Zhou Guoping slapped him, and the two of them went to the entrance of the alley to talk stealthily.
"What did your father tell you?" Liu Nianhua was now worried that Zhou Guoping was doing something bad behind his back. Xiaolong was okay because he was a big boy, but Xiaohu was only five years old and was the easiest to be fooled.
"Dad said he had no money and asked me to go home and get him some money." Zhou Hu nodded and agreed immediately after hearing his father say that he was hungry, had an unshaven face and looked miserable. "I gave it to Dad three times."
Liu Nianhua counted and found that there was indeed one one-yuan note and two two-yuan notes missing. It turned out that they were taken away by his son.
"Xiaohu, what did your mother teach you? You can't take money secretly, right?" Liu Nianhua squatted down and cursed Zhou Guoping in his heart. This man was really haunting and even instigated the child to take money. However, Xiaohu was still young and had to be taught slowly.
"Mom, but Dad told me to take it. How can it be stealing if I take the money from home and give it to Dad? Taking money from home and giving it to outsiders is stealing, not giving it to Dad." In Xiaohu's heart, his father is a family member.
"But this is mom's money. Whoever uses it must get mom's consent, right?"
Xiaohu blinked a few times, thought hard, scratched his head, and nodded, "Yes. Then, mom, do you agree to let dad use it?"
"I don't agree." Liu Nianhua said these three words very firmly.
"Not only do I not agree to give money to your father, but also your future..." In fact, she has not figured out what to do. The child really misses his father. He has been crying for his father for the past six months. Liu Nianhua does not want to destroy the image of his father in their minds. The mess makes the child hate his biological father. "If your father comes again in the future, you can talk to him, but you can't give him money, and you can't learn bad things from him, understand?"
"Mom, what does it mean to be a bad student?" Xiaohu still didn't quite understand what being a bad student meant.
"Ask mom, tell me everything dad says."
"oh."
At the entrance of the alley, Zhou Guoping, wearing baggy and worn clothes that covered most of his face, waited for Xiaohu to bring money, but no one showed up. When he finally saw his son playing cards at the entrance of the alley, he quietly winked and called out, "Xiaohu, come here!"
Zhang Rong was also talking to Aunt Jiang from the big compound next door at the entrance of the alley. She was arranging a blind date for her son recently. Although Zhou Qingdang had always disagreed, how could a mother obey him? He didn't even look at his age and was not in a hurry.
"Aunt Jiang, please take care of this matter. Our Qing party is well-behaved and hardworking. You have seen all of this. Our family is not picky. As long as the woman is down-to-earth and can live a down-to-earth life, it will be fine."
"Okay, I'll definitely keep an eye on it for you."
"If it works, I'll come to your house and give you a big gift." Zhang Rong kept glancing at the children at the entrance of the alley, and saw a sneaky man talking to the children.
It's summer, and you're covering yourself up so tightly, you must be peeing!
She crouched over, and while the man in black was making eyes at Xiaohu, she ripped off his clothes, revealing his unshaven face.
"Zhou Guoping?" Although she hadn't seen this man for a long time, Zhang Rong recognized him at a glance. However, Zhou Guoping, who used to look like a respectable man, now looked like a homeless man!
Many people in the compound heard the name Zhou Guoping. Wasn't this the man that Liu Nianhua had been having affairs with?
"Zhou Guoping, how dare you come back?"
"Well, we caught you today. You used to be a decent person in the yard, but you turned out to be a slut!"
Everybody started to talk bad about Zhou Guoping, and Luo Hongmei was even more angry. She had been itching to talk bad recently, and she felt guilty about scolding anyone. As long as someone in the courtyard brought up the fact that her son was a cabbage thief, she would stop and not dare to do anything rash. But Zhou Guoping was different!
This man has bigger problems!
I can't scold other people, but I can't scold you?
"Oh, no wonder you're a whore who covers your face, you know you're shameful. Look at how disgusting you look, how can you still be a bus driver like you used to be? Oh, I forgot, your arm is broken, you can't drive anymore!" Luo Hongmei chuckled twice, looking at this man with more and more disgust, "It's a disgrace to our compound to have a scum like you in it. If Nianhua hadn't been kind enough not to make a fuss, I would have made a note of you and sent you to the farm for reform. Then I'll throw a basket of white... bah, a basket of rotten vegetable leaves at you!"
The neighbors who used to be kind were now saying hurtful words to him without any courtesy. Zhou Guoping clenched his fist and was about to say something back when he felt a pain in his right hand. His hand was broken, so he couldn't use much strength and it still hurt from time to time.
Zhou Guoping knew that he had no chance of winning if he stayed here alone, so he covered his face and ran away without saying a word.
After running through several alleys and crossing two streets, he finally arrived at a large courtyard. The houses here were even more dilapidated. More than 50 people lived in the large courtyard with two entrances. He rented a house here from a man he knew from his previous bus driving job. There was a large room with eight people sleeping in it, and each person paid three yuan a month.
His hand was broken by Wang Fang's man and he could no longer drive. Fortunately, he still had 500 yuan in savings that he had secretly hidden, but Liu Nianhua didn't know about this money.
If he wants to divorce, then he should get divorced. Wouldn’t it be better for him to take the 500 yuan and be with the younger and prettier Wang Fang?
Wang Fang was not tormented by her husband in any way, except for a few slaps in the face. They divorced quickly and Wang Fang stayed with Zhou Guoping.
Life was pretty good at the beginning, but Wang Fang was a spendthrift. In less than two months, she had spent 180 yuan of Zhou Guoping's money and even bought two sets of clothes at the department store. Zhou Guoping was unemployed now, and he felt very sad when he saw her spending money. In the end, he was scolded by Wang Fang.
The two quarreled for the first time, and Zhou Guoping couldn't help but slap her, but Wang Fang scratched his face with her long nails. Because of this, the two were in a cold war for a week. Zhou Guoping realized that this woman was not a person who could live a peaceful life. He could only get a good face when he gave her money, but she was still very aggressive and would not give in to anyone.
What made him most angry was that one morning a month later, when he woke up, Wang Fang was gone, and his money was gone too! The remaining 200 yuan was gone!
Lying in the crowded dormitory, sleeping on the thatched straw on the ground, Zhou Guoping gnawed on the dry and hard straw and stared at the gray ceiling in a daze.
——
Liang Baozhen came out of Liu Nianhua's house and saw Sister Hua had a good talk with Xiaohu and gave Xiaolong some instructions. She was really worried about him. When she got home, Xiaoya had already taken a bath. The little girl was very pretty and was helping her grandmother cook dinner.
Xu Shengjie was dismantling the partitions in his house.
Back then, one room was divided into three bedrooms and a living room, and it was crowded everywhere, especially for Xu Shengwei and Xu Shengya, who could only sleep on bunk beds. This time, Xu Shengjie removed the wooden boards, moved the living room two meters away, and put a wooden bed inside. He hammered two nails in the front and used a wire to string curtains on. The curtains were open during the day and closed at night. The original room for two people was extended one meter to the left to place Xiaoya's wooden bed, and a wooden board was placed in the middle as a partition. Although the area was small, at least the rooms were separated.
Xu Shengwei and Xu Shengya were both very happy. Whoever could have his own little room would be happy for a month.
There was a pile of yellow wood left on the ground, and Xu Shengjie was preparing to make a new set of desks and chairs for Liang Baozhen in the next few days.
Recently, Liang Baozhen reads books every day when she gets home. Counting the days, she knows that the time for the college entrance examination to be resumed is not far away, so she has to study harder.
The desk in the bedroom was a former cabinet with a wooden chair on it. Liang Baozhen was sitting on it, reading a book and taking notes. She would lift the chair from time to time. The desk was a little low, which made the chair look taller.
It's not a big problem, it's just a little uncomfortable. If I try to buy another one, it won't be cost effective, so I'll just make do with it.
Xu Shengjie saw that his daughter-in-law liked to move her chair from time to time because she loved reading. When he saw her bending over, he realized what was going on. The table was not originally a special one. It was a cabinet that could also be used as a table. The height of the chair was also wrong.
Even the dining table and chairs at home were quite old and not very suitable. This time, Xu Shengjie planned to replace them gradually and buy all new furniture made of yellow wood.
"Try sitting on it." He sawed some wood to make a wooden chair, held a cigarette in his mouth and took a puff to let Liang Baozhen test the height.
The yellow wooden chair was still new, with some burrs on it. He first patted it with his hand wearing a labor protection glove, then rubbed the edge with his thumb, and then nodded his chin.
Liang Baozhen sat on it and felt the height, "It's a bit high."
This wooden chair was specially left a little longer so that the most suitable chair legs could be sawed. Xu Shengjie took a look at it, nodded and asked Liang Baozhen to stand up.
He noted the position, held the wooden chair upside down and began to saw off the legs.
After a while, the wooden chair was ready and Liang Baozhen was asked to sit on it again. "How is it this time?"
"It fits perfectly. It's quite comfortable."
The table was made in advance and fitted in with mortise and tenon joints, only the legs were not sawed. The same table would be used differently at different heights, so he asked Liang Baozhen to try and measure the height and feel it for herself.
He sawed the table legs a little at a time, then put them back for Liang Baozhen to feel. "What about this time?"
"It seems to be fine." Liang Baozhen sat on the wooden chair, straightened her back, and put her arms on the desk. She felt that there was nothing wrong with it and it was more suitable than the dining table at home.
"Sawing a little more." He looked at Liang Baozhen's back and straightened it, so he had to leave some more space. He sawed off two inches of the length of the table legs, moved the original cabinet in the bedroom to the living room, and carried the table and chairs in and put them away.
Xu Shengjie had measured the width in advance and put the table and chairs in place. Next to it was a dressing table with Liang Baozhen's mirror, dressing box and a pair of enamel cups on it. On the other side was a large flat cabinet containing the two people's winter quilts.
Looking at the newly renovated home, Liang Baozhen thought that although the house was small, it had everything and looked quite presentable!
Xu Shengwei and Xu Shengya were rolling around on the bed happily for a small room of a few square meters each. Liang Baozhen looked at the great contributor Xu Shengjie, who was drenched in sweat in the hot summer. He took advantage of the darkness to take a shower in the side room outside, and the room was fixed with just three wooden boards.
When the others came back, Liang Baozhen, Xiaowei and Xiaoya had already cleaned the house thoroughly. Although it was crowded, each room was clearly separated.
At night, Xu Shengjie lit a cigarette with a match and stood outside the house, ready to finish it before going back inside. In the smoke, he watched Liang Baozhen walk towards him.
"How many today?" Liang Baozhen reached out and grabbed the hero's front door, and said fiercely, "This is the third one!"
"You know it better than me." Xu Shengjie smiled. He and Baozhen had made three rules before: no more than two cigarettes a day. Of course, one is better, but not smoking is the best!
"I'm counting." Liang Baozhen also had informants, Xiao Wei and Xiao Yahui were very active in reporting. Smoking is not a good thing, but she knew that no matter whether it was her father or Xu Shengjie, they couldn't quit, so she could only limit the amount. "This one is confiscated."
Having said that, he stuck the cigarette butt against the wall and put it out.
"Okay, I'll hand it over to the organization."
The author has something to say:
Thanks to the cutie who irrigated the nutrient solution: 20 bottles of Sunny Day; 1 bottle of Shan;
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