Siheyuan: Start with a big car

"This little life is so wonderful. I ate meat and drank wine last night... Let's have something light this morning."

Early in the morning, Liu Guangtian got up

He muttered as he stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

He lit the fire skillfully, added water to the pot, waited for the water to boil, slowly poured the cornmeal into the pot, and kept stirring with a spoon. Soon, the aroma of cornmeal porridge filled the room.

At this time, Zhang Xiuhua also woke up. She walked out of the bedroom with sleepy eyes and saw the cornmeal porridge on the table. Her brows immediately frowned. "What is this? Why is it cornmeal porridge again? It's so unpalatable." She complained dissatisfiedly.

Liu Guangtian came out of the kitchen and said with a smile: "It's good for your health to eat something light, and this cornmeal porridge is also very fragrant."

Zhang Xiuhua was not willing to give in: "I don't want to eat this. Go buy me some fried dough sticks and bean juice. I haven't eaten them for a long time."

When Liu Guangtian heard this, the smile on his face disappeared: "Dough sticks and bean juice? That's 70 or 80 cents in total, too expensive. We can't waste money like this. This cornmeal porridge is enough to fill my stomach."

Zhang Xiuhua curled her lips: "I knew you were reluctant to spend money, but you can bear to watch me eat this? It has no taste at all."

Liu Guangtian sighed helplessly: "We have to spend frugally now. Who knows when Yan Jiecheng will give us the remaining money? If we spend all the money, what will we do in the future?"

Zhang Xiuhua sat on the chair angrily: "I don't care, I just want to eat fried dough sticks and bean juice. If you don't buy them for me, I won't eat them."

Liu Guangtian looked at her angrily: "Why are you so ignorant? This money didn't come from the wind. You can't be so willful."

Zhang Xiuhua sat on the chair, looking reluctant, mumbling: "Yan Jiecheng still owes us 90 yuan. As long as he gives us that money, why worry about not being able to afford the fried dough sticks and bean juice? We can have many meals by then." Liu Guangtian was moved when he heard this, and after thinking about it carefully, he felt that this was indeed the truth. He thought that Yan Jiecheng would not default on his debt, it was only a matter of time, and he had been working hard these days, so it was not too much to reward himself and Zhang Xiuhua with a good meal.

So he got up and went out to the street. There were already quite a few people gathered in front of the fried dough sticks stand. The steaming fried dough sticks were rolling in the pot, emitting an enticing aroma. Liu Guangtian swallowed his saliva, squeezed through the crowd, bought a few fried dough sticks, and bought steaming soy milk from the stall next to him. He carefully held these delicacies and walked towards the compound.

As soon as he entered the compound, he saw the housekeeper, Uncle Chen, cleaning the yard. Uncle Chen looked up and saw the fried dough sticks and soy milk in Liu Guangtian's hand, with a hint of doubt in his eyes. Liu Guangtian's heart skipped a beat, and he smiled awkwardly at Uncle Chen, but his pace involuntarily quickened a bit.

Uncle Chen frowned, staring at the fried dough sticks and soy milk in Liu Guangtian's hands, and said in a serious tone: "Liu Guangtian, where did you get these fried dough sticks and soy milk? I don't know how little salary you get? You usually don't even drink more cornmeal porridge, why did you suddenly buy this today?"

Liu Guangtian's heartbeat suddenly quickened. He tried to calm himself down and stammered, "Uncle, I...I haven't eaten it for a long time, so I'll just...buy it this time."

Uncle Chen didn't fall for it. He put the broom on the ground, crossed his arms, and looked more serious. "Humph, once? Don't fool me. Where did you get the money? I think you have some illegitimate way to make money. If you do something bad, don't even think about staying in this compound."

Liu Guangtian felt a chill on his back, his hands trembled slightly, and the fried dough sticks and soy milk seemed to become boiling hot. His mind raced, trying to come up with another reasonable excuse: "Uncle, really not. This is... This is the money I lent to a friend before, and my friend paid me back, so I thought about improving the food."

Uncle Chen stared straight into Liu Guangtian's eyes, not missing the slightest change in his facial expression. After hearing Liu Guangtian's answer, Uncle Chen frowned and asked, "Oh? Your friend? Then tell me, who is your friend?"

Liu Guangtian's heart suddenly rose to his throat. How could he dare to say Yan Jiecheng's name? If Uncle Chen asked Yan Jiecheng, then the theft of information would be completely exposed. He avoided his eyes and did not dare to look Uncle Chen in the eye. He stammered, "It's... a distant relative of mine, you don't know him. He was short of money before, so he borrowed some money from me. Now he has more money, he will pay me back."

Uncle Chen obviously didn't believe it. He took a step forward and raised his voice a bit: "Distant relative? Don't play tricks on me, kid. I've been in charge of this compound for so long, how can I not know roughly who your relatives are? Tell me clearly, who are they?"

Liu Guangtian felt like a rat forced into a corner, with beads of sweat the size of beans rolling down his forehead.

Just when the atmosphere was tense like a taut bowstring, Zhang Xiuhua heard the noise outside. She rushed out and stood in front of Liu Guangtian like an old hen protecting her chicks.

Zhang Xiuhua frowned and glared at Uncle Chen with anger on her face. She scolded him rudely, "Uncle Chen, you are meddling too much! This is our family's business. We have money to buy fried dough sticks and soy milk. It is our freedom to buy whatever we want. What right do you have to question us here?"

Uncle Chen was stunned by Zhang Xiuhua's sudden scolding. He didn't expect that this woman who seemed to have no opinion would be so tough at this moment. He calmed down, his face darkened, and said, "Humph, I'm doing this for the good of the compound. You suddenly have money that you don't know why, how can I not ask about it? What if you do something illegal, it will implicate the whole compound."

Zhang Xiuhua put her hands on her hips, raised her chin slightly, and responded without showing any weakness: "What do you mean by money that is not accounted for? How come the money we saved with great effort becomes sour in your mouth? Don't spit blood on us here. We are upright and have never done anything to let down the compound."

Liu Guangtian tugged at the corner of Zhang Xiuhua's clothes from behind and whispered, "Xiuhua, don't talk to me like that." But Zhang Xiuhua was like a powder keg that had been lit, and she couldn't stop at all. She continued to yell at Uncle Chen, "If you don't have any evidence, don't make blind guesses here. We are not easy to bully."

The atmosphere in the yard suddenly became tense, and the neighbors around heard the noise and gathered around.
It was the first time for them to have seen such a difficult resident. You know, in those days, the manager of the compound, although not an official position, still had great power.

After they heard the general idea, most of them stood on the side of Uncle Chen. "Xiuhua, you are wrong. Uncle Chen is the manager of our compound. It is his duty to manage these things. He has been working hard for the stability of our compound. You can't talk back to him so rudely."

"That's right. Everyone has seen how much Uncle Chen has contributed to the compound over the years. If there is anything wrong, he must ask for clarification. If you really didn't do anything wrong, why don't you explain it clearly? Why are you so angry?"

"Sister Xiuhua, calm down first. Uncle Chen is doing this for everyone's good. Our compound has always been peaceful, and we can't get upset over such a thing. Just talk to Uncle Chen and stop arguing."

Zhang Xiuhua felt even more wronged and angry when she heard the neighbors' accusations. Her face turned red and she shouted, "What do you know? You only know how to speak for Grandpa Chen. We didn't do anything wrong. He kept nagging us and said that our money came from unknown sources. Isn't this slander?"

Liu Guangtian stood aside awkwardly. He knew the situation was getting worse and worse, but he didn't know how to resolve it for a moment. He could only complain in his heart.

At this time when the atmosphere was tense, Yan Jiecheng happened to arrive at the compound. As soon as he entered the compound, he was shocked by the quarreling scene in front of him. Seeing Liu Guangtian and his wife, Uncle Chen and a group of neighbors in a stalemate, he thought for a moment and then rushed over.

"Everyone, stop arguing!" Yan Jiecheng shouted, squeezing into the crowd. He bowed slightly to Uncle Chen, then said to everyone, "Uncle, neighbors, this is what happened. I lent this money to Liu Guangtian. I've had a lot of money recently, and I saw that he was having a hard time, so I helped him out. That's how he got the money to buy fried dough sticks and soy milk."

Uncle Chen frowned and looked at Yan Jiecheng: "Really? Why did you lend them money?"

Yan Jiecheng answered sincerely, "Uncle, you know, we are all from the same compound, and we meet each other every day. Liu Guangtian and I have a good relationship. If I see that he is in trouble, I will help him if I can. Besides, I am not lending it to him for free. We have agreed on the interest rate. This is a normal loan between friends."

Liu Guangtian and Zhang Xiuhua looked at Yan Jiecheng in surprise, but soon understood his intention. Liu Guangtian nodded quickly: "Yes, sir, that's it. We didn't want to trouble Yan Jiecheng, but there is really no other way."

Zhang Xiuhua also said, "That's right, Uncle Chen, we are not unreasonable people. If we were not in real trouble, we would not ask Yan Jiecheng to borrow money."

Uncle Chen looked at the three of them, his eyes still with a hint of doubt, but his tone was slightly softer: "Humph, even if that's the case, if you have any problems in the future, you still have to tell the hospital clearly, and don't create these misunderstandings again."

After saying this, Uncle Chen waved his hand and told the residents of the compound to go back and eat quickly as they had to go to work later.

Grandpa Chen left.

Watching Uncle Chen's back gradually walking away, Zhang Xiuhua's face flushed with anger. She couldn't help but curse in a low voice: "Humph, this old man Chen is always meddling in other people's business. We spend our own money and eat fried dough sticks and soy milk, but he still wants to intervene. He really cares about other people's business."

Liu Guangtian quickly pulled Zhang Xiuhua's arm, looked around nervously, and whispered, "Don't curse. If he hears us, we'll be in trouble again. We're all thanks to Yan Jiecheng today, otherwise we wouldn't be in such a good situation."

Yan Jiecheng listened to Liu Guangtian's praise, but he didn't look proud at all. Instead, his face was as cold as winter frost. He stared at Liu Guangtian sharply and said in a stiff tone: "Liu Guangtian, I came to see you for something serious. Come with me now."

Liu Guangtian was stunned for a moment, looked at the steaming dough sticks and soy milk in his hands, and said reluctantly: "Yan Jiecheng, you see, I just bought breakfast and haven't eaten it yet. Can you wait for me for a while? I'm so hungry."

Yan Jiecheng frowned, waved his hand impatiently, and refused coldly: "No, it's urgent, let's go now." There was no room for negotiation in his eyes, like a cold wall, blocking Liu Guangtian's request.

Liu Guangtian was somewhat dissatisfied and muttered quietly: "Why are you in such a hurry? You don't even give me time to eat." But he also knew Yan Jiecheng's temper, so he reluctantly handed the fried dough sticks and soy milk to Zhang Xiuhua, winked at her, and followed Yan Jiecheng out.
Yan Jiecheng, with a gloomy face, silently led Liu Guangtian to a remote grove outside the compound. There were lush trees here, and it was quiet and deserted. Only the occasional bird calls added a bit of a gloomy atmosphere to the grove.

As soon as they entered the woods, Yan Jiecheng seemed to be unable to suppress his anger any longer. He suddenly reached out his hand, grabbed Liu Guangtian's collar, and pulled him in front of him. His eyes were as big as copper bells, full of anger and resentment, and he gnashed his teeth and roared: "Liu Guangtian, you bastard, why are you trying to hurt me?"

Liu Guangtian was frightened by this sudden action. His collar was tightly around his neck, making it difficult for him to breathe. His face was filled with fear and confusion. He struggled and shouted, "Yan Jiecheng, are you crazy? What are you talking about? How did I hurt you?"

Yan Jiecheng sneered and increased the strength of his hands. "Are you still playing dumb? What's the matter with the new energy vehicle information you gave me? It's all a pile of waste paper, and only one of them has the words "new energy vehicle" written on it. Aren't you deliberately trying to hurt me? Do you want me to be completely finished in front of Zhang Li?"

As he said this, he pushed Liu Guangtian hard, and Liu Guangtian staggered and almost fell to the ground.

After Liu Guangtian stood firm, anger ignited in his eyes. He pointed at Yan Jiecheng and shouted, "Yan Jiecheng, stop slandering me! Although I am poor, I am not a mean person. If I had bad intentions, I would not have cooperated with you to get the information. When I gave you the information, I was sincere. How could I know it was fake?"

He took a few steps forward, approaching Yan Jiecheng, with veins popping out on his neck. "I think you didn't want to give me the ninety yuan, so you deliberately found this excuse to slander me. Do you think I'm stupid? Humph, don't make a fool of me!"

Liu Guangtian and Yan Jiecheng have lived in the same compound for so many years and he knows Yan Jiecheng too well.

This guy is the kind of person who is always bad. (End of this chapter)