Siheyuan: Domineering life

Sun Zhaocai was seriously injured this time and spent almost a month in the hospital before being discharged.

After being discharged from the hospital, this guy became much more well-behaved. He no longer had that arrogant and domineering attitude. He was always smiling at everyone, and when he had nothing to do, he would often sit there in a daze.

That day, Yang Jun was fishing at Diaoyutai, with Sun Zhaocai and Shazhu sitting behind him.

Sha Zhu was enjoying his roasted sweet potato, while Sun Zhaocai looked listless. The roasted sweet potato in his hand didn't seem so appetizing anymore, and he looked sickly.

"Would you like a potato?" Sha Zhu handed Sun Zhaocai a freshly baked potato.

Although this guy is a glutton, he's not possessive of his food. Whenever there's something delicious, he always shares it with Sun Zhaocai. Especially after Sun Zhaocai was discharged from the hospital, he seemed like a completely different person, and Shazhu would often show him concern and comfort.

"I won't eat." Sun Zhaocai shook his head dejectedly.

"How about I roast two chickens for you?" Sha Zhu said.

"Ugh, I have no appetite."

This guy is no longer interested in anything. The reason is simple: his wife, Yan Erni, is currently getting a divorce from him. What's most troubling for him is that all four of his children are on their mother's side, which makes him afraid to go home. He's been staying at Yang Jun's house for the time being.

Yang Jun, who was fishing nearby, shook his head slightly upon hearing this, thinking to himself: If only he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have done it in the first place.

However, he couldn't say such things, after all, he was an elder, and moreover, this matter was related to him. Although Yi Qiushui took on this matter, he was also involved.

"What would you like to eat? I'll get it for you."

Seeing his teammate's close brother in such a state, Sha Zhu felt quite sad and tried various ways to cheer him up.

"I don't want to eat anything, so don't bother."

In the past, Sun Zhaocai would have been impatient long ago, but since being discharged from the hospital, he has become much more patient. I don't know if it's because of his parents' upbringing or because he's afraid of losing his family, but he's become much more gentlemanly than before.

"Oh."

Sha Zhu said "Oh," paused slightly, and then said, "If there's anything you want to eat, just tell me and I'll get it for you."

Sun Zhaocai didn't speak this time, and continued to sit there with his head down, no one knew what he was thinking.

After a while, Sun Zhaocai suddenly looked at Yang Jun.

"Uncle Yang, can I not get a divorce?"

This guy has been hiding here lately, afraid to go home, terrified that Yan Erni will ask him for a divorce. The main problem is that he's scared of the way his two little brats look at him.

Yang Jun sighed upon hearing this.

Then he put down his fishing rod, turned around, and faced Sun Zhaocai.

He didn't rush to answer the question, but instead lit a cigarette.

He took a drag and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

"You don't want a divorce?"

"I don't want to." Sun Zhaocai shook his head vigorously, making it clear that he didn't want a divorce.

Why don't you want a divorce?

After Yang Jun finished speaking, without giving him a chance to reply, he continued, "Since you don't like Yan Erni and you abuse her every day, you might as well break up with her."

"I do not have it……"

"You don't have any?" Yang Jun squinted at him.

"No... Uncle Yang, that's not what I meant."

Sun Zhaocai blushed and said, "What I mean is that it's precisely because I care about her so much, and I care about this family so much, that I don't want a divorce."

"Then I don't understand. If you care about her and this family, why do you commit domestic violence?" Yang Jun asked, puzzled.

"me……"

Sun Zhaocai stammered for a long time before finally saying, "Uncle Yang, it's precisely because I care about her so much that... I wanted to make my presence known to her..."

"Heh, you care about her, so you abused her?" Yang Jun looked at him with a furious laugh and said, "Zhao Cai, I don't understand your logic. Can you explain it to me properly?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Zhaocai's face turned bright red, and he couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

"Uncle Yang, whether you believe it or not, I don't want a divorce. I can't live without Erni, I can't live without my four children, and I can't live without this family."

Yang Jun waved his hand and said, "Don't tell me these things. Go tell Erni, tell Xiaopeng and the others, and see if they can forgive you."

"Uncle Yang..."

Sun Zhaocai called out, then sat there with a bitter face.

“Zhao Cai, I’m not trying to criticize you, but you’re already this old, why do you still like to resort to violence? We’re all family, why can’t we sit down and resolve things properly instead of resorting to force?” Yang Jun asked earnestly.

Over the years, he has worried a lot about this matter. You could say he has been heartbroken over Sun Zhaocai's family affairs. Now the couple has reached the point of divorce, and even their four children don't like him as their father. He doesn't know how to mediate anymore.

"Over the years, because of you, I've almost lost all my face. I don't even have any credibility when I speak to Erni anymore. Every time I promise you I won't do it again, you rub my face into the ground within two days."

Yang Jun was furious at Sun Zhaocai's lack of ambition and wished he could strangle him.

“Uncle Yang, I promise this is the last time,” Sun Zhaocai said, sitting up straight and raising three fingers to swear, “I promise you this is absolutely the last time. If I do it again, you will never help me again.”

"I've heard that so many times I'm sick of it," Yang Jun said, shaking his head.

After finishing one cigarette, Yang Jun lit another.

He didn't want the people around him to be separated from their families, and he wanted them to live a good life. But this Sun Zhaocai was too useless, committing domestic violence every few days, making his promises empty words. He was too ashamed to plead for him anymore.

Especially after breaking two of Yan Erni's ribs this time, how could he possibly plead for her again?

"Uncle Yang, I promise this is the last time, I'm begging you."

After Sun Zhaocai finished speaking, he knelt down directly in front of him.

Yang Jun frowned upon seeing this.

“If you are really determined, you shouldn’t be begging me, but should be thinking about how to get Yan Erni and the four children’s forgiveness.”

"She...she and her four children will never forgive me," Sun Zhaocai muttered to himself.

"Then there's nothing I can do."

After Yang Jun finished speaking, he simply turned around and continued fishing facing the river.

"Get their forgiveness, get their forgiveness."

Sun Zhaocai seemed to have been inspired by something, his eyes lit up, and he seemed to have made up his mind.

"Uncle Yang, I'd like to ask for a leave of absence for a while. No matter what, I must get the forgiveness of those four women."

Upon hearing this, Yang Jun's face showed a relieved expression. This was the most correct way to resolve marital conflicts, rather than begging him, an outsider, to plead for them.

"Go ahead," Yang Jun waved his hand.

"Thank you, Uncle Yang."

After saying that, Sun Zhaocai got up from the ground and ran outside as fast as he could.

It seems he is determined to get Yan Erni and the four children's forgiveness, no matter what method he uses.

After Sun Zhaocai left, only Yang Jun and Ding Erzhu remained in the room.

Watching Sha Zhu happily munching on a sweet potato, Yang Jun said, "Sha Zhu, you mustn't follow Zhao Cai's example. Treat your wife well..."

"Hehe!" Sha Zhu chuckled upon hearing this.

Seeing this, Yang Jun chuckled and said, "Never mind, you're not that kind of person. I was overthinking it."

Sha Zhu not only doesn't abuse his wife, but he's also known far and wide for being afraid of her. Despite his big, burly appearance, he's like a mouse before a cat in front of his wife, Sun Zhaodi, and is terrified of her.

Yang Jun would never believe he would commit domestic violence. "Zhao Cai isn't here, so you should take a couple of days off and go back to spend some time with Zhao Di," Yang Jun said.

Sha Zhu paused for a moment after hearing this, then shook his head with a smile and said, "Godfather, I don't need a holiday. I'll stay by your side."

"Hehe, are you afraid that Zhao Di will abuse you?" Yang Jun teased.

"Hehe, nothing can be hidden from you, Godfather." Sha Zhu said this without the slightest embarrassment, because everyone knew he was afraid of his wife, so he didn't feel ashamed at all.

"Go ahead, take a couple of days off and spend some quality time with your wife and kids."

"Godfather..."

Sha Zhu was about to say something, but when he saw Yang Jun's unyielding gaze, he immediately shut up.

"Okay, thank you, godfather. If anything happens, just call me back anytime."

When Sha Zhu left, he packed up all the roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes on the stove and took them with him, leaving none for Yang Jun.

After he left, Yang Jun was the only one left in the room.

Bored, he suddenly lost interest in fishing, threw down his fishing rod, and lay down on the wicker chair.

He didn't go back to the backyard to eat until it was almost evening.

Stepping outside Diaoyutai, he felt a chill in the air. Looking up at the sky, he saw it was heavily overcast, and it looked like it was going to snow again.

He wrapped his coat tighter around himself and jogged back to the backyard.

When he arrived at the restaurant, almost everyone in his family was there, waiting for him to come home so they could have dinner.

"Dad, if you don't come back soon, we'll all starve to death!" cried Yang Chengzhi, the daughter.

"Your little mouth never stops eating, how can you go hungry?" Yang Jun joked. "Look at how you've eaten, you've gotten so fat, be careful Guo Xiaohuan doesn't want you anymore."

"Hmph, he wouldn't dare." Yang Chengzhi said with a smile and an arrogant expression, "Little rascal praised me for being good-looking, especially for my prosperous appearance, which is particularly festive."

"Really? He's not just brushing you off, is he?" Yang Jun rolled his eyes at her and said, "After all, no man dislikes a slender girl."

"That's you. Xiao Huan isn't that superficial."

At this moment, her mother, Huang Yani, spoke up.

"Chengzhi, your father is right. No man likes to help girls. You should watch what you eat, or Guo Xiaohuan will really start to dislike you."

"Mom!" Yang Chengzhi called out in dissatisfaction, then pouted and said, "Why are you saying I'm fat too? I'm not fat at all, okay?"

"You're not fat? You're almost 140 pounds."

“140 pounds isn’t fat. Aren’t you 140 pounds too?” Yang Chengzhi said.

"You think you can compare to me?" Huang Yani rolled her eyes at her and said, "How old am I? How old are you? Besides... I clearly weigh over 120 pounds."

“Even if your mother weighs 140 pounds, I won’t mind,” Yang Jun interjected.

"Hmph, I'm ignoring you guys, you're showing off your love again."

Yang Chengzhi angrily turned his head to the side and ignored them.

"Chengzhi, you really should lose weight," Huang Yani advised.

"Humph!"

Then, the food was served one after another, and everyone began to eat.

During the meal, Yi Qiushui suddenly said,

"Did you teach Zhao Cai to do this?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Junwen looked up at everyone and then pointed to himself.

"Are you talking to me?"

"Otherwise what?" Yi Qiushui gave him a mothball.

"What...what did I teach Zhao Cai?" Yang Jun looked completely bewildered.

"Keep pretending." Yi Qiushui rolled her eyes and said, "If you hadn't taught him, that pig-brain Zhao Cai would never have thought of the trick of 'bearing thorns to apologize'."

"Pleading for forgiveness?"

Yang Jun was taken aback for a moment, then said, "You mean Zhao Cai apologized to Er Ni with a bundle of thorns on his back?"

"Uh...you're right, he's still kneeling at the door, begging Erni and the three children for forgiveness."

Yang Jun paused for a moment after hearing this, then chuckled and said, "The sun really has risen in the west. This guy seems to be serious."

"Didn't you teach him?" Yi Qiushui rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t teach it. I could never teach such a trick,” Yang Jun said, sticking out his neck. “Besides, I’m not the kind of person who apologizes to women.”

"what!"

Before Yang Jun could finish speaking, he was met with a glare from the woman.

“That’s true. Who are you? How could you possibly apologize to a woman?” Yi Qiushui said.

“Exactly, if you were to bow down to a woman, you wouldn’t be Yang Jun.” Huang Yani rolled her eyes.

“Old Yang, you’re the real chauvinist. In this family, your word is law.” Meng Wenya said.

"..."

The women started talking all at once, putting Yang Jun on the opposite side of everyone. They all started criticizing him, and even a group of children joined in the denunciation. In no time, this dinner turned into a denunciation meeting for Yang Jun.

"Alright, alright, we're talking about bringing good fortune, why is everyone talking about me?" Seeing this, Yang Jun could only raise his hands in surrender.

"Hmph, you and Zhao Cai are the same thing. He's by your side every day, he hasn't learned any good things, but he's picked up all the bad ones. I bet he learned his domestic violence from you." Yi Qiushui.

"Did I abuse you?" Yang Jun glared at him and said, "Or did I abuse the children?"

"You know perfectly well that there's no domestic violence in your family; what you're doing is emotional abuse."

Yang Jun: "..."

Yang Jun simply remained silent.

Sure enough, they got tired of talking and stopped.

"Has Erni forgiven him?" Yang Jun asked when everyone stopped talking about him.

"how is this possible?"

Yi Qiushui rolled her eyes and said, "This matter has blown up so much, with both father and son getting into a fight, and Erni even ending up in the hospital. If we forgive him so easily, I'll look down on Erni."

"I don't think it's possible to forgive him so easily."

After Yang Jun finished speaking, he paused slightly, and then said, "Did he really apologize with a bundle of thorns on his back?"

After saying that, he gestured with his hand: "Should we tie a thorny branch or something to our backs?"

"It's not a bramble, but I took a look and it looks like it's carrying a wooden stick, about as thick as an arm."

"Wow, this guy's serious this time." Yang Jun.

"That's right, not only that, but he was also shirtless!"

"Wow, going shirtless in this weather, that's really showing some sincerity," Yang Jun said.

"Let's wait and see." (End of Chapter)