Courtyard Houses: Longevity Since the War of Resistance

"Fuck you, go!"

He stopped at the door, raised his hand, then lowered it again. Li Shan was a master; this matter sounded completely unreliable. He gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and knocked on the door.

"Who?"

"Section Chief Li, this is Xu Damao."

There was a two-second silence inside, then the door opened. Li Feng, wearing a coat, stood in the doorway looking at him, his face expressionless.

"So late, is something wrong?"

Xu Damao quickly forced a smile. "Section Chief Li, I'm sorry to disturb your rest. I have something urgent to ask for your help with."

Li Feng glanced at him, then stepped aside and said, "Come in and talk."

The room was warm and simply furnished. Xu Damao didn't dare sit, so he stood.

"What is it?"

Xu Damao swallowed hard. "Section Chief Li, I heard from an old man that you were the one who cured his illness."

While speaking, he glanced at Li Feng's expression and said, "I, Xu Damao, was blind before and have wronged you. Please forgive me! I also want a child. We're from the same compound and the same factory, so I'd like to ask for your help."

As he spoke, he pretended to kneel down, but Li Feng raised his hand to stop him, saying, "There's no need for that. Didn't the old man tell you that?"

"Yes, he said you cured him, and it cost five hundred." Xu Damao felt a pang of pain when he mentioned the amount.

Li Feng nodded and tapped his fingers on the table: "I know about your problem, and I can cure it."

"real?"

"But there are conditions. First, during the treatment period, you must completely follow my instructions. Do exactly what I say, without any deviation. Second, if you are cured, it's your luck; if you aren't, don't complain. And you are absolutely forbidden from talking about it outside, especially about my treatment of you. If word gets out, or if I find out you haven't done what I said, stop immediately. Do you understand?"

Xu Damao quickly nodded: "Understood! Understood! I'll do whatever you say! I absolutely won't tell!"

"Remember your words, now I'll tell you the specifics of how to cure it. The first step is to completely abstain from sex, you can't have even the slightest impure thought, your body must be completely pure."

Abstaining from pornography?

"Section Chief Li, I understand. To cure an illness, you have to get to the root of the problem. I'll definitely endure it!"

"Hold back? I don't believe you. You can't control yourself. So I have to help you out. I'll give you a few acupuncture needles first, so that you can't have any desires or arousal there for the time being, commonly known as impotence. Once you're cured, I'll undo the acupuncture."

Xu Damao's face turned pale instantly, and his voice changed tone: "Impotent? Section Chief Li, before I could move but not give birth, and now you've made me unable to move or give birth, isn't that like being a eunuch? What's the point of this?"

He wasn't able to move before, but at least he could still move. Now he's completely ruined.

"The impotence is to ensure the treatment's effectiveness and prevent you from losing control and ruining the treatment. If you don't want to, the door is over there."

Xu Damao bit his lip until it almost bled, finally squeezing out the word through gritted teeth: "Cure!"

"Take your pants off and lie face down on that bed."

Xu Damao did as he was told, his hands moving so fast he could barely see them. He only felt a slight numbness in his lower abdomen and back, like being bitten by mosquitoes. But then, he felt as if his penis had suddenly disappeared.

My dear second brother!

My heart feels empty, and so does my lower body.

Xu Damao tried to muster his lustful desires, but as expected, there was no reaction at all. A huge sense of panic and humiliation surged up inside him.

He cried.

"Alright, get down now." Li Feng had already started wiping the needle. "It's okay to cry for a bit, it's not like you're really gone."

Xu Damao pulled up his pants, his hands and feet were ice cold, and he felt like he couldn't even walk properly. He wanted to drink hot water.

"Wait," Li Feng called out to him, "There's a second step."

Xu Damao turned around stiffly.

"Your illness is also related to your lack of morality. Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life, but you don't even have that. You still expect Heaven to give you life? Don't say you don't have it. In the steel mill and the rural commune, who doesn't know about your scumbag ways, Xu Damao? Don't you know how many young girls you've deceived?"

Xu Damao remained silent.

"Starting tomorrow," Li Feng continued, "do one good deed a day and accumulate some virtue. The first thing is to go door-to-door to all the girls I've wronged and cheated in the past, make them pay whatever money they need, and apologize where necessary. Don't try to fool me, I'll have someone investigate."

"What?!" Xu Damao was really anxious this time. He was being asked to go and apologize to those country girls, even if it meant losing money? Wasn't that like slapping his face in the ground?

"Section Chief Li, that's all in the past, and some of it was consensual..."

"To treat or not to treat?"

Xu Damao wanted to slam the door and leave, but when he thought of his second brother's whereabouts being unknown and the five hundred yuan, his legs felt like they were filled with lead.

Li Feng slowly added, placing the final constraint on the situation: "I forgot to tell you, no one but me can undo that needle treatment. If you don't want treatment, that's fine too; just leave it like this from now on. Anyway, you won't be able to give birth when you can move, so it's peaceful as it is now."

Xu Damao's vision went black, and he almost lost his balance.

Is it always like this?

Wouldn't that make him a useless person?!

He then fully realized that he had boarded a pirate ship from which there was no way to get off!

The money is gone, and so is my brother.

Xu Damao said in a hoarse voice, "I...I'll do it."

"Remember your promise. Starting tomorrow, I'll settle your old debts. I'll know how and to what extent. Go home, get used to being atrophied soon, and be careful when you pee." Li Feng waved his hand.

Xu Damao didn't know how he got home. He lay sprawled on the kang (a heated brick bed), eyes open, motionless, until dawn.

From that day on, people in Nanluoguxiang and the steel mill felt that Xu Damao was a different person.

First, when they went to the countryside to show movies, they were no longer like before, their eyes always wandering to the young women and wives, and they spoke much more politely.

He secretly slipped some money and gifts to the girl he had abandoned, and mumbled a few words of "I'm sorry."

The girl was so shocked she was speechless, thinking the sun had risen in the west.

In the courtyard, he doesn't argue with people much anymore, and he looks dejected whenever he sees someone.

Occasionally, when I saw the Ma family's son in the front yard fall and cry, I would actually squat down, take out a piece of candy from my pocket and hand it to him, even though my movements were awkward and my expression stiff.

Ma's wife took the candy, hesitated for a long time, and didn't dare give it to her son. After Xu Damao had walked away, she muttered, "Has Xu Damao taken the wrong medicine?"

The most surprised person was Qin Jingru.

She came to the city to stay with her sister, hoping to find someone to rely on. Xu Damao was handsome and eloquent, and although he was divorced, she thought he was much better than that dark-skinned, rough cook, Sha Zhu. In the past, Xu Damao would often joke with her, talking about how great the city was and how capable he was, which would completely charm her.

That day, Qin Jingru ran into Xu Damao again at the entrance of the alley.

As usual, she leaned over and gently nuzzled Xu Damao's arm, her voice sweet: "Damao-ge~, you're off work? I haven't seen you these past few days, what have you been up to?"

In the past, Xu Damao would have readily agreed and perhaps even made a witty remark. But this time, when she touched him, he reacted as if burned, jerking his arm away and stiffening completely.

Qin Jingru was taken aback and looked up at him, only to be surprised to find that Xu Damao's eyes were red and brimming with tears. His lips were tightly pursed, and his cheeks were taut, as if he was trying his best to hold back something.

"Brother Da Mao? What's wrong? Who bullied you?" Qin Jingru was startled and quickly asked.

Xu Damao didn't speak, but shook his head vigorously, his head streaked with tears.

He gave Qin Jingru a deep look, his gaze incredibly complex, then abruptly turned around and ran off without looking back, leaving Qin Jingru standing there alone, bewildered in the wind.

In the following days, Xu Damao was clearly avoiding Qin Jingru.

When they bumped into each other in the courtyard, he immediately lowered his head and walked around her, as if Qin Jingru were some kind of monster. Qin Jingru felt extremely upset. She didn't understand what she had done wrong. Was it because she had been too frivolous when she touched his arm that day?

I rubbed too lightly; I should have straightened my chest.

The more she thought about it, the more panicked she became, and the more panicked she became, the more unwilling she was to give up. She set her sights on Xu Damao, feeling that he was the best place for her in the city.

For him, she was willing to risk everything.

That evening, she timed her visit perfectly, hiding in the dimly lit corner he always took home. As Xu Damao walked slowly towards her with his head down, she suddenly jumped out and blocked his way.

"Brother Da Mao!" Qin Jingru's voice was trembling with tears. "Why do you keep avoiding me? What's wrong with me? Tell me, and I'll change, okay?"

Xu Damao was startled, but when he realized it was her, he instinctively tried to hide.

Qin Jingru grabbed his sleeve, preventing him from leaving. Looking up at him, she mustered her courage and said, "Brother Da Mao, I know you're divorced, but I don't care. I truly love you. I just want to be with you, to spend my life with you. Don't you believe me? I can prove it!"

As she spoke, she took out a copper key with a red string tied to it from her pocket and put it into Xu Damao's hand.

"This is the room I booked at that little inn in the alley ahead," Qin Jingru said, her face burning red. "Brother Da Mao, if you still don't trust my heart, I can give myself to you! I won't regret it!"

Xu Damao froze on the spot as if struck by lightning. He sniffed hard, his voice broken, "Sister, I know how you feel. Just wait a few days, I'm not available these days..."

After saying that, he could no longer hold back. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he shoved the key back into Qin Jingru's hand. His shoulders trembled, and he staggered back to the courtyard house.

That night, several aunts and sisters-in-law saw Xu Damao run back with tears streaming down his face, looking utterly dejected.

The tears flowed, wow, quite a lot.

From then on, Xu Daiyu became a common name in the courtyard.