Siheyuan: Game of Red Dust

Chapter 1 Graduation, Return to Siheyuan

【Brain Storage】

Time: 1957

Location: Nanluoguxiang, Sijiucheng.

Standing on the street of Nanluoguxiang, looking at the quaint alley and the distinctive slogans all over the street, Li Weidong has long been accustomed to it.

On the walls of the streets and alleys nearby, there are propaganda slogans painted on big-character posters.

【Eliminate illiteracy and popularize primary and secondary education】

[Don't forget the national humiliation, revitalize China, strengthen exercise, and study hard]

Coming from the 21st century, he witnessed the birth of the slogans all over the streets and the difficult journey of flower growers, even though he was still young at that time.

The bustling crowds on the streets, although their clothes have patches and their faces are pale, the spirit revealed in their eyes is rare in the 21st century.

He was tall and handsome in a neat Mao suit, with a figure as straight as a pine or cypress, and carrying a huge backpack. People passing by on the street all cast admiring glances at him, and the gazes of some young wives and aunties were even more full of special colors.

Li Weidong was accustomed to such stares. His 1.80-meter height, handsome face, and muscular physique perfectly matched the aesthetics of this era. No matter where he went, he always attracted attention.

Standing at the entrance of Nanluoguxiang, Li Weidong took a deep breath and walked in.

I haven't been back for four years, and time seems to have stopped at the moment I left. Nanluoguxiang has not changed much.

The idle aunties sit in the alley and chat together. In this era with few entertainment activities, any movement or gossip in the alley will be spread by these aunties at a speed comparable to that of radio, and will be spread throughout the alley and the entire street in the first time.

Undoubtedly, Li Weidong immediately caught the attention of the group of aunties upon entering the alley. Having grown up in the alley and being known as "other people's kids" since childhood, he was instantly recognized, even after four years away.

"Hey, isn't this the kid from the old Li family?"

"Yeah, it really is from Old Li's family."

"Didn't he go to college? Is this graduation?"

"Weidong, you haven't been back for three or four years."

"Weidong has become taller and more handsome after not seeing him for a few years."

"How old are you this year? Do you have a partner? I have a distant relative whose daughter is 18 years old and very beautiful. I will match you two up someday."

“Weidong is different now, but there is only one college graduate in our street.”

Facing everyone's warm greetings, Li Weidong always kept a smile on his face and also greeted them warmly.

The reason why everyone was so enthusiastic was, on the one hand, because Li Weidong was a college student, and on the other hand, because his family was full of loyal and brave people.

Li Weidong's grandfather was a member of Jinggangshan back then.

Li Weidong's father died gloriously in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression when he was only three years old.

His mother was a military doctor. After the war, she suffered from many illnesses, and the death of Li's father was a blow to her.

Qiang supported Li Weidong for four or five years, and passed away on the day he finished his college entrance examination.

Because I am a descendant of a martyr, I receive a lot of subsidies from my superiors, and I also receive an additional scholarship every month.

Li Weidong himself was also very hardworking. He was a reincarnated soul from the 21st century. Within his mind resided an alternate dimension. Initially, it was small, only about an acre. It was barren, with only a single fountain. His exceptional strength and intelligence from childhood were due to his integration with this alternate dimension. He could control everything within it, but he couldn't enter it.

Initially, Li Weidong used the alternate dimension as a warehouse. It wasn't until he started college that he had the time to put it to good use. He planted half an acre of land, irrigating it with spring water. He discovered the water's power. He then sold a chick to experiment, realizing that the fountain's water could accelerate plant and animal growth, much like animal feed. Li Weidong drank the water himself, and aside from a slightly sweet taste, nothing else changed. He wondered if it was due to a malfunctioning body, making him resistant to the water, or if the water's growth-promoting properties were limited to plants and animals. He didn't dare share it with anyone else, fearing any changes he might encounter would be unexplained.

Since then, Li Weidong has cultivated half an acre of land in the space, and used the remaining half to build a fish pond, raising fish, chickens, roe deer, and flying dragons. He caught the roe deer and flying dragons from the mountains during his university holidays. Since developing the space, Li Weidong's life has become more comfortable. Besides studying, he spends his time eating, drinking, and having fun. When the food in the space is ripe and the chickens and fish are grown, he goes to the black market. Going to the black market too often inevitably leads to encounters with speculators, but he has the space, so he can just throw his things into the space and find an alley to hide in. He never gets into trouble. Over the past few years, Li Weidong's small coffers have grown by over 3,000 yuan from the food, chickens, and fish produced in the space, just by selling them on the black market.

Back to Nanluoguxiang. In those days, graduating from a technical secondary school was considered quite impressive, and after graduation, you would be guaranteed a job.

Not to mention college students, they are even rarer and pitifully few.

With such an outstanding person, everyone would definitely be vying to introduce someone to Li Weidong.

During his four years in college, Li Weidong was not idle. In addition to developing space, he often worked on projects with teachers and achieved remarkable results. He can be said to be an outstanding student of Harbin Institute of Technology. He was also recommended to study abroad in the bear country of Russia and his future is bright.

Even the principal praised him highly.

When everyone thought that Li Weidong would stay to study further, he made a decision that surprised everyone - to go home.

On the day of Li Weidong's graduation, he packed his luggage and took the train back to Beijing.

After passing through two alleys, the quaint courtyard in front of you is Li Weidong's home.

This is where he has lived for more than ten years, and it is also the world of "The Story of Siheyuan".

In his previous life, he was deeply poisoned by the plot of a TV series he watched. Later, he even read the script of "Silly Zhu" and nearly died from the poison.

Growing up in Siheyuan, I have witnessed many things that happened in Siheyuan.

Six years ago, He Daqing followed the White Widow to Baoding.

Lao Jia had an accident.

Official fan Liu Haizhong was promoted to level 7 blacksmith.

Yi Zhonghai, the Lord of Morality, was promoted from level 6 to level 8 fitter.

Five years ago, Qin Huairu married Jia Dongxu, who inherited Lao Jia's job at the steel rolling mill, and became the new daughter-in-law of the compound.

At that time, He Yuzhu was already a chef in the steel mill kitchen. Li Weidong saw He Yuzhu hiding behind the window to peek at Qin Huairu more than once. It is estimated that at that time, the seeds of the dog-licking were already planted, but had not yet sprouted.

……

This is a three-courtyard house, divided into the front yard, the middle yard and the back yard.

In the front yard lived the third uncle, Yan Fugui. He was known for his calculating skills and generosity. If there was one family in the courtyard he was closest to, it was probably the third uncle's family. Although Yan Fugui was stingy, he wasn't too bad-hearted. During Li's mother's illness, the third aunt visited her several times to take care of her, though he also had his own selfish motives: to get a meal from the family.

In addition to the third uncle's family, there is another family in the front yard. The woman is named Liang Ladi, who is said to be a welder in a nearby machine repair factory.

Liang Ladi moved in the year Li Weidong was admitted to university, so she didn't interact with them much.

In the middle courtyard, the Jia family, Yi Zhonghai's family, He Yuzhu's family, and two other families also moved in the same year Li Weidong went to college. Li Weidong didn't have much interaction with them.

There are five households in the backyard: Li Weidong's family, Liu Haizhong's family, Xu Damao's family, the deaf old lady's family, and Wang Jianjun's family.

Because they were descendants of martyrs, Li Weidong's house was the largest, with a main room, two side rooms, and a back garden. Before leaving for university, the neighborhood committee announced a policy of converting public housing into private property. Li Weidong took all his family savings and converted the house and back garden into private property. This was unknown to the residents of the courtyard house except for the neighborhood committee.

When the Li family moved to the courtyard house, they were an orphan and a widow, yet they had three such nice houses and a garden, which was unique in this courtyard house.

Jia Zhang became jealous and felt that the orphan and widow were easy to bully, so she started to cause trouble and gossip behind their backs. At first, Li's mother, thinking that it was better to mind her own business, ignored Jia Zhang. This only emboldened Jia Zhang's arrogance. She would stand at the door of Li's house and curse at him for no reason. One day, Li's mother couldn't bear it anymore and started to curse at Jia Zhang. Li Weidong happened to come home from school and saw a group of people gathered in front of his house to watch the fun. Jia Zhang was about to tickle Li's mother, but without saying a word, she threw her schoolbag and ran over to throw Jia Zhang over her shoulder. Then Old Jia and Jia Dongxu couldn't stand it anymore and started to fight with Li Weidong. Although Li Weidong was only 12 years old at the time, his body was extremely strong after integrating with the other dimension. He fought against an adult and Jia Dongxu, who was eight or nine years older than him, without any loss.

Yi Zhonghai had a good relationship with the Jia family at the time, and when he saw that the Jia father and son were about to suffer, he stepped in to take sides. Li Weidong was hit several times by Yi Zhonghai's side-stepping. Feeling that he would suffer if he continued like this, he dragged his mother into the house, told her to stay inside, and then grabbed a kitchen knife and left.

As soon as he went out, he slashed at the Jia family father and son and Yi Zhonghai, scaring them to run away. Li Weidong chased them from behind and chased them all the way to the street office, where he was stopped.

After the staff of the street office learned what happened, Jia Zhang was detained for half a month for insulting the martyr, and Lao Jia was reported to the unit and his salary was reduced by one level for insulting the martyr's orphan. Jia Dongxu and Yi Zhonghai, who took sides, were scolded. Li Weidong was also scolded because he was young and the orphan of a martyr. He was told not to be so impulsive in the future, and to go to the street office if he had any problems, and the street office would take care of it for him. Li Weidong agreed repeatedly.

After this incident, everyone in the courtyard knew that the Li family was the orphan of a martyr, and that the Li family boy was really brave enough to risk his life. From then on, no one in the courtyard dared to bully Li's mother, and they also stopped having any contact with the Jia family and the Yi Zhonghai family.

(End of this chapter)