Courtyard House: My Hidden Wheat Seeds Caused a National Sensation

Liu Guangtian stood there, his eyes icy cold, but a surge of suppressed joy welled up inside him, like thawing spring water.

He silently raised his head: After all these years, it's finally over.

Liu Haizhong slipped and fell hard to the ground.

He was panting heavily, his chest heaving, and roared with wide eyes, "You two bastards, you think you're all grown up now! My mother! My mother, come out here!"

No matter how much he shouted, there was no response from inside the house.

Xu Damao, who had been watching the commotion from the sidelines, couldn't stand it any longer and grinned, saying, "Old Liu, what are you still shouting for? Your wife is holed up in that shed over there."

However… he seems to be sick; he even came to my house a couple of days ago to borrow a clay pot to brew medicine.”

"What?!"

Liu Haizhong was startled and turned his head sharply to look at the low shed in the corner of the yard.

That was a makeshift earthquake shelter hastily erected by everyone when the neighboring city was hit by an earthquake last year. It was extremely rudimentary, with gaps everywhere in the roof and walls. When the cold wind blew through, it made a loud whistling sound. It was hardly a place where people could live permanently.

"You...you dare!"

He could barely speak properly, and he scrambled to his feet, staggering as he rushed toward the shed.

The shed was dimly lit, and a musty smell mixed with the odor of medicine wafted through the air.

His wife was indeed curled up in a pile of tattered cotton wadding in the corner, her face ashen and pale as paper, her eyes tightly closed, and her breath so faint that it was almost imperceptible.

Right beside her, there was a piece of paper, with several large, dark characters on it that were painful to look at—"Letter of Severance of Relationship".

.

"puff--!"

Liu Haizhong felt a metallic taste rush to his throat, his vision went black, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Then, like a piece of wood, he fell straight backward and crashed heavily to the ground.

***

"Bang!"

The dull thud of the fall caused a stir among the onlookers.

Several kind-hearted neighbors exchanged glances and quickly ran towards the shed.

"Old Liu! Old Liu, how are you?"

"Oh dear, his wife is burning up! She has a high fever! What a tragedy, what a tragedy..."

"This...this is a piece of paper...severing ties? Those two bastards, Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu, are too heartless! Their own parents!"

"Don't just stand there, get him to the hospital right away!"

Amidst the cacophony of voices and frantic efforts, the crowd carried the unconscious Liu Haizhong and his seriously ill, feverish wife out of the shed.

But as soon as they put the person in the yard, a very real problem arose in everyone's mind—who would pay for the medical expenses?

It's 1977 now, and workers can still enjoy state welfare when they need medical treatment.

But Liu Haizhong is no longer a worker.

His sons were workers, and according to the rules, their family members could enjoy a 50% discount on medical treatment.

But even with this half-price discount, you still have to pay money.

The neighbors in the courtyard usually have a distant relationship with Liu Haizhong, so who would be willing to spend money for nothing?

Zhou Quan, who had briefly served as the manager of the compound, cleared his throat and glanced at Liu Guangtian, who was watching coldly from the side: "Guangtian, you are the boss."

"Your parents are in this state, you have to make a decision, right? Take them to the hospital immediately! If you really don't want to take care of them, you can pay for it."

Liu Guangtian snorted coldly, his face unmoved: "What's it to me?"

He felt no warmth towards his parents anymore, only resentment that had been building up for years.

From childhood to adulthood, when have they ever given me a single bit of care? This is exactly what is meant by "unkind parents, unfilial children".

Moreover, his father, Liu Haizhong, offended someone he shouldn't have, causing a huge uproar and implicating him as his son. Over the years, he has suffered countless scornful looks and exclusion.

How stifled Liu Guangtian must have felt these past ten years!

As for his younger brother Liu Guangfu, he was sent to the most difficult and remote rural area back then. He was able to return to the city ahead of time thanks to his older brother's secret advice. He pretended to be sick and had to stay hungry until his face turned pale in order to barely get by.

Although Liu Guangfu suffered greatly and finally returned, the resentment in his heart was probably even deeper than that of the other man.

The resentment in their hearts, directed at their respective parents, was almost overflowing.

The two snorted coldly at the same time, turned around and left, entering the house without looking back.

A group of neighbors were left standing at the door, looking at each other blankly, speechless for a long time.

"What...what should we do?"

"Let's take him to the hospital first!"

A new neighbor spoke up.

He moved in after Liu Haizhong fell from grace, when the neighborhood took over the house that originally belonged to the deaf old lady and made it public property. He was a fairly kind person.

"We can't just stand by and watch someone lie here."

"I'll cover the medical expenses first!"

"become!"

Upon hearing that someone was willing to pay, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly lifted the two people off the ground, taking them outside.

He Daqing watched coldly from beginning to end, feeling a chill run up from the soles of his feet, and his heart began to pound.

Will that kid, Sha Zhu, look at me like that too? Treat me like that? After all, I wasn't exactly nice to him back then.

What if he also…? The more he thought about it, the more panicked and afraid he became. He dragged his heavy steps back to his house, which he hadn’t been to for a long time.

Before long, the door hinges creaked open, and He Yuzhu returned.

Upon seeing the person sitting inside, He Yuzhu suddenly stopped and froze.

"Silly...silly Zhu..."

He Daqing's throat was a little dry, and his voice carried a complex emotion that he himself could not quite explain.

"You still have the nerve to come back?"

He Yuzhu snorted and strode across the threshold.

Seeing that his son didn't seem to intend to kick him out immediately, He Daqing's fragile confidence slowly returned, and he straightened his back a bit: "Look at what you're saying! I'm your father, this is my home, why can't I come back?"

"You still have the nerve to bring up those days?"

He Yuzhu's temper flared up instantly. "Look what you've done! Look at the mess you've made of us!"

"Would I cheat you?"

He Daqing glared at him. "I was doing it for your own good! If you hadn't behaved improperly back then, getting entangled with that person and causing trouble, would they have investigated so thoroughly, tracing the clues all the way to Baocheng? I was living a peaceful life there, and then the police came knocking on my door, interrogating me relentlessly. Well, you've made me lose face in the whole hospital! Who doesn't know what kind of reputation I, He Daqing's son, have? You're a complete idiot, you've never done a single sensible thing since you were a child! The nickname I gave you really wasn't unjust!"

"you……"

He Yuzhu was speechless for a moment.

Upon careful reflection, it seems that I was indeed in the wrong about what happened back then.

If I hadn't gotten involved with Liu Lili and hadn't developed that illness, the police probably wouldn't have been targeting me for no reason.

So, the source of all this...

"It's all Li Jianye's fault!"

Almost instinctively, He Yuzhu directed the fire in his heart toward that name.

"What does this have to do with Li Jianye?"

He Daqing was taken aback, somewhat confused by his son's jumping around.

"How can it be nothing? He was the one who pulled the strings behind the scenes!"

He Yuzhu immediately recounted the old story vividly, adding details and embellishments.

He Daqing's eyes widened as he listened, and finally, he slapped his thigh hard: "You brainless idiot! Would a decent girl be so eager to date you? Can't you even see that? What else can you be but stupid! Never mind, let's not talk about it anymore."

Tell me everything that happened in the courtyard over the years, from beginning to end.

"OK."

He Yuzhu sat down in the chair opposite him and began to recount the events one by one, picking out the ones he could talk about.

The more He Daqing listened, the wider his mouth opened became; by the end, it was almost unable to close.

"Good heavens! Zhang Cuihua is in jail? Her son is in jail too? Even her grandson is in jail? This is truly... a family heirloom 'skill'! Zhang Cuihua even married a young man? Letting him eat and drink for free and swindle her for years? Good heavens... what kind of mess is this! Old Liu is down, and Old Yi is down too? This courtyard... is really getting more and more creepy."

He Yuzhu omitted many of the unpleasant parts about himself, but even so, these fragmented pieces of the story were enough to make He Daqing feel as if he had been struck by lightning, unable to recover for a long time.

He Yushui's footsteps sounded outside the door. The moment she pushed the door open, her gaze was fixed on the face inside that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

Complex emotions surged within her like a tide, intertwining years of pent-up resentment, grievances, and an unspeakable sense of alienation.

Her lips trembled slightly, but she didn't utter a word. Tears, however, rolled down her cheeks without warning, one after another, falling onto the old ground.

He Daqing stared blankly at his daughter, who had grown up, as if time had frozen at that moment.

His throat bobbed, and guilt gripped his heart like an invisible hand.

"Don't cry...daughter,"

His voice was dry and trembling almost imperceptibly, "It is your father who has failed you."

But I'm back. From now on... from now on, we'll be together. Things will get better.

He Yushui just kept sobbing and mumbled her responses.

Her heart was filled with cold resentment, but her face maintained the fragile facade created by her tears. Following her father's lead, she began a stiff and distant conversation, asking about some trivial matters from the past.

Before long, Yi Zhonghai led the Jia family through the door.

Three families managed to squeeze into one table. The clinking of bowls and chopsticks replaced the usual pleasantries. A dinner called "welcome dinner" began in a tacit silence and a deliberately contrived warmth.

They talked about the future, but their voices were hollow and powerless.

In this era, the path to private enterprise has been blocked, and public jobs are so hard to find. Looking ahead, all that can be seen is a hazy, gray fog.

The meal ended hastily amidst a chorus of suppressed sighs.

……

In stark contrast to the somber atmosphere here, Han Chunming's home was filled with warmth and laughter.

"Auntie, please try this, eat more!"

Han Chunming enthusiastically served the dishes.

"Okay, okay!"

Auntie's face lit up with a smile as she picked up a plump dumpling and put it in her mouth, squinting her eyes in satisfaction. "Things have really changed! In the past, dumplings were a precious treat that we could only dream of during festivals, but now we can have them on the table whenever we want."

"It's not easy to buy meat in our countryside, so we usually make do with vegetarian fillings. I haven't had such hearty pork dumplings in years! They're so delicious!"

"That's absolutely right!"

Meng Xiaoxing nodded repeatedly, her eyes also fixed on the dumplings on the plate.

Auntie suddenly put down her chopsticks, turned to Han Chunxue, and said earnestly, "Chunxue, Auntie has something to ask you."

"Could you... help Xing'er find a job in the city?"

Upon hearing this, Han Chunxue looked troubled: "Oh dear aunt, you've really given me a difficult problem."

Finding a job in the city depends on your household registration status; it's a real hurdle.

Even with a household registration, vacancies are extremely scarce and hard to find.

"Look at my Chunming, he's been resting at home for over a month since he came back from his time in the countryside."

"Really?"

Meng Xiaoxing's eyes widened in surprise as she turned to Han Chunming. "Fifth Brother, don't you know that Comrade Li Jianye? Why don't you ask him for a favor? If it works out... could you also help me out?"

"You're dreaming!"

Han Chunming glared at her irritably. "Who is he? He's a big boss who oversees several key departments, and he's also the president of the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University! The only reason I have any connection with him is because I played with his kids many years ago, and that's how we made up some old acquaintance."

Asking someone for a favor relies on personal connections, and those connections diminish with each use.

Why even bother asking for a job? I haven't even dared to think about it myself, how could I possibly ask for it on your behalf?

"That's exactly right, that's exactly right!"

Upon hearing this, the aunt quickly smiled and smoothed things over, waving her hand, "This kind of person should be left to the blade."

We'll figure out a solution for work later.