Courtyard House: Starting as an eighth-grade worker, with too many wives.

"Why are you here?"

"Something's up."

He looked at her face, which was flushed red against the backdrop of the red scarf.

Are you free tomorrow?

"What's wrong?"

"He Daqing, be executed tomorrow."

Jiang Min's smile slowly faded.

Her body stiffened for a moment.

She was still afraid of that matter.

"I don't have class," she said. "Come pick me up."

Early the next morning.

Li Jianguo rode his bicycle to the school gate.

Jiang Min was already waiting.

She was wearing a cotton-padded coat and a red scarf.

Several female classmates saw Li Jianguo and started laughing and teasing him:

"Jiang Min, this guy is really handsome! When are you going to treat us to wedding candy?"

Jiang Min blushed.

"Go away, what nonsense are you talking about? We have something to do, we're leaving now."

She jumped onto Li Jianguo's back seat and urged him to ride faster.

Li Jianguo, pedaling his bicycle, glanced back at her:

"Looks like I'll have to find some time to go to your house and propose marriage."

Jiang Min remained silent.

She buried her face in his back.

execution ground.

Crowds of people.

Xu Damao and the others were in the crowd. Li Jianguo didn't push his way through, but pulled Jiang Min to stand on the side.

He Daqing knelt there.

Expressionless.

Gunshots.

Jiang Min shuddered.

Then she cried.

Li Jianguo put his arm around her shoulder and patted her awkwardly.

"Okay, okay, it's alright. He's dead. He'll never come back to life."

Jiang Min gradually calmed down.

A sudden howl erupted from the crowd.

Li Jianguo turned his head.

Silly Pillar.

He rushed over like a madman, circling around He Daqing's body.

She was both crying and laughing.

They were jumping and making a ruckus.

He Yushui followed behind, trying her best to pull him, but she couldn't hold him back.

Li Jianguo glanced at it.

Just one glance.

He pulled Jiang Min along and left.

For the next week, Li Jianguo was busy at the factory.

Project nearing completion.

I work overtime every day.

When I finally finished my work and returned to the courtyard, Xu Damao came again.

He was carrying a bottle of wine.

"Director Li, you've worked hard. How about a couple of drinks tonight?"

Li Jianguo did not refuse.

When the two were half-drunk, Xu Damao suddenly said:

"Director Li, Sha Zhu has gone mad."

"Um?"

Li Jianguo put down his cup.

"What happened?"

Xu Damao took a swig of wine and smacked his lips. "What else could it be? He went crazy after coming back from the execution ground last time. He's been causing trouble in the yard every day, like a mad dog. I went to his sister, Yushui—hey, she's ruthless. She just said she'd cut ties with Shazhu."

He shook his head and sighed, "I've seen through the He family. Not a single one of them is good. I used to think that girl Yushui was alright, but look at her now? They're all cut from the same cloth."

Li Jianguo listened, smiled, and didn't reply.

The sunlight was perfect in the alley, shining obliquely, and you could see dust particles floating in the beams of light. The aroma of stir-fried dishes wafted from the neighboring courtyard, like stir-frying in a wok, spicy and pungent.

Sha Zhu came in at that time.

He was carrying a snakeskin bag and reeked of the stench of garbage that had been rotting in a dump for days—a smell that could travel miles with the wind. He reached his front door and suddenly dumped the bag on the ground.

Broken shoes, tattered cloth, moldy steamed buns, and half a bone of some unknown origin.

With a whoosh.

The smell in the yard changed immediately.

"Damn it." Xu Damao covered his nose. "This guy's come back from picking up trash again! Is this yard even fit for human habitation anymore?"

Sha Zhu squatted down and rummaged through the pile of garbage, muttering something under his breath. Sunlight shone on his face, and you could see that his eyes were moving strangely, looking this way and that, never focusing.

Li Jianguo looked at him.

Sha Zhu picked up the moldy steamed bun, brought it to his nose, smelled it, and smiled. The smile was indescribable, like a child finding candy, or a fool seeing excrement.

Xu Damao was still cursing and swearing, his face flushed from drinking too much. Later, Li Jianguo helped him back home, cursing all the way, cursing Sha Zhu, cursing He Yushui, cursing that there wasn't a single normal person in this lousy courtyard.

Li Jianguo remained silent.

What happened to Sha Zhu was none of his business. But if Sha Zhu dared to cause trouble again—he glanced at his hands and clenched his fist.

The bone cracked.

The next few days were calm and peaceful.

The calm and tranquility made Li Jianguo somewhat uneasy. He could leave home in the morning with no one waiting at the gate; and when he returned from get off work in the evening, the yard was quiet and peaceful. He even had the leisure to smoke a cigarette and gaze at the sky in the yard.

The sky in Beijing was beautiful those days, an unbelievable blue. Occasionally, pigeons would fly by, their whistles buzzing, approaching from afar and then receding again.

Then it was that morning.

Li Jianguo had just gotten up and was putting on his shoes when a loud howl suddenly erupted in the yard.

"My grandson—!"

It was Jia Zhangshi. Her voice was shrill and sharp, like a pig being slaughtered, but with an added sinister quality. Then came crying, a cacophony of sobs and shouts, with dramatic intonation, like a theatrical performance.

"Why are you so unlucky?!"

"Grandma's going downstairs to keep you company!"

"You died so unjustly—!"

Li Jianguo was stunned for a moment before he remembered—oh, Bang Geng's death sentence is today.

He continued putting on his shoes.

When I pushed open the door, the Jia family was already standing in the courtyard. Madam Jia Zhang was sitting on the ground, slapping her thigh, her face covered in tears and snot. Standing beside her was Jia Dongxu, his face dark, his eyes red but not crying.

There's also Qin Huairu, and Banggeng's sister, a whole family.

As soon as they saw Li Jianguo come out, all those eyes turned to him.

Like several knives.

"You beast!"

Jia Zhangshi suddenly scrambled to her feet and rushed over. Her movements were so fast that it didn't seem like that of an old woman who had just been mourning; her eyes were bloodshot and white foam hung from the corners of her mouth.

"Are you satisfied now? My grandson is gone! Are you satisfied now?!"

Li Jianguo didn't move, watching her rush over.

Three steps away.

Two steps.

step--

"roll."

One word.

Jia Zhangshi suddenly stopped. Her feet seemed to be nailed to the ground, her body was still leaning forward, but she just couldn't take another step.

Li Jianguo looked at her.

His gaze pressed down on her, expressionless, just staring. But Jia Zhangshi's lips began to tremble, tears still welling in her eyes, yet the words of curse stuck in her throat, unable to escape.

"Want to die?" Li Jianguo said. "Get closer."

Jia Zhangshi took a step back.

Then she sat down on the ground and started crying again. This time she didn't cry as loudly, but it was even more heartbreaking. Between sobs, she kept muttering, "Why is my life so miserable... a white-haired person burying a black-haired person... my eldest grandson..."

The person hadn't even been buried yet, and people were already crying.

Li Jianguo got into the car and drove off.

He rode a dozen meters or so, and could feel eyes watching him from behind. He didn't turn around.

The factory's project has reached its final stage.

The blueprints for the new generation of cars have been laid out, and parts are being assembled. The workshop reeks of engine oil mixed with sweat, fluorescent lights hum, and wires are scattered everywhere on the floor. Li Jianguo, dressed in overalls, squats there with the workers, adjusting parameters.

Someone handed him an enamel mug, which he took and drank from, only to scald himself.

"Engineer Li, you'll have to treat us to a meal once this thing is finished, right?"

"Please." He returned the jar. "I'll give each of you a bowl of soy milk."

"Damn it, I'll just keep picking at you until you die."

Amidst the laughter and playful banter, Li Jianguo continued working, head down. The densely packed numbers on the blueprints were dizzying to look at, but he was used to it. This thing was simpler than people; if the data was right, it was right; if it was wrong, it was wrong.

Unlike the petty squabbles in the courtyard.

Unbeknownst to him, while he was squatting in the workshop drinking scalding hot soy milk, Jia Dongxu was walking in another alley.

On the way back from the execution ground, Jia Zhangshi fainted three times from crying. Jia Dongxu took her home, gave her some water, and then left.

He had money in his pocket—a thick wad of cash his mother had swindled from Sha Zhu and splurged from the neighbors over the years. It was all tucked into his arms, warm against his skin.