Men and women eating in the courtyard

"Who is it?"

Zhou Changli was leaning on the concierge's kang and reading a novel. When he heard the movement at the door, he couldn't help but throw the book that was almost torn in his hands onto the kang and shouted impatiently.

Ever since that person threw the key to me, I have never been free again and have to work as a concierge here every day.

Sometimes when something happens at home, I have to ask my brother to come over and replace me, just for fear that something will go wrong here.

Or perhaps, he was afraid that the person would suddenly come to the door and see that he was not there, which would cause a lot of excitement.

But there is no liveliness here. It is like a deep house with a huge mouth at night. I always feel uncomfortable sleeping here at night.

However, recently there was a mason who often came to see the site, and said that he was the one who brought it here.

Because the words were right, he let the other party check the house.

But he also kept an eye on it, and every time the man came to inspect the venue, he followed him around.

Regardless of whether you are a worker or not, regardless of whether you are a temporary concierge or not, if you, a monk, are here for a day, the yard will not lose half a brick.

At this moment, I thought it was the mason who had arrived, so I took my cloth shoes and went out to open the east door next to the concierge.

The east gate is a small door, and next to it is the carriage door for carriages and horses. It is also at the Xun position of the entire house. It is very convenient to enter and exit here, so he arranged his residence here.

It wasn't that he was too polite to stay in the large concierge at the front door, but it was that he felt terrified living alone in such a big house.

The concierge's room here is bigger than their house. I often can't sleep at night, so I don't dare to live in a big one.

It's not that I haven't thought about asking a few brothers to come over and play cards or something, it would be a better time.

But after thinking about that sour-faced character, I really didn't have the guts to make this place a mess.

But when did this kind of day come to an end? You can't really think of yourself as a stupid boy, just working like an animal for nothing!

So I was complaining about Li Xuewu in my heart, and I was complaining a little bit in my mouth.

"Knock, knock, knock, you won't make a sound. I've already come out, and you still..."

He muttered like this and pulled the door open. Just when he was about to say something to the mason, he saw the mason standing at the door with squinted eyes looking at him.

"Li...Director Li"

"It seems you like it here very much. You have adapted to the role of concierge."

Li Xuewu stretched out his hand and pushed open the half-sliding door on the other side, stepped into the courtyard, and said, "Look at your tone, you are more stylish than the concierge who lived here before."

Zhou Changli couldn't help but widen his eyes when he saw the figure entering the courtyard. He never expected that this person was here.

At first I was expecting him to come but he wouldn't come, and I was counting the days day by day. But now it's better, I don't have any hope anymore, but he has come.

Just come when you come, but you happen to catch yourself complaining, now you are in trouble.

"close the door"

Li Xuewu stood in the yard and walked around. When he turned around, he saw Zhou Changli pretending to be a stone lion at the gate.

"Why!"

Zhou Changli responded, then stiffened and closed the door.

My hand habitually wanted to lock the door, but thinking of the person behind me, I hesitated and put it down.

Li Xuewu looked at the little man who was approaching cautiously and asked, "Are you tired of waiting?"

"No...no"

Zhou Changli is good-looking and smart, and he can talk normally.

At this moment, he saw that Li Xuewu had some garlic in his mouth.

I don’t know why, maybe it was the first time I met that big mouth for no reason, or seeing Li Xuewu’s great wrestling, or seeing Li Xuewu shooting in the ice rink.

Anyway, I know that this person is a troublemaker if he dares to take action.

Li Xuewu looked Zhou Changli up and down. He was still dressed at attention, but he was still wearing thick clothes on his upper body.

Obviously, there is no time to go home to change in the past few days, or there is no time to go shopping in the streets to change.

From Ding Wanqiu's mouth, I learned that this boy is not an honest and timid boy. He no longer lives at home and usually eats food on the street.

"Have you got a meal yet?"

"I didn't...eat, I ate."

Zhou Changli wanted to say that he had not eaten, but when he realized that Li Xuewu was asking if he had eaten, he quickly replied.

Li Xuewu looked him up and down again, then nodded and walked into the courtyard.

Zhou Changli hesitated whether to follow him. He was originally afraid of Li Xuewu, and now he wished that the other party had told him to let him go.

But the other party asked him if he had eaten. What did he mean?

Now seeing Li Xuewu going to the Flower Hall, he gritted his teeth and followed him.

I have been doing useless work here for so long. If I don't hang around in front of that person's eyes now, wouldn't this work be in vain?

As soon as you enter the east gate, the area that used to be the carriage house is extremely spacious.

According to Ding Wanqiu's introduction, his father kept many good horses and big cars.

But when he became the head of the family, he saw foreign cars and was annoyed that they were comfortable and stylish. The prodigal son sold all the good horses and cars his father had saved and bought a car.

Because there are no horses here and there is no parking space, the carriage house was bulldozed and used for parking.

But Li Xuewu looked at it now. He was so rich with ten big trucks parked side by side. How many good things did this rich kid buy and waste?

When we entered the flower hall, the decorations were still the same as before, but the wrestling mats were stacked in the corner, and the floor was still terrazzo tiles.

Surrounded by corrugated glass windows, the surroundings are translucent. The sun is slightly slanting at this moment, and every detail in the house is illuminated.

Maybe it was because I hadn't opened the window for a long time, so it was a bit stuffy when I entered the room.

"You're just squatting here with the concierge?"

Li Xuewu looked at the furniture and furnishings in the room and said to Zhou Changli behind him without looking back: "I don't know why I open the windows in these rooms to let the air out."

"..."

Zhou Changli almost choked to death when he didn't call Li Xuewu, "Who agreed to be your concierge? I didn't get any credit for my feelings, and I was punished here."

But he knew who the person who was training him was, so he didn't dare to make any mistakes, so he could only lie down and stand at the door.

Li Xuewu didn't listen to the answer, glanced at the door, and then knocked on the armrest of the armchair.

In fact, he was just pretending. Even though his grandfather was a carpenter, he knew all about wood but knew nothing about it.

After walking around in a circle, he came out of the back door of the flower hall and walked around the yard on the right.

In fact, the more I look at it, the worse it gets. Ding Wanqiu, a prodigal son, doesn't feel sorry for this yard at all.

The water in the big tank in the yard has dried up, and it is full of fallen leaves and dust. The bottom is dark and I don’t know what it is.

A few trees are still alive, but they have grown crookedly and have lost their shape at all.

Xu saw Li Xuewu frowning, and Zhou Changli, who was following him, hesitated for a moment, and then reminded in a low voice: "I can't take care of so many houses by myself."

Li Xuewu turned to look at him, raised his eyebrows, and said, "I didn't ask you to clean up."

Seeing Li Xuewu say this, Zhou Changli shrank his neck and took a step indifferently.

You really want me to clean it up. I have to clean it up too. How long have you been saving for this? If there is no manpower, after the front foot is finished, the back foot will collect dust.

In the past, what did the officials do to keep so many servants and ladies? It was because the yard was too big and they had to direct their wives to take care of it, which would cause them to die from exhaustion.

Li Xuewu ignored him and walked around again. This was the first time he inspected the yard in such detail and comprehensively.

Even the basement located in the backyard of the main house was looked at.

According to Ding Wanqiu, this basement is a bank and warehouse.

But it was not dug by their family, nor was it dug by their previous homeowner. It had been there a long time ago.

It's possible that it will be available tomorrow, maybe.

Why was Ding Wanqiu so sure that it was not dug by his family, nor by the previous homeowner?

Because in the era he knew, this family had no money to store, and no capital.

Li Xuewu turned around in a big circle, but still read without hesitation. He also watched for nearly an hour.

The houses here are in worse condition than those in the courtyard, and they all need to be carefully repaired.

Master Dou said that many brick and tile structures had to be dismantled and rebuilt, especially houses that had not been inhabited all year round.

This is especially true for window frames and the like. The paint has long since peeled off. The prodigal son didn't know how to paint, and the rain has weathered the wood.

But after Li Xuewu thought about it, it was not bad to live in such a big yard alone and live like this.

If we let him go, he might not be as clean as others, not to mention the eldest brother, let alone the second brother.

After returning to the east courtyard gate, Li Xuewu stopped, looked at Zhou Changli who was following behind and asked, "How old are you?"

"Seventeen"

Now following Li Xuewu around the courtyard, Zhou Changli was no longer nervous and answered Li Xuewu's questions much faster.

Li Xuewu looked at Zhou Changli's height. Perhaps it was because he didn't have enough to eat, so he wasn't very tall.

"Is there any serious business?"

Zhou Changli glanced at Li Xuewu, lowered his head and didn't reply. What he was thinking was, look at what you said, who with a serious business can look at the door of your house for such a long time.

Li Xuewu looked at this young man and seemed to see his former self.

But he himself has already taken the right path at his age, so he is lucky.

Fortunately, I have a father who takes care of me, a mother who takes care of me, and a third-uncle relationship.

There are few people who are as lucky as him. Those who don't have the conditions like him are just like the kid in front of me, hanging out on the street.

Those who stand out are, at best, just the ones who do the heavy lifting, while those who don’t stand out will disappear long ago.

"You're such a big boy, you can't go out on the street begging for food all the time, right?"

"I didn't ask for food"

Zhou Changli suddenly raised his head, looked at Li Xuewu, and stubbornly emphasized: "I am not a beggar."

"What's that for?"

Li Xuewu raised his eyebrows and asked, and without waiting for an answer, he continued: "Isn't it a beggar to accept Buddha's protection money from rich children?"

Zhou Changli looked at Li Xuewu without replying, but his eyes were full of dissatisfaction.

No matter what Li Xuewu said, he had never asked for food.

His little bastard has never been so low-key in this land, not even Li Xuewu.

"Haha, I think it's worse than a beggar."

Li Xuewu chuckled lightly, took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit one for himself, without letting Zhou Changli do it.

Zhou Changli grinned and stared at Li Xuewu.

This man is really not a bastard. I have looked at his house for so long in vain, without saying a word of thanks, and even sarcastically telling myself that I should have vacated this courtyard if I had known better.

Li Xuewu took a puff of cigarette, looked at Zhou Changli who was dangling sideways, and asked, "Are you not convinced?"

Zhou Changli looked at the holster stuck on Li Xuewu's waist and tilted his head to the side.

What the hell, I can't afford to offend him and I can't afford to hide.

He just wanted to hear Li Xuewu no longer use him and tell him to get out of here.

But Li Xuewu didn't say anything and just stood here smoking.

"There are workers coming to work these days."

Li Xuewu stood there and smoked for a while, and then continued: "There were a lot of people and it was noisy. You moved all the porcelain or valuable gadgets to the basement and locked them up."

When Zhou Changli heard Li Xuewu's words, he felt that he was not holding the key to his feelings today, but that he would continue to use himself in vain.

"I still have something to do"

Zhou Changli took out the key from his trouser pocket and stretched out his hand to hand it to Li Xuewu.

Li Xuewu held a cigarette in his hand, looked down at the keys in his hand, and then looked up into his eyes.

"Tell me, what serious things do you have?"

"I...I have too many things to do."

Zhou Changli didn't expect this person to be so difficult to deal with. He had worked for so many days in vain, what else could he want to do.

Even high-ranking cadres don't boss people around like this. They think they are stupid boys.

It would be fine if he said something nice, but he didn't look at himself seriously from the moment he entered the door, and now he was arrogantly bossing himself around, making himself look like a fool.

I don’t want to do any more work. My uncle has left anyway, and I don’t owe him anything. Why!

right! Just don’t let him do it!

Li Xuewu still didn't take the key. He looked at the boy who looked like he was too lazy to lie and said, "Collect protection money?"

Zhou Changli saw that he was still mocking him, so he threw the key away and left.

But he didn't dare, because he had heard how this man beat people at the police station when he first came back.

Also, the rumors are getting more and more evil now, saying that this man came down from the south, and because he killed too many people, he was no longer allowed in the army.

Although he didn't quite believe the evil part of the rumor, judging from the news coming out of the police station, this man must be evil.

He himself also met this person. He had a very sour face. He couldn't deal with it in one sentence, but he started talking loudly about him.

Also, I learned from the children in the compound that this guy had a background, saying that he was chatting and laughing with the big guys in the Ministry of Work Safety.

That day a group of people were chased into the water, but it became the biggest joke in East and West City.

But the children in those courtyards didn't think it was a joke, because it would be a joke if ordinary people threw them into the water.

But if he was thrown into the water, he would only feel lucky, and it would be ridiculous.

Damn, if you mess with this guy, they won't get shot, and they can brag about it for a long time.

"You can also collect protection fees here."

Li Xuewu flicked the ashes from his cigarette, looked at Zhou Changli and said, "How about I give you one first? To ensure the safety of my home?"

Zhou Changli did not dare to speak against Li Xuewu, but he kept holding back his expression and stared at Li Xuewu to express his anger.

"hehe"

Li Xuewu looked at him cross-eyed and said disdainfully: "You can only follow this, but you still go out to play. You can practice for another two years."

After finishing speaking, he looked at Zhou Changli's stubborn and stretched-out hand and placed the cigarette butt he had extinguished in his hand into his palm.

Zhou Changli is so angry. I'm giving you the key. You think I'm picking up cigarette butts for you!

Li Xuewu took out fifty yuan from his pocket, pressed it on the cigarette butt, then tapped the money and said, "Hey, protection fee."

It's not that Zhou Changli has never seen money before, he has never seen such a bad person. Looking at the money in his hand and feeling the cigarette butt underneath, he felt that his brain was not enough.

Seeing Li Xuewu about to leave, he was stunned for a moment, then chased after him and said, "I said..."

"What?"

Li Xuewu turned around, glared, and asked, "Not enough?"

"I……"

Zhou Changli held a wad of money in his hand. He couldn't tell whether it was enough.

Li Xuewu looked at Zhou Changli who was speechless, clicked on the door and warned: "Keep an eye on them while they are working. They are not allowed to light fires, throw away cigarette butts, urinate and urinate indiscriminately, come in and out on time, and are not allowed to stay overnight."

"knew"

Seeing the scar on Li Xuewu's face twitching as he spoke, he really couldn't say anything about quitting.

Seeing that he agreed, Li Xuewu jumped on the jeep, started the engine, and finally said: "Just stay here and squat down. You have already collected the protection fee. If I know that you dare to neglect your duties, I will take you to the west of the city for target practice." Son".

After saying that, without waiting for Zhou Changli's reply, he stepped on the accelerator and turned the steering wheel towards the nearest house.

When Zhou Changli saw Li Xuewu's car leaving, he curled his lips and glanced at the money in his hand. Then he remembered the cigarette butts in his hands and immediately threw out the keys, cigarette butts and money.

"What's the point of being arrogant? Having money means you're great!"

Now he was able to follow him, standing on the steps, shaking his head and mumbling in the direction Li Xuewu left.

But I didn't dare to talk loudly, for I was afraid that there would be an ambush around me, and if my words were heard, I would be in trouble.

When I remembered that no one was here, I looked around and then at the three things on the ground.

"You're a bully, you're bullying an honest person!"

As he spoke, he picked up the key. This was what he came out to get in. He couldn't do it without picking it up.

When I picked up the keys, I felt that I had given him the money to look after the house, so I also picked up the money.

Just as he was about to straighten up, he saw the cigarette butt at the bare door again.

After thinking about it, this is taking someone else's money...that's not right!

It's probably because I swept the entrance of this courtyard myself, and it doesn't look good with the cigarette butts thrown away.

Well, that's the reason, definitely not because of the money.

Zhou Changli comforted himself and found a reason before picking up the cigarette butt.

When I straightened up, I suddenly felt a little red on my face.

Maybe he had been bent over for a long time and was congested, but he was afraid that others would see him, so he hurriedly entered the door and locked the door bolt.

When he returned to the concierge, he threw the cigarette butt in his hand on the ground.

After thinking about it, he kicked in the door of the stove pit again, put the key in his pocket, and then started to look at the fifty yuan in his hand.

To be honest, he had fifty dollars before.

But I can’t help but spend money, and it goes as quickly as it comes, so I can’t say what to buy or eat.

Recently, I have been looking after my house here. Zhao Laosi and the others came to see me several times, but they couldn't get out and could only stare.

This is just like the circle Sun Houhou drew for Tang Monk, unable to move forward.

It’s not that I can’t go home, let alone that I can’t get out of this door, but I’m always afraid of losing things here when I go out.

Playing is not fun, eating is not fun, and the whole body feels weak.

This was the first time that he was trusted so much by a serious person. He was given a large house to take care of. He really couldn't cross this threshold.

He would dare to hit anyone, but he wouldn't dare to lose his heart.

He didn't even look at it when Li Xuewu gave him the money. Now that he counts it like this, it's really a lot.

Zhou Changli squinted his eyes and was surprised. He shook the money and made a crackling sound on his hand.

Now that I have money, I don’t need to eat boiled noodles. Hey, I’ll go to the opposite side to eat mutton pot later.

Just as he was thinking this, there was another knock on the door.

He was so surprised. Could it be that the guy heard something and came back?

I left the concierge timidly, entered the hall, lay down at the crack of the door and looked out. I saw it was the street aunt, and then I breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door.

"What are you doing?"

"Hey, where's Ding Wanqiu?"

The street aunt and two women from this alley stood at the gate and saw a young man coming out, so she asked.

"moved away"

Zhou Changli felt that he was startled, and said impatiently that he wanted to close the door, but was stopped by the leading aunt.

"Are you the head of household now?"

The aunt also looked at Zhou Changli unceremoniously and said, "It's time to pay the electricity and water bills."

"What?"

Zhou Changli glared and asked, "What's the fee?"

"What's the fee!"

The street aunt rolled her eyes and said, "Didn't Ding Wanqiu tell you the electricity bill, the electricity bill for lighting the lights, the water bill, and the water bill for drinking water when he left?"

"I'm not the head of the household."

Zhou Changli was a little confused, thinking why these grandmothers didn't come earlier, or that person had planned to take the first step.

"Then notify the head of the household to pay the money."

The street lady rolled her eyes and said, "If you don't pay, the water supply will be cut off."

Zhou Changli frowned and looked at the three old ladies in front of him, and had to ask: "How much?"

"The electricity bill is one cent and twenty-three cents, and the water bill is one cent and sixty-one tons. Your family pays it per capita. Ding Wanqiu pays three tons of water a month. How many people are in your family now?"

"my home……"

Zhou Changli was confused by the aunt, waved his hand and said: "That's not right! I have been fetching water by myself these past few days, no tap water!"

"I know there is a well in your yard"

The aunt said impatiently: "But since your family has moved into running water, you have to deal with it like this. How many people are there? Hurry up."

"I told you this is not my home."

Zhou Changli frowned and thought to himself, Damn it, I was saving water for nothing, if I had known it would have been watering the flowers all the time.

Seeing that he was not cooperating, the aunt said, "Then the water and electricity will be cut off, and you can go to the street and hand it over yourself. We won't accept it yet."

"Hey hey hey!"

Zhou Changli saw that these aunts were even more angry than himself, so he could only take the money out of his pocket.

When the aunt rolled her eyes, she took the money and gave him change. At the same time, the other one wrote a note and hurriedly added: "I really don't belong to this family. I am the only one in this yard. I look after the house for others."

"It has nothing to do with me, you know!"

The aunt had lost her patience with him, so she registered it in the book, gave him the change, and said: "The water and electricity bills will have to be paid at the end of the day. I have been to your house several times, and you are the only one left. I do not know?"

After finishing speaking, he saw that his companion had given the note to the young man, so he took the lead and walked towards the street.

When Zhou Changli saw the change in his hand and listened to the three aunts muttering something unpleasant to him, he felt like his head was going to explode.

What the hell, it was said to be protection money, and the money I just got was broken.

If you start doing this work, you might have to pay a lot of money.

Why are you still thinking about eating mutton? This is such a shameless thing, so you won’t be able to borrow money from it, right?

——

Li Xuewu really didn't know that he would come to collect money today, but he knew that there were daily maintenance fees here.

In addition, Master Dou and the others have to work, so the supervisor here will inevitably have to use money to buy things.

That's why Zhou Changli was given so much.

Another thing is, if he uses people like this, he has to pay them a salary, right? Fifty yuan to work for half a year, no matter how you think about it, it's appropriate.

I drove to several other houses and looked at them one by one.

Not to mention, these opera singers still have the qualities to leave, but the courtyard is not slovenly, and it is not messed up by him.

The furniture handlers who were promised at the beginning were also left behind. Li Xuewu looked through it and found that he had indeed kept his word.

He didn't know when these people left, and he didn't ask, as long as he had the deed to the house now.

I looked at one place from the East 46th side, then I looked at one place to the west of Haizi, and I looked at two places from the east.

They all looked the same. It was past five o'clock when I last watched it. I wanted to go home for dinner after watching the last one, Sanjin Yard opposite the Drama School.

After eating, I still wanted to take Gu Ning to her mother-in-law's house to sit there.

Because the mother-in-law has already returned from collecting wind, and this is just after the earthquake, she has to go there anyway.

As for eating, my mother-in-law always wants to cook well if she eats there, which is really embarrassing.

So I made an agreement with Gu Ning that everyone would have their own food and pick her up after eating.

After driving the car to the entrance of the house opposite the Drama School, Li Xuewu took off his sunglasses and walked towards the gate with them in his hand.

Just as he was about to take the key from his pocket to open the door, he found that there was no lock on the door.

What the hell is going on?

Could it be that this family left without locking the door when they handed over to Lao Biaozi?

It's not too particular.

But that doesn't make sense. No matter how urgent it is, Ding Wanqiu lived here before he left.

Some people say that if the door is not locked elsewhere, Ding Wanqiu will not let anyone in if it is not locked here.

Isn't it a thief?

Li Xuewu thought so, put his sunglasses into his pocket, pulled out the pistol from his waist, and then gently pushed the door with his finger.

Hey! This is so arrogant!

Li Xuewu smelled the food. No one would occupy the magpie's nest. Seeing that the house was empty, he might as well move in first.

Seeing that the door was unlocked, Li Xuewu entered the courtyard with a gun.

After walking around the concierge and checking that no one was in the back room, he entered the hanging flower door with a pistol.

But the sound of the cooking pot was heard coming from the fire room, and someone was talking inside.

Li Xuewu squinted his eyes. He was sure that the family had left because Zhou Changli had just told him to send Ding Wanqiu to the train.

You can't just leave a few here to show him the house out of kindness, right?

"People inside, listen up."

Li Xuewu stood close to the wall, raised the pistol in his hand, and shouted in the direction of the fire room: "Come out now with your hands raised, or I will shoot."

As soon as he shouted, the cooking pot inside became silent, and the voices also stopped moving.

After hearing this, Li Xuewu realized that it couldn't be haunted in broad daylight.

Seeing that no one came out, he walked towards the fire room with his gun raised. When he got there, he really smelled the cooking smell, so he kicked the door open.

When he went in with the gun, he saw two girls squatting on the ground holding their heads in fear like quails.

Especially when he saw Li Xuewuzhen coming in with a gun, his raised little face turned pale with fright.

Li Xuewu stared at these two people, he was not a thief, he had seen them before.

One was the one who opened the door for him in the flower hall of the mansion, and the other was the one who followed the girl with the big braids and walked over to talk to him that night.

It’s just that there were three girls that night, and I don’t know why there are only two now.

wrong!

What the hell, that should be why there are still two of them here now!

General Li Xuewu put away the gun in his hand, looked at the vegetable pot that was about to burn, pointed at it with a frown, and said: "Hurry up."

The girl with big pigtails on the ground saw Li Xuewu pointing and smelled the smell of paste. She stood up with trembling legs and hurriedly shoveled the vegetables out of the pot.

When the girl saw that the person who came in was the housekeeper she had seen that night, she breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the ground, with tears streaming down her face like a tabby cat.

Li Xuewu didn't know what the situation was like now, so he looked at the people crying on the ground and standing by the pot with his chin sideways.

"Put things in order and talk in the courtyard"

After saying the next word, Li Xuewu stepped out of the fire room door.

After he walked around the courtyard, he realized that the Nuoda courtyard was indeed empty.

There was only a room upstairs at the back with bedding and daily necessities.

I also looked at the warehouse that was said to have a complete set of theater troupes reserved for him, but didn't see much.

It was just a box after a box, and the guy who put it outside couldn't figure out what it was.

When I came out of the warehouse, I saw the two girls standing under the steps of the yard with their heads lowered and their hands solemnly held.

Li Xuewu looked at the two people's clothes with squinting eyes. They were traditional silk clothes.

Embroidered cloth shoes, muslin blue trousers, muslin side placket and long sleeves, these are the early pajamas, they can be worn casually without sticking to the body.

However, most girls cannot let outsiders see them when they wear such clothes.

But it's not okay to not show them now. The two of them are being caught as thieves.

Li Xuewu looked at the two of them for a while, causing them to lower their heads even deeper, almost to the point where their heads were stuck in their chests.

"Who can tell me what's going on?"

Li Xuewu stood in the yard, with his hands on his waist, and asked the two of them.

Both of them were crying and banging on the brick floor for a while.

Li Xuewu looked at the tears on the ground, but he didn't have time to listen to the two singing a song here, so he said again: "If you don't tell me, I will ask someone to take you back to the police station."

They had heard from their master that this man was a high-ranking cadre in the yamen, who was in charge of the bureau's premises.

As soon as this man said he would take them to the dispatch office, he believed it in his heart and panicked.

"No~"

It was the girl with the big braid who spoke, she raised her head with tears in her eyes, looked at Li Xuewu pitifully, and explained: "Master is gone."

Li Xuewu closed his eyes, paused for a second, and then opened them again, with the expression on his face unchanged.

What does their master's departure have to do with him? What he is asking now is why these two girls didn't follow him.

The girl's legs trembled a little when she saw Li Xuewu's expression, especially his serious face.

But if you don't answer, it won't work. If you go to the institute, you won't be able to explain clearly.

"Master left and left us behind, wuwuwu~"

At this time, the girl next to me spoke back, but after she finished speaking, she started crying again.

Li Xuewu frowned and looked at the two of them and asked, "Then why don't you leave?"

"We...we have nowhere to go"

The girl with big braids was still calm. Although she was crying, she still held back her emotions and explained: "We were all bought by the master. We grew up with the master's family. We have no father or mother..."

Li Xuewu grinned. There was no mention in the contract that he would buy a house and give it to the girl.

This opera singer is also very particular.

Hearing his companion say that he has no father or mother, the one who cried just now cried even harder.

Li Xuewu looked at this one, then that, and asked, "Didn't I say that your master is a teacher at the university across the street? Aren't you students from the opposite university?"

What he was thinking was, if the college student opposite him was not a hot commodity, he would not be able to go anywhere when the time comes.

But the girl replied: "We don't have that blessing. We just can't afford to eat. Master paid for it with millet."

Li Xuewu calculated in his mind, what year did this happen?

"How old are you?"

"I am seventeen and she is sixteen."

The girl with big pigtails saw Li Xuewu and introduced herself and her crying companion.

Li Xuewu was also confused. Who could say for sure what happened in those few years? Every place was in chaos. Selling children and selling girls was not uncommon at all times.

But looking at these two troublemakers, Li Xuewu didn't know how to solve them for a while.

"Do you still have any relatives?"

After Li Xuewu asked, he felt that there was little hope. If he still had relatives, he would just stay here.

Sure enough, both of them shook their heads.

"Where is the registered residence?"

Li Xuewu lowered his eyes and said, "You can't have a household registration, right?"

“This is it”

The girl with big braids said timidly: "Our household registration was left here with Master."

Li Xuewu sighed and asked: "Where is the household registration book? I can't ask your master to take it away, right?"

"without……"

The girl with the big pigtails turned around and ran to the backyard with her pigtails swaying. After a while, she ran back and breathlessly gave Li Xuewu two notebooks.

Li Xuewu took it and opened it and looked at it, and he really found it here.

However, they are all related by relatives, and each person has his own business. It is obviously done through connections, and all the opera singers have some connections.

Looking through the book in his hand, Li Xuewu saw that both of them were no longer crying, but just looked at him timidly. Li Xuewu asked helplessly: "Why did I take you away and leave you two behind?"

Hearing Li Xuewu ask this, the younger one, Jin Jiaojiao, started crying again.

Maybe it was because Li Xuewu asked about sad things that he couldn't stop crying.

It might be a sad thing for anyone to be abandoned, so Li Xuewu didn't pay attention to her.

He turned to look at the tall, older girl named Tong Huimei, waiting for her to answer.

"Master...Master didn't take them all away"

Seeing Li Xuewu ask, Tong Huimei lowered her head sadly and explained: "Some brothers and sisters live here, and they have all gone home, and some whose families are in other places have also taken the train, and some... …”

He took a breath, as if he felt aggrieved, and continued to explain: "There are still students from the school opposite who have returned to school. Master only took those people away."

"Don't you belong to those people?"

Li Xuewu looked at the household registration books of the two people, and there seemed to be nothing to check.

Tong Huimei shook her head and said: "Those who go with the master and uncles are chosen by them, or are their own children."

Seeing that Li Xuewu didn't understand, he explained: "The person you saw that day was the child of my uncle's family who was talking to me. She was my master's disciple, so she followed her away."

"There are also people like Senior Brother who are capable, and Master will take him with him."

Speaking of the latter part, Li Xuewu clearly felt Tong Huimei's depression, and he obviously hated himself for being incompetent.

Before Li Xuewu could speak, Jin Jiaojiao, who was crying at the side, said bitterly: "He is no longer the master, and that heartless man is not the master brother."

“Jiao Jiao”

Tong Huimei called her companion to signal her not to say that, then looked at Li Xuewu and said: "We didn't mean it, and we don't want to cause trouble to you, but we have nowhere to go."

Li Xuewu held two household registration books, looked at the two of them and said, "I didn't ask anyone to transfer the title when I bought this house."

"I know I know"

Tong Huimei wiped her tears and asked Li Xuewu: "Do you want to work? We can do anything, as long as you..."

Li Xuewu looked at the two of them helplessly and said, "What are you doing with me? I'm not an eldest young master. Why do I bring two maids with me when I go out?"

Seeing Li Xuewu say this, Tong Huimei also knew that she was forcing others to do something difficult, and the confidence she had just regained was gone now.

Li Xuewu looked at the two of them for a while and said, "I bought this house to live in, so I can't turn you away with just one word."

Hearing this, both of them raised their heads expectantly, waiting for Li Xuewu to make an announcement.

Li Xuewu thought for a while and said, "I'll give you three days to find a house. In three days, I'll have workers here to clean up the house."

Upon hearing these words, the small flames in their eyes extinguished instantly, and their faces dropped as gray as death.

They were raised by their master from childhood, and they only know how to sing. Even cooking without a cook is like a war. What can they do when they go out?

Otherwise, Li Xuewu had such an expression when he heard the two of them saying that they could do anything. He couldn't just ask his family to sing for the old lady, right?

You can't even ask your father to get so angry that he whips you.

He has a clear conscience towards the two of them. This house was bought with real money, and he has the deed to it.

If the family hadn't walked so fast, he would have beaten them now.

After giving the two people an ultimatum, Li Xuewu didn't even look at them. He threw the household registration book in his hand on the shelf next to him and stepped out of the yard.

It's not that he is cruel, it's just that it's the truth. I've never seen someone who buys a house and has to adopt an apprentice.

Besides, he is a serious person. Buying a house and raising two women is nothing.

Once the ignition is on, step on the accelerator and drive home.

I wrote more than three thousand more. I will write more tomorrow and maybe add more.