Chapter 46

  That was an old lady sitting at the foot of the wall basking in the sun.

  The old lady was thin and small, with a little grey hair combed into a bun, dull eyes, wearing an old-fashioned cotton-padded jacket with buttons under the armpits, sitting on a rare-to-see small bamboo chair with a backrest, huddled at the foot of the wall, a tiny ball, if you didn't pay attention, most people would ignore her.

  Before the door was fully open, Situ smiled and said: "Hello big sister, we're here to find Yao Fangqing, is she at home?"

  Big sister? Chengzhou does not dare to look at Situ Mu sideways.

  Who would have thought that the old lady who looked like she was over eighty didn't get angry at this address, but instead showed a hint of a smile on her face, revealing a toothless gum, saying: "You're looking for Fangqing? That girl doesn't live here anymore, she moved out after getting married."

  "Get married?" Cheng Zhou was stunned.

  The old lady was nestled there, sizing up Cheng Chou, then looking at Sutu and He Sheng, before seeming to understand something, and chuckling.

  "Don't you know that Fang has gotten married? But it's not your fault for not knowing, she didn't send out wedding invitations. We old neighbors who've watched her grow up only found out when her mom came out to give us candies."

  "Was it her parents and older sister who told you that Yao Fangqing got married? Did they say who she married, what the man does for a living, and where they live?" Si Tu asked with a smile, as if chatting casually.

  "Hey kid, why ask so many questions? They're already married, can't you just give up?"

  Chengzhou found that the old lady's last words seemed to be directed at him.

  Situ also saw it, and immediately went along with the situation, saying: "Big sister, don't make fun of our family's second son. He has liked Yao Fangqing for a long time, but didn't dare to confess in school. Later, he left the city to work for a period of time. This time, he came back and bought a house, and finally had the courage to come find Yao Fangqing. It was also to try his luck, alas... good women all get married early."

  The old lady seemed to have heard some secret and laughed happily, "Nothing, nothing, the young man is talented, has a house and a job, and still worries about not finding a good girl?"

  "Yes, I also told him that, but my second brother is stubborn." Xiāng just used Cheng Chou as a shield and teased him together with the old lady.

  Chengzhou was both embarrassed and helpless, with a tangled expression that looked even more like that.

  He Sheng was still standing beside him with a sympathetic gaze, occasionally chiming in to call him "older cousin" as well.

  The old lady may not have chatted with anyone for a long time, and the chat object is three handsome young men. Si Tu only said a few words to make the old lady smile, and she was willing to say anything that came out of her heart.

  After complaining about her daughter-in-law and son, the old lady suddenly changed the subject, "Actually, if I'm being honest, it's better that your second brother didn't get together with that girl from the Yao family. If they really did get together, tsk, you'll regret it!"

  "What? How can you say that?" Situ's face was full of surprise.

  The old lady glanced around, saw that there were only the four of them, and immediately showed a disdainful expression on her face. She said in a voice that wasn't very low: "It's still her father, who is not a good thing to eat, drink, gamble, and take drugs! From childhood, he didn't do good things, and when he grew up, he was also a rascal. He even sat in prison, and the wife he married was not a good woman either. She was lazy and promiscuous. Everyone around here knew that this woman used to be a prostitute under the Drum Tower! With such parents, if Yao'er marries into any family, that family will have bad luck!"

  Cheng Zhou and the other two people exchanged a glance.

  Cheng Zhou, as Yao Fangqing's admirer, naturally had to speak up for her, "Her parents are her parents, Yao Fangqing is always a good girl, can't she get married just because of her parents?"

  "Good girl?" The old lady sneered, her face full of disdain. "A family like that, parents like that, what good girl can come out of it? You know? When she started junior high, her father and mother openly said they had no money to pay for her tuition. She cried for a few days, went out and came back with the money to pay the fees. It's been like this many times since then. Sometimes she doesn't even come back home to live. Her family is so poor, whatever little money they have is all gambled away by her father, but she dresses up just as well as other girls. Where do you think she gets her money from? Hmph!"

  Chengzhou... understood the old lady's implied meaning.

  The old lady continued: "Her father often forced her to hand over money at home, and the beating and scolding voices were heard by our entire building. Her father is a fool, it's a family shame that can't be made public, but he's afraid others don't know his daughter has gone out to sell something. You don't know how badly Yao An scolded that girl! That's his own biological daughter!"

  Chengzhou couldn't imagine that the girl who came to see him that night, Yao Fangqing, would have such a background. Such a young and beautiful girl with a good heart actually lived in such an environment and even graduated from university.

  Is it because of her background that she regards a man named Huang Yu as her future hope?

  After all, on the surface, Huang Yu almost fits the dream lover image of most girls with a miserable life, being a soldier, having iron blood, and having a certain status in his family. This is completely the best object to get rid of the original family shadow, to get rid of that kind of parents.

  Because it carries too much hope, that's why when the hope is shattered, it will be so resentful! Resentful to the point of using one's own life to curse those who owe themselves.

  The old lady said a lot more about Yao Fangqing and her family, hardly a good word, all kinds of contempt and sarcasm.

  "...my granddaughter, although she didn't get into college and isn't like Fang Yatou who spends all day putting on makeup, is a kind and innocent girl. But as a result, Fang Yatou became jealous of my granddaughter for finding a good boyfriend, and whenever she meets someone, she speaks ill of my granddaughter, even saying that she helped someone to harm her."

  As the old lady spoke further and further away, Mr. Sutu smiled and pulled the topic back, "The Yao family lives on the third floor, right? Since we're here, let's go up and take a look, even if it's just to ask for Yao Fangqing's current address. No matter what, our second child probably still hopes to see Yao Fangqing again. By the way, has anything happened at the Yao family in the past two days?"

  The old lady was interrupted, but she didn't seem to mind. She furrowed her brow and said: "What could the Yao family possibly have going on? They're always fighting and arguing! But now that you mention it, I did see Fang yesterday. That girl is still as arrogant as ever, acting like she's too good for everyone else just because she went to college. Humph, what's there to be proud of? My granddaughter said that even in school, she had to sleep with the teacher to graduate, and got her belly poked out by someone..."

  Just then, the window above the old lady suddenly opened, and a disheveled girl picked up a pot of hot water and poured it on the old lady below, scolding: "You're always gossiping all day long! If you didn't gossip every day, would you die? You said Yao Fangqing was good, why do you always drag me out every time?! You stupid old woman! It's all your fault that Mingge and I broke up! Let me tell you! Let me tell you! Scald to death this old hag!"

  Scalding hot water was poured down, and the old lady covered her face and let out a series of ear-piercing screams!

  Chengzhou was shocked, his hair standing on end, and he immediately took a step forward to grab the thermos from the girl's hand, but was pulled back by Situ and He Sheng at the same time.

  "Don't go!" He Sheng shouted.

  "We've already entered." Si Tu's voice was somewhat unhappy, he had also been deceived.

  Come in, where are you going? Cheng Zhou tightly grasped He Sheng's arm beside him.

  He wanted to be brave, he also told himself to start working hard to accept all this, but when these surreal and bizarre scenes and events really happened in front of him, he found that he still couldn't face them calmly!

  "We're trying to back away and leave the scope of this building." Si Tu let He Sheng pull Cheng Zhou step by step backward.

  When she retreated to the tenth step, the old lady's mournful and shrill cry suddenly disappeared, and the surrounding scene seemed to have returned to its original appearance when I first arrived here.

  Chengzhou stared at the old lady who was nestled at the foot of the wall, seemingly dozing off and sunbathing, unable to utter a word.

  "Take another step back and look." Si Tu slowly exhaled a breath of air.

  He Sheng pulled Cheng Chou back and took a step back, in an instant, the old lady under the wall disappeared, leaving only the five-story old building standing there.

  Chengzhou let out a big sigh of relief and relaxed his grip on He Sheng's arm, but then tightened it again when he saw Situ's gaze.

  Situ stared tightly at their backs.

  Chengzhou didn't even dare turn his head back.

  He slowly turned around.

  Chengzhou hastily gasped twice and turned back abruptly, not allowing himself to hesitate.

  Just behind them, a dark alleyway was facing them, and their feet had already stepped halfway into the doorway.

  "What's going on?" Cheng Zhou didn't know his own voice was trembling when he asked.

  Situ didn't look at him, but stared at the dimly lit staircase and said, "It means we can only go in for a walk once."

  He Sheng comforted Cheng Chuan, "Cheng Ge, don't be afraid, we're all by your side. As long as you don't lose our spirit tablets, even if we get separated, we can find you immediately."

  Cheng Zhou swallowed hard and said with a sob: "… He Sheng, why do I have a premonition that I will definitely lose your spirit tablets when I hear you say this?"

  Situ He Sheng, who was originally a bit nervous, couldn't help but laugh when he heard Cheng Zhou say that.

  "Alright, don't scare yourself. Cheng Zhou, I think this barrier doesn't seem to have any ill intentions towards us, or perhaps Yao Fangqing doesn't want to hurt you through this, maybe she just wants you to see something." Si Tu said, and then fell into deep thought.

  He nodded, "I have the same feeling, Yao Fangqing seems to want to tell you something. Let's go, after all, our purpose in coming here is to find Yao Fangqing, and it's impossible not to make a move."

  Cheng Zhou also knew that this trip was unavoidable, but he couldn't help asking: "Do you think there are still survivors in this building?"

  "Yes, both the old woman and the girl were alive just now." Si Tu replied casually.

  Cheng Chou shouted loudly, "I don't believe it! That old woman was scalded to that extent, how can she still be alive?"

  "This is what I find strange..." Sze-toh said he couldn't understand it either.

  The author has something to say: Seeing the New Year's gifts sent by everyone, especially the tyrannical tickets, I am overjoyed. Here is a special New Year's thank-you skit, hoping to bring a smile^^

  New Year's Mini Theater 1

  One night, Cheng Zhou felt an extremely swollen urge to urinate, got up and went to the toilet, dazedly took out little Cheng Zhou from his four-cornered sleeping pants, and was about to have a refreshing pee.

  Hongye also walked in with a swagger, squeezing out a position next to his dad, yawning on one side and pulling down his pants on the other, taking out his little bird and letting out a stream of water.

  Cheng Zhou glanced at him with a hint of amusement and teased his son, "So young!"

  "Red Leaf," ...Want to see the giant cannon?"

  "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" That night, Cheng Jia let out a blood-curdling scream for the first time, as if a murder had taken place.

  All the neighbors who heard about it were secretly delighted in their hearts, thinking: That lucky man who bought a big house at a good cheap price has finally gone bankrupt!!!!!

  Little Theatre 1 End

  Thank you Jhen's deep-sea torpedo, palms together!