Chickens and dogs fly in chaos and rebirth

Chapter 24

Seeing his awkward expression, Shang Lin chuckled: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I won't force you to eat more! It's just a little bit."

He counted on his fingers: "I know you love spicy food, so I specially prepared a table full of spicy dishes for tomorrow. It's definitely not as spicy as the ones from Sichuan, but it'll at least be festive. Hey, did Grandpa Shen say whether he'll be back tomorrow or not?"

He shook his head, indicating he didn't know.

Shang Lin sighed: "Don't worry. He's not a child, he can take care of himself. I think he's quite happy out there."

The "Grandpa Shen" she mentioned was Li Changsheng's maternal grandfather.

Nine out of ten days they wouldn't see him. The only day they did see him was when he came back to change clothes and get money. They adopted a hands-off approach to their grandson, believing that since his grandson had grown up without a father or mother, lacking a grandfather was no big deal.

Two weeks after Li Changsheng moved into the Hongxing Family Compound, he met the Qiu siblings and began living a life of oppression and exploitation. But everyone in the compound said that Shanglin was a kind-hearted and good-natured child.

What's so good about it?

He had to accompany her to her stall, go shopping with her, help her clean and tidy her room, learn to cook, protect her safety, teach Qiu Xialin how to fight, and so on...

Even Zhang Hongwei couldn't stand it, thinking that his daughter was too cunning at such a young age and had completely taken advantage of people.

She added, "What's wrong with the kids eating a meal at home? They keep you company and keep you entertained, why don't you pay them a salary?"

Qiu Shanglin chuckled as he directed him to climb up and sweep away the spiderwebs, all the while calculating: "Why don't you mention that I eat with him, drink with him, play with him, and keep him entertained every day? Shouldn't he pay me a salary?"

Zhang Hongwei sighed heavily and said, "Qiu Jianguo, you should at least do something about your daughter!"

On the other side, Qiu Jianguo moved the heavy bookcase under his daughter's direction, looking at his beloved daughter with affection: "Daughter, if there's anything else, just tell me!"

He and his wife are rarely home, and when they do come back, they always make sure their daughter is satisfied.

He quietly pulled Shanglin aside and asked, "Do you have any money left?"

Shang Lin nodded: "Yes, my mom gave me quite a lot last month, and I still have some left after buying New Year's goods."

He was a little anxious. Seeing Li Changsheng diligently sweeping the corner of the wall with his head tilted back, he whispered even lower, "I meant Changsheng's house, did you buy it?"

She nodded: "I bought it. I bought everything. But it seems that Grandpa Shen is not planning to go home for the New Year. I was thinking of having him come to our house for the New Year."

Qiu Jianguo nodded in agreement.

“It’s not easy for the kids, so we should help them as much as we can. Your Grandpa Shen used to work at our factory, and he took good care of me.”

Shang Lin stated, "Don't worry, I won't treat him unfairly."

Well, I don't mistreat him, I only abuse him.

Lunar New Year's Eve

On the last day of 1987, Lunar New Year's Eve, Li Changsheng got up in the dark and practiced a set of boxing in the courtyard. The biting north wind blew into his nostrils, seeping into his bones through his thick cotton clothes. After finishing the set of boxing, he was drenched in sweat—something that had never happened before.

Winter clothes are thin, and after a set of punches, one is usually sweating on one side and cold on the other, and it takes a long time to warm up. Qiu Shanglin forced him to change into winter clothes. Although the thick and bulky clothes made it inconvenient to move around, he had to admit that they were indeed much warmer.

After finishing the last few movements and stretching my legs, my gaze drifted to the next room.

It was still early, and no one in the compound had gotten up yet. A faint light shone from the next room, but it was completely silent—that brat had forgotten to turn off the light again while reading until midnight!

Her parents don't even know how to control her!

I walked to the corner of the courtyard wall, moved a ladder, and turned off the power. Satisfied, I watched as the only light went out. The courtyard remained quiet, immersed in its slumber.

Li Changsheng smiled contentedly, his tanned complexion highlighting his pearly white teeth.

He entered the house in the dark without turning on the lights—the circuit breaker was off, so turning on the lights would be pointless.

The room was warm, with a gentle breeze blowing in his face. He felt hot all over, so he took off his cotton-padded coat and draped it over a chair next to the stove, thinking that if he slept until the afternoon, the coat would be almost dry.

He burrowed into bed, opened his eyes, and thought for a moment. Then he got out of bed, lifted the stove lid, and added coal briquettes. The dim, red flames were hidden beneath the dark coal, suppressing their vibrant life. After thinking for a while, he poked at the fire a few times before finally putting the lid back on.

Although the heat inside made him sweat profusely, he was even more afraid that Qiu Shanglin would get up and see that the stove was out, and then he would start yelling at him.

I buried my face in the blanket, listened to the crackling of the flames in the stove, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

As dawn broke, activity began to stir in the courtyard. Several women from different households got up to prepare fried snacks for lunch on New Year's Eve and food for the ancestral worship that evening. The lights were switched on, but after waiting for a long time, the house remained dark.

She muttered as she walked back to the bedside and nudged her sleeping husband: "The light is broken, get up and take a look."

After much nagging, the man finally got out of bed, grumbling, and checked the electrical circuits in his house. There was nothing wrong with them.

Puzzled, I stepped out of the house, just as my neighbor peeked out and looked around.

"Third brother, do you have electricity at home?"

"No!"

"You don't have any at home either?"

Several men gathered at the corner of the wall, looked up at the switch box that controlled the entire compound, and shouted, "Which bastard pulled the switch down?!"

The morning of Lunar New Year's Eve began amidst insults and casual conversations... No, no, that's not the beginning.

"Li Changsheng!" came a full, clear voice.

Li Changsheng rolled around in a ball, clutching his blanket. He heard shouts in his sleep, but he just thought he was hallucinating and turned over to go back to sleep.

"Brother Li!"

"Brother Changsheng!"

"The sun's already high in the sky!"

The women held the children down to wash their faces and hands, scolding them for being naughty and causing trouble at the Qiu family's house since it was New Year's Day; at the same time, they looked through the open door and saw Qiu Shanglin standing in front of the Li family's house with his hands on his hips, shouting louder and louder.

They chuckled, "Shanglin, are you waking Changsheng up again?"

Qiu Shanglin turned around upon hearing the voice and greeted them one by one: "Good morning, Aunt Bai, good morning, Auntie, good morning, Grandma Zhao."

The women were overjoyed by her cheerful and sweet greeting: "Hey, good morning! Come over to my house later for some fried eggplant fritters!"

"Thank you, Grandma Zhao. My mom can't make eggplant fritters as delicious as yours."

Qiu Xialin, dressed like a ball of flesh, bounced out of the house: "Sis, sis, Mom said you shouldn't be picky, or she'll spank you!"

Qiu Shanglin chuckled: "I'm telling the truth! Grandma Zhao's cooking is delicious—Aunt Bai, I want to eat your sweet and sour pork ribs, can I have a piece for lunch?"

Holding her disobedient son down firmly, she splashed water on his face with one hand and said to him with her other hand, "I'll bring you a plate when it's ready!"

Shanglin feigned a hungry look and complained, "Why isn't it noon yet!"

The women laughed heartily.

Looking down at her own little one, she sighed inwardly, wondering why her child was not as sensible as Qiu Shanglin.

Xia Lin stumbled to the glass window, knocked hard, called out a few times, and turned around to ask, "Brother isn't home?"

Shang Lin sneered: "Impossible!"

He pulled out a rolling pin and started poking at the door: "Li Changsheng, don't pretend, I know you're in the house. Get up quickly, it's New Year's Eve, get up and have breakfast, there's still a lot of work to do after breakfast!"

Zhang Hongwei carried the water for washing his face to the yard and splashed it, frowning as he scolded his daughter: "Don't mess with him. He stayed up with you so late last night, can't he even sleep in? Do you think everyone is like you, so full of energy!"

She then scolded her son: "Xia Lin! Don't you dare break your brother's windows! It's all your sister's fault. You haven't learned a single good thing from her, but instead you've learned how to bully your brother! You just take advantage of his good temper!"

Xia Lin stared in disbelief—"My brother has a good temper?"

Are you kidding me? My brother has a good temper, then my sister is practically a goddess, and my brother Yin is like a benevolent god... Okay, my brother Yin is indeed a benevolent god to me.

My brother is only good-tempered when he's with my sister; when he's with other people... he's a powder keg!

Shanglin said softly, "Go and get the smaller trumpet."

Xia Lin smiled slyly, ran off, carried the small trumpet out of the house, chose a spot to stand, saw his sister nod slightly, straightened his chest, raised his head and took a deep breath.

"Drip drip drip drip, drip drip drip drip."

A loud, high-pitched trumpet rang out in the courtyard. Some children who were still reluctant to sleep in jumped out of bed, ignoring their mothers chasing after them yelling for them to get dressed, and dashed to the door, peering out through the doorframe. When the tune ended, they shouted:

"Brother Changsheng, wake up!"