Chapter 301: Liu Guangqi

The big grass carp Li Ping'an caught filled the Xi Kua Yuan with fish scent all night, also drew the sourness of Yan Bu Gui in the Front Courtyard and the jealousy of Jia Zhangshi in the Central Courtyard, but this small ripple was quickly covered by the "splendid" wedding the Liu family in the back yard was about to hold.

Liu Haizhong's family is about to hold a wedding! His eldest son Liu Guangqi, who has just been assigned to the Steel Factory's technical department and walks with a breeze, is getting married!

This is a momentous event in the Siheyuan. Liu Haizhong's lifelong suppressed desire to be regarded highly, like dry firewood, was finally ignited by his son's "promising" east wind, turning into an obsession to hold a "splendid" celebration.

He puffed out his increasingly protruding general's belly, and to anyone he boasted about the bride's good family background (only daughter, father a minor official), as if that could gild the Liu family's doorway with a gold trim.

To arrange the banquet, Liu Haizhong went all out. Short on meat vouchers? He hit the black market! Gritting his teeth, he paid nearly double the market price for heavy, marbled pork belly and a glossy, plump rooster.

Short on wine vouchers? He still went to the black market! He procured several bottles of strong liquor that he usually wouldn't even sip. Cigarettes, candy, peanuts, sunflower seeds… none could be stingy.

This whole ordeal nearly emptied Liu Haizhong's last reserves of family wealth; Er Da Ma winced in pain, muttering privately, but couldn't stand Liu Haizhong's roar of "this is face! can't lose it!"

On the wedding day, the Liu family's back yard was indeed bustling. Four or five Eight Immortals Tables borrowed from neighbors were set up, bearing greasy Red Braised Pork, a whole stewed chicken, golden fried peanuts… the aroma mingled with acrid smoke and alcohol, filling the entire back yard.

Liu Haizhong, wearing his best Zhongshan suit, buttons tightly fastened, face glistening with oil, weaved among the guests, receiving compliments—some sincere, some not—his laughter booming, as if his life had reached its pinnacle.

Sha Zhu was invited to take the kitchen, sweating profusely, yet he sneered at Liu Haizhong's pompous behavior: "Look at him showing off! He wasted a couple of bad bucks and doesn't know how to spend them!"

Yan Bu Gui, meanwhile, calculated as he ate, pondering the cost of this table; old Liu this time probably exhausted his vital energy.

Yi Zhonghai lifted his wine glass, smiling, but in his mind he mulled over whether Liu Guangqi's marriage would shift his influence in the courtyard.

Yet beneath this surface bustle and splendor, a hidden current had already been flowing. On the bride's side, they had their own calculations.

The only daughter, whose father was a minor official with some real authority, had long hinted that they hoped Liu Guangqi could become a son‑in‑law; not only could they immediately provide the couple with separate housing, but they even promised to arrange a bicycle for them later.

More importantly, the national call to support third‑line construction was underway, sending workers to emerging industrial cities; a technician like Liu Guangqi could be promoted quickly, with boundless prospects.

This condition, like a huge magnet, firmly attracted Liu Guangqi. He had long been fed up with his father Liu Haizhong's authoritarian, brutal, either beating or scolding discipline, the stifling, suffocating home atmosphere that made him yearn to escape. He didn't want his future children to grow up trembling in such an environment.

Leaving the Siheyuan, leaving his father, having his own space and future—this thought grew wildly in his heart like wild grass.

The wedding banquet's clamor lingered until deep night before fading. Liu Haizhong, drunk to the point of blackout, was helped back to his room by Er Da Ma and his two younger sons Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu; his slurred words were, "I… old Liu family… bring glory…" his face flushed with satisfied redness.

Night deep, people silent, the moon dark and wind high.

In the newlywed bridal chamber, the red candles had not yet burned out. Liu Guangqi looked at his sleeping bride beside him, heard the snoring from the parents' room next door, his gaze becoming unusually firm and clear. He gently nudged the bride awake; the two, familiar with each other's steps, moved silently.

Their packed luggage was already ready, each just a small bundle. Liu Guangqi skillfully pried open the locked drawer in his parents' room, stuffing the last bits of Liu Haizhong's cash and a few exchangeable tickets into his own pocket in one go.

After completing this, he left a pre‑written letter on the Eight Immortals Table in the main hall. Then the newlyweds, carrying simple bundles, like ghosts merging into the night, silently opened the back‑yard gate and vanished into the cold darkness, heading straight for the train station where a train bound for an emerging industrial city in the west awaited them.

The next morning, at first light, Er Da Ma, as usual, rose early to prepare breakfast for the family. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she entered the main hall to start a fire, but suddenly noticed the tables and chairs were a bit messy; looking up, she saw a letter conspicuously placed on the Eight Immortals Table!

A foreboding feeling seized her instantly! She staggered into the eldest son's New House—empty! The kang was spotless, not even a hair strand left! She then ran back to her own room, shaking the still‑sleeping Liu Haizhong: "Old Liu! Old Liu! Trouble! Guangqi… Guangqi's room is empty! On the table… there's a letter!"

Liu Haizhong was jolted awake from a pleasant dream, already nursing a hangover headache, and grew more irritable at the news, but seeing his wife's pallid face made his heart skip. He snatched the letter, trembling as he unfolded it. The handwriting was Liu Guangqi's, and its contents pierced his heart like ice spikes:

In the letter, Liu Guangqi plainly stated he had decided to answer the call, support western development, and go with his wife, with prospects for promotion. He wrote that he did not want his future children to live under his grandfather's rod's shadow, thanked his parents for their upbringing, and casually added that he would temporarily borrow the family's money for settling down, asking his parents to take care.

"West", "rod's shadow", "temporary borrowing of money"… each word was like a resounding slap, striking Liu Haizhong's face that had just been reveling in his "face"!

"Ah—!" Liu Haizhong let out a beast‑like howl, darkness flashed before his eyes, a sharp pain struck his chest, he couldn't draw a breath, his massive body fell straight backward with a "thump", collapsing as if he had been so enraged he fainted to death.

"Old Liu! Old Liu!" Er Da Ma was terrified, lunging, shaking and shouting; seeing Liu Haizhong unresponsive, her face turned ashen, the world spun, feeling the house's main pillars had collapsed! She scrambled out of the house, crying, "Guangtian! Guangfu! Someone help! Your dad has collapsed!"

Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu were startled awake, rushed over in a panic, and were stunned to see their father on the ground and the scattered letter. In a clumsy scramble, with a few neighbors who arrived after hearing the commotion, they lifted the unconscious Liu Haizhong on a door panel and hurried to the Yi Yuan.

This earth‑shaking incident in the back yard was like a deep‑water bomb dropped into the tranquil Siheyuan! The news spread winged and fast.

Neighbors from the Front Courtyard, Central Courtyard, and back yard gathered, circling the Liu house, pointing, whispering. Surprise, sympathy, schadenfreude, spectatorship… a tapestry of gazes.

"Oh dear! This really… yesterday it was splendid, today the family is ruined?" someone feigned sigh.

"He ran to the west? Even took the family fortune? That kid Liu Guangqi, how ruthless!" someone exclaimed.

"What did I say? Showing off too much, even Heaven can't stand it!" said someone who had long disliked Liu Haizhong's ways.

Yan Bu Gui, adjusting his glasses, shook his head, murmuring, "Fortune hides disaster, the ancients truly aren't deceiving! This face‑saving project harms people!"

Yi Zhonghai, watching the Liu family in chaos, furrowed his brows, ordered Er Da Ma to see what help she could offer, yet felt a sigh inside. He prized filial piety and stability; Liu Guangqi's act undoubtedly struck his sore spot.

And the most poisonous, most unprincipled mouth belonged to Jia Zhangshi of the Central Courtyard. She held a cracked bowl, leaned against her doorway, slurping thin porridge, spitting as she said to the nearby women, "Damn! Let Liu Haizhong show off! Let him act like a big‑tailed wolf! Buying so much meat, throwing such a lavish banquet—what's the result? He breeds a white‑eyed wolf! Hahaha, it's karma! Better kill him with anger, so he won't keep waddling around the courtyard with his bulging belly like an old hen that laid an egg!"

Her cutting words provoked a few other sour‑hearted wives to giggle covertly.

In the Xi Kua Yuan, Li Ping'an also heard the commotion outside. He stood at the doorway, watching the chaotic scene toward the back yard, his expression calm, unsurprised.

He had long seen Liu Guangqi's resolve to leave, but hadn't expected such a decisive method. He let out a soft sigh, turned back into his house, closed the door. The outside clamor and schadenfreude were none of his concern.

He only knew that the Liu family in the back yard, after this episode, had been utterly drained of vital energy, and Liu Haizhong's pitiful "face" had completely collapsed, shattered on the ground along with his eldest son's departure and the neighbors' gossip.

Life in the Siheyuan always rolls forward amid such extreme contrasts and farces, never ceasing.