Chapter 626: Marketplace Smoke and Fire, Old Grudges and New Hatreds

Once life smoothed out, good things seemed to have made an appointment, coming one after another.

Yan Jiefang is getting married, and he is marrying Xiaomei, a BranchManager at the Xueru Garment Factory.

Come to think of it, after Xiaomei divorced Xu Damao, she had absolutely no intention of being with Yan Jiefang—the two of them are six or seven years apart.

Moreover, Yan Jiefang used to be a Buddha, so she still held some taboos in her heart.

But this time, Yan Jiefang acted as if he were possessed, pursuing her relentlessly.

Xiaomei grew annoyed and casually threw out a few conditions: strive to become an activist and be named a model worker.

She had hoped to make him retreat in the face of difficulty, but who knew this kid would actually go and accomplish them one by one.

Ever since then, Yan Jiefang seemed like a different person; he was so attentive to Xiaomei, taking care of her in every possible way.

Human hearts are made of flesh, and seeing this persistence of his, Xiaomei slowly softened, and the two got together.

Xiaomei had originally wanted to date for a while longer and talk about marriage at the end of the year.

But her belly wouldn't wait; three or four months had passed in a flash, and continuing to hide it wasn't an option, so they simply set the wedding for May Day.

Yan Jiefang and Xiaomei are both well-off now and aren't short of this bit of money, so they simply invited the whole courtyard to eat.

Yan Bugui can finally stand tall and be a man this time.

He still felt the pinch in his heart, but then he thought, it wasn't him paying anyway; it was all coming out of Jiefang and Xiaomei's pockets.

Even if he didn't invite everyone to this meal, that money wouldn't end up in his own pocket.

Thinking this way, when he went door-to-door to invite people, he was incredibly generous: "The whole family come, eat whatever you want!"

People in the courtyard were whispering: Did the Yan family find a gold ingot? Or did they have a change of heart?

Yan Jiefang didn't avoid suspicion either and even specially invited the ex-husband, Xu Damao.

When Xu Damao heard about this, he was so angry he smashed all the worthless tea sets and broken tables in his house, cursing Xiaomei for over two hours.

It wasn't that he cared about Xiaomei marrying Yan Jiefang—they were already divorced—he was angry that Xiaomei was pregnant.

He, Xu Damao, had been busy for over ten years and hadn't managed to produce a single child.

Yan Jiefang and Xiaomei had only been together for a short time and already had a child; wasn't this a slap in his face?

After divorcing Xiaomei, Xu Damao had no shortage of matchmakers introducing him to potential partners.

Because he had money, many young women felt Xu Damao had good conditions and were willing to associate with him.

But in this day and age, which family wouldn't go to the man's home to inquire before marrying off their daughter? Nobody knows who spread it, but Xu Damao's reputation in this area is extremely poor: he beats his father, scolds his mother, and is infertile.

Xu Damao later came to terms with it; if the girls in the city looked down on him, he would look in the countryside.

With the warm and attentive Xie Guafu as his base, and occasionally stealing a bit of fun while showing movies in other villages, life wasn't too bad.

On May Day, early in the morning, the courtyard at number 95 became lively.

Yan Jiefang and Xiaomei were both wearing new clothes, standing at the courtyard gate to welcome guests.

The master of ceremonies was Chen Xueru, who was discussing the wedding procedures with a few older women in the courtyard.

Xu Damao also came.

However, he didn't enter the courtyard—his relationship with his stepfather Jiang Tao was very poor, and Cui Xiu didn't care for him either.

He just stood next to the big locust tree in front of the public restroom, holding a cigarette in one hand and a handful of candies in the other, talking to a group of children.

Xu Damao squinted at Bang Geng.

Eleven-year-old Bang Geng wasn't afraid of him either and stared back with the exact same look.

The current Bang Geng had already traded his bird gun for a cannon.

This matter goes back more than a year. Over the past few years, Bang Geng had learned a whole set of bad habits from Jia Zhangshi—being sneaky, lazy, and glib—and Zhao Yingzi was truly at her wit's end, so she ran to find He Yuzhu, saying anything to make He Yuzhu take Bang Geng as an Apprentice.

He Yuzhu originally didn't want to deal with her family's mess, but seeing Zhao Yingzi kneeling down with her daughters Xiaodang and Huaihua to beg him, with that desperate look of hanging herself at his door if he didn't agree, he finally nodded.

He Yuzhu had one condition: if this Apprentice didn't listen, he would beat him, and the family couldn't interfere.

Zhao Yingzi agreed immediately; she didn't take it seriously at all in her heart.

Jia Zhangshi was sarcastic for several days, but finally, after being threatened by Jia Dongyan with cutting off ties, she completely shut her mouth.

Since He Yuzhu had taken Bang Geng in, he had to change those bad habits of his.

He first had Ma Yan take Bang Geng, teaching him some basic Kung Fu while also breaking his habits of wanting to take advantage of others and petty theft.

At first, Ma Yan knew this kid was greedy, lazy, cunning, and slippery, so she was truly ruthless with him, beating him often until he was covered in bruises.

Bang Geng wasn't convinced, but after a long time, he realized Ma Yan was truly teaching him skills, and he actually changed quite a bit.

Recently, Bang Geng had started following He Yuzhu to learn.

He Yuzhu took him in and out of big occasions, and he met people of status and influence.

This broadened Bang Geng's horizons significantly, and he reflected on his previous psychology of petty theft and thinking that taking advantage was everything.

He truly felt that what his grandmother taught him were all things that couldn't be brought into the light.

He began to secretly learn how He Yuzhu conducted himself and handled affairs.

Xu Damao spoke slowly to Bang Geng: "Do you know why I didn't want Xiaomei anymore?"

Bang Geng curled his lip: "I heard, you can't have children."

Xu Damao kicked out, but Bang Geng was prepared; he dodged with a flash of his body and, while he was at it, hooked Xu Damao's thigh and gave it a shove, sending Xu Damao sprawling on his back.

Xu Damao climbed up, patted the dirt off his backside, and cursed: "Bullshit! Let me tell you, Xiaomei is a woman from a brothel!"

Bang Geng was unimpressed and tilted his head: "A brothel woman? Then why did you marry her back then?"

These words were like a knife, choking Xu Damao until he almost passed out.

He narrowed his eyes, squeezing out a sinister smile on his face: "That's why, I don't want her anymore."

Bang Geng tucked his hands into his sleeves and said unhurriedly: "But my master's wife said it was Aunt Xiaomei who didn't want you."

Xu Damao was so angry his face turned white, his chest heaving like a bellows.

He took a handful of candies from his pocket and said: "Bang Geng, this handful of candies is for you. You go around and tell those kids that Xiaomei is a brothel woman. Hear me? A brothel woman!"

Bang Geng glanced at the candy, shook his head, and said, "Uncle Damao, I really can't handle this matter. My current Siqiang is Uncle He, and his candy is all from foreign countries; I don't care for your stuff anymore."

Xu Damao couldn't catch his breath, his face flushed red, and he cursed, "You little bastard! You're just like your grandmother, a total snob!"

Bang Geng wasn't annoyed, and slowly added, "Uncle Damao, is the little widow in the village pretty?"

"Get lost!"

Xu Damao was going crazy. The half-grown boy he used to be able to dismiss with a piece of candy could now actually choke him to death with words.

"This damn Ninety-five Courtyard has been controlled by the He Family; I'm not coming here anymore!" Xu Damao said, and then prepared to leave.

Just at this moment, Qin Huairu walked over with her son and daughter.

Although Qin Huairu was nearly thirty, she still possessed a lingering charm.

When Xu Damao saw her, he couldn't quite move his feet. He knew that Qin Huairu's husband had died and that she was currently working in logistics at the steel mill.

"Sister Qin, I'm Xu Damao, we've met at the factory!" Xu Damao approached her with a grinning face.