Chapter 97

Hearing Li Xuewu’s words, Da Lao smiled, pulled on her coat, and stepped out of the room.

Da Lao walked to the horse shed, took down two copper bells from the collar of the big gray mare, threaded them with red string, returned inside, and handed them to Li Xuewu to tie onto the rope hanging the cradle.

Now there was something to play with—the two small copper bells chimed “ding ling dang~” with the cradle’s sway, instantly capturing the child’s gaze, who reached out with tiny hands to grasp the bells.

“When you’ve got time, go rummage around the secondhand market for things like little rattle drums to amuse the child,” Liu Yin said from off the kang.

Li Xuewu replied: “Got it, Ma, I’ll remember.”

Liu Yin seemed to recall something and said to Li Xuewu: “Hurry up and get someone to handle the child’s household registration—the folks in the courtyard have already started spreading rumors.”

Li Xuewu nodded, acknowledging it; this sihe courtyard was just like that—no privacy, everyone lived too close.

Sometimes at night, the couple across the way would be noisy, and the neighbors all heard; if they were loud enough, folks in the back yard would wink and nudge each other the next morning.

Seeing her son silent, fearing he wasn’t taking it seriously, Liu Yin warned: “Don’t treat it lightly—this morning, Da Ma came asking about the child, said she was just visiting, but Da Ma never leaves home, so it must’ve been Da Ye who sent her. Even if Da Ma came, we only found out about Lou Xiaoe’s affair because of her.”

Li Xuewu finally understood—nothing in this courtyard escaped the three old men’s meddling.

Forget our own business—say the Xu couple had a quarrel and came to blows; let them fight in their own room. Spouses fight in bed, make up by the bedside.

Couples don’t hold grudges overnight, but when outsiders get involved, it never ends.

Ah, Xu Damao thought exactly that—so he figured hitting harder didn’t matter; he’d endured this wife long enough.

She can’t bear children, yet because her family’s rich, she thinks she can control him—what’s the big deal? Just two stinking bucks. Once I drain her money, I’ll find a better one and swap her out.

Every time he went out and got caught, he had to fight. This time—Mingming hadn’t done anything wrong, yet they still argued, and he felt furious; “new grudges and old resentments” poured out through his fists—he figured she wouldn’t dare do anything.

But Lou Xiaoe, this delicate miss, had a fierce temper—when she heard Xu Damao’s harsh words and felt his violent hands, she told the courtyard’s old men.

Lucky for her, Sha Zhu also showed up to stir the pot, vividly recounting what he’d seen Xu Damao doing outside the steel mill’s wall.

Lou Xiaoe couldn’t take it—she immediately demanded the old men deliver justice.

Good heavens—Da Ye wanted to build his reputation, Er Ye wanted to assert authority, San Ye wanted peanuts and sunflower seeds for the holiday table.

Finally, a chance to “split the big household,” so they called a full-courtyard meeting.

By now, everyone who’d been on duty at the steel plant Sunday afternoon had returned—everyone was present.

Li Xuewu represented the Li family at the meeting, wearing his military overcoat, holding a large teacup, sitting on a stool by the window, basking in the sun while the meeting went on.

Every meeting felt like an opera—perfect for livening up Li Xuewu’s dull leisure time.

Last time, when he handled the Jia family’s affair, he’d meant to educate the residents on the law.

For any illegal or immoral matter, send it straight to the Security Office or the Neighborhood Committee—educate where needed, criticize where needed, punish where needed; once everyone internalized the concept of obeying laws and discipline, there’d be fewer problems.

The three old men squabbled among themselves for power, never smoothing things over, always taking sides—making the courtyard chaotic, never peaceful—what kind of act is that?

If the elders don’t set an example for the young, how could you not end up with a few bastards later?

No respect for the old, no love for the young, calling their own parents “comrades,” watching Sha Zhu get married and dragging Bang Geng’s pants down—Er Ye and San Ye’s parenting was a total failure, yet now they still had the nerve to lecture others.

The toxic atmosphere was created by these elders; the chaos and suffering that followed were their own sins, the debts they still owed.

“A Wanderer Starting from Douluo”

As for petty neighborhood squabbles—if you three old men want a good reputation and want the courtyard folks to live well, shouldn’t you go to their homes to mediate, or help solve their problems?

When a couple fights, counsel both sides, reconcile them—that’s all it takes. Even a wise judge finds family disputes hard to settle.

Now, they’ve turned a couple’s fight into a public spectacle—those two will never reconcile; even if they cared about their dignity, they’d never admit fault or make up in front of so many people.

The three old men, too, always put on airs, dragging out a rickety table and chairs like a court trial.

Liu Guangfu was the three old men’s designated messenger—always him, everyone in the courtyard, men, women, old, young, gathered in the front yard.

A few kids from San Ye’s and Er Ye’s homes helped drag out a broken eight-legged table and stools.

The three old men waited until everyone had arrived before slowly taking the stage.

Li Xuewu carefully studied Lou Xiaoe’s face.

Hey, Xu Damao, you bastard, really went all out!

Lou Xiaoe’s eyes and lips were bruised purple, blood trickling from her mouth, her face swollen terribly.

Other injuries weren’t visible, but her clothes were filthy, as if she’d rolled on the ground—her body must’ve taken serious damage.

Xu Damao’s really gotten bold—he dares to beat his wife with deadly force.

Everyone in the courtyard knew: ever since, Xu Damao had humored Lou Xiaoe to get her family’s property, enduring her scolding and insults without ever retorting.

Today, he’d been humiliated by Sha Zhu, his head pounded by alcohol and Lou Xiaoe’s nagging, and with long-standing resentment brewing—he let loose without restraint.

Lou Xiaoe was just a naive, foolish daughter-in-law.

Carefree in daily life, naturally easygoing.

If you ignored other factors, she’d actually suit Sha Zhu perfectly.

Da Ye opened with his speech: “Everyone knows Xu Damao beat his wife—look what he’s done to Lou Xiaoe! Why did they fight? Because Xu Damao didn’t come home, and his underwear went missing.”

“Hahaha~”

Hearing this, Li Xuewu chuckled too—such a serious meeting, yet all about underwear.

But since he’d embarrassed all three last time, they’d silently avoided mentioning his participation.

From the crowd, someone kept jeering: “Underwear’s gone, underwear’s gone!”

Li Xuewu heard the crowd’s taunts, smiled wryly, stood up, and went inside to refill his large teacup.

These days, Li Xuewu rarely brewed tea—he mostly used dandelion from Li Shun’s medicine cabinet.

Prepared dandelion steeped in water was slightly bitter, but cleared heat, detoxified, promoted urination, and dispersed nodules.

Li Xuewu drank it mainly because he slept on the kang in winter, and young men naturally had strong internal heat—he easily got overheated.

When Li Xuewu came out, Sha Zhu had already finished his performance.

Sha Zhu acted overly dramatic, feigning embarrassment, as if he’d witnessed some forbidden act by Xu Damao last night.

At this point, Xu Damao began doubting himself—he always blacked out after drinking; maybe he really had done something outside. If Sha Zhu stuck to his story, he couldn’t withstand an investigation.

Lou Xiaoe couldn’t hold back anymore—she started crying. In this era, infidelity was a grave offense, worse than domestic violence.