The old mansion is the last one in the depths of the alley. Across the wall is the family courtyard of the Nanqiao County Party Committee, which is rare and quiet in the noisy county.

The gate is mottled and the lock on it is rusty. Li Rui took out the key and inserted it into the lock hole, which was very jerky, but it was still open after turning it twice.

After my grandfather died, it had been uninhabited for more than three years and almost four years, and the yard was a mess. Halfway through the trellises, the vines were still alive, and the dense vines were crawling in a mess due to the lack of pruning. The ground paved with green bricks was covered with grass in the cracks, and there were more than a person tall against the wall.

It is a typical courtyard house with three main rooms with two transept rooms and two wing rooms on the left and right sides. Behind the main house, against the back wall, there are three more back hood rooms, one of which is only left with a ruined wall, and the roof of the other room is also half collapsed.

Although the yard is dilapidated, it is much better than when Li Rui came, and the house repair was basically pushed to the end. At least for now, the doors and windows of the main room and the side rooms are still intact, but the paint has just fallen off.

"Who are you?"

Li Rui turned around, and there was a middle-aged woman standing at the door, Aunt Fang next door. In the past, when my grandfather lived here, Aunt Fang took care of it very much, usually helping to clean up, buy groceries and so on. Later, after Li Rui repaired the house, he hired Aunt Fang to look after the house, and occasionally came back to live three or four days a year, which was clean inside and out.

At this time, Aunt Fang was only in her early forties, and she still looked a little charming.

"It turned out to be Xiao Rui! You haven't been back in years, and I almost don't recognize you. The door is open, I think who's coming? Aunt Fang stared at Li Rui for a while, then clapped her hands in surprise.

When Li Rui was in college, he basically lived with his grandfather during the winter and summer vacations, and the last time he came was after his grandfather died.

"Aunt Fang, I don't seem to have changed much if I haven't seen you for a few years?" Li Rui greeted with a smile, and complimented him habitually.

"You kid, I've become so good at talking in the past few years, I'm old." Aunt Fang touched her sideburns a little embarrassed. The smile on her face is even stronger, and women of all ages like to be complimented by others.

"Xiao Rui, I heard that you work at Yenching University, how are you coming back this time?" Aunt Fang then asked curiously.

"Oh, I've been transferred back to Pengcheng to work, and I'm coming back this time to come and see, and by the way, I'll renovate the house well." Li Rui said.

"After Dean Li left, I didn't see you coming back. The last time it rained heavily, there was a boom in the middle of the night, which scared me enough, and the next day I found out that the house behind your house had collapsed. I also had someone bring a letter to your uncle. Aunt Fang patted her chest, making a look of palpitations, and then pointed to the courtyard and said regretfully: "It turns out that the house is good, just because it is not popular." If you rent it, it will cost hundreds of dollars a month. ”

Aunt Fang is a widow, her husband was a state-owned coal miner, and when she suffered a mining accident in the 80s, she dragged her son alone and lived a tight life. However, her son was not angry and idle, and Li Rui remembered that he should have been sentenced to life a few years later for causing death in a brawl. However, Aunt Fang is a good person and enthusiastic, Li Rui later hired her for this reason, and helped her by the way.

"Yes! I'm coming back this time to renovate the house and come back to live when I have time. Li Rui nodded. Every time he came back for a few days, he used to feel a rare sense of peace.

The two were chatting, and there was a sound of "sudden ......" motorcycles outside, from far to near, and the fire was extinguished at the next door.

"It's my boy who has returned." Aunt Fang said.

"Fang Qiang has returned from the army?" In Li Rui's impression, Fang Qiang was a thin boy, and later learned that he went to the army after graduating from high school. By the time Li Rui came back again, Fang Qiang had already been sentenced and arrested.

"It's back, it's been demobilized last year. I haven't been able to find a decent job, and now I see that I am mixed with a group of young people in the county, not doing my job, causing trouble, and sometimes I don't even listen to my words, I really don't know what to do? Speaking of her son, Aunt Fang's face suddenly showed a trace of melancholy, and she shook her head helplessly.

"Mom! Mom, where are you? Fang Qiang next door stood in the courtyard and shouted loudly.

"I'm here, your grandfather Li's house." Aunt Fang responded loudly, looked at Li Rui and said apologetically: "Xiao Rui, you see that you are rare to come back, and I will not invite you to sit at home." Seeing that the meal is ordered, I will eat at Aunt Fang's house today. ”

Li Rui raised his hand and looked at the time, it was already past eleven o'clock, and he didn't say to Aunt Fang politely and said with a smile: "Okay, I haven't tasted Aunt Fang's craftsmanship for a long time, so I'm welcome." ”

"I just killed a chicken today and put it on the stove in the morning to stew. Otherwise, my boy wouldn't have come back to lunch in a hurry. Aunt Fang also smiled.

Walking out of the courtyard gate, there was a big man standing at the door next door, more than one meter tall, with a black vest on his upper body, beach pants on his lower body, a pair of big slippers on his feet, thick arms, bulging chest muscles, and a sharp and unruly spirit between his eyebrows.

"Qiangzi, remember, this is your little brother Rui. Your grandpa Li's grandson. ”

Seeing Fang Qiang, Li Rui was stunned, it was difficult for the thin boy in his memory to connect with the big man in front of him.

"You haven't seen each other in five or six years, have you? When Fang Qiang came back from being a soldier for three years, I was also shocked, he developed late, and he was like a hemp pole before he became a soldier. It's just that he's just tall and doesn't have a brain, and he's in his twenties, and he doesn't even have a girlfriend yet. Although Fang Qiang was not angry, it could be heard that Aunt Fang was still full of doting on this son.

"Mom, you said that about your son!" Fang Qiang was very embarrassed by what his mother said, and said with a thick throat urn.

"Fang Qiang, hello! If I hadn't been introduced by your mother today, I wouldn't have recognized it. Li Rui stepped forward to greet him warmly.

In the face of Li Rui's enthusiasm, Fang Qiang seemed to be a little overwhelmed. Although the two families lived next door, the economic conditions and social status of the two families were the same at the beginning. Moreover, Li Rui was very upright in the past, and the two rarely communicated. Fang Qiang has always had only envy for Li Rui, who has a good family background and a good study.

"Xiao Rui...... Oh, Brother Rui, I haven't seen you for so many years, I heard that you are now a teacher in the university? However, Fang Qiang is now a mixed figure on the street, and he is no longer the young boy he was back then, so he immediately came back to his senses and grinned.

"Teacher? I am not a teacher, but after graduating from university, I stayed in the Youth League Committee and did some administrative work. But now I've been transferred back and I'm working in Pengcheng. Li Rui explained with a smile.

"Hadron, what are you doing blocking the door! Xiao Rui is having dinner at our house today, you go to the alley to buy a few bottles of cold beer and come back, you two have a good drink. Seeing that the two were not estranged at all when they were children, Aunt Fang was very happy, she was worried that her son would not study well, and she wished that Fang Qiang and Li Rui would have more contact. But now, of course, she doesn't know Li Rui's "glorious deeds" in Yanjing and Pengcheng, otherwise I'm afraid Fang Qiang is a simple and good child.

Although Aunt Fang's family is also a single family, it is much smaller. There are two rooms in total, a kitchen of five or six square meters is built on the east side, a loofah stand tied with bamboo occupies most of the yard, and the acacia tree with the thickness of the bowl mouth is planted on the side of the well platform, which is lush and green, and the loofah stand blocks the scorching summer sun together.

Aunt Fang took out a folding table from the house, unfolded it under the shade of a tree, and then brought out two small chairs and picked a few loofahs casually, "It's cool outside, you sit first." I'll fry two more vegetables. ”

"Aunt Fang, don't be busy, what do you have to eat." It was quite cool in the courtyard, and Li Rui pulled a small chair and sat down. I took out a cigarette and lit one, which was very pleasant.

Fang Qiang came back soon, bought a case of beer and a few cooked dishes, put four bottles of ice on the table, and sank the rest into a net bag into a well. In the era when there was no condition to buy a refrigerator, the well was a natural refrigerator in Xia Yueli.

"Pounce, pounce." Fang Qiang didn't use a wrench and directly opened two bottles with his teeth.

"How many times have I told you not to open a beer bottle like this. It hurts so much! You'll find out when you're old. Aunt Fang complained from the kitchen with a pot full of chopped white-cut chicken.

"It's fine!" Fang Qiang smiled nonchalantly: "When I was in the army, everyone called me a wrench. ”

With two full glasses of beer, Fang Qiang picked up a glass first, and took a sip of the rivers and lakes: "Brother Rui, we can be regarded as growing up together since childhood, and it is the first time we have met in so many years, and the younger brother will do it first as a respect!" ”

With a grunt, a glass of beer instantly goes down. This guy's throat is very thick, and he uses it directly. Li Rui also drank it all happily, full of ice, and his spirit was also lifted.

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