Xu Zhiguo's sons, Xu Yuntao and Xu Yunhai, were the last neighbors to move out of the Fang family's courtyard and live in their newly built house. Xu Zhiguo is a very stubborn old man. Everyone else was almost done moving, but he still wouldn't leave here even half a step.

Yuntao really had no way to persuade his father to relocate, so he had to leave his parents in the old courtyard of the Fang family. Xu Zhiguo has always said to the following sons: "I hope that your mother will die well in this old house." ”

Looking at the dilapidated courtyard, the two sons paid for someone to simply repair the old house. Zhiguo also said to outsiders, I was the last resident to move into the Fang family's courtyard, although this is the ancestral home of the original Fang family, but since I moved in and settled here, I have to keep it. Others can afford to live in a western-style house, that is someone else's family has real skills, I Xu Zhiguo admires them in my heart, I have no ability to make money in my life, living here, I still live with peace of mind.

At this time, Fang Jiyong was admitted to the civil service after graduating from university, and was arranged by the Ministry of Personnel to work as an assistant to the exclusive administrator of debt land in Chifeng Town; Fang Ji'an has also been admitted to a book and is studying in a large industrial city in the north. Xu Yunqin's hair began to turn gray, he had not given up his determination to find Wu Lanlan all these years, but Wu Lanlan was still heard from and disappeared without a trace. Fang Jiyong has persuaded his uncle many times to give up looking for his mother, and he also feels that it is okay to discuss with his uncle to report his mother's disappearance to the police station, but the little uncle has never agreed.

The courtyard of the Fang family has lost its former liveliness and festivity, and the speed of decline is shocking, in just a few decades, the courtyard has sent away all the old people of the previous generation and a few younger generations, and after the death of these old people, they have lost the quarrels and disputes of the past, reducing the conflicts and conflicts in the neighborhood. Now, in the entire dilapidated courtyard house, only Xu Zhiguo and Jin Xiaoju, an old couple, are still sticking to the courtyard of this dilapidated old house, looking particularly lonely, lonely and helpless. Whenever the lights in their house go out, there is an eerie chill in the gray rooms under those huge shells, which is terrifying to the hearts of night walkers passing by!

There is no light in the courtyard of the Fang family at night, like a soulless body, it is as desolate and indifferent, and from a distance, it looks more like a walking corpse. The occasional lighting of a room makes the courtyard look dark and terrifying. The light that still refuses to be extinguished is Xu Zhiguo's last glimmer of hope for protection in this "ghost city", but it is a pity that such hope is so helpless and dim. It was as if his own stumpled body had long since lost its spiritual brilliance.

The courtyard houses began to be eaten away by the time of the years, and the wear and tear were consumed. It became a haven for rats for a while, and rats flocked in droves at night. They are no longer afraid of Xu Zhiguo's existence, they run and scream and bite in front of Xu Zhiguo day and night unscrupulously, and the sound of 'squeaking' never stops. They were having fun in the dilapidated sundries and waste heaps left behind by the descendants of these Fang families.

Xu Zhiguo has to get up countless times every night to drive away these pesky night elves. But it didn't work, and the rats drove more and more. He had to ask his children to buy rodenticide, sticky rodenticide, rat grippers, and finally even a trap cage, but the results were still not good. The harassment of rats also caused the old lady Jin Xiaoju to lose sleep every night, so she persuaded Xu Zhiguo to move to her son Xu Yuntao's house to live, Xu Zhiguo just refused, Jin Xiaoju was angry, so she had to leave by herself.

Xu Zhiguo looked at the lonely courtyard house and the roofs began to leak, the wood of the eaves also corroded and rotted, and the black tiles fell from the corrugated. He knocked on the door of the new house of the neighbor who lived in the Fang family's compound again and again with a crutch, and he went door to door to persuade the neighbors to come and repair it, but no one paid attention to the Fang family's big courtyard anymore. Xu Zhiguo himself was already overwhelmed, and he was very angry at the indifference and disregard of his neighbors, but only in anger, and he could neither abuse nor beat them.

Xu Zhiguo now doesn't even dare to climb upstairs to check the serious insect damage in the house. Sleeping on the ground floor downstairs, the rats upstairs will shake when they run over and jump over, and the moth-eaten powder on the wooden floor will flutter and fall downstairs, and the musty smell is really the most suffocating. The upper edge of the entrance had collapsed, and the moldy rafters blocked the entrance and exit. Xu Zhiguo walked to the house of his third son Xu Yunhai and called Xu Yunhai to move the wood one by one. Xu Yunhai persuaded his father to evacuate here again. Xu Zhiguo said, even if I bury this old bone here, I will not move it.

There is little rain in mid-autumn, the autumn wind is blowing, and the weather is dry. The entire village of Shanghu was shrouded in darkness of night, and the barking of dogs on the village roads was terrifying.

"It's a fire, it's a fire! Hurry up and put out the fire! A terrible shout pierced the dark night and spread across the night sky of Shanghu Village. Xu Yunqin was also awakened by this terrible shout.

Fires are a big deal, and fighting fires is a top priority. Yun Qin couldn't hesitate, he got up barefoot, didn't bother to put on his coat, picked up a basin from the kitchen in a panic and rushed out of the house.

There was no doubt about the location of the fire on the side of the Fang family's courtyard, the raging fire had already reflected half of the sky here, and the smell of the misty people in the air was full of flying soot and crackling and exploding sounds. Yun Qin didn't think about it, so he went straight to the fire.

The location of the fire should be above the middle hall of the courtyard, the fire is spreading to the north and south, the three or four old houses of Fang Yunqing in the north have burned to the ground, and now a fire is raging towards Xu Zhiguo's kitchen, and another fire dragon is also spreading in the direction of Fang Yunxing's old house.

"Oh no, this Xu Zhiguo still lives in the house? The fire has already burned to his house, everyone hurry up and save him·····" I don't know who was shouting in the chaotic crowd.

Xu Yunqin desperately squeezed through the chaotic crowd and rushed into his father's house in the face of thick smoke and flames. Xu Zhiguo had been completely awakened at this time, he was trembling in the air in the darkness of the heat wave, slowly moving towards the direction of his home, the sound of crackling wood and exploding outside the door was terrifying and violent. Xu Yunqin touched Xu Zhiguo's hand, and the smoke and flames were surrounding the entire room, choking Xu Zhiguo and coughing violently. Xu Yunqin didn't think about it, picked up his father and quickly moved towards the door.

The fire dragon had burned through the door panels of the walls, and the heat wave was blowing in his face. Xu Zhiguo had already heard that the person in the cough was Xu Yunqin, so he struggled to slip off his back, Xu Yunqin coughed strongly and had to shout loudly: "You give me honesty, I will carry you out, not because you once gave birth to me, but because someone else will carry it tonight." Xu Zhiguo struggled and scolded him, and kept scolding him: "Beast, beast." ”

After Xu Yunqin quickly carried Xu Zhiguo out of the fire, the whole house was completely surrounded and engulfed by the fire, and there were burning houses on all sides, and the way out was trapped, so Yunqin had to carry his father to the patio of the yard first. Although it was scorched by the strong heat waves, it was already the safest place at present.

The flames tore through the wood, crackled and crackled, and the dazzling light from the fireballs that lit up the sky and the burning smell of the heat rolling and smoky roasting were disgusting. The mess of dilapidated furniture, clothes, straw, farm tools, grain, mice, chickens and ducks, and pigs in the courtyard has all fallen victim to the fire. The thick black smoke with poisonous gas is not only suffocating, but also the spicy tears flowing from the stinging eyes, the sour nose flowing with sour sour sour water, and the taste of dry mouth and itchy throat are really unforgettable.

The fire burned violently for more than two hours before it was extinguished with the efforts of everyone. The county fire brigade dispatched three fire trucks, and by the time they arrived at the scene, the entire courtyard had been burned to the ground. The county firefighters immediately carried out the work of extinguishing the remaining open flames at the scene, and the fire was completely extinguished after 3 a.m.

On the second day, the county brigade reported on the scene of the fire accident in Shanghu Village, and preliminarily determined that the fire accident was caused by the aging of the wires and wires. Without identifying who was responsible for the fire, almost none of the fire owners insured their property and therefore did not receive any insurance compensation. The Civil Affairs Bureau and the local town government allocated a pitiful amount of condolence money out of humanitarian reasons, but fortunately, there were no casualties in the fire, which is really lucky. The town government also sent people to condolences to Xu Yunqin, the "hero" who had an outstanding performance in the fire rescue, and vigorously publicized and rewarded him with material rewards!

Yun Qin's arm was burned one piece, but fortunately, the range was not large, all his hair was scorched, and the soles of his feet were pierced by iron nails, none of which mattered. Afterwards, Fang Jiyong persuaded Yun Qin to go to the hospital to see a doctor, but Yun Qin refused to go. Fang Jiyong bought some scald medicine and gave it to Xu Yunqin to apply, and Yunqin raised the burns at home.

Rumors began to circulate about the fire in the village, and some people suspected that Xu Zhiguo had set it himself; Some people also say that it is absolutely impossible for Xu Zhiguo to deliberately set fire, because he cares very much about this home in the courtyard, and it is a strong proof that he still holds on and refuses to leave when everyone else has moved away. Rumours are rumours, and the government's investigation did not say that it was caused by deliberate arson, so these rumors only survived for a few days before they were extinguished as quickly as this fire.

Xu Zhiguo has no way to live in Yunhai's home now. The fire burned all of Xu Zhiguo's family property, and Xu Zhiguo was distressed by this. Because now his old life was also rescued by Xu Yunqin, Jin Xiaoju wanted Xu Yunhai to go to Yunqin to thank him.

Xu Zhiguo stopped the door and didn't let the two go, saying that this beast was doing evil by saving him, and he would not buy his account and feel his kindness. Jin Xiaoju felt that her husband was getting older and more unreasonable.