The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

Chapter 143: Live Hard

At the beginning of spring, Zhong Yunxing signed an agreement with the contracting company through the introduction of Zhong Yunhong and officially started his first engineering vehicle operation work.

"How is it? Are you tired?" Darong looked at Zhong Yunxing who came back from get off work, his body covered in oil, and frowned slightly with heartache.

"The car broke down. I spent half a day repairing it." Zhong Yunxing said helplessly in a low voice.

Since it was the first time for Zhong Yunxing to enter the site for work, the work was very difficult. The old master knew exactly how deep and how much cubic meters of soil would be dug out with each shovel.

But Zhong Yunxing couldn't do that. He always had to try many times before he could achieve the required accuracy. This not only reduced his own work hours, but also slowed down the progress of others.

"Is there any money at home? I want to treat everyone to some drinks at noon tomorrow."

Zhong Yunxing took dozens of dollars from Darong. He had just arrived in a new environment and had to start from scratch with many things. Although the contracting company was very polite to him because of their relationship with Zhong Yunhong, Zhong Yunxing knew very well that interpersonal relationships could not be maintained solely by face.

In the beginning, it was unclear how much he earned, but the money he spent on drinks had already made it difficult for Darong to support herself with her salary.

In those years, the settlement of construction vehicle costs was based on the price of one shift, and the total amount was settled at the end of the year. So when Zhong Yunxing started working on the project for the first year, Darong's family also became very tight on money.

Because Zhong Yunxing's car was second-hand and needed frequent repairs, plus he had to pay for the fuel, when the workload increased in the summer, Darong's salary could no longer be maintained.

"Is there no money at home?"

Zhong Yunxing never asked about the family's financial situation before. At that time, the wages of two people working were already relatively high, and he never cared how much money Darong spent.

Now that the family income has decreased, Zhong Yunxing has become very concerned. He is always afraid that Darong will have a hard time holding on.

"Well, I borrowed some from Huazi, and he will pick it up and send it to me tomorrow." Darong put down her chopsticks and said to Zhong Yunxing.

In fact, she didn't really want Zhong Yunxing to know that she had borrowed money from the third brother, but now that he asked, she couldn't hide it from him.

Zhong Yunxing didn't say anything and continued to eat the rice in the bowl with his head down.

Darong and Sibei lived in the front and back yards. She knew that Sibei was rich, but she did not ask him to borrow money.

Even between siblings, there is always an indescribable difference, and this difference will become more obvious after they get married.

After the third brother married Yuxiu, they had many quarrels because of his stubborn temper. But Yuxiu was just as the third brother said, a girl who was willing to take risks at heart. She would always give in and make concessions, thus easing the relationship between the couple.

So Darong would rather be closer to the third brother and his wife.

That day, Darong came home from get off work and put her things down before going out to pick up Xiao Ruyi. Since Xiao Ruyi started school, she would go to her grandmother's house after school and then wait for Darong to get off work before picking her up.

It was the hottest time of the summer when Darong got off work. The sun was at its hottest and there was no one in the alley. Darong had just turned a few steps when she heard the sound of a car behind her.

Because it was broad daylight, Darong didn't feel anything unusual and just went on her own way.

After the person riding the bike behind passed Darong, he suddenly stopped not far ahead. The person on the bike turned around and said "eh" twice to Darong.

Darong didn't understand at first, so she looked up in the direction of the voice, only to see the man in front of her with his genitals exposed, constantly touching her.

The first thing that came to Darong's mind was the gangster who had frightened Xiaoying. A surge of anger rushed to her head, and she rushed towards the man in one quick step.

Maybe the gangster had never seen such a fierce woman before, and was frightened by Darong, so he quickly pedaled his bike and tried to escape.

But a bicycle just starting out couldn't outrun a person, so Darong went over and pulled off one sleeve of the man's clothes, then ran two steps while yelling and grabbed the man's hair directly.

When Darong called out like this, some of the residents around started to come out after hearing the noise.

People who do bad things always feel guilty. If a grown man really started fighting, he might not be able to defeat Darong, but he was a gangster and he was wrong first. When Darong started shouting, his first reaction was to run away.

When he wanted to resist, the young men around him rushed out, and a group of people took the gangster to the police station.

"Sister, why are your hands covered in blood?"

After Darong entered the yard, Xiaoying looked at the blood on her arm and asked nervously.

"It's okay, I just rubbed it."

Darong did not tell Xiaoying about catching the gangster and went to the kitchen to wash her arms.

Originally, Darong thought that she had scraped her arm, but after washing it for a long time, she found that she was not injured. She thought that she had scratched him when she was catching the gangster just now.

No one knew what happened to the gangster later, but that year happened to be the beginning of the Public Security Department's second "crackdown" campaign.

In the evening, Zhong Yunxing returned home from get off work covered in oil and dust. Zhong Yunxing's excavator was working on a road engineering construction site. There was nothing but dust and cement. When he got home from get off work, he was extremely dirty.

But every night Xiao Ruyi would wait for him in the open space behind Nanjian. Every time he turned into the alley, her crisp cheers would always make him instantly relieved of all his fatigue.

The original small kitchen in the third brother's room was converted into a bathroom by Darong. I don't know if you have seen it. There is a black water storage bag on the roof. It is exposed to the sun all day, and it is just the right temperature for taking a hot shower in the evening.

The first thing Zhong Yunxing does when he comes home every day is to take a shower. Because the weather is hot, Zhong Yunxing usually eats at home shirtless after taking a shower. But today, he came out wearing a vest, which was unusual.

"Put a table here. The coffee table is too low and it's uncomfortable to bend over."

At first, Darong didn't think much of it. When the family sat at the table to eat, Xiao Ruyi jumped back and forth mischievously. When she touched Zhong Yunxing's waist, he hissed in pain.

Darong then discovered that a layer of flesh had been worn off on Zhong Yunxing's lower back.

"Oh, how did you do this?" Darong ripped off Zhong Yunxing's shirt and felt so distressed that tears were about to come out.

"Hey, it's okay. The seat is broken. There's a ridge on the back where it got rubbed."

Zhong Yunxing still looked cheerful and indifferent. At that time, he only wanted to prevent Darong from worrying and didn't think about how to solve the problem at all.

"Are you stupid? It's so hot, what if it gets festering?"

Darong slapped him angrily and quickly went through the drawers to look for medicine.