Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 100 Water Bill Dispute
Nanluoguxiang
Yan Jiekuang walked slowly along the alley, thinking about the misfortune of the Yi family. Li Cuilan's life was really hard. She had to deal with Yi Zhonghai, and finally had Yi Jicheng, but now she had to deal with this.

I don’t know if Yi Zhonghai can withstand this blow. I guess after this, it will be impossible for him to adopt a child anymore.

Several children ran by. Yan Jiekuang looked at the laughing children and said to Yi Zhonghai, "There is still hope in life."

When Yan Jiekuang returned home, Tiantian was standing at the door to greet him, wagging his little tail. Yan Jiekuang picked up Tiantian and walked to the main hall. The big cat was not there. Yan Jiekuang looked at Tiantian's food bowl, which still had food in it, so he poured some water from the space for Tiantian.

Yan Jiekuang prepared a pot of water to make tea, and the big cat came back, swaying like a victorious general, and ran over immediately. Yan Jiekuang asked, "Where have you been all day? Did you go to fight?"

"Meow" the big cat meowed, indicating that Yan Jiekuang was right. If the big cat opposed Yan Jiekuang, it would meow twice.

"Get some miscellaneous fish to eat?" Yan Jiekuang said. The big cat came up and rubbed against him. Well, it meant it agreed.

Yan Jiekuang went to cook, and the bell rang at the door again. Someone was coming. Yan Jiekuang wiped his hands, walked over, opened the door and saw that it was his father again.

"I just cooked the fish and you came. It means you are blessed." Yan Jiekuang opened the door and Yan Bugui walked in with a sad face.

"What's the matter? Who offended you?" Yan Jiekuang said to Yan Bugui.

Yan Bugui said, "It's hard to explain. Hurry up and bring the food over. We'll eat in the yard."

Yan Jiekuang was busy for a while, and there were three dishes on the stone table, a big pot of braised fish, one with peanuts, and one with mixed cauliflower. Yan Jiekuang took out a bottle of Fenjiu, which was for his father.

The father and son sat opposite each other, eating and chatting.

Yan Jiekuang then realized that it was Yan Bugui who helped Yi Zhonghai borrow money everywhere last night. The money was borrowed, and everyone also gave up their homes to help.

But early this morning, something went wrong. Several families were left with no money in their pockets. They had to live too, so they were too embarrassed to ask Yi Zhonghai for money, so they came to Yan Bugui. They didn't ask for their own money back, but to borrow money and pay it back when they got their salary. But when Yan Bugui searched his pocket, he found that he had no money.

The neighbors were embarrassed, and finally Yang Ruiping came out of the dilemma, giving five dollars to each of the three families.

Yan Bugui had just sent these people away when Liu Haizhong came to the door and said, "This courtyard house has no money, and the water bill is due soon. What should we do? I just saw that your family still has some money."

Yan Bu was so noble that he replied, "If you can't pay the water bill, the water will be cut off. It's up to you whether you want to pay or not."

Liu Haizhong also got angry and said, "You don't need it?"

Yan Bugui was delighted and said, "Thanks to you, my house has an external line and a separate water meter."

Liu Haizhong was so angry that he was speechless. He accused Yan Bugui of being out of touch with the people and threatened to report him to the neighborhood office and have the Yan family’s water supply cut off.

The two quarreled for a long time and parted on bad terms. Before Yan Bugui could catch his breath, Yan Jiecheng came over and asked for money to buy milk powder. Yan Bugui got furious at that moment and started scolding Yan Jiecheng. So, he was so angry that he ran to the third brother.

Yan Jiekuang laughed after hearing this and said, "Dad, you want to control everything. It's fine if you do, but there are a lot of people behind you who want to sabotage you. It's a blessing to suffer a loss, so calm down."

The two of them started drinking. After a while, the doorbell rang again. They opened the door and saw that what happened today was that mom was here again, and she looked unhappy.

Seeing Yan Bugui, he said, "You are good at hiding away. Why do people in the courtyard always come to you for everything? They all come to you to collect water fees."

Yan Jiekuang helped his mother sit down and said, "We won't deal with this matter today. It's Liu Haizhong who is behind this. Come on, mom, I'll make you some shark fin soup. It's been a while since you last had a meal. Sit down."

The family of three started chatting in the yard, eating delicious food and drinking fine wine. Yan Bugui and his wife had never been so relaxed.

His mother also drank a glass and told Yan Jiekuang that his father couldn't drink as much as her when he was young. Yan Bugui agreed beside her.

The moon rose up, and the three of them were very happy and had a good chat at the stone table under the tree in the courtyard.

The doorbell rang again, and he guessed that someone had come home. He opened the door and saw the eldest son and the fourth son coming. Yan Bugui took a look and thought, "Okay, let's go home."

The fourth child said he would not leave no matter what and said he would go to school from this side tomorrow. Yan Bugui said, "You didn't even take your schoolbag. You are lying. Go home quickly."

The family of four went back home, and Yan Jiekuang also closed the door, packed up, and went back to his room to sleep.

In September 1965, Yan Jiekuang entered his sophomore year and his freshman exams went very well. Yan Jiekuang had been busy with school matters recently, so he did not return to the Siheyuan.

One day, I met Jin Jing at school and talked about finding a chef.

Jin Jing said: "The reputation of Chef He in your courtyard is not very good."

"It's enough if he has good cooking skills. You are using his cooking skills, not his reputation," said Yan Jiekuang.

Jin Jing replied, "Yes, the banquet went well. The old man approved of his Tan family cuisine and said it was authentic."

Yan Jiekuang said, "That's good. It's not easy to practice Tan's cuisine. Think about the ingredients. Is that something that ordinary people can eat?"

Jin Jing said: "He Yuzhu's name has really spread this time, and the whole city recognizes him. This shows that he really has a talent for cooking. I heard that he is also an expert in Sichuan cuisine."

"By the way, who did you find him through?" Yan Jiekuang suddenly asked.

"Director, Director Li Huaide." Jin Jing said.

"Come on, that's the deputy factory director. That guy seems to be quite capable." Yan Jiekuang said.

Jin Jing whispered, "You have no ability at all, you just married into the family." Yan Jiekuang suddenly realized that the other person had climbed up the social ladder to get to the position.

After saying goodbye to Jin Jing, Yan Jiekuang devoted himself to preparing for the exam. Until now, a few days ago, he heard Director Dong say that there would be big moves in the near future, and Yan Jiekuang was looking forward to it.

Front yard of the Siheyuan

This was Yan Jiekuang’s first time home in two months. His family knew he was taking an exam, so they didn’t bother him.

As soon as she entered the front yard, she saw Widow Wang and Jia Zhang sitting at the door of her house. They were chatting excitedly.

After saying hello to the two aunts, he went back to the house. Yang Ruiping was lying in the house. Yan Jiekuang hurried in and asked, "Mom, what's wrong? Why are you feeling unwell?"

Yang Ruiping said: "No, I just feel a little tired, so I'm going to lie down for a while."

Yan Jiekuang knew something was wrong and said, "Oh my god, when did you learn to tell lies? You looked like you were just angry. Who were you talking to?"

"Your sister-in-law, she doesn't come home every other day, she just goes back to her parents' home. She's already pregnant, and she's still making trouble."

"The due date is at the end of the year, so it would be good for her to move a little," Yan Jiekuang said.

Yan Jiekuang and Yu Li rarely talk, so he doesn't know much about her, but from the previous incidents, he can tell that she is a very petty person. For the sake of his eldest brother's face, Yan Jiekuang would try to avoid Yu Li whenever possible.

"Mom, children and grandchildren have their own blessings, so we should worry less." Yan Jiekuang said.

"By the way, how is the Yi family?" Yan Jiekuang asked.

Yang Ruiping said, "What else can we do? The hospital has already issued a notice regarding this month's incident. Yi Zhonghai's hair has turned white."

"Auntie has suffered so much. This is a huge blow. Have our family gone to see it?" Yan Jiekuang said.

Yang Ruiping said: "It seems that Cuilan has aged several years in an instant. The mother and child have a deep affection. You didn't see it. Li Cuilan stayed by the child's side and refused to leave. The people in the hospital could do nothing about it."

"If we want to adopt the child as a couple again, it's like climbing to the sky. Mom, do you think I should go and take a look? I haven't even shown this side of myself. Isn't that a bad idea?" Yan Jiekuang looked at his mother.

Yang Ruiping thought about it and said, "Then you can go there and let Xiao Si go with you."

Yan Jiekuang thought for a moment and said, "Let's go in the afternoon and prepare some supplements."

Yan Jiekuang left the house and ran towards his sister's ear room.

(End of this chapter)