Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 108 Before the Shock
Front yard of the Siheyuan

Widow Wang was packing cabbages when Yan Jiekuang came in. She was stunned. She looked at Yan Jiekuang, who was wearing a military uniform and a belt, as if she didn't know him.

Yan Jiekuang shouted, "Hello, Aunt Wang!"

"Hello, hello!" Widow Wang responded twice and said nothing more.

Yan Jiekuang turned around and ran to the west wing. Leading behind him was Da Mao, followed by Tiantian, and behind that was Sanxiao. Sanxiao had actually grown up, but Yan Jiekuang always called him Sanxiao.

He pushed the door and entered the middle room, and saw his father at home. His father took one look at Yan Jiekuang's appearance and sighed, knowing that Yan Jiekuang's school had also started to become noisy.

"Are you participating too?" Yan Bugui asked.

"No, but I don't want to wear this outfit. It's too unique. It's better to be more popular." Yan Jiekuang said.

Yan Bugui sighed, and Yan Jiekuang said, "Take a leave, a long leave. I'm also taking a leave, sick leave. By the way, I'll stay in the two rooms near the middle courtyard."

Yan Bugui nodded, packed up his things and prepared to go to school to ask for leave.

Yan Jiekuang came to the two rooms in the north, where Yan Jiecheng and his wife had lived before. They were very empty except for a bed in the wing room. Yan Jiekuang took out two cabinets from the space, one for clothes and one for quilts. He did not move the others.

There was nothing in the ear room either. Yan Jiekuang thought that he would have to live there for a few years, so he might as well get some furniture. So he closed the door and went straight to Carpenter Zhang's house.

Carpenter Zhang is now retired. A man in his sixties would not go out to work. He was very happy to see Yan Jiekuang coming and pulled Yan Jiekuang to treat him to a meal.

Yan Jiekuang refused, saying that I had just returned, so let’s forget about the meal and wait a few days. I just wanted to know where to get the furniture.

After hearing this, Carpenter Zhang closed the door and said mysteriously to Yan Jiekuang, "There are a lot of old cabinets and other things from the Qing Dynasty in the west wing next to your house. You can go and look for them when you have time. They were left over from some houses cleared out by the street office and there was no place to put them."

Yan Jiekuang said, "It's open air here, and you can't put any furniture there. It will be exposed to the wind and sun."

Carpenter Zhang said, "Go and have a look. If you need any more, you'll have to go to the street warehouse. I don't have any left."

Yan Jiekuang thought about it and decided that this was the only way, so he said hello to Carpenter Zhang and left.

When they returned to the courtyard, Yang Ruiping was just coming back from buying vegetables. Seeing Yan Jiekuang was a little excited, she turned around to buy more vegetables, but Yan Jiekuang quickly stopped her. The mother and son returned home together, and Yan Jiekuang asked who had the key to the west wing.

Yang Ruiping said, "Your father is there. He is in charge of it. He is on the windowsill at the door."

Yan Jiekuang took the key and went straight to the west wing. The big cat followed him, and so did the little follower Tiantian. The other three had disappeared long ago.

He opened the small door of the west courtyard and walked in. Thinking about the time when Xu Damao came uninvited when he was a child, he locked the door from the inside.

After entering, I was stunned. It really had become a garbage dump. There were piles of brick and stone garbage, and piles of rotten wood. I wonder how many houses had been demolished.

After walking a few steps, he saw two coins among the construction waste, one was "Taiping Tong Bao" and the other was "Shunzhi Tong Bao". Yan Jiekuang collected them. Walking further ahead, he saw piles of furniture.

Yan Jiekuang picked and chose, and finally got two square tables, both of which had broken legs, but fortunately the legs were still there. He also found two chairs, proper official hat chairs, but they were too dirty and no wood could be seen. He also got a set of three cabinets, which appeared to be made of mahogany.

Yan Jiekuang's carpentry skills were not exaggerated, and he moved all the things to the door. He turned back home and saw Yan Bugui coming back, so he went with him to the west wing to move the things back and put them in his room.

Yan Jiekuang started cleaning and repairing. In the meantime, Carpenter Zhang also came over and helped him. They finished the cleaning in one afternoon.

Three cabinets were placed in the ear room, the rest were placed in the front room of the wing, and an extra table was placed in the bedroom.

Yan Bugui looked at the furniture made by Yan Jiekuang and suddenly had a target. Yan Jiekuang also showed him the two coins he had picked up. Yan Bugui suddenly came to his senses and wanted to go over immediately.

Yang Ruiping shouted, "Not eating anymore?"

The father and son calmed down, and Yan Jiekuang said to Yan Bugui, "I want to dig a hole behind the wall of my house and put the big cats' nest in the west wing."

Yan Bugui thought this was a good idea. He was also worried about these birds. If they were released in the west courtyard, they would not disturb the neighbors. In May 1966, the school officially suspended classes, but two months earlier, Yan Jiekuang's sick leave certificate had been placed in the principal's office.

Everyone in the compound knew that Yan Jiekuang had moved back. After Yan Jiekuang came back, he would read books when he had nothing to do. He also picked up his father's fishing gear and started a new fishing career.

Except for three meals a day, Yan Bugui spent all his time in the west wing, where he built a shed for himself. When he saw the street office and the garbage trucks coming, he was very enthusiastic.

Yan Jiedi also stopped attending classes and played with her brother at home.

Yan Jiekuang resumed his fishing career in Shichahai and suddenly thought of those three guys. He didn't know what happened to them. Zhang Wenchang and Li Chenggang should be serving in the army with his second brother. There has been no news from them. But there has been no news from Liu Xiangyang either. He didn't even reply to the last letter he wrote.

Yan Jie Di and Tian Tian were running wildly on the shore. Yan Jie Kuang saw groups of students in military uniforms. Some people tried to pull him into the group. Yan Jie Kuang quickly said, "My family is poor and we are looking for something to eat. My sister is still hungry."

Yan Jiedi immediately put on a pitiful look and managed to get away with it. After catching two fish, she took the bucket and ran away with her sister.

When they got home, Yang Ruiping took a look and took the person back, saying that there were many ungrateful people these days and they should not be kept concerned about.

Yan Jiekuang knew that this was talking about his elder brother, who only knew how to go home and grab things all day long. However, after Yan Jiekuang moved back, he never came once.

Xiaodang came, still holding her own bowl. Yan Jiekuang was very nice to Xiaodang because she was the first and only person to greet him after Yan Jiekuang came out.

Yan Jiekuang and his family were having dinner when they saw a man coming in from the door in a domineering manner. Through the window, Yan Jiekuang saw Xu Damao at a glance.

Xu Damao was wearing a cadre uniform and was followed by two people. He went straight to the Yan family.

Yan Jiecheng came out and stood at the door of the east wing, looking around, followed by Yu Li.

Without knocking, he pushed the door open and walked in. Yan Bugui was very angry, but he just stared at Xu Damao. Xu Damao said to Yan Jiekuang, "Comrade Yan Jiekuang, our factory has some problems that require your cooperation. You have to come with us."

Yan Jiekuang didn't say anything, but stretched out a hand to Xu Damao. Xu Damao was startled and quickly stepped back.

"You, what do you mean?" Xu Damao asked.

Yan Jiekuang said, "Arrest warrant. You want me to go with you. First, I am not an employee of your factory. You have no rights. Second, to detain someone, you must have an arrest warrant from the police. Don't you agree?"

Xu Damao was also dumbfounded. There was no one from the Yan family who worked at the steel rolling mill, not even their family members. How could they assist in the investigation?

Xu Damao thought for a moment and said, "We'll treat you to it, okay?"

"No." Yan Jiekuang said.

"You don't give me face. You have to go today whether you want to or not." Xu Damao said.

"Go and call more people." Xu Damao said to the people behind him.

Yan Jiekuang said to Yan Jiedi, "Go to the police station to find Wang Gang. If he doesn't come, no one will be responsible if someone dies."

Xu Damao jumped out of the house. He still remembered the slap in the face.

"You are not allowed to go. We are rolling steel." Xu Damao found that he had no way to deal with Yan Jiekuang and could not say anything.

"Let's wait and see." Xu Damao said harshly and walked out.

Yan Bugui looked at Xu Damao's receding back with some worry, and said, "The storm is about to come!"

Yan Jiekuang didn't take it to heart, but he was thinking about finding something for them to do.

(End of this chapter)