Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 144 Newcomers move in
The first snow fell, so heavy and so sudden.

The courtyard was originally very quiet, but it suddenly became lively as three families moved in. Among the three families, one was an engineer and two were technicians.

A family moved into the middle of the backyard's back room. The head of the household was Zheng Weiguo, the engineer who was transferred this time. His wife was Lin Yue, and they had two sons. The older boy was eleven years old and in the fifth grade of elementary school. His name was Zheng Hanbin. The younger girl was just three years old this year. Her name was Zheng Xinyue.

Living next to them was a man who came from the same place as them. His name was Chen Wen. His wife was Xu Yuxiang, and they had a son who was the same age as Zheng Hanbin, named Chen Gang. The two were close friends and were inseparable.

The family that came from the Intermediate Court was from Shanghai. The man was called Qian Siwen and the woman was called Fang Lixue. The one who was transferred was Fang Lixue, who was also a technician. The two of them had no children and moved to the room on the left side of the main house, which was originally the room of Secretary Xu.

The three families who moved in were all very low-key, but this low profile was broken by Qian Siwen. The next day, Qian Siwen began to visit every family and greeted everyone with a smile.

As the saying goes, don't hit a smiling person. The neighbors also greeted this man in his thirties, Qian Siwen, warmly. Jia Dongxu lived next door and enthusiastically introduced the courtyard house to Qian Siwen.

But his wife was very unhappy when she saw her husband's appearance, and she went home in a rage. Qian Siwen felt a little embarrassed, but he also hurried home, and soon heard Fang Lixue's shouting.

The neighbors looked at each other, but no one heard Qian Siwen's rebuttal. Everyone thought that this was another case of bronchitis.

Yan Jiekuang is going home today because old comrade Yan asked him to do so. The family is buying honeycomb coal today. Second brother is not here, so you are the main force. Hurry home to transport the coal, as there is a family waiting in the backyard.

Yan Jiekuang went home, put on gloves, borrowed a cart from the next yard, and set off with Comrade Old Yan. On the way, Yan Jiekuang suddenly thought of Qi Ye's retirement, so he mentioned it to Old Yan.

Old Yan stood there in a daze and asked Yan Jiekuang, he still has three years left, but if he keeps taking sick leave like this, how will he retire when the time comes?

Yan Jiekuang was also stunned, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Dad, I think the school should be better now, why don't you go to school and take a look, maybe you can go back to school."

After hearing what Yan Jiekuang said, Old Yan thought for a moment and said, "I'll go tomorrow. This is a big deal. Otherwise, I'll have to waste the rest of my life on you."

Yan Jiekuang was stunned and said, "Dad, don't you still have the eldest brother and the second brother? I didn't mean to refuse, so why did you decide on me?"

Comrade Lao Yan adjusted his broken glasses and said, "I don't know who has the ability, but I know very well who has the money."

Yan Jiekuang curled his lips and said, "You, I have no money left, what are you thinking about?"

"Never mind. I know what my eldest son is capable of." Yan Bugui looked as if he was sure of Yan Jiekuang.

The father and son first went to pull the honeycomb coal from their own home back home. Yan Jiekuang then called Lian'er and went to pull the honeycomb coal from Ji's home together.

When the two men pulled the coal into the yard, Qian Siwen just came out of the house. He saw that it was the old man from the front yard, but his eyes lit up when he saw Lian'er. Yan Jiekuang was a man who kept his eyes and ears open, and he noticed at a glance that Qian Siwen's eyes were not right when he looked at Lian'er.

Yan Jiekuang coughed, and Qian Siwen reacted, walked over and asked, "Hello, my name is Qian Siwen, I just moved in, do you need any help?"

Yan Jiekuang said, "No, I live in the front yard, this is my fiancée, she lives in the back yard, you go ahead, I still have to unload the coal."

After Yan Jiekuang finished speaking, he pulled the cart towards the backyard. Qian Siwen hadn't reacted to Yan Jiekuang's words yet, but he had already entered the backyard. Soon after, He Yuzhu came back pulling a cart, also full of coal.

Qian Siwen looked at the busy people in the courtyard and felt that something was wrong. Since every household was buying coal, did his family have to buy some as well? So he went to find Jia Dongxu, but Jia Dongxu had gone to work.

Grandmother Jia was not very enthusiastic about Qian Siwen, who came empty-handed. She simply told him where Jia Dongxu was going and went into the house.

When the workers of the steel mill went home one after another, Qian Siwen told his wife that everyone in the yard was buying honeycomb coal. Fang Lixue didn't take it seriously at all and said, "If you want to buy it, go and urge the street office to exchange our supply book back."

Qian Siwen seemed to have a natural phobia of the Street Office. Although he didn't say anything, he no longer mentioned the purchase of honeycomb coal.

The snow in early winter came a little early, and the weather became warmer within a few days. Yan Jiekuang tidied up his house in the morning, took care of Damao and Tiantian, and then rode his bicycle to work.

When they arrived at the station, Master Qi was already working in the house. He saw Yan Jiekuang coming in and asked, "Why are you here so early? Didn't you go to see your young wife?"

Yan Jiekuang rolled his eyes and said, "We haven't even started yet, so work is still very important. What tasks do you have for today?"

Qi Ye said, "There is no task. It seems like the director has forgotten his job. He just holds meetings with several leaders all day long." Yan Jiekuang looked at his work area and saw that there was really nothing to do, so he turned around and went to get some water with his kettle.

When Yan Jiekuang came back with the water, Lao Liu also came, holding a teacup and waiting for Yan Jiekuang's water.

After they started drinking tea, Lao Liu asked, "A new person came to the institute yesterday and said he wanted to be an apprentice. Since you two were not here, the director found me."

Master Qi frowned and said, "Doesn't this director know the rules for our craftsmen to take in apprentices? Why is he still hiring an apprentice? Does he think this is a factory?"

Old Liu said, "It's probably because of the "Re-education Camp" movement. It's okay. We all turned it down in the end. I don't know how the director will deal with those young people."

Yan Jiekuang nodded and said, "I think Director Zhu should know the rules of this craftsman. This should be the intention of the superiors. We should just wait and see what happens."

Master Qi nodded and said, "When he comes again, just ask him to find me. I'm about to retire anyway, so I have nothing to worry about."

Yan Jiekuang looked at Qi Ye and Lao Liu with gratitude. With these two around, he had a lot less work to do in the station.

Old Liu asked Yan Jiekuang, "How is your marriage going?"

Yan Jiekuang said honestly: "This year during the Chinese New Year, our two families will have a meal together, and we will decide then."

"You can forget anyone in this institute, but you can't forget me and Seventh Master," said Lao Liu.

Yan Jiekuang smiled and said, "Don't worry, no matter who you forget, you will never forget the two elders."

Master Qi pretended to sigh and said, "My lovely granddaughter has a pity for not having such a blessing."

Several people laughed.

There wasn't much work to do that day, except that Master Qi had a clock that needed polishing, so the three of them spent the day chatting.

After get off work in the evening, Yan Jiekuang rode his bike directly back to the courtyard. As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw Shi Xiaoya busy with honeycomb coal again.

"Sister-in-law, haven't I already set everything up? Why are you making this trouble again?" Yan Jiekuang said after parking his bicycle.

Shi Xiaoya said, "My sister-in-law is busy, so we can send some to their house first, and then return it after they buy something in a few days."

Yan Jiekuang frowned, said nothing, and helped his second sister-in-law to carry out thirty pieces of honeycomb coal and sent them to the old house. There was no one at the old house, so Shi Xiaoya piled them under the window.

After all the trouble, the two of them walked into the middle room. Yang Ruiping was taking care of the child, and Yan Bugui was not at home. Yan Jiekuang asked, "What are we having for dinner?"

Yang Ruiping said, "You go to the kitchen and take care of it. Your dad went to school today and hasn't come back yet."

Shi Xiaoya washed her hands, took her apron and ran to the kitchen.

Yan Jiekuang asked, "The eldest brother didn't buy honeycomb coal, so why did he ask the second sister-in-law to deliver it?"

Yang Ruiping was stunned and said, "I don't know. I told the boss to buy honeycomb coal a few days ago. Why is he asking for it here again?"

Yan Jiekuang said, "This is not about honeycomb coal. Don't always bully my second sister-in-law. You know she won't refuse anyone, so you go to her for everything. What will happen when my second brother comes back?"

Yang Ruiping nodded and said, "I'll tell the old man when I get back and ask him to talk to the boss."

Yan Jiekuang glanced at the kitchen and said, "Second sister-in-law is really capable. OK, I'll go cook."

Then he ran to the kitchen.

(End of this chapter)