Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 160 Earthquake Strikes
Ji Lian stayed at home to recuperate after giving birth and basically did not leave the house. This was Yang Ruiping's request. During this period, when she had nothing to do, Shi Xiaoya would bring her child to Yuer Hutong to accompany Ji Lian. The relationship between the two sisters-in-law was very good.

The eldest brother and sister-in-law only came once, also with the children, and then went about their own business. Yang Ruiping saw it but said nothing.

Yan Jiekuang rushed home as soon as he got off work. All the main kitchen chores were under his charge. He tried all kinds of ways to make nutritious meals for Ji Lian, which made Yang Ruiping roll her eyes. Some of the things she had never eaten before, which made Yan Jiekuang feel a little embarrassed. He forced an explanation that he had learned these things recently.

The big cats in the house seemed to know that there were little masters at home, and they never meowed. When they had nothing to do, they would lie around the little beds of the two little masters, as if guarding them.

Towards the end of the month, Yan Jiekuang was always uneasy, but he didn't know what was wrong. He visited Ji Lian several times a day and went home at noon every day. Ji Lian mocked him and said that he might have a son and was a little neurotic.

Yan Jiekuang didn't know what was wrong, but he was always uneasy.

One night, Yan Jiekuang tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. Today, Yang Ruiping returned to the courtyard and said that Yan Jiedi was sick, always coughing and unable to speak.

After midnight, Yan Jiekuang was dozing off. Ji Lian and the children had already gone to bed. The room was very quiet except for the ticking sound of the clock. Yan Jiekuang was half asleep and half awake when suddenly the big cat called out. The big cat and Tiantian rushed into the room and called out together, very urgently. Then the five little ones jumped in and called out together.

Yan Jiekuang woke up instantly, looked at the big cat, and suddenly realized what was about to happen. He quickly woke up Ji Lian, who woke up in a daze and asked, "Third brother, what are you doing in the middle of the night?"

Yan Jiekuang didn't say anything. Tiantian pulled Yan Jiekuang's trouser leg with his mouth and pulled it out. The big cat meowed even louder.

Ji Lian was stunned when she saw this, and Yan Jiekuang quickly said, "It might be an earthquake. Hurry up, put on your clothes, hold the child and go to the yard first."

Ji Lian suddenly came to her senses. She would rather believe it than not believe it. Looking at the looks of Da Mao and Tian Tian, ​​something must have happened. Ji Lian quickly put on her clothes, wrapped the two little brothers in a quilt, held one in each hand, and walked out of the backyard. Yan Jie Kuang looked at them and said, "Let's go to the front yard. The front yard is a bit more open."

The two men walked through the central hall and just as they stood in the front yard, the ground began to shake violently. Then, the whole world shook, and Ji Lian almost lost her balance. Yan Jiekuang held the second brother in one hand and supported Ji Lian with the other.

Ji Lian was filled with fear, and Yan Jiekuang was beside her trying to comfort her. There were six cats and a dog surrounding her.

In less than half a minute, the shaking stopped. Yan Jiekuang looked at his yard. Fortunately, he had asked Wang Xuan to reinforce it before, and the effect was obvious. Not even a piece of rubble fell down. There was only a big crack in the front yard wall, but it did not collapse.

Now Yan Jiekuang was a little worried about his parents, but there were only Ji Lian and the children here, and Yan Jiekuang was worried, so Yan Jiekuang did not leave, but he was very anxious.

Ji Lian saw Yan Jiekuang's anxiety and said, "I'm fine, why don't you go back and take a look?"

Yan Jiekuang shook his head firmly. Who knows what will happen in the aftershock? He said, "My eldest brother and his wife are still there. They should be fine. Wait for me. I will build a small earthquake shelter. We can't go into the house anymore."

After saying that, Yan Jiekuang went to the northwest corner where the wood was piled. This was all prepared in advance. At that time, he remembered that there might be an earthquake, but he really couldn't remember which day it was. Fortunately, there were Big Cat and the others.

Yan Jiekuang took the wood and built an earthquake-proof shed in the front yard. For a master carpenter, building a shed was not a difficult task, but the difficulty was that he could not do it alone. Ji Lian laid a wooden bed next to the large blue and white vat and turned around to help Yan Jiekuang. After a while, the earthquake-proof shed was built, covered with tarpaulin, and covered with a layer of tarpaulin.

In the shed, Yan Jiekuang made a temporary big bed, spread the bedding he brought out on it, and carefully placed his son on it. He saw that the two little guys were sleeping so soundly, with no intention of waking up at all.

Yan Jiekuang also drove a few little ones into the earthquake shelter, and then Yan Jiekuang built a temporary stove.

Just as the stove was set up, there was a knock on the door. Yan Jiekuang opened the door and saw that it was Yan Jiedi who had risked her life to come. Yan Jiekuang was very pleased that his love for his sister was not in vain.

His sister was holding an umbrella. It was raining outside. Yan Jiekuang quickly asked his sister to go to the earthquake shelter. He said to Yan Jiedi with a bit of complaint, "It's so dangerous now. Why did you come here?"

Yan Jiedi pouted and said, "The whole family is worried about you. I was so anxious that I just said hello to mom and ran out." Yan Jiekuang asked, "How is the courtyard? Nothing happened?"

Yan Jie Di said, "Nothing happened. It was just that Jia Zhang from the middle courtyard sprained her ankle when she ran out to protect her TV. Everyone else is fine."

When Yan Jiekuang heard this, a strange expression appeared on his face. Normally, the one who sprained his ankle should be his father. By the way, we don’t have a TV at home.

Yan Jiekuang made breakfast, and then told Yan Jiedi, "I'm still worried, I'm going to go back, you stay here to take care of your sister-in-law, I'll come back at noon and cook."

Yan Jiedi patted her chest and assured her brother that she would take good care of her sister-in-law and little nephew.

Yan Jiedi pushed her bicycle, put on a raincoat, and went out, hurrying all the way to the courtyard.

As soon as he arrived at the courtyard, he heard a quarrel in the front yard. Yan Jiekuang strode into the yard and found that the neighbors in the front yard were still standing in the rain, including his eldest brother's family. His parents were also standing in the rain wearing raincoats.

Yan Bugui's voice came, saying, "How about taking down the door panels? At least we have to build an earthquake-proof shed, right?"

Grandpa Sun said, "That's no use. Didn't you go to the backyard? They don't have any extra wood. When they built the air-raid shelter, the remaining wood was placed in the backyard. It belongs to the entire compound."

Yan Bugui looked at Grandpa Sun and said, "They have already built earthquake shelters, and I can't ask them to tear them down. The Central Court is using some of them."

Widow Wang was not happy when she heard this. She said, "How can they use so much wood? They should have left some for us. Didn't they think about our front yard?"

Yi Jun also clamored to go to the backyard to ask for an explanation. Yan Bugui hesitated and said, "You know Xu Damao and Liu Haizhong are irreconcilable. Look, there are two earthquake-proof sheds in the backyard."

When the neighbors in the front yard heard this, they were furious and clamored to tear down the one in the backyard and build one in the front yard.

When Yan Jiekuang heard this, he thought it made sense and did not interrupt. Grandpa Sun took a few people and went straight to the backyard, but was stopped by Yi Zhonghai as soon as he reached the middle yard. He had actually heard the noise in the front yard a long time ago, but did not go to the front yard. He saw a few people rushing straight to the backyard in a menacing manner and stopped them.

Yi Zhonghai looked at the neighbors in the front yard and said, "Everyone calm down and don't be so angry. Let's discuss everything. Now there is a disaster ahead, we must work together to overcome the difficulties."

Widow Wang said, "Don't talk so nicely. You have built an earthquake shelter, but have you ever thought about the neighbors in the front yard? Besides, the wood piled in the backyard belongs to the whole compound. Why should only your backyard and middle yard use it?"

When everyone heard this, they didn't bother with Yi Zhonghai in the middle courtyard anymore and went straight to the backyard. As soon as they entered the backyard, they saw two earthquake shelters, one in the east and one in the west, which had already been set up.

Yan Bugui came over and found Liu Haizhong first, explained his purpose, and said that you cannot take more than you want from the backyard, because the wood belongs to the whole compound.

Liu Haizhong's eyes popped up and he said, "I built this for the backyard. See? Except for Xu Damao's house, all the others are in my earthquake-proof shed. If you want to tear it down, tear down Xu Damao's."

Xu Damao had heard the voice and immediately jumped out and said, "Why? Mine was also built for the backyard. Who told them not to come?"

Grandpa Sun looked at Liu Haizhong, then at Xu Damao, and said, "No matter what, one of you has to split up. You two can discuss it among yourselves."

The two of them ignored each other, didn't even look at each other, and just stood there in a stalemate.

(End of this chapter)