Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 186 Night Watch Gathering
On the night of the 30th, it was still the adults who kept watch. Even Yan Yongqing had gone to bed. The three Yan brothers chatted with each other and ate melon seeds. Yan Bugui joined in soon. Grandpa Ji was old and could not stay up late.

The few people mainly talked about Yan Jiekuang. Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang had not changed much in this year, but Yan Jiekuang was different. He had a child and changed jobs.

Yan Jiekuang also wanted to reveal his thoughts to his family in advance, as it was necessary for them to be mentally prepared.

Yan Jiekuang said to his family: "This time I went to Hong Kong Island, I saw the prosperity there, and I also realized the gap between us and others. We have to change in order to live a better life."

Yan Jiefang was puzzled and asked, "How can you change if the system is different? You are a little confused. You might as well not go to Hong Kong Island."

When Yan Jiekuang heard this, he knew that his second brother was a man of opinion. It was impossible to convince such a person, so he immediately changed the subject and said, "I don't mean that I want to go there. What I mean is that we have to be more proactive. We still have to do the work. If we want to change, the environment must change. Only then can I change."

Yan Jiefang understood and said, "Then you just wait. If it is allowed, maybe you can give it a try, but now you have to concentrate on your work and serve everyone well."

Yan Jiecheng didn't understand at all, but after hearing about the situation in Hong Kong Island, he was very envious and said, "Actually, change is good. Our salary has never changed."

Yan Bugui remained silent, thinking about Yan Jiekuang's words, and did not express any opinion.

Yan Jiekuang quickly changed the subject and said, "Have you heard? The young people who went to the countryside are coming back one after another, and our Director Wang is worried about how to arrange them."

Upon hearing this, Yan Jiecheng perked up and said, "You know what, some of the people in our factory who are almost of age are asking about taking over. I guess they are asking for their children."

"What if there are no classes to take?" Yan Jiefang asked with a frown.

Yan Jiekuang said: "We can register and wait for jobs to be arranged, but now there is only one job for each person, and there are too few job opportunities."

Yan Bugui had been silent the whole time, but now he said, "Thanks to the third brother, otherwise my girl would be in a lot of trouble now."

Yan Jiefang nodded and said, "Old Third did a great job on this matter. He was quite far-sighted."

Yan Jiekuang asked his second brother, "Are you leaving on the third day of the New Year? How about we drink a little more? I'll prepare some side dishes. We have some pig ears and braised beef at home. They can't be served on the New Year's Eve dinner, but they're still good for drinking."

Yan Bugui's eyes lit up and he said, "I think it's fine. Let's have a drink together, the four of us. It's only ten o'clock now."

The two brothers nodded heavily, and Yan Jiekuang got up and went to the kitchen. After a while, he brought back four side dishes: fried peanuts, mixed pig ears, braised beef and Qianlong cabbage.

Several people were in the main room, using an octagonal table instead of a round table, and they started drinking. Once they started drinking, they started talking a lot, especially Yan Bugui, who turned his attention directly to the eldest brother and asked him how much money he had saved. Yan Jiecheng laughed it off and toasted his father with wine again and again.

Yan Bugui said, "You have your own ideas, I have no objection, but don't let this family relationship become alienated. Ever since the third child can earn money, do you think I have ever asked you for money?"

Yan Jiecheng felt ashamed. After talking about Yan Jiecheng, Yan Bugui talked about Yan Jiefang again, saying that his family understood that he would not come back, but he had to write a letter to make us feel at ease. Yan Jiefang replied directly: "My letter needs to be reviewed. It's so troublesome. If I write something wrong, it will cause a lot of trouble."

Only then did Yan Bugui understand Yan Jiefang's idea, and they started chatting and gossiping about the Siheyuan.

Yan Bugui asked, "Who do you think is the smartest in our courtyard?"

Yan Jiecheng blurted out, "The third child in our family."

Yan Bugui said, "Apart from our family, who is the smartest?" Yan Jiefang thought that Xu Damao was smart, while Yan Jiecheng said that Yi Zhonghai was the smartest, otherwise how could he tie Jia Dongxu down so tightly? Yan Bugui turned his head and looked at the third brother.

Yan Jiekuang said calmly, "Qin Huairu is the smartest. I admire him very much."

Yan Bugui nodded heavily and said, "Yesterday Yi Zhonghai admitted that he would not dare to offend Qin Huairu no matter who he offended, and secondly, Qin Huairu had a firm grip on the Jia family. The financial power was in Qin Huairu's hands. Isn't that amazing?"

Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang were both very surprised. Yan Jiecheng said, "Qin Huairu is very friendly to everyone and never gets embarrassed with anyone. I didn't expect her to be so powerful."

Yan Jiefang said: "I know that Jia Zhang is also very powerful. If she can control Jia Zhang, then she is very powerful."

Yan Bugui said, "The monthly expenses are all given by Qin Huairu to Jia Zhangshi. Do you think you can control it?"

Just as Yan Bugui finished speaking, a voice appeared, "The smartest one is not Qin Huairu, it should be Jia Dongxu." Several people turned around and saw Yang Ruiping coming out of the inner room.

Yan Bugui asked: "What do you mean? Even Jia Dongxu could be deceived by Zhang Erzhu, so how can he be the smartest?"

Yang Ruiping came over and said to Yan Jiekuang, "Go, get your mother a cup and chopsticks. I'll have a drink with you guys, too."

Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang burst into applause, and Yan Jiekuang went to the kitchen to get chopsticks and a cup.

Yang Ruiping poured himself a glass of wine and said, "That incident was because Jia Dongxu was greedy for money, but Jia Dongxu didn't trust Zhang Erzhu. He trusted the cunning Xu Damao."

Yan Bugui suddenly realized and said, "I thought so. Although Jia Dongxu and Zhang Erzhu made some money, it was only because Zhang Erzhu was a chef. I thought they had a good relationship as brothers."

"This is what Jia Zhang said to me unintentionally. Later, he lost money. But think about it, did Jia Dongxu only have that one thousand yuan? He took this opportunity to deliberately hand over the financial power to Qin Huairu. This way, there are many benefits. Qin Huairu herself doesn't know whether she took all of Jia Dongxu's money." Yang Ruiping said.

"You mean, Jia Dongxu deliberately handed over the financial power and said that he had no money, but in fact he still had a secret fund." Yan Bugui said a little surprised.

Yan Jiekuang said: "There should be more, but I don't know how much. He made the most money at that time."

Yang Ruiping went on to say, "Also, once the financial power is handed over, everyone will know that he has no money. He has saved a lot of trouble. For example, Jia Zhang is still getting the three yuan a year she got more than ten years ago. She herself is too embarrassed to ask her daughter-in-law to give her more. When she told Jia Dongxu, Jia Dongxu just played dumb."

Yan Bugui said, "That's true. In this courtyard, Jia Zhang has said this more than once. When she mentioned this to Jia Dongxu, Jia Dongxu pretended that he couldn't make up his mind, and Jia Zhang didn't want to mention it to Qin Huairu."

"The most important thing is that because of this incident, Yi Zhonghai trusts Jia Dongxu very much and believes that this poor man will definitely become his pensioner," said Yang Ruiping.

The brothers looked at each other in bewilderment. They had not expected that the people in the courtyard could be so scheming. Yang Ruiping said, "You brothers are good. Although the eldest brother is a little henpecked, your father and I can understand. Our family must be united and must not engage in intrigue."

At this time, Yan Bugui seemed to sober up, and he also said seriously: "I know you don't like some of my actions, but I am still the boss of our family. I haven't treated you unfairly. You can't be like them and calculate your way out."

The three brothers expressed their opinions and asked the two elders not to worry, saying that home is their home and no matter where they go, home is the most important.

Just then, the sound of firecrackers rang out outside. It was past midnight and it was the first day of the new year. The three brothers picked up the firecrackers and were about to go out. At this time, a voice shouted, "Dad, second uncle, third uncle, you can't forget me," and Yan Yongqing rushed out from the inner room.

(End of this chapter)