Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 24 Declaration of Independence
The front yard of the Siheyuan on New Year's Eve in 1953
This year's Spring Festival, supplies were not very abundant, and each household had to use all their own unique skills.

Yan Bugui took over the greenhouse, and the cucumbers, eggplants and tomatoes in the greenhouse are all ripe. There are also two trees, a peach tree and an apple tree, which did not bear fruit this year and will probably have to wait until next year. So the old Yan family has a rich variety of vegetables.

The meat was a piece of pork belly, weighing about two pounds. It had been decided that one pound would be used to make braised pork on New Year's Eve, which was the result of a vote by all the Yan family members. Oh, and there were also two fish that Comrade Yan Bugui had fished with great difficulty.

At noon, Yan Jiefang went out and set off firecrackers.

The New Year’s Eve dinner has begun, and it is actually quite rich.

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, smashed cucumbers, pickled eggplant, braised pork, cabbage and tofu stew, steamed sea bass, and Chinese cabbage and vermicelli soup.

The family sat together, and Comrade Yan Bugui made an annual summary, cleared his throat and said: "This year, we first thank Comrade Yang Ruiping for his diligence and hard work at home, and for stabilizing the rear. This is a great hero, and everyone applauds."

The three sons clapped their hands vigorously. Yan Bugui continued, "Comrade Yan Jiecheng has won the third-class merit at such a young age. He is our role model. I hope he will continue to work hard next year and guard against arrogance and impatience."

There was another round of applause, most of which was enthusiastic for Yan Jiefang. Now his brother is his role model.

"Comrade Yan Jiefang, this year, in addition to... uh..., after the New Year you will be five years old. The Education Bureau has already informed you that you will go to the nursery school under the Education Bureau. You must work hard and perform well." Yan Jiefang nodded vigorously, saying "Yeah!".

Yan Jiekuang really observed a few seconds of silence for him. Yan Jiefang's happy childhood ended early, and it was ended by deception.

"Comrade Yan Jiekuang, you have played a decisive role this year. Keep up the good work in the future. Let's eat!" Yan Bugui quickly ended his speech.

Because he saw that Yang Ruiping was about to get angry, yes, he could say anything about anyone except the mistress.

While eating, Yan Jiekuang sighed that his mother's cooking skills had improved again.

After dinner, everyone stayed up together, which was actually just the couple chatting. Sanxiao was making paper cranes nearby. Yan Jiekuang was really at a loss as he was pestered by his second brother. Planes wouldn't work, but he had to fly, so he made paper cranes.

Yang Ruiping asked: "The street office said that grain will be purchased and sold in a unified manner in the future. Does that mean we won't be short of grain in the future?"

"That's not the case. You don't have that much money. Private grain trading is prohibited now." Yan Bugui said.

The Yan family stayed up all night chatting.

Siheyuan Middle Courtyard

This year, the deaf old lady, Yi Zhonghai's family, and the Jia family will celebrate the New Year together.

I originally wanted to call He Daqing and He Yushui, but they had been picked up by Xu Damao and were not in the courtyard.

It looks like four generations living under one roof. Jia Geng is chubby and very cute.

There was a large table of food. After Yi Zhonghai's opening remarks, they started eating and chatting while eating. Grandmother Jia basically didn't say a word.

Yi Zhonghai asked: "Dongxu, after the New Year, do you want to go to the workers' night school?"

Jia Dongxu glanced at his mother secretly. His mother should eat and drink as usual.

"Master, do you think I should go?" Jia Dongxu asked back.

Yi Zhonghai clinked glasses with him and said meaningfully, "Liu Haizhong has already signed up."

Jia Dongxu was surprised. How could someone who hadn't even graduated from primary school go to night school? What a joke.

"Really?" Jia Dongxu was a little unconvinced.

Yi Zhonghai said, "I'm doing this for your own good. This is the status of a junior worker. If you want to move up, you have to look at the blueprints. Liu Haizhong also saw this."

Jia Dongxu did not hesitate and decided to go to night school.

The deaf old lady had almost finished eating and said she was tired. Li Cuilan helped her back to the backyard. The deaf old lady had drunk some wine today.

After a while, Jia Geng also felt sleepy, so Qin Huairu carried him away.

Yi Zhonghai wanted to talk to Jia Dongxu alone, but Grandmother Jia had no intention of leaving the table and continued to eat and drink.

Yi Zhonghai frowned, said nothing, and continued drinking with Jia Dongxu.

There was no conversation all night. Finally, Grandmother Jia helped Jia Dongxu leave. Jia Dongxu was drunk.

Yi Zhonghai drank alone, and asked the heaven's meaning in silence.

March 1953, front yard of Siheyuan

Yan Jiekuang received a great piece of good news: his second brother went to a nursery, which was different in that it required boarding and military management. Yan Jiekuang almost took out the firecrackers that Yan Bugui had hidden and set them off.

March 15th, today is a special day, it is Yan Jiekuang’s birthday and Yan Jiefang’s farewell day.

Yan Jiefang regretted it. He was very excited when the teacher informed him. The teacher also said that the child would be under completely closed management. Yan Jiefang nodded repeatedly. Yan Bugui thought that this child had become as wild as the eldest brother and shook his head secretly.

After the teacher left, Yang Ruiping was crying as he talked about the time when the luggage was prepared for him in the ear room. Yan Jiefang was confused and asked his father what did this mean and why he was no longer wanted.

Yan Bugui was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and patiently explained to him what the closed management meant. Yan Jiefang finally understood, and burst into tears, saying that he would not go no matter what. Yang Ruiping also cried and asked if he could not go. Yan Bugui just said two words: "military control".

It was not until today that Yan Jiefang had to accept the fact that he had to go to school. He accepted it because Yan Bugui brought up his brother's experience.

Today is Yan Jiekuang’s birthday, and Yang Ruiping cooked all the dishes that the second son likes.

Yan Jiekuang curled his lips, he didn't care, and thought to himself "this is not what I'm looking for".

Yan Jiekuang gave his second brother a gift, a wooden Luban lock. He enthusiastically demonstrated it to him, and then left it alone.

What puzzled Yan Jiekuang was that Yan Bugui, a stingy old man, gave him a pair of German running shoes. It is hard to buy them now, and they are only sold in Dongjiaominxiang, but it depends on fate.

The next day, Yan Jiefang was taken away.

The house became deserted. Seeing Yang Ruiping's low mood, Yan Jiekuang couldn't bear to tell him that he had moved to the ear room.

At night, while eating, Yan Bugui suddenly asked, "Do we have too many houses?"

Yes, his family now has four rooms, and three of them are empty.

Yan Jiekuang didn't say anything and just looked at his mother. Yang Ruiping was puzzled. Yan Bugui said, "I'm not afraid of thieves stealing, but I'm afraid of thieves thinking about it."

Yang Ruiping shouted, "My son is back." But he was clearly not confident enough.

Yan Jiekuang smiled widely and said at the right moment, "I am also my mother's son."

Yan Bugui's eyes lit up, and he asked Yan Jiekuang, "Are you afraid of sleeping alone?"

"Second brother is alone too, he has nothing to be afraid of!" Yan Jiekuang said confidently.

Yang Ruiping said no, "The mistress has never left my side."

"Mom, I'm very smart." Yan Jiekuang said with a blink of his eyes.

Yan Bugui said: "Why don't we let him try, and if it doesn't work, we can move back."

Yang Ruiping nodded in agreement. Yan Jiekuang was overjoyed, but he didn't show it. He just kept coaxing his mother and boasting that he was a man.

Until Yang Ruiping smiled.

March 30, 1953, the west wing of the front yard of the quadrangle
Today is the day Yan Jiekuang officially moves.

Why so late? After making the decision that day, Yan Jiekuang went to find Carpenter Zhang the next day.

The two of them were busy in the ear room for nearly half a month. During this time, Yan Bugui found out and wanted to go in to see, but Yan Jiekuang would not let him.

The small ear room has a ceiling, about two and a half meters high. The room is divided into two rooms, four to six partitions. There is a desk on the left side of the door, and a strange bed against the wall on the left side. There is a single bed underneath, and there are cabinets above, with a wooden ladder that can slide left and right embedded on it.

There is a wooden sofa against the newly built partition wall. In front of the sofa is a wooden coffee table. On the right side of the front room is a utility cabinet, which is also different in size from top to bottom, similar to the combination cabinets of the 1980s.

The partition wall was made of wood and hollowed out. Only the part above one and a half meters was hollowed out, and glass was embedded in the middle. The kang in the inner room was not moved. On the left side of the room, near the partition wall, there was a long table that extended all the way to the side wall. The walls on both sides were full of bookshelves, and there was a sliding wooden ladder like the front room.

When Yan Bugui saw it, his eyes were full of little stars. The wood was all rosewood. Yan Bugui said, "Carpenter Zhang is so good to you."

Yan Jiekuang thought to himself, "Yes, it's very good, two pieces of gilded lacquerware from the Tang Dynasty."

Yan Jiekuang is full of ambition, and his independent life is about to begin.

"Third brother, come back for dinner!" Yang Ruiping's voice came from next door.

　The setting of the greenhouse is very abrupt and not very suitable for the later era. Don't worry, in a courtyard house, you can only keep good things for a few days, and they will disappear immediately.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)