Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 287 Joint Factory
Yan Jiekuang has always been curious about who owns the house in Cui'er Hutong. He wanted to find time to ask Director Yan. After arriving home, as soon as he entered his room, he saw Ji Lian smiling foolishly, with her bed full of boxes.

Yan Jiekuang came over to take a look, and wow, each lacquer box contained a set of exquisite jewelry. More importantly, the origin of the jewelry was written on the back of each lacquer box lid.

Yan Jiekuang also looked at a few, sighed and said, "If you want to give them to my mother, give them as a set. It would be a waste to tear them apart. The rest will be our family fortune and we can't give them out no matter what."

Ji Lian nodded, and Yan Jiekuang continued, "Your grandfather will come over tomorrow and wants to see my things. Will you go with me to pick them up?"

Ji Lian nodded and said, "I'll go with you. I know my grandfather will be interested."

The two chatted for a while, then went to urge the children to go to bed. After the lights in the children's rooms were turned off, Yan Jiekuang said, "I'll go to the backyard to fill in the holes. You go to bed first."

"How about I go with you?" Ji Lian said.

Yan Jiekuang shook his head and said, "You still have to go to work tomorrow. I can do it myself. You go to sleep first."

Yan Jiekuang went to the small courtyard to fill the pit. When he finished, he was very tired, so he simply took a shower and went to bed.

The next day, Yan Jiekuang went to get the car first, then drove the children to Yard No. 95, handed the children to Yang Ruiping, and told her that he was going to take Grandpa Ji out to do some errands today.

As soon as he walked out of his house, he ran into Yi Jun. Yi Jun pulled Yan Jiekuang aside and said, "Third brother, I finally found out the truth and decided to go with my father-in-law. But I may not come back to my house after I leave. Do you want to take it?"

Yan Jiekuang thought for a moment and said, "You can ask my eldest brother for it. He should be able to get it. It just so happens that he lives next door."

Yi Jun said, "Okay, I understand. Go ahead and do your work. I'll go find your brother."

Yi Jun left in a hurry. Yan Jiekuang went to the backyard. Grandpa Ji had been waiting for a long time. Yan Jiekuang pushed the old man out of the door in a wheelchair. He went to his car, helped the old man up, then drove back to the intersection of Yuer Hutong, parked the car, and pushed the old man to his home.

When the old man was carried to the basement by Yan Jiekuang, the old man's eyes were not enough. Yan Jiekuang's basement was very large, with good ventilation, water and electricity, so he was not afraid of staying there for a long time. Yan Jiekuang told the old man to watch first while he went to make a pot of tea.

When Yan Jiekuang came down with the tray, the old man was concentrating on looking at a bronze wine vessel. The old man took a look and said, "These things of yours are all inherited in an orderly manner, especially the bronze vessels, which are rare. You can tell at a glance that they are from the palace."

In fact, Yan Jiekuang had known for a long time that these things were from the palace, but he didn't know whether they were buried during the Wanli period or later. However, Yan Jiekuang guessed that they were probably buried later, and he believed that it should be during the Tianqi period.

Yan Jiekuang said: "There is another batch of calligraphy and paintings, sealed with oil paper. I didn't dare to move them, for fear of damaging them if opened."

"Really? Then don't open it if you're not sure. It would be a sin if any of our ancestors' things are damaged." Grandpa Ji said.

Yan Jiekuang poured the old man a cup of tea and accompanied him as he looked at everything one by one.

It was noon when Master Ji felt a little tired and said, "I won't read it anymore. You should keep it well. These are all treasures. Send them to me."

Yan Jiekuang carried the old man to the central hall, then took the wheelchair and locked the basement again.

Yan Jiekuang and the old man had a simple bowl of noodles at noon. Yan Jiekuang made a pot of fried tofu for the old man, and the old man was very happy to eat it.

After dinner, Yan Jiekuang sent the old man back home. When Yan Jiekuang returned to his mother's house, Yan Jiecheng was sitting there drinking tea.

Seeing Yan Jiekuang coming back, he said, "I've been waiting for you for a long time. Did you ask Yi Jun to find me?"

Yan Jiekuang nodded and said, "He wants to sell his house. I think his house is connected to yours. Wouldn't it be more convenient for you to use it?"

Yan Jiecheng said, "It's quite good. He asked for 600 yuan. Isn't that a bit too much?"

Yan Jiekuang said, "It's not expensive. The main thing is that they have a small courtyard. You can expand the courtyard to surround your house, and then you can have an independent courtyard."

When Yan Jiecheng heard this, he realized it was true. He didn't waste any more time and turned around and left the house.

Yang Ruiping heard the brothers' conversation and asked Yan Jiekuang, "Is Yi Jun leaving? What does the boss need so many houses for?"

Yan Jiekuang said, "Yongqing is grown up now, and Yongfang is in school too. They should have their own rooms. Besides, the price Yijun sold them for is reasonable, and my brother's family doesn't lack that little money."

"That's true. By the way, where is Yi Jun going?" Yang Ruiping asked.

Yan Jiekuang said: "I heard that he was going to Shenzhen with his father-in-law and his family. Someone over there wanted to hire his father-in-law. After all, his father-in-law is also an eighth-level worker and is very popular in the south."

Yang Ruiping nodded and said, "You have finished lunch, right? The children are in the inner room. Go there if you have something to do. I have nothing to do at home, so I can take care of them."

Yan Jiekuang was eager to do so and said, "Then I'll leave first and come back to pick them up in the evening." Yan Jiekuang drove to Yan's Restaurant to see how the business was and whether his apprentices were slacking off.

At this time, Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong were looking at a factory. When they said it was a factory, they just wanted to build a large yard in the suburbs. They discussed this issue when they decided to set up a processing plant.

They had seen several courtyards in Dongcheng and Xicheng, but none of them were ideal, so they had no choice but to look in Mentougou and Fangshan. What's more, there was a courtyard facing the street in Fangshan that made the two of them very satisfied. The rent was not expensive, only 15 yuan a month, and the courtyard was about 100 square meters. Most importantly, the house was made of bricks and tiles, so there was a lot of space, which was suitable for mechanical processing.

The two men told the village chief that they would go back to discuss it, and they rode back on their bicycles. On the way, Liu Haizhong asked Yi Zhonghai, how do you work on the lathe?

Yi Zhonghai said: "There are many abandoned lathes in the steel mill. I noticed them before. They can be used by replacing a few parts. But for this processing order, we have to find our apprentices to see if they can pull some work out of it."

Liu Haizhong nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will visit each of my apprentices' homes when I get back."

It was already afternoon when they returned to the yard. Jia Dongxu and Xu Delin were waiting anxiously. As soon as they saw Yi Zhonghai coming back, the two of them ran to Yi Zhonghai's house. The four of them discussed for a while and then made a decision. Jia Dongxu also reminded Yi Zhonghai that he could find more retired masters, and the matter of handling the formalities was left to Xu Delin.

Time passed quickly. At the end of July, Yan Jiekuang went to Principal Chen's home. By the way, he can’t be called Principal Chen now, but Deputy Director Chen. Principal Chen has become the deputy director of the Education Bureau, in charge of primary and secondary schools.

When Principal Chen learned about Yan Jiekuang's purpose, he said to Yan Jiekuang earnestly, "It is not without precedent to study one year earlier, but the prerequisite is that you have outstanding learning ability and can pass the school's entrance examination. Of course, those who meet the admission requirements do not need to take the exam."

Yan Jiekuang was full of confidence in Shi Li, so he said to Deputy Director Chen: "Our Shi Li, let alone the entrance examination, has already finished the third grade. She is the most stable and steady one among the three children in the family."

Deputy Director Chen also became interested in this little Shi Li and said, "How about this, I'm going to Yu'er Hutong Primary School to conduct a survey the day after tomorrow. I'll ask them to prepare the test questions. You bring the child here. I'll wait for you at the door at 8 o'clock in the morning."

Yan Jiekuang quickly thanked Deputy Director Chen, and after chatting for a few more words, Yan Jiekuang said goodbye.

After returning home, he told Ji Lian about it. Ji Lian thought about it and said, "I will give them a set of questions tomorrow to test them. It will also help them get a feel for what they are up to."

The next day, just as Yan Jiekuang expected, the three children learned very well. Except for Xiaopang who got one question wrong in Chinese, the rest were all correct. Ji Lian was very happy.

On the day agreed with Director Chen, Yan Jiekuang and Ji Lian took the three children to Yuer Hutong. Everything went smoothly. The principal and first-grade teachers of Yuer Hutong Primary School liked the three children very much, especially when they saw that the three little guys had answered all the questions correctly on the third-grade test paper.

The three children were waiting to start school in September, so the principal registered them in advance. Deputy Director Chen was also very happy, as he had helped Yan Jiekuang and did not violate any regulations.

The hot summer has arrived. The dogs and cats in his home have disappeared, leaving only the big cat lazily guarding the house. Yan Jiekuang has stored a lot of ice in the cellar in the front yard. He was afraid that the children would play too much during the day and get heatstroke again, so he let them play in the hall, laid a cool mat on the ground, and placed four basins of ice in the room.

Yan Jiekuang felt a little regretful about giving the freezer to Yan Bugui. Now it was quite difficult for him to buy another one, and he was too embarrassed to ask his father for it.

Yan Jiekuang left the children at home and went out to the grocery store at the corner of the street to buy some iced soda and beer, as well as a lot of ice cream. When he got home, he put all of them in the cellar.

The children were each given a bottle of soda and stayed in the house.

At noon, several children slept on the cool mats, Yan Jiekuang took a nap on the recliner, not wanting to move at all, and the big cat lay on the ground guarding a basin of ice.

When Ji Lian came back, she saw this scene. She did not disturb them because she felt that this was a happy scene.

Ji Lian's internship has ended and she is just waiting to graduate. She has made her own choice. She plans to take over her family's two restaurants and make a big splash in the catering industry. However, she has not told Yan Jiekuang about this yet. She plans to tell Yan Jiekuang tonight.

At around two o'clock in the afternoon, Yan Jiekuang woke up slowly, looked at the children who were still sleeping, and quickly called out to them, saying that they had slept too long today and could not sleep any longer, otherwise they would not be able to sleep at night. Yan Jiekuang woke up the children and turned around, only to see Ji Lian lying on another recliner.

Yan Jiekuang woke Ji Lian up again and asked, "When did you come back?"

"It's probably a little after twelve o'clock. Seeing that you guys are sleeping soundly, I'm also taking a nap." Ji Lian said.

Yan Jiekuang said, "Let's have cold noodles tonight. How about some cold dishes?"

"Okay, I love whatever you cook." Ji Lian said.

Yan Jiekuang nodded and said, "I'm going to buy some groceries. You stay at home and look after the children. There are ice cream and soda in the cellar."

Yan Jiekuang picked up the basket, took his wallet, and went out, heading straight for Chaoyang Vegetable Market. He wanted to buy more so as to avoid running back and forth in the hot weather. Chaoyang Vegetable Market had a wide variety of items and he could buy everything at once. Yan Jiekuang even drove there specially.

It was just after noon and there were not many people in the vegetable market. Yan Jiekuang wanted to take a stroll first. He had not walked far when he saw a couple talking and laughing while buying roast chicken. Yan Jiekuang thought he was seeing things, so he took a few steps closer and took a closer look. It was indeed Xu Damao and Yu Haitang. How come they were together again?

(End of this chapter)