Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 297 Hiring a Nanny
Yan Jiekuang found some free time to go to Wang Qing and told him that he wanted to find two nannies, preferably a couple, one to take care of the children and cook, and the other to do odd jobs and protect the children's safety.

After receiving the task, Wang Qing searched all over the world for the person. He searched for several days but couldn't find him. He returned home dejected. Wang's mother looked at her unhappy son and asked him what happened. Wang Qing told her the task assigned to him by Yan Jiekuang.

The Queen Mother said, "What's so difficult about this? Have you forgotten Sun Laonian from our village?"

Wang Qing slapped his thigh and said, "Really? How could I forget about him? I will go back to the village tomorrow."

Wang's mother asked him to bring more things for the villagers. After all, when she was sick, the villagers helped a lot. Those who had money gave money, and those who had strength gave strength. For this reason, Wang's mother specially gave Wang Qing 100 yuan. Wang Qing said, "I promise to complete the task." Wang Qing bought the things and went to the countryside the next day.

Yan Jiekuang was in a daze in his study at home. Ji Lian came over and saw him and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yan Jiekuang said, "Do you think this room is missing something?"

Ji Lian looked around and asked, "What's missing? Isn't this good enough?"

Yan Jiekuang shook his head and said, "It lacks some historical background and cultural charm."

Ji Lian frowned and said, "Can't you speak properly? What are you missing?"

Yan Jiekuang said: "Wouldn't it be better to have fewer calligraphy and paintings and decorate the walls with more calligraphy and paintings?"

At this time, Ji Lian felt that what Yan Jiekuang said was very right, and said, "Don't you have some in the basement? Pick a few and hang them up."

Yan Jiekuang shook his head and said, "Those calligraphy and paintings are too precious. I dare not touch them until now. I will open them when I find the right person. I will go to Liulichang for a stroll in the next two days."

Ji Lian said: "You are making a fuss."

At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and then the wind chime in the middle courtyard rang. Yan Jiekuang knew that the person who could use the wind chime to call people must be an acquaintance, so he walked to the front yard and opened the door. He saw Wang Qing standing at the door with a man and a woman. Yan Jiekuang quickly let them in.

In the central hall of the central courtyard, Yan Jiekuang and Wang Qing sat down. The man and woman were a little reserved and refused to sit down. Wang Qing said, "Brother Lao Nian, please sit down quickly. If I tell you to sit down, then you should sit down. Otherwise, how can we talk?"

The two men sat down, and Ji Lian came in with tea. The two men stood up again, and Ji Lian said, "You're welcome, sit down and have some tea."

After a few people sat down, Wang Qing introduced them, "This is Sun Laonian and his wife, they are from our village. Sun Laonian joined the army when he was very young, fought against monkey soldiers and went to the Korean battlefield, but he recovered due to injuries. Sun's wife is from Shandong, and she is good at Shandong cuisine, and everyone in the village praises her."

Yan Jiekuang rolled his eyes at Wang Qing, who was confused. Yan Jiekuang asked Sun Laonian, "What is your full name?"

Sun Laonian said: "My name is Sun Daming, my wife is Tian Guixiang, we farm at home, and now the land is divided among households. We gave the land to our children, so we don't have much to do."

Yan Jiekuang looked at the honest Sun Daming and said, "It's like this. I often go out, and my wife is busy with work. I want to find a helper who can live with me. One is responsible for the children's food and schooling, and the other is to sweep the yard and tidy up the garden at home. I'll give you two a hundred per month, including food and accommodation. Do you think it's okay?"

Sun Daming didn't say anything, Tian Guixiang said: "We are willing, where can we find such good conditions?"

Yan Jiekuang looked at Ji Lian, who nodded. Yan Jiekuang said, "Then how about this? You guys adapt for a month first. If there are no problems after a month, we will sign a contract and give you a guarantee."

Sun Daming and his wife agreed. Ji Lian took them to the front yard. The two rooms in the east wing of the front yard belonged to them. Sun Daming said that one room would be enough. Ji Lian smiled and said, "Two rooms. If the children come to visit you one day, you will have a place to stay. By the way, Sister Tian and I will go buy two sets of clothes tomorrow. We will take care of everything here. You don't have to be embarrassed."

Tian Guixiang nodded, and Ji Lian began to introduce them to the front yard, which had a kitchen, a bathroom, and a toilet. Finally, Ji Lian said, "You may not be used to it when you first arrive, but it's okay. You will be fine in a few days. We will be a family from now on."

Tian Guixiang said: "Thank you, boss, we will definitely work hard."

"Please don't call me boss. This is not the old society anymore. Just call me Xiaolian. You can call my boyfriend Lao San or Third Brother. We don't care about those things in our family." Ji Lian said.

Ji Lian asked them to familiarize themselves with the yard. When Sun Daming saw Ji Lian leaving, he went into his room. When he entered the room, he saw that all the beddings and toiletries were available, all new. The two of them were moved to find such a good job.

At noon, it was Tian Guixiang's turn to cook. She wanted to show off her cooking skills and let Yan Jiekuang and his wife have a taste to see if they could adapt to it. When Tian Guixiang went down to the cellar, she was shocked. How could there be all kinds of meat here, and even seafood?

These were all brought back by Yan Jiekuang from Tianjin two days ago. Tian Guixiang selected a few and went into the kitchen. When the children came to the central hall, they saw their parents and Uncle Wang sitting there. Da Pang ran to Yan Jiekuang and said, "Dad, why didn't you go to cook? We are all hungry."

Yan Jiekuang smiled and said, "Someone is cooking today, so just wait and eat." The four children were curious about who would cook today, because they didn't know that Sun Daming and Tian Guixiang were coming.

Soon, Sun Daming and his wife started to bring in the dishes. Tian Guixiang prepared six dishes: fried crispy pork, braised prawns, sweet and sour carp, pot-roasted pork elbow, Boshan tofu box, Mushu pork, and finally a mullet egg soup. The staple food was steamed buns.

Sun Daming and his wife wanted to go back to the kitchen, but Yan Jiekuang stopped them and said, "We will eat together from now on. We don't have so many rules. Come and sit down."

Wang Qing also pulled Sun Daming to sit down. Yan Jiekuang poured a glass of wine for Sun Daming and Tian Guixiang, and said, "These four are my children, Shi Lei, the fat boy Yan Yongqing, the little boy Yan Yonghe, and the youngest daughter Shi Li. This is Uncle Sun and this is Aunt Tian. If I'm not at home, they will be the ones to take care of you. Say hello."

The four children called out in unison, "Hello Uncle Sun, hello Aunt Tian." "Hello to you too." The couple responded with a smile.

Yan Jiekuang continued, "Come on, let's raise our glasses and welcome Brother Sun and Sister Tian to join us."

Everyone raised their glasses and took a sip. Yan Jiekuang said to the children, "Hurry up and try Aunt Tian's cooking. It must be delicious."

Everyone started eating together. Once they started eating, they couldn't stop. Yan Jiekuang said with emotion: "When it comes to the ultimate way to cook seafood, it has to be authentic Shandong cuisine. Tian's wife is this." He raised his thumb. Da Pang said with a mouth full of food: "It's delicious, and the soup is delicious too." Yan Jiekuang said jokingly: "How can it not be delicious, it's authentic Shandong cuisine."

Wang Qing also said: "Sister-in-law, the villagers only knew that your Shandong cuisine was delicious. Who did you learn it from?"

Tian Guixiang said: "My father is one of Mr. Kong Xianyuan's apprentices. I won't mention his name because my father doesn't allow me to mention it, saying it would bring shame to the master."

Wang Qing looked at Yan Jiekuang in confusion, and Yan Jiekuang said, "He is a master of Shandong cuisine."

Tian Guixiang was very surprised, and Wang Qing explained, "Third brother also has a master, Yu Shuangsheng, who is a master of imperial cuisine, and the inheritance of Yu Chef."

During the meal, Yan Jiekuang met Sun Daming and his wife. Sun Daming was an honest man who didn't talk much and was very practical. Mrs. Tian was warm-hearted and loved children very much. She was the one who served the food to the children during the meal.

Yan Jiekuang and his wife were very satisfied. The matter was settled, and Sun Daming and his wife gradually integrated into Yan Jiekuang's family.

Sun Daming returned to the village the next day to get the couple's belongings. He also explained to his son that he would not be at home for the New Year's Eve and would be back on the 29th.

The day before the Little New Year, Yan Jiekuang drove to pick up Grandpa Ji. After parking the car, Yan Jiekuang went straight to his mother and told Yang Ruiping that his family would not celebrate the New Year here this year, and would pick her up to go to her grandmother's house on the second day of the New Year. Yang Ruiping's eyes were full of resentment, but she also knew that he was disappointed with this family.

After Yan Jiekuang gave the instructions, he went straight to the backyard to pick up Grandpa Ji, pushed the wheelchair, and without any delay, he went straight out of the yard and to the car. He carried the old man into the car, put away the wheelchair, and drove away.

When he got home, he arranged for the old man to stay in the room opposite his bedroom, and also introduced Sun Daming and his wife to Mr. Ji.

Mr. Ji liked the back garden very much. He asked Ji Lian to push him around and said, "Let's put a chess set on the stone table in the pavilion."

Yan Jiekuang said, "We have some at home. It's cold now, so why should we play chess outside?"

Mr. Ji sighed: "You really put a lot of thought into this yard."

When Ji Lian pushed him into the study in the middle courtyard, Old Man Ji didn't move anywhere and just stayed there drinking tea and reading books.

Tian Guixiang was preparing ingredients for the New Year's Eve, and Sun Daming was helping her. After the water on the stove boiled, Sun Daming went from house to house to fill the thermos.

The children were still playing hide-and-seek in the garden. They had no concept of time when they started playing, and each time they had to be called by Jillian before they came back.

In the front yard of No. 95, Yan Bugui just arrived home and saw Yang Ruiping, who looked unhappy. Yan Bugui asked, "Why do you look so unhappy? Who offended you?"

"No, the third brother just came to take Mr. Ji away. He said he would not be back for the New Year and would spend the New Year on his own to reduce your burden." Yang Ruiping said.

After listening to this, Yan Bugui was silent for a while and said, "It's good too. It saves us a lot of trouble."

Yang Ruiping asked: "Mr. Yan, why don't you help your own family? Do you care about your son and grandson, or do you only care about money?"

Yan Bugui blushed and said, "Who said I didn't help? I lent the eldest brother 300 yuan a few days ago. As for the third brother, he is a bottomless pit. How can I help him? If I help him, I will become a pauper like him."

Yang Ruiping glanced at him disdainfully and said, "When have you ever seen the third child lack money since he was a child?"

Yan Bugui froze for a moment, and suddenly remembered Yan Jiekuang's past. The clever Yan Laosan had never suffered a loss, and never been short of money. It seemed that everything was an illusion, a trap, and in the end, he was the one who was trapped. Yan Bugui shouted, "Impossible, absolutely impossible, Laosan is a pauper now, it must be."

Yang Ruiping looked at Yan Bugui who had lost his composure and said, "You are the stupid one. Don't go crazy. Let's sleep in separate beds starting today."

Yan Bugui sat down on the chair. He seemed to understand something, but also seemed to understand nothing.

Yan Bugui stood up and walked towards the purchasing station, heading straight to the backyard. He saw Erxiao in the office, so he stopped him and asked, "How much money and assets does your third brother have? Tell me the truth. I'm his father, and I have the right to know."

Erxiao was frightened, but he reacted immediately and said, "Didn't the third brother go bankrupt? He probably doesn't have much money. I heard that he relies on his third sister-in-law to work and earn money. He is idle at home."

Yan Bugui instantly felt better because he always thought that Erxiao was an honest child who never lied. But he was wrong. When it was disadvantageous to his third brother, Erxiao had to lie.

Yan Bugui left in a good mood. When he reached the door, he ran into Yan Jiecheng. Yan Jiecheng took out an envelope and handed it to Yan Bugui. Yan Bugui asked, "Why did you pay back the money in such a short time?"

Yan Jiecheng said dissatisfiedly: "My wife said that if I don't pay it back, I'm afraid I won't be able to pay the interest in the future. How can you lend money to a child and charge 3% interest?"

Yan Bugui said nonchalantly: "This is called settling accounts clearly between brothers."

"By the way, Dad, my father-in-law is in poor health, so we won't be at home for the New Year this year. I'm telling you that." After Yan Jiekuang finished speaking, he turned around and went back to the east wing.

Yan Bugui said to himself, "It doesn't matter, what's the big deal, save money."

Yan Bugui went home with his hands behind his back, still singing a little tune.

(End of this chapter)