Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 338 Xiaopang's Business

When Yan Jiekuang returned home, it was already dark. He knocked on the door. Tian Guixiang opened the door and asked, "Why are you here so late?"

Yan Jiekuang said: "Since Grandma Lou won't let me go, there's nothing I can do."

The two little ones were still very energetic and ran straight to the study. Yan Jiekuang asked, "Are the children studying?"

"Yes, Ji Lian hasn't come back yet." Tian Guixiang said as she locked the door.

Yan Jiekuang went straight to the study room. The children were doing their homework. When Shi Lei saw his father coming back, he stood up.

Yan Jiekuang looked at Shi Lei and said, "What's up? Have you finished your homework?"

Shi Lei said, "I just finished writing, Dad, I have something to tell you."

Yan Jiekuang and Shi Lei walked out of the house, and Shi Lei said, "Dad, there are a lot of small vendors in front of our school."

Yan Jiekuang laughed and said, "That's not normal. There are many people like this now."

Shi Lei said: "They used some small toys to exchange for food coupons and meat coupons. If they used money, it would be more expensive."

Yan Jiekuang became interested when he heard this and asked, "Do any of your classmates have any replacements?"

"There are a lot of them, especially the self-adhesive ones with various patterns. Many people are changing them. I thought my younger brothers and sisters' schools should have them too. So I took a look and happened to see Xiaopang changing them. You have to take care of him." Shi Lei said.

Yan Jiekuang frowned and said, "I haven't seen food coupons and meat coupons for a long time. Where did he get them?"

Shi Lei spread his hands and said, "Then I don't know."

Yan Jiekuang thought about it for a moment. Given Xiao Pang's personality, he would not admit it unless you caught him in the act. So he said, "Okay, just pretend you don't know. I'll handle it."

Shi Lei turned around and went back to the house. Yan Jiekuang went straight to the front yard, found Tian Guixiang, and asked, "Where are our food and meat coupons?"

Tian Guixiang said, "They are all here with me, what's wrong?"

Yan Jiekuang then asked: "Has it been lost, or given to a child?"

Tian Guixiang smiled and said, "How is that possible? I went to buy rice today, and it wasn't lost."

Yan Jiekuang was puzzled and said to himself, "Where did he get the food coupons?"

"Who is it? What happened?" Tian Guixiang asked.

Yan Jiekuang waved his hand and said, "It's okay, I'll ask myself."

Yan Jiekuang returned to his study and called Yang Ruiping again. Yang Ruiping said that Xiaopang and Dapang had never been there, and asked why he hadn't brought the children back recently.

Yan Jiekuang said, "We are going to school now. We will go back after taking a break."

After chatting with his mother for a while, Yan Jiekuang hung up the phone. In addition to being confused, he was more curious about where Xiaopang's food coupons came from.

Yan Jiekuang began to secretly observe at the school gate. At the entrance of Yuer Hutong, there were indeed many street vendors. Of course, not all of them were using food coupons for exchange. Only a few were exchanging food coupons. But those few stalls were quite popular, and students all went there to exchange.

In the first two days, Yan Jiekuang didn't see Xiaopang go to exchange the stickers, but just when he was very pleased, after school on the third day, Xiaopang followed a classmate to a sticker stall. Xiaopang picked and chose skillfully, then took out the food coupons to trade with the stall owner, and it seemed that the stall owner was very familiar with Xiaopang.

Yan Jiekuang's face turned green, but this was the school gate, so he turned around and went back to Yuer Hutong silently. He had to figure out where the fat boy got his food coupons from, as this was a matter of principle.

In the evening, the children all came home from school. As usual, they washed their hands and did their homework first. Yan Jiekuang went to the kitchen to cook four simple dishes, rice, and chicken soup separately. The children were in the growing period, so Yan Jiekuang would stew chicken or fish from time to time.

At dinner time, the children noticed that Yan Jiekuang was a little unhappy. Shi Li asked, "Dad, what's wrong with you? Are you unhappy?"

Yan Jiekuang forced a smile and said, "It's okay, eat, and then take a rest after the meal."

After everyone finished eating, Shi Li took the two children to the backyard. Yan Jiekuang stopped Xiaopang and said, "Xiaopang, come with me to the study. I have something to ask you."

Little Fatty was stunned at first, then his eyes rolled around and he looked at Big Fatty. Big Fatty spread his hands, meaning that he knew nothing.

Xiaopang followed Yan Jiekuang to the study. Yan Jiekuang sat down. Xiaopang could see that his father looked unhappy, so he stood there obediently.

Yan Jiekuang asked: "What mistakes have you made recently? Come on, tell me."

Xiaopang's brain was working rapidly, and he said, "Dad, I have been very obedient recently. The teacher praised me."

Yan Jiekuang looked at Xiao Pang teasingly and said, "Really? Let me tell you, Xiao Pang, if you confess, you will be treated leniently, but if you resist, you will be treated severely. Think about it carefully."

Xiao Pang seemed to think hard for a moment and said, "Dad, are you talking about the student in front of you who tied his braids to the stool? I apologized."

Yan Jiekuang was so angry in his heart, even though this matter had happened, but he appeared calm and said, "Think about it again." Yan Jiekuang lit a cigarette and started smoking.

After a while, Xiaopang said, "That was about smashing the windows of the second shift. I was not the mastermind of that incident. I even advised them not to do that."

When Yan Jiekuang heard this, he became furious. Forget it, he couldn't ask any more. If he asked again, there might be something wrong. So he asked directly, "Where did you get the food coupons?"

"I don't have a food coupon." Xiaopang blurted out.

Yan Jiekuang said: "To be honest, I saw you using the food coupons to exchange for those useless stickers."

Xiaopang looked at his father in shock. He didn't expect his father to follow him. Xiaopang said, "I really don't have food coupons. I exchanged them for my classmates. You don't know that I also wanted the stickers at first, but I didn't have food coupons, so I left."

Yan Jiekuang said: "You are so kind, does it count as helping your classmates?"

Xiao Pang said embarrassedly: "No, later I chatted with the stall owner. Originally, one jin of food coupons could be exchanged for two large ones, but he told me that if I exchanged more, I could exchange eight liang for two. I thought, if all the classmates exchanged, wouldn't I be able to earn two by exchanging eight? I can then sell the money I earned and get two yuan. How great is that? Everyone is happy."

Yan Jiekuang stared at Xiaopang with eyes wide open. Xiaopang really had a talent for business, but he still said, "Then do you know that what you did was wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong with that. All the students in the school are changing it. I don't steal or rob. I earn it by my own ability." Xiaopang said a little unconvinced.

Yan Jiekuang sighed and said, "Xiaopang, first of all, where did your classmates get their food coupons?" Xiaopang thought for a moment and said, "Maybe they were given by their families."

Yan Jiekuang shouted angrily: "Do you believe it yourself? Most of them were secretly taken from home, right? You took it to exchange? They were wrong in the first place. If you help them change the stickers, they will take more and more. If I put it nicely, it's taking, but if I put it bluntly, it's stealing. If you go to exchange it, it's selling stolen goods, and you are also an accomplice."

Xiaopang was frightened by his father and whispered, "I, I don't know."

Yan Jiekuang calmed down for a moment and said, "Grain coupons and meat coupons are the food rations of the family. Without them, you can't exchange them for grain or meat. Although you can buy them now, the price is definitely high. Stealing the family's food coupons and meat coupons is wrong in itself."

Xiaopang listened carefully, and Yan Jiekuang continued, "Speaking of those stickers, do you think they are useful other than looking good? They are useless. You can't concentrate on studying if you stick them anywhere. However, if you really like them, you can buy them with money, but what you are doing is equivalent to making money from your classmates. Do you think that's right?"

Xiaopang lowered his head and said, "I was wrong. I won't dare to do it again."

Yan Jiekuang said, "If you know you're wrong, you should correct it. Okay, this is the first time I've criticized you. You can't take what's not yours. You can't make money with a dirty mind. If you have anything else, you should think more about it, okay?"

Xiaopang said, "I see. I will definitely think about it more next time."

Yan Jiekuang waved his hand and said, "Okay, go play."

Xiaopang then turned around and walked out. When he reached the door, he turned around and said, "Dad, smoking is harmful to your health. Smoke less and don't let my mom worry."

Yan Jiekuang was stunned, thinking, I just finished talking about you, and you are trying to make up for it, so he stood up and said, "Okay, let's talk about the glass smashing."

When Xiaopang heard this, he ran out of the study and disappeared in a flash.

At the end of May, on the Dragon Boat Festival, Yan Jiekuang brought Ji Lian and the children back to the west wing of the courtyard.

Everyone was resting today and the yard was bustling. When passing by the gate of the courtyard, Yan Jiekuang also saw He Yuzhu. He had borrowed a tricycle from somewhere, and it was full of food, including vegetables, chicken, duck, fish, meat, etc. There was quite a lot of stuff.

Yan Jiekuang greeted him and said, "Brother Zhuzi, do you need any help?"

He Yuzhu turned around and said, "No need, Third Brother. He Xiao is at home. He will come out as soon as I move. You can go and do your work. Let's have lunch together at noon. Your second brother knows."

Yan Jiekuang brought his wife and children back to the west wing. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Yang Ruiping arguing with his father.

Yan Jiekuang quickly took a few steps and said, "Mom and Dad, what's going on? Why are you arguing on a holiday?"

Yang Ruiping said unhappily: "Ask your father. I think your father is obsessed with money."

Yan Jiekuang looked at his angry father and asked, "What happened to Dad?"

Yan Bugui hesitated for a long time before he explained the whole thing. It turned out that more and more people came to the old city to work, and Yan Jiekuang's courtyards were rented out without much effort. Yan Bugui was very proud of it.

Since he had nothing to do, Yan Bugui, in addition to arranging his own flowers, started to play chess and chat with his old neighbors next door. One day, he suddenly saw his west wing which had been empty all the time, and he slapped his head, complaining that he had forgotten about the courtyard house.

The Yan family has quite a few houses in the courtyard. First, there are two east wing rooms in the backyard, three west wing rooms in the front yard, two east wing rooms plus a gatehouse. Yan Bugui took action immediately and rented out all the houses in a few days.

When the tenants moved in one after another, the neighbors were unhappy. They used to be people who knew each other well, but now so many people came in all of a sudden, from all over the place, even from Gansu.

The old neighbors came to the door, and Yan Bugui ran away when he heard the news. Yang Ruiping looked at the neighbors in confusion, as they talked about how his family was not decent and did not consider the feelings of their neighbors at all. Only then did he realize that Yan Bugui had rented out all the houses in the courtyard, one room at a time, and all of a sudden the yard next door became a real slum.

Yang Ruiping also felt that Yan Bugui had gone too far, so he kept apologizing and speaking nice words to the neighbors, and promised to handle the matter properly. Only then did the old neighbors leave one after another.

When Yan Bugui came back in the evening, Yang Ruiping first scolded Yan Bugui, and then asked him to take back the houses from those tenants and return the money to them.

Yan Bugui stubbornly refused to agree and said he would not give up the house no matter what. He also argued that the house was his and he had the right to dispose of it.

As soon as Yang Ruiping saw Yan Bugui, he asked him to check out, but Yan Bugui refused. The two of them had quarreled eight or nine times in three days.

They had just started arguing again because of this matter. Yan Jiekuang shook his head, wondering when his father would change his greedy character.

Yang Ruiping asked Ji Lian to go to the backyard, and the children followed. Only the father and the father were left in the front yard. Yan Jiekuang handed a cigarette to Yan Bugui and lit it. The two of them sat on the stone bench and smoked.

Yan Jiekuang asked, "Dad, if you didn't have this west wing and were still living in the west wing, and Widow Wang rented the house to this group of people without informing you, would you be happy?"

Yan Bugui took a puff of his cigarette and said, "I, of course I'm not happy about it. Hey, Lao San, I know what I did was not authentic, but, but."

When Yan Jiekuang heard that his father did not give up the lease, there must be another reason, so he said, "Dad, are these people not easy to deal with? Or is there something else going on?"

Yan Bugui took out a rental contract, handed it to Yan Jiekuang, and said, "Take a look at it yourself."

While smoking, Yan Jiekuang carefully looked at the rental contract. It turned out that there was a clause in the contract that if one party breached the contract, he would have to pay one month's rent.

Yan Jiekuang understood that Yan Bugui was reluctant to pay the penalty for breach of contract.

Yan Jiekuang thought for a moment and said, "Well, Dad, you bring all the old neighbors here and ask them if the tenant can continue to rent the house if most of them agree. If the neighbors still disagree, I will pay the penalty."

Yan Bugui nodded and said, "This is a good idea. It's the best of both worlds. If we really can't get the approval of the neighbors, we can cancel the lease and compensate them."

Yan Jiekuang said, "Today is the Dragon Boat Festival. Otherwise, we can just set up a few tables in the backyard. We haven't gathered with our neighbors for a long time. This is also our family's apology to everyone."

This proposal was immediately agreed by Yan Bugui, who went to the backyard to talk to Yang Ruiping. Yan Jiekuang called Wei Xiaobao to send four tables of food and drinks to the west wing.

As soon as I finished the call, I saw the couple happily running to the courtyard next door.

Ji Lian said, "You still have a way. Didn't you see that when our mother heard you said you would invite the old neighbors in the courtyard to dinner in the evening, she immediately perked up and kept saying that our third child is still smart."

Yan Jiekuang scratched her nose and said, "Isn't your husband smart?"

Ji Lian said embarrassedly: "The child is still here, smart, you are the smartest, okay."

Yan Jiekuang went straight to the kitchen. After a while, He Yuzhu arrived first and shouted, "Old Third, what's going on? I said I would treat you at noon, so why did your family snatch it?"

(End of this chapter)