Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 352: Rest in peace
Ji Lian led Yan Jie Kuang straight to the village. Ji Lian's house was still some distance away from other houses in the village. The two of them walked along and crossed a small bridge, then saw a straight dirt road. Ji Lian said, "Most people in the village are related to each other. Let's go to my great grandfather's house first. He is my great grandfather's brother. I wonder if he is still alive."

Yan Jiekuang looked at the houses on both sides of the road. They were mostly adobe houses. Only a few houses in the middle of the village were tall blue brick and black tile houses with unique overhanging eaves. Yan Jiekuang walked and looked around. He stopped walking, and Ji Lian also stopped and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yan Jiekuang said, "Don't you find it strange? Why do all the houses have their doors locked?"

Ji Lian looked around, frowned, and said, "Why is it so quiet? That's not right. Even if no one is here, there should be the sound of livestock. Could it be that after all these years, the village still hasn't recovered?"

"Impossible. This is not a remote village. It is so close to Yulin. The situation in Yulin is pretty good. Although it has not been developed yet, there is no problem in solving the necessities of life such as food, clothing, housing and transportation." Yan Jiekuang shook his head and said.

"Did the entire village relocate?" Ji Lian said.

Yan Jiekuang thought for a moment and said, "Which family are you closest to? I'll go into the courtyard and take a look."

Ji Lian nodded and said, "Let's go to my great grandfather's house. He has loved me since I was a child."

The two continued walking until they reached the center of the village. Ji Lian pointed to an ancestral house and said, "This is the yard. Alas, the door is also locked."

Yan Jiekuang took a few steps back, gathered his energy, and quickly ran to the wall. He exerted force with his feet and jumped onto the top of the wall. He flipped over and entered the yard. He took a quick look around. The yard was very clean. The main house was very tall, with a row of houses and three double doors. On the left and right were normal blue brick houses, with three rooms in each. There was a simple shed at the left corner, which seemed to be the kitchen.

Yan Jiekuang first shouted, "Is anyone there?" and waited for a while. When no one responded, he walked to the main room and pushed open the double door in the middle. The door was probably about two meters high. When he pushed the door open, he saw that the room was full of old-fashioned furniture that looked very old. Yan Jiekuang did not go in, but stood at the door and looked around. The furniture was still there, but there was nothing else, and there was no sign of life at all. Yan Jiekuang couldn't understand it. It was obvious that someone cleaned the house regularly, but no one lived here yet. Why was that?

Yan Jiekuang closed the door and climbed out of the yard in the same way. Ji Lian asked anxiously, "How is it?"

Yan Jiekuang said: "There should be no one living in it, but the house and yard are very clean. It seems that someone cleans it regularly. They should have moved away, but their current residence should not be far from here."

Ji Lian said, "I've been gone for so many years, not many people know me. How about we just find a few people to help put up the tombstone, and then we can go back?"

Yan Jiekuang nodded and said, "Okay, let's drive around the village and see where there are residents."

The two men returned to Ji Lian's main house. Yan Jiekuang greeted Ji Lian and entered the half-collapsed house. Everything in the house was in disrepair. Yan Jiekuang only saw a cabinet in an inner room. Because he remembered that Mr. Ji was a book lover, he wondered if there were any rare books in this old house. He opened the cabinet and found a few books inside. Yan Jiekuang picked them up and flipped through them. He saw that they were of no value. They were all technical books, which were sold everywhere.

Yan Jiekuang left the house and returned to the car. As he started the car, he said, "Your house is really empty. There is nothing in it."

Ji Lian rolled her eyes at him and said, "At that time, we couldn't even eat, so we sold everything we should and shouldn't sell. Later, when we really had nothing to sell, we fled the famine."

Yan Jiekuang smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry, I forgot about this. Calm down, my dear wife."

Ji Lian also smiled and said, "Hurry up, or you'll have to stay here overnight."

Yan Jiekuang drove around the village and discovered that only the main houses were often cleaned up. The walls of other people's houses had collapsed, just like Ji Lian's.

Yan Jiekuang drove north along the central road in the village for about ten minutes. He saw a few cave dwellings on the side of the road, halfway up the mountain. It seemed that there were people living in them. Ji Lian also saw them and said in surprise, "There are no cave dwellings here. Maybe they are from our village."

The two parked the car at the foot of the mountain and walked up the path beside the mountain. People on the mountain had already seen them and looked like a couple. The two walked to the door. Standing at the door was a typical Northwest man who spoke in Shaanxi dialect and said, "Hello, what's up?"

Yan Jiekuang didn't understand, so he turned around and looked at Ji Lian. Ji Lian said, "Fellow villager, I am from the Ji family kiln. I came back this time to bury my grandfather. I wonder where the people from the Ji family kiln have gone?"

The middle-aged man looked at Ji Lian carefully and asked in Mandarin: "Are you the granddaughter of the second grandfather in the east?"

Ji Lian suddenly became excited and said, "It's me, I'm Ji Lian."

The middle-aged man was also very excited and said, "I am your great-grandfather's great grandson. I am Ji Quan. When you were little, you used to play behind me."

"Brother, wuwu" Ji Lian suddenly burst into tears and grabbed Ji Quan's hand.

Ji Quan sighed and said, "That year, not long after you left, your great grandfather passed away, and my parents also passed away. Nearly half of the people in the village died, and most of the village was empty. Later, the fourth uncle suggested returning to Jijiapo to recognize our ancestors, and everyone in the village left."

Yan Jiekuang and Ji Lian finally understood why the village was empty. Ji Lian asked, "Why didn't you go?"

"After all, this is our ancestral home. I volunteered to stay and look after it, and herd sheep when I have nothing to do." Ji Quan said.

"Everyone in the house, pour some water quickly and come sit in the yard," said Ji Quan.

Yan Jiekuang followed the two and entered the yard. There was a small square table in the yard with a few stools next to it. After the three of them sat down, Ji Lian explained their purpose. Ji Quan said that it was no problem and they would go together after the two boys came back. Ji Lian and Ji Quan talked about what happened in the village later, most of which were sad memories. Ji Quan's wife poured them a few glasses of water.

Ji Quan asked if they had eaten yet. Ji Lian said, "No, I'm busy looking for someone."

Ji Quan said: "You guys wait, it's a good opportunity for me to cook more noodles in my room."

Yan Jiekuang looked at Ji Lian and said, "Isn't that bad? How about I bring something over?" Ji Lian said, "No, you don't understand our situation. If we are polite to them, they will think we are alienating our relatives."

After a while, Ji Quan and his wife brought two bowls of noodles. Yan Jiekuang said, "What a big bowl."

Ji Quan put the noodles in front of Yan Jiekuang and said with a smile: "This is the oil-splashed noodles we have here. It should be eaten with garlic." Then he took out a few heads of garlic from his pocket and put them on the table.

Yan Jiekuang smelled the aroma of spicy food, which immediately aroused his appetite. He picked up the noodles and started to eat, chewing garlic from time to time. While the three of them were eating, two young men came back with the sheep. After driving the sheep into the sheepfold, they walked over. Ji Quan introduced them to Ji Lian and Yan Jiekuang. These were Ji Quan's two children, one was 21 years old and was engaged, and the other was 19 years old and was about to go to college.

Yan Jiekuang looked at the two young men and said, "It's really nice to meet you. If you have time, come to Sijiu City and look for us. We will also do our best to be the hosts."

The two young men smiled innocently and went to the kitchen to eat. They both squatted at the kitchen door while eating.

After dinner, Ji Quan and his son and Yan Jiekuang and his wife drove back home. The four men lifted the tombstone with a wooden edge as thick as a bowl, went directly to the ancestral grave in the backyard, and erected the tombstone. They burned paper, lit incense, kowtowed, and then left.

Ji Quan wanted to let the couple stay overnight, but Yan Jiekuang and his wife declined, saying that they had children at home and were anxious to go back. The couple drove straight to Yulin. On the way, Ji Lian said, "I left 10,000 yuan for my eldest brother's family. The children need to go to school, and it's really hard here."

Yan Jiekuang had no objection. He also wanted to leave some money behind. He felt that it was very abrupt to do so, but he did not expect Ji Lian to do so. Didn't she not allow him to bring money? Ji Lian saw Yan Jiekuang's doubts and said, "Just in case? I'm afraid you don't bring enough."

Yan Jiekuang said: "We will stay in Yulin for one night and set off tomorrow."

The two of them came to Yulin, booked a double room in a guesthouse, and then went out for a stroll to see the charm of this ancient city of Yulin. Standing on the city wall, Yan Jiekuang marveled at the power of history. Yulin has countless beautiful sceneries. The two of them strolled from four o'clock in the evening until eight o'clock before they found a restaurant to eat at. It was a state-owned restaurant on the street with a very famous name, the State-owned No. 1 Hotel.

After entering the store, the couple chose a table by the window. The girl from northern Shaanxi was also very welcoming. Yan Jiekuang ordered a plate of Yulin tofu, a bowl of liver in a bowl, a plate of potato chips, a bowl of mutton offal, a plate of donkey intestines, and two bowls of buckwheat noodles.

Ji Lian said with a smile: "It's a blessing to go out with you. I know where the food is delicious."

Yan Jiekuang said seriously: "I am the master of cooking and the founder of a school of culinary arts." This made Ji Lian laugh out loud.

The two of them tasted the food and chatted about stories about northern Shaanxi. The weather in northern Shaanxi in August was surprisingly good, and there were many stars outside.

After a night, the two were full of energy. They packed up, checked out of the hotel, and started their return journey.

The road is still not very safe now, and the people in some places are fierce, so Yan Jiekuang chose the road he came from. Skipping the scenery along the way, Ji Lian was very emotional and told Yan Jiekuang about her childhood, but now even the village is gone. Yan Jiekuang also comforted her in a soft voice, asking her to look forward and think about the children.

It was a one-day journey. Yan Jiekuang was familiar with the route, so he arrived in Daxing in just one day. At around eight o'clock in the evening, the car slowly stopped at the entrance of Yuer Hutong. Ji Lian couldn't wait to get out of the car and went straight home without waiting for Yan Jiekuang.

When Yan Jiekuang arrived home, the children, Tian Guixiang and Yang Ruiping were all in the front yard. When the children saw Yan Jiekuang coming in, they all rushed over, scaring Yan Jiekuang.

Yan Jiekuang held Xixi in his arms and said, "Did you listen to grandma at home?"

Xixi stared with big eyes and said, "I'm very obedient, Dad, did you bring back the gift?"

Yan Jiekuang smiled and said, "Of course, I brought you some delicious food from there, Youyu smoked chicken and donkey intestines, but you guys have already had dinner, so you can eat these at noon tomorrow."

Several children were chattering about their lives over the past few days, and Ji Lian and Yan Jiekuang listened patiently.

The couple was gone for a total of four days. When they come back this time, the children will be going back to school in a few days. Yan Jiekuang and Ji Lian plan to stay at home during these days and just stay with their children.

After the child went back to the backyard to wash and rest, Yang Ruiping asked Yan Jiekuang, who was drinking tea, "Is everything done?"

"Well, we found Ji Lian's cousin. With his help, everything went smoothly. However, life over there was really hard. Before Ji Lian left, he secretly left 10,000 yuan in his cousin's room." Yan Jiekuang said.

Yang Ruiping said: "That's good, Ji Lian did the right thing, don't forget each other when you become rich and powerful."

Yan Jiekuang said, "Mom, I'll have some tea. I haven't had any in a few days. You go and have a rest. Don't worry about me."

Yang Ruiping nodded and went to the backyard.

At this time, Tian Guixiang came over and said, "Someone claiming to be Shopkeeper Tian has come to see you several times in the past few days. I told him that you were out, and he asked me to tell you to come see him when you come back."

As soon as Yan Jiekuang heard it, he knew who it was, a shopkeeper from Liulichang. That didn't make sense. He had never bought anything from him before, so why was he looking for him? Yan Jiekuang didn't want to think about it anymore. He would go there tomorrow and find out what was going on.

Tian Guixiang also went back to rest. Sister Yang drank a lot of tea and felt a little tired, so she checked the gate and went back to the backyard to wash up and rest.

(End of this chapter)