Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 383 Delin Asks for Help
At the end of April, Lou Xiao'e gave Yan Jiekuang a surprise. Yan Jiekuang's Grand Cherokee arrived at Sijiucheng. As soon as it entered Sijiucheng, it attracted a lot of attention. Many people were staring at the car. Yan Jiekuang drove the car to go through the formalities, and then drove back to a courtyard house facing the street in Houhai.

The courtyard house had been idle since it was renovated. Because it had two garages, Yan Jiekuang had never rented it out. This time it was put to good use.

After parking the car, Yan Jiekuang went to the yard. This courtyard was not very big. The main garage occupied a quarter of the yard. The remaining front yard only had the main house and the east wing. The backyard was not big either, with three main rooms and two east and west wing rooms each.

Yan Jiekuang looked at each house and planned to decorate them. Now there were only simple furniture in this yard. This was because he had too many pieces of furniture in his collection, so some of the low-value ones were placed in this yard in Houhai.

Yan Jiekuang left the yard, locked the door, and strolled back to Yuer Hutong. He was in a very good mood today as he finally had a car that satisfied him. On the way back, Yan Jiekuang took a detour to Beixinqiao and bought some vegetables at the vegetable market to take home.

After opening the door, Tian Guixiang found that Yan Jiekuang had come back from buying groceries. She felt very strange. Normally, if he wanted to cook, he would ask his apprentice Wei Xiaobao to deliver it. It was really rare for him to buy groceries.

Tian Guixiang asked: "Why did you think of buying vegetables?"

"I'm in a good mood today. I'll make something delicious tonight." Yan Jiekuang said with a smile.

Tian Guixiang didn't ask any more questions and said, "Then you do it tonight. I'll go pick up Xiaohai and Xixi." After that, she packed up and went out.

Yan Jiekuang was preparing ingredients in the kitchen. He specially soaked shark fins and sea cucumbers, and went to the cellar to get broth and duck. He didn't plan to cook too many dishes. He just wanted to make some Tan family dishes and palace dishes. After these were prepared, he began to prepare vegetables and mushrooms.

Xiaohai and Xixi came back first. After Tian Guixiang picked up the children, she came to the kitchen to help. Xiaohai was looking out the kitchen door. Yan Jiekuang saw him and asked, "What's wrong?"

"We heard from Aunt Tian that you are in a good mood today and you want to make delicious food for us. Let me see if there is anything I like." Xiao Hai said.

Yan Jiekuang teased him and said, "Didn't you notice that your face has grown bigger? You look more and more like your second brother."

"No, no one can compare to my second brother." Xiao Hai said, made a face, and ran out.

Tian Guixiang said with a smile: "This Xiaohai is a little kid with big brains, but when he meets Xixi, he has no way to deal with her."

"Haha, yes, this is the natural blood suppression. By the way, is your second child adapting to work?" Yan Jiekuang asked.

"He has adapted too much. He only comes back once a week. He has found something he likes to do. He is in high spirits every day. But when he comes back he keeps talking. His father and I are fed up with it." Tian Guixiang said.

"Okay, if he finds a job he likes and it's related to his major, it will bring out his strengths and help him grow quickly," said Yan Jiekuang.

Yan Jiekuang heard some noises at the gate and stuck his head out to see that it was Ji Lian who came back with Da Pang, Xiao Pang and Shi Li. Yan Jiekuang said, "They're back. The food will be ready soon. Go wash up first."

Ji Lian looked at Yan Jiekuang with a smile on his face and felt very strange. She felt that he was a little particularly enthusiastic today.

In the evening, Yan Jiekuang cooked four dishes of the Tan family: shark's fin with three shreds, sea cucumber with green onions, sunflower duck and pearl soup. He also cooked two palace dishes: beef tenderloin with white mushrooms and cashew celery heart, and served them with stir-fried choy sum and garlic lettuce.

Ji Lian was immediately shocked by the dishes on the table. Yan Jiekuang also cooked for normal meals, but he seldom made such formal dishes because it was time-consuming and laborious.

Ji Lian smiled and said to Yan Jiekuang: "Xixi just told me that you are in a good mood today. What good news is this? How good are you feeling?"

Yan Jiekuang smiled mysteriously and said, "Guess?"

Ji Lian rolled her eyes at him and said, "How could I guess that?"

"Okay, let me tell you, my Grand Cherokee has arrived and I have completed all the formalities." Yan Jiekuang said.

"Really? Come on, eat quickly, and then take me to see where you put it?" Ji Lian said anxiously.

"I put it in the yard of Houhai. It's a new car. I wouldn't feel at ease if I didn't put it in the garage. Okay, let's eat. After dinner, I'll take you to see it." Yan Jiekuang said.

Big Fatty shouted, "I want to go too."

Yan Jiekuang said, "Let's all go, just take a walk."

The family started eating. While they were chatting, Xiao Hai had already picked up five or six sea cucumbers and put them in his bowl. Yan Jiekuang saw this and said, "You little foodie, you will surpass your second brother sooner or later."

Xixi didn't even pick up the food from the plate, but only picked up the food from Xiaohai's bowl. Xiaohai didn't dare to say anything, so he could only continue to pick up the food from the table, which made the adults laugh.

After dinner, Yan Jiekuang drove the van with his family to the courtyard of Houhai. When Ji Lian saw the van, she liked it at first sight. Yan Jiekuang knew something was wrong when he saw Ji Lian's expression. Sure enough, Ji Lian started to act like a spoiled child. Yan Jiekuang had no choice but to hand over the car keys obediently, but he said that it would take no more than ten days. After a fierce bargaining, the two finally let Ji Lian drive first and he would give it to her when he had something to do.

On the way home, Yan Jiekuang was driving a van, which was so depressing. He should have known not to show off. In the end, it became Ji Lian's car.

Yan Jiekuang's joyful mood came to an abrupt end. He thought that he should just go to work and come home honestly. He simply handed the key to the courtyard house to Ji Lian, or else he would drive back to Yuer Hutong where there was no parking space.

Ji Lian was very happy and took the children home. Yan Jiekuang looked at his broken van, shook his head, and also went home.

This year there was only one day off for May Day, and Shi Lei came back the night before. This was not common at other times. Shi Lei was very happy to see his parents, and he excitedly talked about interesting things at school. He said that his current class teacher no longer allowed them to participate in activities and they had to focus on preparing for the exam.

July of this year was the most important turning point in Shi Lei's life. Yan Jiekuang had already made a plan, but unfortunately the school teachers had their own arrangements and did not allow them to review at home. But after May Day, things were different. Yan Jiekuang took out the notes that he and Ji Lian used for the college entrance examination and handed them to Shi Lei.

Yan Jiekuang also gave his study room to Shi Lei, and Shi Lei began to sprint at full speed.

The younger brothers and sisters also knew that their eldest brother was about to take the college entrance examination, so they never played around at home and did not disturb Shi Lei. Tian Guixiang is now mainly responsible for Shi Lei's diet, and for this purpose, Tian Guixiang even specially compiled a recipe.

On May Day, Yan Jiekuang took the children to his parents' home, mainly to accompany the old couple. Of course, Shi Lei did not go.

After lunch, Yan Jiekuang and Ji Lian took the children to the courtyard. As soon as they entered the west wing, Yan Jiekuang was surprised to find Xu Delin sitting there chatting with Yan Bugui. Yan Jiekuang walked over with a smile and asked, "Aren't you in Shenzhen? When did you come back?"

Seeing Yan Jiekuang, Xu Delin smiled and said, "I've only been back for a few days, so I came here to see if there is any house. I heard that Uncle Yan has a house for rent, so I came here."

Yan Jiekuang laughed and said, "That's all old news. My dad doesn't care about this stall anymore. If you want to rent it, find my wife and ask her to give you a call."

Xu Delin already knew that Yan Bugui was no longer in this business, so he quickly said, "Thank you, Lao San."

A few people were chatting, mainly Xu Delin talking about his experiences in Shenzhen in the past few years. Yan Jiekuang knew a little about it, but he did not expose some of his words, still wanting to give him some face.

But as they chatted, Yan Jiekuang felt something was wrong, because Xu Delin showed no intention of leaving, and Yan Bugui kept winking at him.

Yan Jiekuang asked: "Delin, besides wanting to rent a house, do you have anything else to do here?"

Xu Delin hesitated for a long time before saying, "To be honest, I sold you the house and used the money to start a small business. I made some money, but since the stock market boomed last year, I invested everything in the stock market. Everything was fine, but this year, things took a turn for the worse. The stock market plummeted and my money was trapped. Now I have nothing except the thousand yuan in my pocket."

Men don't cry easily, but before they get too sad, Xu Delin shed tears and covered his face with his hands. It took him a while to recover and said, "I know Lao San is a big boss. I heard about him in Shenzhen, so I came here this time and I want to ask you to help me."

Yan Bugui stopped talking and just silently poured a cup of tea for Xu Delin. Yan Jiekuang took out a cigarette and handed it to Xu Delin, then lit one for himself. After thinking for a while, he said, "It's not impossible to borrow money, but what kind of business do you want to start? If you still want to invest in the stock market, I dare not lend you money."

Xu Delin was smoking a cigarette and was a little confused. He actually didn't know what business to do, but he was unwilling to give up. He went to Shenzhen to work hard for several years, but in the end it was all in vain.

Yan Jiekuang looked at Xu Delin and knew that he was confused, so he said, "I can lend you money, and I can also show you a way out, but I don't know if you have the courage."

When Xu Delin heard Yan Jiekuang's words, he grabbed a life-saving straw and said, "I have it. I have nothing to lose now. Third brother, please help me."

Yan Bugui looked at Yan Jiekuang, as if he was about to say something but stopped. Yan Jiekuang said, "Do you watch the news? Do you know the current situation in the Soviet Union? The Soviet Union is facing disintegration, which is inevitable from now on. However, the light industry there is very backward, while the heavy industry is very developed."

Yan Jiekuang pointed at a lighter and said, "This is only a few cents here. Do you know how much it costs in the Soviet Union? One dollar. You can stock up a batch of goods here and sell them over there. Do you dare?"

Xu Delin's eyes lit up and he said, "Third brother, you may not know that my main foreign language when I was in school was Russian. I did this."

Xu Delin gave Yan Jiekuang a surprise and said, "Okay, I'll pay and you do the work. Go buy some goods first. As long as they are daily necessities, we can ship them directly by train. We'll split the profits in half. How about that?"

Xu Delin was overjoyed and said, "That's it. I'll go get the goods tomorrow."

"Okay, wait a moment, let's have dinner together in the evening and have a good chat. I'll ask my wife to get the money for you." Yan Jiekuang said.

Yan Jiekuang did not hesitate and directly asked Ji Lian to take out 50,000 yuan and give it to Xu Delin. During dinner in the evening, they talked in detail about the details of the business.

Yan Bugui was also a little tempted, but he also wanted to see whether Xu Delin could succeed and how much profit he could make before making a decision.

(End of this chapter)