Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 391: Jia Mu's Interesting Stories
At the Jia family's home on Qianmen Street, Jia Zhang has been feeling restless recently because Jia Dongxu and his wife haven't been home for a long time. She didn't know if they were too busy with business or if they deliberately didn't come back. Jia Zhang couldn't sit still any longer, so she packed up and rushed to Nanluoguxiang.

She didn't take a car, but just walked here. As soon as she entered Nanluoguxiang from the south, she felt that this place had changed so much. There were shops on both sides, selling all kinds of things. At the entrance of the alley in Courtyard No. 95 where she lived, there was a sign saying "Sun's Lamb Soup" and a sign that said it was a century-old store. Jia Zhang spitted outside and said, "I have lived here all my life, how come I didn't know there was a Sun's Lamb Soup here? It must be fake."

The crowd was talking about it, and the owner of the store came out with an ugly look on his face. Jia Zhang asked, "Do you know me?"

The shop owner shook his head in confusion. Jia Zhang laughed and said, "I married into this alley when I was 18, and I just moved out two years ago. You said you don't know me. What kind of century-old shop are you?"

The shop owner was embarrassed. At this time, Jia Dongxu, who was still watching the excitement in the crowd, was shocked to see his mother Jia Zhang at the door of the shop. He quickly pushed through the crowd, walked over, and said, "I'm sorry, everyone. This is my mother. She has a bit of Alzheimer's disease. I'm sorry, everyone."

When Jia Zhang saw Jia Dongxu and heard what he said, she cursed, "You are the one who has Alzheimer's disease."

When Jia Dongxu heard this, he was suddenly stunned. The onlookers burst into laughter. He didn't expect that someone would scold himself.

Jia Zhang was also embarrassed, so she hit Jia Dongxu again and again. Jia Dongxu quickly dragged his mother to his shop and said, "Mom, what are you doing? They are just exaggerating in business, what's the big deal? Why are you taking it so seriously?"

Jia Zhang spat and said, "Isn't that just a lie? I can't stand it."

"Mom, don't you see that those who are shopping here are from other places? What do they know? We all have shops on the same street and we have to support each other. Aren't you offending people?" Jia Dongxu was unhappy and argued with Jia Zhang.

Jia Zhang didn't listen to him and asked, "Why are you and your wife not at home? Don't you care about me?"

"No, look at how busy I am. Just stay here for two days and you will see that we are too busy to handle it all," Jia Dongxu explained.

Jia Zhang was half-believing and half-doubting, so she wandered around the hotel. She found that this small hotel was actually full. There was not a single empty room, and one had to call three days in advance to make a reservation. She didn't expect the business to be so good.

Jia Zhang's doubts were dispelled and she felt better. She asked, "What are those old guys doing?"

Jia Dongxu smiled bitterly and said, "When they have nothing to do, they either go to my master's house to drink or to Teacher Yan's house to drink tea. They are together every day. My aunt Cuilan, Aunt Yue'e and Aunt Ruiping are the same. When they have nothing to do, they drink tea and chat in the west courtyard and do handicrafts."

When Jia Zhang heard this, she felt unbalanced. Why don't you take me with you to the party? No, I have to go too. Thinking of this, she raised her legs and walked out. Jia Dongxu hurriedly asked, "Mom, why are you going? It's almost time for dinner. Why don't you go after dinner?"

When Jia Zhang heard this, she stopped and turned back. Jia Dongxu took his mother to the hotel's canteen.

The small canteen mainly provides breakfast for passengers, while lunch and dinner need to be ordered individually. However, employees are excluded and have employee meals. Jia Dongxu took his mother to eat the employee meal, which consisted of four dishes and one soup.

Jia Zhang complained as she ate, "Compared with Yan's restaurant, your restaurant is a far cry from the Yan family's."

When Jia Dongxu heard this, he almost fainted from anger and said, "Oh my god, his is a restaurant that sells food, and mine is a hotel that only provides convenience for travelers. How can we be the same?"

When Jia Zhang heard this, she stopped talking and just focused on eating. The chef here is a retired chef, and his home-cooked meals are pretty good. Of course, they can't compare to Wei Xiaobao's.

After finishing her meal, Jia Zhang went out for a stroll alone. Her first target was the west wing of Courtyard No. 95. When she entered the alley, she saw that there were many small shops in the alley, selling all kinds of things. It was much more lively than when she lived here, and most of the shops were owned by old residents.

Jia Zhang chatted along the way, stopping and starting, and it was already past two o'clock when they arrived at the west wing. Seeing that the gate was not closed, Jia Zhang walked straight in and shouted "Ruiping! Ruiping!"

Yang Ruiping was making a sweater and chatting with Li Cuilan in the back garden when someone suddenly called her. Li Cuilan asked, "Who is this? They are calling you, right?"

"It sounds familiar. I'll go out and take a look." Yang Ruiping put down the half-knitted sweater and walked out. When he walked into the middle courtyard, he saw Jia Zhang and said with a smile, "Who is it? Aunt Jia, why are you here?"

"I couldn't come. I was just strolling around and ended up coming to you." Jia Zhang said with a smile.

Yang Ruiping also smiled and said, "What a coincidence, Cuilan is also here with me. Come on, let's sit in the backyard." As he said that, he led Jia Zhang to the backyard.

It is said that three women make a drama. These three old neighbors started chatting animatedly as soon as they met.

Xu Delin has really become a wealthy man now. He did not hide it from Yi Zhonghai and took the initiative to tell Yi Zhonghai. He also said that he would buy a big villa for Yi Zhonghai, which made Yi Zhonghai so happy that his face was wrinkled with smiles.

After the joy, Yi Zhonghai and his wife talked about marriage with Xu Delin. Instantly, Xu Delin's face fell and he said, "Uncle Yi, Aunt Cuilan, I want to find one too, but I've been so unlucky recently. Nothing I do works. If it weren't for Yan Laosan, I'd still be starving." Li Cuilan said, "It's okay. It's not too late. You can find one yourself. I'll keep an eye out for you and ask Uncle Yi about it. That's all. You're the only one in your family. You have to pay attention to this matter."

When Xu Delin heard this, he felt that what Aunt Cuilan said made sense. This was a big deal and he must take it seriously.

Yi Zhonghai also said, "You can't think about Qin Jingru anymore. She is greedy for money and will follow anyone who has money. Don't show off in front of her. Learn from the third brother and be low-key."

Xu Delin nodded and said, "I've suffered so much, and I'm still showing off. But you're right, I should learn from the third brother and be more low-key. But, Uncle Yi, Aunt Cuilan, how about we go on a trip? I'm so envious of the old Yan family. How about the three of us go together?"

Li Cuilan smiled and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you. It's just the three of us. So where are we going?"

Xu Delin thought about it and said, "We can't go hiking. You two are too old. I'll borrow a car from the third brother and we'll go straight to the beach and play there for a few days. What do you think?"

Yi Zhonghai smiled and said, "Okay, let's do as you say."

Seeing that the two elders agreed, Xu Delin went to borrow a car from Yan Jiekuang. It was impossible for him to lend him a Grand Cherokee, so he lent him a Mitsubishi off-road vehicle, which was also a good car, and Xu Delin drove away.

The next day, they went on a driving trip, stopping along the way and having a great time.

Since Jia Zhang came to Nanluoguxiang last time, she has fallen in love with this place. She comes here for a stroll whenever she has nothing to do. Here she doesn't have to worry about eating. She can eat at any house, even Liu Haizhong's house. Although she and Liu Haizhong don't have a good temper, she and Yang Yue'e are still on good terms now.

That day, she strolled to Nanluoguxiang again and went to Jia Dongxu's place first. When she saw that the couple was busy with work, she came out. After thinking for a while, she went to find Yang Ruiping. Yang Ruiping was at home with nothing to do. When she had nothing to do, she would sit at the gate to bask in the sun, do some knitting work, and chat with neighbors. He lived a very leisurely life.

Yang Ruiping saw Jia Zhang coming from a distance, so she quickly stood up and pulled Jia Zhang into the house for tea. The two old sisters chatted while drinking tea.

As they were chatting, Jia Zhang asked, "Why haven't I seen Li Cuilan for a while? Where did she go?"

"She went out for a trip. She drove there with Xu Delin and Lao Yi." Yang Ruiping said.

"Ah, she can still travel? Doesn't she need a letter of introduction?" said Jia Zhang.

"That's old news. It's not necessary now. Our family went there some time ago. They thought about traveling just because they saw us going. Wait a moment, I'll show you the photo album." As Yang Ruiping was talking, she remembered the photo album. It was her treasure and she would look through it whenever she had nothing to do.

After a while, Yang Ruiping took out a photo album and handed it to Jia Zhang. Jia Zhang sat there and looked through it, eyes full of envy, especially when she saw the family portrait of the Yan family taken by the Daming Lake. She was very envious.

Yang Ruiping said: "When Xu Delin left, he borrowed a camera and a car from the third brother, wanting to go to Shandong like us, but they didn't climb the mountain, they went directly to the beach."

Jia Zhang suddenly felt that her family should also take a trip like this, so that she would die without regrets. She asked about the precautions for traveling, as well as where there were fun and beneficial places, and she wrote them down carefully.

The next day, Jia Zhang called Jia Dongxu back and said, "Ask everyone to come back this weekend. I have a meeting and everyone must be present, no matter how old or young they are."

Jia Dongxu didn't know what his mother wanted to do, but seeing Jia Zhang's serious look, he really took the matter seriously and started notifying every household.

It was the weekend, and everyone had nothing to do, so they all agreed.

When Qin Huairu heard about this, she felt very bad. Her mother-in-law was going to cause trouble again. But if she didn't go, it would be bad for her as a daughter-in-law. So she told Jia Dongxu many things, but Qin Huairu had planned everything, but she didn't expect that her mother-in-law wanted everyone to travel together.

On the weekend, Jia Zhang was very happy to see the children coming back one after another. She asked a few questions to each of them. Soon, everyone was gathered together. Jia Dongxu thought that he still had things to do in the store, so he urged Jia Zhang and said, "Mom, everyone is here. If you have anything to say, just tell me."

Jia Zhang sat in the middle, coughed twice and said, "It's not easy for us to get together, so I'll make it short. Today, let's discuss about traveling together."

Everyone who was talking and laughing was stunned when they heard what Jia Zhang said. They opened their mouths and stared at Jia Zhang with wide eyes. For a moment, the room was completely silent.

(End of this chapter)