Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 397: Old Friend's Story
In mid-May, Yan Bugui's newsstand opened for business. It was located in the gatehouse of the west wing. The three rooms on the left were connected. One was used to sell newspapers and magazines, and the other two were furnished with tables and chairs. There were also two stoves with tap water. The stove was used to boil water. There was a long table against the wall with about ten thermoses on it.

The teahouse is self-service. Yan Bugui does not provide tea. He only sells small bags of scented tea at one yuan each, fifty cents a bag.

Today the old neighbors were very considerate. Jia Zhang brought her eldest son, Liu Haizhong and his wife, Xu Wude and his wife, and Chang Cun and his wife all came. Yang Ruiping enthusiastically made tea for them, and the group of people started chatting in this self-service teahouse. After a while, the uncles and aunts from the neighborhood also came, chatting in groups of three or four. If someone wanted to borrow a newspaper, Yan Bugui didn't mind, and of course they didn't charge for it.

Jia Zhang said to Yang Ruiping: "This place is really nice, it's a good place to relieve boredom."

Yang Ruiping said: "If you have nothing to do at home, come here. If they are not here, I will definitely be here. If you have nothing to do, just chat with the sisters and drink tea."

Jia Zhang kept nodding her head and said, "Comrade Old Yan has done a good thing."

Liu Haizhong also said: "By the way, I will bring two more chess sets tomorrow, and then we will be complete."

Yan Bugui slapped his head and said, "I have one at home, wait a moment, old and young men."

Yan Bugui went into the yard to play chess and came out not long after. Liu Haizhong snatched the chess piece away and started a chess game with Xu Wude.

Soon, the teahouse became lively. A young couple came over and asked Yan Bugui at the counter, "Uncle, we are here to travel. How much is a bowl of tea?"

Yan Bugui, the chess players, and the people chatting all laughed when they heard this. Yan Bugui said, "Here, I have authentic Zhang Yiyuan scented tea, fifty cents a pack, free seats, free water, drink as much as you want, do you have a cup?"

The two young men shook their heads, and Yan Bugui shouted to Yang Ruiping, "My dear, bring two teacups."

After a while, Yang Ruiping brought two teacups with lids, and Yan Bugui poured tea for the two men, placed them in front of them, and said, "It's one dollar in total. If you want more water, just pour it yourself. There's a thermos over there, full of hot water."

One of the young men said: "This is too cheap, almost free."

Yan Bugui said, "That's right. If you bring your own tea, I won't charge you."

The two young men were very happy. They drank tea and chatted with the people around them.

Before long, the reputation of this free teahouse spread throughout Nanluoguxiang. When they had nothing to do, grandpas and grandmas liked to come here to drink water. In fact, they didn’t bring cups, so Yan Bugui would provide them. The purpose was to provide a gathering place for older people.

In the end, the neighborhood committee director came and praised Yan Bugui, saying, "This is a good place. If you want to publicize something in the future, just come here."

The old men and women also told the director not to worry, as as long as they told the news here, everyone in Nanluoguxiang would know about it by tomorrow.

Finally, this became the patrol team's resting place. They would come here to rest and drink some tea when they had nothing to do. It also became the information center of the entire Nanluoguxiang. Even people from the police station would come here if they had any business or inquiries. Teacher Yan also became famous and was called Manager Yan.

Yan Jiekuang has been at home restoring his twenty or so calligraphy and paintings during this period. Apart from cooking, cleaning the yard, and picking up Xiaohai and Xixi, he seldom goes out. When he goes out, he doesn't drive such a fancy car, but wears an old man's shirt, linen pants, and old man's shoes. At first glance, he looks like an ordinary man.

On this day, Master Niu suddenly visited. Yan Jiekuang was very surprised, but he still let him into the central hall. Looking at the sandalwood furniture in the room, Master Niu was dumbfounded. It was not until Yan Jiekuang brought tea that Master Niu's eyes left the furniture. Yan Jiekuang asked, "Master Niu, what are you doing here this time?"

Niu Ye thought for a moment, sighed again, and said, "Dude, I'll tell you the truth. I'm just trying to get someone to sell some furniture. But when I saw what's in your room, I couldn't bring myself to ask for it."

Upon hearing this, Yan Jiekuang said, "Master Niu, who would complain about having too many good things? Just tell me, and I'll take it if it's suitable."

Niu Ye said, "I'll tell you the truth. It was Xu Huizhen. She and Chen Xueru went to the Soviet Union, oh, by the way, now it's called Russia, to do trade and lost everything. Her husband Cai Quanwu wanted to sell the furniture to raise some funds for her to make a comeback, so I came to you."

Yan Jiekuang fell silent for a moment. Niu Ye also knew the relationship between Yan Jiekuang and Xu Huizhen, so he didn't say anything either, and just waited there drinking tea.

Yan Jiekuang suddenly said, "I'll take the things. How much does he want?"

Niu Ye asked, "Why don't you take a look? Some of them are not as good as the ones in your house."

"No need to look, how much is it?" Yan Jiekuang asked.

Niu Ye knew that Yan Jiekuang wanted to help Xu Huizhen, and said, "Originally he wanted 50,000, but we can negotiate."

"No need, I'll get the money for you right away. By the way, Uncle Niu, we have an agreement in advance that you can't say that I collected it, okay?" Yan Jiekuang said.

Niu Ye thought for a while and said, "Okay, you can rest assured that I will do the job."

Yan Jiekuang walked out of the house, and soon came back with a bag containing 50,000 yuan. He handed it to Niu Ye, and then gave Niu Ye a key, saying, "There are 50,000 yuan in the bag. Please count it. This is the key to my front courtyard. You know where it is. Just transport the things there."

Niu Ye glanced into the bag and said, "You just trust me so much."

Yan Jiekuang smiled and said, "Master Niu is the most magnanimous person I have ever met. If I don't trust you, who else can I trust? Don't tell them that I took it."

Niu Ye carried the bag and said, "Don't worry, man, I'm leaving now."

"I'll take you there." Yan Jiekuang sent Niu Ye out the door, and sighed as he watched Niu Ye's back go away. After all, there was still a connection. In the afternoon, Yan Jiekuang received a call from Ji Lian, asking him if he knew a company called Jinjian Decoration Engineering Company, whose legal person was called Jin Jing. Yan Jiekuang said, "I don't know him, and we need to be more strict with the company that claims to know him. Another question is, how did he know that this company was mine?"

When Ji Lian heard this, she felt that this matter was very suspicious, so she said, "I know what to do. Okay, I'll tell you when I have news."

After hanging up the phone, Yan Jiekuang frowned, thinking, how did Jin Jing know me? This shouldn't be the case. We haven't been in touch for nearly 20 years. Is the problem with Li Weiguo? He drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee to Tsinghua University that day. It's really possible.

Thinking of this, Yan Jiekuang packed up, picked up his car keys, went out, and headed straight for Tsinghua University.

When he arrived at the gate of Tsinghua University, he told the guard that he wanted to see Li Weiguo. The guard called Li Weiguo's office. What a coincidence, Li Weiguo didn't have classes at the moment. Yan Jiekuang took the phone and said, "Old classmate, let's find a place to chat. I won't go in."

After waiting for nearly ten minutes, Li Weiguo came out. Yan Jiekuang pushed open the passenger door and said, "Let's go and find a place to chat. I heard that Houhai is pretty good and there are many coffee shops. It's a new thing. Let's go and try it."

Li Weiguo got into the car, his face normal, smiled and said, "Luckily I don't have classes today. You showed up so suddenly that I got scared."

Yan Jiekuang drove to Houhai and found a small coffee shop called Pengyou. In fact, this coffee shop was some distance away from Houhai, but it was easy to park and the road was wide.

Yan Jiekuang and Li Weiguo got out of the car and walked into the coffee shop. The shop was very small, with only five booths, but there was a high table by the window. Yan Jiekuang and Li Weiguo found a booth in the corner and sat down. A fashionably dressed woman came over and asked, "What would you like to order?" Then she handed them a menu.

Yan Jiekuang gestured to Li Weiguo to order first. Li Weiguo looked at it and said, "Give me a cup of Brazilian coffee, with sugar."

Yan Jiekuang continued, "Give me a cup of Blue Mountain coffee, normal is fine. Oh, and some cakes, whatever you like."

As soon as the woman heard Yan Jiekuang's words, she knew that this was a man with plenty of money.

The two sat opposite each other. Yan Jiekuang took out his cigarettes and lighter and put them on the table, saying, "By the way, do you smoke?"

Li Weiguo waved his hand and said, "I don't smoke, you smoke yours."

"How is school? Is work going well?" Yan Jiekuang asked as he lit a cigarette.

Li Weiguo said: "It's OK. I have to take the assessment recently, so I have fewer classes."

Yan Jiekuang asked, "By the way, are you married? I was in a hurry and didn't ask last time."

Li Weiguo smiled bitterly and said, "We got married and divorced. She wanted to go abroad and I couldn't stop her. In the end, we parted ways."

Yan Jiekuang nodded and said, "There are very few people like you who insist on not going abroad and teaching diligently. Do you have any research projects now?"

Li Weiguo nodded and said, "Yes, but I'm busy with the rating now. If I don't get the rating this time, I don't know when the next time will be."

At this time, the woman brought a plate of Western cakes, and then Yan Jiekuang's Blue Mountain coffee also came up. Li Weiguo wanted freshly brewed coffee, so he went slower.

Li Weiguo said: "How are you? You look like you have made a fortune."

Yan Jiekuang took a sip of coffee, put it down, and said, "It's okay. I did some business and was lucky. I have some savings, but I have never worked properly. I am a person abandoned by the system."

Li Weiguo asked in confusion: "Why? No matter what, you are a college graduate."

Yan Jiekuang looked at him deeply and said, "I think you can guess that it shouldn't be that long ago."

Li Weiguo suddenly realized and said, "Did that incident have such a profound impact on you? Didn't you clear it up at the time? Weren't you wrongly accused?"

Yan Jiekuang shook his head, smiled and said, "Even you students don't believe it, how many people will believe the truth? I later found someone to transfer to the street office, and then I resigned."

Li Weiguo showed a regretful expression. He felt more sympathetic towards Yan Jiekuang's experience. At that time, Yan Jiekuang was the youngest. Not only was he not taken care of, but he was also targeted everywhere.

Yan Jiekuang then asked, "Are you still in touch with your former roommates?"

Li Weiguo said, "Most of them have contact information. The ones who stayed in BJ are the eldest, the sixth, the seventh, and me. The others all returned to their hometowns, but later they all went to work, so we contacted less and less. However, the eldest arranged a meal for the four of us a few days ago, and I mentioned you while we were eating."

Yan Jiekuang took a sip of coffee and said, "This coffee is a bit bitter. By the way, do they still remember me? I guess they have forgotten."

Li Weiguo said, "How could that be possible? Lao Liu heard about you and said he would find time to invite you to dinner."

At this time, Yan Jiekuang had roughly guessed how Jin Jing knew him. There should be no one who could drive a Grand Cherokee in the city of Beijing, and Jin Jing should have seen this car in Koda's office.

(End of this chapter)