Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 408: Green Flower Scenery
The winter in the old city is still cold. Although there are air conditioners this year, most courtyard houses still use coal stoves. As soon as winter comes, every household still stores winter vegetables such as cabbage, potatoes and radishes, and still buys honeycomb coal or coal blocks to put in the small houses.

The teahouse had hung up a thick door curtain, which was said to be made by Jia Zhang herself. However, Yan Jiekuang didn't believe it. Apart from seeing Jia Zhang sew shoe soles, he had never seen her do any other work.

The older generation is still alive and well, the middle-aged generation has their own careers, and the younger generation, except for a few special people, has grown up.

But except for the residents in a few deep alleys, the areas facing the street have changed drastically. Almost all the old residents have moved out, and the houses are either rented or sold to outsiders. There are all kinds of shops everywhere, and it becomes bustling here early in the morning, without the quietness of the past.

Yan Jiekuang was very glad that the courtyard he lived in was in Yuer Hutong. There were fewer residents here, but many celebrity residences and museums were protected, so Yuer Hutong had not changed much from the past, but had become even quieter.

Yan Jiekuang recently removed the doorbell. One of the downsides of living here is that there are always tourists ringing the doorbell, wanting to come in and visit. Later, Yan Jiekuang simply wrote a sign and hung it on the door: "Private residence, no visitors."

The same was true for the Yan family's private restaurant. In addition to receiving reserved seats, there were always people coming in during the day to visit, which made Wei Xiaobao so angry that he often clashed with those tourists. When Yan Jiekuang heard about it, he also asked him to write a sign that read "This restaurant is a private restaurant. Non-reserved customers are not allowed to enter." After that, the door was always closed and only opened when guests came.

It was originally a helpless move, but unexpectedly, it gave Yan's Private Restaurant a mysterious aura. Not only locals, but even people from other places were asking around how to book a private room at Yan's Private Restaurant.

Yan Bugui also joked: "Is it because there is a sign in the teahouse that only old neighbors are allowed to enter? This teahouse must be popular, right?"

Yan Jiekuang chuckled and said, "The sight of Jia Zhang sitting at the door and greeting guests is a beautiful sight in Nanluoguxiang." This sentence made Yan Bugui and his wife burst into laughter.

There were so many old neighbors from the courtyard house today, including Yi Zhonghai and his wife, Liu Haizhong and his wife, Yan Bugui and his wife, Widow Wang and the Chang family's daughter-in-law, as well as Jia Dongxu, Yan Jiekuang, He Yuzhu and Yan Jiecheng.

Yan Bugui asked suspiciously, "Did someone notify us of the meeting, or did everyone come here on their own?"

"Uncle Yan, I don't know why they are here. I just wanted to ask if we all want to celebrate the Little New Year together this year?" He Yuzhu said.

Yi Zhonghai glanced at He Yuzhu and said, "Zhuzi and I have the same idea, so we decided to come over to discuss it with you guys."

Jia Zhang smiled and said, "What are you discussing? Let's just spend the night together. It will be lively. We can go to Yan's Restaurant. I'll pay for the tea."

Yan Jiekuang said, "Okay, then let's celebrate together with the elders. I'll take care of the dishes, so you don't have to buy anything."

Liu Haizhong said, "That won't do. Let's put it this way. We will be responsible for the firecrackers, dried fruits, fruits, and drinks. The third brother will just provide the banquet. I really can't bear it if he doesn't provide anything else."

He Yuzhu also said: "Yes, yes, I will cook as well, everyone will have a good meal."

The matter was settled in the midst of everyone's discussion. At this time, an old man in the corner said, "Well, I just moved here this year, and I'm the only one at home. Can I join in?"

Everyone was stunned and looked over. Jia Zhang burst into laughter and said, "I don't know if you recognize him, but this is Old Man Wen from the mutton soup restaurant at the entrance of the alley. His mutton soup is amazing. Okay, Old Man Wen, bring a few bowls of mutton soup."

Old Man Wen was happy and said, "No problem, it must be whole lamb soup."

Yi Zhonghai said, "Old Wen, aren't you going back to your hometown for the New Year?"

Old Man Wen said, "Why go back? Staying in an empty house for the New Year? It's better to stay here. It's so nice here. There are human touches here."

Yan Bugui smiled and said, "Right, how about we ask if there are any lonely elderly people around here and invite them over?"

Jia Dongxu said: "Leave this to me. I will go to the neighborhood committee in a moment. The director there is my close friend."

Yi Zhonghai said: "Okay, it's settled. Come, have some tea."

He Yuzhu came up to Yan Jiekuang and asked quietly, "I heard you donated again?"

Yan Jiekuang said: "Last year there was a flood and many places were affected. We couldn't help, so we had to donate some money. But it wasn't me personally, it was Ji Lian who donated in the name of the company."

He Yuzhu asked in confusion: "Isn't it the Hope Project? How is it related to the flood?"

"All of it has been donated. The Hope Project is to build schools in remote mountainous areas. There are also local schools named after the company. Oops, I forgot something important." Yan Jiekuang suddenly remembered something.

Yan Jiekuang said loudly: "Everyone, don't leave. There is something important. Wait for me."

Yan Jiekuang ran towards Yuer Hutong as soon as he got out of the door. After a while, he ran back with a file bag in his hand. After opening it, he took out a certificate and a bunch of photos.

The certificate and photo were handed directly to Jia Zhang. Jia Zhang was illiterate, so Jia Dongxu went over, took the certificate, read it, and looked at his mother in disbelief.

Jia Zhang hit him and said, "What's that expression on your face? Did you see a ghost?"

Jia Dongxu didn't recognize his mother at all. Yi Zhonghai snatched it away, looked at the certificate, and read it out, "Employment letter, Comrade Zhang Cuihua, in order to thank you for your contribution to the Hope Project in remote mountainous areas, you are hereby appointed as the honorary principal of Cuihua Primary School. The name is Cuihua Hope Primary School in Wenshan Village, Shangou Township, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region."

Everyone was shocked after hearing this. Jia Dongxu asked, "Oh my god, you are working so hard on this. What's going on?"

"How should I know? Ask Old Man Yan." Jia Zhang was also confused. Yan Bugui took a sip of tea and said, "Didn't I go to a remote mountainous area? When your mother left, she gave me 10,000 yuan, saying that she donated it to the Hope Project. Later, my third child said that this was a donation from the Jia Zhang family, and it would be better to build a separate primary school. So the third child filled in 40,000 yuan and donated it in the name of your mother. Look, it was just built at the end of the year, and the children are already attending classes there."

Jia Zhang finally understood and asked with a smile, "You mean, the Cuihua from Cuihua Hope Primary School is me, Zhang Cuihua."

Yang Ruiping chuckled and said, "Yes, look at the photos. Stop showing off."

Jia Zhang snatched the photo from Jia Dongxu's hand and started to look at it. Jia Dongxu pointed to the words on the gate in the photo and read them to his mother. Jia Zhang said unhappily, "I can't read, but I know the word Cuihua."

Everyone laughed and others were envious. Jia Zhang said, "I'll hang it up for them on the wall of the teahouse in a while."

Everyone started talking about it again. Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong both surrounded Yan Bugui. They also felt that if they established a primary school named after them, it would not only be a good deed, but also bring honor to their family.

He Yuzhu and Jia Dongxu took Yan Jiekuang outside to smoke, and they asked about the specific details of the donation.

It was almost noon when the crowd slowly dispersed. Yan Jiekuang accompanied his parents to have lunch in the west wing. Seeing that the old couple had bought all the supplies for the winter, he went home with peace of mind. When he got home, he first called Li Dong in Fangshan and asked him to prepare food for ten tables and deliver it to the private restaurant before the New Year.

There was a knock on the door. Yan Jiekuang rarely had visitors, so he thought it couldn't be another tourist. Yan Jiekuang walked to the front yard, opened the door, and saw a group of people outside. Leading them was Director Zhang from the neighborhood committee, and he didn't recognize the people behind him.

Director Zhang smiled and said, "Luckily you are at home. Let me introduce you to these people. They are from the Ancient Buildings Protection Committee. We are going to carry out protection and repair in this area. They came to see if your yard needs repair."

Yan Jiekuang was delighted and said, "There is such a good thing. Will it be repaired for free?"

Director Zhang said: "Yes, it is to restore it to its original state. If there are any illegal structures in your house, they must be demolished."

Yan Jiekuang said: "There really isn't any illegal construction in my house, but there are quite a few illegal buildings in those slums. You have a long way to go."

Director Zhang sighed and said, "There's nothing we can do. We have to demolish it. OK, let them go and take a look."

Yan Jiekuang opened the gate and a group of people went in. After a round, an old man with white hair said, "You are the owner of the household, right? These should be two courtyards, right?"

Yan Jiekuang looked at the old man in amazement and said, "Yes, you can just call me Yan Jiekuang. Originally, there were two courtyards back to back, but they were merged together during the renovation. The one who renovated the courtyards was the original ancient architecture engineering team, oh, the team under the Institute of Archaeology."

The old man said, "Okay, no problem. Your place is in good condition and doesn't need any repairs. But do you want central heating? If so, I will install it for you."

Yan Jiekuang nodded and said, "My family has central heating. I'll cooperate when the time comes."

The old man took out a form, filled it out, and finally gave it to Yan Jiekuang to sign. Yan Jiekuang looked at it and made sure there was no problem, so he signed. It was written on it that construction could not start until early spring.

After these people left, Yan Jiekuang thought about his other houses and quickly called the head of his company's sales department, asking them to take the initiative to contact the neighborhood committee to restore them to their original state, installing the necessary supporting facilities and paying the appropriate price.

After hanging up the phone, Yan Jiekuang went to the basement and looked at his collection in the basement. He was thinking about where to put it. Since this place was going to be renovated, it would not be safe to put it here.

After careful consideration, Yan Jiekuang drove to Keda Building. After arriving at his office, Yan Jiekuang asked the sales department to organize the information of his private real estate and send it up.

When Yan Jiekuang was looking through some documents in his office, Ji Lian came up and asked as soon as she entered the room, "You, the chairman, are a rare guest. What brings you back this time?"

Yan Jiekuang then told the audience about the upcoming restoration and renovation of Nanluoguxiang, and then said that it was no longer appropriate to keep his collection there, and he wanted to find a safer place to store it.

Ji Lian thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you build a museum yourself? Why do you have to hide things? Wouldn't it be better to display them openly and charge admission?"

When Yan Jiekuang heard this, he thought, that’s right, it would be nice to just build a museum, but where should we build it?
The couple were both thinking there, and Yan Jiekuang suddenly thought of a place, that is, he had a courtyard in Houhai, a large three-courtyard house. The key point was that this courtyard was behind the Prince Gong Mansion, in Dafengxiang Hutong.

Yan Jiekuang took the salesperson to the yard. The yard had not been renovated yet, mainly because no one rented a house there. It was a good opportunity to renovate it. The two of them went to the neighborhood committee and asked what procedures were needed for the renovation and where to go to handle it.

The neighborhood committee told Yan Jiekuang that he still had to go through the Ancient Buildings Repair and Protection Committee. Yan Jiekuang immediately went to find that committee. When he found the person in charge, he heard the address and said directly: "This place is also within the protection scope. We can only repair it for you, but it will take until after the New Year."

Yan Jiekuang said: "I want to open a museum, which requires very high security. Can you meet my requirements?"

The person in charge shook his head and said, "We are only responsible for the repairs. You have to be responsible for the follow-up facilities yourself."

Yan Jiekuang understood as soon as he heard it. After the building was repaired, it could not be moved anymore, at least the facade, structure and roof could not be moved anymore, but the owner was responsible for the subsequent decoration.

Yan Jiekuang signed an agreement with the person in charge. The cost of renovation was not low, nearly 50,000 yuan for three courtyards.

Afterwards, Yan Jiekuang found Wang Qiang and asked him to build a larger vault in the Keda Building, which was the floor where his office was located. The construction should take up half of the entire floor, and the sooner the better, as Wang Qiang was the most professional in this matter.

Everything was arranged, and Yan Jiekuang drove to pick up Xiaohai and Xixi.

(End of this chapter)