Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 454: The He Family’s Dilemma
On the day of Little New Year, the weather was a little foggy and he couldn't see the blue sky when he looked up. Yan Jiekuang kept feeling that it was going to snow. The snow from the previous two days had not melted yet. If it came again, would it mean that there was too much snow this year? Yan Jiekuang made lean meat porridge in the morning and specially put some lean meat and chopped green onions to adjust the taste.

They heated up the steamed buns and steamed buns, made some pickles, and brought them to the dining room. Today, everyone in the family was there, so Yan Jiekuang cooked a lot. Ji Lian and the children came to the dining room from the backyard one after another to eat.

Yan Jiekuang looked at Ji Lian and asked while eating, "Are you going back to your parents' place today?"

Ji Lian drank the porridge and said, "Not today. Today the top management is going to visit a few needy families and give them some New Year benefits. I may not be able to go. Let's go in the evening. I will try to come back early."

Yan Jiekuang knew that Ji Lian was rectifying the entire group's management system and establishing corporate culture, so he didn't say anything about these things. He asked the other children, "Do you have anything to do? Do you want to go back to your grandparents?"

Shi Lei put down the bowl and said, "I'm sending Jingyi off today. I'll be there this afternoon."

Then Xiaopang said, "I have something to do, so I guess it will be in the afternoon."

Shi Li looked at Xiao Pang, rolled her eyes and said to him, "You are just one step away from being tied together. Can you be more ambitious?"

Xiaopang glared at Shi Li but said nothing. He lowered his head and continued to drink his porridge.

Big Fatty shook his head helplessly, picked up an egg and said, "People in love lose their brains. They probably need some rest. Come on, brother, eat an egg." Then he put it on Little Fatty's plate.

Yan Jiekuang almost spit out a mouthful of porridge. Ji Lian smiled and said, "Okay, you guys are all grown up, don't you know that love is free? Don't say that about our little fat boy."

"Xiaopang is Xiaopang, how come he's become Little Fatty? Mom, you can't give him random nicknames." Xiaopang was a little unhappy.

The whole family laughed heartily. Xiaopang was the source of joy in the family. The atmosphere was different whenever he was around.

After finishing the meal and cleaning up the kitchen, Yan Jiekuang asked Xiaohai and Xixi if they wanted to go to their grandparents' house. They both looked at Dapang, who said, "Dad, let's go this afternoon. I promised them that I would make lanterns for them and decorate our yard to create a festive atmosphere."

Yan Jiekuang thought this was a good thing. He was usually the one who took care of it. Now that Dapang had taken over, he was relieved. He said, "Okay, you guys can decorate it at home. By the way, the New Year pictures and lanterns I bought are all in the warehouse in the front yard. You can go get them."

After saying that, Yan Jiekuang went to the backyard to put on his coat. After he was done, he carried two bags of candied melon seeds and walked out of the yard.

There weren't many pedestrians on the road, probably because they all went back home to celebrate the New Year. There were only a few stalls still selling New Year goods. Yan Jiekuang didn't walk fast along the way, looking around and asking anyone he saw that interested him.

After leaving the alley and turning into Nanluoguxiang, he looked up and saw a lot of people gathered around a stall. The sound of bargaining could be heard from inside. Yan Jiekuang curiously went over and saw a tricycle with a plastic sheet covering the back. The tricycle was filled with water and many big silver carp were swimming in the water, still alive.

At this time, a man asked the stall owner, "Hey, man, where did you get such a big silver carp in this icy and snowy weather?"

Seeing that business was good, the stall owner said, "Over at the Yongding River, I caught two nets early this morning and got these. They are all alive. The earlier you get them, the earlier you can get them. It's New Year's Day, and we should have fish every year."

"Okay, give me two." The man said. At this time, the onlookers shouted, "Give me a big one." "Give me one too, no, two."

When Yan Jiekuang saw that the fish were really good, he squeezed to the front and fought for a long time before he finally grabbed two fish. He then ran to the west wing of his parents' house with the fish in his hands.

The gate to the west wing was open. Yan Bugui had hung up the big red lanterns and pasted up the door gods. Yan Jiekuang walked into the yard carrying the fish. Yang Ruiping heard the noise and came out. He saw that it was the third brother who came in carrying two big fish, so he asked, "These fish are really good. I'll go get a basin and keep them first."

Yan Bugui also heard the noise and came out from the backyard. He looked at the big fish and asked, "Where did it come from? It's so big?"

Yan Jiekuang first handed the sugar melon seeds to his father and said, "There was a man selling them at the entrance of the alley, so I bought two. I heard they were caught from the Yongding River."

Yan Bugui took a look and confirmed that it was a silver carp. He said, "Nonsense! When did you hear that there were silver carps in the Yongding River? Besides, it looks like they were farmed."

Yan Jiekuang was stunned, and also looked at the fish, and said: "It's true, I really didn't notice it."

Yan Bugui said: "This must have been stolen from the Miyun Reservoir. Only fish there can be this big. People nowadays are really brave."

Yan Jiekuang said, "Who cares? We bought it with our own money, so let's eat our own food." Yang Ruiping held the basin and Shi Xiaoya added water. When they saw that it was almost ready, Yan Jiekuang put the fish into the big basin.

Yan Bugui asked, "None of the children came?"

"They want to decorate the yard and said they will come over in the afternoon. By the way, are my brother and the others back?" Yan Jiekuang said.

Shi Xiaoya said, "Your second brother is on duty today and can't come back. Yongchang and Yongxin went to their classmate's house and said they would come in the afternoon. I don't know about your eldest brother's family."

Yang Ruiping said, "Alas, your sister-in-law is holding the annual meeting of the catering company tonight. I don't know why she has to hold the annual meeting on a small year."

"Then Yongqing and his wife and Yongfang won't come back either?" Yan Jiekuang asked.

Yan Bugui said: "They have their own lives. They can just come back on New Year's Eve. We can just celebrate the Little New Year by ourselves."

Yan Jiekuang didn't say anything, but went to the kitchen to make himself some tea. He then went to the backyard hall with the teacup in his hand. Yan Bugui was watching TV, and when he saw him come in, he said, "What's up? Bring me two plates."

Yan Jiekuang thought, since he had nothing to do anyway, he put the teacup on the eight-immortals table, turned around and went to get the chessboard. The father and son played chess in the middle hall of the backyard while chatting.

At He Yuzhu's home in Shajing Hutong, food was also being prepared. He Yuzhu was busy in the kitchen, while He Daqing was sitting in a wheelchair, watching him at the kitchen door and finding fault with him from time to time.

He Xiao, his aunt, uncle, and mother sat in the main hall, facing each other in silence. After a while, He Yushui broke the silence and said, "This won't work. There are three Sichuan restaurants next to our store in Xidan, and this store here is not doing very well. Fortunately, we have the store in Shijiazhuang to support us this year, otherwise we might really lose money this year."

He Yumei said, "Alas, I don't know what's going on this year. It seems like everyone in the city wants to open a restaurant. The waiters are the same. They quit after working for two days. The main thing is that the rent of the shops keeps going up, and I don't have any good solution."

He Xiao said, "There are too many people being laid off. I heard that even more people will be laid off this year. If we don't think of a solution, we might have to close a store."

He Yushui asked, "By the way, He Xiao, do you know how the shops of the eldest and third brothers of the Yan family are doing?"

He Xiao shook his head, and He Yumei said, "I heard that they have reformed and developed into a corporate entity. I don't understand this, and I didn't ask much."

He Yushui said: "It would be great if I could learn from them, otherwise this year will be even more difficult, sister-in-law, you have to think of a way."

He Yumei thought for a moment and said, "Your brother has to take action on this matter. In terms of friendship, he is the only one who can have a say with the Yan family."

He Xiao said: "Actually, you and I can just follow and learn. None of us has studied management, and we can follow them and make our own changes."

He Yushui said, "I'll tell my brother about this when we have dinner and ask him to go to the Yan family."

After several people reached a consensus, He Yushui and He Yumei went to the kitchen to help He Yuzhu.

When He Yuzhu saw them coming in, he smiled and said, "The Supreme Meeting is over. Yushui, hurry up and push our dad back. He is making trouble here."

He Daqing looked at He Yuzhu and said, "I am giving you some advice, but you still don't know how to be kind. You are still far from being good at these two things."

He Yuzhu said, "Okay, I understand, old man, can we take a break?"

He Yushui hit him, turned around and said, "I'll push you to the main room and let He Xiao play chess with you, okay?"

He Daqing said, "Well, that's a good idea. I'll go find my eldest grandson."

He Yushui pushed He Daqing away, and He Yumei helped He Yuzhu pick vegetables and wash dishes. The couple chatted and laughed while preparing lunch.

(End of this chapter)