Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 48: A Trip to the Pub

Qianmen Street, June 1955

Yan Jiekuang's trip to Dashilan was a mess.

The vendor didn't even look at him or pay any attention to him. Pulling Yan Bugui, Yan Jiekuang kept introducing his family's ancestral tripod from the Western Zhou Dynasty. Yan Jiekuang looked around and curled his lips. Except for the vendor, nothing else was real.

Yan Bugui was still very excited. The vendor said, "I can tell at a glance that you are a cultured person." Yan Bugui felt a little flattered. Yan Jiekuang was really helpless because he saw his father was rubbing his pockets.

"Dad, I'm hungry." Yan Jiekuang said beside him.

Yan Bugui hadn't come out of the vendor's flattery yet, so he asked, "How long did you just eat? Wait a minute."

Yan Jiekuang said calmly, "Once all your money is swindled away, I will have nothing to eat."

The vendor's expression changed, but since he was just a child, he didn't say anything.

Yan Bugui woke up from his dream and said politely, "Look, the child is hungry. This is the flower of the motherland, and we can't let it wither. Next time, next time."

As he said this, he held Yan Jiekuang in his arms and jogged along the way, saying as he ran, "I think it has quite a bit of history."

Yan Jiekuang was speechless and said, "Don't you smell that green rust also has a smell of urine? How fresh."

Yan Bugui suddenly realized and took Yan Jiekuang to walk around and look around. One moment, "Xiao San, how about this?" The next moment, "San'er, does it look real?"

Yan Jiekuang didn't say a word later. Yan Bugui knew that his old son was annoyed, so he took him to Lao Hetou's tavern.

Zhengyangmen, a tavern, Yan Jiekuang found it interesting

This was Yan Jiekuang’s first time here, so he just wanted to see something new. As soon as he entered the door, he saw a large counter with a pretty woman inside, using an abacus.

As soon as the father and son sat down, Old He saw Yan Bugui and said, "Old Yan, have you forgotten me?"

Yan Bugui quickly replied: "Old He, how can I do that? I've been a little busy lately, so I haven't been here much. Give me three ounces of wine and two side dishes."

Old He turned around and shouted, then turned around and sat next to Yan Bugui, "Oh, I just saw your son, he's so handsome."

"Hello, Grandpa He!" Yan Jiekuang greeted politely.

Old He laughed out loud, "Okay, what do you want to eat? I'll ask the back to make you a bowl of noodles, paired with our side dishes, it will be so delicious."

Yan Jiekuang was really hungry, so he quickly thanked him, "Thank you, Grandpa He."

The woman at the counter came out and brought out a tray with a wine jug, wine cups, and cold dishes.

Yan Jiekuang then discovered that the woman was pregnant.

"Dad, who is this? This little kid is so cute." The woman said as she put the wine and food on the table.

Old He said, "Huizhen, have you forgotten that the new neighbors in Ganjing Hutong that I told you about are these two?"

"Dad, please order some noodles for your brother. I'll take him over there to eat while you two chat." He walked over and held out his hand.

Yan Jiekuang obediently handed over his hand, and Xu Huizhen pulled Yan Jiekuang to the counter.

Yan Jiekuang was also very curious and asked questions all the way. After a while, he became familiar with Xu Huizhen. Xu Huizhen also liked this younger brother very much.

After a while, Yan Bugui called Yan Jiekuang to go home. Yan Jiekuang said goodbye to Xu Huizhen and said he would come to see her when he had time.

The father and son went home. On the way, the father was in a bad mood and Yan Jiekuang didn't ask.

Front yard of the Siheyuan

When we came back, Yan Jiefang and several other children were playing with sandbags.

Uncle Yang was tidying up the side rooms and ear rooms near the door. Yan Bugui came over and asked, "Is there a new person coming?"

When Uncle Yang saw that it was Yan Bugui, he told him directly that a deputy director had come to the purchasing station and had allocated the two rooms.

Yan Bugui helped to clean up for a while, and then said to Grandpa Yang, "You don't have anywhere to put all these things. That's fine. The back room is for storing sundries. You can put them there."

The two of them went to the back room.

He Yuzhu came in from the main door carrying a lunch box, "Hey, two gentlemen, in today's society, you can't eat more than you want."

He Yuzhu had always had ill will towards the Yan family, and had nothing good to say about Yan Bugui. Yan Bugui usually didn't say anything bad to him, but today there were so many people in the front yard, so he replied, "The utility room allocated by the street is for the whole yard to serve, you can also use it, no one is stopping you."

Uncle Yang also explained, "I'll just leave it for a few days and then deal with it."

Yan Bugui was unhappy and said, "Why do you need to explain to him? He is only the director of the steel mill, not the director of the courtyard."

"Hey, what? You don't let the people speak." He Yuzhu refused to give in.

"Just tell me, tell anyone, who are you, a hero." Yan Bugui's words were quite cruel.

He Yuzhu's face turned red immediately. After holding it in for a long time, he said, "Just wait and see." He then uttered these harsh words and went into the central courtyard.

Yan Jiekuang couldn't figure out where Sha Zhu's malice towards him came from.

After a while, He Yuzhu brought Secretary Han to the front yard, and Jia Dongxu and Zhang Erzhu also came behind.

He Yuzhu was impatient and said directly: "Secretary Han, although this is a back house, it also belongs to the public. Isn't it taking advantage of the public to put things in it privately?"

Secretary Han was a little embarrassed, but he didn't evade the question and said directly: "These two back houses cannot be lived in and cannot be allocated for the time being. In order to avoid waste, the residents of the courtyard are allowed to put some sundries in them."

As he spoke, Secretary Han opened the doors of both rooms so that everyone could see.

He Yuzhu wanted to get back his position now. "It belongs to the public. Even if we leave it alone, it can't satisfy the selfish desires of a small group of people."

Secretary Han was a little unhappy, as if she was using public property to do someone a favor, and said, "Yes, Comrade He Yuzhu is right. Well, whoever belongs to you can move back. I will lock the door later."

When everyone saw that they were not allowed to release the items, they thought, this matter has escalated to a very high level, it is better to have less trouble than more, and each family started to move their own things.

He Yuzhu was very proud of himself and kept staring at Yan Bugui, but Yan Bugui didn't even look at him.

"Teacher Yan, why don't you move?" He Yuzhu was anxious.

Yan Bugui smiled slightly and said, "What would I move if there's nothing from my house?"

He Yuzhu was stunned. Secretary Han saw that there were only two jars and a few pots left, so he asked who they belonged to.

"That's the He family's. Didn't you see it was placed at the innermost? The first person to move in was He Daqing." Widow Wang was also unhappy and said loudly.

He Yuzhu's face flushed red, and Secretary Han said to He Yuzhu, "Go ahead."

Finally, the two back rooms were emptied and locked, and the farce ended.

In the evening, I heard He Daqing cursing He Yuzhu in the Intermediate Court.

Zhang Erzhu's House in the East Wing of the Siheyuan
Jia Dongxu and Zhang Erzhu were drinking wine, with a plate of braised beef and a plate of peanuts on the table.

Jia Dongxu also complained, saying, "What does this have to do with you, He Yuzhu? Why are you meddling in other people's business?"

Zhang Erzhu knew where Jia Dongxu's complaints came from. He helped carry half of the room's worth of debris, which was now piled in the middle courtyard, and he didn't know what to do with it.

Zhang Erzhu also said: "Yes, you said it well, but he insisted on asking everyone to give up the house. Even if it is given up, it is not his. What is he trying to do?"

"Let me tell you, I grew up with him, he was stupid, and now he's even stupider." Jia Dongxu said angrily after taking a sip of wine.

"When I first came here, an old man said that I was most like Shazhu. When I looked at him, I was just stunned. He was really stupid." Zhang Erzhu and Jia Dongxu clinked glasses and they both laughed.

Zhang Erzhu said in a low voice: "A few days ago, I noticed that Shazhu looked at my sister-in-law in a strange way. You have to be careful."

"He dares, grandma. If I see him next time, I'll show you how I'll deal with him." Jia Dongxu was a little angry.

The two of them drank one cup after another and talked about the river snail business.

"Brother, it's hard to do this job. They're all selling river snails, and they're all children." Zhang Erzhu complained.

Jia Dongxu sighed and said, "Where are the river snails now? The whole river is almost empty. I think the ones in the front yard have been abandoned for a long time."

After discussing it, the two decided to stop the river snail business and focus on their work.

At this time, Jia Dongxu remembered that he still had a master.

(End of this chapter)