Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 549: A Sunny Day
In the 38th year of the Republic of China, which was a day in February of , Wang Wenyuan was teasing his younger sister. His younger sister was now growing up very healthy and could eat liquid food. Anyway, he had plenty of grains, meat and chicken, so he would make various soups and porridge for his sister when he had nothing to do. The little girl was now over one year old, and she was very cute with a smile on her face. She never cried or made a fuss. On the kang were all the toys that Wang Wenyuan had bought in Dazhalan.

Suddenly, there were sounds of gongs and drums and cheers outside. Wang Wenyuan was surprised and listened to the noise outside in the yard. It seemed to be coming from the direction of Xizhimen and Andingmen, especially the side of Andingmen, which was close to his home and the noise was louder.

Wang Wenyuan jumped onto the roof and looked towards Anding Gate. Wow, there were colorful flags everywhere. Faintly, he seemed to see a team entering Anding Gate. They looked so energetic that made his blood boil. Alas, why did I go to Baiyun Temple at that time? It would be fine to be a soldier and eat food. Forget it, I should just support my sister honestly for now, so that I can live up to my parents.

After watching for a while, Wang Wenyuan returned to the yard because he heard his sister crying. Nothing was more important than his sister. Wang Wenyuan went to the east room. When little Wenli saw him coming in, she stopped crying and just stretched out her hands, asking for a hug. He quickly picked up his sister and said, "My most lovely sister, you miss me. Come, I'll make you some sugar water to drink."

He only had a little bit of brown sugar, mainly because he was afraid that his sister would choke, so he made a bowl of water with a kettle. The room had been equipped with a coal-burning stove, and there was always a large kettle on the stove, so there was hot water all day long. The stove was close to the window, and Wang Wenyuan built a flue directly next to the corner of the window. He had done this before in a Taoist temple, so it was a piece of cake for him, so he and his sister didn't suffer much this winter.

About another month passed, and Wang Wenyuan found that the outside world was very quiet. There was no sound of gunfire, and the crabapple tree in the yard had sprouted. Wang Wenyuan was wondering whether he should take his sister out for a walk. He didn't know what the situation was outside, so he was hesitant.

One day in mid-March, Wang Wenyuan was cleaning up the garbage in the yard and preparing to throw it out along the west wall when he suddenly heard a noise from the lock of his front door. His first reaction was to see if there were thieves. Wang Wenyuan jumped directly onto the gate archway and looked at the two men in military uniforms trying to break down his door. He suddenly shouted, "Who are you? Why is our door locked?"

There were two people in front of the door, a man and a woman. They were startled by the shout and took a few steps back before they realized that there was a man in a sheepskin coat standing on top of the gate. The man said, "So there's someone here? Comrade, come down for a moment. We didn't know there was anyone here."

Wang Wenyuan jumped down. The woman narrowed her eyes and looked at Wang Wenyuan. She asked, "You are a martial artist. I'm sorry, we didn't know there was anyone here. We thought this yard was deserted. We want to go in and take a look."

"Who are you trying to fool? Has anyone registered with the Housing Management Committee? Do you want to occupy this house?" Wang Wenyuan asked with a frown.

The man said, "Comrade, don't get me wrong. We are from the Military Control Commission, the Third District Military Control Commission. We are counting unoccupied houses. We are right here. We came here two days ago and knocked on the door, but no one answered. The Housing Control Commission you mentioned is an old government unit. The information there has been destroyed. We can only check one by one. By the way, have you registered with us?"

"Why do I have to register? Aren't all registrations done at the Civil Affairs Bureau?" Wang Wenyuan was a little scared, as he didn't know whether his parents' matter had been resolved.

The two looked at each other, and they understood, thinking that this boy knew nothing. The woman asked, "Young man, how long have you not been out for?"

Wang Wenyuan was stunned, wondering how she knew that. But he said, "What year and month is it now?"

"Today is March 16, 1949," the man replied.

Wang Wenyuan was stunned, thinking, isn't it the Republic of China? How did they get 1949? He immediately said, "I haven't been out for about five or six months."

The two of them were now certain that this was a stupid boy who knew nothing. It seemed that they had to explain everything to him in detail. The woman said, "Can you please let us in so we can explain everything to you in detail? This is no longer the Republic of China, but a new government."

Wang Wenyuan then realized that the city of Beiping had changed. He really wanted to know more, so he took out the key from his pocket, opened the door, and said, "Please come in, you two. I really didn't know. It was a chaotic time, and I had a younger sister to take care of, so I stayed away from going out."

Two people followed Wang Wenyuan into the yard and looked around. The woman asked as they walked, "Comrade, we have to register you and see your house deeds and land deeds." Wang Wenyuan did not refuse. After all, people had already told him that this place was under their control, and he could not refuse no matter what.

Wang Wenyuan led the two into the main room and asked them to sit down at the eight-immortals table. He then got up and went into the east room. Seeing that his sister was fine and still sleeping, he made a pot of tea, put it on the tray, and placed three teacups before coming out.

After pouring tea for the two of them, Wang Wenyuan said, "You two." Wang Wenyuan was a little stuck and didn't know how to address them.

The woman said, "Now we all call each other comrades. So, let me ask you something first. By the way, I'm Hu Lan from the Third Military Control Commission. This is my colleague, Wen Jun. What's your name? How old are you? Who else is in your family?" As she spoke, Wen Jun took out a notebook and prepared to take notes.

Wang Wenyuan was struggling with what to say. Forget it, he decided to be honest and not cause trouble. He said, "My home is not actually here. It's in Mao'er Hutong, Nanluoguxiang. But this is also my house. Please wait a moment."

Wang Wenyuan got up and went to the east room, took out the house deeds and land deeds of this courtyard, as well as the house deeds and land deeds of his own house at No. 95 in Nanluoguxiang, then returned to the main room, put them on the table and pushed them in front of Hu Lan.

Hu Lan checked it and confirmed that it was from here, so she handed it to Wen Jun next to her for registration, then turned to look at Wang Wenyuan. Wang Wenyuan continued, "My name is Wang Wenyuan, I'm fifteen this year, and I'll be sixteen after June. My sister just turned one. I live in West 2 and West 3 in the courtyard of No. Nanluoguxiang, but..."

Hu Lan frowned when she saw Wang Wenyuan pause and said, "Just tell us what you want. We will verify it. You know that this is just a short time after the peaceful liberation. There are all kinds of people here. We have to check them one by one."

Wang Wenyuan's face darkened and he said, "My father's name is Wang Jiwen and my mother's name is Zhao Yulan. They were arrested and taken to Gongxian Hutong in 37, which was last year. They never came out again. Later, I asked someone to find my parents' bodies and send them back to my hometown in Yi County. The one who arrested them was Ma Heizi from the special operations team of that compound."

Wang Wenyuan burst into tears, knelt down and said, "Sir, you have to avenge me."

Wen Jun and Hu Lan were startled. Wen Jun quickly helped Wang Wenyuan up and said, "Hurry up, we don't like this anymore. And don't call me sir, that's an old name. Now we call each other comrades. Remember that."

Hu Lan looked at Wang Wenyuan and said, "I think the revenge has been taken. He is dead. I am curious why they arrested your parents. Can you tell me more about them?"

Wang Wenyuan wiped away her tears and said, "To tell you the truth, I was sent to Baiyun Temple when I was three years old, and was brought to my parents by my master when I was twelve. I didn't know what my parents were busy with, but they were very busy and rarely came home, so I was left alone and lived on the flyover. I went home to see my newborn sister the day before my parents were arrested. Unexpectedly, they rushed into our house to arrest people that day. If I hadn't learned some Kung Fu and escaped with my sister, I probably wouldn't be here talking to you. After I got out, I hid everywhere. There was nothing I could do. I had a younger sister, so I could only hide."

Hu Lan and Wen Jun looked at each other. They felt that the boy's parents should be in the same team as them. Without saying anything, the two of them comforted Wang Wenyuan with a few words, and then gave a detailed introduction of what had happened in the past few months. After the introduction, the two of them hurriedly said goodbye.

After Wang Wenyuan sent the two people out, he sat in the main room in a daze. It turned out that the weather really had changed to sunny. Good, he was fine now.

(End of this chapter)