Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 58: Grandmother Jia Returns
The second day of the Chinese New Year in 1957
Yan Bugui and his wife took their eldest son out, saying they would be away for two days.

Yan Jiekuang knew that he might be going to meet someone. Yan Jiecheng would graduate next year, and assignment would be a big problem.

The younger sister was unhappy after the Chinese New Year because her third brother no longer gave her small cakes and other snacks. She also wondered if she could act like a spoiled child with her brother during these few days when her mother was away.

Yan Jiekuang directly handed her a mirror and asked her to look at her own fat face. Her eyes were almost gone. She looked so ugly.

Yan Jiedi looked at herself in the mirror seriously, and finally concluded that she was very lucky, except that the mirror was a little small.

The younger sister faced her problem and said that she would definitely lose weight. Yan Jiekuang thought to himself, you have to lose weight next year.

Yan Jiefang did not go out today. He was busy doing something in his room. When he came out for lunch, I found out that Yan Jiefang was secretly catching up on his homework because he had to return to school on the eighth day of the New Year.

Yan Jiekuang remembered that he had not done his homework, so after dinner he took his little sister back to his yard. His little sister played by herself nearby while Yan Jiekuang did his homework.

The younger sister suddenly asked, "We haven't visited Sister Xiao'e for a long time."

Yan Jiekuang stopped writing, thought for a moment, and said, "Then let's go tomorrow. I'll cook two dishes and bring them to her."

The next day, Yan Jiekuang packed his lunch box, his sister also packed her things, and the two of them went out.

It was only eight or nine o'clock when I arrived at Lou Xiao'e's house. I knocked on the door and Aunt Tan opened it.

"Happy New Year!" the two children said in unison.

Lou's mother was delighted. She pulled the two children into the house and shouted, "Xiao'e, look who's here."

After a while, I heard someone coming down the stairs. "I heard them. It's Jie Kuang and Jie Di. Happy New Year."

The three of them started chatting, chattering, and Lou's mother was also very happy. These days, the hallway was deserted, and only the three of them and his family's Lao Pu celebrated the New Year together.

Since no one had been there before, Yan Jiekuang said, "I brought two dishes for you. Heat them up and eat them at noon." Then he handed over the lunch box.

Mother Lou took it and asked curiously, "What dish is it?" and opened it.

I was quite surprised at first sight, one dish was "braised shark's fin" and the other was "braised black sea cucumber".

"These ingredients are not easy to prepare," Lou's mother said meaningfully.

Yan Jiekuang said, "I found some by chance and made some. You can try it later. My cooking skills are still not good enough."

At noon, Yan Jiekuang finally met Mr. Lou. It was the first time he had met him in so many years.

Several people were chatting enthusiastically, mainly about school and the interesting things that happened when Xiao'e and Jie Kuang met.

Mr. Lou only then realized that this child knew his daughter when he was one year old. He found it very interesting. Mr. Lou's mother said that his daughter's chess skills were influenced by these two little guys.

After lunch, Yan Jiekuang was about to leave, and Lou's mother said, "Wait a moment."

Lou's mother went upstairs and came back with two books a short while later. She handed the books to Yan Jiekuang and said, "My family's surname is Tan. These are family notes. Go and take a look. They may be useful to you."

Yan Jiekuang was flattered. He took the notes and said, "Don't worry, Aunt Lou. After reading this, I will definitely return it intact."

Yan Jiekuang and his sister returned home happily.

On the fifth day of the New Year, Secretary Han came and discussed Lady Jia's matter with Yan Bugui. Yan Jiekuang was quite curious and listened.

It turns out that Jia's mother's hometown was in Jia Village, the ancestral home of the Jia family. When she first went back, old Jia's house was still there. Someone had cleaned it up, and it was a pretty nice house with a yard.

Grandmother Jia was not short of money, so she had no worries about food and drink. A nephew of the Jia family was responsible for taking care of her. After a long time, Grandmother Jia's gossiping mouth came back to her, and her shadow was everywhere in the village, so she offended many people.

In 1957, everyone was getting more and more annoyed with Grandmother Jia. She didn't work, but lived well and ate well. Now it was a collective system, so everything should belong to the collective. Grandmother Jia should also work and earn work points. Once someone made a suggestion, many people responded.

The village chief of the Jia family was not a good person either. Knowing that Lady Jia had money, he asked her to confiscate it and then go to work like everyone else to avoid gossiping his wife.

When Lady Jia saw this, she realized that this was not a request for her money but a request for her life, and she refused to agree no matter what. At the command of the village chief, everyone rushed forward.

In the end, the twenty or so yuan he had on him were confiscated, and everyone turned the Jia family's house upside down, but still found nothing.

When Jia Mu saw this, she realized that she couldn't stay in this place anymore. Fortunately, she had been careful and buried most of the money under the big willow tree at the entrance of the village. Jia Mu packed up her things, took back her money, and ran back to the city.

Yan Jiekuang really admires Lady Jia and is the focus wherever he goes.

Just after the Chinese New Year, Jia Dongxu took his grandmother to Director Wang's house and told him about his misfortunes with tears in his eyes.

When Director Wang heard this, he also became worried. If he sent him back, it would be like pushing him into a fire pit. If he didn't send him back, it would be a violation of the regulations.

There was no way to find the police station, and the police station simply said that as long as the street office had no objection, they had no objection.

Upon hearing this, Director Wang decided to just turn a blind eye and let Jia Dongxu take Lady Jia home.

Secretary Han came this time to talk to Yan Bugui about this matter, saying that Lady Jia's return home was tacitly approved by the police station and the street office, and just like that, everyone who should return returned.

May 1957

Yan Bugui went home trembling with fear. When he got home, he said nothing and just kept smoking.

Yang Ruiping was frightened. It was the first time she saw her husband like this.

When the children came back, they were also scared.

Yan Jiekuang had no choice but to deal with his father's work problems by himself. However, Yan Jiekuang said to Yan Bugui, "Be careful with your words and actions."

Yan Bugui slowly recovered his composure, looked at his family, and said, "I'm sorry to have worried you all, but I'm fine."

From that day on, no one in the compound heard Uncle Yan say much. It turned out that Yan Bugui, who was at the gate of the compound, was no longer there.

In August of 1957, Yan Jiekuang entered the fourth grade.

Teacher Zhang wanted him to be a study committee member, but Yan Jiekuang refused, saying that there was no one to take care of his younger sister at home and he did not have that much time.

Zhang Wenchang became the sports committee member.

Recently I heard that his family's food has declined, and they don't eat chicken legs often. Yan Jiekuang doesn't bring big dishes now, just seasonal vegetables, with very little meat, and he has replaced the two-grain flour with steamed bread.

The courtyard was quite peaceful. Jia Dongxu passed the exam and became a third-level worker with a salary of 48 yuan. Since they returned to Qinjia Village, they built a cellar in their house, and Zhang Erzhu's family also built one.

Qin Huairu also introduced a girl to Zhang Erzhu, Qin Yuru from Qinjia Village, who was 18 years old and very beautiful.

Zhang Erzhu was attracted and offered betrothal gifts on the third day after they met. They decided to get married on New Year's Day next year.

When Qin Huairu was washing clothes outside, she could always see He Yuzhu's resentful eyes, which scared Qin Huairu so much that she never went there again.

He Yuzhu is jealous of Zhang Erzhu and now he finds fault with Zhang Erzhu for no reason. No matter how Jia Dongxu tries to persuade him, he won't stop.

Zhang Erzhu was smart. After he knew about it, he basically stopped appearing in the Siheyuan and went to Qinjia Village whenever he had time. He even got a job as a temporary purchasing agent for this purpose.

According to Sha Zhu's propaganda, Zhang Erzhu followed the path of Director Li Huaide, and people implied that Zhang Erzhu bribed the leaders.

He Daqing is now immune to Sha Zhu's actions, which are always unreasonable. He Daqing doesn't care about Sha Zhu anymore, because the White Widow has returned and lives near Deshengmen with her son.

At the end of 1958, my eldest brother had already gone to some factories for internship, and he would graduate next year.

Yan Bugui is an honest man who works and lives an honest life. However, things do not go as he wishes. Sha Zhu goes to Zhang Erzhu's girlfriend's house to make trouble and is caught by Zhang Erzhu.

The two men fought all the way back to the courtyard from Qinjia Village, and Zhang Erzhu went to Yan Bugui to seek justice.

Yan Bugui heard this and decided to hold a meeting to resolve the issue.

A meeting of the whole hospital was full of turmoil.

　Thanks to everyone for coming to the mountain. I added one more chapter today and said a few more words. In fact, whether you are happy or unhappy after reading this, please bear with me. Thank you everyone.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)