Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 587 The Rain Belongs
Seeing that it was almost noon, Yi Zhonghai and his wife came to the door of the deaf old lady again and knocked. This time, the door opened before they could knock for the second time. The deaf old lady looked aggrieved and said with tears in her eyes like a little girl, "Cui Lan, that Director Jin Hua's spanking was very painful. I am afraid of her now."

Yi Zhonghai looked at Li Cuilan, and Li Cuilan looked at Yi Zhonghai. It turned out that this deaf old lady had been beaten by Grandma Jinhua since she was a child.

The couple quickly helped the deaf old lady into the house. After they sat down, the deaf old lady said, "Cui Lan, I'm hungry. I don't want to go out. Can you bring me some food?"

"That's fine. We'll eat here today. Just wait, it will be quick." Li Cuilan stood up and walked out. Yi Zhonghai sat next to her and kept comforting the deaf old lady.

After a while, Li Cuilan came in carrying a bamboo food box, put the dishes and rice on the table, and set out the bowls and chopsticks. She suggested bringing the wine as well. She knew that the old lady had wine glasses, so she took two. She was not in good health and never drank.

After eating a steamed bun, the deaf old lady finally calmed down, sighed, and told Yi Zhonghai and his wife her past events while drinking. However, she only said that she was married, but did not mention that she was a concubine, nor did she say who she married.

When he heard that the old lady was from the Manchu royal family, Yi Zhonghai frowned. The ideological and political education courses he had taken for several years were not in vain. Yi Zhonghai immediately knew the problem. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Old lady, you must not tell others that you are from the royal family. If no one asks, you have to pretend to be confused. Now is different from the past. Background is very important. You never know when something might go wrong."

When the deaf old lady heard this, she understood it immediately and frowned and said, "What should we do then?"

Yi Zhonghai asked: "Besides that old lady, does anyone else know?"

The deaf old lady's eyes drifted towards the middle courtyard. Yi Zhonghai understood immediately and said, "He Daqing, he is not a concern. He is leaving soon. Before he leaves, we should not appear in front of her."

The deaf old lady relaxed and said, "That's it. Director Jinhua is very tight-lipped. She won't tell anyone easily. Besides, she's so old now. She won't live for another two or three years."

Yi Zhonghai thought for a moment and said, "Then there's no problem. By the way, what's the old lady's background?"

The deaf old lady had dull eyes, as if she was recalling something. Suddenly, she shuddered and said, "No, you must not mess with her. She is an old lady whose family is full of martyrs. She was the only one left in the family. Her husband's family, two sons and two daughters all died on the battlefield. They disappeared for a while before liberation to protect her. When I saw her, I was also very curious about how she got here."

"Are all his family members from here?" Yi Zhonghai just wanted to confirm.

The deaf old lady nodded and said, "Yes, that's for sure. You don't need to ask why."

Yi Zhonghai made up his mind that he would never go to that yard again, because he also had his own secrets and it was better to stay away from danger.

At noon, Wang Wenyuan rode his bike to take his sister back to the yard. He glanced at Grandma Jinhua's yard at the entrance of the alley. The door was still closed. Wang Wenyuan knew that the old lady had learned some ways of praying from her master. She was probably praying for her brothers on the battlefield behind closed doors.

Wang Wenyuan pushed the cart towards his home. He looked up and saw a man leaning against the door, looking around boredly. When Wang Wenyuan looked over, the man ran over with a smile. As soon as he ran in front of the cart, he heard the little girl shouting, "Monster, take my stick." Then the stick fell on the man's head, but the man was not wearing a cotton hat.

With a cry of "ouch", the man squatted down, covering his head. This unlucky guy was Xu Damao.

Wang Wenyuan chuckled and said, "That's enough. You're just a little girl, you don't have much strength. Just rub it and you'll get up. What are you doing here?"

"Brother Yuanzi, I've been waiting for you for a long time and haven't even had my meal. I'm here to report my work to you." Xu Damao stood up and took a few steps back, away from the little girl. The little girl was wearing gloves and holding a bagua stick, looking at Xu Damao with a smile. She thought it was fun to beat people and wondered if she could hit Brother Damao again.

Wang Wenyuan pushed open the gate and said, "Why don't you go in?"

"Ah, I thought the door was locked. I saw that the door to grandma's yard was locked." Xu Damao said.

Wang Wenyuan pushed the cart into the yard, parked the cart, and picked up the little girl. The little girl ran to the main house with the stick in her hand. Wang Wenyuan ignored her and said, "Come on, sit in the house. I'll warm myself up. I'll go cook and we'll eat here at noon."

Wang Wenyuan took Xu Damao into the main room. Blind Zhang was sitting in a rocking chair, listening to the little girl chattering about their trip to Baiyun Temple.

Wang Wenyuan poured two cups of tea, placed one cup in front of Xu Damao who was sitting down, and drank from one cup himself. After taking two sips, he took another cup, poured hot water into it, and put it aside to cool. This was prepared for the little girl.

The two chatted for a while, and Blind Zhang asked, "How is your master's yard?" Wang Wenyuan sighed. He knew that Grandpa Zhang wanted to ask if anyone had been there, that is, whether his master had come back.

Wang Wenyuan said: "It's still the same. The master has never come back."

Wang Wenyuan stood up and asked Xu Damao to wait here. He went to the kitchen to cook. He prepared four simple dishes for lunch, two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, and a bowl of egg soup. He brought it to the main room. The staple food was white flour buns, which were made before the New Year. They could be eaten after heating. Wang Wenyuan asked, "Grandpa Zhang, would you like something to drink?"

Blind Zhang smiled, stood up, came and sat down at the eight-immortals table. Wang Wenyuan picked up a circle of dishes for him one by one, and then Wang Wenyuan was no longer needed. Blind Zhang could accurately pick up the dishes he wanted to eat and pour himself some wine, which surprised Xu Damao.

After a while, after dinner, the three of them started drinking and chatting. Of course, Xu Damao was drinking tea and accompanying the two of them. Xu Damao talked about what happened yesterday when people from their courtyard went to pay New Year's greetings to Grandma Jinhua privately.

When Wang Wenyuan heard that the deaf old lady was so scared that she didn't dare to go out for the whole day and was still in the backyard and said she would not leave the house no matter what, he was very happy. However, he did not tell Xu Damao about the old deaf lady's past. He just said that she had a past with Granny Jinhua.

Then we talked about Yan Bugui's family in the front yard. They turned off the fire at home because they went to Grandma Jinhua's house to pay New Year's greetings at noon. After returning from the visit, they quickly lit the fire and cooked. They didn't have time to eat until three in the afternoon. At that time, his eldest son Yan Jiecheng and the second son Yan Jiefang were already crying with hunger. Later, someone said directly that his family didn't turn on the fire in the morning and were waiting to go to Grandma Jinhua's house for a meal, but they didn't expect to be sent out by Grandma Jinhua.

When Wang Wenyuan heard the names of Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang, he was obviously stunned for a moment. Wang Wenyuan asked Xu Damao, "You said that his eldest son is named Yan Jiecheng and the second son is named Yan Jiefang. Does he have a relative named Yan Jiekuang?"

"Huh? Brother, how do you know who the third aunt is pregnant with? My dad told me that the third uncle once mentioned it unintentionally when they were drinking. If it's a boy, the name will be Yan Jiekuang, and if it's a girl, the name will be Yan Jiedi." Xu Damao said in surprise.

"Oh, I also heard this name by accident." Wang Wenyuan gave up the idea and waited for everyone to leave before talking about it. "By the way, when will the third aunt give birth?"

Xu Damao said: "It should be soon, either this month or next month."

Wang Wenyuan was also a little nervous. He looked at Xu Damao and said, "When the baby is about to be born, come and tell me."

Although Xu Damao didn't know why Wang Wenyuan did this, he agreed.

Xu Damao left after dinner. After Wang Wenyuan cleaned up the table, he took the little girl to take a nap. The little girl fell asleep as soon as she stuck to the pillow. Wang Wenyuan looked at the fire, went to the sink to clean out the toilet and chamber pot, then cleaned up and went to the study.

Thinking about the name of the son of the Yan family, Wang Wenyuan was still confused. Why did there always seem to be a voice in his head telling him the name Yan Jiekuang? Was this name related to the warehouse space? Would I have an answer after Yan Jiekuang was born? The more Wang Wenyuan thought about it, the more confused he became. He had no choice but to light a stick of sandalwood, then took out the Dongxuan Sutra and slowly read it. Slowly, Wang Wenyuan's heart finally calmed down, and he finally concluded that it was a blessing rather than a curse, and that if it was a curse, he could not avoid it, so he should just take things as they come.

In the middle courtyard of the quadrangle, at He Daqing's home, a family of three is having dinner.

He Daqing looked at He Yuzhu, who already had a smile on his face, and felt a little relieved in his heart. This year had not been a good one, and he had planned to invite the people from that courtyard to have a meal together today, but Hua's mother came over yesterday and said that she had important things to do today, so they should make an appointment for another day.

He Daqing was drinking a little wine today, looking at He Yuzhu and said, "You have to go to your master's place during the New Year and other holidays, and you can't be rude. Today I have taken you to visit Director Sun of the canteen. He will take care of you in the factory. You are not an apprentice this time, you will work as a second chef first. You must get along well with your colleagues at work, and don't be impulsive when encountering things."

He Yuzhu didn't know how much he had heard, and said, "I know, Dad. You've arranged everything for me, wouldn't it be embarrassing for me to embarrass you again? By the way, Dad, do you really not need me to take care of Yushui?"

He Daqing said, "You are a grown man with a rough heart. I think you should just forget it. This way you can be relieved and take care of yourself. If you have something to do, write to me. But if you have nothing to do, buy some things and go to visit your sister next door, okay?"

He Yuzhu was extremely happy in his heart. He had no burden at all and was all alone. He also had such a big house. Although the room next door was locked by his father, he didn't care. This room was big enough for him to use. He had money again and his father bought him clothes and shoes. He suddenly felt that his father was back. As for leaving soon, it was understandable that he would have younger brothers and sisters.

He Daqing didn't know what He Yuzhu was thinking. He felt so ashamed of what Director Wang said. He felt that he owed these two children. He didn't know when he would come back next time.

He Daqing turned his head and looked at He Yushui who was struggling with the pig's trotter. His expressionless face actually smiled and he touched He Yushui's head. He Yushui raised her head and gave her father a big smile.

(End of this chapter)