Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 63 Children's Feast
January 1960

In the 1960s, every family spent the Spring Festival in a dull manner.

After the Spring Festival, Yan Jiekuang put all his energy into studying. He wanted to skip one year of junior high school, but when he heard that the current education system was two years of junior high school and two years of high school, he gave up the idea.

Nowadays, people always ignore Yan Jiekuang's age. He is over 1.40 meters tall, and if he doesn't say it, no one would know that he is only ten years old.

We had guests at home today. It was the first time that my eldest brother’s girlfriend came to visit. Yan Bugui and his wife were busy inside and outside the house.

After Yan Jiekuang got home, he went to the yard to put down his schoolbag and found his little sister in the room, reading his first-grade textbook.

"Oh, my little sister loves to study?" Yan Jiekuang teased his sister.

The little sister put down her book, jumped out of bed, and said, "I was waiting for you. Look, I refilled the stove for you."

Yan Jiekuang looked at his sister and said, "What could have stopped you from visiting my sister-in-law and wait for me here?"

Yan Jiedi hesitated and said awkwardly: "Brother, I want a can of beef."

"Oh, why? It has to be beef?" Yan Jiekuang asked.

Yan Jie Di asked the third brother to lower his head, and Yan Jie Kuang also lowered his head. The younger sister whispered: "It's Xiao Dang's birthday, and no one in the family remembered it. I said I would celebrate it for her. All I need is a can of beef."

Yan Jiekuang still didn't understand, so Yan Jiedi got anxious and said, "Wu Jiao got a box of braised pork, Xiaolong got a fish, Banggeng stole half a chicken, and Zhou Nianping got sheep bones. I saw that they had all the pork, mutton, fish, and chicken, so I could only take the beef."

"Haha, what you mean is that you want to have a meal together, celebrate Xiaodang's birthday, and then get things according to the animals?" Yan Jiekuang asked.

"Yeah!" Yan Jiedi nodded continuously.

Yan Jiekuang thought for a moment and asked, "Tomorrow?"

Yan Jiedi replied: "Yes."

Yan Jiekuang thought about it carefully and said, "Tell them not to go to their own homes to get things. It's not easy for the adults. Tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock, I will invite you to eat together in the west wing."

Yan Jiedi thought about it, said okay, and then ran out.

The next day, Yan Jiekuang called three of his friends, pushed a tricycle, and headed to Ganjing Hutong in front of the front door. Yan Jiekuang also stored some food and meat in the cellar there. The most important thing was that Yan Jiekuang made a barbecue rack, which had never been used and was left there.

Halfway through, I took a detour and called Sister Xiao'e.

The five people went to the west wing in a mighty manner.

A barbecue grill was set up in the open space in the middle of the west courtyard garden, and several people, under the command of Yan Jiekuang, began to thread skewers.

Yan Jiekuang prepared two kinds of meat, lamb and beef, and the rest were vegetables, mushrooms, and soy products.

Just after noon, the children in the yard came one after another. Pang Zhonghua brought Pang Xiaobei, Peng Ajiao, Chang Chuang, Chang Li, Bang Geng, Jia Dang, Sun Xiaolong, Zhou Nianping, Yan Jiefang, Wu Jiao, and all the children came. When they came, Yan Jiekuang would not let them sit idle and helped with the work.

At two o'clock, Yan Jiekuang shouted, "Today is Jia Dang's birthday. Let's gather together and taste my barbecue feast."

Yan Jiekuang was the main force in barbecue. After a while, his brother was able to do it too. Lou Xiao'e went out and brought over two more boxes of soda.

Everyone took bricks nearby, sat on the ground, each had a handful of skewers of meat, and started eating around the barbecue stove.

The children in the compound were chattering and laughing, having a great time.

The feast had not yet ended when uninvited guests arrived. Xu Damao and Xu Delin came with synesthesia, followed by Liu Haizhong.

Xu Damao came over and said, "I was wondering why the courtyard was so quiet. Everyone is gathering here. Oh, there is meat."

The children ignored them and just ate and drank as usual.

Lou Xiao'e was the oldest person here, so she just said, "It's just a gathering of kids."

Xu Damao stepped forward and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade, what's your name? I'm a neighbor in the compound. My name is Xu Damao, and I'm the head of the publicity department of the steel mill."

Lou Xiao'e was stunned when she heard this, then she chuckled and replied, "My name is Lou Xiao'e, and I'm Yan Jiekuang's friend." Then she turned around and went back to the stove.

Liu Haizhong asked loudly: "Where did you get the meat?"

They were all children and no one paid any attention to him. Liu Haizhong got angry and roared, "Stand still, everyone! Where did you steal the meat?" The children were frightened by the shouting and stood there in a daze.

Yan Jiekuang stood up and said, "Uncle Liu, this meat was brought by my classmate. Don't shout. We are just kids making a fuss. We didn't disturb you. But you said it was stealing. Isn't that a bit too much? These are all children from the courtyard."

Yan Jiekuang pointed at Li Chenggang and said, "His father is the director of the department store. His name is Li Chenggang. He brought the mutton."

Then he pointed at Zhang Wenchang and said, "His father is the head of the army. He lives in Courtyard No. 4 of the Army Compound. He got the beef from him."

Finally, he walked over to Lou Xiao'e and said, "The one next to me is the one that Brother Xu knows, right? The rest was brought by her. Any questions?"

Liu Haizhong was confused. This person was both the director and the leader. Whatever he said, if he said something wrong, he would be punished.
He looked at Xu Damao, who nodded and said, "Well, we just want to see if you still need anything. It seems that you don't need anything. Xiao Xu, let's go to work."

Xu Damao dragged the confused Xu Delin outside, and Liu Haizhong followed him outside without saying a word.

Behind us was the laughter of children, and as the sun was about to set, the children's feast came to an end.

However, the mountain may be quiet but the wind will not stop, and what happened here spread quickly throughout the compound.

After dinner, Director Wang and Secretary Han came to the house and found Yan Bugui, saying that someone had reported that Yan Jiekuang had privately eaten meat of unknown origin and bribed children, and had petty-bourgeois tendencies.

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui flew into a rage and said, "My child is only ten years old. Isn't this hat inappropriate?"

Director Wang comforted Yan Bugui and said, "Calm down first. Someone has reported me, so I have to investigate. Why don't I ask Yan Jiekuang to come over and ask him first?"

Yan Bugui calmed down and asked Yang Ruiping to call Yan Jiekuang.

After a while, Yan Jiekuang came and said the same thing as during the day.

Speaking of treating, Yan Jiekuang said excitedly: "The children in our compound haven't seen meat for a long time. I just want the children to have more happy memories, especially now. Otherwise, when they grow up, some will forget these years, and some will hate them."

Director Wang and Secretary Han were silent, and Yan Bugui turned his head away.

Yan Jiekuang went on to say: "I am just a child. I did the ridiculous things that children do. I will never do it again."

Director Wang and Secretary Han didn't say anything. They just whispered, "Don't do this anymore. It's not appropriate now." Then they turned around and left.

Yan Bugui looked at his son, and Yan Jiekuang said, "I'm going to live in Yuer Hutong for a while until I graduate from junior high school and come back. I'm really tired of this courtyard."

Yang Ruiping said firmly: "Move in, I'll come and clean up for you every now and then."

Yan Bugui said nothing, he acquiesced to this matter.

March 1960

The day of school has arrived, and Yan Jiekuang goes to school with his schoolbag on his back as usual. Today is the first day of school, and he must go.

The Yan family knew that Yan Jiekuang moved to Yuer Hutong today.

Yuer Hutong is not far from the school, but after Yan Jiekuang moved here, he no longer walked through Nanluoguxiang, but always walked through Shichahai and then went to Gulou.

The house in Yuer Hutong was renovated by Cai Quanwu. The appearance and layout have not changed much. The interior has been decorated and a bathroom and toilet have been built.

The things inside are all complete, all of which were bought and sorted by Cai Quanwu and Sister Huizhen.

Coming here, Yan Jiekuang felt like he had arrived in his own pure land. It was quiet and peaceful, with occasional chirping of insects and birds, which was also quite interesting.

Yan Jiekuang is busy at home reading and cooking every day and almost never goes out.

Yang Ruiping comes every three days to clean the house, have a meal with his son, and talk about things in the courtyard.

My younger sister said she wanted to move in too, but Yan Bugui said she had to wait until Yan Jiekuang finished his exams.

Yan Jiekuang was heading for the No. 5 Middle School.

　I heard that I will be on the shelves, I am very excited, are you a newbie? I hope you are looking forward to it too. Actually, there is a saying that it is not easy for a person to listen to another person telling a story. Imagine, be quiet, ethereal, empty yourself, and travel the sky.

　　You are nothing, you are just hypnotizing yourself.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)