Siheyuan: Domineering life

On the fifth day, the shelter doors opened.

The opening of the shelter door did not mean the exercise was over; it was only opened a crack before being closed again.

Because of official business in Yanjing, Yang Jun had no choice but to let his son Yang Chengdao leave. After all, he couldn't delay important matters. He knew what was important and what was urgent. He couldn't keep his son, who held an important position, here just because of a single exercise. That would be a loss.

Yang Chengdao, Yang's son, is now a very important person. The people in Yanjing can't do without him. There are many things waiting for him to handle, so he was sent away after only a few days of participation in the exercise.

This exercise was planned for a month, and only five days have passed so far. The days ahead are long and arduous.

For a homebody like Yang Jun, it makes no difference whether he's above ground or underground. As long as he has something to do, he can stay indoors for months without any problem. He can endure this kind of closed-off exercise, but that doesn't necessarily mean others can. At first, it was fine, but as the days went by, some people gradually became impatient. The first to lose patience were Yang Jun's relatives and friends.

They were used to a life of luxury, so being suddenly subjected to such constraints was bound to be difficult for them. It wasn't that they couldn't adapt to life in the shelter; the main problem was that they were hungry every day. The food they were given each day was only enough to keep them alive, not enough to fill their stomachs. After all, the shelter housed hundreds of thousands of people, and all resources had to be available sustainably, so they were rationed.

Yang Jun's family was considered to receive special treatment. While others received two liang (100 grams) of food per meal, they received two liang and five qian (125 grams), which meant they were living a relatively good life. However, even so, the children were still not full, and the word they talked about most often was "hunger."

"Honey, please give me something to eat. I'm so hungry I can't stand it anymore."

That day, Yang Jun was reading in his study when Yang Qingxiang secretly came over to ask him for something to eat.

"I've been saving my food for the kids; I just can't take it anymore."

Yang Qingxiang locked the study door from the inside, sat directly on Yang Jun's lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and began to act coquettishly.

"I do not……"

Yang Jun was about to say no when Yang Qingxiang stopped him.

"Don't tell me you didn't. I'm your wife, not an outsider. Do you want to watch me starve to death?"

Seeing Yang Jun blinking and pretending not to notice, Yang Qingxiang paused slightly and continued, "Don't think I don't know that you and Sister Qiushui hide in the study to eat every day."

"And... you save your food rations for the kids every day, I don't believe a grown man like you can withstand hunger?"

"And, and..."

Yang Qingxiang pursed her lips and whispered, "Every time we go out together, I know you have supernatural abilities."

"Honey, please give me something to eat, I really can't take it anymore."

Yang Jun smiled slightly upon hearing this.

In fact, he never intended to hide anything from Yang Qingxiang.

If there was anyone in this world he truly trusted, it was Yi Qiushui and her. After decades of getting along, he knew this woman very well. Although she was usually unassuming and didn't fight for anything, her loyalty to him was unmatched, even by Yi Qiushui.

"Close your eyes!"

Looking at Yang Qingxiang's thin face, Yang Jun smiled and told her to close her eyes.

"Huh?" Yang Qingxiang was taken aback.

"Close your eyes, I'll get you some food."

Yang Qingxiang suddenly understood.

Although she didn't know what kind of supernatural powers Yang Jun possessed, she still obediently did as she was told and closed her eyes.

Seeing that she had closed her eyes, Yang Jun had a slight thought, and a bowl of beef noodles appeared out of thin air in front of the desk in front of him.

"call out……"

With her eyes closed, Yang Qingxiang suddenly smelled something and began sniffing the air with her delicate nose.

"Beef noodles?"

After Yang Qingxiang finished speaking, she quickly opened her eyes and looked in the direction from which the aroma was coming. Sure enough, she saw a large bowl of beef noodles on the desk.

"Is it really beef ramen?"

Yang Qingxiang cheered and hurriedly grabbed her chopsticks to start slurping the noodles.

"Honey, this is so delicious! I...I haven't had such fragrant noodles in ages, sob sob..."

As Yang Qingxiang ate, she choked up and couldn't speak.

"Why are you still crying?"

Yang Jun got up and offered her his chair so she could sit down and eat properly.

Eat slowly, there's more if you're not full.

"Would you like some more beef?"

"Yes." Yang Qingxiang sniffed and pouted, saying coquettishly, "Of course I want it, the more the better."

"Close your eyes..."

Yang Jun covered her eyes with his hand for a moment and then quickly moved it away. In an instant, a large plate of braised beef appeared on the desk.

Wow! So much beef.

Upon seeing so much beef, Yang Qingxiang shouted excitedly.

He doesn't usually like eating beef, but now he seems to love it more than anything else. He picked up five or six slices of braised beef with his chopsticks and stuffed them into his mouth, his cheeks puffed out like a squirrel eating dried fruit.

"delicious."

As Yang Qingxiang ate, she said, "I have to save some for the children, so I'll eat less."

After taking a couple of bites, they stopped eating large portions and started to eat sparingly, intending to save the food for their child. It's truly heartbreaking to see parents like this.

"No one is allowed to stay."

Yang Jun said, "The purpose of this exercise is to simulate a post-apocalyptic survival scenario. Giving you food as an exception is already considered cheating. Do you really want to save it for the children?"

"So, did my mission in this exercise fail?"

"Didn't you start cheating first?" Yang Qingxiang muttered under her breath.

“I am me, you are you, they are them, I have supernatural powers… I have supernatural powers, can they have them?” Yang Jun glared at her and said, “I have supernatural powers, I can survive even in the worst conditions, but can you?”

“Every exercise takes a lot of manpower, resources and time. This opportunity is hard to come by, so you must cherish it. Just because you are my family doesn’t mean I can cheat. That’s not acceptable.”

Yang Qingxiang listened and nodded silently.

"I see."

Although she said that, it didn't mean that she really thought that way. Moreover, she wasn't the only one who thought that way. Everyone thought that the doomsday drill was making a mountain out of a molehill, that the apocalypse wouldn't come, and some even had a "let's just get by" attitude.

"Hey."

Yang Jun knew that nothing he said would make a difference at this point, since people can't listen to reason when they're hungry.

"You can eat it yourself. Keep this a secret and don't spread it around."

"understood."

Yang Qingxiang knew that she couldn't save the food for the children, so she stopped being frugal and started eating heartily. Despite her small stature, she had a particularly good appetite this time, and quickly finished a large bowl of beef noodles and a large plate of braised beef.

"Uh... I can hold on."

Yang Qingxiang burped as she drank the noodle soup from the bowl.

"Are you full? Would you like another bowl?" Yang Jun looked at her with some concern.

"No, I'm full."

Yang Qingxiang put down the soup bowl, rubbed her round belly with her hands, and kept burping.

"Don't come looking for me for a week after this meal. It wouldn't look good if someone saw us," Yang Jun instructed.

"Huh? A week?" Yang Qingxiang pouted and started to whine.

"Honey, how can I have the energy to serve you if I'm not well-fed?"

After saying that, she wrapped her arms around Yang Jun's neck, preparing to use her beauty to seduce him.

"Don't worry about that, I'll make sure you're well-fed before you start working."

As Yang Jun spoke, he casually pushed her aside. He had just been intimate with Meng Wenya the night before, and he didn't have any romantic feelings for her now. "Ah, husband..."

Yang Qingxiang was about to act coquettishly when suddenly there was a knock on the study door.

Hearing the knock on the door, Yang Jun and his companion were startled and quickly sat up from their stools.

"Put it away quickly."

Without Yang Qingxiang's prompting, Yang Jun put all the bowls and plates into his spatial storage with a thought. Yang Qingxiang wasn't idle either; she grabbed a folder from the desk and started fanning herself to dispel the fragrance in the air.

Seeing this, Yang Jun smiled and then stopped her.

"Alright, it can't be hidden anymore."

The fragrance in the air wouldn't dissipate quickly, so he felt there was no need to waste any more effort.

"Honey, I know you're inside, open the door quickly."

Chen Ruolan's voice came from outside the door.

"Open the door quickly, I can smell the fragrance even through the door." Meng Wenya said.

A cacophony of voices could be heard outside, indicating that there was more than one person present.

"Go open the door." Seeing that he couldn't hide it any longer, Yang Jun gestured for Yang Qingxiang to open the door.

Seeing this, Yang Qingxiang pouted, looking annoyed.

Actually, she didn't want others to know that she was eating alone, because if she did, she would never be able to eat it again.

While Yang Qingxiang went to open the door, Yang Jun made another thought, and eight bowls of beef noodles and two large plates of braised beef appeared on the empty desk. Since he couldn't hide it anymore, he might as well let them all eat their fill.

"Fine, you're hiding in the study eating all by yourself without inviting us. You're really going too far."

As soon as she entered, Huang Yani started complaining.

When he saw the table full of beef noodles, he couldn't say anything more. His throat bobbed, and he grabbed a bowl of noodles and started eating it in big mouthfuls.

"That's right, that's too much. It's not like Qingxiang is the only one who's your woman, we're your women too... huh?"

The women initially wanted to complain, but when they saw the table full of beef noodles, they couldn't utter a word of complaint.

All the women who came were Yang Jun's women; none of them had children, they were all adults.

Seeing this, the other women all came over and ate the beef noodles with gusto, looking like starving ghosts reincarnated.

"Go eat at the coffee table, don't eat at the desk."

As Yang Jun spoke, he walked to the door of the study and locked it again from the inside.

Although he is cheating now, he doesn't want the exercise to fail. At the very least, he wants to cultivate his child's awareness of independent living, and it is necessary to do so at least for now.

Upon hearing this, all the women took their bowls and went to the coffee table to eat, but Yi Qiushui alone sat at his desk.

"I knew you were hiding in the study sneaking a bite, and I was right."

Yi Qiushui rolled her eyes at him as she ate.

“I’ve never wronged anyone but you. Didn’t you have a donkey meat sandwich last night?” Yang Jun sat down on the desk and lit a cigarette.

"You only give me food because you need me to do physical labor, otherwise why would you be so kind?" Yi Qiushui rolled her eyes at him.

Yang Jun blushed upon hearing this, glared at her, and said, "You're not very good at it either."

"Look at how old I am! Can my skills compare to what they used to be?"

The two started driving in front of everyone, and they were going incredibly fast.

Fortunately, everyone was busy eating beef noodles and no one had time to pay attention to them. They were hungry, and no one wanted to do any physical labor.

"hehe."

Yang Jun listened and smiled without saying a word.

Yi Qiushui is over sixty years old, and her physical strength is not what it used to be. You really can't blame her for this.

Not everyone can live forever like him; he should at least consider other people's feelings.

“Eating noodles without garlic would make them less fragrant.”

Yi Qiushui stretched out her hand to him: "Give me some garlic."

She knew Yang Jun had supernatural powers and could conjure many things out of thin air; she also knew Yang Jun could definitely conjure garlic.

"Can't you be a little more elegant? What's the meaning of a lady like you eating garlic?"

Yang Jun rolled his eyes at her, then shoved his hand in front of her, and Yi Qiushui immediately produced a bottle of vinegar.

"Eat some vinegar."

Seeing this, Yi Qiushui rolled her eyes at him again, then added some vinegar to her bowl.

"Those of you who want to be jealous, come and get it."

Yi Qiushui placed the vinegar bottle on the edge of the table and addressed the women sitting on the sofa eating beef noodles.

Give me some.

Nini came over and took the vinegar bottle from her.

After that, everyone in the study fell silent, and the only sound could be the rustling of their food as they chewed.

Let me explain first.

Yang Jun sat down on the sofa, then crossed his legs and said, "Keep this a secret. Don't tell anyone after you leave this room, not even your own children."

"Ah."

The women ate their meal and answered in hushed tones.

"Did you hear me?"

"We heard you," the women replied quickly.

"besides……"

Seeing this, Yang Jun's expression softened somewhat. After a slight pause, he continued, "After all, it's an exercise, so we still need to follow the rules..."

"Pfft!"

At this moment, Huang Yani couldn't help but laugh, but seeing Yang Jun's dark face, she quickly explained,
"I'm sorry, honey, I choked because I ate too fast. Please continue."

Yang Jun glared at him and said, "It's an exercise, it's so that we can use it someday. Of course... I don't want to never use it, but... everyone should take it seriously, maybe we'll be able to use it in the future."

“Even if you don’t need it, I don’t want you to break the rules. The children have been pampered since they were little and have never experienced hardship. They lack life experience. I hope that through this exercise, they can experience real hardship, which will be beneficial to their future lives.”

"In short, I will not allow you to spoil your child, nor will I allow you to raise your child to be a good-for-nothing."

Yang Jun paused for a moment, then continued, "You must forget about what happened today once you leave this room."

"Honey, can we come here for a special meal every day?" Chen Ruolan asked, taking advantage of a pause in his speech.

Upon hearing this, the other women all put down their chopsticks and looked at Yang Jun.

"cannot!"

Yang Jun glanced at the group of women and said, "Those who don't participate in physical labor are not allowed to have special meals."

"I want to apply to participate in manual labor."

As soon as she finished speaking, Huang Yani was the first to raise her hand.

"I also want to participate in manual labor."

"I want one too..." (End of Chapter)