Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1000 Borrowing Grain
The Little New Year is just around the corner. Wang Zhan originally planned to cook a few more dishes to make the yard festive and have a good New Year. But Xiao Si's cold water made him give up the idea.

He also needed to remind his younger sister, since he was being watched by many people in this area. Although he had managed to avoid them, who knew where the venomous snakes might be lurking?

Courtyard No. 95

People, exhausted from a long day's work, returned home one after another. Back home, they still had to worry about what to eat for their three meals a day, which ironically brought a lot of peace to the courtyard.

Sha Zhu didn't offer any meals today. He was carrying two lunchboxes and walking home by himself. His expressionless face kept everyone at a distance.

Sha Zhu was indeed very unhappy because He Yushui hadn't come back for the entire semester. Now that it was the holidays, he couldn't find his sister. He had planned to discuss the New Year's arrangements with her. All his money had been borrowed by Jia Dongxu and his wife under various pretexts throughout the year, and now he only had less than a hundred yuan left in his pocket.

At the beginning of yesterday, the deaf old lady from the backyard came to see him, implying that she wanted to eat meat and Daoxiangchun pastries. But when Shazhu looked at the money in his pocket, he thought of his good sister again, but unfortunately He Yushui had disappeared.

This morning, Sha Zhu took a day off and went to No. 5 Middle School to inquire, only to find that even He Yushui's homeroom teacher didn't know where she was.

Where did He Yushui go? Of course, she went to Baoding to spend the New Year with He Daqing alone. Ever since He Daqing and Widow Bai had a child, Widow Bai's attitude has changed completely. She no longer rejects He Yushui and even cares for her, making He Yushui feel like she has found home. He Daqing also thinks this is good, so He Yushui went to Baoding as soon as she got her holiday.

Sha Zhu was feeling down and wanted to confide in his respected uncle, Yi Zhonghai, when he got off work. But to his surprise, Yi Zhonghai said that he had something to do with Jia Dongxu today and wouldn't be going back to the hospital first, and told him to go back by himself.

Sha Zhu walked out of the factory gate alone. He hadn't walked for five minutes when he heard a bell ring behind him. Sha Zhu moved aside, and to his surprise, the bicycle stopped.

"Hey, isn't this Sha Zhu? Why are you all alone? Where's your good uncle Yi Zhonghai? Where's your good brother Jia Dongxu?" A long face appeared in front of Sha Zhu.

If it weren't for the fact that he had just been released and didn't want to cause trouble, Sha Zhu would have wanted to go up and punch him a few times. "What's it to you? Go do what you're supposed to do. Do you want to make yourself look bad? Get lost!"

"Haha, you don't know, do you? Your good uncle and your good brother are drinking at that state-run restaurant near the steel mill. It's just the two of them; they didn't even invite you. And you still think you're so important," Xu Damao said sarcastically.

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu felt annoyed and chased after Xu Damao. Xu Damao reacted quickly and rode off on his bicycle.

Sha Zhu frowned, picked up his lunchbox, and continued walking home. When he passed the supply and marketing cooperative, he even bought a bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) to drink and dispel his worries.

State-run restaurant at the entrance of the steel rolling mill
In a corner by the window, the master and apprentice were drinking a little wine. The only dishes they had were peanuts and a piece of pig's head. After taking a sip, they started chatting.

"Master, do you think what we saw this morning was being transported was grain?" Jia Dongxu asked.

“It should be, and I saw one of the bags was made of flour,” Yi Zhonghai said.

Jia Dongxu took out one of Yi Zhonghai's cigarettes, handed it to his master, lit it for him, and then said, "Master, you said it's almost the New Year, and even pigeon market is short of grain. Where did he get it?" Yi Zhonghai shook his head and said, "It's possible that the kid saved it up, or it's possible that someone gave it to him. Don't forget that the kid is a military dependent."

“Impossible, Master. What’s the situation now? He still has surplus grain. I don’t think his grain came from any good source. Don’t forget Wu Yong,” Jia Dongxu said.

"That's the guy who works in the black market. By the way, where did that kid go?" Yi Zhonghai asked.

Jia Dongxu shook his head and said, "I don't know. I heard that his whole family went to another place. My friend said that this kid was having a lot of fun here, but he got caught and ran away to another place."

Yi Zhonghai nodded and took a sip of wine. Jia Dongxu then said in a low voice, "Master, do you think it's possible for us to get some grain from that kid?"

Yi Zhonghai fell into deep thought, and after a long time, he said, "It's hard to say, but we can give it a try."

"How do we try it, Master?" Jia Dongxu asked, his eyes lighting up.

"First, find someone to go to his house and borrow grain. See how he reacts. If he has any at home, he'll quickly hide it or take it away. Then we can use that to blackmail him and force him to submit," Yi Zhonghai said.

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu said, "Brilliant! Master's idea is brilliant, but who should we send to borrow the grain?"

"This person must know this kid, have dealt with him before, and preferably have had a minor disagreement with him."

The master and disciple were both thinking about who would be suitable to go. After about a minute, they looked at each other and simultaneously said a name: "Liu Gen" (六根).

The two discussed it for a while and then started drinking. Jia Dongxu casually asked, "What if he doesn't do anything? What can we do? Liu Gen can't just go to his door, and besides, we can't beat him. We can't just rob him, can we?"

Yi Zhonghai chuckled and said, "Don't forget, we still have the neighborhood committee. When the time comes, we'll report him. As a reward, the neighborhood committee won't treat us unfairly, right?"

Jia Dongxu gave his master a thumbs up, now having a new understanding of his master's cunning.

Yu'er Hutong, No. 47 Courtyard
Wang Zhan was explaining to Wang Li the direction they would be changing in the future.

Seeing her brother so serious, Wang Li listened attentively.

(End of this chapter)