Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1001 Fainted at Sea
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.

Wang Zhan's first rule was that when traveling, no matter who asked what he ate, he should say cornmeal porridge, steamed buns, and pickled vegetables.

Wang Zhan's second requirement was that from now on, the brother and sister should eat in the Jade Void Space and come out afterward. Cornmeal porridge, cornbread, and pickled vegetables would be placed outside year-round.

Wang Zhan's third request was that the money be centrally managed and stored in a designated space, so that Wang Li could ask him for money whenever she needed it.

Wang Zhan's fourth requirement was that all valuables in the house be put away, and Jinbao should also be put in the space. There was no need for it not to come out; at worst, we could find it a companion.

Wang Zhan's fifth requirement was that no one was allowed to wear clothes without patches, except for military uniforms.

After friendly discussions between the two siblings, Wang Li had no objections except for the third point.

January 21, 1959, Great Cold
A few days ago, Wang Zhan and Wang Li closed the door and busied themselves at home for a while, storing all the things they wanted to hide in the Jade Void Space. For this purpose, Wang Zhan even specially built three bamboo warehouses in the Jade Void Space.

According to northern custom, beef and mutton are eaten on the Great Cold Festival. Wang Zhan had beef stored in his Jade Void Space, but Wang Li didn't like to eat it. After thinking about it, Wang Zhan started preparing in the morning. He planned to make a nourishing soup, beef and angelica soup, to see if his sister could eat it. The rest were all vegetables that Wang Li liked, especially tomatoes with white sugar, which she could never get enough of.

Wang Zhan stood in the main room, looking at the empty space, and was filled with worry. Wang Li sat on a small stool, looking at her brother who was in a daze, and said, "Brother, did we take too much? There's nothing left in this room. How will we eat in the future?"

Wang Zhan was also in a dilemma. Those pieces of furniture were either made of rosewood or huanghuali wood, and he couldn't refuse to accept them. He also couldn't take out the furniture from his own small house, as those were all made of black rosewood from Dongshan, and he couldn't display them either. After thinking for a while, Wang Zhan said, "Forget it, we can't display those, it will bring bad luck. Let's just change them. Tomorrow, let's go to the furniture store."

Wang Li sighed and said, "This is really troublesome."

The two siblings had no choice but to set up a small square table in the kitchen that evening. They sat facing each other, and sure enough, a bowl of angelica and beef soup completely captured the younger sister's attention. She was so engrossed in eating that she didn't even look up.

On the day of the Great Cold, the workers in No. 95 Courtyard still went to work. Moreover, today was a special day, the day of the steel rolling mill's assessment. Every household made breakfast today, just to cheer on their heads of household.

Yi Zhonghai was in a good mood today. He had already discussed the operation against Wang Zhan with Liu Gen last night. The price was that he would help Liu Gen get promoted to a third-level worker today. Yi Zhonghai is now a seventh-level worker and one of the examiners.

Jia Dongxu was also very happy. His master's plan had been implemented. Today he was going to be promoted to the fifth level of worker. He felt that as long as his master was there, passing the exam was a sure thing. He had boasted to his family yesterday and even told his mother to buy a chicken to celebrate that night.

When Jia Zhangshi heard her son's words, she felt there was nothing wrong with them and that everything was perfectly logical. So, after Jia Dongxu went to work, she gave Qin Huairu some instructions and then took her shopping basket to the market.

The years were just right. Apart from the cold and desolation, people lived peacefully. In the backyard, Liu Haizhong was still beating his child early in the morning, while in the front yard, Yan Bugui was still loosening the soil in his already bald flowerpot with a small shovel.

After eight o'clock, Jia Zhangshi returned happily from the market, seemingly having had a good haul. At that moment, Sha Zhu, the son of the main wife, had just gotten up; he had been drinking heavily for several days. For several days now, Uncle Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu seemed busy with something, completely ignoring him. They usually walked to and from get off work together, but now the two of them had abandoned him, always going out in pairs.

Sha Zhu was very depressed. After a year of brainwashing by Yi Zhonghai, he now only regarded these two people as his family. This feeling of being abandoned by his family left him at a loss. What made Sha Zhu even more anxious was that he did not know what went wrong, so he drowned his sorrows in alcohol every day.

After getting up, Sha Zhu washed his face, grabbed his two lunchboxes, and headed to the steel rolling mill. He still had to go to work; otherwise, who would pay him?

When he arrived at work, he gave the unwashed lunchbox to his apprentice Ma Hua, then sat on a recliner and went back to sleep. Ma Hua washed the lunchbox, made a cup of tea for his master, placed it on the small square table next to the recliner, and then went to work.

Time passed by, and around eleven o'clock, a loud bang came from the workshop. Sha Zhu was so startled that he sat up abruptly.

"What's wrong? Was there an earthquake?" Sha Zhu asked.

Ma Hua ran over and said, "It seems like something happened in the workshop. The sound is coming from over there."

Sha Zhuteng stood up abruptly and said, "Let's go take a look."

"Master, don't go. Look at the time, it's almost time to eat," Ma Hua advised.

"At this point, those who can still eat, hurry up and go check the situation." Sha Zhu ran outside.

Ma Hua stamped his foot and ran out as well. Chef Yang, the second chef in the kitchen, was a sensible man and quickly shouted, "No one else is allowed to go out. At this time, we should stick to our posts and hurry up and cook."

This canteen is really grateful to Chef Yang. The entire steel rolling mill has nine workshops, and today is a technical assessment day, but six workshops are working normally. Their third canteen happens to be responsible for two of the workshops that are working normally. If lunch is delayed, it will be a big problem.

Sha Zhu, along with his two apprentices, followed the running medical staff all the way to the third workshop. Sha Zhu's heart skipped a beat; the old man from his courtyard and Jia Dongxu were both in this workshop.

Before he even entered the workshop, he saw several workshop workers carrying a stretcher and running out, followed by several factory leaders and medical staff. Sha Zhu glanced at it, and in that one glance, Sha Zhu was truly dumbfounded. On the stretcher was Jia Dongxu, who was covered in blood.

Sha Zhu was so frightened that he fell to the ground. Ma Hua and Fatty quickly came over to help him up. Sha Zhu stammered, "That's Brother Jia, my neighbor Jia Dongxu."

Ma Hua and the fat man looked at each other. Both were young and didn't know how to comfort their master, so they could only stay by his side. At this moment, Sha Zhu said again, "Wait a minute, where's the old man? I haven't seen him. Could something have happened to him too?"

After saying that, Sha Zhu rushed into Workshop 3. As soon as he entered, he saw Yi Zhonghai sitting on the ground, wailing loudly. When Yi Zhonghai saw Sha Zhu walk in from outside, he fainted.

(End of this chapter)