Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1005 Prepare for a rainy day
No. 47 Yu'er Hutong

Grandpa Liu passed away a few days ago. He was going to his eldest daughter's house for the Chinese New Year. Before he left, he said goodbye to Wang Zhan and told him to be careful in the front yard during the New Year. There was no one in the front yard anymore, and if someone set off firecrackers and accidentally started a fire, there would be no way to save it.

Wang Zhan gave Grandpa Liu a piece of cured meat, which he had brought back from Sichuan and Chongqing. Grandpa Liu declined twice, but finally had to accept it.

The day before the Lunar New Year, Wang Zhan arranged to go grocery shopping with Aunt Sun. Actually, Aunt Sun didn't need to buy any groceries. She was going to take her two children back to her hometown for the Lunar New Year after the holiday. This time, because she was unemployed, she might stay in her hometown for a while. She was just accompanying Wang Zhan to buy groceries.

The scarcity of goods in the market once again made Grandma Sun sigh with regret. She kept talking about it all the way there. When they arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, it had just opened.

The two were immediately disappointed when they went inside. In the end, Wang Zhan only bought three pieces of tofu and a bunch of wilted celery, which cost him five yuan.

Grandma Sun accompanied Wang Zhan to the backyard. Before leaving, the two children had gone to play with Wang Li. When they arrived at the backyard, Grandma Sun noticed the changes. Through the windows, she could see that the east and west wing rooms were empty. Apart from the desk, chair, and bookshelves in the study, the other rooms were completely empty.

Upon arriving at the main room, all the furniture looked dilapidated and broken. The original furniture was gone. The only comfortable things left in the room were the fireplace and the heated brick beds in the east and west bedrooms.

Grandma Sun pulled Wang Zhan down to sit and asked, "Wang Zhan, is something wrong?"

Wang Zhan nodded and said, "It's mainly about being prepared for a rainy day. Auntie, you know that Director Wang is always keeping an eye on me. Oh, and there are also a few people from the courtyard at No. 95 in the back alley. A few days ago, some of my classmates came to my house for dinner. Oh, you know them, Xiao Si and Xiao Wu. They described the meal I cooked as extravagant. You know the current situation. I'm really afraid something will happen, so I've been making some preparations these past few days."

After listening, Aunt Sun thought for a while and said, "You did the right thing. If something happens, it will be a big deal. We really need to keep a low profile now. Eat less refined grains, or better yet, don't eat them at all. Oh, and meat is also a problem. You can't buy it in the market. How did you get it? That's the problem. Alright, you did a good job. I'm relieved now."

Wang Zhan nodded and said, "I also have a younger sister. I don't have any relatives or elders here, so I have to be careful."

Grandma Sun nodded, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "Did you know that Jia Dongxu from courtyard number 95 has left?"

"Gone? Where did he go? That guy keeps staring at me, I'm so annoyed by him," Wang Zhan said.

"Alright, you don't need to worry about it anymore. He died in an accident, and the funeral was just held a couple of days ago," said Aunt Sun.

Wang Zhan was taken aback and said, "Really? That's so sudden. That guy was quite annoying. His departure is a good thing for me."

Grandma Sun ate lunch at Wang Zhan's house. It was just cornbread and cornmeal porridge, plus a plate of pickled vegetables and a plate of scrambled eggs.

Er Ya and Xiao Pang ate happily, but Wang Li was hesitant and only ate small bites, clearly not wanting to eat. Wang Zhan glared at her, and only then did Wang Li start eating heartily, which made Aunt Sun laugh.

After finishing their meal, Aunt Sun left. Before leaving, Wang Zhan gave her a bag containing a few apples, two pieces of cured meat, and some candy as a New Year's gift. Aunt Sun didn't stand on ceremony, took the bag, and left with her child.

In the front yard of courtyard number 95, in the west wing, Yan Jiecheng sat opposite his father, Yan Bugui, anxiously awaiting an answer.

Yan Jiecheng has moved back in. The house was successfully purchased through Yan Bugui's efforts, and Yan Jiecheng even wrote Yan Bugui an IOU for two hundred yuan.

Everything was ready, and they were just waiting for the two families' parents to meet and finalize the marriage. Unexpectedly, Jia Dongxu's affair came up in the courtyard. According to the old custom, weddings must give way to funerals. Yan Jiecheng was in a hurry and quickly came over to ask his father what to do.

Yan Bugui lit a cigarette and said, "Jiecheng, alright, don't even think about it before the New Year. Wait until after the New Year. This Jia Zhangshi is not someone you can easily deal with. If you want to do it, aren't you afraid she'll ruin it for you?"

Yan Jiecheng said anxiously, "I've already agreed with Yu Li, how can you change your mind?"

"So what do you plan to do? The 31st day after the New Year hasn't passed yet, and you're already planning a wedding? Isn't that disgusting? Forget it. Wait until after the New Year, when everyone has forgotten about the Jia family's affairs, then you can hold the wedding properly. You can also use this time to save some money and make preparations," Yan Bugui said.

Yang Ruihua said from the side, "Boss, you really have to listen to your dad about this. Go to Yu Li's house and explain things properly, just make sure you don't mess it up."

Yan Jiecheng said with a bitter face, "Then this is the only way."

The day before the Lunar New Year, the union director came to the Jia family. Looking at their situation, he said to them, "Dongxu is gone. You must be strong. You still have children to take care of, and life must go on. The factory intends to have you take over Dongxu's work position. Discuss who will take over his position."

Madam Jia was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized what was happening and said, "I'll go, I'll take over Dongxu's work position. Huairu is pregnant."

Qin Huairu shook her head: "Mom, you're getting old and your health isn't good. You also need to take medicine often. Let me go. Can we discuss it with that director? Please wait a moment."

Qin Huairu pulled Jia Zhangshi into the inner room: "Mom, when I go to work, I can also transfer the household registration here. That way, three people in our family can eat rationed food. Plus the one in my belly, after the baby is born, our family will have rations for four people. If you take over the job, you will still only have one person's ration. Think about it carefully, can your ration for one person support the whole family?"

After hearing her daughter-in-law's words, Jia Zhangshi fell silent. She knew that she was not young and had health problems. Even if she went there and got a job, she wouldn't be able to do much work. It would be better to let Qin Huairu go and transfer her household registration. That way, the child's household registration could also be transferred, and they could get more grain rations.

After thinking it through, Jia Zhangshi nodded: "Alright, then you can go. But you're pregnant now, how can you go to work?"

Qin Huairu nodded and said, "Mom, let's talk to the factory and see if we can go back to work after I give birth. I think this director is easy to talk to. Let's go out and play the victim a bit, maybe he'll agree."

There was nothing Jia Zhangshi could do even if she disagreed, otherwise the family really wouldn't be able to make ends meet: "Huai Ru, this work position was left by Old Jia. He left it to Dongxu after he died, and he will also leave it to my grandson in the future. It's not impossible for you to take over, but you have to swear that when your grandson grows up, this work position will be returned to Bang Geng. You can't let the work position fall into the hands of outsiders."

(End of this chapter)