Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1105 Uninvited Guest

Liu Weiguo led Xiao Zhao to Jia Zhangshi's side. Liu Weiguo asked with a smile, "I remember you. You were the one who stole the cabbage last time, weren't you? What are you doing here today? Revenge? Or do you have some other purpose? Putting everything else aside, causing trouble at someone's wedding is not very ethical or reasonable, is it?"

Jia Zhangshi knew she was in the wrong, but everyone in the compound was watching, including many neighbors from outside. She felt she couldn't back down; if she did, she wouldn't be able to stay in this area.

Madam Jia said, "What could I possibly be doing this for? I'm just showing my support for the Yan family. Yan Bugui himself came to my house to invite me yesterday. What did I do wrong?"

Liu Weiguo laughed and said, "Is that so? So, did you give your gift money? According to old customs, you should give some gift money, right? By the way, you can't just sit wherever you want. You have to listen to the host's arrangements. The host has invited more than just you as a guest, so they have to make arrangements for everyone, right, Aunt Jia?"

When Jia Zhangshi heard Liu Weiguo's words, she didn't know how to answer. She stammered for a long time, neither saying yes nor no.

Liu Weiguo said, "Today, I am also one of the invited guests. Since, oh, right, you are the only one from the whole compound who came to participate, it seems that you are representing the whole compound. The gift money should be decent. How about this, I will give you whatever amount you give, is that alright, Aunt Jia?"

Jia Zhangshi was taken aback; this meant he was being asked to pay money. Just then, Yan Jiekuang called out, "Captain Liu Weiguo, ten yuan as a gift."

"How much? How much?" Jia Zhangshi was shocked. In those days, giving 50 cents or a dollar for a wedding was considered a lot; most people gave 20 or 30 cents.

Liu Weiguo gestured with his hand, indicating that Jia Zhangshi should go to the register at the gate to give a gift. Jia Zhangshi's face turned red when she saw it. At that moment, she didn't care about anything else and said, "I have no money." Then she ran away and ran towards her home.

At this moment, Yan Bugui and his wife, along with Yan's family and Yu Li's family, breathed a sigh of relief. The matchmaker quickly reminded Yan Bugui to continue the wedding, as there were still a lot of ceremonies to come.

The Yan family members, guests, and the hired emcee quickly got to work. The Yan family members breathed a sigh of relief. At this point, Yan Bugui no longer cared whether the people in the courtyard would come or not; he just wanted to get the wedding done smoothly as soon as possible.

Since there were no people from the large compound, there was no need to hold a banquet at the Yu family's house. With abundant ingredients and the chef's skills, the Yan family still managed to bring Yu Li home in a grand and glorious manner. The guests and hosts were all happy, and the in-laws were satisfied. The wedding ended smoothly.

After the revelry, Yan Bugui said goodbye to Yang Ruihua and rode off alone on his bicycle, carrying his fishing gear.

Yang Ruihua was very curious. After a busy day, wasn't her old man tired? Standing beside Yang Ruihua, watching Yan Jiekuang ride away on his bicycle, she sighed slightly and said, "My dad wants to think about things by himself."

Yang Ruihua suddenly realized and said, "This old man, I hope he can understand. Come with me, let's tidy up the house. There are still some leftovers, we'll take them to your Grandma Wang's house in a bit." In the last month of 1959, Beijing entered the deep winter season. Compared to last year, this year was even colder, and the air was extremely dry, with no sign of snow at all.

Wang Zhan had prepared coal and firewood for his family's winter well in advance, and also went to Xishan to buy two truckloads of charcoal for the fireplace in the main room and the greenhouse in the garden. The coal ash looked like it wouldn't burn well, but that's what every household bought, so he had no choice. Therefore, Wang Zhan stockpiled a lot of firewood, which was ostensibly piled up in the three storage rooms, but in reality, he also had a lot stored in his spare space.

When winter vacation arrived, Wang Lixian became lazy. If Wang Zhan hadn't coaxed her out, she would have stayed in the main room all day, doing her homework and playing with Zhang Erya.

Yan Jiekuang and his sister still come occasionally, but less often. It's been half a month now, and they haven't come at all. Wang Zhan sometimes thinks about those two clever kids, wondering what they're up to.

With New Year's Day approaching, Wang Zhan looked at the vegetables in the greenhouse. Only the chives and bok choy were mostly ripe. The others were either already bearing small fruits or still in their flowering period. It seemed that he would still have to rely on the vegetable garden in his own space for vegetables.

Wang Zhan's life is very regular now. He gets up at six o'clock in the morning to review his boxing and sword techniques, then cooks. Around 7:30, he and Wang Li have breakfast on time. After that, Wang Li does her homework, while Wang Zhan goes to the greenhouse to tend to the vegetable garden and cook for Jinbao. He has already sent Dayu and Xiaoyu to his space because it's been too cold this year, and he's worried they won't be able to handle it.

Around nine o'clock, Wang Zhan would brew himself a pot of tea and start reading until about 11:30. Then he would go and make lunch. Now, lunch and dinner are for three people, plus Zhang Erya.

This was something Wang Zhan and Old Zhang had discussed. Old Zhang was called Old Zhang, but he was actually only in his early forties; he just looked older. However, his mother-in-law was almost seventy. As soon as winter came, she fell ill and went straight to the hospital. Since Old Zhang couldn't take care of Zhang Erya, he entrusted her to Wang Zhan. Originally, Old Zhang planned to give her five yuan and ten jin of grain coupons a month, but Wang Zhan refused. The Wang siblings had eaten plenty of his family's steamed buns.

In the afternoons, Wang Zhan would either read or tidy up the house in the front yard, practicing his carpentry skills in the process. In the evenings, after Zhang Erya finished dinner and came home, Wang Zhan would chat with Wang Li and tell her stories. Wang Li herself was particularly interested in literature, but there were some of Wang Zhan's books that she couldn't understand. So, whenever she had free time, she would take the books to Wang Zhan and ask him to explain them to her.

Days passed uneventfully. After winter set in, Wang Zhan rarely went to the vegetable market, nor to the pigeon market or the black market. But he knew that his neighbors would go there every few days because some large families were really short of food and had no choice but to search for food everywhere.

Old Master Liu, who lives next door, is in the gatehouse of the courtyard next door. There is a separate small courtyard there. He usually works at the street office's bicycle repair shop. Wang Zhan had only met him once, when his bicycle broke down.

Wang Zhan never expected that this old man would come to him to borrow money one day. Seeing the old man's somewhat embarrassed expression, Wang Zhan still lent him the money without asking why. He knew that the old man could only borrow money to buy grain, and he didn't ask what he would do with the grain.

Besides this person, there was another uninvited guest, not to borrow money, but to sound him out. That was Wang Laoqi, whom he hadn't seen for a long time. Accompanying him was Liu Weiguo, the head of the local security team, which surprised Wang Zhan.

(End of this chapter)