Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1161 Is it a big buddy? (Continued from Chapter 71)
After listening to Yan Jiekuang's account, Yang Ruihua finally felt relieved. Yu Li kept praising him, saying that he remained calm in the face of danger and had the demeanor of a great general.

Yang Ruihua initially thought Yu Li was just trying to curry favor with the Yan family, but then she thought about what Yan Jiekuang had done and realized that Yu Li hadn't exaggerated at all. She smiled and said, "Okay, to reward you, my little hero, I've decided to cook that piece of cured meat hanging in the kitchen. We'll all eat it together tonight."

When Yan Jiekuang heard this, he was initially quite happy and even clapped his hands. But as he clapped, he realized something was wrong. Wasn't that piece of cured meat the one he had taken from Wang Zhan? It was originally his. He was instantly stunned. Yang Ruihua saw what he was thinking and chuckled, saying, "Alright, it's already good that I could do it. If your dad comes back, he might complain a lot."

At this moment, Yan Jiekuang suddenly remembered his father's troubles and quickly said, "Mom, hurry up and get on the train now. Maybe my dad will come back sooner."

"Huh? Didn't they say their class went to do voluntary labor and would come back after dinner?" Yang Ruihua was a little confused.

Yan Jiekuang quickly explained the whole story of Jia Geng's trouble. Yang Ruihua knew that Jia Geng was in Yan Bugui's class, and that was why Jia Zhangshi had never come to his house to cause trouble. Hearing this, Yang Ruihua also felt that her husband wouldn't be in a good mood today. Yang Ruihua got up and said, "It's still early. I'll cook early this afternoon. Daughter-in-law, come with Mom to the cellar to get some vegetables."

Yang Ruihua took Yu Li out of the house. The wild vegetables on the table had been picked almost all. Yan Jiekuang knew that his mother had assigned him chores. Since they were having cured meat for dinner, the wild vegetables had to be saved for the next meal, but they still had to be washed and dried. That was why Yang Ruihua left without tidying up.

Yan Jiekuang gathered the wild vegetables, then filled a winnowing basket with them and headed towards the central courtyard, where the water pool was located. All the washing and cleaning in the entire courtyard was done there.

Yan Jiekuang was tidying up when Qin Huairu came out of the west wing. She was stunned when she saw Yan Jiekuang by the pool. She remembered that the first and second graders were supposed to participate in voluntary labor today, so why was Yan Jiekuang still at home? Qin Huairu walked to the pool and asked, "Jiekuang, why are you at home? Didn't you go to school? Isn't today voluntary labor?"

Yan Jiekuang looked up and saw that it was Banggeng's mother. He could tell from Qin Huairu's tone that she was questioning him, which meant that she was worried about her Jia Geng. The implication was clear: "How can you not go to work, but my son has to? Is it because you are Yan Bugui's child?"

"Sister-in-law Jia, we ran into some trouble on our way to the village. We helped the teachers and villagers with some things, and we got covered in mud and water. We didn't have any clean clothes to change into, so the teachers discussed it and gave us a day off so we could go home and change and avoid getting sick," Yan Jiekuang explained.

Qin Huairu looked at Yan Jiekuang, somewhat disbelieving, but still asked, "What about my dog? Do you have my dog?"

Yan Jiekuang's eyes darted around as he said, "Oh, he's back too. But he's at school now, so he probably won't have to do any work. He should be back soon."

Upon hearing this, Qin Huairu was instantly delighted, but she also lost interest in talking to this little brat. She turned around and left with her empty lunchbox.

Yan Jiekuang pursed his lips and continued to tidy up his wild vegetables, but the image of the big guy who stopped the runaway horse kept flashing through his mind. Children of this age tend to admire strong people and heroes to some extent.

But as he thought about it, the image gradually drew closer, and Yan Jiekuang felt it looked more and more familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before. Yan Jiekuang's memory was quite good, and it wasn't long before he remembered: wasn't this Wang Zhan's classmate? He had seen him at Wang Zhan's house once. Could this person have joined the army?
Yan Jiekuang suddenly stood up, picked up the washed wild vegetables, and ran to the front yard. When he reached his door, he called out, "Mom, I've washed the wild vegetables and put them on the shelf by the door. I have to go out for a bit." When Yang Ruihua peeked out from the cellar, Yan Jiekuang was no longer in the yard. Yang Ruihua muttered, "That child, why is he so impulsive?"

At No. 47 Yu'er Hutong, Wang Zhan was in the courtyard, smoking and lost in thought. He had just woken up from his afternoon nap and his mind was still foggy. He was thinking about picking up his younger sister later, so he was smoking a cigarette to clear his head.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the front gate. It was the sound of a fist pounding on the door. Only one person could make that knocking sound: the little brat from the alley behind.

Wang Zhan swaggered to the front gate, opened it, and then turned and walked inside without even looking at the entrance. He said, "Isn't today your first day of school? What brings you here?"

"Brother Zhan, none of that matters. Don't you have a classmate who's very close to you, tall and strong, and whose voice is like thunder?" Yan Jiekuang entered the courtyard, not forgetting to close the door, but he couldn't wait to ask his question.

When Wang Zhan heard him say that, the image of his old buddy popped into his mind. He also missed this simple-minded man. He had been gone for so long and hadn't even sent him a letter. He was really heartless. But why was this little guy asking him? Wang Zhan turned around, took a puff of his cigarette, and said, "Yeah, didn't you see him once? But that guy has already joined the army and left. He probably won't be back for a year or two."

"No, I saw him today. He even helped us stop the runaway horse. Didn't you know he's back?" Yan Jiekuang asked.

Wang Zhan was stunned for a moment, looked at Yan Jiekuang, and then pulled Yan Jiekuang into the backyard. It was more like lifting him up than pulling him. He then put Yan Jiekuang on the stone table in the backyard and stared at him, saying, "Come on, tell me in detail what happened. There's a reward for what you promised."

Yan Jiekuang then recounted the events of the day, mentioning that the tall man was in military uniform, and that once the matter was over, he simply picked up his luggage and left.

Wang Zhan fell into deep thought. He remembered that Da Laotie and Xiao Wu both left last August. Although they were half a year away from graduating from high school, they had the school's approval. They were old enough to join the army and met all the requirements. Only seven months had passed, so why were they back? It was impossible for them to be visiting relatives. They hadn't been in the army for more than a year and didn't get leave to visit relatives. It was even more impossible for them to be discharged. Had something happened to them?

Wang Zhan was immediately uneasy. He left Yan Jiekuang and returned to the main room, hurriedly changed his clothes, grabbed two cans of food, and handed them to Yan Jiekuang. Then he pulled Yan Jiekuang to the front yard, pushed him outside the door, and said, "Brother has something urgent to attend to. I can't entertain you today. Go home quickly. Oh, and go to Old Zhang's house. Tell him I have something to do and ask my sister to stay with him a little longer."

Yan Jiekuang was also dumbfounded. What was wrong with Brother Zhan? He was killing the donkey after it had served its purpose. The change was too fast. But Wang Zhan didn't care about him at all. He pushed his bicycle out of the yard, locked the door, and rode away in a flash.

(End of this chapter)