Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1168 The Zhang Family's Predicament
After seeing off the Yan family father and son, Wang Zhan took Zhang Erya and Wang Li home. On the way, Wang Zhan asked Zhang Erya if she wanted to come to his place for dinner that night and do her homework with Wang Li.

Zhang Erya hesitated for a moment, and Wang Li got a little anxious. She pulled Zhang Erya aside and talked to her for a while, and Zhang Erya could only nod. Wang Zhan was very puzzled. Usually, Zhang Erya would not be like this. As long as there was nothing wrong, she would readily agree to go to his house. What was wrong with her today?

Wang Zhan stopped at the entrance of his alley. He let the two sisters go home by themselves, pushed the car back, and then strolled off to Old Man Zhang's house.

Old Zhang was indeed home, and so was Grandma. Wang Zhan greeted them and went inside. Old Zhang poured Wang Zhan a glass of water and said, "My home isn't like yours. There's nothing here, so I can only offer you some water."

“We’re just father and son, why are we talking about this? Here, have a smoke.” With that, Wang Zhan handed a cigarette to Old Zhang and casually placed the remaining half-pack of Daqianmen cigarettes on the table. Wang Zhan then took out a lighter and lit it for Old Zhang.

Old Zhang's family was very frugal; they even saved as much as possible on match coupons, exchanging any extras for grain coupons along with other saved coupons.

Old Zhang's mother-in-law didn't have a ration, so they ate the same rations as Old Zhang and Zhang Erya. Zhang Erya was on a child's ration, so their family wasn't exactly well-off. But that was relative; their standard of living was considered average, since Old Zhang still had a job and earned a salary.

After chatting for a while, Old Zhang sighed and said, "Er Ya went to your house for dinner again? Sigh, I told her yesterday not to go if she can avoid it. Given the current situation, I can't cause any more trouble for you and your brother."

Wang Zhan looked at the honest man and asked, "What trouble could I possibly cause, Uncle Zhang? Others may not know, but don't you know my family? Do we look like we're short of food? You're just overthinking it."

"What do you know? I work at the neighborhood canteen. I heard from them that there's something going on up there. They say the rations are going to be reduced again. When will this ever end?" Old Zhang said in a low voice.

Wang Zhan was also taken aback. He found the news hard to accept. The last reduction was already quite significant, but for most people, it was still manageable; they could save money and still have a decent meal. If it were to be reduced again, it would be hard to say.

However, none of this really concerns him. To this day, he has never bought enough food every month because he is too lazy to get up early and queue.

"How much will the price drop this time? Is there enough for your family?" Wang Zhan asked.

At this moment, Grandma closed the door from the outside. Wang Zhan guessed that she had heard the two talking and was afraid that it would be overheard by someone with ulterior motives, so she came over and closed the door. They say that people are shrewd, and the older they get, the shrewder they become.

Old Zhang glanced at the door and whispered, "I heard from the director that the cuts might be reduced by another 10%, and the city's population will also be reduced. I estimate there will be action next week."

Wang Zhan nodded, lit a cigarette, and Old Zhang continued, "My family is doing alright. I've thought it over, and I guess we'll have a hard time getting enough to eat, but we won't starve. The main problem is that my mother is old and can't keep eating those coarse grains. As for Er Ya... sigh, I guess I'll just have to make do with Er Ya."

It was only then that Wang Zhan suddenly realized that Old Zhang had lost a lot of weight compared to the previous few months, which meant that Old Zhang was controlling his diet and probably gave most of it to his mother-in-law and Er Ya.

Old Zhang's ration of 28 jin was directly reduced to 22 jin, and Zhang Erya's ration of 12 jin was directly reduced to 9.5 jin. The whole family's ration was 31.5 jin, which means that on average, they only had 1 jin a day. No wonder they couldn't get enough to eat.

Wang Zhan looked at Old Zhang and said, "Haven't you thought about trying your luck at the pigeon market or the black market? With such a small quota, it's not enough. At this rate, your health will collapse sooner or later. What will your daughter and mother do then?" Old Zhang looked miserable and sighed. He said, "Everyone in the neighborhood lectures me when they come to the canteen, saying I can't go to the pigeon market or the black market. They say it all day long. How can I dare to go?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhan realized that the old man had been frightened by the people from the neighborhood committee. He guessed that the people from the neighborhood committee used them, the logistics staff, as practice exercises to hone their verbal skills in educating people.

Wang Zhan thought for a moment and said, "Zhang Erya is eating at my place, so don't stop her. She's just a child. Saying too much will only hurt her. Here's what we'll do: I'll be home tomorrow night, and you can come to my house. I'll give you thirty catties of wheat flour and fifty catties of corn flour to tide you over for the next few months. We'll talk again when the autumn harvest comes."

Old Zhang was stunned and looked at Wang Zhan, asking, "Where did you get the grain?"

Wang Zhan rolled his eyes and ignored Old Man Zhang. Old Man Zhang also realized that he had asked rashly, and immediately changed his mind and said, "Okay, thank you, but the price will be the same as the price in Pigeon Market, otherwise I won't take it."

Wang Zhan knew that Old Zhang was rich, but he still asked with a wicked smile, "Do you know what the price of pigeons is in the market?"

"Well, it's probably more expensive than the market price, I don't know either. Why don't you name a price?" Old Zhang was embarrassed; he really didn't know the price of grain in Pigeon City.

Wang Zhan waved his hand and said, "Let's just go by market price. No need for grain coupons; you probably wouldn't have any anyway. But don't tell anyone, understand?"

Old Zhang nodded. He could finally calm down for a while. Wang Zhan told him that Zhang Erya had eaten at his house today, left behind most of a pack of cigarettes, and then just pushed the door open and left.

Wang Zhan had already developed a deep relationship with the Zhang family, mainly because of Wang Li. The girl was growing up, and her grandmother, Zhang Erya, had been teaching them basic common sense about women. The grandmother treated both girls equally, and the Zhang family did the same. No matter what good food there was, Old Man Zhang would always save some for Wang Li, regardless of whether she had visited their home or not.

Zhang Erya was the same; she was always with Wang Li, inseparable. Otherwise, Wang Zhan wouldn't have let Wang Li go down a year so she could be in the same class as Zhang Erya. Zhang Erya treated Wang Zhan's place like her own home, sometimes even sleeping with Wang Li and going to school together the next day. That's why Wang Zhan treated the Zhang family like brothers.

After leaving Zhang's house, he headed straight for Yu'er Hutong, where his family was waiting to cook. As he walked into Yu'er Hutong, he greeted the neighbors and slowly made his way home. Before he even reached the door, he saw a little girl wearing a floral cotton-padded jacket sitting on the steps of Wang Zhan's house, looking around curiously.

Wang Zhan looked up and saw Yan Jiedi. "Oh, where's her brother? How come he brought his sister out with him? Didn't he go back to get beaten up?"
Wang Zhan walked over and squatted down. Before he could speak, Yan Jiedi gave him a big smile and said, "Hello, Brother Zhan, I've missed you so much."

Just from that one sentence, Wang Zhan couldn't stand it anymore. He immediately pulled the little girl up and said, "Come on, let's go home. Brother will make you some delicious fish."

Yan Jiedi happily took Wang Zhan's hand and followed him into his courtyard.

(End of this chapter)