Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1174 Yard Reaction
A cold wind blew by, causing the light bulb in the middle of the yard to sway. People in the yard wrapped their clothes tighter around themselves. The adults in the households with children urged them to go home, but the children were having so much fun that none of them wanted to go home, which drew scolding from the adults in the yard.

The three old men exchanged glances. Yi Zhonghai frowned, then forced a smile and said, "Today's meeting is mainly about promoting mutual help. Zhu Zi has already expressed his opinion, so let's not talk about the Jia family. Also, spring is just around the corner, and the weather is unpredictable, so everyone please take care to keep warm."

Just as Yi Zhonghai was about to run out of things to say, his gaze swept over the Lotus Gate and he immediately spotted Wang Zhan standing there smoking. Yi Zhonghai's eyes lit up, and he continued, "The other important thing for the compound is the matter in the front yard."

After saying this, Yi Zhonghai glanced at Yan Bugui, who was taken aback and thought, "What is this all about? There was no prior notice. How come I didn't know about what happened in our front yard? Why do you say it's important?"

As Yan Bugui was lost in thought, Yi Zhonghai said, "As everyone knows, Xu Delin's family and the Liu family in the front yard have both moved away. Grandma Yang moved to the back house in the back yard, which is Xu Delin's two rooms. I know everyone has been speculating these past few days, but there's no need to speculate anymore. Xu Delin's house is a private house, and Grandma Yang's house is also a private house. They went through the proper procedures, so they changed houses."

The neighbors in the courtyard were in an uproar. They all lived in the same courtyard and knew each other very well. Based on what they knew, they only knew a few houses that were privately owned: the deaf old lady's house, the silly Zhu's house, the old man's house, and Grandma Yang's house. They had never heard that Xu Delin's house was a private house.

The person living next door to Liu Haizhong's house was also a steel rolling mill worker, but he was a loader in the transportation team. His name was Zhao Desheng. His family consisted of five people: an elderly woman, Zhao Desheng's mother, and his two children. The house that the company had allocated to them was next to Liu Haizhong's house, with one side room and one wing room. The side room was about 25 or 26 square meters, and the wing room was even smaller, only 12 square meters.

The eldest child in the family is a boy who is already fourteen years old and will be taking the high school entrance exam this year. Zhao Desheng felt that his house was too small. He had been eyeing Xu Delin's house for a long time. When he heard that Xu Delin had been allocated a dormitory-style apartment at his workplace, he didn't tell anyone. He just planned to talk to the factory and exchange his house with Xu Delin's.

Unexpectedly, Xu Delin directly swapped houses with Grandma Yang. Zhao Desheng was annoyed that he hadn't acted sooner. The sign at Grandma Yang's door made him give up his desire to covet the house in the backyard. However, he then thought of Xu Delin's house in the front yard. But to his surprise, before he could even apply to the factory, Xu Delin had already swapped the house with someone else.

Upon hearing that Xu Delin's house was a private residence, he had already inquired about it beforehand and refused to believe it. After hearing what the old man said, he stood up and said, "Uncle, that's impossible. How could Xu Delin's house be a private residence? He has always rented the house from the factory. The house belongs to the factory, and current policies do not allow private individuals to buy and sell houses. If Xu Delin's house has become a private residence, then there must be a problem."

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai knew things were going badly. He knew very well that Xu Delin was able to leave because of the efforts of Director Wang of the Subdistrict Office and the back door opened by Director Yang of the factory. To be honest, the procedures were illegal, but in order to force the Xu family out, the deaf old lady begged Director Wang, which led to a series of underhanded operations. But this matter could not be discussed openly.

Yi Zhonghai looked at Zhao Desheng and said, "I don't really know the details of this matter. How do you know that Xu Delin's house isn't privately owned?" Zhao Desheng was immediately stumped. He couldn't say that he had been eyeing Xu Delin's house for a long time, nor could he say that he had already inquired about it. When Yi Zhonghai asked him this, he really didn't know what to say, but he still said defiantly, "Don't worry about how I know, I just know."

"Alright, Desheng, I know your family is also having difficulties, but this matter was handled through negotiations between the factory and the street office, so don't bring it up again. You can come to me privately after your matter is settled. What I'm mainly talking about now is the east wing of the front yard. That whole row of houses now belongs to one person, oh no, it belongs to a brother and sister. Comrade Wang Zhan, come over here and let the people in the yard get to know you." Yi Zhonghai said loudly.

Following Yi Zhonghai's gaze, everyone in the compound looked at Wang Zhan. Wang Zhan knew that the old man was just looking for trouble, but then he thought that it was only a matter of time before the people in the compound found out about him. So Wang Zhan threw away his cigarette butt and walked towards the middle of the compound.

Zhao Desheng also turned his gaze to the young man. It was the first time he had seen Wang Zhan, and he realized that this was still a child. How could he have so many houses? There were three rooms and two wings! How many rooms could he live in? Zhao Desheng was stunned. He thought that the child probably couldn't live in so many rooms. Could he rent them out? Then could he rent out two rooms himself?

Several other households in the courtyard shared Zhao Desheng's thoughts and cast eager glances at Wang Zhan. These glances made Wang Zhan uncomfortable. He walked to the center of the courtyard and loudly proclaimed, "Hello everyone, my name is Wang Zhan. This house in the front yard was offered to me by Director Wang of the neighborhood committee to help resolve the housing problems of the Xu and Liu families. That's why I agreed to change houses. The current house is my private property. Some people in the courtyard recognize me and know that I already had a place to live in Yu'er Hutong. Therefore, I will hand this house over to the neighborhood committee and entrust them to rent it out. I will not move in myself. As for who to rent it to, that's up to the neighborhood committee. Thank you for your concern, sir. I've gotten to know everyone now. I hope you'll all take care of me in the future."

After speaking, Wang Zhan bowed to all four sides before retreating into the crowd. Yi Zhonghai was stunned when he heard Wang Zhan's plan. It turned out that Wang Zhan really had no intention of moving into this courtyard. Wouldn't the plans of the deaf old lady and Director Wang fall through? He didn't know what to say for a moment. The people in the courtyard started to discuss among themselves, mainly saying that they should go to the street office to ask tomorrow.

Yi Zhonghai turned his head and looked towards the backyard. He didn't know if the deaf old lady had come out or heard what Wang Zhan had said. Liu Haizhong was already a little down because he hadn't gotten revenge on Sha Zhu today. Seeing Yi Zhonghai lost in thought, he said directly, "Alright, that's all for now. Have you finished talking? Meeting adjourned."

After saying this, Liu Haizhong picked up his teacup and stormed off to the backyard. Yi Zhonghai then realized what was happening. He glared at Liu Haizhong, thinking, "I haven't even finished speaking yet, and you're already calling it a day. You really don't respect me at all."

But the people in the courtyard didn't know this, and they simply stood up and went to their own homes. Yan Bugui sat there, smiled at Yi Zhonghai, and then went to the front yard. Yi Zhonghai was very depressed; this meeting had ended in vain.

(End of this chapter)