Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 682: Power Connection and Miscellaneous Matters
The little girl ate two large plates of dumplings before she stopped. She looked at Wang Zhan a little embarrassedly and explained in a low voice: "I didn't eat breakfast this morning."

Wang Zhan said without any concern: "Drink some dumpling soup, don't let your food get stagnant."

"Yeah." The little girl held the bowl with both hands and started drinking. Wang Zhan looked at the little girl and said, "Is there no one else in your family except your brother?"

As soon as the little girl heard Wang Zhan's question, tears kept falling. The little girl put down the bowl and told her experience. Wang Zhan sat there and listened silently.

It turned out that the little girl's name was He Yushui, and she lived in the middle courtyard of that yard. She lived in the east wing of the main house in the middle courtyard, while her brother lived in the main house in the middle courtyard. Her mother died not long after she was born, and her father ran away with a widow two years ago. Her brother was an apprentice in the canteen of a steel rolling mill, and she was studying at Red Star Primary School. There was no one at home to cook, and there was no food. Her family relied on her brother's apprentice salary to survive, and sometimes they could bring some leftovers.

Wang Zhan felt very sorry for the little girl. Just when he wanted to comfort her, he suddenly heard several people shouting in the alley behind him, "He Yushui, Yushui, where are you?"

Wang Zhan guessed that the little girl's brother was looking for her, so he said to He Yushui: "Someone is looking for you in the backyard. It must be your brother. Go back quickly. If you don't have food to eat in the future, come to my place. I'm basically at home."

When He Yushui heard her brother looking for him, she pricked up her ears and listened. She also heard it, so she stood up and ran outside. When she reached the gate, she suddenly turned around, bowed to Wang Zhan, said, "Thank you!", and then ran towards the alley where her home was.

Wang Zhan closed the door and thought about the little girl. He felt that there were so many people suffering now. But wasn't Mrs. Li very willing to help others? Why would she ignore this neighbor who was so close to her? Could it be that they helped people for a purpose? Wang Zhan became even more suspicious.

Wang Zhan thought for a while, put the question behind him, stood up, washed up, and went to bed.

On the twenty-fourth day of the lunar year, Wang Zhan heard some noises in the front yard when he got up early in the morning. After washing up, he went to the front yard and saw that it was the master who came back last night and brought back a lot of things. Qi Dasheng saw Wang Zhan and said, "These are for you and your sister. They were all sent by the higher-ups."

Wang Zhan went to take a look and found that there were quite a lot of things. There were several kilograms of fruit, mainly apples and oranges, as well as melon seeds, peanuts and chestnuts, several kilograms of meat, which seemed to be pork, a chicken, a fish, and a large piece of lard.

Wang Zhan said: "This is too much. It's not easy now. Why don't we give it to those who need it more?"

Qi Dasheng glared at him and said, "You are the one who needs it the most. Stop talking about those useless things and put them in the cellar immediately."

Wang Zhan stopped talking and started moving things with Qi Dasheng, leaving only some melon seeds, peanuts and a few apples and oranges in the hallway.

After Qi Dasheng finished moving, he said, "What do you want to eat in the morning? I'll make it."

"Eat some porridge, which will help digestion in the morning. We also have some dumplings, which can be fried. By the way, Master, where did you go yesterday?" Wang Zhan said.

"Where else can we go? We've gone to the ministry. Things have to come to an end. Let me tell you, your Uncle Li has noticed you. You'd better behave yourself." Qi Dasheng said.

Wang Zhan was shocked. If Uncle Li remembered him, he would be in big trouble. After thinking about it, he made up his mind not to leave the yard before going to school.

Wang Zhan went to the backyard to wake up his sister. Wang Li was very strange today. She woke up as soon as he called her and asked, "Brother, is it New Year's Day today?"

"There are still a few days left, why are you looking forward to the New Year so much?" Wang Zhan said with a smile.

"Well, we can set off firecrackers and eat delicious food during the New Year." Wang Li said as she put on her clothes.

Wang Zhan curled his lips and said, "When did I ever ask you for food? Hurry up, the chef is making fried dumplings, they smell delicious."

Wang Li quickened her pace after hearing this, and ran to wash up after putting on her clothes. Wang Zhan took Wang Li to the front yard, and his master was still busy in the kitchen. When he heard their voices, he shouted, "It will be ready soon, wait a moment."

Not long after, Wang Zhan also went to the kitchen to help the chef serve porridge and dumplings. Qi Dasheng also packed two plates of pickles, a small plate of pickled cucumbers, a small plate of mixed cabbage hearts, and a small bowl of peeled garlic.

Wang Zhan was stunned and asked, "Master, you eat garlic so early in the morning. Your mouth will be filled with the taste of garlic all day long?"

"What do you care? How can I eat dumplings without garlic? Besides, the dumplings you make are quite tasty." Qi Dasheng said.

The three of them were having breakfast in the restaurant in the front yard. Wang Li ate with gusto and couldn't stop eating. While eating, she said, "Fried dumplings are still better than boiled dumplings."

Qi Dasheng asked: "What are you doing today? Are you going out?"

"No, we're not going out. Shouldn't we clean the house today? Let's tidy up today." Wang Zhan replied.

Qi Dasheng nodded and said, "Stay at home honestly. I have to go out for a while. Things are not over yet. Don't take chances. Safety comes first."

Wang Zhan quickly said, "I know. Don't worry, Master. I'm not going anywhere. I'll just stay at home."

Qi Dasheng left after dinner. After Wang Zhan washed the dishes, he took Wang Li to clean up the front yard, sweeping what needed to be swept and mopping what needed to be wiped.

The brother and sister were packing up when they heard some noise in the front yard. Wang Zhan arrived at the front yard and heard someone knocking on the door. He opened the door and saw a middle-aged man with two young men standing at the door. There was also a tricycle parked in the alley.

The middle-aged man asked, "Your name is Wang Zhan, right? We are sent by the Military Control Commission to connect you to the phone."

Wang Zhan quickly invited the people to the yard. After the three of them entered the yard, they asked Wang Zhan where he planned to put the switch. Wang Zhan thought about it and decided to put it in the south room of the east wing in the backyard, which was now a storage room.

The three of them looked at the place and the surrounding environment, and then started working directly. Wang Zhan quickly went to the kitchen to make tea and brought it over.

The middle-aged man said, "The Military Control Council said that we have to turn on the lights in every room for you. Don't worry, I've checked around and the wires for the lamps we brought are enough."

Wang Zhan said, "Thank you so much, uncles. You have worked so hard. Can you please leave me some wires and light bulbs so that I can be prepared in case I need them in the temporary yard?"

The middle-aged man knew that he was talking about setting up lights in the yard, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, we'll leave them all for you when we leave. We're taking these for your family to use. We'll leave them here when we leave, so we don't have to take them back again."

The three of them were busy until noon when they finally completed the installation. Wang Zhan was always there to help, and was actually also learning how to connect the electricity. The middle-aged man took Wang Zhan to try out every room, checked that there were no problems, and told Wang Zhan some precautions before leaving.

Wang Zhan originally planned to invite a few people to have lunch, but those people quickly said no, as the power supply station had already reserved lunch for them. Then they left, unloading the remaining light bulbs, switches, wires and other things to the south room of the east wing in the backyard, which was the room where the switch was installed.

Wang Zhan saw the three people off and went straight to the kitchen to cook noodles, which were paired with the side dishes that he hadn't finished eating in the morning. He also fried two eggs specially for Wang Li. The brother and sister ate their delicious lunch.

After dinner, Wang Li went to take a nap. Wang Zhan went to the small garden, stood in the hole of the rockery, looked at the door, and thought about how to cover up the door with a sleight of hand. He suddenly thought of the sliding door he saw in Thailand, so he thought about making another sliding door outside, but the surface had to be covered with cement.

(End of this chapter)