Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 903 Strength is King
On the night of New Year's Day in 1958, the weather was cold and the snow outside had not melted yet. It looked like the weather was going to change again.

In the main hall of the east wing, there was a tightly closed door behind a heavy curtain. The lights inside were bright and the fire in the fireplace was burning brightly. The whole hall was as warm as spring. It would have been even better if it weren't for the occasional smell of smoke.

The people sitting around the round table were either talking about love or romance, or drinking, or eating voraciously, but everyone had their own thoughts, and none of them wanted to talk about them at this party.

After He Yushui took Wang Li away from the table, Wang Zhan also wanted to leave. He wanted to go to the study to take another look at the letter that Uncle Li had given him. He simply wanted to miss Uncle Li and Grandma Li.

But Qi Dasheng stopped him and asked him to sit for a while. Wang Zhan guessed that his master wanted to ask about Uncle Li, so he sat down again. However, he called He Yushui over and asked her to help make a pot of tea. He Yushui went to the table to make tea.

Wang Zhan asked, "What's the matter? Master, do you have something to ask?"

Qi Dasheng looked at him and asked, "Are you still practicing your boxing and internal strength? Are you slacking off?"

Wang Zhan rolled his eyes and said, "Master, it's been more than a year since you remembered me as your disciple. Don't worry, I'm persisting. But I haven't practiced the internal skills you taught me. I'm still practicing Wang Laodao's internal skills. I feel that his skills are more suitable for me. I'm practicing the others as well. I'm not being lazy."

Qi Dasheng took a sip of wine, and instead of going to see Director Li teaching Sha Zhu a lesson with his glass in hand, he whispered, "I was deeply moved when Uncle Li left. To you, I was just a guide. You always say that Taoist Wang and Blind Chen are your cheap masters, but in fact, I am not as good as them."

"I know you are a busy person. You go about your business. Everything is fine here. I just take care of my sister. We have everything we need at home. Isn't that good? If you have any problems, I will go to you and Aunt Wang. You don't have to worry about me." Wang Zhan took the tea handed to him by He Yushui and took a sip.

He Yushui went back into Wang Li's room. Qi Dasheng said, "Okay then. I was worried that Uncle Li's matter would make you feel uneasy. Now that you say so, I feel relieved. By the way, are the people from the next yard coming over to cause trouble?"

Wang Zhan said, "No, not really." Then he nodded to Sha Zhu, "But he is in big trouble now. Everyone in that courtyard is thinking about how to plot against him."

Qi Dasheng smiled and said, "That can't be helped. This kid and Yu Shui are both local residents there. They know everything about the place. They always think they can control this silly boy. His shortcomings are too obvious. He is too proud and soft-hearted."

Wang Zhan said, "He's not young anymore, we need someone to keep him company. Unfortunately, we are all children, so we can't take care of things for him. He still has to rely on my uncle Li."

Qi Dasheng took a sip of wine, then put down his glass, lit a cigarette, and asked Wang Zhan in a low voice, "I really don't know what happened with Uncle Li. This time it was Secretary Wang who brought the letter, so I can't give you any information."

Wang Zhan waved his hands and said, "Don't worry. Uncle Li is such a big leader, I will never ask anything I shouldn't ask. But who will give me the martyr's family allowance in the future?"

Qi Dasheng said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, I have distributed them to the street office. Just ask your Aunt Wang. By the way, how did you do in the exam?"

"It's okay. I can have a happy holiday. Don't worry. You don't have any benefits during the New Year. The meat on the market is rationed now. It's really hard to get extra. Hei Pi and Wu Yong are nowhere to be seen. I even went to Aunt Zhang's place, but she didn't know where her son was. But Aunt Zhang promised to save some offal such as pig's trotters and pig's heads for me during the New Year." Wang Zhan suddenly remembered that it would be the New Year after the holiday, so he had to prepare the New Year's goods early.

Qi Dasheng said, "I really don't know what's going on in the institute. It's still a long way off for the New Year. But I usually say hello to my comrades, so I'll try my best." The two chatted about the New Year. On the other side, Sha Zhu and Director Li were whispering to themselves, but it seemed that Sha Zhu was a little drunk and could hardly speak clearly.

Wang Zhan said hello, put on his cotton jacket, took the teacup and left the main room.

After New Year's Day, Wang Zhan and his sister both returned to school. The school just announced their grades and held a commendation meeting. Wang Zhan and his sister each took a certificate home. After arriving home, Wang Li put down her schoolbag and took Wang Zhan's hand. She wanted to put her certificate on the wall first.

Wang Li's room is next to the kang, and there is a wall dedicated to her award certificates. Sometimes Wang Zhan is happier looking at these than when he gets the certificates himself, so Wang Zhan's award certificates are all kept at the bottom of the box and never shown outside. At home, he can only show off his sister's honors.

In this year's exam, Wang Zhan still ranked first, but he felt that his results were not ideal, mainly because he did not do well in physics and Russian. Wang Zhan himself was also puzzled. He started learning Russian very early and always felt that his level was good, otherwise he would not have had time to tutor those students. But he did not expect to get 80 points directly this time, and a full 20 points were deducted.

But in Xiaowu's words, it's easy to talk without any pain in the waist. He said that Wang Zhan was just being pretentious. He was already the first but still had a sullen face.

The homeroom teacher, Ms. Qiu Ping, was feeling mixed emotions. The grades of the students in the class were clearly polarized, with the good ones being in the top 20 in the grade and the poor ones being in the bottom 50. Even Principal Wang knew about this, and they planned to study how to improve the academic performance of the students who were lagging behind.

All this had nothing to do with Wang Zhan. At this time, Wang Zhan was sitting in the main room. Opposite him was Wang Li, who was holding a candied haws and staring at him with wide eyes. Wang Zhan said helplessly: "Sister, don't you know there is a lot of snow this year? You have to climb mountains and skate at the same time. Aren't you afraid of the cold?"

Wang Li said coquettishly: "Brother, I finally have a holiday. You can't keep me trapped in the house every day for such a long time."

Wang Zhan thought for a while and said, "Okay, let's see if it snows in the next two days. If not, I'll take you ice skating."

Wang Li smiled and said, "Brother is the best. He wants to go to the temple fair. I don't know if the food vendors will come out."

Wang Zhan thought for a moment and said, "Sister, I think we should go eat roast duck. Haven't you eaten it in a long time? Forget about the temple fair. I'll take you to eat roast duck after ice skating. By the way, call Yu Shui. I don't know what he's doing hiding in the house all day."

Wang Li nodded quickly and said, "Let's go tomorrow if it doesn't snow?"

Wang Zhan agreed, and let her play by herself in the main room. Wang Zhan went to the cellar to see what other vegetables were there at home.

After going down to the cellar, Wang Zhan looked at the shelves where vegetables were stored. There were only potatoes and cabbages on them, nothing else. However, there were still a lot of dried goods that Wu Yong had delivered last time. Wang Zhan looked at the time and saw that it was already evening. He didn't know what else was in the supply and marketing cooperative, otherwise he could only fry some eggs in the evening.

After leaving the cellar, Wang Zhan called Wang Li and took her to the supply and marketing cooperative.

(End of this chapter)