Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 980 A new journey
The next day, Wang Zhan prepared breakfast early, mainly millet porridge, accompanied by steamed buns made from two kinds of flour and a few side dishes. Wang Zhan also specially fried a few eggs.

Xiao Si and Xiao Wu were woken up by Wang Zhan; otherwise, they would have slept for who knows how long. After washing up, Xiao Wu, who was originally listless, became excited the moment she saw the plate of fried eggs.

Wang Zhan knew that things weren't easy for any family these days. Xiao Wu's younger sister was still young, and only his father worked. They rarely ate eggs. Xiao Si's family was in a similar situation. However, Xiao Si's family was better off because three of them worked. His older brothers were already employed, and his older brother had even been promoted to a permanent position. So, the family's situation was a little better.

After breakfast, Xiao Si and Xiao Wu chatted with Wang Zhan for a while before going home. Wang Li was playing with Jinbao in the yard. When she saw that Xiao Si and Xiao Wu had left, she ran to Wang Zhan's side.

At this moment, Wang Zhan had finished cleaning up the kitchen and was sitting in the courtyard drinking tea, lighting a cigarette, looking quite relaxed and content.

Wang Li asked, "Brother, you've graduated, are you going to a vocational school?"

Wang Zhan nodded and asked, "Your brother here is planning to become a worker, work diligently, and live a serious life."

“Then, brother, I’ll also go to vocational school in the future, just like you, work hard and live life earnestly,” Wang Li said earnestly.

Wang Zhan was so startled he almost jumped up and said, "No, you have to go to high school and take the college entrance exam."

Wang Li blinked her big eyes and asked, "If you can do it, why can't I?"

“Lili, listen to your brother. Look, I’m rich, right? Our family has plenty to eat. If I go to vocational school, can’t I spend every day with you?” Wang Zhan said.

Wang Li thought for a moment and nodded. Wang Zhan continued, "By the time you go to high school, your brother will have a job and will feel at ease letting you go to college. If I go to college, we won't see each other for four years. Even if we do see each other, it will only be once or twice a year. Are you willing to let that happen?"

Wang Zhan wanted to gloss over the matter as much as possible, and some of the reasons he gave were serious, while others he himself didn't know how he came up with.

Wang Li smiled slyly. Wang Zhan knew that his sister knew everything and was just teasing him. Wang Zhan suddenly pulled Wang Li into his arms, tickling her while saying, "You little rascal, teasing your brother like that, you've become naughty."

Wang Li giggled, and the two siblings played around for a while. Then night fell, and the cicadas chirped incessantly in the trees outside. The sky was full of stars, and the two siblings quietly watched the stars in the yard, chatting occasionally. Jinbao lay lazily next to Wang Zhan on his recliner, his eyes closed.

After several days of deliberation, Wang Zhan decided to give up on picking up Grandma Aijima. There were three reasons for this: First, Grandma Aijima had lived on the grasslands for a long time, and if he asked her to move to Beijing, she probably wouldn't agree.

Secondly, he only had a month's vacation and needed to take care of his own family. In particular, when he heard that various ration coupons were being issued, Wang Zhan felt a sense of crisis and thought that while he had money now, he should stock up on things that didn't require coupons, because who knew if they would be rationed in the future?

Finally, Wang Zhan didn't want to bother Brother Wang anymore. He'd heard that Brother Wang was in the prime of his career, and constantly asking him for favors would probably have an impact on him. Besides, Director Wang from the neighborhood office was a bit hostile towards him, so it would probably be difficult to get a letter of introduction.

Having made up his mind, Wang Zhan settled down completely. Whenever he had free time, he would take Wang Li out to stock up on goods, buying anything that didn't require coupons, as he wanted to spend some of his money anyway.

Back home, Wang Zhan and Wang Li tidied up the Jade Void Space. It had now reached a considerable size, and the siblings were quite satisfied. With the arrival of August, Wang Zhan convened a meeting organized by the street office, mainly discussing the rationing of meat. However, in the following ten days, cloth rations, oil rations, and non-staple food rations also arrived. It was then that everyone realized the problem of insufficient supplies. While households were busy trying to stockpile these items, they discovered that the market was cracking down on private trading.

Wang Zhan wasn't worried. When he had free time, he would send some meat to Grandma Sun's house. Sometimes it was a chicken, sometimes a fish. He didn't send pork, though. Wang Zhan planned to distribute pork during the New Year. For now, he would send some cured meat and sausages he brought back from Sichuan and Chongqing.

Grandma Sun knew that Wang Zhan was a capable man. She had seen the cellar of Wang Zhan's house before, and she was amazed by the bags and bags of rice and flour. Although a lot of it had been used up after a year, about half of it was still left. So Grandma Sun knew that Wang Zhan had a way to get food and supplies, so she didn't stand on ceremony with him.

By mid-August, Wang Zhan had settled down and started thinking about his major. He applied for mechanical engineering, which involved a lot of learning. So, Wang Zhan started taking Wang Li to various bookstores again, buying back a lot of reference books and basic technical books.

He put all the books on the bookshelf in the study. Originally, all the books on the bookshelf had been moved to Yuxu Cottage by him. Wang Li also started reading the textbooks for the second grade of elementary school, and the two siblings began their studies again.

At this point, the old foxes in courtyard number 95, having lost Wang Zhan as their target, were also wary of the current residents of the east wing, so they quieted down.

Moreover, after the New Year, Jia Zhangshi from the Jia family took the rice husks back to the countryside. At that time, the cooperative was just starting out, and everyone handed over their private grain and food to the collective.

Jia Zhangshi heard that rice and meat were now available in the countryside, and since she was a rural resident, she didn't hesitate and took Banggeng back to the countryside. Before leaving, she told Qin Huairu to go back to the countryside. Qin Huairu was a little reluctant, but Jia Dongxu thought about it all night and persuaded her before she finally took Xiaodang back to the countryside.

One day in late August, at the entrance of compound number 95.

Yan Bugui was watering the flowers at the door as usual, but his sallow complexion indicated that he was starting to suffer from malnutrition, and it seemed that his family was not doing well either.

Suddenly, two people appeared at the gate, accompanied by two children. Yan Bugui looked closely and exclaimed, "Oh my, isn't this Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu, mother and her two children?"

Yan Bugui asked with a smile, "Oh my, isn't this Sister Jia? Didn't you go back to the countryside? I heard that there's plenty of food and meat at every meal in the countryside."

Jia Zhangshi looked at Yan Bugui and said irritably, "You stingy old man Yan, just guard your own door and stop meddling in so many things."

Yan Bugui was stunned. He had only intended to strike up a conversation and inquire about the situation in the countryside, but he hadn't expected Jia Zhangshi to be so generous. Jia Zhangshi pulled Banggeng inside.

Qin Huairu, who was behind, looked apologetically at Yan Bugui and said, "Third Uncle, please don't mind, don't be angry, I'm going in now."

Yan Bugui watched their retreating figures and muttered to himself, "Turns out they're not even as good as my family."

(End of this chapter)