Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 986: Get together

In just one month, the matter of the two teenagers from No. 95 courtyard being sentenced to prison vanished in Nanluoguxiang. No one mentioned it anymore. Instead, the fact that No. 95 courtyard was rated as an excellent courtyard house became the focus of discussion in the area.

Wang Zhan also heard about this from Aunt Sun. Wang Zhan was very puzzled. How could a courtyard that had produced two convicts become an outstanding courtyard? In fact, there are only four outstanding courtyards in the entire Nanluoguxiang.

Grandma Sun pursed her lips and said, "They have connections in the neighborhood committee."

Wang Zhan understood. Director Wang had done a lot of work. He now had doubts about Director Wang's identity, but he was just a vocational school student and Uncle Li had already retired, so he didn't have any connections to find out who he was. Even if Brother Wang was now the top leader of Dongcheng, judging from the last incident, Brother Wang was helpless.

It was another Saturday. After school, Wang Zhan picked up his younger sister and prepared to go to the vegetable market. But when he entered, he was dumbfounded. The vegetable market was desolate. There was nothing to be seen. The vegetable vendors were all state-owned enterprises. All they had were potatoes. There was not a single green thing to be seen.

An old gatekeeper saw Wang Zhan and his sister standing at the door and said, "Young man, you're here to buy groceries? You're late. Get up early tomorrow, because there's nothing left here after noon."

"Oh, thank you, sir. I didn't know. I'll be going now." Wang Zhan left the market with his sister.

"Brother, we have everything we need, why do you still have to come here?" Wang Li asked, puzzled.

“Silly girl, you think we don’t buy groceries every day but eat well? Wouldn’t people suspect something? We have to put on an act. Like now, if I hadn’t come here and suddenly brought home some fresh, juicy vegetables, what would people think?” Wang Zhan said.

"Oh no, then they'll definitely suspect the source of your vegetables," Wang Li said in surprise.

Wang Zhan laughed and said, "That's right, let's be careful. Let's go, my lovely little sister."

Wang Zhan got on his bicycle, and Wang Li sat in front of him, and they headed home.

Ever since his conversation with Officer Sun, Wang Zhan has been particularly careful about his behavior, because he always felt that Director Wang wouldn't let it go easily, and that she would still be eyeing his money until he returned it.

Before Wang Zhan even rode his horse to his own door, he saw Wu Ergou standing at the door, leaning against the wall and smoking.

Wang Zhan walked up to him and asked, "Why are you here? How long have you been waiting?"

"It won't be long. I'm just bringing you money. I didn't have anything else to do, so I came over," Wu Ergou said.

"Brother Er Gou, did you bring me candy?" Wang Li had sharp eyes and immediately noticed the paper bag in Wu Er Gou's hand.

Wu Ergou smiled and handed over the bag, saying, "You're in for a treat! Imported candy, what's it called, something like 'Chicago'."

“Chocolate, I know.” Wang Li took it, her eyes narrowing into slits.

"You've gone to so much trouble, don't bring it again," Wang Zhan said.

"I didn't have much money. I just happened to find it on the black market, so I bought it," Wu Ergou said.

"Come on, let's go inside and talk." Wang Zhan put Wang Li down, pushed the cart, and led Wu Ergou towards his home.

Wang Zhan went home and simply cooked two dishes and a soup. Then he took out half a bottle of Fenjiu left over from the last meal and drank with Wu Ergou. This was the first time he had ever taken the initiative to drink baijiu with someone. Mainly, after getting to know Wu Ergou over this period of time, Wang Zhan was very satisfied. This person was righteous, generous, trustworthy, and never hesitated to do things. It was just that he was a bit young. If he were a bit older, he would probably be a big shot in the black market.

“Didn’t I tell you? You don’t need to deliver so often. Once a month is fine, or even once every two months is okay,” Wang Zhan said.

"I'm fine anyway. Besides, my grandma always says you can't keep money in your own pocket if it's not yours. Who knows, you might lose it someday and then you won't be able to explain it to me," Wu Ergou said.

"How's the black market going right now?" Before Wang Zhan could finish speaking, a series of howls came from the direction of Mao'er Alley behind them. It wasn't just one person; there were shouts, cries, and screams—it was a complete mess.

Wu Ergou was stunned for a moment, then his face lit up with excitement. He said, "Is a fight breaking out behind us? It must be. Let's go take a look."

Wang Zhan took one look and realized, well, this Wu Ergou is just like Xiao Wu, someone who loves to watch the drama unfold.

Wang Li was also very excited. This time, Wang Zhan didn't jump over the wall. He led the two of them directly to Mao'er Hutong. In the hutong, they saw several people running excitedly towards the next hutong. There were really a lot of people watching the excitement.

As Wang Zhan walked into Mao'er Hutong, he was stunned. Why was it that No. 95 courtyard again?

At this moment, the crowd of onlookers suddenly parted to both sides, and a tall figure rushed out from inside. But as soon as he stepped down the steps, he was kicked to the ground by someone behind him. Then another person rushed out of the courtyard, and the two of them straddled him and beat him mercilessly with punches and kicks.

Not long after, the person lying on the ground was confused. The person who came up later stopped, but the person who kicked the big guy didn't stop. Several more people rushed out from behind and pulled them apart.

Wang Zhan then realized that the person who kicked the big guy was Sha Zhu, and the one who helped later was Jia Dongxu.

The people who came out to break up the fight looked at the big guy lying on the ground and actually wanted to carry him inside. Wang Zhan was incredulous. At this moment, Yi Zhonghai came out and said, "Hurry up and get him to the hospital. It will be too late if something happens."

At this moment, a man in his forties and a man named Liugen borrowed a cart from the yard and pulled the big guy away, but Wang Zhan could still hear that there was still chaos inside, and it seemed that people were still fighting.

The onlookers at the door were buzzing with discussion. Wu Ergou and Wang Zhan listened carefully to their conversation and finally understood what was going on.

Today is the day of the general meeting for the entire compound of No. 95. Being rated as an outstanding compound should have been a joyous occasion for the whole compound.

At first, everything went smoothly. Yi Zhonghai spoke eloquently and passionately. After he finished speaking, Yi Zhonghai habitually said, "Come on, Second Uncle, why don't you say a few words?"

Liu Haizhong had already emerged from the Liu Guangtian incident and was now trying to put down his official airs. He coughed twice to clear his throat, but when he opened his mouth, he didn't know what to say. He just mumbled "uh-huh" for a long time without being able to utter a single normal sentence, which made some people below burst out laughing.

"Second Uncle, your skills aren't up to par either. Why don't you just give up your seat and let's adjourn the meeting sooner?" Everyone knew from the voice that it was Sha Zhu.

Liu Haizhong's face turned red with anger. At this moment, Yan Bugui stood up and said, "Since Second Uncle is not going to say anything, I will say a few words."

The room fell silent for a moment. Yan Bugui looked at Liu Haizhong and said, "Second Uncle, shouldn't we talk about compensation? My child was instigated by your second son. You can't just pretend nothing happened, can you?"

The crowd immediately erupted in discussion. Liu Haizhong looked at Yan Bugui angrily and said, "What do you mean my second son instigated it? Your child did it voluntarily, and didn't he get a small share of the stolen money?"

(End of this chapter)