Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 992 Trouble is coming
After having a meal with the Liu family patriarch, the patriarch felt relieved, and Wang Zhan understood the Liu family's thoughts. The two families then became closer.

When he had nothing to do, Wang Zhan would cook some dishes and send them to the Liu family. Wang Li would always call him Grandpa Liu, which made the old man Liu smile from ear to ear.

Before they knew it, it was New Year's Day of 1959. Right after New Year's Day, three uninvited guests arrived at Wang Zhan's house.

The recent return of several families to their hometowns has caught the attention of Director Wang of the Subdistrict Office. After an investigation by his subordinates, Director Wang learned that most of the houses in the front yard of No. 47 Courtyard were vacant.

Director Wang then asked the housing management department to check the property rights structure of these houses, but after checking and checking, they found that this courtyard was not registered. Director Wang hurriedly went to courtyard number 95 and found the deaf old lady.

The deaf old lady was resting at home with her eyes closed, thinking about what had happened in the courtyard some time ago. She was very dissatisfied with Yi Zhonghai's performance, and also had a lot of opinions about Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui.

The deaf old lady wanted to control the courtyard, and Yi Zhonghai was her representative. Only through Yi Zhonghai's combination of kindness and severity towards each household in the courtyard could she become the matriarch of the entire courtyard. People had to offer her the best food and respect her.

Her previous plan to target the East Courtyard was to bring some benefits to the people in the courtyard and to unite them more closely around Yi Zhonghai in order to achieve her ultimate goal. However, she did not expect that Wang Zhan, this little kid, would thwart her plans with a series of actions.

After that incident, the deaf old lady visited Mrs. Yang in the east courtyard as a family member of a martyr. Mrs. Yang had no idea what kind of person the deaf old lady was. Since they were both elderly, and upon hearing that she was a family member of a martyr, she warmly received her.

The deaf old lady toured the yard and began to drool over it. It had a separate toilet, a spacious kitchen, and the yard was kept like a garden, not to mention the small vegetable garden in the glass house.

But the deaf old lady only thought about it for a moment. When she thought about the eleven martyrs from the three families in this courtyard, she hesitated to go in.

When she had nothing to do, she would complain to her niece, Director Wang. Director Wang couldn't do anything about it. The house couldn't be expanded; it could only have a few rooms. Besides, even if she wanted to build more, she would need the consent of the people in the courtyard. Moreover, the courtyard was under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Armed Forces Department, so there was nothing she could do.

These past few days, whenever Director Wang heard about the incident at No. 47 Courtyard, he immediately thought of the deaf old lady. So he rushed to her house, pushed the door open, and entered. The deaf old lady was awakened by a gust of cold wind and the sound of the door opening. When she saw it was Director Wang, she said, "Only you, you never knock before entering my house, and you're always so in a hurry."

Director Wang picked up the teapot on the table, poured himself a glass of water, gulped it down, and then said to the deaf old lady, "Auntie, there's good news. Do you remember that Wang Zhan?"

The deaf old woman nodded blankly and asked, "I know, didn't they move away?"

"Aunt, let me tell you, he moved to that alley ahead. He now lives at number 47, which is a two-courtyard house," Director Wang said.

“So that’s where they moved to. I know that courtyard; it even has a small garden next to it, right?” the deaf old lady said.

"You know, I've been to that courtyard before. The backyard is just as well-maintained as the east wing, with all the necessary facilities. But I'm not talking about the backyard, I'm talking about the front yard." Director Wang poured himself another glass of water and said as he drank.

The deaf old lady didn't quite understand and asked, "What do you mean?"

Director Wang explained to the deaf old lady that most of the people in the front yard of that courtyard had returned to their hometowns and moved away, leaving the front yard empty.

The deaf old lady still didn't understand what he meant, so she asked, "What does that have to do with me? I don't want to leave this courtyard." "Auntie, why don't you understand? What I mean is, we can let some residents move to that courtyard, especially the backyard. Then you'll have more houses. We can then renovate them properly and create a quiet little courtyard. Wouldn't you be just like the east wing?" Director Wang said.

The deaf old lady's eyes lit up as soon as she heard this. That's right, the two households next to her had to leave. She wondered if the Intermediate Court could also remove one of them. She would then send Liu Haizhong to the Intermediate Court so that he wouldn't be kept awake by the constant beatings of his children.

The deaf old lady thought about it more and more and thought it was a good idea, so she said, "Okay, I understand. You go back first today. I'll talk to Yi Zhonghai about it. We need to be careful about this. Don't let anyone have any leverage against us. By the way, about the house over there, you go and try to find out. I guess it should still be Wang Zhan's house."

"That brat, alright, I get it. I can't handle him anymore. Auntie, you rest, I'm leaving now." Director Wang left in a hurry.

Director Wang was not a reckless person. After conducting a more detailed investigation of courtyard number 47, he finally determined that the courtyard belonged to Wang Zhan.

Director Wang thought about it for a long time, and finally, considering the greater good of helping to solve the housing problem, he persuaded Wang Zhan to rent out the front yard again.

On the other side, after conspiring with Yi Zhonghai, the deaf old lady also began to persuade several households. Several residents who did not get along with Yi Zhonghai were also moved by his proposal and even went to No. 47 courtyard to take a look.

Because Wang Zhan rarely stayed in the front yard, he didn't pay attention to these people. Old Master Liu saw them and assumed that Wang Zhan was going to rent out the house again, so he didn't stop him.

Just after New Year's Day, Director Wang came to visit with two staff members. It was quite a coincidence that on the 2nd, Wang Zhan planned to tidy up the garden and didn't go out. Otherwise, he would usually go to the nearby suburbs to hunt some wild game.

The knocking at the hanging flower gate made Wang Zhan come out of the garden. When he opened the gate, he saw the long-unseen Director Wang, followed by a man and a woman. This was the first time he had met Director Wang in person. He felt disgusted with this woman from the bottom of his heart, and he immediately became vigilant when he saw her at the door.

When Director Wang saw that it was a young boy who opened the door, he guessed that this was Wang Zhan and said, "You must be Wang Zhan, right? I'm Director Wang from the neighborhood office. I need to talk to you about something."

The arrogant tone made Wang Zhan very uncomfortable, but he remained calm on the surface and said, "Please come in, please come inside."

Director Wang and his two staff members looked around the small courtyard as they followed Wang Zhan into the main room.

Director Wang entered the main room and was once again impressed by the courtyard. The warm fireplace, the antique furniture, and the exquisite tea set all indicated that this was a wealthy family.

"Please have a seat, all three of you. I'll go pour some tea." Wang Zhan still had the proper manners and etiquette. He went to the kitchen, fetched a kettle, and placed it on the iron stove next to the fireplace. The kettle boiled in no time, and Wang Zhan brewed three cups of tea, which he then brought to the three of them before sitting down at the lower seat.

Wang Zhan subconsciously observed the three people. Perhaps it was a bit cold on the way, because the three of them didn't speak and just drank their tea. It wasn't until Wang Zhan refilled their cups that Director Wang put down the covered bowl in his hand.

Director Wang stared at Wang Zhan for a while, then smiled and asked, "Are you at school now? By the way, where's your sister?"

(End of this chapter)