Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 999 Solving the Trouble Part 2

The next day, Xiao Si's father brought his three sons to Wang Zhan's house. When they knocked on the door, Grandpa Liu was still asleep. Wang Zhan knew they had to get up early to deliver grain, so he also got up early and waited at home.

It was still dark. Wang Zhan knew what Xiao Si's father was worried about: that someone would see them and cause Wang Zhan unnecessary trouble.

Wang Zhan opened the door and saw Xiao Si's father, saying, "Uncle Li, why are you here so early?"

“You arrived quite early too. Oh, I won’t say more. Thank you so much this time. Xiao Si told me that it’s 100 jin of cornmeal and 50 jin of wheat flour. I’ll have my son bring you the money later. As for the bill, I really can’t do anything about it. Consider it a favor my family owes you,” said Xiao Si’s father.

Wang Zhan sighed a little. He knew Xiao Si's father well; he was a man of his word, usually stern and rarely smiled. It was quite remarkable that he had said such things. Wang Zhan led the group into the second courtyard and then said, "Uncle, you're being too polite. What is my relationship with Xiao Si? We're all in the courtyard now, so let's get moving."

The group nodded to each other and remained silent. The father and his two sons carried the three bags of grain away. Wang Zhan watched them load the grain onto the cart and then walk down the other side of the alley.

Wang Zhan quietly closed the outer door before turning back to his room, intending to take a nap.

What Wang Zhan didn't know was that when Xiao Si's father and brother were carrying the grain, someone happened to see them, and Wang Zhan saw them clearly as well. These two people were none other than Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu, who had secretly gone to Pigeon Market to buy grain.

Recently, the Jia family has really run out of food. Yi Zhonghai has helped them a few times, but his food supply is also running low. Jia Dongxu is also having some thoughts. It's okay to trouble his master once or twice, but he can't keep asking his master for help every time. Yi Zhonghai himself is an extremely selfish person. The food he gives to the Jia family is only what he has allotted and he doesn't eat himself, since that cornmeal is hard to swallow.

Yi Zhonghai then took Jia Dongxu to the pigeon market to buy grain. Of course, they each paid their own money and bought their own grain. At this time, Jia Dongxu's salary was not low, at 42.5 yuan a month, which was considered a high salary in the entire alley.

However, the grain supply in Pigeon City is extremely limited now. As soon as any grain appears, it sells out instantly, so going there is just a matter of luck.

That's how it went today. After 1 a.m., Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu went to the pigeon market in Dongzhimen with bags of flour. Unfortunately, they only bought five jin of cornmeal that night, and even then, they were targeted. In order to shake off the robbers, the two of them took a long detour and, in a bit of panic, ended up in Yu'er Hutong. As soon as they entered the hutong, they saw figures moving around. They were terrified and quickly found a corner to squat down and carefully watched the people.

The two men witnessed the entire process of Wang Zhan and Xiao Si's father transporting grain. They looked at each other, neither of them spoke, and quietly retreated from the other end of the alley.

Back at No. 95 Courtyard, using the pre-arranged code, Yan Bugui opened the door for the two men, his small eyes darting back and forth between their hands.

Jia Dongxu lowered his voice and said, "Look, Third Uncle, there's no grain in Pigeon Market, so he only managed to get five catties of cornmeal." After saying that, the two of them walked towards the central courtyard.

Upon arriving at the Intermediate People's Court, Jia Dongxu was about to speak when Yi Zhonghai waved his hand and said, "It's almost dawn, and we have to go to work. We can talk about it when we get back tonight."

Jia Dongxu nodded and walked home with the flour bag in his hand.

Yan Bugui closed the gate, shook his coat, watched the two figures disappear into the distance, sighed, and went back inside. As dawn broke, the alley came alive with the sounds of people lighting stoves, cooking, emptying chamber pots, parents calling for their children who wouldn't get out of bed, and children crying. People outside the alley came and went, greeting each other and then chatting and joking.

In the morning, Wang Zhan barely slept before heading out to make breakfast. He was already feeling hungry and figured his sister would be complaining of hunger too. Sure enough, just as Wang Zhan finished making the porridge, Wang Li's voice came from the west room, "Brother, I want to get up, I'm hungry."

Wang Zhan washed his hands with warm water before going to his sister's room. It turned out that in the morning, Wang Zhan was worried that his sister's clothes were too cold, so he took them to his room and put them on the kang (a heated brick bed) to warm them with a quilt.

After Wang Li got dressed, she went to the main room to wash up. The temperature outside was already quite low, and Wang Zhan rarely let her leave the room in the morning. Wang Li washed up by herself, while Wang Zhan went to the kitchen to continue making breakfast.

Just as breakfast was being served in the main room, Grandpa Liu's voice came from the front yard: "Xiao Zhan, your classmate is looking for you. Open the door!"

"The door's open, Uncle Liu, just let them in," Wang Zhan called out as he came out of the main room.

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Si and Xiao Wu walked in. Wang Zhan waved and said, "Have you had breakfast yet? Come in, it's warm inside."

Xiao Si and Xiao Wu quickly crossed the courtyard and followed Wang Zhan into the main room. Xiao Wu didn't stand on ceremony at all. He washed his hands at the door and sat down next to Wang Li. Wang Li looked at Xiao Wu, rolled her eyes, and continued to struggle with the fried eggs.

Xiao Wu started eating by himself, while Xiao Si took out fifty yuan from his pocket and put it on the table in front of Wang Zhan, saying, "My dad said that according to the highest price in Pigeon City, wheat flour is eight mao and cornmeal is one mao, which is exactly fifty. We don't have any grain coupons, so let's owe you for now."

Wang Zhan didn't mind and simply put the money away. Then the group started eating breakfast. After Wang Li finished eating, she said she was going to find Zhang Erya and ran off with her backpack.

Xiao Si and Xiao Wu helped tidy up the table, and the three of them started drinking tea and chatting. Xiao Wu sighed, "Brother Zhan, you have no idea. In my and Xiao Si's courtyard, no one eats breakfast. They don't even cook in the morning. Now every household buys some good things and hides them, planning to eat them during the New Year. But you, have you seen this? Where are you going to find cucumbers in the winter?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhan's heart skipped a beat. He said, "You ate it, but don't go around telling everyone. No, I really didn't know that supplies were so scarce outside."

Xiao Si looked at Wang Zhan, who seemed carefree, and sighed, saying, "Don't even mention supplies, you know the food price has been reduced?"

Wang Zhan nodded and said, "I know, but you two know that I haven't even finished using the grain I've been hoarding for two years. All the grain rations I have were bought for me by Aunt Sun, and I put them in the basement after buying them. I really haven't paid attention to them."

Xiao Si took a sip of tea, then looked at Wang Zhan seriously and said, "Brother Zhan, if people find out what's in your basement, it could bring you trouble. If they accuse you of hoarding supplies, you'll be in big trouble. There's a shortage of supplies everywhere outside right now."

"Ah!" Wang Zhan was suddenly awakened by Xiao Si's words and began to face the problem. Others eat cornbread and steamed buns every day, while you eat meat every day. But when he thought of his sister, he was full of worry. He was a carnivore.

(End of this chapter)