Siheyuan: Return to the Era of Prosperity

Chapter 58 Understanding
Yi Zhonghai quickly retracted his reluctant expression and refused repeatedly. He knew that if Sha Zhu continued to go to jail because of the 360 ​​yuan, the deaf old lady alone would not forgive him, not to mention the others.

Yi Zhonghai said awkwardly: "Where is the letter of understanding?"

Xu Fugui threw the letter of apology he had written in advance to Yi Zhonghai. His hatred for Yi Zhonghai was even greater than that of Sha Zhu.

Through what we have learned during this period, we found out that it was this grandson who instigated Xu Damao to get beaten.

Yi Zhonghai also knew that he was not liked by Xu Fugui. Back then in the courtyard, Xu Fugui and He Daqing were both stronger than him. It was the deaf old lady and himself who used tricks to drive He Daqing away. In the end, Xu Fugui also left the courtyard because of Xu Damao.

This gave Yi Zhonghai and others the opportunity to be the boss, otherwise it would not be their turn.

Yi Zhonghai left Xu Damao's ward with the letter of apology and went directly to Jiaodaokou Police Station and handed it over to Su Weizhong.

After reading the letter of apology, Su Wei Zhong told Yi Zhonghai that Sha Zhu would be released from prison in four days.

Silly Zhu, these past few days have completely memorized the feeling of being in solitary confinement, suffering from hunger and cold.

It was from yesterday afternoon that Sha Zhu's treatment began to improve a little, and he felt like a human being again.

In the first two days, Sha Zhu had the worst food and lived in the coldest place. He felt like he was worse than a dog.

"Uncle, thank you for coming to see me. When I get out, I will definitely take revenge on you." Sha Zhu said with some unwillingness to admit defeat when he saw Yi Zhonghai.

"Zhu Zi, you can stay in there peacefully. I have already obtained Xu Fugui's letter of forgiveness. Director Su said that you can be released after four more days." Yi Zhonghai cut off the beginning and the end, ready to take the credit for rescuing Sha Zhu for himself.

"Thank you, uncle." Sha Zhu said excitedly. He finally saw the light.

"Kid, we are all family, why should we be so divided?" Yi Zhonghai said in a pretentious manner.

"I admit defeat this time. When I return, I will definitely punish Xu Damao severely."

"You! You suffer because of your mouth."

Yi Zhonghai comforted Sha Zhu a few more words, and when he saw the police officers from the police station began to urge him, he knew that the visiting time was up, so he comforted Sha Zhu a few more words, and left the police station amid the other party's profuse thanks.

Four days later, Sha Zhu returned to the courtyard in a low-key manner and went directly to the deaf old lady's room in the backyard.

No one knows what the two talked about.

But for the next period of time, Sha Zhu hardly ever left the house, just like a grown-up girl.

Shen Zhiyu stayed at home almost all day during this period, either tutoring his younger siblings or reading and studying on his own. In the blink of an eye, it was time for the steel rolling mill to start work again.

After the New Year, the streets, alleys, villages and towns are filled with propaganda slogans about all of this, and the slogans are as attractive as they can be.

The commune was established, private land was reclaimed, and everyone worked and ate together.

At the beginning, the members ate as much as they wanted and the food was consumed quickly. Soon there was no food left.

Especially last year, many people in the collective labor force were not active in farming their own land, so the harvest cost was limited. Coupled with natural disasters, the harvest in 1958 was very poor.

Rural areas have been experiencing food shortages since the end of last year, and other cities have also begun to experience food shortages one after another.

At the beginning, it did not affect the old city, but with the arrival of 1959, this trend also spread to the old city.

In 1959, the problem became more serious.

The subdistrict office has made it clear that only 70% of the food rations will be distributed in the future, and called on everyone to be frugal and work together to get through the difficult times.

The other families in the courtyard were better off. Even if they were poor, they still had 70% of the food rations. Only the Jia family was in real trouble.

Jia Dongxu is the only one in the family of five who has an urban hukou and a food ration. The others all have rural hukou. In the past, they could exchange rice for noodles at the pigeon market, but now the pigeon market has been closed, and only the black market still sells some food.

However, the price of food on the black market has skyrocketed, and Jia Dongxu's salary is not enough to feed his family.

If Yi Zhonghai were still alive, he might have found a way to help them. However, Yi Zhonghai bought a large amount of scrap iron and sent it to the street office at the beginning of the year, and then went to Tianjin on the tenth day of the first lunar month.

The aunt only occasionally provided some corn noodles, which was just a drop in the bucket. Jia Dongxu was really worried.

His family changed from three meals a day to two meals a day, and from thick porridge to thin porridge. Jia Zhang also cursed less, and her obese figure became thinner at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Entering March and April, the problem becomes more serious due to the shortage of food.

Jia Dongxu's family is also in a more difficult situation.

One evening in April.

"Mom, I'm hungry." Banggeng finished the porridge in the bowl in a few mouthfuls and said with a sad face.

Qin Huairu hugged Banggeng distressedly and gave the rice in her bowl to Banggeng. Her heart was broken when she heard Banggeng crying.

Jia Zhang had also finished eating. She was so hungry that everything she looked at was food. She reached out and snatched Bang Geng's rations.

"Grandma is so bad!" Banggeng cried anxiously.

Jia Zhang finally came to her senses, dejectedly returned the bowl to Bang Geng, licked the bowl that she hardly had to wash, and said uncomfortably: "Dongxu, this is not a solution. Neither the child nor the adult can stand it."

Jia Dongxu had been tortured so much during this period that he looked unrecognizable. He said with a sad face, "What can I do?"

Jia Zhang gritted her teeth and said, "Go find the first aunt. Don't they want you to take care of them in their old age?"

Jia Dongxu shook his head and said, "Mom, Uncle Yi's food rations came with him to Tianjin. Now we only have Aunt Yi's food rations, which is a drop in the bucket. She has helped us many times."

Qin Huairu looked at the hungry and skinny Banggeng and Xiaodang, and her eyes gradually became firm.

Entering 59, the first year, was even more difficult.

Qin Huairu's family hadn't had a good meal for a long time, and they all looked starving.

In order to get rid of this situation, Qin Huairu set her sights on Sha Zhu. She said, "Dongxu, Sha Zhu is the only one who can help us now. I found that he brings lunch boxes home every day, which saves the food ration."

"Silly Pillar?"

"Well, I've thought about it. Shazhu's family has a ration for two people, and he's a cook, so he can't use up all the food rations. Can I borrow some more from him?"

Jia Dongxu was silent. To be honest, if he had any other choice, he would not ask Sha Zhu to borrow food.

Anyone who is not a fool can see what Sha Zhu feels for Qin Huairu.

Jia Dongxu was also angry, but since Sha Zhu didn't do anything substantial and was just peeking, he couldn't say anything. If he told others about it, it would be even more embarrassing.

But if he didn't find a solution, his whole family would starve to death, so he had to go to Sha Zhu to borrow food.

"Silly Zhu, are you there?"

Jia Dongxu knocked on the door.

(End of this chapter)