Break out of the courtyard

That night, uncle Zhang Cheng and his wife, together with Zhang Cuishan and their five children, came to the east wing of No. 5 Courtyard to borrow food.

As a result, Zhang Heping asked for the 3 kilograms of noodles he borrowed in March and April last year.

If the previous account is unclear, the new account will not be borrowed!

Under the warning look from Zhang Heping's eyes, his father Zhang Bing didn't even say anything about staying for dinner.

Early the next morning, Zhang Cuishan's father and second brother Zhang Cuiya went back to their hometown to carry food.

Before Zhang Heping went to school, he hid the extra money in the mezzanine of three wooden drawing boards in the main room of No. 7, leaving only five-day meal tickets for his grandmother, parents, and eldest cousin.

He also bought a new lock and locked several hundred kilograms of stick noodles and thin noodles in the main house.

Four days later, Zhang Cuishan's family's food supply was at its lowest, and his father and second brother had not returned yet.

In the afternoon of that day, Zhang Cuishan called the commune in his hometown to inquire about the whereabouts of his father Zhang Cheng, but was told that something had happened to his father and he should come back quickly!

On the afternoon of Friday, May 5, as soon as Zhang Heping returned home, his mother, Ma Xiuzhen, told him that his grandmother, Xie Ermei, had gone back to his hometown with Zhang Cuishan's family. She said something had happened to her uncle Zhang Cheng, but she didn't know what it was.

"Oh!" Zhang Heping said with a bad smile: "Grandma can't come back!"

"What do you mean?" Zhang Bing frowned and looked at his son Zhang Heping.

"Even after I returned to the village, I couldn't get out!" Zhang Heping said with a smile:

"They think the red-sleeved aunts are easy to mess with! If I hadn't been a bit thin-faced at the Houhai Street Office, those red-sleeved aunts would have beaten up the eldest uncle! Think about how grandma dealt with the Jia Zhang family when she wore red sleeves. !”

"The sub-district office did not use force, so of course they have to submit a letter! In recent times, the Houhai sub-district office has made countless calls to their hometown commune. They have gone back, and if they can still get a letter of introduction, I will take your last name!"

Seeing Zhang Heping's gloating expression, Zhang Bing frowned and asked, "Have you been waiting for them to go back if you don't let us borrow food?"

"I don't want to borrow food because they are white-eyed wolves! They are vampires!" Zhang Heping said coldly: "I have been kind enough to them! If you want to help them, we will separate our families, you..."

"Mistress, don't talk nonsense!" Mother Ma Xiuzhen walked over and grabbed her son Zhang Heping, then looked at Zhang Bing with a stern face and said angrily:

"Zhang Bing, you know how much food you have for yourself! My son helped you raise your mother, eat well and take care of your eldest nephew. What else do you want?"

"Are you going to let your eldest brother and his family lie on my son's body to suck blood?" Ma Xiuzhen's voice suddenly rose.

"Okay, no need to act." Zhang Heping went to pour himself a glass of water with a smile, "Who borrowed the food? How much did you borrow?"

"How did you tell?" Her mother, Ma Xiuzhen, smiled and leaned over, trying to learn from experience and improve her acting skills.

"My eldest cousin is still setting up a stall outside, but Master Zhang is waiting for me here. Isn't there something wrong in her heart?"

"Actually, we didn't borrow it. It was your grandma who borrowed the stick noodles from a few acquaintances from the neighboring yard. It's the end of the month, and they are all waiting for the food to be cooked..."

"How many?"

"Twenty pounds."

"Ha..." Zhang Heping sneered, said no more, turned around, picked up his schoolbag and went out.

This old lady is quite capable. In order not to increase the burden on her eldest son, she borrowed all the dry food for the round trip!

Seeing this, his mother Ma Xiuzhen looked at Zhang Bing and hurriedly chased him out.

"Mistress, those are life-saving food from the aunt next door. Do you think you can pay them back today?"

……

The next day, Children's Day, Zhang Heping went out early in the morning and caught two sacks of fish to deliver to the sub-district offices on both sides.

Because he knew the future development trajectory, Zhang Heping knew that in the 1980s and 1990s, the property rights of confiscated courtyard houses could be regained as long as the procedures were complete. However, it was a bit troublesome to operate, and many scammer tenants were unwilling to move.

Therefore, after Zhang Heping learned about the current policy from Director Wang, he went to Director Qi to extinguish the relationship.

"Uncle Qi, don't give me face! Why does Zhang Cuishan, a single man, occupy so many houses? Leave him a main room and let the street office 'rent' the other rooms. This is considered special care for him!"

Zhang Heping left behind his personal attitude and fish, and ran to play with his classmates.

Two days later, Zhang Cuishan returned to the city alone and told Zhang Bing that the village would not issue a letter of introduction and would not allow Grandma and the others to enter the city. She wanted Zhang Bing to help find a solution.

Not long after Zhang Cuishan returned to No. 6 Courtyard, a street clerk led a group of red-sleeved aunts in. They laid out the documents and explained the policies. If it didn't work, they would go to the steel rolling mill.

In the end, Zhang Cuishan was forced to sign a "long-term lease agreement" and handed over the east and west wings and the two back rooms to the street office and rented them out.

Saturday, June 6th, morning.

I don’t know if the matter in Courtyard No. 6 has been resolved. Zhang Heping went to the Houhai Subdistrict Office to ask about the toilet renovation issue, and got a smooth answer.

Self-funded pilot renovation!

Self-financing means asking the street office to beg alms.

The steel rolling mill is one of the main begging targets of the Nanluoguxiang Sub-district Office, which is one of the reasons why Director Wang tolerates Yi Zhonghai.

Zhang Heping sat at the desk of the director of the Houhai Subdistrict Office and thought: "Uncle Qi, how much money are you going to raise? How many public toilets will be renovated?"

"The construction team said they only need to dig a few holes and add cement, river sand, and red bricks, up to 25 pieces at most." Director Qi of the Houhai Subdistrict Office rarely spoke in an official tone and asked doubtfully:

"Isn't there only one public toilet next to your house?"

"What? You still want to renovate the public toilet next to the street office?"

"Why not?" Zhang Heping looked at Director Qi with a smile, "This is a public toilet on Houhai. Maybe some big shot from the south wandered here and went in for convenience?"

"I'm just renovating a cesspit, and you're talking about being a big deal with me..." Director Qi muttered, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he laughed and scolded: "You brat, you want to cause trouble for me, right? Do you need to renovate the public toilets? Less money!”

"Uncle Qi, if I can get some sponsorship, can you let my back room be demolished and rebuilt together with the public toilet?"

"It would be better if the south wall of the back room can be moved a little south!"

……

After Zhang Heping came out of Houhai Street Office, he took his gun and dog Laifu, rode a bicycle to Xishan, shot two rabbits and three pheasants and returned home.

In the afternoon, while Zhang Heping was making dinner, Lao Zhang went to his hometown to deliver his grandmother Xie Ermei's luggage and came back empty-handed. Obviously, he failed to rescue his mother from the small mountain village.

For dinner, Zhang Heping invited Lou Xiaoe and Xu Damao over. Halfway through the meal, he took out a dozen pages of paper stapled together and handed it to Lou Xiaoe.

This is the "Pilot Renovation Plan for Houhai Coastal Public Toilets" drafted by Zhang Heping at the Subdistrict Office. The data in it is not important, nor are the sketches of the new public toilets or biogas tanks. What is important is the official seal stamped by the Subdistrict Office on the last page.

"Sister-in-law Xiao'e, this is a face-saving project. The street office wants face, and your family needs face. Our No. 7 courtyard is close to the public toilet, so it is clean and hygienic." Zhang Heping said with a smile:

"A public toilet only costs RMB 388, and there are only 5 public toilets on both sides of Houhai. If your family finds it too few, you can wait until the renovation of the first batch of pilot public toilets is completed, and then discuss with the street office to add a batch."

"Turn to the first page! Did you see that it's quite close from the south to Houhai?"

"You can go back and discuss it, return this plan before noon tomorrow, and give me an answer."

"If your family doesn't want to sponsor, I will go back to school to raise funds. It just so happens that the classmates in our school are working hard to do good deeds every day!"

……