Siheyuan: Bringing Warehouses to 1959

Zeng Youqian and his wife originally wanted to go home directly, but they were stopped by Yan Bugui and could not leave. Having been neighbors for many years, they knew each other's true nature.

"Did you buy the bones?" Zeng Youqian's stern face showed joy. "It's good that you bought them. I asked him to buy them. My second brother came and brought a wild rabbit that weighed three or four pounds. Fei didn't want Yumei to cook it, so he asked the eldest brother to buy a set of pig bones. We went there in the afternoon. It's good enough that we bought them. Who cares if there is meat or not?"

"Well, hares are good things..." Yan Bugui smiled embarrassedly.

He failed to show off and was instead treated as Versailles by others. In front of the wild rabbit, the wild vegetable soup stewed with fish heads and tails was nothing.

As for Zeng Youqian, he is angry because Zeng Wangcai refused to accept the child marriage, but his son is his own and he has to protect him in front of outsiders.

There was no meat on the pig bones, but he was not angry. Instead, he thought that his eldest brother was right. It was a rare occasion for his second brother to come, so if he couldn't eat the meat, what was the point of drinking some bone soup?

Zeng Youqian no longer gossiped with Yan Bugui, nor did he look at the dishes on Yan Bugui's table. He didn't like to meddle in other people's affairs, nor did he like others to meddle in his own family's affairs.

The three of them walked to the door, but before they entered the house, Chen Yumei smelled the aroma of stewed bones and said with a pained look, "This child, how many seasonings did he give her? The aroma can be smelled from eight blocks away."

However, thinking that the child took the initiative to cook and knew to buy bones to entertain the guests, Chen Yumei did not complain at all.

The fact that Zeng Wangcai cooked actually had a great impact on Zeng Youqian and his wife.

After opening the door curtain and entering the house, Chen Yumei saw the pork bones soaking in the basin on the ground. She couldn't help but say, "Wangcai, why do you keep so many of them? You've done all of them... uh..."

Before he could finish his words, Chen Yumei and Zeng Youqian's brothers were all stunned.

Next to the eight-immortals table, there were three small clown faces, and in the middle of them was an enamel basin. In the basin were piled up meat bones, meat bones, maroon-colored meat bones.

"Dad..., Dad, you're back. Look at the meat that big brother cooked... It's so delicious. Xiaohuan ate two pieces... Xiaohuan also ate a popsicle..."

Okay, give it all up!

A few minutes later, Chen Yumei went to make steamed corn bread. The three children looked at Zeng Youqian pitifully, as if they had done something wrong. Zeng Youqian and his brothers were sitting and smoking cigarettes, with a pot of wine in front of them.

Two dollars, a pot of wine, a pile of bones with so much meat on them, some popsicles, and some candy. I just can't count it all.

"Tell me, who did you borrow it from?" Zeng Youqian puffed out a puff of cigarette.

Zeng Youhuo also exhaled a puff of smoke, feeling touched but a little embarrassed: "Wangcai, you don't have to be like this. Life in the countryside is hard, but your second uncle has hands and feet, and the family can still be supported. You haven't even started working yet, and you've caused such a big famine all of a sudden. How are you going to pay it back in the future?"

Oh, these days, you have to find a reason to eat something delicious behind closed doors. It's really fucked up.

Zeng Wangcai complained in his heart, walked to the cabinet in the corner, and brought the old actor's cloth bag over: "Here are five catties of flour and five catties of food coupons. Second uncle will stay for another day tomorrow. Use the food coupons to buy food before leaving. Here are two catties of tobacco..."

He didn't dare take out more than that, for fear of scaring them.

However, despite this, Zeng Youqian and his former brothers were still dumbfounded when they saw five pounds of greasy white flour, two pounds of golden tobacco, and five pounds of national food coupons.

None of these three things is invaluable.

The cadres were reluctant to eat the good flour and the strong flour. The already cut tobacco was obviously good stuff at first glance, with almost no stems, not to mention the food coupons.

"Did you rob a food station?" Zeng Youqian thought about it over and over again, but couldn't figure out where Zeng Wangcai could get these treasures from.

In fact, this is the normal situation. In a family, it is normal for a father and son to know each other well. If the son suddenly gets valuable supplies, how can the father just praise him as a "good son" and enjoy them willingly?

I am worried that my son will learn bad things, so it is better to make sure the origin of the things is unknown.

Zeng Wangcai had already thought of an excuse: "What are you thinking? I have the intention but not the guts to do it. The meat and bones were obtained by Lin Huyang's father. I owe him a favor. The slaughterhouse happened to be slaughtering pigs this afternoon. The flour and food coupons were borrowed from Huang Liang's family."

The two buddies used all their skills, and it worked flawlessly.

Huang Liang's family was better off. There were four people in his family, and three of them had jobs, so they had no worries about food and clothing. Huang Liang fell ill when he was young and had a slight disability in his left leg. It was not very serious, but this problem caused Huang Liang a lot of suffering. At school, he was either robbed or beaten, and being ridiculed was the least of his problems. Huang Liang had to keep changing schools.

Later, he transferred to the school where Zeng Wangcai and Lin Huyang were, and became classmates. These two were the bullies in the school. After they met Huang Liang, they started to protect Huang Liang, and this protection gave them a new buddy.

"This is too much. What can our family use to pay back? Your second uncle and grandmother have me, and I'm not dead yet. Is it your turn to worry? Just go to work and make money to support the family. Just marry Xiuzhi honestly, and you don't have to worry about anything else.

"I've told you again and again that we should be sensible when dealing with friends. We shouldn't take what we shouldn't take, and we shouldn't eat what we shouldn't eat. Especially in this year, every family has a few poor relatives..."

Zeng Youyou said a lot of good advice before, but he was still worried that the child would grow crooked, so he said to leave the things for now, keep a tight schedule at home for a few months, and replace them slowly.

Zeng Youhuo did not come here to ask for anything, but for Zeng Wangcai's marriage. Now that this happened, he was moved and uneasy. He did not want white flour at all, but only the five pounds of corn flour he exchanged for in the afternoon. He refused to take any tobacco at all, saying that he would just get something to satisfy his cravings in the countryside.

"Don't argue anymore. It's making me so upset. It's just some food coupons and flour. What's the big deal? I'll pay it back if I borrow it..."

"You are so arrogant!" Zeng Youqian interrupted his son unhappily, "Don't even mention that this is a lot of stuff. Even a mouthful of noodles can save a life at a critical moment."

"I know, I have a way. Don't worry, Teacher Zhou has given me a good job. I can just take advantage of these two days to work on it. When I'm done, I'll have something to pay back."

"Catching fish..."

This idea was inspired by Yan Bugui. Zeng Wangcai had a friend regardless of age difference, or to be more precise, a teacher, whose surname was Zhou and whose name was Zhou Yuanbai. He met Huang Liang through his grandfather.

Zeng Wangcai's original body did not have many outstanding features, but he had one thing in common: he had beautiful handwriting and could draw. He was very talented in this area, and that was why Zeng Youqian was able to get him into the Propaganda Department of the steel rolling mill. He learned this skill from Zhou Yuanbai.

Zhou Yuanbai was an expert in the newly established Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It was said that he was a returnee from overseas and lived alone. After meeting Zeng Wangcai, the two of them often visited each other to discuss calligraphy, becoming half teacher and half friend.

Zeng Wangcai’s excuse was that Zhou Yuanbai had scientific research results on a fishing artifact.

Zeng Youqian was not very educated and was skeptical: "Is there such a good thing? The neighbor next door caught a fish today and stewed it. The tail was sticking up in the air."

"If you don't believe the Academy of Sciences, who can you believe? Besides, if I can't catch any fish, you can always talk about paying me back."

"That's right, are you planning to go fishing in the moat too?"

"Instead of going to the moat, I plan to go back to my hometown and try the canal."

"That's great. Go and see Xiuzhi. She has been here for a few days and is staying at your grandmother's place..."

Okay, it's back again.

The staple food was ready and the family started eating. Zeng Wangcai said that he would talk about his wife tomorrow as he had to take the children to a movie in the evening.

Zeng Youqian saw that his son was not as resistant as before and agreed without further forcing him. The whole family gathered around the dish and devoured it. In the end, there were still three or four pieces left uneaten. It was not known whether he could not finish it or was reluctant to leave it.

The three children had already eaten their fill and left the table halfway through, and were taken out to play by Zeng Xiaoqiang because it was too hot in the house.

Zeng Xiaoqiang took his sister to the alley outside. Not long after walking, they ran into Liu Guangfu from the backyard, Yan Jiefang from the front yard, and Bang Geng and others.

Yan Jiefang was bragging about the fish soup his family had tonight and how delicious it tasted, which made Liu Guangfu jealous and Bang Geng envious.

Seeing Zeng Xiaoqiang and the other two, Liu Guangfu remembered something: "Xiaoqiang, come here quickly. Do you have a wild rabbit at home? Have you eaten it?"

"They were reluctant to eat it. My dad said that his eldest brother was so stupid that he bought a bunch of meatless bones." Yan Jiefang said.

Zeng Xiaoqiang remembered what his eldest brother said and pulled his younger brothers and sisters to leave, but Zeng Laifu was indignant that his eldest brother was scolded and couldn't help but turn back: "You are the stupid one, your whole family is stupid, my eldest brother is the best..."