Siheyuan: Happy Life of Jia Zhang Family

"Sister-in-law Jia, there are relatives coming to your house." Yang Ruihua, the third aunt from the front yard, came to Zhang Dabao's house and found Zhang Cuihua who was looking after the child.

"My relatives?" Zhang Cuihua didn't quite believe it.

"He's at your doorstep. He said it was your nephew," Yang Ruihua said and left. In fact, Zhang Dabao sent Bang Geng to invite her to the backyard for dinner. There were six people in her family, five of whom were helping here, so she was not missing anyone. However, she felt embarrassed to come for dinner without working, so she refused.

"Dongxu, come home with me." Zhang Cuihua saw her son was exhausted and asked him to go back and have a rest.

When they arrived at the central courtyard, Zhang Cuihua took a look and found that they were indeed her relatives, and even her nephew, Zhang Shoucheng and his wife Song Juan.

"Aunt and cousin" Zhang Shoucheng and his wife were squatting at the door of the Jia family. When they saw Zhang Cuihua and Jia Dongxu coming, they quickly stood up.

"Shoucheng, Xiaojuan, come in quickly." Zhang Cuihua was very enthusiastic when she saw her nephew coming.

After pouring tea for the two of them, Zhang Cuihua asked, "Shoucheng, you came all the way to the city. You must have something going on. What is it?"

"Aunt, it's still about borrowing money. I'm thinking about the house. Wood and stone are free and there are plenty of them on the mountain, but you have to provide food for someone to build a house, and you have to pay the chef some wages. You also know that our family is in financial difficulties, and we don't have the money to pay the chef, buy vegetables, and buy food. My father asked me to see if I can get fifty yuan from you first," Zhang Shoucheng stated the purpose of his visit.

"Cousin, are you stupid? If you want to borrow money, go find someone who is rich. My seventh uncle, your younger uncle, is rich. Don't you know the situation in my family? Before the New Year, my mother and her relatives went to your house for several days to eat. If our family could get by, I wouldn't have let my mother go back to her parents' home to beg for money," Jia Dongxu said to Zhang Shoucheng with a smile.

"Cousin, I dare not look for my uncle. Years ago, he almost beat Xiaojuan and me to death just because we lived in his house. Later, I went to the commune to report him, but the commune arrested my father and asked my sixth uncle and fourth grandfather to plead for me. My uncle's request was to sever the relationship with my father. Now the clan has held a meeting, and he has severed the relationship with my father. It is not appropriate for me to look for him again." Of course, Zhang Shoucheng did not dare to look for Zhang Dabao. Now when he sleeps, he sometimes dreams of being beaten with a crutches, and he wakes up from his dream in fright.

"Seventh uncle is a generous man. Let me go with you to take a look. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. I'm your cousin and I'm still the lowest-level worker in the factory. I make 27.5 yuan a month. My mother, my wife and children are all registered in rural areas. They eat expensive food. It's a problem to eat every month. I can't save any money at all. I'll talk to Seventh uncle for you. Besides, my aunt is here. Can he beat you without reason? There are many people helping his family today. Outsiders can't beat you." Jia Dongxu's reason was great. In fact, Zhang Shoucheng knew that his aunt's family didn't have much money, but the family couldn't afford a house. It was really bad. His wife made trouble every day, and he couldn't rest well every day. He had no other choice but to ask Zhang Cuihua for help.

"Go ahead. A lot of people are helping out at your seventh uncle's house today. There are delicious food, including a ten-dish feast." Jia Dongxu said something Zhang Shoucheng couldn't refuse. He had never eaten a ten-dish feast before.

Zhang Shoucheng and his companion followed Zhang Cuihua and Jia Dongxu to the backyard. The work in the backyard had been completed. Everyone was cleaning up the tools and washing up. Now they were just waiting for the food to be served.

"Seventh uncle, aunt, my cousin is here." Jia Dongxu walked into the room and called out Zhang Dabao and Zhang Lianhua.

"Your cousin? That cousin?" Zhang Dabao came out and smiled when he saw Zhang Shoucheng.

"Shoucheng and his wife are here? What a coincidence. Someone is having dinner at home today. Wash your hands and eat first. Shoucheng will sit at the same table with us, and Shoucheng's wife will stay with your sister-in-law." After such a long time, Zhang Dabao's anger towards Zhang Dasong's family has subsided a lot. In fact, it is not anger, but disappointment. Zhang Dasong is the eldest son and grandson of the Zhang family. In the old society, he would be the first choice for the patriarch. However, due to the early death of his uncle Zhang Zhifeng, Zhang Dasong himself did not live up to expectations, and he became the patriarch, and the family became a mess. Pity his misfortune and be angry at his lack of struggle. Maybe this is what I think of him.

When Zhang Shoucheng heard his uncle's words, the couple looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

When Zhang Shoucheng saw the dishes being served, his eyes widened. He had never thought that the dishes could be cooked like this. "Cousin, would you like a drink?" Jia Dongxu pushed him.

Zhang Shoucheng didn't know whether he should drink it or not, so he looked up at Zhang Dabao.

"What are you looking at me for? If you can drink, drink more. If you can't drink, drink less." Zhang Dabao laughed. You can't drink alcohol even if you come to the city. Really? All the good kids were corrupted by Zhang Dasong.

"Pour me a glass." Jia Dongxu was also a hospitable person, so he poured a glass for Zhang Shoucheng.

"Let's start. Thank you all for your help." Zhang Dabao raised his glass. Everyone took a sip and started eating.

Zhang Shoucheng couldn't stop eating after this. He moved his chopsticks very quickly, stared at the food on the table, and used chopsticks to connect the bowl and his mouth into a line. The food was so delicious.

"Cousin, cousin." Seeing his cousin's useless look, Jia Dongxu pushed him several times.

"I didn't eat breakfast, so I'm a little hungry." Zhang Shoucheng also felt a little unwell and explained.

"Eat a steamed bun first. You can't drink on an empty stomach. Dongxu, give Shoucheng a steamed bun and let him eat a little first," Zhang Dabao said to Jia Dongxu.

"Okay." Jia Dongxu ran to the kitchen, took out a steamed bun and handed it to Zhang Shoucheng.

The women and children at the table didn't drink, so they finished their meal quickly. There were many people, including the two younger ones of the Yan family, Qin Huairu, He Yushui, Banggeng, Zhang Cuihua, Zhang Lianhua, and Song Juan, and they were all big eaters. They gobbled up the meal in no time and there was nothing left, but everyone was very full.

"Xiaojuan, let's go home and drink some water and have a rest. Shoucheng is drinking with your uncle and it won't end in a while." Seeing that her niece-in-law was a little restrained here, Zhang Cuihua suggested that she go home first. It happened that her granddaughter was sleepy, and she was sleepy too.

Zhang Dabao ate for two hours at the table. Zhang Shoucheng got drunk, so Zhang Dabao put him in Huo Yusen's former room and let him take a nap and rest.

In the afternoon, Zhang Dabao went to get two carts of sand, put them on the warm kang, buried the sweet potatoes in the sand, and watered them thoroughly. The sweet potato seedlings grew. When May Day was approaching, he moved the seedlings to the ground and planted the sweet potatoes, which would be harvested in autumn.

Jia Dongxu also drank a lot at noon today, and was arranged by Zhang Dabiao to rest in the same room with Zhang Shoucheng. At four o'clock in the afternoon, Zhang Shoucheng woke up and called Jia Dongxu, "Cousin, what time is it? Can I still get in the car?"

Jia Dongxu wiped his eyes and said, "It's past four o'clock. We may not be able to go back to Zhangjia Village. You can stay here today. This room also belongs to my seventh uncle. You and your wife can stay for a day and leave tomorrow. I'll go home to see if my mother has any delicious food. They stayed at my house for several days some time ago, so let me treat you." Jia Dongxu also knew that what his mother did when she returned to her parents' home last time was not right, but there was really nothing he could do at the time.

Zhang Shoucheng was at a loss as to what to do. It was indeed getting late and the money from his aunt's house seemed to be running out. He didn't know what his father and mother would say if he went home, and he didn't want to go back either. So he listened to Jia Dongxu and stayed. After Jia Dongxu left, he sat alone in the room in a daze.

"Mom, Shoucheng and his family can't go back today, so they'll stay for a day and leave tomorrow. Do we have any delicious food at home? My cousin and his wife are here, so we should treat them too," Jia Dongxu said to his mother when he returned home.

"There is still some meat that Da Biao gave me last time. Take it all with you and go to your seventh uncle's house to cook it. Their house is big and we can't accommodate them all," said Zhang Cuihua.

"Isn't it? There are two of us, my seventh uncle and my aunt. It would be inappropriate not to call Uncle Xinsheng if he is with my seventh uncle every day. Besides, we really can't accommodate him." Jia Dongxu counted and realized that his family did not have the capacity to accommodate him.

"Where is Banggeng?" Jia Dongxu asked his mother when he didn't see his son.

"Jingshu, Jiedi and Xiaobao are playing in the backyard. The meat is in the shed at the door, on top of the basket of vegetables," Zhang Cuihua said to her son.

"I've taken it. Come over at six o'clock." Jia Dongxu yawned and walked out of the room.