Siheyuan: Happy Life of Jia Zhang Family

Killing pigs in the village is the favorite thing for the children. The process of killing pigs is fun. They can eat meat after killing the pigs, and they can play with the pig bladder all day long. It is an enviable toy. Zhang Lanfang is the most beautiful girl in the village today because she has a pig bladder. Seven or eight children chase the pig bladder back and forth and don’t feel tired at all. After catching up with it, they kick it into the sky to attract other children to chase it.

Zhang Daliu's family of four all came, Zhang Dalin's wife also came with her two sons, and Zhang Dasen's son, who had just learned to run, also followed his sister to play with the pig bladder.

Zhang Dabao asked Zhang Shouyong to call the families of Zhang Dabai and Zhang Dayang, while he went to the families of Zhang Zhiling, Zhang Zhixia and Zhang Zhian. They were all cousins ​​of his father's same grandfather. He did not call the families from other families as there were too many people.

There are more than 40 people in the Zhang family. Zhang Dabao discovered a problem, that is, there are more boys than girls in the Zhang family. Among his seven cousins, he only has two sisters, Zhang Cuihua and Zhang Lianhua. His six brothers have all married and have children. Even Zhang Dasong said that now there is only one girl, Lan Fang, and the others are all boys. Zhang Zhiling has three brothers and only one daughter, Zhang Meihua, and the others are all sons. Zhang Da knows that in another 20 years, when family planning will be implemented, will the Zhang family still be so prosperous?

There were more than forty people and it was impossible to finish a pig. Zhang Dabao divided the remaining meat among the families. Zhang Lianhua thought this behavior was a waste of money, but Zhang Dabao didn't care. He also gained the friendship of his brothers and uncles.

The Spring Festival of 1959 came, and after the Spring Festival, it was 1960, and the time to go back to work was getting closer and closer. Now the village is more lively, people's faces are more festive, and many people from the village and outside come to visit relatives.

Zhang Dabiao has no relatives to visit. His mother was a revolutionary. She fell ill in the village while looking for the team. His father saved her. Then she went down to the countryside and contacted the local revolutionary team. She fought guerrilla warfare in the mountains until she died. There has been no news of her mother's family for so many years. Zhang Lianhua, the second sister, has no relatives to visit either. As a married girl, she should go back to her mother's family, but she lives there now. She doesn't visit her grandmother's family anymore because there are no elders.

"Da Biao, what can I do if I go to Beijing with you?" Zhang Lianhua wanted to live in a different place. As a widow in the countryside, there were a lot of gossips about her, which put her under a lot of mental pressure. But she was also worried about going to Beijing, as she would have to spend money to buy everything in the city. She and her mother still had rural household registration and no quota, which would bring a burden to her brother's life.

"I can definitely find a job for you. Let me tell you that the deputy director of the factory is our regiment commander's comrade-in-arms. We are brothers in life and death. He takes good care of me and even gave me an extra room when the houses were distributed this time," Zhang Dabao said to his sister.

"Well, if you can't stay here, we can come back later," said Zhang Lianhua.

"Don't worry, you can't come back. I have to go to work on the sixth day of the New Year. Tomorrow is the third day of the New Year. The buses should be available, so we will leave in the morning. Don't take things from home. There is everything there. Just take some clothes and a pot." Zhang Dabao saw his second sister putting everything into her bag and quickly stopped her.

After saying goodbye to his brothers and giving the key to the house to Zhang Dasen, Zhang Dabao, holding his crutches and holding his niece's hand, and Zhang Lianhua carrying a bag, the three of them walked towards the bus stop.

"Da Biao, isn't your leg healed? Why are you using crutches?" Zhang Lianhua didn't understand Zhang Da Biao's behavior.

"I use crutches at work, and when my leader sees me, he will say, 'Look at this young comrade, he comes to work with an injured leg, and his work enthusiasm is so high, he must be advanced,'" Zhang Dabia said with a smile.

"You are the only one with so many ideas." Zhang Lianhua also laughed. Her brother used to have a stubborn temper, but now he has become much more flexible than before.

The three of them got on the bus and went into the city.

Zhang Dabao finally came to the legendary compound at No. 95 Hongxing Street. The specifications of the compound seemed quite high, with three courtyards in front and back, and a side courtyard in the east and west. In the Qing Dynasty, if you did not hold an official position above the third rank, you could forget about living in such a house.

The threshold of the compound was quite high. Zhang Dabao carried his niece inside. Perhaps because it was close to noon, they did not meet anyone in the backyard. When they arrived at the backyard, Zhang Dabao took out the key given by Chief Kang and opened the north room first. There were two inner rooms with a kang, and the outer room was a reception room. Zhang Dabao then opened his east wing and let Zhang Lianhua and her daughter live in it. There was also a kang in this room. Their kitchen was in the alley leading to the outside courtyard. There was a door. After unlocking the door, there was a stove inside, but no kitchen utensils.

"Second sister, light up the kang first. There should be firewood in the cross-yard, such as the racks from the former animal shed." Zhang Dabao and Zhang Lianhua opened the door to the alley again. Sure enough, there was a pile of wood in the cross-yard. The two of them picked up some and started to light the kang.

Today is the third day of the Chinese New Year. In order to thank Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady for their care over the past year, He Yuzhu from the Central Court specially prepared two meat dishes to entertain them and also invited Yi Zhonghai's apprentice Jia Dongxu to join them.

The firewood was a little wet, causing a lot of smoke in the house. Zhang Dabao stuffed the stove with firewood and went out of the house to breathe some fresh air.

At this time, He Yuzhu saw the smoke coming out of the backyard through the back window and said to Yi Zhonghai, "Uncle, the man in the backyard has moved in and has started a fire at home. There is so much smoke."

"Really? He's still using crutches. It seems like he's really a war hero." Yi Zhonghai stood up and looked out the window. He saw Zhang Dabao breathing fresh air.

"It seems that he has made great contributions and has been seriously injured. His injury has not healed yet since last winter. The factory should be taking care of him, otherwise it would be impossible to give him three rooms," He Yuzhu continued to say to Yi Zhonghai.

"Maybe." Yi Zhonghai thought the same as He Yuzhu. He was thinking about how to deal with these two combat heroes and how to make them obey the management of the three uncles in No. 95.

With a "bang", Jia Dongxu put the wine glass on the table. He wiped his mouth and said, "I don't care if he's a hero or a bear. A little bastard can get three rooms. I'll go and borrow one from him." After saying this, Jia Dongxu walked towards the backyard angrily.

Zhang Dabiao knew Jia Dongxu, he and Zhang Cuihua had been back to Zhangjia Village several times. Zhang Dabiao recognized his cheap nephew at first sight with his curly hair, but Jia Dongxu did not recognize Zhang Dabiao.

"Boy, are you the only one who got three rooms?" Jia Dongxu questioned Zhang Dabao while drunk.

"What does your mother's business have to do with whether I get a room or not?" Jia Dongxu's words made Zhang Dabao very angry. How dare she talk to him like that? How disrespectful.

"You dare to scold me? Do you know who I am?" Jia Dongxu was stunned by the scolding. He has lived in Yard 95 for many years, and few people dared to scold him.

"I know who you are and what can you do to me? Even if that bastard Jia Youfu comes, what can he do? He is an uneducated guy." Zhang Dabao certainly would not be polite and continued to scold Jia Dongxu.

"How dare you call my father uneducated?" Jia Dongxu was furious. He originally wanted to borrow the house, but before he could say a word, he was directly irritated by this man. Jia Dongxu rushed up and swung his fist to hit Zhang Dabao.