Siheyuan: 55 years, starting from a buyer

To facilitate nighttime activities, each courtyard was equipped with light bulbs, which would light up automatically when one went out. Therefore, although the meeting was held late at night, there was more than enough lighting, and it was not like in the past when they had to gather quickly before dark.

While thinking about these details, Mr. Chen sat calmly in the house studying his medical books.

During this period, he has read three or four books and has become familiar with some basic prescription and medication knowledge.

About twenty minutes later, Yan Fugui's eldest son Yan Jiecheng knocked on the door.

"Mr. Chen, the meeting is about to start."

Seeing Chen buried in a book, Yan Jiecheng immediately called out, "Oh, you have so many books here, all medical books. Are you studying medicine?"

Chen said, "The books were found for me by others. I just want to learn more about them myself. I will find a master to learn from in the future."

He flipped through a book at random and then said, "Let's go."

Yan Jiecheng praised: "You are really tenacious. I can't even concentrate as much as you when reading now."

It seems to be inspired.

"It's just a way to kill time. It's always good to have more skills."

Mr. Chen responded.

When we arrived at the atrium meeting place, almost all the neighbors were there.

Soon, everyone took their seats.

The three elders who originally occupied the middle seats were absent, and only the street staff member Comrade Wu was in charge of presiding over the meeting.

Comrade Wu has been here for a while. He is always smiling, occasionally gives candies to children, and gets along well with everyone.

I once went to Mr. Chen's house and suggested introducing him to a girl, but was politely rejected.

"Please be quiet, everyone."

Comrade Wu's words were steady and powerful.

“There are two important items in today’s meeting, the first is about the rental of our compound.

Most of the houses are owned by the street, with the exception of a few such as those owned by Yi Zhonghai and He Yuzhu.

Therefore, Uncle Yan was previously responsible for collecting rent from families who needed to pay it. He did a good job and will continue to entrust Uncle Yan to collect rent and transfer it to the street office in the future."

Mr. Chen observed that Yan Fugui did not seem surprised, so they must have communicated about the matter.

“Second, a major issue: the street received a notice of salary adjustment.

For example, if our Master Yi currently earns 60 yuan a month, according to the new policy for eighth-level skilled workers, if Master Yi is rated as eighth-level, he will receive a salary of 100 yuan, which is the new salary standard.

When Secretary Wu mentioned the salary reform, the atmosphere in the compound suddenly became lively.

He gave another example: "For example, Comrade Chen Xiao from the hospital, if he is currently earning 22 yuan a month in another unit, according to the new policy, after becoming a Level 4 clerk, his salary will increase to 56 yuan a month."

In summary, after the wage reform, there will be a clear set of salary standards.

As our steel rolling mill has the largest number of employees, the salaries of employees with outstanding work performance and high ranks will naturally be higher. This caused a lot of discussion among everyone, and Secretary Wu's words were like a ignition of a fire.

Mr. Chen believes that this change will have limited impact on the original wage level in the old Beijing city. After all, the original classification standards were relatively high.

Like himself, if judged by normal standards, he is still at the lowest level and his salary is still stable at 23 yuan per month.

But for people like Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong, the salary changes may be greater.

It is speculated that their salary may be around 60 to 70 yuan to over 100 yuan, and there will definitely be a significant increase after promotion.

For people like Jia Dongxu who have already completed the apprenticeship period, their salary will increase as their rating improves.

However, for those employees who are just slacking off, the reform will undoubtedly have an impact on them. A reduction in their rank means that their salary may also decrease accordingly.

Secretary Wu continued: "Okay, this is just to inform you in advance that each position will be subject to assessment and rating in the future. I hope everyone can do their best for this."

He then changed the subject.

"Now, I want to tell you some unpleasant news.

I believe everyone knows about the incident where Comrade He Yuzhu used a matchmaker to arrange a marriage...”

According to Secretary Wu, someone with ulterior motives destroyed Comrade He's marriage.

He explained, "The matchmaker told me that someone paid the child to speak ill of Comrade He Yuzhu."

As soon as Chen Sheng heard it, he knew it was Xu Damao's trick. He smiled secretly and guessed who was the mastermind behind this conspiracy.

Although Director Wu has not yet identified the real culprit, he reminded, "Although there are no direct clues at present, don't forget that the bad guys will eventually show their true colors.

I hope everyone will pay more attention. Once I find anything, I will report it to the street office and impose public punishment."

Seeing Secretary Wu's serious expression and words, Mr. Chen noticed Xu Damao's performance - not only was he not nervous, but he was calm and composed. This made him wonder: Was this prank done by Xu Damao?

Then, he mentioned the national policy: "The country now encourages migrant workers to return to their hometowns to start businesses.

Those residents in the yard who do not have urban household registration are on the mobilization list.

This is not mandatory, but it also takes into account family realities, such as one person having to support the lives of multiple people while sharing food rations.

The state strongly encourages these groups to return to the countryside, where they can enjoy the land and participate in farming.”

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent and looked towards the Jia family - only Jia Zhang and Qin Huairu had rural household registration in their family, and the whole family relied on Jia Dongxu's little food rations to survive.

The Jia family's food was often in short supply due to Jia Zhang's laziness and greed, which resulted in them having to spend money to buy expensive food sources. The neighbors looked at them with a hint of gloating.

After it was over, people gradually dispersed.

After all, issues other than wage reform are not directly relevant to the vast majority of people.

Most people just came to join in the fun and left quickly, thinking about how to improve their own status.

However, the crying of Mrs. Jia interrupted the peace.

Her screams were as shrill as the howls of a pig: "Old man, come and have a look! Oh no, my son has gotten married and has forgotten his mother. This is clearly forcing me to return home!"

Chen Chengsheng, who was walking hurriedly, was the first to hear the crying sound. He and others stopped in the courtyard.

Everyone's attention was not focused on the woman, but on Jia Dongxu, wondering whether he would force the woman surnamed Jia to return to her hometown.

Jia Dongxu, looking helpless, immediately explained: "Mom, I just said that the current approach doesn't work.

Look at this, maybe we should go to the street to find Officer Wu tomorrow and see if we can find a temporary job. When Gun'er grows up, there won't be enough food at home."

This explanation angered the woman, and she became more and more restless in the house.

Jia Dongxu hurriedly comforted her: "Mom, stop making trouble, I didn't mean to drive you away.

Go home quickly."

I tried to hold her hand, but she sat on the ground crying, calling for her deceased husband.

At this time, Yi Zhonghai just realized that something was wrong and wanted to come forward to persuade them, but Wu Keyuan appeared first, which made her quite dissatisfied.

In this case, as it was a conflict between neighbors, it was not convenient for her to intervene immediately.

The woman had nothing to worry about at this moment, because whenever there was chaos in the courtyard, Yi Zhonghai always helped her to calm it down.

With her son at home, she was not afraid at all.

If she is really forced to return to the countryside, it will undoubtedly be more cruel than death for her.

"Auntie, stop spreading rumors and stand up."

Yi Zhonghai stepped forward to comfort her. Even though he hoped in his heart that the woman surnamed Jia would leave, he would not take the initiative to do so.

If even your own son is not filial to his mother, how can you expect him to be filial to you?

Hearing this, the woman was so angry that she almost lost control and cried even more sadly: "You are not good people, all of you go away!"

This made Officer Wu look extremely gloomy and he turned and left.

Her departure made other neighbors no longer dare to intervene in the couple's domestic disputes, and they all left faster.

After a commotion, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu finally persuaded the woman to go back to her room.

As soon as the door was closed, the woman began to scold Qin Huairu: "You jinx, it's all your fault that your son has such thoughts."

Qin Huairu still looked innocent as usual. Facing her mother-in-law's accusations, she could only remain silent, hoping to get Jia Dongxu's understanding and support.

Seeing his wife suffer injustice, Jia Dongxu stepped forward and said, "Mom, what does this have to do with Huairou?"

He stood up protectively to guard the rights of his people.

The noise finally died down in the night. At dawn, when Chen Sheng was just about to go out, a group of aggressive people suddenly broke into the yard and went straight to the door of the Jia Mansion and started knocking wildly.

The young man in the lead shouted, "Open the door quickly!" At the same time, he banged on the wooden door hard.

Jia Zhang was awakened by the loud noise while she was sleeping. She said in dissatisfaction, "What a mess! Do you want to scare people to death so early in the morning?"

The moment the door opened, the crowd rushed in without saying hello.

Someone asked, "Is this the residence of Jia Zhang?"

Jia Dongxu was shocked to see this group of vicious people breaking into his house. He was stunned for a moment and could only nod his head and affirmatively said, "Yes."

After they confirmed their purpose, they rushed into the inner room without any courtesy and rudely pulled out Jia Zhang, who was still sleeping on the bed.

Chapter 45 Warning

Jia Zhang was terrified and let out a shrill scream like a pig.

Yi Zhonghai heard the commotion outside and rushed out of the room to check the situation.

"What are you doing? What is this for?"

Yi Zhonghai tried to stop their actions, guessing that Jia Dongxu or Jia Zhang might have done something outside and caused trouble.

"What are we doing here?"

The young man leading the team looked at Yi Zhonghai coldly with dissatisfaction on his face.

The young leader impatiently interrupted Jia Zhang's scream and announced to the onlookers: "We have received accurate information that this Jia Zhang is involved in spreading feudal superstition. According to the regulations of the street reform, she will be sent to receive fifteen days of instruction!"

He continued, "We will take her away first, and her family can send her necessities and living expenses later."

After saying that, they completely ignored Jia Zhang's struggle and crying, and roughly carried her towards the gate.

The onlookers at the scene understood in their hearts that what Director Wu did was no small matter, because Jia Zhang had openly challenged her power the day before and was punished today.

Watching Jia Zhang being taken away, everyone whispered their opinions and then quietly left the scene.

"Master, what should I do?"

Faced with the sudden change, Jia Dongxu was at a loss. He had seen his mother performing necromancy activities at home and it did not cause any dissatisfaction among anyone.

Yi Zhonghai sighed and motioned Jia Dongxu to come in and talk in detail: "You saw it, your mother didn't give Director Wu a way out yesterday, and this happened today.

In fact, such religious issues are usually handled by ordinary people themselves, with little interference. "

"What can we do? Are we going to let Mom be shut down like this?"

Jia Dongxu seemed very anxious.

After thinking about it, Yi Zhonghai proposed a solution: "Well, go find Liu Haizhong and ask for leave for him, saying that there is an emergency at home.

I went to the street to get some information, and found out that my apprentice's younger brother had connections there.

I will prepare some cigarettes and alcohol tonight and go to your house to apologize."

Although there is no perfect solution, Jia Dongxu can only follow his master's instructions.

The two people each carried out their tasks, one bought things and the other went to the street management office to find out the situation.

In the evening, Mr. Chen visited Yan Fugui as usual and gave him a bag of melon seeds as a small gift.

"I heard that Master Yi put a lot of thought into it and gave some gifts. The original half-month study time was reduced to ten days, but these ten days are not easy to come by."

Yan Fugui happily accepted the melon seeds and told Chen Sheng the news he knew.

Mr. Chen secretly admired the skills of Clerk Wu, who was able to easily subdue Jia Zhang, the most aggressive woman in the courtyard.

People often misjudge human nature. Once an originally kind person is taken seriously, he or she also has a side that should not be underestimated.

After this incident, Jia Zhang will probably never do that kind of thing at home again.

Although Yi Zhonghai had provided protection for him before, the whole yard must be much calmer now.

As for the training center, Mr. Chen didn't know much about it, but he only heard that life there was quite difficult.

However, five or six days later, Jia Zhang returned with a completely different appearance. The plump middle-aged woman had become thinner.

It is not difficult to imagine that she suffered a lot in the so-called study class.

This is not surprising. It is not difficult for the country to govern these stubborn people. In an era when the law is not yet perfect, the power of human rule is often greater than that of legal rule.

Jia Zhang was convicted for this and went to "study"

This caused a lot of talk among the neighbors, especially because she often stirred up trouble and created disturbances, affecting everyone's lives.

And now that she has gone to the so-called teaching class, life in the neighborhood has indeed become much easier.

Even though Jia Zhang had gone through the baptism of the "study class", she should have restrained herself according to common sense, but when she returned home, she still maintained her previous attitude towards her daughter-in-law Qin Huairu.

Whenever Chen Sheng passed by the Jia Mansion, he could always hear that sharp rebuke. Undoubtedly, her unbridled behavior at home had not diminished in the slightest because of her so-called "learning".

What’s even more infuriating is that she often shouts in the courtyard, either at her daughter-in-law or to Yi Zhonghai to express her dissatisfaction. The reason is that their salary grade results are unexpected - Jia Dongxu was only rated as a second-level worker, which is undoubtedly a blow to him who has followed Yi Zhonghai for many years.

Originally, Jia Dongxu was expected to receive a salary of nearly 40 yuan due to his long service, but the reality was that he could only get 35 yuan. This made Jia Zhang feel unbearable, so she often scolded Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu.

Mr. Chen thought to himself that perhaps the truth was that Yi Zhonghai doted on Jia Dongxu too much and neglected to teach him, which led to him falling into the predicament of alcoholism and gambling, and becoming overly dependent on others in life.

Thinking back carefully, the life of the entire Jia family was really hard.

At that time, the basic living expenses per person per month were only about yuan. As for the Jia family, because Jia Zhang and Qin Huairu did not have city hukou, they were forced to buy food at a higher price. The sudden drop in Jia Dongxu's salary was undoubtedly worse.

Even after Jia Dongxu left, the Jia family's life became a little better off. Although only one person received food rations, with the help of Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai, they were still able to live quite well in the courtyard.

Although the Jia family claimed that they were living in poverty, no one else paid much attention to the matter.

Moreover, under the care of Yi Zhonghai as their mentor, as long as Jia Zhang stopped causing trouble, they would be too lazy to intervene.

After finishing a day's work, Mr. Chen washed up and devoted himself to the world of self-study of medical books.

Although neighbors heard that he was teaching himself medical knowledge, most of them were skeptical about his behavior, but this did not affect his concentration.

At night, before going to bed, Chen Sheng recalled the day when he should send some gifts to Ma San.