Siheyuan: Grassroots Counterattack

Li Tianyi returned to the house. He didn't plan to read tonight. There was a funeral in the yard, so he needed to stay away.

There is no electricity in the courtyard houses now. Only landlords and capitalists in the old city can afford electric lights. Not to mention the electricity bill, even the cost of pulling an electric wire is not affordable for ordinary people. Therefore, every family in the courtyard house uses oil lamps or candles at night.

Before, Li Tianyi would light an oil lamp to read every night. Li's father and mother never said anything to Li Tianyi. When the lamp oil in Li Tianyi's room was almost used up, Li's mother would refill it. Li Tianyi saw all of this.

The next morning, Yi Zhonghai greeted everyone in the yard. They had no choice but to get up and help the Jia family. After breakfast, Yi Zhonghai went to the Military Control Commission. After liberation, anything involving death had to be reported to the Military Control Commission first, and the funeral could only be held after confirmation by the Military Control Commission.

Soon Yi Zhonghai led a young soldier to the Jia family. The young soldier lifted the white cloth, took a look, then nodded to Yi Zhonghai and walked towards the gate. Yi Zhonghai hurriedly sent the young soldier out, while Liu Haizhong followed behind Yi Zhonghai, nodding and talking to the young soldier, but the young soldier kept ignoring Liu Haizhong.

Li Tianyi looked at this scene with amusement. Liu Haizhong was really obsessed with becoming an official and would not miss any opportunity to show his face.

Soon Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong returned to the Jia family and said to Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu: "Old sister-in-law, Dongxu, the comrades of the Military Control Commission have agreed to hold the funeral. You can go and see Old Jia for the last time, and then we will seal the coffin and bury him."

Jia Zhang burst into tears, "Old Jia, how could you have the heart to leave me alone? How can I, an orphan and a widow, survive?"

Jia Zhang threw herself in front of Old Jia's bed, not caring at all about the pool of blood dripping from the coffin on the ground. She knelt directly in front of Old Jia's bed and burst into tears.

Jia Dongxu was far worse. He just knelt at the head of Lao Jia's bed and cried, not daring to get close at all. This is not to say that Jia Dongxu and Lao Jia are not close, but it is probably because he is young and does not dare to get close.

Seeing that it was getting late, Yi Zhonghai signaled to his wife and other women in the yard to pull Jia Zhang away, and then asked Jia Dongxu to lift Old Jia's head while the older ones lifted the other parts. They quickly wrapped Old Jia in a bed sheet and quickly put him into the coffin.

Li Tianyi stopped reading when he got to this point. He wanted to go home to see his younger sister and Hu Zi and not let them be scared by the crying in the yard.

Besides, Li's mother also had to go to the Jia family to help, so Li Tianyi had to stay at home to look after the two younger ones.

There was a shouting sound behind him, which should be the lifting of the coffin lid. As soon as Li Tianyi entered the house, he saw his mother holding his younger sister sitting in the main room, and his younger brother was holding the corner of his mother's clothes and snuggling there.

"Mom, give me my little sister, and you go to the Jia family. They are sealing the coffin now, and the funeral will probably be held soon."

"Okay, you watch them first, and I'll come back to cook for you at noon." As she said that, she handed the little sister in her arms to Li Tianyi. Li Tianyi took the little sister and kissed her on her little face. The little sister giggled.

Hu Zi also followed Li's mother and wanted to go out with her, but was ruthlessly rejected by Li's mother. "Hu Zi, play with your brother at home and don't go out. If you dare to sneak out, I will let your brother beat you."

Li Tianyi's face was full of black lines. He must have become a child in this family. But it really worked for Hu Zi. Hu Zi didn't dare to go out with his mother, so he could only come to Li Tianyi in a depressed mood.

Li Tianyi ignored him. Hu Zi had a carefree personality. His emotions would only last for a moment, and then he would become heartless again.

The younger sister was jumping in her elder brother's arms, and Li Tianyi had to hold her tightly. At this moment, Yi Zhonghai's voice shouting came from outside the door. The men in the yard carried the coffin and slowly left the courtyard. Jia Zhang's crying also faded away with the coffin.

The cemetery on their side is outside the city, so Yi Zhonghai had already negotiated with a donkey cart that often carries coffins. Now the donkey cart is waiting outside the gate of the courtyard. As long as Lao Jia's coffin is carried out of the gate, it can be transported out of the city by the donkey cart.

Now the alleys are crowded with people watching the fun. This is the gossip complex of the Chinese people. No matter what time it is, the factor of gossip is everywhere.

Before, Yi Zhonghai took money from Jia Zhang for the banquet, and sure enough, Jia Zhang gave Yi Zhonghai 5 yuan, which was the 5 yuan later.

This amount of money was not enough even if he didn't buy meat. Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to go home and get 10 yuan and give it to He Daqing, asking He Daqing to buy vegetables and prepare the banquet.

He Daqing was unwilling. He could earn 5 yuan by cooking a banquet, but this time he not only cooked for free, but also had to buy vegetables himself? If the banquet was not good, Jia Zhang would definitely make trouble for him.

He Daqing turned his eyes and looked at Yan Bugui who was standing at the gate. "Teacher Yan, I'm very busy here. Can you go buy some vegetables? We can try to prepare the banquet as soon as possible."

Yan Bugui thought about it and agreed, "Okay, Daqing, give me the money, and I'll take Jie Cheng with me."

He Daqing quickly handed 15 yuan to Yan Bugui, who was a little dumbfounded. "That's all? Are you still going to buy meat?"

"That's all Lao Yi gave me. Buy some meat to heat up the pot. Also buy some vegetables and cornmeal. That should be enough."

"Well, hey, this is stingy, what kind of banquet can you prepare with such a small amount of money?" Yan Bugui muttered as he walked. He Daqing ignored him and went back to the house to get out his cooking utensils.

Sha Zhu didn't go to work today. He had to help his father cook. He was watching his sister in the house. The rain this year was only about the same weight as Hu Zi's. He Daqing was afraid of scaring He Yushui, so he kept Sha Zhu in the house.

Li Tianyi waited until the yard was quiet before he brought Hu Zi and held his little sister out. Yan Jiefang from Yan Bugui's family also ran out. Then the two of them started chattering together, and finally ran madly towards the central courtyard.

Li Tianyi also came to the central courtyard with his sister. At this time, there were several women in the Jia family helping to clean up the house, including Li's mother. Li Tianyi did not go forward. The pool of blood at the door had not been cleaned up yet. They were probably all disgusted by this, so they waited for Jia Zhang to come back and clean it up themselves.

At this time, He Daqing took Shazhu and Yushui out of the house. When Yushui saw Li Tianyi, he immediately ran up to him and called out sweetly, "Brother Tianyi, Jingjing, you guys are out to play."

Li Tianyi liked the cute little girl in front of him very much. Although He Daqing had no wife in his house and Shazhu was sloppy all day long, Xiao Yushui was always cleaned up. Li Tianyi always took out a piece of candy from his pocket and handed it to Xiao Yushui: "Yushui, have some candy."

Xiao Yushui took the candy, raised her little face and said with a smile: "Thank you, Brother Tianyi."