Siheyuan: Struggle Begins in the 1950s

After the three of them finished talking about the situation in the village, Wang Decai said to Wang Jianjun somewhat awkwardly:

"Jianjun, uncle has something to trouble you with."

"Just tell me what's going on. We're family and we don't have different opinions."

Seeing that Wang Decai was still hesitating, Wang Yueying took over the conversation and said:

"Your uncle is embarrassed to say that I am telling you this, Jianjun, your sister Wenjuan will graduate from junior high school next year. She is a good student, and the school teachers think that she can go to a technical secondary school or high school.

According to the school teacher, her level should be good enough to get into the city, but you also know that our family is in the countryside, and it is not convenient for Wenjuan to go to the city to study and come back. Your uncle wants her to stay at your place for a few days on the weekend. "

Wang Decai said somewhat embarrassedly:

"It was your aunt who insisted on this. I told you that it was already very difficult for you to bring food to our family. It would be ridiculous to entrust Wenjuan to you. Besides, why should Wenjuan, a girl, study so hard? She will have to support her family sooner or later anyway."

After hearing this, Wang Jianjun also felt happy for Wenjuan.

It turns out that my sister is good at studying.

"Uncle, what you said is wrong. It's a good thing for the family's children to have a promising future. How can we distinguish between boys and girls? If she can study, we will definitely find a way to let her study. So, you ask Wenjuan to apply for a school in the city. I will take care of her food and accommodation. Chuxia still has a yard that no one lives in."

When Wang Decai heard what Wang Jianjun said, a stone fell from his heart.

How can a father not be pleased when his daughter is studying hard and making progress?

Wang Jianjun also asked about Wang Jianshe's grades.

Just as he thought, this kid was not cut out for study.

But at least I worked hard and my teacher said I would have no problem graduating from junior high school.

Thinking that this boy had just graduated from junior high school and was still a grown-up, Wang Jianjun suggested that he go with him to the steel rolling mill to take over Wang Defa's position in the future.

This time Wang Decai did not refuse.

Anyway, the favors we owe are getting bigger and bigger, so let the brother and sister pay them back in the future.

After Wang Jianjun returned home, he also told the two women about this.

The two girls also expressed their support for Wang Wenjuan's studies.

Shen Chuxia is a college student. After hearing this, she also said that she could help as a tutor when Wang Wenjuan came to the city in the future.

Wang Jianjun also talked about the current situation in the countryside.

"When you come back next time, try to avoid people or put on some disguise on your face."

“What’s wrong with our faces?”

"Nowadays, people outside are so skinny and hungry. Look at us, none of us looks hungry."

The two sisters looked at each other and realized the difference.

One can tell from their faces that they eat very well.

Wang Jianjun also knew that if people knew that he had enough food to eat, a lot of people would come to him to borrow food.

In order to avoid trouble, Wang Jianjun chose to disguise himself.

As a result, before he could even disguise himself, his second uncle Yan Fugui came to his door.

Wang Jianjun was a little surprised when he saw Yan Fugui, whose eyes were green and whose whole body was shaky. "Second uncle, you are not that hungry, right?"

"I only have one meal a day and I've had diarrhea for a few days, so how can I not be hungry?"

Wang Jianjun also admired Yan Fugui a little.

Other families at least have two meals a day, one dry and one liquid.

Yan Fugui simply worked harder and harder.

"Jianjun, Second Uncle can't stand it anymore. See if you can help Second Uncle buy some food when you go to the countryside. It doesn't matter if it's a little expensive."

Yan Fugui was also forced into a desperate situation.

When food supply was insufficient, he was reluctant to spend extra money to buy it at the pigeon market.

So Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang were asked to go dig wild vegetables and mix them with cornmeal to make steamed bread.

As a result, the two boys didn't know what wild vegetables were edible, so they dug up some poisonous ones.

Then the whole family got sick from eating too much.

Fortunately, eating this wild vegetable only caused diarrhea. Unfortunately, the doctor said that the family needed to supplement their nutrition, otherwise they would suffer from the disease.

So Yan Fugui had to be a little more extravagant this time and eat three meals a day.

"Okay, I'll find a way to get you some."

This is life-saving food, and Wang Jianjun would not refuse.

And the third uncle paid for it.

Wang Jianjun went back to the house and took out a small bag of corn flour that he usually bought for show and gave it to Yan Fugui, saying:

"I have some corn flour here. Take some back with you. I'll bring you some food in a few days."

There was not much corn flour, only about five or six pounds, but Yan Fugui still took it with many thanks.

Sending food these days is a life-saving favor.

This is exactly the effect Wang Jianjun wanted. Exchanging a few pounds of corn flour that he used to feed his livestock for a favor from Yan Fugui, the second uncle, was a win-win situation no matter how he thought about it.

"Uncle, you'd better not go fishing in Shichahai if you're like this. Be careful that any fish can pull you away."

Wang Jianjun saw that he could hardly walk steadily, so he gave him some advice.

"I haven't gone fishing for a few weeks. Now there are people everywhere in Shichahai and West Lake. Those young people have no moral principles and actually cast nets to catch fish."

Speaking of this, Yan Fugui also felt a little sad.

With so many people casting nets to catch fish, how many fish will be left in Shichahai for these fishermen to catch?

After the second uncle was sent away, the first uncle Liu Haizhong came next.

The two seemed to have made an appointment.

The second uncle also suggested that Wang Jianjun help buy some food, and if there was any, it would be better to bring him some eggs.

For someone like Liu Haizhong, giving him a few kilograms of corn flour will have no effect.

So Wang Jianjun first said with embarrassment that eggs were not easy to sell.

Then he said that he would buy him a few eggs for the sake of his uncle.

Liu Haizhong was so delighted to hear these words.

And he said that he would take good care of him in the hospital in the future.

After gaining the friendship of the two uncles, Wang Jianjun no longer planned to sell grain to people in the courtyard.

After all, this matter is easy to be reported.

Although the people in the courtyard were not well fed and were hungry, that was only relative.

Many people in the countryside are now starving to death.

Although Wang Jianjun has not seen it in the newspaper, he can basically confirm this fact.

Sure enough, within a few days, some beggars fleeing famine began to appear in the city.

Most of these people are those who cannot survive in the cities surrounding the old city.

They instinctively rushed towards Sijiu City in groups of three or five.

Although I don’t know if there is any food in Sijiu City.

But Sijiucheng is the capital after all.

If there is no food here, there will be no way to survive anywhere else.

There were not many beggars at the beginning.

But as time went by, the number of beggars increased.

After arriving in Beijing, these people could only live in some messy and dirty places in Beijing.

With the begging came the fear of famine.

Because the people of Beijing heard from these beggars that people had starved to death in many other cities.