Siheyuan: Yan Jiekuang's carefree life

At the same time, the brothers Yan Jiekuang and Yan Jiefang returned home. As soon as they entered the house, Yan Jiekuang asked, "Dad, what are the neighbors talking about? Why is it so lively?!"

Yan Bugui replied, "What else can we discuss?! Yi Zhonghai! Yi Zhonghai's wife divorced him. I don't know what's wrong with Jia Zhang today. She actually jumped out and wanted to occupy Yi Zhonghai's house. After a big fuss, the people from the street office came, and Jia Zhang finally behaved. The deaf old lady is not simple. She probably calculated that she would have such a disaster. She had already transferred her house to Yi Zhonghai's wife."

Yan Jiekuang said, "Dad, Yi Zhonghai's ex-wife can't keep the house in the backyard."

"Why?!" Yan Bugui and Yan Jiefang looked at Yan Jiekuang at the same time.

Yan Jiekuang replied: "Have you forgotten who lives next door to the deaf old lady? He is in power now. He is targeting the deaf old lady right from the start, aiming to kill three birds with one stone."

"Kill three birds with one stone?!" Yan Jiefang frowned, with a puzzled expression on his face. After Yan Jiekuang's reminder, Yan Bugui reacted and said, "Everyone says that Liu Haizhong is a big idiot. After all this time, the idiot has also started to play tricks."

Yan Jiekuang went on to say: "No matter how well Liu Haizhong planned, it was useless. In the end, he only helped others."

"Old Yan! Old Yan!" At this time, the third aunt ran in from outside.

Yan Bugui asked, "Old lady, why are you so flustered? What happened?!"

The third aunt said, "Old Yan, I just heard that Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady were taken away."

Yan Bugui asked: "Where was he taken?!"

The third aunt replied, "I don't know! If you want to know, you can only ask Liu Haizhong. Oh, right! Liu Guiying just went to the street office. From what she said, it seems that she wants to rent out the houses in the backyard and the middle yard."

Yan Bugui asked: "She rented out the house, where does she live?!"

Yan Jiekuang said, "Dad, why are you so stupid! This place is a troubled place for Yi Zhonghai's wife. She will definitely not have a good life if she stays here. I saw that day that the people who searched the house didn't find anything from Yi Zhonghai's house. I guess Yi Zhonghai's savings are still at home. If I were Yi Zhonghai's wife, I would take the savings now and go to a place where there are no people to live out the rest of my life."

The third aunt said, "I heard from Liu Guiying that her hometown is in Chengde. She has a brother in her hometown. I guess she is likely to go back to live with her brother."

Yan Bugui sighed and said, "It's good that she's gone."

A little after 4:30 in the afternoon, Liu Guiying came back. Auntie 3 saw that Liu Guiying looked a little strange, so she pulled her aside and asked, "Guying, are you okay?!"

"It's OK!" Liu Guiying replied, "I entrusted the houses in the middle and back yards to the street office. I asked them to help me rent out the houses. I will deal with some things tomorrow, and I will go back to my hometown the day after tomorrow morning."

The third aunt asked, "Is there anyone else in your hometown?!"

Liu Guiying nodded and replied, "There are other people. I sent them a telegram this morning. I received a call back from them in the afternoon. They are willing to take me in. The people from the street office just told me that Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady were sent on a train to the outside of the country today." As she spoke, Liu Guiying couldn't help but shed tears.

At first, Liu Guiying's tears were like a trickle, but soon they were like a waterfall. Anyway, Liu Guiying's crying was sad to hear. The third aunt stood by, not knowing how to comfort her. After a while, Liu Guiying slowly controlled her emotions and said, "Old Yan's, I'm going back first."

The third aunt looked at Liu Guiying's back, sighed, and muttered, "What a sin!"

Time passed little by little. Not long after Liu Guiying left the courtyard, the street office arranged for four families to move in. A family of three named Han lived in the east wing of the middle courtyard. A boiler worker named Shi from the steel mill lived in the utility room and kitchen of Yi Zhonghai's house. The two rooms of the deaf old lady in the backyard were occupied by a policeman named Ma Tianming, and the two brothers named Cheng lived in the utility room.

Liu Haizhong and Jia Zhangshi were both angry for several days because they didn't get the house. In June 1967, Liu Haizhong was praised by Li Huaide for doing a lot of things. Liu Haizhong was complacent and thought that he would soon get rid of the word "deputy" on his head and become the leader of the labor dispute team in the factory. Liu Haizhong didn't expect that Li Huaide would appoint his mortal enemy Qian Dafa as the leader of the labor dispute team. And the first thing Qian Dafa did when he took office was to deal with Liu Haizhong.

Faced with the evidence, Liu Haizhong could only obediently spit out the things he had embezzled during the house search. Li Huaide spared Liu Haizhong's life because Liu Haizhong was still loyal to him. He let Liu Haizhong return to the workshop. As the saying goes, the more high-profile he was before, the more miserable he is now. When Liu Haizhong was the deputy captain of the labor dispute team, he offended too many people. When he returned to the workshop, the workers began to exclude him. Anyway, Liu Haizhong's life was not easy. Even Liu Guangtian, who had just been brought into the factory by him, was implicated and driven out of the steel mill. He became an unemployed vagrant again, running around the city with his little brothers.

"Old Yan!" In early July, Yan Bugui was walking home when he heard someone calling him from behind. Yan Bugui stopped and turned to look behind him. Yan Bugui saw Wang Xia and greeted her with a smile: "Director Wang, where are you going?!"

Wang Xia said, "I just sent a letter to Yi Zhonghai's wife. There was news from the farm that Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady were both dead."

Yan Bugui was shocked when he heard the news and asked, "When did they die?!"

Wang Xia sighed and said, "When they arrived at the farm, it was snowing heavily. They didn't bring enough clothes, and Yi Zhonghai was injured. They died within two months of arriving there. The roof of the house where the deaf old lady lived collapsed under the weight of the snow. When the snow stopped and they dug her out of the snow, she was already dead."

Yan Bugui sighed and said, "A perfectly good person is gone just like that."

Wang Xia then asked, "Old Yan, I heard that you are now unemployed at home?!"

Yan Bugui smiled bitterly and said, "I am also lucky. Otherwise, I would be like those colleagues now, either sweeping the streets or cleaning the toilets."

Wang Xia heard helplessness and bitterness in Yan Bugui's words. Wang Xia swallowed the words of comfort just as they came to her lips. She had no idea how to comfort Yan Bugui. Wang Xia chatted with Yan Bugui for a few more words and then left. After Wang Xia walked away, Yan Bugui continued to walk home.

About 20 minutes later, Yan Bugui returned home and sat in a chair in a daze. The third aunt, who came in with food, saw that Yan Bugui looked a little strange, and hurriedly put the food in her hands on the table, walked to Yan Bugui in two steps, reached out and touched Yan Bugui's forehead, and asked, "Old Yan, are you okay?!"

Yan Bugui came back to his senses and said, "I'm fine! When I came back just now, I met Director Wang from the Street Office on the road. She told me that Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady were dead."