Siheyuan: Yan Jiekuang's carefree life

Jia Zhang took a pair of chopsticks, picked up a piece of food and put it into her mouth. While chewing, she said, "The food in the factory is still the best! It's full of oil and water!"

Jia Dongxu took two bites and reminded, "Mom, don't forget to leave some for the stick."

"Don't worry! I won't forget it." After saying that, Jia Zhang quickly put two more mouthfuls of food into her mouth, then walked to the bed reluctantly, carried Banggeng to the table, handed him half a steamed bread and a pair of chopsticks, and said, "Eat!"

Banggeng took a look at the food in the lunch box and said with some disdain: "Grandma! I don't want to eat this food! I want to eat meat!"

"Be good, Banggeng! When your father gets his salary, grandma will ask your mother to buy you meat!" Jia Zhang coaxed Qin Huairu while scolding her in her heart, but it was useless.

"No! No! I want to eat meat! I want to eat meat now!" Bang Geng didn't listen to Jia Zhang's words at all, and still pestered for meat. At this time, Jia Dongxu got angry, "Pa!" He slapped Bang Geng directly. Bang Geng was stunned for a moment. Jia Zhang was also stunned for a moment. Jia Dongxu said angrily: "Eat meat! Eat meat! You only know how to eat meat! Such a delicious dish, if you don't want to eat it, then don't eat it!"

Bang Geng realized that his tried-and-true routine didn't work today, so he just behaved himself and ate his meal obediently.

When they had almost finished eating the stalks, Jia Zhang sighed and said, "Dongxu, if this continues, what will our family do?!"

Jia Dongxu said, "Mom, what are you worried about?! I'll go back to work when my leg is healed. Our family will get better." Then Jia Dongxu rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "Mom! Wait for Liu Haizhong to get off work tonight and go find him. Liu Haizhong is a bureaucrat fanatic and a fool. Tell him about your grievances and ask him to come forward and hold a fundraiser for our family in the courtyard."

Jia Zhang immediately understood Jia Dongxu's intention, smiled and gave Jia Dongxu a thumbs up, saying: "Dongxu, you are still smart."

Jia Dongxu was like a woman bragging about her own melons. He smiled and agreed, "Of course?! I didn't want to scheme before. If we really want to scheme, no one in this courtyard can compare to me!"

"Dad! I'm hungry!" At this moment, Xiaodang ran to Jia Dongxu and looked at him with pitiful eyes. Jia Dongxu sighed, took half a steamed bread from the table and handed it to Xiaodang, saying, "Take it and eat it!"

Xiaodang took the steamed bread, walked obediently to the small stool against the wall, sat down, and began to eat it with relish.

Time passed quickly, and it was three o'clock in the afternoon. Auntie, who was washing Yan Jie Di's hair at the doorstep, saw Yan Jie Kuang coming back and asked with a smile: "Jie Kuang, why are you back so early today?!"

"I guess he's here to wait for news about the house!" Without waiting for Yan Jiekuang to answer, Yan Bugui's voice rang out first.

The third aunt smiled and asked, "Old Yan, did things go smoothly?!"

Yan Bugui replied, "It went smoothly! How could it not go smoothly when I went?! Because of our special situation, the street office gave us two and a half rooms. The gatehouse and the two back rooms behind the gatehouse were rented to us. Jie Kuang is still young, so the house can only be temporarily registered in my name. When you reach the age, I will transfer the house to you." After that, Yan Bugui took out the key.

Yan Jiekuang took the key impatiently, walked to the back room, unlocked the door, and pushed it open. The moment the door opened, a strong musty smell rushed out of the room. Yan Jiekuang hurriedly held his breath, stepped back a few steps, and hid to the side. After about ten minutes, when the smell had dissipated a little, Yan Jiekuang walked in.

Yan Bugui followed him into the back house and said, "This room and the one next to it are the two largest rooms in this row of back houses." Then he asked, "Jie Kuang, how are you going to renovate this house?!"

Yan Jiekuang said, "Our kitchen is just a small shed at the door. We can't cook when it's windy and rainy. I plan to convert the half of the gatehouse into a kitchen, and connect tap water to the kitchen. My mother won't have to worry about cooking on windy and rainy days. For these two rooms, we'll have someone repair the roof and walls first, and then open a window in each room. In this way, the back room will be transformed from a dark room to a bright room. There's a sewer just outside the wall. We can separate a room and make a bathroom. We won't have to go outside to use the toilet in the future."

Yan Bugui smiled and said, "Your plan is good. But it will cost a lot of money. Do you have that much money?!"

Yan Jiekuang tilted his head to look at his father and said, "Dad, you underestimate me too much." Yan Jiekuang pretended to put his hand into his trouser pocket, but in fact he took out a stack of money from the space, shook it in front of Yan Bugui, then smeared some saliva on his fingers and counted them in front of Yan Bugui. After counting about thirty big unity bills, Yan Jiekuang put the remaining money back into his pocket, and then handed the money to Yan Bugui and said, "Dad, you are the head of our family. It is your responsibility to repair the house. But as a son, I can't be ignorant. I will pay the money and you can find the workers. If the money for repairing the house is not enough, you can pay it first. We will make up for it when the time comes."

Yan Bugui was immediately happy when he saw the money in his hand. He said with a smile: "Well! After all this time, you have already plotted against your father?!"

Yan Jiekuang smiled and replied, "Dad, I didn't plot against you! It was Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai, one willing to fight and the other willing to be beaten."

Yan Bugui asked: "What if I don't take this job?!"

Yan Jiekuang replied: "It's fine if you don't accept it. Are you just going to watch me get cheated?! What I took out is real money. Don't you feel bad?! If you don't feel bad, then you are not Yan Bugui!"

"Puchi!" Before Yan Bugui could say anything, the third aunt standing next to him couldn't help laughing. The third aunt said, "Old Yan, you have been calculating all your life, but you are not as good as your son."

Yan Bugui echoed, "This is called a disciple surpassing his master. All right! I'll go find some workers later." Then Yan Bugui put away the money, walked up to Yan Jiekuang with a smile, and said, "Jiekuang, can you get a few more bicycles?!"

Yan Jiekuang instinctively took two steps to the side and said, "Dad, do you think the recycling station is owned by our family?! We can get whatever we want?! Now the bicycles are completely broken and can't be repaired. Who would buy bicycles to the recycling station?! We are lucky to get these few. What else do you want?!"

After hearing what Yan Jiekuang said, Yan Bugui couldn't help but cough twice to cover up his embarrassment and said, "Jiekuang, look, they have come to me for help. I am embarrassed to refuse."

Yan Jiekuang said, "Here's how! You tell your colleagues to collect the parts themselves. When they have enough parts, I will help them assemble them. I will only charge them five dollars for each car."

The three aunts asked, "Jie Kuang, they only charge five dollars for one car, isn't that a little too little?!"

Yan Jiekuang replied, "Mom! It's a lot. Five dollars is enough for one person's living expenses for a month." Then he looked at Yan Bugui and asked, "Dad, do you have classes tomorrow afternoon?!"

Yan Bugui replied, "No!" Then he asked, "What's the matter?!"

Yan Jiekuang said, "I have two physical education classes tomorrow afternoon. I will take a leave and come back then. You should come back early as well. There is still a bicycle at home that has not been assembled. When I assemble it tomorrow, you can watch from the side. Once you remember the assembly sequence, you can take that one in your hands. Once you are familiar with the assembly work, the assembly of the bicycle will be yours."