Siheyuan: Struggle in the Red Era

By the time the police had asked the people in the compound about what happened yesterday, it was already late and everyone in the compound was in a hurry to go to work.

Secretary Wang announced: "Tonight, we will hold a meeting to explain the situation in your compound. At the same time, we will also read out the opinions on how to deal with the three correspondents in your compound."

The police also explained: "The cause and effect of yesterday's incident are very clear. Since the person involved, Comrade Xiao Li, agreed not to pursue the legal responsibility of the Jia family, the Jia family is now ordered to compensate Comrade Xiao Li for the money he lost."

No one in the Jia family dared to object. Didn't they see that the eldest master had been defeated and didn't know whether he would be dismissed in the evening? How could they dare to jump around?

Jia Dongxu said repeatedly: "Don't worry, Public Security Comrade, I will definitely compensate Xiao Li. Xiao Li, I'm really sorry. My family shouldn't have eaten your meat. I promise I won't do it again in the future."

After hearing this, Xiao Li curled his lips and was too lazy to argue anymore.

When the police heard that he said stealing was taking again, they just frowned and let him go. It would be better to wait until the evening when Officer Wang deals with things in the yard. The police force is too tight now and they really can't take care of so many things.

As the working crowd left, the Jia family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law hid in the house, and the people in the yard dispersed as there was no excitement to watch.

It's early in the morning and there are so many things to do. How can we just sit in the yard and chat?

Chen Zhaodi also went back to the backyard.

Her house is on the east side of the backyard. To enter from the moon gate on the west side, you have to pass the deaf old lady's house.

The sun is shining brightly today, and it feels warm on people. Normally, the deaf old lady would put a chair at the door and sit in the sun, but today, her door and even the windows were closed.

Chen Zhaodi was curious, so she went to the back half of the main house where her parents lived, took a bowl and stuck it against the west wall, listening quietly.

The main room of her house was right next to the deaf old lady's room. As far as she knew, the back half was also the location of the deaf old lady's bedroom.

The sound insulation in this old-style house is really poor. She just listened and actually heard something.

"Old lady, I didn't expect that Xiao Li, that bastard, would really dare to call the police." It was Yi Zhonghai from the voice. Unexpectedly, he didn't go to work in the morning, but came to the deaf old lady to ask for advice.

"Oh, you are too careless. Little Li just moved in, and you haven't figured out what kind of person he is yet. You shouldn't put pressure on him." This is the voice of the deaf old lady.

"Everyone else was able to suppress this before, but who knew that Xiao Li would be so undisciplined." Yi Zhonghai's voice was filled with indignation.

"You also said that he is a technical secondary school student. How can technical secondary school students be the same? He can read books, has teachers to teach him, and has brains. You can't fool him with your tricks."

"What should we do now? Secretary Wang will come to hold a meeting tonight. If I don't think of a solution, I will be fired."

"And today, that kid specifically asked Secretary Wang about his authority. From now on, how can we do things in the compound?"

"Why are you so anxious? Even if you are not a boss anymore, you are still a senior worker in the factory. Most of the people living in this yard are from your factory. As long as you have a say in the factory, who dares not listen to you?"

"It's different even if you listen to it."

"Don't worry, besides you, who else can be the boss in the middle courtyard? Also, isn't Shazhu coming back from cooking soon? When he comes back, treat him well."

"This kid is very reckless and has a mean mouth. If you treat him well, you will have to wait for him to clean up his mess. Is it worth it?"

"No matter how unworthy it is, isn't it more worthy than your good disciple's mother? If the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law hadn't eaten someone's meat and refused to compensate, would it have come to this? As a result, her family's affairs were easily passed over, and you, an old man, might be killed tonight. Is there anyone in their family who will come to comfort you?"

After a moment of silence, the two began talking again.

The deaf old lady said, "I have said it before, Jia Zhang is a cheap person, and she is a scoundrel. If she gets money, she will never get it back. In the future, the Jia family will have a hard time. As a master, when the apprentice begs you for help, will you help him?"

"Her family lives a good life. Both the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law have food to earn in the countryside. In the city, Dongxu's salary is also good. Why would she need to ask me for help?" Yi Zhonghai's voice was full of indifference.

"It's easy now, but what if his family has more children in a few years? His family only has one room, and there is no room for more children. He wants you, the master, to help him get more rooms. Do you want to help? If the money he earns is not enough to spend, do you want to subsidize him? Is your apprentice smart? Can he increase his salary in a short period of time?"

Next door fell silent again.

Chen Zhaodi thought to herself that this deaf old lady was really shrewd and had already figured out the situation of the Jia family.

Isn't this the case with the Jia family? After a few years, they had too many children, not enough money to spend, and not enough houses to live in. By 65 years when the TV series begins, the Jia family had three rooms. Obviously, the Jia family did not meet the housing distribution policy, so they relied on Yi Zhonghai and were allocated two southern rooms.

The original residents need to be relocated and housing needs to be allocated to those who do not meet the policy requirements. The cost in this process will definitely be huge. Who else can pay for it?

Besides the house, there is life.

During the rural reforms in 58, the Jia family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law could not get food unless they went to the countryside to work and earn work points. At the same time, the tightening of the urban household registration migration policy also cut off the Jia family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law's hopes of migrating their household registration, resulting in only one person in the Jia family with an urban household registration.

That’s not all. Food rations were imposed on urban residents, which meant that only one person in their family of five got food rations, while the others could only buy food at negotiated prices.

From not having to spend money to buy food to having to pay a high price to buy negotiated food, the difference in money is huge.

The Jia family's life immediately fell into a precipice of decline.

Then came an even bigger blow. In the three years starting in 59, it was basically impossible to buy negotiated grain. The price of grain in Pigeon City soared. In the last year or so, it was rarely available even on the black market, and even if it was available, it was priced sky-high.

When white flour was sold according to the grain coupons at 1.8 yuan per pound, a pound of fine grain coupons cost three yuan. Can you believe it?

For a family with a household structure like the Jia family, such food prices are absolutely a disaster.

If the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the Jia family went back to the countryside to work and earn food at this time, or at least Jia Zhang went back to the countryside, Jia Dongxu might be able to survive. But can Yi Zhonghai let Jia Dongxu do this?

If he really did that, would he still be able to promote his ideas of respecting the old and loving the young in the courtyard? Would he be able to rest assured that Jia Dongxu would take care of him in his old age?

But if he doesn't do this, how much money will Yi Zhonghai have to give to the Jia family?

The conversation in the room started again.

"But, Shazhu still has a father." Yi Zhonghai's muffled voice came.

"So what if he has a father? Shazhu is a grateful child. If you help him more often, he will remember your kindness."

"Besides, aren't you afraid that you will be demoted to your position as the boss? You should be nicer to Sha Zhu."

"How to say?"

"If someone provokes Shazhu, he will definitely be very angry. If you treat him well, he will listen to you. If he gets into trouble, you can mediate and calm him down. If you mediate more, your prestige will increase, right?"

Yi Zhonghai's voice was a little hesitant: "But, everyone in the compound knows Sha Zhu's temper, so how dare they provoke him?"

The deaf old lady's voice was filled with laughter: "Isn't that bad boy from the Xu family coming back to learn how to project movies? He has a mean mouth, isn't he? You can think of a way to make them fight each other."