Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

As supplies became increasingly scarce in the city, pork became more and more expensive and difficult to obtain, resulting in the price of meat and vegetables rising from 25 cents to 50 cents.

A meal with three meat dishes meant that He Yuzhu spent one dollar and fifty cents on his lunch.

At this rate of spending, the ten dollars He Yuzhu just earned wouldn't last even ten days.

As for Qin Huairu, she didn't care where He Yuzhu got the money to buy food for her. As long as she could get benefits, she would just lie on He Yuzhu and continue to suck his blood.

As for whether He Yuzhu would end up in a dead end and lose everything because of this, it had nothing to do with him.

Just when Qin Huai was forcing He Yuzhu to borrow money from Wang Dong continuously like a blood sucker, the third uncle Yan Fugui once again found Yi Zhonghai.

Huang Longfei and Tang Dashan share a lunch box of leftovers every day.

As the person in charge of the small kitchen at the steel rolling mill, Wang Dong also brings back a box of leftovers to the courtyard every day and gives them to several poor households in the courtyard in turn.

Although there is no meat in the leftovers from the small kitchen, there is a lot of oil and water.

No matter how bad it is, it is still more nutritious than the boiled cabbage and boiled radish that some poor families eat every day.

The complexion of those children improved at a speed visible to the naked eye, which shows how much benefit the leftovers brought to them.

Yan Fugui saw it all and was anxious. He wished that Yi Zhonghai would call a meeting for the entire hospital right away and get all the residents to force out the leftovers that Wang Dong brought back every day so that everyone could eat together.

Although this would mean that everyone in the Yan family would only get a little leftovers, it would still be better than getting nothing every day as it is now.

…………

The home of Yi Zhonghai in the Central Courtyard.

As soon as Yan Fugui entered the door, he started complaining to Yi Zhonghai.

They acted as if they couldn't survive without Wang Dongjia's leftovers, and forced Yi Zhonghai to convene a meeting of the whole hospital as soon as possible, otherwise Yi Zhonghai would pay for the Yan family out of his own pocket.

"Old Yan... I've kept everything you said in mind. I've already informed Old Liu, and we can call a meeting of the entire hospital at any time."

"Wang Dong is becoming more and more undisciplined in the courtyard, causing the prestige of the three of us masters in the courtyard to decline. Lao Liu didn't say anything, but he has been unhappy for a long time. He hopes that we will severely punish Wang Dong, teach him a lesson, and re-establish the prestige of the three of us masters in the courtyard."

Yan Fugui's face immediately became expectant, and he continued to ask, "Have all the residents greeted you?"

"certainly……"

Yi Zhonghai answered with a calm expression.

"He Yuzhu from the Central Courtyard and the Jia family all support me."

"The deaf old lady in the backyard and several residents who work as fitters in the steel mill must also support us."

"With the three of us, there will definitely be no problem with more than half the number of people."

"By then, even if Wang Dong has objections, the minority will have to obey the majority and have to accept the rules set by everyone."

"Then shall we hold a meeting of the entire institute tonight?" Yan Fugui became more and more excited as he listened, and immediately stood up to propose it.

In the past period of time, Yi Zhonghai and He Yuzhu suffered several heavy losses at the hands of Xu Damao, losing seven or eight hundred yuan. Yi Zhonghai was so angry that he had no place to vent.

In addition, Xu Damao has been very close to Wang Dong recently, and the two serious losses he suffered at the hands of Xu Damao seemed to be related to Wang Dong. Yi Zhonghai became increasingly dissatisfied with Wang Dong.

He decided to take the opportunity to give Wang Dong a good beating, vent out his pent-up anger, and let Wang Dong know that he, a senior official, was not someone who could be easily bullied.

He immediately replied: "Then spread the news and hold a meeting of the whole institute tonight..."

…………

The central courtyard of a quadrangle.

When Wang Dong appeared in the middle courtyard with Tang Dashan and Chen Jun, holding a stool, most of the residents in the courtyard had already arrived. Compared with the previous obscurity, when Wang Dong entered the middle courtyard, almost every resident greeted him, even Qin Huairu was no exception.

As for the greetings from Yi Zhonghai and Yan Fugui, Wang Dong pretended not to hear them and sat down next to Xu Damao with a stool.

After several days of treatment, Xu Damao could no longer stay in the hospital and went back to the courtyard to recuperate with bandages on his body.

As soon as Wang Dong sat down, he greeted him with a smile: "Dongzi..."

"Xiao'e just brought back a chicken from her mother's house. Tomorrow is a good day off. How about coming to my house for lunch at noon? And help me stew this old hen."

"Xiao'e's cooking skills are too poor. I'm afraid such a good old hen will be wasted."

Wang Dong shook his head: "Da Mao..."

"It's not that I don't give you face, I just can't leave..."

"I have banquets to prepare for lunch and dinner tomorrow. Huang Longfei and Tang Dashan are both aware of this matter. If you don't believe me, you can go ask them."

"If you, Damao, trust me, I will stew the chicken for you early tomorrow morning, and you and Xiao'e can enjoy it slowly..."

"We both work at the steel mill. We see each other every day. We don't have to worry about not having a meal together."

A look of disappointment quickly flashed across Xu Damao's face.

He really wanted to have a deeper friendship with Wang Dong, but Wang Dong always refused with various reasons, and he didn't know why.

But no matter what, the fact that Wang Dong agreed to stew the chicken for him showed that he still wanted to be friends with him, and that was enough for Xu Damao.

The disappointed expression on his face was quickly replaced by a smile, and he immediately replied: "Okay..."

"I know you are a busy person, thank you..."

"I will ask Xiao'e to send half of the chicken to Chen Li. Children need nutrition when they are studying at school."

Wang Dong did not refuse the benefits offered by Xu Damao.

After all, this is what you deserve.

With my current cooking skills, the reward for cooking a meal outside is at least five dollars. Xu Damao only gave me half of the stewed chicken, so I actually lost money.

Seeing Wang Dong and Xu Damao sitting on the chairs talking and laughing, completely ignoring the greetings from him and Yan Fugui, Yi Zhonghai's face instantly darkened.

He was even more certain that Xu Damao had Wang Dong behind him giving him advice.

Otherwise, with Xu Damao's ability, he would definitely not be his opponent.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been defeated by me time and time again, and even the pillars were no match for me.

But in order to ensure the smooth convening of the next general meeting, Yi Zhonghai finally endured it.

Seeing that all the residents in the yard were present, he took a deep breath and stood up from his chair: "Good evening, everyone..."

"The general meeting that will take place soon concerns the vital interests of every resident in the courtyard. Please listen carefully and make the decision that is most beneficial to you."

"The third uncle came to me these days and said that the food supply in the food book was getting less and less, and it was not enough to eat, so he had to go to the pigeon market to buy food."

"But the price of food in the pigeon market is too high. With limited wages, we can't buy much food. I believe many residents in our yard are running out of food."

"As the eldest brother in the yard, I cannot just watch everyone go hungry."

"This whole institute meeting is specially convened to help everyone solve this problem." (End of this chapter)