Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

Of course, although he regretted it, Yi Zhonghai had no intention of reforming himself.

He has abandoned Aunt Zhang in the backyard and has been married to Qin Huairu for more than ten years. It is impossible for him to remarry Aunt Zhang, and Qin Huairu will not divorce her easily. Yi Zhonghai himself does not dare to file for divorce easily, otherwise he will have to share half of his hard-earned retirement money and the house he lives in with Qin Huairu.

Moreover, he couldn't guarantee that Aunt Zhang, whose life was getting better and better, would agree to remarry him.

Today is a good day for Zhang Linbao to be admitted to university.

As Aunt Zhang's ex-husband, he did not invite me to dinner, and he didn't even say hello when they met on the street. This shows that Aunt Zhang in the backyard doesn't want to have anything to do with me at all now, and the hope of their remarriage is even slimmer.

Moreover, there is a college student named Zhang Linbao in the middle. If he doesn't want Aunt Zhang to remarry him, given Aunt Zhang's trust and love for him, she will definitely not go against her son's wishes and remarry him.

After all, Aunt Zhang's future retirement care will still depend on Zhang Linbao, and he will not destroy the relationship between mother and son because of himself.

What if he paid a huge price to divorce Qin Huairu, and in the end Aunt Zhang did not agree to remarry him, that would be a real loss of both the wife and the army. Yi Zhonghai is already old, and half of his body is buried in the earth. He can't afford to gamble, and he dare not gamble.

In this situation, he could only go down the wrong path and continue to find ways to scheme against the Jia family to provide for his retirement.

As for how Qin Huairu would plot against him in the days to come, Yi Zhonghai couldn't control it, and had no way of controlling it. All he wanted was for him to live a peaceful and stable retirement under Qin Huairu's care.

Thinking of this, Yi Zhonghai couldn't help but let out a long sigh and began to plan his future retirement life in his mind.

After much calculation, the more than one thousand yuan I have saved for retirement is still not enough for me to live a stable life in retirement.

I am just over 60 years old now, so I can still live another 15 to 20 years at least.

In the old city, if you want to eat well and have some meat every now and then, you need at least eight yuan a month for living expenses, and that's if you only eat two-grain noodles and no corn noodles.

Qin Huairu also has to earn two or three dollars every month, otherwise Qin Huairu would definitely not take care of herself for no reason.

That’s more than ten dollars a month.

Based on a living expense of ten yuan per month, it would cost at least one thousand eight hundred yuan in fifteen years.

If you live for twenty years, you will need at least twenty four hundred dollars.

The living expenses that Yi Zhonghai had saved with great difficulty only added up to 1,600 yuan, which was not enough for food even if he only lived for 15 years.

In the absence of any income or pension, Yi Zhonghai must fill this gap as soon as possible while he is still able to move.

Otherwise, when I am old and slow in the future, and the retirement money I have saved with great difficulty is all gone, Qin Huairu will definitely not take care of me anymore.

Then I can only lie in bed and wait to die.

Thinking of this, a very bold idea gradually emerged in Yi Zhonghai's mind.

Secretly sell the house you are living in now.

Change it into a few hundred dollars for your retirement.

As for how angry Qin Huairu would be if she couldn't get the house after his death, Yi Zhonghai couldn't control it, because he would be dead by then anyway.

Moreover, Qin Huairu deducted two or three yuan from her food expenses every month as her own pocket money. In the first few years of marriage, she even deducted ten yuan every month as her living expenses.

Over the past few decades, the living expenses that Qin Huairu deducted from me would add up to at least a thousand yuan. This money could be used as compensation for her taking care of me.

The more Yi Zhonghai thought about it, the more he felt that this was feasible.

The lunch of the Jia family and the Yi family ended in silence. Yi Zhonghai was anxious to figure out how to exchange the house he was living in for money without affecting his living, so he hurried back to his room after lunch.

Banggeng couldn't stand the hustle and bustle in the front and middle yards, so he left the courtyard directly after lunch, thinking that out of sight, out of mind.

Jia Zhang continued to sit at the doorstep and curse.

Although I can't eat the banquets in the front and middle courtyards, it's nice to smell the aroma of the meat.

Qin Huairu was hiding in the kitchen cleaning the dishes with a lot on her mind, thinking about how to deduct more living expenses from Yi Zhonghai's pension money so that she could go to the vegetable market to buy some meat for Bang Geng's meal.

Neighbors ate meat and drank wine at banquets in the front and back yards.

The Jia family and the Yi family were isolated and did not receive any invitations, so they could only cook meat at home.

…………

The graduation banquet went very smoothly.

It could be said that it was the best banquet held in Siheyuan in more than ten years. Except for the Jia and Yi families, every neighbor in Siheyuan had a big feast of meat.

In their words: the graduation banquet at noon was better than their New Year’s Eve family reunion dinner.

After the graduation banquet, the courtyard returned to its former tranquility.

Those who should go to work continue to work, those who should go to school continue to go to school, those who don’t have a job go between the streets and various factories to find work, or wash clothes, pick vegetables, and cook in the yard...

Everything seemed in order.

In the front yard of the courtyard, Wang Dong handed a document to Chen Li as soon as he entered the house: "Little sister, I have already arranged your unpaid leave for you."

"After graduating from university, I can either accept the school's assignment or go back to the steel mill directly..."

"But no matter what you choose, your deputy section rank will not change."

"Others can only start as clerks, but you are promoted to deputy section-level cadres, which means you have to go many years less than others."

"This is a good thing..." Father-in-law Chen Dehui said happily with his eyes narrowed.

"Mother, please cook two more dishes tonight so we can celebrate properly."

"Sister Li, school will start in ten days. I have already found out for you that the university you applied for is a boarding school. You can only take one day off a week to go home, and you have to live on campus the rest of the time."

"So we can slowly start preparing tomorrow."

"Whatever you need, buy it slowly. If you don't have the receipt, ask your brother-in-law for help."

"He is now the acting director of the logistics department of the steel mill. There is no bill he cannot get if he wants it."

Chen Li took the certificate issued by the steel mill and replied happily: "Thank you, brother-in-law..."

At this moment, Wang Dong suddenly became very serious and said something that stunned everyone: "Mom and Dad... and my wife..."

"I have something I want to discuss with you: After my younger sister goes to college, she will resign from the steel mill. It would be even better if she can apply for unpaid leave at the steel mill and go out to develop her career..." (End of this chapter)