Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

When the past was mentioned, a hint of dissatisfaction and resentment appeared on the father-in-law's face. He thought for a moment before answering.

"What the superiors do, the subordinates follow..."

"Yan Fugui has been scheming his whole life. Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiecheng are not much worse than Yan Fugui in this regard."

"If they really get married in the future, and if their wives are a bit more capable, Yan Fugui and his wife might actually be kicked out of the courtyard by Yan Jiecheng and his family."

"However, given Yan Fugui's shrewdness, he certainly won't let himself be kicked out so easily."

"So their family will continue to cause trouble in the future."

At this point, the father-in-law didn't forget to remind his youngest daughter: "You can enjoy the joke, but whatever you do, don't get involved..."

“Everyone in their family is cunning, and two of them have been to prison. If they get extorted, they'll be the ones who suffer in the end.”

Chen Li answered confidently, "Dad, don't worry, I'm not that stupid..."

"I just want to see Yan Fugui make a fool of himself. It would be best to see this scoundrel Yan Fugui being kicked out of the courtyard by his own son. That would be truly satisfying."

At this point, Chen Li changed the subject and continued, "By the way, brother-in-law..."

"Compared to the chaos at Yan Fugui's house, the Jia family in the middle courtyard seems to have done nothing wrong."

"Could it be that that rascal Banggeng turned out to be a good guy after spending three years in prison?"

"I heard that Yi Zhonghai hired someone to repair his house today, and divided his own house into three parts, setting out two small single rooms for Jia Zhangshi and Banggeng to live in."

"Bang Geng didn't cause any trouble. He went out to look for work with Qin Huairu early this morning."

In the end, Chen Li, the sister-in-law, showed a look of disappointment on her face.

This time it was Wang Dong who spoke, replying with a cold snort: "Little sister..."

As the old saying goes, "It's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature."

"That scoundrel Banggeng has been bad for twenty years, how could he possibly reform after just three years in jail?"

"The reason we didn't cause any trouble in the courtyard last night is probably because we had no choice but to submit to the rules."

“The Jia family doesn’t even have a house now. If they don’t obediently bow down to Yi Zhonghai, Banggeng might not even have a place to live and will have to sleep under bridges.”

"No matter how much resentment and dissatisfaction Bang Geng felt, he dared not vent it in front of Yi Zhonghai and could only endure it."

"Just you wait and see..."

"Once Banggeng finds a job in Beijing and has money, the Jia family will definitely not be as peaceful as they were last night. There will be plenty of excitement for us to see in the future."

"After all, the current Bang Geng is not married yet."

"Although the three Yan brothers are not married, at least they still have houses and places to live."

"As long as I save enough money, I can find a partner and get married."

"Bang Geng is different; he not only has no money, but he doesn't even have a house to get married."

“It’s not like a few years ago. A year or two ago, the Jia family could have bought back their original house in the middle courtyard for two thousand yuan.”

“Now that housing prices in Beijing have skyrocketed, even 5,000 yuan can’t buy back the Jia family’s original house.”

"Bang Geng has been to prison and is uneducated, so he can only do manual labor to earn money. At the current wage level in Beijing, it would take him almost ten years to buy a house without eating or drinking."

"But the housing prices in Beijing won't stop rising just because the Jia family can't afford a house."

"With the population increasing and housing not increasing much, housing prices in Beijing are destined to continue to soar. Bang Geng might never have the chance to buy back the Jia family's original house." "Without a house, Bang Geng can't get married, and they'll definitely have a fight over the house."

"Little sister, do you believe it or not... in less than six months, something will happen to the Jia family in the middle courtyard."

"It's good that something happened, I want them to be in trouble." Chen Li shouted with a look of great revenge.

“They are even more hateful than the Yan family in the front yard. Not only did they scheme against us, but they also wanted to send my brother-in-law in, ruining his life. In the future, they would rather make them lose everything and be driven out of the courtyard to beg for food outside.”

Wang Dong hadn't expected that his sister-in-law, who wasn't directly involved, would harbor such deep resentment towards the Jia family. However, he didn't say much, because he himself also hated the Jia family to the core.

…………

The side room in the backyard.

Seeing her son Zhang Linbao bring back a huge bag of New Year's goods as if they were free, including pork, mutton, chicken, duck, and even cucumbers and tomatoes that are hard to find in winter, Aunt Zhang was shocked.

My first instinct was that my son must have made some ill-gotten gains outside, otherwise where would he get so much money to buy all these New Year's goods?

Putting aside everything else, the pork, chicken, mutton, duck, and fish that Zhang Linbao just brought back would be worth forty or fifty yuan in today's market, not to mention a big bag of cucumbers and tomatoes that are only available in the summer.

He immediately asked with a worried expression, "Son..."

"Where did all this New Year's goods come from? There are only two of us, we can't possibly eat that much... You're about to graduate, so please don't make any mistakes while buying New Year's goods for your family, as it could affect your job placement after graduation."

Zhang Linbao realized that Aunt Zhang had misunderstood, and quickly explained, "Mom..."

"What are you thinking...?"

"These New Year's goods were all given to me by Brother Wang from the front yard..."

"Wang Dong?" Hearing those two words, Aunt Zhang's worried expression didn't ease. Instead, she frowned and continued to ask, "Even though I'm helping them take care of their child, they wouldn't send us so many New Year's gifts..."

"You must have made a mistake..."

"I'm going to go and ask him right now, please don't send the New Year's gifts meant for other people to our house."

Zhang Linbao quickly stopped Aunt Zhang, who was about to leave: "Mom..."

"No mistake, all these New Year's goods are ours..."

After carrying the last bag of New Year's goods into the house, Zhang Linbao quickly closed the door and, after confirming that no one was outside, explained to Aunt Zhang, "Not only are you doing things for Brother Wang and his wife, but I will also do things for Brother Wang after I graduate."

"As for what exactly I'm going to do, I'll keep that a secret for now. Anyway, it's not anything illegal or disorderly."

"And another thing is that this matter must never be told to anyone."

"The New Year's goods I just brought back are not only for you, Brother Wang, but half of them are for me too."

"I just looked... there are all kinds of food in the New Year's goods. We hardly need to buy any food this year. We've been eating meat every meal lately and we still can't finish all this New Year's goods."

Zhang Linbao has always been a very opinionated person. When Zhang Linbao said that he would work for Wang Dong after graduation, Zhang's mother was very surprised, but in the end she chose to respect her son's decision.

The worry on her face vanished instantly, and she began to tidy up the New Year's goods piled on the floor in front of her, muttering to herself as she did so, "Son..."

"Now that you're graduating soon, it's time to find a wife..."

"Give me a big, healthy son, and our family will be so lively."

"Unlike now, it's just the two of us at home celebrating the New Year; it's so lonely." (End of Chapter)