Siheyuan: The Era of Struggle

Chapter 23 Jia Zhang was shot
Because we still have to wait for inspection and acceptance from our superiors, the production process transformation of the first and second workshops has been scheduled to proceed together next week.

After get off work on Saturday, Yang Ning rode his bicycle to go home.

Ever since she knew her son had started an internship, Yang Liu told Yang Ning to go home on his weekly day off if he had nothing to do.

All parents are like this. Even though they look disgusted, they still want their children to come home more often.

As soon as he arrived at the gate of the courtyard, Yang Ning found that the courtyard was very quiet.

"That's not right. I don't have to go to work tomorrow, so why is the courtyard so quiet?"

While thinking, Yang Ning pushed his bicycle inside.

"Mom, Mom." When Yang Ning arrived at the door of his house, he found that there was still a light inside, so he shouted loudly.

crunch~

The door opened a crack, and Yang Liu poked her head out. Seeing that it was Yang Ning, she quickly pulled him into the room.

As Yang Ning looked puzzled, Yang Liu watched him put his bicycle away and asked angrily, "Why are you so loud?"

When Yang Ning entered the room, he found his father Yang Dagen sitting on the kang, smoking a cigarette with a sad look on his face. This made Yang Ning even more worried.

"What happened at home?"

Yang Ning's voice trembled a little when he asked this question.

You know, because of his work, I haven't seen my father smoking since he moved to the city.

Because blacksmithing is exposed to smoke every day, which is bad for the lungs, my mother had asked my father to quit smoking a long time ago.

But at this moment Yang Dagen was smoking and Yang Liushi hadn't stopped him, so something big must have happened.

"Jia Zhang was shot today!"

The mother looked at her father who was still smoking with concern and said something hesitantly.

"What the hell? Who was shot?"

Yang Ning didn't react for a while. After hearing it clearly, he looked at his father and then at his mother, with expressions of disbelief on their faces.

"Jia Zhang, Jia Dongxu's mother, was shot today."

Yang Dagen spoke at this time, threw the cigarette in his hand to the ground, and twisted it hard with his foot.

Then he looked at his son and said sullenly, "Speaking of which, this matter is somewhat related to our family."

Yang Liu was also annoyed at this time, and muttered softly: "I didn't know she would do such a thing at that time. If I knew what she did at that time, I..."

Yang Liu didn't know what to say for a moment.

"The subdistrict office took Jia Zhang back for questioning and found out that she had smoked opium before and was a repeat offender."

"Plus, she had a bad attitude when she first arrived and was unwilling to cooperate. During the interrogation, she even scratched and injured a police officer. She was sentenced to death for multiple crimes."

After saying such a long paragraph, Yang Dagen looked a little sad.

After all, he was a healthy person and a neighbor for more than ten years. Who could have thought that he would disappear all of a sudden because of his family?

"Alas, if I hadn't beaten her, Jia Zhang wouldn't have developed a smoking urge because of the pain, and this kind of thing wouldn't have happened later." Yang Liu also looked remorseful at this time.

The original intention was just to teach Jia Zhang a lesson, but who could have thought that it would lead to such a big incident.

More than a dozen people knelt in a row, and after a series of loud claps, they all turned into corpses. Thinking about the way everyone looked at them when they came back from watching the execution today, Yang Liushi could feel the obvious sense of alienation.

After all, no one wants to deal with a neighbor who wants to kill someone for a few pieces of candy, although Jia Zhang's death was not caused by those pieces of candy.

But people would not think so. If Yang Liu had not beaten Jia Zhang for a few pieces of candy, Jia Zhang would not have had her addiction to smoking. If Jia Zhang had not had her addiction to smoking, she would not have been caught on the spot by Director Wang. If she had not been caught on the spot by Director Wang, her opium trafficking would not have been discovered, and Jia Zhang would not have died.

The logic is a perfect closed loop, so everything is the fault of the Yang family's pettiness.

It had only been a few years since the ban on smoking opium was introduced in this era, and people subconsciously did not think that selling and smoking opium was such a heinous crime. So in everyone's eyes, although Jia Zhang was a bad person, she was not to the point where she deserved to be put to death.

However, the final outcome of the Jia Zhang family had a great impact on the hearts and minds of those living at the bottom of society.

Just like that, a living person was gone.

Not to mention the neighbors, even Yang Dagen and the Yang Liu couple are still feeling upset and think that everything is their fault.

"Dad, Mom, how much money is left at home?"

After figuring out what happened, Yang Ning didn't know how to comfort his parents.

Yang Ning wanted to make today's parents realize the harm of drugs like people in decades to come, but he felt that he at least didn't have the ability to do so.

The dangers of drugs have been publicized for a long time, but these neighbors don’t think it’s a big deal. After all, they have been living like this for hundreds of years.

Even in the old city before liberation, people still regarded opium as a hard currency and a means of preserving their property. At that time, every family had a few pieces of opium.

Since it is impossible to change the concepts of these neighbors and parents in a short time, Yang Ning plans to move.

Move to a place where no one knows them, or continue living here. Before people's mindsets change, their family will have to live under everyone's pointing and criticizing.

Living in such an environment would not only be detrimental to the growth of the two monsters, but if any accidents happened, Yang Ningke would really regret it.

"You want money?" When Yang Liu heard her son's words, she looked at Yang Ning in confusion.

You have to know that since their son received the subsidy four years ago, he hasn't asked them for money for a long time.

"We can't live here anymore. It's time to move."

Yang Ning looked at his parents who were still puzzled and spoke directly.

"Why can't we live here? It's our private house. Even if they have a problem with us, they can't chase us away, right?"

When Yang Liu heard this, she became anxious. These rooms were earned by her hard work in the Lou family for more than ten years. They were the guarantee of her status in the family. How could they be thrown away?
"How will our family survive after we move?"

Yang Dagen lit a cigarette and asked his eldest son.

"Although you have a subsidy, it is given by the state. We cannot take advantage of it. If I still work in the steel mill after moving, what difference does it make whether I move or not?"

"You, the head of the family..." When Yang Liu heard what Yang Dagen said, she became anxious.

"Don't say anything." Yang Dagen yelled at Yang Liushi, who was rare, and then glanced at Yang Ning and said to him, "The money my family has saved over the years is enough to buy a courtyard in the capital, but it is only enough to buy a courtyard."

When Yang Ning heard his father's words, he understood what his father meant: Aren't you, Yang Ning, very capable? Do you want our family to move?

Okay, then you should solve the livelihood of your family first. I am a blacksmith and I only make a living by my craft. The money I save through hard work is only enough to buy a house.

If you don't have the ability to solve the problem of food for your family after moving, then get out of here.

　Thanks to Wentiandao for the monthly ticket, and thanks to Lakeside Town Hogg for the 1000 reward
　　
　
(End of this chapter)