Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Seeing the chaos, Director Wang gestured to the crowd below and said loudly, "Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the courtyard fell silent, and even Madam Jia dared not speak again.

If we were to say who Jia Zhangshi feared most, it would undoubtedly be Director Wang, who truly had the ability to send her back to her hometown.

Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Director Wang then said loudly, "These are particularly difficult times, and I know that everyone must be having a hard time. However, I believe that these difficult days will not last long. During this period, I hope that everyone in your hospital can help each other and get through this together. I came here today mainly to inform everyone of this matter. Now that the notification has been given, everyone can leave."

After saying that, Director Wang left with Secretary Chen without waiting for anyone to speak.

"Hey, Director Wang, don't go! What will we do without you?"

"Director Wang, Director Wang!"

Everyone in the courtyard was as anxious as ants on a hot pan, but Director Wang still had to go to other courtyards to deliver the news. How could he have time to waste too much time in one courtyard?

After Director Wang left, everyone in the courtyard immediately erupted in discussion.

"Uncle, Uncle, Uncle, you are the ones in charge of the courtyard, you can't just ignore us."

"Yes, gentlemen, Director Wang just said that the wealthy families in our compound should help the poor families. In my family, only Erleng earns money to support our family of five. We are one of the poorest families in the compound. If you don't help us, we won't be able to survive."

As soon as Erleng's mother finished speaking, Jia Zhangshi stood up and shouted, "Dead fish eyes, you're talking nonsense! My family is the poorest in the courtyard. If anyone should help, they should help my Jia family first. At least your family has urban household registration and a quota. What do I have? I don't even have a quota. I don't care. My Jia family is the poorest family in the courtyard, so everyone should help my Jia family."

Erleng's mother retorted without backing down, "Jia Zhangshi, you're talking nonsense! You're a rural resident and you think you're right? Who told you to switch to an urban resident's household registration when you could? You wanted to use the rural land to collect rent, but when you were collecting rent, you didn't give us even half a pound of cornmeal. Now that there's no more ration, who can you blame? You brought this on yourself."

Jia Zhangshi glared fiercely at Er Leng's mother with her triangular eyes, put one hand on her hip, pointed at Er Leng's mother, and shouted loudly with her neck stiff.

"Dead fish eyes, do you want to start a fight? You wait, I'm coming to your house in a bit."

"Who's afraid of who? Come on, do you really think I'm afraid of you?"

"Quiet."

Seeing that Jia Zhangshi and Erleng's mother were arguing more and more fiercely, Yan Fugui stepped forward to stop them.

Seeing this, Jia Zhangshi and Erleng's mother stopped arguing. Arguing wouldn't get them anywhere, and they wanted to see how the three elders would handle the matter. If they weren't satisfied with how the three elders handled it, then they could start arguing again.

Seeing that neither Yi Zhonghai nor Liu Haizhong wanted to speak, Yan Fugui had no choice but to step forward and say loudly, "Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me first."

"As you all heard what Director Wang said, the quota has been reduced by another 10%, and it is indeed very difficult for some of the more disadvantaged families in our hospital to make a living."

"As the third oldest in the compound, I fully support what Director Wang just said. There are several relatively well-off families in our compound, including Wang Feng's family, and the families of the first and second oldest. Now, you three families, please state your position: are you willing to help the families in need in the compound to the best of your ability?"

Wang Feng didn't want to go too far, lest others become envious and report him for eating meat, causing unnecessary trouble. After all, everyone knew that his and Jingru's combined monthly salary was only 166 yuan.

He also had a lot of cornmeal in his storage space, which he used to feed pigs. He immediately smiled and nodded, "Then I'll produce ten catties of cornmeal a month."

Yi Zhonghai nodded and said, "As the oldest man in the courtyard, I'll contribute five yuan, plus ten jin of cornmeal."

Seeing this, Liu Haizhong quickly chimed in, "As the second oldest man in the courtyard, I'll also contribute five yuan, plus ten jin of cornmeal."

Yan Fugui nodded: "Wang Feng, Uncle Yi, and Uncle Er have already expressed their support. Our No. 95 compound has always been an advanced compound. The three of them are willing to help families in need and get through this difficult time together. But let's take a look at which families in our compound are in need."

"Okay, let me give you a few examples first, and you can see if they're correct. One of the truly impoverished families in our compound is Old Chen. He's unemployed and has two grandsons to support. He makes a living by taking on odd jobs as a carpenter, and his income is unstable. Does anyone have any objections?"

"Old Chen's family is indeed having a tough time, I have no objection."

"I have no objection either."

"That's right. Old Chen doesn't get much work usually. I often see him taking his two grandsons out to collect garbage. Their family is quite poor. I have no objection to them being classified as a poor family."

Yan Fugui nodded and continued, "There's also Old Liu in our compound. His son died in a work accident a couple of years ago, and his daughter-in-law ran off with someone else. He has no children or grandchildren, so now Old Liu is the only one left to make a living by scavenging for garbage. His family is considered to be in dire straits, right?"

No one spoke. If someone like Old Liu isn't considered a poor household, then there are no poor households at all.

"Next, let's talk about Aunt Wu. As you all know, Aunt Wu was widowed early and supported Ya Ya by pasting matchboxes. She earned less than ten yuan a month, and their average living expenses were less than five yuan. Originally, their family was considered to be in poverty, but recently Aunt Wu went to work in the steel rolling mill and even started working in the kitchen, so they are no longer considered to be in poverty."

Aunt Wu nodded. She had no objections and didn't want to be considered a poor household in the courtyard. As far as she was concerned, things were already very good.

She looked at Wang Feng and Qin Jingru with gratitude. If it weren't for them, with the quota reduced by another 10%, she probably wouldn't even be able to support herself by just making matchboxes, let alone have a daughter like Yaya.

Yan Fugui's statements were well-founded and fairly fair, and no one had any objections.

"Now let's talk about Erleng's family. Erleng is now working and earning money to support a family of five. Before, because the ration quota was not reduced, their family's per capita living expenses were more than five yuan, which did not meet the standard for a poor household. Now, although the ration quota has been reduced by 20%, the family can barely make ends meet if they save a little."

As soon as Yan Fugui said this, everyone else had no problem with it, but Erleng's mother immediately objected and started shouting loudly.

"Uncle, this won't do. I don't agree. Even if our family's per capita living expenses reach five yuan, what can five yuan buy these days? Cornmeal is 8 cents a pound now."

Erleng's wife chimed in, "Third Uncle, I agree that Old Chen and Old Liu, whom you mentioned earlier, are indeed less fortunate than us because they don't have a stable income. But Erleng only earns 27.5 yuan a month and has to support this whole family. How can he not be considered a poor household?"