Sha Zhu's Rebirth in the Courtyard: Starting with Hitting Someone in the Head

Chapter 54 The Days of Beasts

In August 1955, the pilot program for joint public-private ownership began in the cotton and general merchandise industry. The first few private shops near Qianmen hung up new signs, white with black lettering, proclaiming them as "Joint Public-Private Ownership Store of [Store Name]".

The department store where Yan Bugui worked was on the list. On the day the work team arrived, he stood behind the counter, the abacus beads clicking away, his mind racing.

The work group spoke with him. A young officer flipped through his file, his brow furrowing. "Yan Bugui, a small business owner, detained for fifteen days for falsely accusing someone." The officer looked up at him. "With your situation, the accountant is no longer suitable. Report to the back warehouse and work as a handyman."

He stood in the warehouse, surrounded by stacks of crates, dust swirling in the sunlight. He picked up a broom and began sweeping, then wiped the shelves, and finally moved the crates.

At lunchtime in the cafeteria, his former colleagues from the accounting department were sitting at one table. He walked over with his lunchbox, and the two of them moved to another table with their lunchboxes.

He sat alone, swallowing mouthfuls of steamed buns made from two different kinds of dough along with stewed cabbage.

When he got home that evening, he put his payslip on the table. His basic salary was thirty yuan, plus a 14% cost-of-living allowance, bringing his take-home pay to thirty-four yuan and eighty cents.

Yang Ruihua picked it up, looked at it, and put it down. She looked at ten-year-old Yan Jiefang, six-year-old Yan Jiekuang, and four- or five-year-old Yan Jiedi. The family of five had less than thirty-five yuan a month; life was going to be tough.

"Old Yan, how about I go to the street office and ask if I can find a job pasting cardboard boxes?" Yang Ruihua said softly.

"I'd better find a job pasting matchboxes. My kids are older now, so they can help out. Every little bit helps." He looked at the payslip on the table, pressing his fingers to his temples.

The money that went missing from the family a few years ago has still not been recovered. Jie Cheng has disappeared without a trace, neither alive nor dead. He never mentions it; Yang Ruihua brought it up a few times, and he just grunted in response.

His wife knew he was suffering, so she didn't say much. He blamed everything on He Yuzhu in his heart, but he dared not show it on his face.

Old Liu had his tongue cut out for spreading rumors, let alone now that he's just a handyman, what can he possibly do?

Liu Haizhong always carries paper and pen in his pocket.

Wang Caifeng stapled a small notebook, about the size of a palm, into his breast pocket, with his pen clipped to the side. It didn't bother him while he was working at the steel mill.

But he's not good at teaching apprentices. When he used to teach apprentices, he was genuinely dedicated. He might grumble and scold, but he never held back any knowledge. The apprentices would watch and listen, and they could master the skills in three months.

Now he can only write the steps on paper, and his apprentice will come over to look at them, nod after reading them, but he doesn't know if his apprentice really understands or just pretends.

He sat on a pile of iron in the corner of the workshop, took out a small notebook and flipped through it; it was full of writing.

He used to know very few characters, but now he has learned quite a few, yet he has become as silent as a block of iron.

Yi Zhonghai worked as a repairman in the self-help production team, earning a little over thirty yuan a month. He lived alone in the east wing, cooking and doing his own housework. He also had to deliver meals to the old lady, which was simply unbearable.

He went to Jia Zhangshi and said that from now on, he and the old lady would be provided with their daily meals, laundry, and cooking by the Jia family, and they would be given grain according to the amount, with a monthly payment of fifteen yuan.

Jia Zhangshi agreed and started that very month. She brought him and the old lady three meals a day. Qin Huairu washed their clothes, scrubbing each piece clean and hanging them to dry in the courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai sat at the door of the east wing, watching Qin Huairu hang clothes to dry. He remembered that Tan Xiulan used to hang clothes to dry like this. He wiped his hands on his apron and glanced back at him.

One day, he came home from get off work carrying a piece of meat, intending to add some dishes to the Jia family's meal. He overheard Jia Dongxu talking in the west wing. "Mom, Yi Zhonghai is a good-for-nothing. The few skills he taught me back then are not as good as what Master Wang taught me for half a year now. I'm not acknowledging this master who has no descendants. Our family shouldn't get too close to him."

Jia Zhangshi said, "Are you stupid? If you don't acknowledge this master, are you going to give me the fifteen yuan he gives you every month? I've made it clear to you all, you can't completely fall out with him, you still have to call him master. That room of his will belong to our family from now on."

Qin Huairu whispered something to the side, and Jia Zhangshi raised her voice: "Huairu is so smart and sensible."

Yi Zhonghai stood outside the window of the west wing, listening to every word. He turned and went back inside. The door closed, and he sat on the bed, his face turned to the wall.

The wall was covered with New Year pictures that Tan Xiulan had put up before, the edges all curled up. He remembered when Jia Dongxu became his apprentice, he knelt down and kowtowed to him, calling him "Master" over and over again.

Now Jia Dongxu has found a new master at the steel rolling mill. He taught him for several years, but in the end, he became a useless person, a sucker who will be exploited to the point of no return.

Old Li from the Intermediate People's Court had long been aware of these things. Every day after finishing his work in the kitchen of the supply and marketing cooperative, he would sit at the door of the main house and smoke. His wife, Tian Xinghua, would tell him how Jia Zhangshi had been badmouthing Yi Zhonghai behind his back during the day.

Old Li also saw how Yi Zhonghai lowered his head and went into the house, and how Jia Dongxu rolled his eyes at Yi Zhonghai. He had been Yi Zhonghai's neighbor for more than ten years and had never seen him so pathetic.

He told these things to Zhu Zi as a joke.

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "Now that the Jia family is doing well, Yi Zhonghai is panicking. He never genuinely taught Jia Dongxu and has always been manipulating the Jia family. This widower spent most of his life scheming against others, and in the end, he's going to be eaten alive by the Jia family. He deserves it."

Old Li shook his head. "The Jia family isn't any better. Jia Zhangshi eats their food and then curses their mother."

He Yuzhu slapped his thigh with a laugh, "I live in the next courtyard and I can't see all this good stuff. Uncle Li, if you have any new information, remember to let me know. Let me have a laugh too."

Late at night, Yi Zhonghai lay awake, staring at the roof beam. He remembered the winter of 1951 when someone had knocked him over with a club. The culprit was still unknown; this trick worked.

He sat up, pulled a wooden stick from under the bed, weighed it in his hand, and swung it around a few times.

Every night, Jia Dongxu had to get up to use the toilet in the middle of the night, walking from the west wing to the public toilet outside the courtyard. The Jia family despised him and even wanted to exploit him for his lack of offspring. That ungrateful Jia Dongxu didn't even acknowledge him as his master.

If you don't agree, I'll let you experience what it's like to be ambushed. I'll cripple you too, just one finger will suffice. When your Jia family is on the verge of collapse, you'll know you can't do without your master.

He Yuzhu hadn't slept either, sitting in the armchair in the main room, drinking tea. The Jia family was getting better off; this wouldn't do. Banggeng was three years old, Jia Dongxu had established himself at the steel mill, and Jia Zhangshi was living comfortably on her monthly allowance of fifteen yuan from the Yi Juehu household. He hadn't even agreed yet, and the Jia family was already thinking about a good life?

In the middle of the night, He Yuzhu lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), his spatial awareness activated, covering a range of thirty meters that perfectly encompassed the passageway. He saw Jia Dongxu emerge, his clothes draped over his shoulders, his slippers making a clattering sound on the blue brick floor, as he walked through the passageway toward the front yard.

He Yuzhu sat up abruptly, slipped on his shoes, and was about to leave when another figure appeared in his senses. It was Yi Zhonghai. He held a wooden stick in his hand and quietly followed Jia Dongxu. The two figures passed through the passageway one after the other and disappeared into the darkness leading to the front yard.

He Yuzhu stood in the room, his mouth slowly widening into a grin. This childless man was thinking the same thing as him.