The Life of a Son-in-Law in a Courtyard House

Seeing that Wen Xiumei had agreed, Qin Huairu happily grabbed Wen Xiumei's hand and said, "Thank you so much, Auntie."

Wen Xiumei, whose hand was being held by Qin Huairu, subtly pulled it back and said, "It's not certain whether it will work out or not. It's too early to thank me."

Qin Huairu hurriedly said, "Auntie, this is sure to work. We don't need to think too much about it. Just have each family donate one or two kilograms, and that will be fine."

It's definitely not feasible for one family to donate so much, but if everyone contributes a little, like Sha Zhu's family, who eats in the cafeteria every day, their ration can be increased.

Take Yang Dalin for example, he's gotten quite a few good things lately. If he just gives some of them out, it shouldn't be a big problem.

There's also the gatekeeper, Uncle Qi, who works at the grain station. He lives alone, as does Xu Damao, who is also someone who only needs to eat his fill.

These people contribute the lion's share, and the other families contribute less; that could solve our family's big problem.

Upon hearing this, Wen Xiumei realized that Qin Huairu had already set her sights on someone.

The other families are easy to deal with. You can ask Yang Dalin to donate more things to your family. They also have Qi Yulan and her daughter.

You're probably overthinking it.

Wen Xiumei actually often listened to the deaf old lady's ramblings, and she didn't really like Qin Huairu that much.

She liked Jia Dongxu from the Jia family, but she thought Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu were too selfish.

However, it was indeed a good idea, and Wen Xiumei did not intend to give up. She would wait for Yi Zhonghai to come back and talk to him about it.

Yi Zhonghai got off work quite early today, so when Wen Xiumei mentioned this idea, Yi Zhonghai didn't think of any other problems and thought it was a good idea, so he went to discuss it with Liu Haizhong.

Then the two of them made a decision to hold a mutual aid conference.

When Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong discussed it, they realized that they definitely couldn't just help the Jia family.

Jia Dongxu's family wasn't the only one facing an impending food shortage in the courtyard.

Moreover, Yan Bugui from the front yard will definitely cause trouble.

So when the meeting was held that evening, Yi Zhonghai had already come up with a plan.

At 7:30 p.m., in courtyard number 95, the Nth meeting began as usual.

Liu Haizhong and Yi Zhonghai sat under the courtyard lamp in the central courtyard hall.

There was an eight-immortal table in front of me, with only two stools.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong sat separately.

Liu Haizhong spoke first: "Comrades, please be quiet. Today's meeting is something I discussed with an old man and we decided to hold."

Because in our institute, some people have high incomes and some have low incomes, and now it is a year of disaster, we are holding this meeting based on the principle of mutual help.

The aim is for everyone to help families in need and form mutual support pairs.

To help families facing difficulties to get through and overcome their predicament.

Now, let our beloved esteemed elder preside over the meeting.

When the people on the outer circle heard that they were going to donate things, they were all reluctant, and their applause was sparse.

Yi Zhonghai stood up, ignoring the sparse applause, and said with a slight gesture of clapping, "Comrades, our courtyard is an excellent siheyuan (traditional courtyard house), and we've held this title for several years. We've all been neighbors for over a decade."

Although minor frictions are inevitable at times, when facing difficulties, we need to unite and help each other.

This is what truly showcases the excellence of our institute.

If you help others today, others will help you in return.

Some of you may have heard that there was an accident at our factory, whether it was intentional or a genuine accident.

The person is truly gone.

This whole thing kept my second uncle and me up last night. I was wondering if there were other families in our compound facing similar difficulties.

We're all good neighbors; if we had lent a hand at that moment, wouldn't this tragedy have been avoided?

So today, my second uncle and I discussed it and decided to hold a large meeting like this.

If anyone has difficulties, please let us know. We will set a standard and give priority to families with a per capita monthly income of less than five yuan.

Or close to five yuan, since in each family, that five yuan is needed for clothing, heating, food, schooling, and so on.

It doesn't have to be below five yuan. Okay, I'm done. Does anyone want to share their difficulties?

Let's decide how to help each other based on each family's income and the degree of difficulty they face.

After hearing this, everyone looked at each other and understood that they were being asked to donate grain and money.

These days it's so difficult, who would want to do it?

Several families genuinely wanted help, but knew it wouldn't be for free, so they weren't in a hurry to step forward.

Firstly, I'm afraid others will look down on me; secondly, I'm not that shameless; and thirdly, it's about mutual help—I can't just take something from someone for nothing, that's definitely not possible.

There are several reasons why none of them are willing to be the first to step forward.

Yi Zhonghai glanced around and, seeing that no one came out, prepared to say a few more words of encouragement.

Unexpectedly, Yan Bugui coughed and stepped forward first.

Yan Bugui stood in the middle, cupped his hands in greeting to everyone, and said, "Everyone, I think my family, who received help, ranks first."

As everyone knows, although I earn a little over forty yuan a month, I have a large family of six.

My eldest son is getting married soon, and I have three younger children in school.

Upon hearing that it was Yan Bugui, Sha Zhu immediately started arguing, "Six times eight is forty-eight! Old Yan, your family has almost eight yuan per person on average. You're still poor? Do you need everyone's help to get your eldest son married?"

There are many unmarried people in this courtyard; do they all need help? Go downstairs now.

The onlookers, hearing this, thought, "Yes, Sha Zhu is twenty-five and still unmarried, and he hasn't asked for anyone's help. If this starts, everyone will ask for help at their weddings, and that will be terrible!"

Moreover, the Yan family is stingy, not poor, so how can we help Old Master Yan be stingy?

Recently, Yan Laokou was thoroughly humiliated by Yang Dalin. Who's going to tolerate him?

Then everyone started chanting, "That's right, go down, go down..."

Yan Bugui's voice was completely drowned out, and everyone chased him away.

Yan Bugui was so angry he couldn't control everyone in the courtyard, no matter how loud he was.

Having no other choice, he sheepishly returned to sit in front of Yang Ruihua.

Yang Dalin looked around and, in the dim light, found that he could see quite clearly.

Yang Dalin felt that Zhang Meiyun's family, who lived in the back house, was in a difficult situation. Although they each earned six yuan, their family had previously been in dire financial straits and could only earn eighteen yuan a month.

Eighteen yuan is needed for food, drink, heating, and clothing, which is more difficult than for most families.

But she stood there motionless, showing no intention of complaining about being poor.

At this point, Yi Zhonghai spoke up again: "Everyone is right. In our area, we provide emergency relief, not long-term support. We should prioritize families that are about to run out of food or those that urgently need help."

Those who are rich but unwilling to spend money shouldn't step forward and make things difficult for others.

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui's face darkened even further; everyone knew he was being referred to.

Everyone in the courtyard knows that Yan Bugui has saved up a lot of money.

That old guy is really stingy, not really poor.

Donating money to his family and expecting them to help you in return is wishful thinking.

Moreover, Yi Zhonghai's words were widely accepted, leaving Yan Bugui with no choice but to fly into a rage.

There's no way around it; nobody's on my side, so I can't stand alone. It seems I need to find some allies as soon as possible.

Yang Dalin glanced at Zhang Meiyun, then looked at Grandpa Zhao's family in the main room.

Grandpa Zhao sat on a stool, not even thinking of standing up to complain about being poor.