The entire courtyard is full of villains

He paused, then continued, "It's fine if they take over the job and live a good life, but Old Xie's wife used to be mistreated by her mother-in-law, and now that she's the mother-in-law, she's mistreating her daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law wasn't getting enough to eat at home, and ran away in a fit of anger. Now the old couple has to take care of their grandson themselves, and they only get anxious when their rations run out. If they had listened to the factory, the mother and son would have had rations now, and would the mother have mistreated her child? She left the child with them, which is why she's so thin. Every time I see Old Xie, I want to kick him a couple of times."

"No, no, no, Erhe, this is their family matter after all," Guan Xue advised.

"I was just kidding. If I really kicked Lao Xie, do you believe he'd immediately lie on the ground and try to extort money from me?" Zhang Erhe muttered. "Let me tell you, Guan Xue, there's no one easy to deal with in this yard. If I ever get any meat or anything, I'll try to get it from my father-in-law's place. And you, Jiao Jiao," he looked at Zhang Jiao, "don't tell anyone what we eat at home, understand?"

"I understand!" Zhang Jiao quickly covered her mouth with her small hand and nodded vigorously.

Chapter 207 What Did I Do Wrong?

Just as Zhang Erhe was instructing his daughter, Yan Jiefang, who had just returned from a meeting at the Intermediate People's Court, told Yang Ruihua about the reduction in rations in the west wing across the street.

Yang Ruihua asked with a worried look, "Jiefang, did you hear me clearly? Is it really a reduction in rations?"

Yan Jiefang replied impatiently, "That's exactly what that former clerk Wang said. I'm an adult, and I'm not deaf."

"Oh dear!" Yang Ruihua slapped her thigh. "What are we going to do? Our family is now counting on replacing refined grains with coarse grains to make do with what we have. If we reduce the rations again, we won't be able to survive!"

"Cough cough..." Yan Bugui struggled to sit up on the bed. "Has the ration been reduced again?"

"Old Yan, you should lie down!" Yang Ruihua hurriedly advised. "The doctor said you need to lie down more, so you don't get up and catch a cold, and don't cause any more trouble at home."

Yan Bugui glared at her disapprovingly—when he was riding the small cart, he asked her to change to bigger wheels so he could move it back himself, but this old woman insisted that small wheels were cheaper, and as a result, they got soaked in the heavy rain that day. None of the people in the courtyard are any good; he used to do some work for the courtyard when he was the third uncle, but now they won't even lend him a hand.

"Dad, Mom," Yan Jiefang hesitated for a long time before finally speaking, "I've made up my mind. From now on, you can prepare my grain separately every month, instead of sharing it with everyone else."

"Huh?" Yang Ruihua's expression changed. "Jiefang, what do you mean? You want to split up the family?"

“It’s not about dividing the family!” Yan Jiefang also got angry. “I’ve calculated it. Before, out of the 27 jin of grain a month, at least seven or eight jin went to the family, leaving me hungry every day when I went out to work. Now that the ration has been reduced, if I still have to subsidize the family, I’ll starve to death! Dad, Mom, don’t blame me, I want to live well too. This family depends on me to keep going. If I get sick from hunger, the family will be finished.”

This may sound crude, but it makes perfect sense. Yan Bugui and Yang Ruihua both understood that without Yan Jiefang holding things together, the family would have fallen apart long ago.

Yan Bugui glanced at Yang Ruihua, who was struggling, and then at Yan Jiefang, who was resolute. He sighed and said, "Old Yang, starting tomorrow, give Jiecheng one cornbread a day, and Jiedi two cornbreads a day."

"Old Yan!" Tears welled up in Yang Ruihua's eyes. "Jie Cheng and Jie Di are your own flesh and blood too!"

“I know.” Tears streamed down Yan Bugui’s gaunt face. “But I also want to raise them, but this world won’t allow it. The rations have already been reduced this year, and there’s no hope for a good harvest. Next year will only be harder. If I don’t harden my heart now, my whole family will starve to death next year!” He wiped away his tears, his voice trembling. “Old Yang, don’t blame me for being heartless. Blame this world.” With that, he shivered as he lay back down on the bed.

Upon hearing this, Yan Jiefang opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he said nothing and slowly walked out of the house.

Yang Ruihua sat there, her expression shifting between anger and uncertainty. All four children were her precious darlings, but Old Yan was right; they couldn't let the whole family perish because of the mentally challenged Jie Cheng. She struggled to her feet and went to the main room—where they had set up a makeshift bed for Yan Jie Cheng ever since he became mentally challenged.

Looking at the sleeping Yan Jiecheng, Yang Ruihua's tears fell again: "Jiecheng, don't blame your father and mother... In your next life, be reborn into a good family, and don't come to a poor family like ours again..." As she spoke, tears blurred her vision, and she didn't see that Yan Jiecheng, wrapped in a quilt, trembled involuntarily.

After Yang Ruihua left, Yan Jiecheng slowly turned around on the ground. He had heard everything his family had said. "That damned Yan Bugui, he actually wanted to starve me to death! He made it sound so noble, why didn't he eat more? Your death, you cripple, would be a relief for the family!"

Actually, Yan Jiecheng had recovered more than four months ago, but he refused to accept reality. Now, things are so much better; he can eat while lying down, even if he's not full, he can at least get by. He originally wanted to continue pretending to be mentally challenged, but now that his family is starving, he knows he has to take action for his own survival.

The next morning, Yan Jiecheng lay pretending to be asleep as usual. Yan Jiefang came over and roughly kicked him twice, waking him up. He then took him out to the toilet and, upon returning, tied him to the door knocker with a rope. Yang Ruihua came over and handed him a steamed bun, but couldn't bear to look at him any longer, and turned to go to work.

Yan Jiecheng slowly finished eating the cornbread. Around nine o'clock, guessing that Yan Bugui was fast asleep, he quietly stood up, untied the rope, took out the family's household registration book and grain ration book from under the wardrobe, and ran straight to the street office—he wanted to completely separate from Yan Bugui.

Upon arriving at the neighborhood office, after registering and entering, they bumped into Wang Qiuju coming out of the room. "Are you Yan Jiecheng?" Although Yan Jiecheng had lost a lot of weight and was unshaven, Wang Qiuju recognized him immediately; it was she and Zhang Guowei who had brought him back from the Qianmen Police Station. "You're all better now?"

"Director Wang," Yan Jiecheng licked his lips, slightly out of breath from running, "I'm all better."

"That's good." Wang Qiuju nodded. "What are you doing...?"

Yan Jiecheng waved the household registration book and grain ration book in his hand: "Director Wang, I want to separate the family."

"What? You want to separate from the family too?" Wang Qiuju's face darkened. The brothers Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu had already separated from their father in the courtyard house at No. 95, and unexpectedly Yan Jiecheng followed suit as soon as he recovered.

“Yes.” Yan Jiecheng didn’t care about Wang Qiuju’s expression. If they didn’t separate the family soon, he would really starve to death.

"Why do you want to separate from the family?"

Yan Jiecheng didn't want to air his dirty laundry in public, so he stammered. Wang Qiuju sensed something was wrong: "Yan Jiecheng, are you planning something secret again?"

"No, Director Wang, I didn't!" Yan Jiecheng hurriedly protested.

"Who stole your dad's yellow croaker last time?"

Yan Jiecheng's face flushed red, and he decided to go all out: "Anyway, I'm going to separate from Yan Bugui!"

“The neighborhood committee won’t get involved unless you give a legitimate reason.” Wang Qiuju turned to leave.

"Director Wang, I'll talk! I'll talk!" Yan Jiecheng said anxiously.

Wang Qiuju turned her head, her face flushed, and shouted, "Yan Bugui and the others are going to starve me! Just because the ration was reduced and the family isn't getting enough to eat, they want to use my ration to help the family. I don't want to starve to death, so I want to split up the family!"

Upon hearing this, everyone from the neighborhood office gathered around—it's the 1960s, and this kind of thing still happens! Wang Qiuju immediately put on a stern face: "Go back, all of you!"

Although everyone returned to their offices, they all pressed their faces against the windows to watch. Wang Qiuju had no choice but to glare fiercely at Yan Jiecheng and lead him into her office.

"Yan Jiecheng, you can't just make up stories like this," Wang Qiuju said, her face ashen.

"I didn't make this up!" Yan Jiecheng hurriedly defended himself. "Director Wang, didn't you come to our hospital last night to announce the reduction in rations?"

Wang Qiuju nodded.

"After you left, Yan Jiefang came back and told Yan Bugui and my mother the news," Yan Jiecheng continued. "Yan Jiefang said he had to go to work and couldn't give the family any more food. So Yan Bugui decided to only give me one cornbread a day. Director Wang, I'm a grown man, do you think I can survive on just one cornbread a day? I just want to live a good life, what's wrong with that?"

After listening, Wang Qiuju's initial suspicion and indignation gradually changed. Yan Jiecheng's words were straightforward; all he wanted was to survive. She sighed, "This matter... I need to go to your hospital tonight to discuss it with your parents."

"What's there to discuss?" Yan Jiecheng said anxiously. "I'm willing to split up the family business, I don't want anything, I just want to keep my quota!"

“That won’t do either. Dividing the family property isn’t something you can decide on your own,” Wang Qiuju insisted. “I’ll go to your house tonight and we’ll talk about it then.”

Chapter 208 Full of Unexpected Trouble

At the steel rolling mill, Zhang Erhe had just arrived at his office in the morning when Li Huaide called, asking him to come to his office.

When Zhang Erhe arrived at Li Huaide's office, he saw that Li's eyes were red and swollen, and the ashtray on his desk was piled high with cigarette butts. Li Huaide gestured for him to sit down as he entered, saying, "Erhe, sit down."

Zhang Erhe sat down, casually took out a cigarette, lit one, and handed it to Li Huaide: "Want another one?"

"Have a smoke." Li Huaide took the cigarette, struck a match, and lit it. "Did your department notify us last night?"

"We've been notified that the quota has been reduced again," Zhang Erhe replied.

“Yes.” Li Huaide exhaled a heavy smoke ring. “I received the notice just before I was about to leave work yesterday. I didn’t sleep all night, just thinking about where to get food.” He opened his mouth and pointed to the blisters on his cheek. “Look at this.”

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Zhang Erhe advised. "The reduction in quotas is a city-wide policy, not just a policy for our factory."

“It wasn’t a problem before, but not long ago the factory received a batch of precision workpieces that the military urgently needed.” Li Huaide frowned. “The factory absolutely cannot stop operating during this period, but the workers will soon be starving. How are they supposed to work?”

He obtained these workpieces from the military through his father-in-law's connections, hoping to use this to build relationships, but unexpectedly, the quota was reduced. He couldn't afford to delay the military's work.

"Erhe, I beg you, please think of a way to get some grain back, enough to last at least a month. If we can complete this batch, we won't be in such a hurry to reduce the quota later."

Zhang Erhe smiled wryly: "Brother Li, if you only want a small amount, I can still find a way. But how much grain does our factory consume in a month? It's at least 40,000 jin. I couldn't get that much even if I sold myself."

Li Huaide knew the difficulty was there. He had tried every possible solution last night, but apart from his father-in-law giving him 5000 jin of cornmeal, there was no other response. "Sigh..." he sighed deeply, his face full of worry.

"Old Li, are you brave?" Zhang Erhe suddenly asked.

"What's wrong?" Li Huaide looked up.

“I know a group of people who travel by water,” Zhang Erhe said, pointing south. “Our grain harvest is poor here, but the south hasn’t been affected. If you’re willing to take the risk, I can contact them to get some grain from the south and then haul it from the coast. But this is extremely risky.”

"Really?" Li Huaide exclaimed excitedly.

Zhang Erhe nodded: "But the risk is extremely high. The grain can only be unloaded at non-port locations near Tianjin."

Li Huaide jumped up, paced around the room a few times, then suddenly grabbed the phone and roughly dialed a number. It took a while for the call to connect. He explained the situation to his father-in-law, who replied after a long pause, saying it was possible, but Li Huaide had to personally lead the haul, and the grain could only be used at the steel mill, absolutely not allowed on the black market.

Li Huaide immediately agreed, and after hanging up the phone, he came over: "Erhe, you heard it too, my father-in-law agreed. How much grain can you get?"

Zhang Erhe calculated for a moment: "It should be at least 20 jin."

"Then let's do it!" Li Huaide slammed his hand on the table. "I know that people who do this kind of business are risking their lives and don't trust outsiders. I'll leave this to you. You can give me money if I need it, and you can give me people if I need them. Just don't involve your sister-in-law, and I'll give you anything."

"Come on," Zhang Erhe waved his hand, "You can have your sister-in-law, I can't handle her."

Li Huaide was amused and patted him hard on the shoulder: "You want it? I won't give it to you. Erhe, I'm counting on you for this!"

“Alright, Brother Li. Then I won’t stand on ceremony.” Zhang Erhe said, “First, give me your car. I’ll go to Tianjin to find them. Driving is safer than taking the train. Second, I need to get a gun from the security department. This job is risky, and I won’t feel at ease without a weapon. Third, after it’s done, sell me that small, dilapidated courtyard that Lou Bancheng handed over to the factory next to my yard at a discount. I’ll build a few rooms myself. That’s all.”

“No problem!” Li Huaide slammed his hand on the table. “I’ll give you the place now, you can drive the car away, and I’ll take you to collect the weapons.”

Li Huaide acted swiftly and decisively. He immediately took Zhang Erhe to the security department to collect a pistol and bullets, then had the driver fill up the car with gas and bring it over. He also hand-wrote a letter of introduction stamped with the factory director's seal: "Erhe, this letter of introduction can handle the official matters. The rest is up to you."

"Okay." Zhang Erhe nodded and drove out of the steel rolling mill.

Meanwhile, Yang Ruihua rushed home after get off work at noon, needing to take care of a mentally challenged man and a paralyzed man. But as soon as she opened the door, she felt something was wrong. After helping Yan Bugui to the toilet and taking him back, she suddenly remembered—Yan Jiecheng, whom Yan Jiefang had tied to the door that morning, was gone.

"Old Yan, have you seen the solution completed?" Yang Ruihua asked.

"Wasn't Jie Cheng tied to the door by the Liberation Army?" Yan Bugui replied irritably.

"He's not here!"

Yan Bugui panicked: "Didn't you see it when you came in?"

Yang Ruihua shook her head: "No."

"He didn't run away on his own, did he?" Yang Ruihua asked worriedly.

“It’s fine if he runs away,” Yan Bugui said slowly. “It’s better for him to survive outside than to starve to death in front of us.”

"Then...we're not going to look anymore?" Yang Ruihua asked tentatively.

"Let's not look for him anymore. Let him be. Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a cold snort came from the doorway. Yan Jiecheng walked in from outside, his face dark: "You've finally said what's on your minds."

Yang Ruihua turned her head: "Jie Cheng? You're back? Where did you go?"

Yan Bugui stared intently at Yan Jiecheng: "Are you alright?"

Yan Jiecheng nodded, his eyes icy: "If I weren't better, would I still hear my own parents say such cold words?"

When did you get better?

"Last night, when you were discussing how to starve me to death," Yan Jiecheng said viciously.

Yang Ruihua looked at Yan Bugui, then at Yan Jiecheng, as if she finally understood, and suddenly covered her face and cried.

Yan Jiecheng glanced at her: "What are you crying for? Crocodile tears. When we were discussing starving me to death last night, why didn't you stand up and say a word of justice?"

These words pierced Yang Ruihua's heart like needles, and she cried even harder: "Jiecheng, you four siblings are all flesh and blood of my own flesh and blood, the palms and backs of my hands are all my flesh and blood! Do you think I want to give you up? I am more heartbroken than anyone else, but what can I do about this life!"

Yan Jiecheng listened to her sobbing and felt a slight pang in his heart, but he still turned to stare at Yan Bugui: "Then why don't you starve him to death? He's paralyzed in bed and is of no use to the family. Why didn't you choose him?"

"Jie Cheng, what nonsense are you spouting!" Yang Ruihua exclaimed in shock and anger. "He's your father!"