Siheyuan, my new life

When He Daqing walked into the gate of the courtyard house No. 95 carrying two cloth bags, Yan Bugui, who had been waiting there for a long time, came over immediately. His skinny face was full of smiles, but the pair of cunning little eyes behind the glasses were staring at the two cloth bags in He Daqing's hands. He muttered in his heart, "Wow, he only carried one bag when he went there, but he came back with two, and they were all filled with foreign brands of cigarettes. It seemed that it was a return gift from the leader to He Daqing. He had seen all that before, but it was the first time he saw with his own eyes that when he gave a gift to a leader, the return gift was even more precious than the gift. You know, when Yan Bugui lived in the Yan family in the south of the city, he saw his father and eldest brother smoking these two brands of foreign cigarettes many times. He remembered that one was called Camel cigarettes and the other was called Sanwu cigarettes. They were definitely more expensive than the Zhonghua cigarettes that He Daqing took. Yan Bugui, who often resold fine grain coupons, occasionally saw someone's mother selling a few boxes on the black market, and each box was two or three yuan.

Yan Bugui's eyes were filled with jealousy as if they were about to bleed. Why couldn't he encounter such a good thing? But now was not the time to think about these things. He quickly put those random thoughts behind him, smiled dryly and said: "Daqing, no, no, Director He, today I, Yan Bugui, was blinded by greed and said nonsense. Please be magnanimous and forgive me this time. I will never do stupid things again. Please forgive me this time for the sake of our neighbors for so many years. Our whole family depends on my salary to make a living. If I lose my job, what will we six eat and drink?" After saying this, his small eyes stared at He Daqing, hoping that the other party would say words of forgiveness.

Many of the neighbors who were watching the excitement were already whispering, "Yeah, killing is not the right path. If He Daqing really went to Red Star Primary School to report Yan Bugui, how would his family live in the future?"

Hearing the discussions nearby, a smug smile flashed across Yan Bugui's face. These onlookers really helped him invisibly. Even if He Daqing was unhappy, he had to consider the opinions of his neighbors to some extent.

He Daqing was disgusted by Yan Bugui's words. If he hadn't known Yan Bugui's background from Director Lin, he might have been fooled by him. So he sneered and said, "Yan Bugui, just now you asked me to arrange a job for your son Yan Jiecheng with just a promise, and even dragged all the young people of marriageable age in the courtyard to blackmail me morally. Now you are pretending to be pitiful and forcing me with the future life of your family of six. I just want to ask you, Yan Bugui, did I, He Daqing, dig up your Yan family's ancestral graves or throw your Yan family child into the well? Why do you want to ruin my reputation so much?"

Turning his head to look at the neighbors who were watching the fun, He Daqing continued: "Maybe some of you will think that I, He Daqing, am exaggerating, but have you ever thought about what others will think once what Yan Bugui said tonight gets out? And after some gossipers exaggerate, it will become that I, He Daqing, can arrange jobs for all the young people of working age in the No. 95 courtyard, and I, He Daqing, will force Yan Bugui's family of six to death. Who will be responsible if I, He Daqing, am dismissed and lose my job at that time? What about my two children? Is all this caused by me, He Daqing? Am I wronged? Everyone knows how difficult it is to find a job now. I had to beg for help from everyone before I found a job for Zhuzi. This Thanks to Zhuzi's own efforts, he has mastered the cooking skills since he was a child. But Yan Bugui asked me to arrange a job for his son who has not yet graduated from junior high school. Do I, He Daqing, owe him the Yan family? All of you present, think carefully, which one of you has not been taken advantage of by Yan Bugui? He relies on being a shitty steward of the courtyard house, and almost every day he comes home early and blocks the gate of the courtyard house. Whenever someone buys something, he will shamelessly take advantage of them. You are really rich and generous, so you should continue to spoil him. I, He Daqing, have said this, since Yan Bugui is the first day of the month, don't blame me, He Daqing, for being the fifteenth day. If he is willing to die, I am willing to bury him. You really treat me, He Daqing, as a soft persimmon."

He Daqing shook off Yan Bugui's obstruction and walked straight to the middle courtyard. Yan Bugui stared at his back in amazement, muttering in his heart, how could this be completely different from what he thought.

The neighbors who were watching the fun were also whispering about what He Daqing said. After listening to what He Daqing said, they thought about it carefully and realized that He Daqing was definitely not exaggerating. If He Daqing did not deal with the matter promptly and properly, all kinds of rumors would probably spread around the neighborhood tomorrow.

Originally, finding a job through connections was a matter of ability, and it was not something that could be discussed openly. After all, it was a matter that affected one's children's lives. Even when the subdistrict office arranged jobs every year, except for the families of military martyrs who had to be given priority, the rest of the quotas were mostly given to families with good connections. Today, Yan Bugui actually made such a big deal. I really don't know if he had taken advantage of others too much, and he had hallucinations in his mind, thinking that no matter who it was, he should be taken advantage of by him. Thinking about the fact that they and their families had been taken advantage of by Yan Bugui, everyone looked at Yan Bugui with deep disgust.

As soon as He Daqing walked into the middle courtyard, he saw a large group of people sitting in the yard. Beside an old round table, Yi Zhonghai was calmly holding a large teapot and drinking tea slowly. The deaf old lady was sitting behind the table at this time, with her eyes slightly narrowed and her face gloomy. It was obvious that what he had just said in the front yard was heard clearly by the people present.

He Daqing ignored everyone and shouted to his son who was standing at the door of his house: "Zhu Zi, bring your grandmother to our house. Your uncle Lin has something for me to tell your grandmother." After that, he walked straight into the house with the things in his hand.

He Yuzhu was stunned when he heard his father's words, but then he immediately realized that Uncle Lin was the Director Lin, so he quickly walked to the eight-immortals table and reached out to help the deaf old lady up.

Yi Zhonghai was about to stop them, but the deaf old lady had already stood up. She felt that she had done something stupid again. She knew that He Daqing had hooked up with the powerful Director Lin, so why did she let Yi Zhonghai persuade her to mediate the conflict between He Daqing and Yan Bugui? Perhaps she couldn't let go of her goddaughter Xiao Cui. Whenever she saw He Daqing, she would think of her well-behaved and sensible child, so she subconsciously wanted to teach He Daqing a lesson.

In full view of everyone, He Yuzhu helped the deaf old lady slowly walk into the main house in the central courtyard. Then everyone saw He Yuzhu walk out of the house again, close the door casually, and stand quietly at the door with a rolling pin in his hand. Some people originally wanted to go over and eavesdrop on the conversation in the house, but when they saw He Yuzhu's appearance, they had to give up the idea. Yi Zhonghai stared at the direction of the He family with a complicated expression.