Siheyuan, my new life

Jia Zhang and Qin Huairu, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, turned pale, obviously frightened by what Jia Dongxu said.

Jia Dongxu couldn't help but shook his head, and sighed that it was indeed a woman with long hair and short knowledge. Everything had to be planned by himself. He coughed and said, "You don't have to worry. As long as everything is done according to my words, Yi Zhonghai's savings will be surnamed Jia sooner or later. In the future, you should continue to cry poor in front of Yi Zhonghai and his wife, and accept the things he gives you. Anyway, saying a few more words of thanks will not lose a piece of meat. If you have something to do, just go to him. Anyway, in Yi Zhonghai's heart, the more he helps our family, the more grateful we are to him, and it will be a natural thing to provide for their retirement in the future."

Jia Zhang's eyes suddenly lit up: "Dongxu, Banggeng is getting bigger and bigger. It's too inconvenient for our family of four to squeeze into one room. Do you think we can ask Yi Zhonghai to help us build another house in the courtyard?"

Jia Dongxu frowned and thought for a while before speaking: "Now all the side rooms and ear rooms in the courtyard are full, and only the back house in the front is still empty. But the back house is dark and damp, and there is no sunlight all year round, so it is impossible to live in it."

Jia Zhang grinned and said complacently: "Who said there are no houses in the quadrangle? There are several empty houses in the newly renovated west wing. Huairu and I went to the Lotus Gate yesterday to see that the three main rooms, three side rooms and two ear rooms in the west wing are very impressive. How many rooms can that young man live in? The other houses are empty and no one lives in them. You can ask Yi Zhonghai to find a way to get one or two rooms for our family. When the time comes, you and Huairu can take Xiaodang to live in the wing, and my good grandson Banggeng and I will live here."

Hearing what her mother-in-law said, Qin Huairu showed a hopeful look on her face. She didn't say anything, but just stared at her man with her watery peach blossom eyes.

In fact, when the west wing was just built, Jia Dongxu and several young people in the courtyard climbed up the wall to see it. How could he not want to live in that spacious and bright new house? But when he calmed down and thought about it, he felt that there was no hope.

Seeing his wife's hopeful expression, Jia Dongxu swallowed his saliva and said hesitantly: "Mom, Huairu, let's think of another way. I don't think that young man will agree."

Jia Zhang glared with her triangular eyes and began to curse: "If that little bastard dares not agree, I will block his door and curse him to death."

Jia Dongxu was shocked by his mother's words and quickly stopped her: "Mom, shut up, do you want to go to jail and eat prison food?"

Jia Zhang was also frightened by her son's words. She said awkwardly, "I just cursed at that little bastard, so what? How did it get to the point of going to jail? Dongxu, don't scare your mother."

Jia Dongxu sighed helplessly and said, "Mom, you keep calling me a little extinct family. If others hear it, and if it gets to that young man's ears, you'll end up in jail."

Qin Huairu pulled Jia Dongxu's arm and said carefully: "My mother just called that person a poor kid, how could she go to jail? You know, my mother used to call others like that."

Jia Dongxu lowered his voice and said, "You must have heard the saying that the people should not fight against the officials, right? Mom scolded those neighbors in the courtyard, and everyone knew that Yi Zhonghai was behind our mom, so they could only blame themselves for their bad luck. But the identity of that young man is different. He is a policeman, and a policeman driving a jeep. If he knew that our mom scolded him as a little extinct family, people would not give face to Yi Zhonghai, the manager. If he was put in jail at that time, you can imagine what the consequences would be."

Jia Zhang grumbled quietly, "How can he be an official at such a young age? At most, he can be a driver. He was a rickshaw driver before."

Jia Dongxu snorted heavily: "Even if he is just a driver, he is a driver for the leader. You know nothing at home all day, you should know that the most important people to offend in the unit are the leaders' secretaries and drivers. In many cases, the secretaries and drivers are the representatives of the leaders, and they often do some private things for the leaders. Moreover, most of these leaders' drivers and secretaries are cadres. The drivers of our Red Star Steel Rolling Plant Director Song and Guo Shuji are cadres. They are both deputy section chiefs in the transportation department, and their salaries are higher than Yi Zhonghai. This afternoon, I saw the jeep driven by the young man with my own eyes. It is more advanced than the cars that the leaders of our factory ride. You should know that the higher the official, the more advanced the car they ride. Obviously, the leader riding in the young man's car is more senior than our factory leader, and he is also a big leader in the public security department. Can we ordinary people afford to provoke such a person?"

After hearing what her son said, Jia Zhang was so scared that she shut her mouth obediently, and Qin Huairu's desire to live in a new house gradually disappeared.

Jia Dongxu also noticed the disappointment in his wife's eyes. He gritted his teeth and comforted her: "Don't worry, let me talk to Yi Zhonghai. Maybe he can find a solution."

At this time, at Yi Zhonghai's home in the middle courtyard, Yi Zhonghai took a sip of white wine and picked up a fried peanut and chewed it slowly. An old lady sitting opposite him asked curiously while eating: "Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui came to ask you to go find that young man today, why don't you go?"

Yi Zhonghai showed a trace of sarcasm on his face: "Liu Haizhong is a brainless idiot. He dreams of becoming an official every day, but he doesn't even take a piss to look at himself; Yan Bugui only has those little melons and dates in his eyes, and he never gets enough of taking advantage. These two have been the stewards of our courtyard for two years and have forgotten their own surnames. They don't even think about being a steward appointed by a street office, but they actually want to put on airs in front of the public security officials and take advantage of them. I don't know if these two are blinded by greed."

Yi Zhonghai took another sip of wine and continued, "Although the west wing is connected to our courtyard, the subdistrict office did not inform us that the west wing was put under the unified management of the No. 95 courtyard. Do you still remember when the construction of the west wing just started, Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui and I went to inquire about the news? After we came back, I was embarrassed to tell you that the three of us were directly rejected by the people in the subdistrict office. They said we were idle and had nothing to do."

The lady was surprised and asked: "You are also the manager appointed by the subdistrict office. How can he speak like this?"

Yi Zhonghai laughed at himself: "It seems that even you take this manager seriously. An ordinary clerk in the street office is an administrative level 23 or 24 cadre, earning 30 or 40 yuan a month. We managers are just temporary liaisons between the street office and the police station. Apart from the little benefits given by the street office during festivals, we don't get a penny of salary, and we can be replaced at any time as long as we find a reason."

Yi Zhonghai took a sip of wine and continued, "Now that young man has moved into the West Courtyard, but the Street Office has not yet notified our No. 95 Courtyard. I think there are two possible scenarios. One is that the West Courtyard has a separate house number, and the other is that the West Courtyard is now a private property. When I passed by the entrance of the alley on my way to work this morning, I made a special observation. There was no new house number at the gate. I estimate that it is probably the second scenario, that is, the West Courtyard has now become a private property."

An old lady said in confusion: "How is this possible? You know, the old lady donated the house and land deeds of the entire courtyard to the Military Control Commission. Although the west wing has been in disrepair for many years, it should belong to the street office now."

Yi Zhonghai lowered his voice and said: "Don't mention the old lady's affairs again. Besides, officials have always had the final say since ancient times. These are not things that ordinary people like us should worry about."

The old lady didn't continue speaking, but just nodded slightly.

Yi Zhonghai sighed deeply: "Everyone wants to be an official. Once you become an official, you have power. With power, you have benefits and rights. This is power."

The aunt looked at her husband who was sitting opposite her with an unwilling look on his face, and whispered: "Zhong Hai, why don't you try to get an official position? At worst, we can spend a little more money on gifts. As long as you can become an official, not only will no one in this courtyard dare to look down on you, but you won't have to worry about no one to take care of you when you get old."

Yi Zhonghai shook his head helplessly and sighed, "If you don't understand these things, don't give me any advice. This is not the time before liberation. Before liberation, you could get an official position as long as you were willing to spend money. Now it's a new society, and there is no such thing as buying and selling officials. Take our Red Star Steel Rolling Mill as an example. The leaders of the powerful departments are mostly retired soldiers. Think about it, they went through untold hardships to liberate the country and win the world. Those heroes who survived nine deaths and made great contributions should be given a cadre position. Technical workers like us rarely have the possibility of becoming officials. At most, we can be a team leader, and we have to be a technical backbone with outstanding skills. There are at least one or two hundred level six technical workers like me in our factory, but there are only three or four team leaders in each workshop. Unless my fitter level can reach level seven, there is hope. If I can be promoted to level eight, by that time, let alone the workshop director, even the factory director will have to call me master when he sees me."

The aunt suddenly sobbed softly and said, "It's all my fault that I didn't give birth to a child for your Yi family, otherwise you wouldn't have to worry about your retirement all day long." Yi Zhonghai quickly reached out to wipe the tears from his wife's face, and said softly to comfort her, "Why are you saying this again? We fled all the way from the northeast to the city of Beijing, and I caught a cold on the way. If you hadn't pulled me on a sled for a day and a night, and kneeled down to beg the old Chinese doctor to save my life, I'm afraid the grass on my grave would be so high now. You hurt yourself to save me, and I, Yi Zhonghai, owe you that. Don't say these hurtful words in the future. I've thought about it. We are still young, and there are many famous doctors in the capital. Let's ask a famous doctor to take good care of you. It would be best if you can get pregnant. If you can't, then we can adopt a little boy. Anyway, I can afford to raise him with my current salary."