Siheyuan, my new life

Looking at Yi Zhonghai who was busy dealing with the crowd, Sha Zhu couldn't help but grin. Thinking about the past year or so, he often heard people in the courtyard complain about Yi Zhonghai in private, especially his favoritism towards the Jia family, which made many people curse him behind his back.

He Daqing smiled. It was rare that his son didn't argue today. He planned to say a few more words: "I don't know if you still remember that after the street office notified us to elect a steward in our courtyard two days later, Yan Bugui's wife Yang Ruihua and Jia Zhang had a fight in the courtyard the next evening. The cause of the incident was very simple. Both of them were looking for neighbors in the courtyard to get the other party to vote for their own people. Yang Ruihua was of course canvassing for Yan Bugui, but Jia Zhang was canvassing for Yi Zhonghai. With Jia Zhang's character, if Yi Zhonghai wasn't behind her, would she take the initiative to do such a thing?"

Sha Zhu said in disbelief: "No way? This old man looks honest, how could he do such a thing?"

He Daqing snorted coldly and said, "You must have heard the saying that you can't judge a person by his appearance, right? Yi Zhonghai appears to be honest and kind, but in fact, he is very cunning. In fact, Yi Zhonghai can be regarded as one of the smartest people in our courtyard. You must remember this firmly. No matter who you deal with in the future, you must be careful, otherwise they will sell you out and you will help them count their money. Well, it's getting late, you should go back to your room and sleep. Don't forget to cook for Yu Shui tomorrow morning. I have to hide early, otherwise someone will definitely come to me for help."

Sha Zhu looked at the still noisy crowd outside with some reluctance, and had to go back to his room to sleep.

He Daqing lit a cigarette, looked at Yi Zhonghai who was in a state of panic outside with disdain, and was secretly proud of himself. At the general residents' meeting of the No. 95 courtyard, Director Tang of the Street Office proposed to elect a resident of high moral character in the front, middle and back courtyards of the courtyard to serve as the steward, responsible for handling daily conflicts between neighbors, strictly preventing enemy agents, and combating saboteurs. He also proposed that He Daqing, deputy director of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill canteen, be the steward of the middle courtyard and the first uncle of the courtyard. Most of the residents present raised their hands to express their support. In fact, the reason is very simple. He Daqing is the only cadre in the No. 95 courtyard who works in the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill, and many residents in the courtyard have people working in the steel rolling mill. Everyone does not want to offend He Daqing, lest he retaliate at the factory.

At that time, He Daqing declined Director Tang's proposal on the grounds that he often needed to work overtime in the factory and had no time and energy to deal with the affairs of the courtyard. He then recommended Yi Zhonghai, who lived in the middle courtyard, to be the manager and the head of the courtyard.

In the No. 95 courtyard, He Daqing, Yi Zhonghai, Xu Fugui, and Liu Haizhong not only have good jobs, but also earn much more than other neighbors, and are considered the best among the more than 20 residents. With He Daqing's recommendation, and Jia Zhang's private help in canvassing for Yi Zhonghai, Yi Zhonghai was elected by the residents of the No. 95 courtyard as the middle courtyard manager and the courtyard's first uncle.

After the vote of the residents in the front yard, Yan Bugui became the manager of the front yard. In fact, the reason why everyone elected him as the manager is that Yan Bugui is a Chinese teacher at Hongxing Primary School, and all the school-age children in the courtyard go to Hongxing Primary School. Yan Bugui's wife Yang Ruihua promised privately that as long as everyone supports Yan Bugui as the manager, he will take extra care of the children in the school. In order for their children to get some care in school, everyone went with the flow and elected Yan Bugui as the manager of the front yard.

As for the election in the backyard, it was quite heated. Liu Haizhong and Xu Fugui, who volunteered, both wanted to be the manager of the backyard. Liu Haizhong was a fifth-level forger at the Red Star Steel Mill, and Xu Fugui was the factory's film projectionist. After voting, the two of them actually received the same number of votes.

Xu Fugui's family is considered to be the best-off family in the No. 95 courtyard. In addition to his salary, Xu Fugui often brings back some local specialties from when he went to the countryside to show movies. His wife is a servant in the home of Lou Bancheng, the former owner of the Lou's Steel Rolling Mill. It is said that not only does her monthly salary not fall below Xu Fugui's, but she also often receives some rewards from her master.

The Xu family has two children, a son named Xu Damao and a daughter named Xu Xiaofeng. The combined income of Xu Fugui and his wife is definitely the highest in the courtyard, and their living standard is incomparable to other neighbors. It is said that their family never eats cornmeal steamed buns, and ordinary residents can only eat rice and flour during the Chinese New Year and other festivals, but the Xu family will cook them every now and then.

Since housing is very limited for each household in the courtyard, most families will build a shed outside the house to serve as a simple kitchen. Whenever someone cooks a delicious meal to improve their life, the aroma of the food can almost spread throughout most of the courtyard.

Whenever Xu Fugui's family stewed meat or steamed white flour buns, the aroma that wafted out would make the residents in the yard drool, and some children would even cry because of the greed.

As a well-informed projectionist, Xu Fugui certainly knows that it is not the lack of meat that is worrying, but the inequality of the distribution. If he dares to send meat to one or a few neighbors, then the others will definitely be dissatisfied. Why should he ask for trouble? Moreover, with Xu Fugui's understanding of the neighbors in the courtyard, even if he sends meat to every household, he will only get a few words of thanks in person, and those people behind him may not know how to make up about him. So Xu Fugui simply ignored the burning eyes of the neighbors around him, closed the door and ate delicious food at home, not caring about the discussions behind his back. This also led to Xu Fugui's family having a mediocre relationship with the neighbors around them, and they just greeted each other when they met.

This time the street office wanted to elect a manager in the courtyard, and Xu Fugui, being smart, immediately realized the benefit of it. He asked his wife to find the neighbors and promised that as long as they supported him to become the manager, he would show a movie for everyone in the courtyard every month.

Liu Haizhong, who lived in the backyard, was not very popular in the courtyard. He was obsessed with becoming an official all day long and liked to imitate the factory leaders and put on airs, so the neighbors around him were a little disgusted with him.

But Liu Haizhong has one advantage. He is not like those old masters in the factory who always think that teaching apprentices will starve them to death. As long as someone says a few flattering words, he will happily teach the other person. There are two workers in the forging workshop of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill among the neighbors in the backyard. In order to learn more skills from Liu Haizhong, improve their work level as soon as possible and earn more money, these families have to support Liu Haizhong as the manager.

Liu Haizhong and Xu Fugui both wanted to be the manager of the backyard. For a while, neither of them gave in and the atmosphere was very tense. It was Director Tang from the street office who made the final decision. On the grounds that Xu Fugui needed to go to the countryside frequently to show movies, he appointed Liu Haizhong as the manager of the backyard and the second master of the courtyard.

After the election of the Siheyuan manager, He Daqing had a new impression of Yi Zhonghai. He was close to Yi Zhonghai, which was also related to the deaf old lady. Although the deaf old lady still disliked him after so many years, she would only smile a little when he went to the backyard to kowtow to the deaf old lady during the Spring Festival every year.

But the deaf old lady loved Zhuzi very much. She not only paid Zhuzi's tuition and gave the child some pocket money every month, but also often bought Zhuzi delicious and fun things.

Unfortunately, Zhuzi was not a good student and dropped out of junior high school to learn cooking from He Daqing. For this, He Daqing went to the backyard and asked for the advice of the deaf old lady.

The deaf old lady also knew that Zhuzi didn't like studying, so she agreed to let him learn cooking. After all, it was a skill to support his family.

Although the deaf old lady still disliked him, He Daqing would always ask his son to send a portion of delicious food to the old lady every time he cooked it. Whether it was for the sake of his late wife Xiaocui or the old lady's genuine love for her son, He Daqing would not be negligent in the slightest. Moreover, he was the person who knew the deaf old lady best in the courtyard. He knew very well that although the old lady never left her house, she still had connections that could not be underestimated. He Daqing was also making plans for his son's future.

He Daqing was not jealous of the relationship between Yi Zhonghai and his wife and the deaf old lady. He knew very well that even if the couple took care of the old lady until her death, his son would also have a share of the deaf old lady's inheritance. Besides, the deaf old lady was over 70 years old now and really needed someone to take care of her. Yi Zhonghai's wife had done her best to take care of the old lady.