Siheyuan: Survival Guide for Courtyard No. 95

When they arrived at the Central Courtyard, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu went back to their respective rooms. An old lady saw the wound on Old Yi's head and asked hurriedly.

"Old Yi, what happened to your head? Were you beaten?"

Old Yi sighed and said.

"Don't worry about it. I'll eat something and then go to the old lady's place."

The aunt brought two steamed buns to Yi Zhonghai. Yi Zhonghai ate only one and felt he had no appetite. He asked the aunt to rest first while he went to find the deaf old lady.

The old lady was not resting at this time. After all, it was still early. When Yi Zhonghai knocked on the door and entered the room, the old lady was shocked to see him like this.

“Zhong Hai, was your head hit by someone?”

Yi Zhonghai glanced at the old lady sitting on the edge of the kang, found a stool, moved over and sat down, and replied.

"Old lady, I was retaliated against today. I guess Zhao Shanhe found out about our rumor-mongering."

The deaf old lady said with a gleam in her eyes.

"So since he beat you, you didn't call the police to arrest him?"

Yi Zhonghai replied with a dejected look on his face.

“Old lady, when I got off work and it was just getting dark, Zhao Shanhe came up from behind and hit me with a brick, then ran away.

Who do you think can catch up with him?

It happened so suddenly that I didn’t even see his face. It was only when I came to my senses that I realized it must have been him who did it. Fortunately, his force was not strong enough, otherwise I would not be sure if I could survive.”

The deaf old lady frowned when she heard this, and after a long while she spoke slowly.

"This guy is too difficult to deal with. He is a cadre in the factory and married to a wealthy wife. It is almost impossible to make him make mistakes with money.

And I heard from the neighbors that he has composed several songs, and he made a big splash at that sports meet last year, and he ran very fast, earning the title of the fastest runner in the city."

Zhao Shanhe: You are the fastest in TN, I am usually very slow, okay?

The old lady slowly stood up from the kang with the help of a cane and paced back and forth around the dining table.

"For someone as rich and famous as this, it would be best to use rumors to deal with him. Unfortunately, Zhao Shanhe doesn't play by the rules at all. If you don't apologize to him, this matter may not be over yet. I just don't know what he's going to do next."

Yi Zhonghai was shocked when he heard the old lady's words. His head was already split open, and it was not over yet? Would it be over only if he lost his arms and legs?

He hurriedly asked the deaf old lady.

"Old lady, you have to think of a solution. If this happens every three or five days, I won't have the mood to think about anything else. What's more, it cost nearly 20 yuan to go to the hospital for bandaging and stitches today. If it happens twice a month, you and I will have to eat steamed bread."

Old Yi's words were meant to force the deaf old lady to work hard. He earns more than 80 yuan a month, which he and the old lady cannot spend all. But what he meant was that if she keeps getting beaten like this, all the money will have to be donated to the hospital, and the old lady will never be able to eat well again.

The old lady also knew what Yi Zhonghai meant, but she didn't care. After thinking about it, she looked up and said to Yi Zhonghai.

"I heard that Zhao Shanhe is from the purchasing department, right? There are no good things left in Sijiu City now, so the purchasing department should not be able to purchase anything.

Take me to the factory to find Yang Limin tomorrow, and I'll have a chat with him."

Yi Zhonghai didn't know what the old lady could say to Director Yang, but after all, the other party had lived in Beijing for so many years, and his network of contacts was not comparable to that of a fitter like him. Besides, it was better to have someone help him out than to get beaten again, so he nodded and agreed.

The next day, Yi Zhonghai waited until everyone who went to work or school in the hospital had left before taking the old lady out.

Firstly, he was afraid that people would see the old lady going to the factory, and secondly, he had his head wrapped like an Arab and was afraid of being laughed at.

By the time Yi Zhonghai sent the deaf old lady to the door of Yang Liming's office, he had no idea how many people in the factory were pointing and laughing at him. He was too embarrassed to stay in front of so many employees for long, so he told the old lady that he would come to pick her up later and ran back to the workshop.

The deaf old lady knocked on the door and it was Yang Liming's secretary who opened the door. When the other party saw that it was an old lady he didn't recognize, he asked hurriedly.

"Ma'am, who are you looking for? This is the factory director's office. Are you in the wrong place?"

A smile appeared on the old lady's face, and she looked so kind.

"Young man, I'm looking for your factory manager Yang Limin, is he here?"

The secretary was unsure about this person and didn't dare to dismiss him casually, so she had to reply.

"The factory manager is working in the room. Who are you?"

"Young man, tell him my last name is Long, and he will know who I am."

Less than 30 seconds after the secretary entered the room, the door opened again, and this time it was Yang Liming who opened the door.

"Madam, what a rare guest! How come you have time to come today?"

The old lady went straight into the office. There was no sign of her having difficulty walking. She went into the room and spoke to Yang Liming.

"I have something to talk to you about. Where can you find a place that is convenient for you?"

Yang Liming understood that the old lady was saying that the secretary was a bit of a hindrance, so he sent the secretary out first.

"Old lady, there's no one here this time, just tell me what you want to say."

"Limin, I don't have anything important to do. I just came to ask the purchasing department of your factory if they are having trouble purchasing anything now?"

Yang Liming actually knew about this. Some time ago, the Minister of Logistics Li Lianjie reported to him that unplanned purchases had been completely stopped because the rural areas had already been grazing.

"Old lady, you still know about this purchase? It seems that you have an extremely sharp ear.

Are you here today for procurement? Do you have any connections?"

While others may not know the old lady's background, Yang Liming knows it.

When we were fighting the Japanese devils, Yang Liming was still an underground worker working in the city of Sijiu.

One time, their workstation was discovered by the Japanese, and he was the only one left alive in the entire team. It was the old lady who led people to rescue him.

The old lady was still quite strong at the time. She brought seven or eight people to cure Yang Limin and send him out of the city. That was how the two of them got to know each other. However, after liberation, Yang Limin had always been suspicious of the old lady's identity, because when the Japanese occupied the city of 1949, she still had so many subordinates, so the old lady must not be an ordinary person.

After liberation, he also found out the whereabouts of the old lady. Seeing that she was in touch with the leaders of the DC district, he didn't say anything. He just visited her twice. After confirming that the old lady had indeed made contributions to the War of Resistance, he stopped asking about it.

This time the old lady came to ask him about purchasing, how could he not think too much?

The deaf old lady shook her head and said.

"Limin, don't think too much. I'm old and my legs and feet are not working well, so what else can I do?

There is a purchasing section chief named Zhao Shanhe in our yard. He often clashes with Yi Zhonghai and others over trivial matters. I am wondering if you can give me some face and let him calm down so that I, an old lady, can live a few more days. "