Siheyuan: Survival Guide for Courtyard No. 95

Because of the heavy rain, people in the old city seemed to have woken up all of a sudden. Every household began to stockpile food. Not to mention the grain stations, which only sold fixed quantities. The price of grain in the pigeon market skyrocketed. Cornmeal increased from 1 cents to 2 cents in just a few days. Cornmeal, rice, and white flour at least doubled. People were even more panicked.

Everyone in the courtyard was also in a panic. They squatted at the gate of the courtyard, sighing all day long, blocking Zhao Shanhe and asking if they could buy low-priced grain. Even if Zhao Shanhe had it, he wouldn't dare to sell it to them, for fear of ending up in a thankless task and being reported by Jia Zhang.

In mid-July, Yi Zhonghai found Liu Haizhong and asked him to convene a meeting of the entire school. Liu Haizhong saw another opportunity to show off and of course he would not refuse. Yan Bugui originally wanted to go fishing after school to supplement the family income, but after Yi Zhonghai pulled him and Liu Haizhong together to chat for a while, he never mentioned fishing again. The meeting was officially held at 7 o'clock in the evening.

It was still the familiar round table. Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui sat at the table, one on each side. When most people had arrived, Liu Haizhong knocked on the table twice with the enamel pot in his hand and said.

"The reason why I called everyone to this meeting today is mainly because... because of what? Oh, yes, this... Lao Yi told me that although most of the residents in our courtyard have a ration, there are still a few families who live very tightly on a daily basis. Now the food prices in the pigeon market outside are rising steadily. Lao Yi is really worried about these residents, so he found me, the second uncle in the courtyard, and said that he had some ideas that he wanted to talk to everyone.

Next, please allow our 7th-level fitter Yi Zhonghai to speak."

Zhao Shanhe shook his head after hearing these long-winded words. Actually, all these words could be answered in just two sentences, but Liu Haizhong had to say so much in an official tone and even specifically pointed out his identity as the second uncle, as if he was afraid that others would not know.

But what was Yi Zhonghai going to do? Was he really thinking the same as he thought, taking advantage of the food shortage to regain his position as the great master? This was not a task that could be accomplished by relying solely on the people in the courtyard. He must have some tricks up his sleeve.

Yi Zhonghai glanced at the deaf old lady sitting next to him. Seeing her nod slightly, he stood up, walked forward a few steps and came to the center of the venue to speak.

"My dear old neighbors, I called you all here today because of one thing: food.

I went to the pigeon market these two days and found that the price of coarse grains has doubled, not to mention fine grains, which are almost out of stock.

Most of the residents in our courtyard are fine. They are basically either workers or teachers. Not only do they have high salaries, but they also have urban household registration and can eat a fixed amount of food.

But the situation is not so good for the residents of the back house and the house at the back. Take Old Xing, who lives in the back house, for example. He sweeps the streets with his two grandsons all day long, and he only earns 10 yuan a month. After buying the rations for a family of three, there is basically nothing left. After the food price increase this time, they will definitely not have enough to eat.

There is also the Jia family in the Central Courtyard. Only Dongxu has a fixed amount of food. Even if he uses all his monthly salary to buy food in the Pigeon Market, it is definitely not enough. In addition, Qin Huairu just gave birth to Xiaodang, so her life is probably even more stressful.

So I think that those people in our yard who don't need to worry about food should organize a fundraising event to show some love to these neighbors who don't have enough food. This should be purely voluntary and there will be absolutely no coercion.

As the highest paid person in the hospital, I will take the lead and donate one month's salary. The rest can be donated according to one's ability. No matter how much you donate, it is all out of love."

Zhao Shanhe almost sprained his waist after hearing this. Old Yi is no longer the eldest uncle, but he can still organize a fundraising event. It seems that he has already won over the second uncle and the third uncle.

The second uncle is not bad, his salary is not low, even for the sake of face and reputation, he would agree to donate. But the third uncle is hard to understand, he usually has to dilute a bottle of Erguotou eight times, how can he agree to donate money? This is a bit like watching a horror movie.

Just as he was thinking about what was happening here, he saw Yi Zhonghai take out a wad of money from his pocket and hand it to Yan Bugui. Old Yan took it and counted it twice before taking out a notebook to write it down, muttering to himself as he wrote.

"Yi Zhonghai, donated 84 yuan."

Immediately, the neighbors sitting below burst into applause. No matter what Yi Zhonghai was thinking, at least he took out real money. With this money, they could buy more than 400 kilograms of corn flour at the Pigeon Market. If calculated at two kilograms per person per day, this food would be enough to last for several months.

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai was in the spotlight, Liu Haizhong also stood up and spoke.

"Since Lao Yi has donated one month's salary, then I, the second uncle in the yard, can't be worse than him. I will also donate one month's salary."

After saying that, he took out a wad of money from his pocket and handed it to Yan Bugui.

Old Yan also took the money and counted it twice before writing it down and speaking.

"Liu Haizhong, donated 72 yuan."

At this time, Zhao Shanhe understood a little bit. It was obvious that the old guys had discussed this in advance. Otherwise, who would carry a month's salary on him? Wasn't he afraid of losing it?

The most interesting moment came. Everyone in the yard knew that Yan Bugui was a miser, and they all wanted to see how much money this uncle would donate.

But this time, the third uncle slapped almost everyone in the yard in the face, and he also stood up and said.

"Everyone knows the situation in my family. With so many people, we can't save much money.

However, as the third uncle in the hospital, I must be the first to take the lead in this kind of charity opportunity. I will also donate one month's salary. Don't think it's too little. I don't earn much, so this is all I can do."

After saying that, he also took out a wad of money from his pocket and shouted loudly while writing down the money.

"Yan Bugui, 27 yuan."

Zhao Shanhe wanted to laugh when he saw this from below, Old Yan had received a salary increase in May, and now he is a level 5 teacher making 6 yuan a month. Not only did he donate a lot less, but it was certain that the money had to be paid by Old Yi, otherwise Yan Bugui would not be pretending to be a victim here.

After the three old men made their donations, the eyes of those residents in the compound who were in financial difficulties started to turn red. Don’t think they were crying, as that is not the norm in the compound. They were just jealous out of excitement and stimulation.

Jia Zhang, in particular, was staring at the money with her fists clenched and eyes wide open in the audience. She had a hunch that most of the money would belong to their family after the meeting.

Yi Zhonghai saw that the atmosphere became a little dull after the three of them took the lead in donating, so he looked at Sha Zhu.

"Zhu Zi, don't you want to show some love? You should know that part of this money will eventually belong to your sister Qin's family."

Sha Zhu didn't want to donate at first, he felt it was enough to just watch the fun, but when he heard Yi Zhonghai say that Sister Qin's family would also get a share of the money, he immediately stood up.

At this time, everyone in the yard turned their eyes to him. If he didn't donate much, then they could just follow his example. After all, no one's money comes from the wind.