Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

In the west wing of the front courtyard of the siheyuan, Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang did not see Lao San after returning home. They found out that Lao San had not yet come home from get off work.

"Jiecheng, Jiefang... Mom went to the market early this morning and bought pork belly and a chicken. I'll make braised pork and braised chicken for you at noon today..." Yan Fugui's wife sincerely wanted to ease the tension between the elderly couple and the two brothers, Yan Jiecheng and Yan Fugui.

After the third brother, Yan Jiekuang, was rescued by paying a fine, he was genuinely grateful to the elderly couple for the first six months. He listened to everything Yan Fugui said and gave all his wages to the elderly couple to pay off the debts.

Six months later, Yan Jiekuang had his own little scheme.

They started hiding their true skill level from the elderly couple, and the three of them were no longer of one mind.

Ever since Yan Fugui revealed Yan Jiekuang's true salary and the two had a fight, Yan Jiekuang, who had previously been secretly saving money for himself, has started to do so openly.

After handing over fifty yuan to Yan Fugui each month, the rest of his salary was kept.

At that time, the eldest and second eldest sons were both imprisoned and could not get out. In addition, the family house had been mortgaged, and they had to raise all the debts within two years, otherwise the house where the Yan family had lived for most of their lives would be taken away.

Under those circumstances, Yan Fugui and his wife could only endure their dissatisfaction with their third son, Yan Jiekuang.

Things are different now; the eldest and second eldest sons have been successfully released from prison.

If they could build a good relationship with them and get them to support the elderly couple, Yan Fugui and his wife wouldn't have to put up with Yan Jiekuang anymore.

But Yan Fugui and his wife knew in their hearts that they had paid the fine for their third son while abandoning their eldest and second sons, who had spent three years in prison. The two brothers must hate their parents to the core.

It will definitely take a long time to mend the relationship between father and son and mother and son.

But Yan Fugui still decided to give it a try.

He was used to being the head of the Yan family and would never allow the third son, Yan Jiekuang, to use his retirement as a threat to climb over him.

In addition, Yan Fugui has always been the kind of person who doesn't like to put all his eggs in one basket.

Even though the Yan brothers, Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang, hated him to the core, Yan Fugui still tried to ease the tension between them.

He even invested heavily in this project.

I go out to collect recyclables every day, and after a month of hard work, I can only earn eleven or twelve yuan at most. Even with my pension, it's only about thirty yuan.

In an effort to ease tensions between father and son, Yan Fugui, who usually wouldn't even buy meat for a meal, gave his wife ten yuan today, asking her to buy a chicken and a few pounds of pork belly to welcome the two brothers back.

The eldest brother, Yan Jiecheng, originally didn't want to eat this meal, but when he thought about how penniless he was and how he could only eat meat once every two weeks in prison, and even then it was just leftovers from his fellow inmates, barely any meat scraps, his mouth watered involuntarily when he heard that there would be big chunks of pork belly to eat later.

He was about to refuse, but in the end, he swallowed the words back.

But he didn't want to bow down to Yan Fugui, so he decisively changed the subject: "Dad... what's the situation with the third brother now?"

Yan Fugui's wife was very happy to see that Yan Jiecheng did not refuse her offer to cook braised pork and braised chicken for them at noon.

As long as the two brothers ate the welcome feast he had prepared, it meant that there was a possibility of easing tensions between them. Regardless of the eldest brother's purpose in asking about the third brother's situation, Ma Shan answered with a joyful expression.

"Mom will cook for you now, and I'll make sure you have a good, nourishing lunch..."

"As for the third son..." "Just mentioning his mother makes me furious... You should let your father tell you the specifics."

Yan Fugui's face turned very ugly when the third brother, Yan Jiekuang, was mentioned.

I insisted on paying the fine for my third son because I thought that he hadn't gotten married yet and would be free of burdens after he got out. I believed he would be of one mind with my parents, help them pay off their debts, and even be grateful to them, and would do his best to take care of them in their old age.

Unexpectedly, Yan Fugui's persistence actually saved a thankless wretch.

Not only did they not share his views, but they also tried every means to scheme against the elderly couple, forcing Yan Fugui to abandon his dignity as a retired teacher and go out to collect scraps to increase his income.

When Yan Fugui heard his wife speak ill of Yan Jiekuang in front of his eldest and second sons, his first feeling was one of humiliation. He felt as if his dignity had been trampled on, and his two sons felt that they had made a mistake in their decision to go to great lengths to get a thankless wretch out of prison, which would make them look down on him...

He quickly retorted, "Old woman, what nonsense are you talking about..."

"Although the third son is a bit of a scoundrel, he still gives the family fifty yuan every month."

"Never say such things again..."

“If the third son misunderstands and stops contributing money to the family, are we supposed to live off our meager pension and the few dollars we earn from collecting scraps?”

To avoid a life of hardship, Yan Fugui's wife had no choice but to keep quiet: "Fine, I won't say anything more..."

Yan Jiecheng wasn't stupid. Although Yan Fugui forbade his mother from speaking ill of Yan Jiekuang, he could still sense the old couple's dissatisfaction with Yan Jiekuang from their conversation.

This is definitely good news for the two brothers.

The more dissatisfied Yan Fugui and his wife were with Yan Jiekuang, the more it proved that Yan Jiekuang was an ungrateful person, and the more reason they and their second son had to cause trouble for Yan Jiekuang.

After all, Yan Fugui paid a huge price to rescue Yan Jiekuang from prison, so he should take good care of the elderly couple.

Now that Yan Jiekuang dares to be unfilial to his parents, as the eldest brother, I must teach him a lesson and "get justice" for our parents and the two brothers.

He immediately asked, "You give your family fifty yuan a month..."

“I heard in prison that the average wage in Beijing has risen to fifty or sixty yuan. Lao San is a high school graduate, an educated person. He has been out for almost three years. Does that mean he only earns fifty yuan a month?”

Yan Fugui didn't want to mention Yan Jiekuang's matter to his second brother. The more he talked about it, the more he would realize how short-sighted he was two or three years ago, and the more he would lose face.

But he also wanted to ease the tension between his eldest and second eldest sons, and he couldn't refuse to answer the eldest son's question.

Moreover, there were almost no secrets in this drafty courtyard. Even if Yan Jiecheng didn't say anything, he could hear about Yan Jiekuang's latest situation from other people.

Rather than letting the neighbors in the courtyard mock him for his poor judgment in saving the wrong person, he decided to close the door and tell them about Yan Jiekuang's situation himself.

After letting out a long sigh, he replied, "Although I don't know the exact salary of the third brother, it's definitely more than eighty yuan, and it's even possible that it's one hundred yuan."

"The factory where he works pays overtime pay in addition to regular working hours..."

"The third brother works overtime at the factory whenever he's free at home. I estimate he gets twenty or thirty yuan a month just for overtime pay." (End of Chapter)