Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 255 Creating Pretexts, the True Colors of the Yan Family
"Brother, didn't you say you'd be exchanging sweet potatoes tomorrow? Aren't you going?"

Seeing Yan Jiecheng's posture, it was clear that he wanted to keep all the leftover soup and broth that Li Hongbing had given them for himself, and Yan Jiefang was getting a little anxious.

During dinner that evening, Yan Bugui, in front of the whole family, specifically mentioned at the dinner table the plan to go to the rural suburbs the next day to exchange sweet potatoes. At that time, Yan Jiecheng disagreed.

Even if he could borrow a bicycle from Li Hongbing, it would be an easy task, exhausting enough to kill a person, and Yan Jiecheng wasn't stupid.

Although Yan Jiecheng was not as shrewd as Yan Bugui, he was influenced by his family tradition and, through long-term exposure, naturally developed his own cleverness and cunning.

Living in such a family, if you didn't learn to be smart, you would have been tricked by Yan Bugui and left with no money in your pocket long ago.

"The past is the past, and the present is the present. Can I change my mind now?"

Seeing his younger brother Yan Jiefang also eyeing the leftover soup, Yan Jiecheng said irritably.

Even as brothers, they often had their share of friction.

The relationship between the Yan brothers wasn't exactly bad, but when it came to interests, they often put themselves first.

When facing outsiders, one naturally protects one's own people, but behind closed doors, it's a different story.

Moreover, the smallest age gap between Yan Jiecheng and his younger siblings, Yan Jiefang, Yan Jiekuang, and Yan Jiedi, is nine years.

After giving birth to Yan Jiecheng, Aunt Yan suffered several miscarriages and her health deteriorated, making it difficult for her to conceive again. It wasn't until around the time of the Liberation that she gave birth to Yan Jiefang. After that, she welcomed Yan Jiekuang and Yan Jiedi. Therefore, the age difference between Yan Jiecheng and her younger siblings became quite noticeable.

They didn't exactly have a generation gap, but they clearly didn't get along well, especially after Yan Jiecheng started working.

There was nothing he could do before, since he had no job and no income. But since he got his own job and income, Yan Jiecheng had the idea of ​​becoming independent and getting rid of the exploitation by his biological father, Yan Bugui.

No matter what.

Yan Jiecheng has a short tenure, and given the current housing shortage, he has to wait in line for such a good opportunity as housing allocation, so he can only live here and naturally has to continue to be subservient to Yan Bugui.

"dad?"

Seeing that his older brother Yan Jiecheng had gone back on his word, Yan Jiefang had no choice but to turn to Yan Bugui, the person in charge, hoping that he would speak up for justice.

If it weren't for the fact that he was too young to even ride a bicycle and couldn't possibly take on the job of exchanging sweet potatoes, Yan Jiefang would have wanted to "compete" with Yan Jiecheng for the position.

no way.

The leftover soup and broth that Li Hongbing brought back from Fengzeyuan were incredibly tempting.

They had eaten there a few times before, and each time it felt like Chinese New Year.

"Jiefang, going to exchange sweet potatoes tomorrow is definitely not an easy job. You have to understand your brother and not try to take everything."

Upon hearing Yan Bugui say those words, Yan Jiecheng, like a victorious rooster, immediately turned to the dejected and resentful Yan Jiefang and began to "educate" him: "Yan Jiefang, did you hear that?"
"You're my brother, so from now on, show me some respect. Don't always try to argue with me or fight over things. Remember Kong Rong sharing pears? Do you understand?"

As Yan Jiecheng spoke, Yan Bugui glanced at him indifferently, then pondered and said, "Jiecheng, since you promised to exchange sweet potatoes tomorrow, then keep your word. However, you can't have all of these leftover soups and broths by yourself."

Don't forget, this family isn't just about you. There's also your mom, your younger brother and sister. Everyone's short of food right now, and we've finally managed to get this soup. You can't be so selfish, can you?

This is not only selfish, but also unfilial.

Moreover.

Hongbing just said that these leftover dishes and soups are for our family, but he didn't name names, which means they're not just for you..."

Yan Bugui's words were clearly delivered in an educational tone.

Yan Jiecheng's actions just now made him very dissatisfied.

Just now, Yan Jiecheng was only thinking about himself, not caring about his younger siblings, and even forgot about his own parents. What kind of behavior is this?

"Dad, no matter what, I'm the one going to exchange the sweet potatoes tomorrow. Don't you think about it? It's such a long way, and it's not an easy job. If you hadn't given me this broth, where would I have gotten the strength to exchange the sweet potatoes?"

Yan Jiecheng was naturally unwilling to admit that he was selfish and unfilial after being labeled by Yan Bugui. He directly defended himself, saying, "I want these soups not only for myself, but also to help our family."

"I know this."

Yan Bugui gave Yan Jiecheng a deep look, then said, "You take one-third of this soup, and the rest will be divided among me, your mother, Jiefang, Jie Kuang, and Jie Di. Is that alright?"

After all, if Yan Jiecheng were to go out and do manual labor, it would be unreasonable, even for Yan Bugui himself, not to "take care" of him a little.

"Only one-third?"

"Isn't this too little?"

"It has to be at least half, otherwise where will I get the strength?"

"..."

Yan Jiecheng was somewhat dissatisfied with Yan Bugui's distribution plan. He complained three times and then started to bargain.

Faced with Yan Jiecheng's dissatisfaction, Yan Bugui had no intention of backing down and insisted, "It's only one-third, no more. You do the math yourself, one person gets more than both of us combined."

"Then... you have to give me back the half of the fare you promised before, otherwise I won't go."

Seeing that Yan Bugui wouldn't budge, Yan Jiecheng had no choice but to change his terms.

The half-fare that Yan Jiecheng mentioned was naturally the condition and benefit that Yan Bugui offered to Yan Jiecheng in order to get him to help his family exchange sweet potatoes. In fact, it was half the round-trip fare for taking the bus to exchange sweet potatoes.

Yan Bugui is not young anymore. If he were to ride his bicycle for hundreds of kilometers to exchange for sweet potatoes, his body might not be able to handle it, and he would be half dead when he returned. So he can only rely on his son, Yan Jiecheng.

However, Yan Jiecheng had been schemed against by Yan Bugui so many times that he naturally followed suit and was unwilling to be used for nothing. Therefore, while using filial piety as leverage, Yan Bugui could only resort to bribery.

Plucking feathers from his own body might seem like a loss, but for Yan Bugui, it saved him at least half the cost of the ride.

If it weren't for the fact that the place to exchange sweet potatoes was too far away, we wouldn't usually need to do any of this.

The key point is that this time, one pound of grain coupons can be exchanged for one more pound of sweet potatoes than in those suburban rural areas, and that's the real big profit.

"No! You asked for more soup than we did, and you still want a delivery fee? There's no such thing as a free lunch!"

When Yan Jiecheng asked for money, Yan Bugui refused without even thinking.

In his view, giving Yan Jie some more soup was already a reward for helping his family exchange sweet potatoes tomorrow.

Otherwise, why should he get more soup?

"In that case, I won't go."

Upon hearing this, Yan Jiecheng immediately gave up.

Asking for just a little more broth, after such a tiring trip, and the promised travel fee—Yan Bugui broke his promise and didn't pay it—Yan Jiecheng wouldn't do something so unfair.

Seeing this, Aunt Yan became anxious and couldn't help but worry and advise, "Jiecheng, if you don't go, who in our family can go? If we can't get sweet potatoes, how will our rations be enough to eat? The whole family will go hungry..."

Their family's ration standard was already low, and after the reduction, it became even less. There were also several young boys in the family who were at the age where they could eat a lot. Even though Yan Bugui set strict standards for every meal and divided the food according to the number of people, there was only so much food. No matter how it was divided, it could not change the fact that there was a shortage of food.

Although sweet potatoes contain water and can make you feel full easily, you also get hungry quickly. However, this can at least fool your stomach. Occasionally, you can eat them with staple foods to get through the end of the month and wait for the next month's ration.

Although everyone believes that these days are only temporary, and that things will gradually return to normal after the spring harvest next year when the disaster is over.

But the most important thing right now is to get through the current difficulties.

"Whoever wants to go can go, I'm not going. It's Dad's fault for not keeping his word and not even paying the agreed-upon errand fee, why should I go?"

Aunt Yan's words just now gave Yan Jiecheng even more confidence. He was certain that he was the only one in the family who could go, which is why he dared to "negotiate" with Yan Bugui like this.

"You little brat, you've gone too far?"

"I've fed and clothed you since you were a child, and I haven't even settled that score with you yet. Now that I'm asking you to do some chores at home, you're demanding this and that. Don't you have any conscience at all?"

“Yan Jiecheng, if word gets out that you’re unfilial, how will you ever find a wife?”

"You ungrateful brat, I don't owe you anything."

“I know you have your own thoughts about me asking you for retirement money, food expenses, and rent.”

"But don't you think about it? It's not easy for me to support all of you all by myself. If we don't manage our finances carefully, do you think our family can survive?"

"I'm making this clear today: I'm asking you for money for food and rent not for myself, but for your younger siblings and for our family."

"Now that you're working and have your own salary, shouldn't you help out your younger siblings and contribute to the Yan family?"

"Now that you're earning a salary, how can you still have the nerve to continue eating, living, and drinking for free in this house like before?"

"I haven't even asked you for money for the things your mom does for you, like washing your clothes and cleaning your room. If I knew you weren't willing to contribute anything to this family, I should have charged you for all of that..."

"..."

After Yan Bugui said those words, Yan Jiecheng was completely stunned.

"Dad, I was wrong, okay? I'll go tomorrow! I won't take a single penny from you, is that alright?"

At this point, Yan Jiecheng dared not talk back or ask for any more benefits, otherwise he would truly be known as an unfilial son, and as Yan Bugui had just said, it would be difficult for him to find a partner in the future.

Who would want to marry someone who is not filial to their parents?

And it was even certified by his own father.

Reputation is extremely important.

People like Sha Zhu and Xu Damao from the middle and back courtyards are now suffering from their reputations, making their blind date journey very difficult.

Moreover, what Yan Bugui said earlier wasn't entirely without merit. Yan Jiecheng, who had taken some of it to heart, now felt somewhat ashamed of himself.

"Okay, we need to exchange the sweet potatoes tomorrow. Go to bed early tonight and make sure you're well-rested. Just make sure nothing goes wrong."

Seeing that Yan Jiecheng had given in, Yan Bugui's expression softened slightly, but he still kept a stern face and reminded him.

"Okay, I'll go back and rest now."

At this moment, Yan Jiecheng was like a newly tamed puppy, a completely different person from his earlier "arguing with reason".

Seeing Yan Bugui lose his temper and Yan Jiecheng suffer a loss, the children Yan Jiefang, Yan Jiekuang, and Yan Jiedi dared not utter a sound and quickly ran away.

"Honey, don't argue with Jiecheng, he's just a child. He's young and doesn't know any better..."

Seeing that all the children had left, Aunt Yan quickly comforted Yan Bugui.

“How old are you? Still a child! You don’t understand anything. When Li Hongbing was that age, he was already able to stand on his own and support the whole family…”

It would have been better if Aunt Yan hadn't spoken; the moment she did, Yan Bugui became even angrier.

"Can this be the same?"

When Aunt Yan discovered that Yan Bugui was actually comparing Yan Jiecheng to Li Hongbing, she was speechless and immediately complained, "Who is this Li Hongbing? Not to mention our institute, I'm afraid you can't find many people as outstanding as him in the entire city of Beijing."

"If my family's Jiecheng achieved even a tenth of Hongbing's success, I'd be secretly laughing."

Although it might sound like she was belittling her own child, Aunt Yan believed it was all the truth.

Losing to Li Hongbing is not shameful.

"Sigh! I don't expect Jiecheng to be as good as Li Hongbing. Even if he could learn more from Hongbing instead of worrying about family matters all day long, I would be at ease."

Yan Bugui sighed helplessly, looking disappointed in Yan Bugui.

Upon hearing this, Aunt Yan opened her mouth, glanced at Yan Bugui silently, and swallowed back what she wanted to say.

Yan Jiecheng is like this now, isn't it all because he learned it from Yan Bugui?

However, Aunt Yan also felt that her husband did the right thing. After all, he had raised Yan Jiecheng little by little to adulthood, and now that Yan Jiecheng had started working and earning money, it was time for him to start repaying them.

After thinking for a moment, Yan Bugui suddenly said to Aunt Yan, "Ruihua, starting tomorrow, you don't need to help Jiecheng clean the house and do laundry anymore."

"what?!"

Upon hearing this, Aunt Yan hesitated, saying, "If I don't help clean up, this kid will become so slovenly that everyone in the yard will laugh at him."

"How old are you? What's wrong with cleaning your own room and doing your own laundry?"

Yan Bugui glanced at Aunt Yan and immediately reprimanded her, "You're a mother, not a maid."

"That's true! He's not young anymore, he should have been set up on blind dates a long time ago. If he doesn't take better care of himself, how will he find a wife?"

Just when Aunt Yan thought that was what Yan Bugui meant, Yan Bugui corrected her, saying, "Wrong. What I mean is, if Yan Jiecheng still wants you to help clean the house and do laundry, then we'll have to ask him for a cleaning fee."

"Isn't this...not good?"

Aunt Yan belatedly realized that Yan Bugui had such a plan, and she was somewhat caught off guard.

It's understandable that Yan Jiecheng would provide retirement funds, pay for food, or even collect rent, but suddenly a sanitation fee has appeared...

This is something I've never heard of before.

Aunt Yan felt that if the other people in the courtyard found out about this, they might laugh at them.

(End of this chapter)