Living in a Siheyuan

Yi Zhonghai’s home in the central courtyard of the quadrangle.

Facing Jia Zhang's question, Yi Zhonghai immediately replied: "Dongxu, your mother is right. If there is anything between us, just talk to me. Your father is gone, but I am still here. If you can't make up your mind about something, just talk to me and I will make the decision for you."

Jia Dongxu listened to his mother and Yi Zhonghai's words and knew that this was a rare opportunity, so he organized Yu Yan in his mind and said, "Master, you also know that my monthly salary is so little, and I am the only one in the family who has a ration of food. Every month when the food is not enough, I have to go to the black market to secretly buy some food. I don't know what happened recently, but the food on the black market is getting more and more expensive. My salary is really not enough for my family to eat."

After saying that, Jia Dongxu secretly glanced at Yi Zhonghai, and found that he had not changed much, and continued: "Master, I know you want to help me, but your family is not easy, and I can't let you help me like this all the time, so I thought about whether I could find a way to transfer Huairu's household registration to the city, so that Huairu and several children in our family will have a fixed amount of food. As for my mother, I can save her money by eating less. I can't let my mother starve, and our family will be able to survive in the future."

After Jia Dongxu finished speaking, Yi Zhonghai tapped his fingers on the table a few times and said, "Dongxu, your idea is good. This way, your family's problem will be fundamentally solved. But have you thought about how to transfer your household registration? As far as I know, you can't transfer your urban household registration whenever you want."

Facing Yi Zhonghai's question, Jia Dongxu had already organized his words. "Master, this is what I think. Now, regular workers can transfer their household registration here, right? I want to find a regular job for Huairu, so that Huairu's household registration can be transferred here to solve my family's problem, and she can also work to earn some money to supplement the family income. Do you think this is okay?"

Yi Zhonghai looked at Jia Dongxu and never thought that he would come up with such an idea. Nowadays, the jobs for regular employees are so limited, how can there be any extra people?

Then he asked Jia Dongxu: "What you said is an idea, but have you ever thought about finding a formal job for Huairu? Now, let alone formal jobs, it's hard to find temporary jobs."

Jia Dongxu said quickly, "Master, have you forgotten that Li Ping'an in our front yard has lost his father and mother? Li Ping'an is about to graduate from high school. If he goes to college, he will be a cadre. Can he go to clean the streets? Even if he doesn't go to college, the street will assign him a job after graduating from high school. Can he give up the good job assigned to him to sweep garbage?"

Yi Zhonghai felt that Jia Dongxu's words were true. Li Quezi was a regular employee after all, earning 22.5 yuan a month. If Qin Huairu went to work, Jia Dongxu and his wife would earn more than yuan a month, which would be enough for their living expenses.

Thinking of this, Yi Zhonghai said, "This is really possible. Let's go talk to Li Ping'an and see how much he charges for this position. If you don't have enough, I'll add some and buy it for Huairu."

Jia Dongxu had something to hide, but he knew how to coax Yi Zhonghai. Then he said, "Master, you don't know that I asked Li Pingan when I passed by the day before yesterday. Who knew that this bastard didn't appreciate it and quarreled with me?"

Yi Zhonghai asked, "What's wrong?"

Jia Dongxu said with an angry expression: "I went to talk to him first and asked him how much the station cost. He said it was 800 yuan. Master, think about it, how can it be so expensive for a sweeping station? Then I wanted to build a relationship with him and ask him to give it a lower price."

At this time, Yi Zhonghai nodded and said, "You are right. It is usually only about 500 or 600 yuan. It can't be that expensive."

Jia Dongxu went on, "Yes, and then I told him that your mother had just passed away, and we would go to the grave to burn paper seven days after the death. I was afraid that he was too young to understand these things. But he started cursing and saying that I was nosy and that there was no need to compromise when the person was gone. I got angry when I heard that. Master, you have always taught us to be filial, to respect the elderly and love the young, and he was so unfilial that I said a few words to him, and then we started arguing. In the end, he said that he would rather sell his workstation to someone else for a hundred yuan than give it to me. I heard that he wanted to sell the house as well. Don’t you think he is a prodigal? The house was bought with the money that Li Quezi saved up with great difficulty, and he was thinking about selling the house after only one month. How could I not be angry when I heard that? Then we started arguing."

After listening to Jia Dongxu's words, Yi Zhonghai's face turned blue with anger. Because he had no children, he had always preached respecting the elderly and loving the young, and being filial to parents. Yi Zhonghai often said, "There are only unfilial children, but no unfilial parents." This means that whatever parents say is right. So he took care of the deaf old lady to set an example of filial piety for young people.

Today, he felt that all his efforts for Jia Dongxu were worth it. Jia Dongxu was the best candidate for his retirement. He couldn't let someone like Li Ping'an corrupt the atmosphere of the Siheyuan. He must punish him.

After thinking of a solution, he said to Jia Dongxu, "Come with me to talk to him later. First, we need to get the work station, and then we can find a way to drive him out of the courtyard."

Jia Dongxu was secretly delighted after hearing this, and continued to provoke Yi Zhonghai, "Master, what if he is unwilling to sell the workstation to us? Or if he asks for too high a price and I don't have that much money?"

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand and said, "If he dares not to sell it, I will make him get out of our courtyard right now. Didn't he say he would give others 100 yuan? You should give him 100 yuan. Such an unfilial person who doesn't unite with his neighbors shouldn't stay in our courtyard."

Jia Dongxu immediately became excited after hearing this, thinking to himself: "Humph! You little bastard, not only will I beat you up, but I will also hit you with a club when I get the work station, and then I will get back your father's compensation and my money."

After thinking about it, he said to Yi Zhonghai: "Then Master, when are we going to go find him? I'll go back and get some money to take with me."

Yi Zhonghai said: "Let's go now, and don't go back to look for money. I have it with me. When you find it, just give it to me."

Without waiting for Jia Dongxu to speak, Yi Zhonghai stood up and walked towards the front yard. Jia Dongxu hurriedly followed him and walked towards the front yard.

Comrade Li Pingan had just returned home, thinking that the house would be too messy if Director Wang came, so he was cleaning the house.

Yi Zhonghai took Jia Dongxu into the courtyard and walked straight into the house without knocking on the door.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw Li Ping'an throwing things out of his parents' room. An enamel cup that Li's father had used for a long time fell down. Yi Zhonghai believed Jia Dongxu's words even more. This person was only gone for a few days and he was thinking of throwing away all his parents' things. How could such a person be filial?

In fact, Yi Zhonghai misunderstood Li Pingan. He thought that he had packed his parents' clothes and put them into the space in the morning, so he had to put these things into the space, otherwise he would go to school in a few days, and who knows what kind of mess his family would be in when he came back. Anyway, in 80% of the novels, there are no good people in the courtyards, and they can make you do anything disgusting.

Li Pingan, who was sorting things in the room, really didn't pay attention to what was happening outside, nor did he notice the arrival of Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu. Logically, Li Pingan was already in the Qi Refining Stage, so wouldn't he be able to see everything clearly with just a glance of his spiritual sense?

It was his first day as a monk, and he had not adapted to his new identity. In the 21st century, people should knock on the door and say hello when they enter someone's house, no matter how familiar they are with each other. If he still used his old habits to deal with the new environment, who else would be unlucky?

So when Yi Zhonghai stood outside the room and yelled at Li Pingan inside the room: "Li Pingan! What are you doing?"

Li Pingan was confused.