I am Jia Dongjin in the Siheyuan (Courtyard House)

Chapter 58 Enemy

"If we take action, food prices will only get higher and higher. The sooner we act, the cheaper it will be, you know what I mean."

Yan Fugui's voice was low. His family was large, so they ate a lot, which turned their original advantage into a disadvantage.

As the head of the family, he must plan ahead; otherwise, if something goes wrong, the whole family will regret it too late.

"I'll use one first, then exchange it for money. I'll take it with me to the countryside to buy coarse grains, sweet potatoes are the best, they taste good, can be stored for a long time, and can keep me full."

Yan Fugui held the small yellow croaker in his hand. At this time, private possession of gold was not allowed; it could only be traded on the black market. One small yellow croaker could be exchanged for about 100 yuan. His feelings were beyond words.

"I'll go to the Jia family's house to borrow a car tomorrow. You can't go to the countryside without a bicycle."

Yan Fugui's somber tone surprised Yang Ruihua.

"The Jia family has a deep-seated feud with us. Do you think they would lend us money?"

Faced with his wife's doubts, Yan Fugui's tone remained somber, only now tinged with a hint of coldness.

"Jia Dongjin will lend it to me. I'll pay for the car rental, and I promise the Yan family will owe him a favor. If he doesn't lend it to me..."

When the words "if you don't lend it" were uttered, Yan Fugui suddenly became vicious and said, "If you don't lend it, then we'll all die together!"

"Are you sure you can go to the Jia family alone? You'll have to bring Jiecheng and Jiefang with you."

"I can't bring my son. I'm going to ask for help. I can't let my son see his father bowing and scraping. I'm the head of the household, and it's my duty to suffer. My son doesn't have to suffer. I want to preserve his integrity."

"Master!"

Tears streamed down Yang Ruihua's face as she hugged her husband's small frame tightly.

"Ruihua, don't cry. I have something to tell you, but don't tell anyone else."

Yan Fugui patted his wife and recounted Yi Zhonghai's analysis of Jia Dongjin during the house-grabbing incident, revealing Jia Dongjin's heinous act of deliberately harming the Yan family.

"That brat, how can he be so good at tricking people!"

After hearing this, Yang Ruihua cursed incessantly. Unable to contain her raging anger, she disregarded the fact that it was the middle of the night and immediately jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed), ready to fight the Jia family to the death.

"We know what's going on. I've thought about it over and over again. This isn't Jia Dongjin's fault. It's all our fault for being too greedy and blinded by the house."

Yan Fugui grabbed his wife and took out the guarantee they had signed, reminding Yang Ruihua of the consequences of causing trouble, which finally calmed his wife down.

"Dongjin, corn is expensive these days. I'll lend you my car for a day, two cents, okay?"

Having money doesn't guarantee you can buy cornmeal. Ignoring the fact that cornmeal has already risen to 1 cents a pound, Yan Fugui chose to spend 5 cents.

"Sure, we're old neighbors, what's wrong with that? Here's your bicycle key, just don't break it."

"Don't worry, it's easy to borrow again if you repay what you borrow. I'll keep the car clean and return it to you."

To Yan Fugui's surprise, in this critical moment, Jia Dongjin had no intention of making things difficult. Yan Fugui even felt that Jia Dongjin was being overly enthusiastic. He only left two cents, and Yan Fugui pushed his bicycle on.

"Dongjin, why did you lend him your bicycle?"

Madam Jia was very puzzled. If it were her, she would not only not lend the bicycle today, but she would also scold and laugh at Old Man Yan for being stingy in front of the neighbors to vent her anger.

"Make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible."

Jia Dongjin adopted a mysterious and inscrutable demeanor, and began to create an air of mystery.

Qin Jingru, standing nearby, burst out laughing. The young girl laughed so hard she was shaking, pointing at Jia Dongjin for a long time before saying, "Brother Dongjin, that rolling pin that Jiefang Brother used was really valuable. Old Yan, the stingy one, paid 300 yuan. If it were in our village, let alone 300 yuan, even a rolling pin would only cost 30 cents. People from all around would come to get a rolling pin. If you didn't hit him, he would get really angry with you. The line could stretch all the way to Beijing."

Madam Jia nodded repeatedly. Jia Dongjin noticed her eyes darting around, as if she were thinking about how to get hit with a rolling pin, and quickly explained, "Mom, look at how Yan Laokou has lost five pounds in two months. A gust of wind could blow him away. No one in the yard will be foolish enough to hit someone with a rolling pin anymore. Besides, people get desperate when they don't have food. It seems Yan Laokou is really out of options. It's better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester. We've been neighbors for so many years; we can't just watch them starve to death. That wouldn't be right, and people would gossip about us."

While the three were joking around, only Qin Huairu habitually lowered her head in thought, pondering, "It's better to resolve conflicts than to create them. Friends, enemies—who are the friends, and who are the enemies?"

The courtyard of the Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house) belongs to Yi Zhonghai.

Gao Cuilan looked distressed as she took the grain bag from Yi Zhonghai's shoulder, grumbling, "Zhonghai, you're 50 years old! Why are you arguing with young people? If you have money, you're not afraid of not being able to buy grain. There's always the pigeon market, isn't there?"

"Every little bit helps, that's how you live. Reducing rations is no small matter; there will definitely be shortages of everything and prices will go up in the future. Don't complain about the price; buying it is a bargain, just you wait and see. Without me, you can't lend money to others recklessly. A small favor is appreciated, but too much will breed resentment. You need to be careful and stop pretending to be a good person everywhere."

Yi Zhonghai's words startled Gao Cuilan, who quickly reported that four families had come to borrow money from the courtyard.

Seeing that the amount wasn't large, Yi Zhonghai waved his hand and said, "We can't hide our wealth forever. This kind of thing will happen again in the future. As long as it's not excessive, the amount will be halved first. Just say that you spend a lot on medicine every month and you can't make decisions about the family finances. Besides, this might not be a bad thing. Spending a little money to get big results, the neighbors will remember our kindness, and maybe they'll even help us in the future."

At this point, Yi Zhonghai coldly looked towards the backyard, "Fatty Liu is only the second-in-command. Director Wang didn't promote him to the top. Don't be fooled by his current antics; he'll be held accountable in the future."

"Yes, if we can't buy eggs, Fatty Liu will turn into Skinny Liu, a damn bastard." Gao Cuilan was also full of hatred for Liu Haizhong.

Since her husband stepped down, Liu Haizhong and his wife have been arrogant and domineering in the courtyard, especially at Yi Zhonghai's doorstep, which has made Gao Cuilan very unhappy.

"Cuilan, don't rush things. I have some good news for you. Yesterday I processed an eighth-grade workpiece. Director Yang said that I have a chance to be promoted to eighth grade in two years. He also rewarded me with a pound of meat coupons and a pound of egg coupons."

Yi Zhonghai took a sip of the high-foam tea and revealed a smug look on his face.

"That's great! Tomorrow I'll give Bang Geng a boiled egg and let him eat it standing in front of Liu Haizhong's house, making Liu Haizhong's little bastard drool with envy."

Gao Cuilan had always had feelings for Banggeng, and blurted out what was on her mind.

"Eggs are so precious, we'd rather give them to anyone than give them to Bang Geng. Don't you think the Jia family has already wronged us badly enough?"

Yi Zhonghai used to like Bang Geng, but now when he heard the name Bang Geng, his hand trembled involuntarily, and he almost dropped the teacup.

Seeing the Jia family getting better and better, with Qin Huairu going to marry a security officer and Jia Dongjin going to marry the beautiful daughter of a grain bureau cadre, Yi Zhonghai couldn't stand hearing about the Jia family's affairs. He felt just as upset as Gao Cuilan.

"It's just 200 yuan. Our family isn't short of money. It's just that it's a shame we didn't get to be treated like royalty."

Are you deliberately trying to annoy me?

Seeing that his wife was getting increasingly absurd, Yi Zhonghai slammed his teacup on the table in anger, got up, and left.

"Have your tea first, otherwise it will get cold and you won't be able to drink it."

"I'm so angry I'm full, you can drink it yourself."

Yi Zhonghai turned and left, intending to go and talk to the deaf old lady.

The elderly have more experience, so it's best to consult them when there's something to ask. Besides, Yi Zhonghai had some vague ideas in his mind.