Chapter 314: Jia's House Collapsed and Wanted to Move to the East Crossing

As time passed, Liu Zhiye's parents decided to return to their hometown, and their children grew up inadvertently.

Since then, this courtyard that was once full of laughter and joy has gradually become deserted by Liu Zhiye's family.

The departure of Liu Jingzhai and Deng Ru made Yan Bugui and his wife feel lost. Yan Bugui and Liu Jingzhai were both intellectuals with similar ideals, and the relationship between the third aunt and Deng Ru was even deeper than that between sisters.

Their departure seemed to have taken away some of the color from Yan Bugui and his wife's lives, making their world seem like something was missing and a little monotonous and boring.

The second is Wang Qiuju. Although she has only been married into this courtyard for a few years, her neighbors, the Liu family, treat her like a relative and a friend.

Deng Ru, in particular, treated her like her own goddaughter. In this new environment, Wang Qiuju felt unprecedented warmth and care.

With the return of Liu Jingzhai and his wife, Liu Zhiye and his wife seldom returned to the courtyard house, so the room in the east courtyard where they once lived became vacant.

Therefore, some people began to think about it. The Liu family's house was undoubtedly a very good choice.

In recent years, Liu Zhiye has spared no expense in renovations, making the house in first-class condition among the courtyard houses in Nanluoguxiang.

Liu Zhiye never expected that someone would covet the house under his parents' name.

Until a few days ago when he came back to work, he was too lazy to go back to the village, so he went straight back to the courtyard after get off work.

He only learned about this when his third uncle Yan Bugui came to his house and talked about it.

Yan Bugui did not covet this house, although he had many children and his desire for the house was self-evident.

But the real purpose of his trip was to remind Liu Zhiye.

"Captain Liu, are you fully recovered?"

"Why don't you take a rest for a while? Your health is the capital of revolution!"

Liu Zhiye smiled slightly, gestured to Yan Bugui to sit down, and said gratefully: "Uncle, thank you for your concern. I am now in good shape. If I don't move around, all the parts of my body will rust!"

"Are you all doing well recently? I was too busy fighting the flood a while ago and didn't have time to come back. Is there any danger in our compound?"

As he spoke, he handed a cigarette to Yan Bugui.

Yan Bugui took the cigarette, lit it quickly, took a deep breath, and showed a satisfied expression on his face. "This cigarette is really good." He exclaimed that he hadn't smoked such high-quality cigarettes for a long time.

Although Yan Bugui's family's economic conditions have improved significantly in recent years, there are still many children in the family, and most of them have not yet started a family or a career, so the burden of life still falls on his shoulders.

In addition, he was originally a stingy person, and he just upgraded from the "economic card" to the "large-scale production" card.

Speaking of this "economy brand" cigarette, it is a new low-priced cigarette launched on the market in recent years, mainly targeting low-income people in cities and rural areas.

Cigarette factories all over the country have production tasks. In most areas, a pack of economy cigarettes only costs 8 cents, so it is commonly known as "one cent".

It can also be disassembled and sold separately.

This kind of "1 cent" can be said to be the cheapest cigarette in today's society. Compared with it, the "Da Shengchan" cigarettes that cost more than 1.2 cents are considered high-end cigarettes.

Yan Bugui took two puffs of his cigarette leisurely, and then chatted with Liu Zhiye about some recent events in the compound.

"When the flood came, we were almost flooded here. The water in the lake was about to overflow."

"Fortunately, the rain stopped..."

"Thanks to your advance warning, we had enough time to prepare. In the courtyard, other families were safe and sound, only the roof of the Jia family suffered some damage and collapsed partially."

When Liu Zhiye heard the news, he was stunned. He widened his eyes and asked in disbelief: "What? The roof of the Jia family collapsed? Didn't I remind you to inspect it?"

Yan Bugui smiled helplessly, with a hint of bitterness in his voice: "We all followed your advice and specially invited craftsmen to come and inspect it, but Jia Zhang's..."

It turned out that Liu Zhiye had kindly reminded the third uncle that there might be continuous rainfall in the future, which might cause floods.

Please be sure to remind the neighbors around you that those old houses that have been through a lot of hardships urgently need to be repaired as soon as possible.

Once a safety hazard is discovered, it must be resolved immediately without delay.

Yan Bugui could turn a deaf ear to other people's comments, but he firmly believed in Liu Zhiye's words.

That evening, Yan Bugui quickly called a brief meeting with the people in the compound. His words were full of urgency, reminding everyone to always be vigilant against floods and waterlogging, and not forget to carefully inspect and maintain their own houses.

At first, people laughed at him for being too worried, but when Yan Bugui revealed that it was Liu Zhiye's suggestion, most people began to believe it.

Liu Haizhong, the opponent who often confronted him, now restrained his playful smile and stopped taking the lead in laughing at him. His face became serious.

Others like Sha Zhu, Xu Damao and others actively expressed their support and chose to stand on his side without reservation.

Are you kidding? This was proposed by "Brother Liu". Even if he is wrong, we should support him. This is called "political correctness".

Besides, the neighbors all knew Liu Zhiye's character to some extent.

He is not the kind of person who talks nonsense and makes trouble out of nothing, but a good neighbor worthy of trust.

On the contrary, Liu Zhiye is very kind-hearted. Over the years, all the neighbors have received his help and favors to varying degrees. This kindness and generosity makes people respect him.

Therefore, when Yan Bugui announced that this was Liu Zhiye's proposal, the neighbors expressed their support.

However, there is one family that is an exception.

That is the old Jia family. Now that the Jia family has no man to support it, the one who comes forward to make the decision becomes Qin Huairu's mother-in-law, Jia Zhang.

I saw Jia Zhang sitting there, holding a handful of melon seeds in her hand, putting them into her mouth one by one and spitting the shells on the ground.

Soon, the ground in front of her was covered with melon seed shells, like a scattered battlefield.

Yan Bugui looked around and found that everyone was supporting him enthusiastically, except Jia Zhang, who was sitting there with a sneer on her face, as if she was watching a farce coldly and was unwilling to take part in it.

Yan Bugui frowned and couldn't help asking, "Sister-in-law Jia, everyone has expressed their support, what do you think?"

Hearing this, Jia Zhang spat out a melon seed shell with disdain. She squinted her eyes and said, "Who knows if it's true or not? If there is no flood, then all this trouble will be in vain." Her words revealed a doubt about the authenticity of the news and a disdain for the possible flood.

Then he continued, "Oh! Doesn't it cost money to renovate the house? We don't have any money."

"If you want to repair it, go ahead. We don't want to waste money on it anyway."

"Hehe! Who knows if you guys are doing this to get some benefits?"

When Yan Bugui heard her say this, he was so angry that the three corpse gods jumped up and down.

He slammed the table and shouted angrily: "Shut up! You are unreasonable, bitch!"

"With her family background, how can she still covet your little tricks?"

"Your kindness is taken for granted. It's fine if your family doesn't get involved. If something goes wrong, it's your own fault!"

Jia Zhang realized that she had said something wrong. She stood up in a hurry, with a panic in her tone: "Anyway, our family has no money. We live in a good house. Why are we making trouble for being poor..."

"Huai Ru! Mom, I have a headache. Please help me go back to my room to rest!" After saying that, she didn't continue the meeting and went back to the east wing to hide.

…………

In the following days, residents in the compound donated money and invited masons to check the safety of their houses.

After a careful inspection, we actually discovered that many residents' houses had significant safety hazards.

Only Jia Jia was indifferent. Jia Zhang even laughed at the others behind Qin Huairu's back: "Bah! What a bunch of idiots, you are being played like Yuan Datou. I don't believe that the rain can collapse the house."

Qin Huairu said worriedly: "Mom, we are not afraid of accidents, but we are afraid of the unexpected. If the house really collapses, we..."

Hearing this, Jia Zhang raised her triangular eyes and said, "What are you talking about? I have never seen a house collapse due to rain in my life. Have you ever seen it?"

Qin Huairu shook her head and said, "That's not the answer, but everyone else..."

Jia Zhang rolled her eyes at her again and said, "Whatever, they like to make trouble, let them be."

"We don't have the money to mess around..." Qin Huairu whispered, "Don't you still have more than a thousand yuan?"

Jia Zhang was furious when she heard this. "Qin Huairu, you have been eyeing this money, right?"

"I'm telling you, don't even think about it. That's what poor Dongxu paid for with his life. We have to spend it sparingly. Don't even think about it..."

Therefore, the Jia family did not participate in the house renovation operation.

Yan Bugui thought that it would be fine if her family didn't get involved. It wouldn't be a big problem if it was just their family. It might not be such a coincidence that bad luck would befall their family.

But some things are always like this. The Jia family wanted to be optimistic, but God just didn't go as they wished.

Since August 8, the capital city has been plunged into a continuous rainy season.

The rain poured down without stopping, as if the sky was also adding a bit of heaviness and tragedy to the story of this city.

The sky seemed to have cracked open, and heavy rain poured down.

The neighbors in the compound were very fortunate. Thanks to them for listening to Liu Zhiye's advice and repairing their houses in advance, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

They stood under the eaves, looking at the pouring rain, their hearts filled with gratitude towards Liu Zhiye.

At first, when the Jia family witnessed water leaking from the roof, they felt regretful for not listening to other people's advice.

After several days of heavy rain, except for the occasional dripping of rain, there were no other abnormalities in the house. This finally put their minds at ease and they felt relieved.

"Tsk tsk! What did I say? The house collapsed when it rained. How could he say that? He's really making a fuss out of nothing!"

"Huai Ru, this ginger is still spicy with age..."

Jia Zhang was secretly delighted in her heart. She insisted on her own opinion and was not swayed by the clamor of others, thus saving a considerable amount of expenses.

But the good times did not last long. That very night, strong winds and heavy rain made the already leaking roof of their house even worse.

then……

In the midst of the violent storm, the neighbors were immersed in their dreams. Suddenly, a deafening "boom!" broke many people's dreams. They were still half asleep and half awake, mistaking it for thunder in the distance, and turned over, intending to continue their conversation.

Sha Zhu's heart tightened. This sound clearly came from Jia's house. He quickly got out of bed and hurriedly opened the door. The scene in front of him stunned him instantly.

I saw that half of the roof of Jia's house had collapsed, and the adults and children in the house were crying...

"Help come quickly! Something happened! The Jia family's house collapsed!" Sha Zhu hurried forward to rescue people while shouting.

"Someone come quickly..."

The others finally realized what had happened and jumped off the kang and rushed straight to the Jia family.

…………

With the concerted rescue efforts of the neighbors, the Jia family was finally pulled out from the pile of mud and tiles.

Strangely, Qin Huairu and the two little girls were not seriously injured. They were just covered in mud and had some abrasions on their skin.

Jia Zhang and Bang Geng were much more miserable. One had his leg broken by a piece of wood from the beam, and the other had his arm broken.

In addition, half of the east wing had become a ruin, the furniture inside was broken, and the clothes and bedding were soaked beyond recognition in the pouring rain.

The Jia family suffered heavy losses this time.

Jia Zhang watched everything in front of her with trembling hands, groaning in pain, her body and mind tortured, and filled with deep remorse.

"Woo..." The mournful cry like a night owl sounded extremely creepy.

“I regret it…”

It was raining so hard that everyone picked up the important things from Jia's house and put them in Sha Zhu's house first. The rest were left to soak in the rain.

Then, Yan Bugui arranged for Sha Zhu, Yan Jiecheng, Xu Damao and others to send Jia Zhang and Bang Geng to the hospital for treatment.

In the days that followed, the house could no longer accommodate people, so Qin Huairu had to temporarily send her two children to a neighbor's house. She devoted herself to the hospital, taking care of Jia Zhang and Bang Geng.

It was not until a dozen days ago that Jia Zhang was discharged from the hospital and returned home. Seeing the collapsed house in front of her, she was overwhelmed with grief again.

"Oh... my life is so miserable. What should I do after the house collapses?"

Yan Bugui bluntly said to Jia's wife: "Your house must be repaired quickly. You can't delay any longer. There are many people repairing their houses now. If you don't hurry up, you won't be able to get a number in a short time."

Jia Zhang said anxiously: "Repair it! We will repair it right away. Old Yan, could you please estimate how much money it will take to repair it?" Her tone revealed the anxiety that she could not delay any longer. After all, she had no other place to live.

Yan Bugui nodded slightly and began to calculate the bill seriously.

Then, he said solemnly: "Including the cost of labor and materials, it's roughly this number." He stretched out four fingers to gesture.

Jia Zhang took a glance and a trace of heartache flashed in her eyes, "So much, and it costs forty yuan?" She muttered softly.

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui's face darkened and he said, "What the hell are you thinking? It's going to cost at least 400 yuan!"

"Besides, it may not be enough."

When Jia Zhang heard the number, she was stunned. "Four hundred?" She exclaimed, feeling desperate.

Repairing the house would cost so much money that it was more painful to her than cutting her flesh.

"Oh my God! How can I survive? Why do I have such a miserable life?" Jia Zhang fell to the ground, slapped the floor tiles with her hands and burst into tears.

Yan Bugui glared at her and said, "You guys handle it yourselves!" Then he turned and left.

As night fell, the Jia family was forced to squeeze into the remaining half of the house. Although the night breeze brought a little coolness, it also attracted countless mosquitoes and flies.

"Mom, this house has to be repaired, and we have to hurry up and repair it. We can't delay any longer..." Qin Huairu said frankly while driving away mosquitoes.

Jia Zhang was reluctant to pay for the repairs, but Qin Huairu was short of money and could not afford the expense. The family was faced with the dilemma of being unable to continue living there, and they needed to solve this problem urgently.

Jia Zhang said tentatively: "Huai Ru! Why don't you go and ask Yan Bugui to hold a meeting and ask the neighbors to donate some money to our family and help us!"

Qin Huairu was almost laughing at the shamelessness of this mother-in-law. She was obviously rich, but she always wanted others to help her. What they gave her was what she deserved or owed her.

Besides, last time he raised funds for their family, he wanted to blame Zhang and almost offended everyone in the compound. Is he doing it again this time?
…………

The next day, under the urging of Jia Zhang, Qin Huairu had no choice but to go to Yan Bugui for help.

Yan Bugui said bluntly: "Huai Ru, it's not that I'm stingy and don't want to help, but your family obviously has the tickets, but you want the neighbors to donate, which is indeed a bit unreasonable."

Qin Huairu remained unmoved and continued to bow to Yan Bugui, begging, "Third Uncle, please help me. My mother-in-law and Banggeng spent a lot of money on hospitalization, and the money in the family has almost been spent."

Yan Bugui said awkwardly: "This... I'm afraid no one will donate, I think we should just forget it!"

Qin Huairu's eyes flashed with helplessness and expectation, and her voice was a little sad: "I know this is embarrassing for you, but we can't live without a shelter from the wind and rain!"

"Otherwise, please be kind enough to help us find a place to live temporarily."

Yan Bugui: "Hey! You are really putting me in a difficult position. Where can I find a house for you to live in?"

Qin Huairu's eyes wandered, and she said leisurely: "Isn't there a house in the east wing that no one lives in now?"

"You mean the room in Liu Jingzhai's house?" Yan Bugui was stunned for a moment, and then he suddenly realized that this was Qin Huairu's real purpose.

His face darkened, and he thought to himself, "This Qin Huairu is really calculating. I underestimated her."

Qin Huairu lowered her head slightly and said shyly: "Since that room is empty, why not use it as our home for the time being? When the house is renovated, we will move out."

Yan Bugui thought, "In the future? If I really let you move in, I don't know when it will happen!"

Therefore, he refused without hesitation: "No, this house is the private property of the Liu family. If you want it, go and talk to them yourself. I don't have the face to ask others for a house."

(End of this chapter)