With the end of the month fast approaching, the meat coupons he had would expire if he didn't use them. Yi Zhonghai had no intention of exchanging them for money on the black market, so after get off work he went to a vegetable market in Dongdan and bought two ounces of meat.
Even though it was after get off work, the meat was pretty good. Although it didn't have five fingers' worth of fat, it still had two and a half fingers' worth.
On the way back, I went into the supply and marketing cooperative again and bought 50 cents worth of loose liquor, which filled a bottle. I put it in my pocket and hurried home.
Recently, Yi Zhonghai has been intentionally distancing himself from Jia Dongxu. They used to walk together on their way to and from get off work, and Yi Zhonghai used to wait for his apprentice after work, but lately he prefers to go home alone, using the time to think about things.
He remained indecisive, and his relationship with the Jia family changed from being very close to being lukewarm.
Sha Zhu's situation is a bit more serious. Last time he got beaten up, Sha Zhu certainly watched the spectacle unfold.
Of course, he was just a bystander when Sha Zhu was being beaten. He had planned to agree with Sha Zhu to ease the tense relationship and, at the same time, put Xu Damao down so that he couldn't smoothly act as the mediator in the courtyard.
The result was obvious: they lifted a rock only to drop it on their own thigh.
The lesson was profound; the only one to blame was myself for not thinking things through, focusing solely on repairing my relationship with Sha Zhu while simultaneously ruining Xu Damao's reputation.
Yi Zhonghai sighed deeply; lately, he'd practically been humiliated.
Previously, when some residents in the compound saw him, they would greet him warmly from afar, calling him "Uncle" or "Grandpa." He would only respond selectively; if he was in a good mood, he would reply with a few words, and if he wasn't, he would just nod. He wasn't worried that others would hold a grudge.
Now the situation is exactly the opposite, or even worse.
He would greet people with a smile and always have a kind expression, even those he had never looked at before. If they were in a good mood, they would talk to him; if they were in a bad mood, they would glare at him; and some would even walk away in disgust like they were avoiding a stray dog.
Back in the day, how impressive Sha Zhu and Jia Dongxu were when they were protecting him!
He knew that losing his title of "old man" would put him in a bad situation, but he never expected to be ostracized like this.
He's doing relatively well; he works during the day and comes home at night, and at most he can stay home all day on weekends. But it's different for the older woman; she's a housewife, and now she's been forced to take jobs on the street making matchboxes.
When Yi Zhonghai was still in power, all the women in the courtyard would fawn over the older woman and chat with her. But now, even if the older woman wants to join in, people rarely pay attention to her or engage in conversation with her.
This is only because the old lady is well-liked in the courtyard. If she were like Jia Zhangshi, given her personality, she would probably be bullied and cry every day.
Along the way, Yi Zhonghai sighed countless times.
It's tough. When I get home, I have to face my spouse's nagging.
"Hey Lao Yan, you're back from get off work. It's getting cold really fast. I reckon it's close to snowing. You shouldn't keep moving those flowers outside. If you don't have time to move them back inside, they'll freeze to death."
Yi Zhonghai entered the main gate and passed through the hanging flower gate. He looked up and saw Yan Bugui tidying up the potted plants inside the house. "Come on, let me give you a hand."
As he spoke, Yi Zhonghai placed the meat on the windowsill of Old Yan's house and rolled up his sleeves to help, but was stopped by Yan Bugui who rushed over.
"Forget it, Lao Yi, I wouldn't dare ask you to help with just these two pots of flowers. You must be tired after a long day at work. It's just a matter of me making a couple more trips. You should go home and have dinner."
After Yan Bugui stopped Yi Zhonghai, he adjusted his glasses, and the cracks on the lenses disappeared, as did the white tape on the temples.
"Okay, Lao Yan, you go ahead with your work, I'll head back now."
Yi Zhonghai gave an awkward laugh and then rolled up his sleeve. "I bought a piece of meat today and I'm going to take it back to his auntie right away. I'm afraid she'll have already cooked dinner by now."
After saying that, Yi Zhonghai picked up the meat to show it to everyone, then turned and left with a smile.
Another sigh echoed in Yi Zhonghai's mind. Yan Bugui hadn't even exchanged a few polite words with him while he was carrying the meat. Their relationship had truly cooled down!
Seeing Yi Zhonghai's figure disappear behind the moon gate connecting the front and middle courtyards, Yan Bugui took off his glasses, laughed twice at the lenses, and instantly a layer of fog enveloped the lenses.
"It's just a piece of meat that was cut off, what's there to brag about? I even added a potted plant, who am I showing off to!"
Yan Bugui took out a handkerchief and kept rubbing the lenses, his small, beady eyes fixed on the moon gate. "You, Lao Yi, have finally met your match. Nobody wants to talk to you anymore. Do you think I'd be willing to?"
After wiping the lenses, Yan Bugui held the glasses up to his eyes and looked at them over and over before finally putting them on his little head with satisfaction. He then bent down to continue moving the flowers.
Yi Zhonghai wanted to help, but Yan Bugui turned him away, leaving him with mixed feelings as he walked home.
I glanced at the Jia family's house, but the thick cotton curtain blocked the view of what was going on inside.
Yi Zhonghai entered the house, handed the meat to an old woman and asked her to prepare the meal. He then brewed some tea, sat down at the table with his teacup, and stared blankly into the yard through the gap in the curtain.
The older woman didn't take on many matchbox pasting jobs; it was just to pass the time. She wouldn't take on more if she wanted to, because these days there are plenty of people who want to do odd jobs to supplement their income.
Before long, Sha Zhu came back from get off work carrying an aluminum lunchbox. Usually, there were only one or two in the net bag, but this time there were three. Judging from how much the net bag was drooping, the lunchbox was still quite full.
Sha Zhu hummed a song and leaned to one side as he passed by the Jia family's gate, glancing at it as well. Then he whistled and strolled home.
Yi Zhonghai couldn't help but sigh again. If it were before, Sha Zhu would definitely bring a lunchbox to his house, and then bring the deaf old lady over, and the group would chat and eat happily together.
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