Siheyuan: Fighting against Japanese Aggression in Beijing

Chapter 299: Seeking Help and Calculation

Soon, Yan Fugui brought Yan Jiecheng to the central courtyard. Seeing the few sheds in the courtyard, Yan Fugui's heart sank again. They were so small. How could he borrow one?

Seeing Yan Fugui, Yi Zhonghai took the initiative to step forward and greet him. After all, he felt that he was now the head of the Intermediate Court.

"Old Yan, what's going on? Why are you here in our Central Courtyard?" Yi Zhonghai greeted with a smile on his face.

"Oh! It's hard to put it into words! Old Yi..."

So Yan Fugui told everyone that his family did not have an earthquake-resistant shelter.

"Is that so?" Yi Zhonghai asked in confusion. "That's not right! I saw you guys in the shed when I went out this morning. Your shed is quite big. How come the shed is gone now?"

“This… hehe…”

So Yan Fugui told the story half-truthfully. In his description, it was not his two sons and one daughter who forcibly demolished his family's shed, but he let them do it because he saw that it was not easy for his children.

How could Yi Zhonghai believe Yan Fugui's description? However, he did not want to expose Yan Fugui. After all, he wanted to win over everyone he could!

"Is that so? Then you are quite reasonable. However, there is not much space in our central courtyard! Look, the shed is small and there are so many people. There is not even enough space for two people to lie down. Why don't you go and ask Lao Liu? Their backyard is big, especially Li Kangri's family. I heard that they have set up tents in the yard, and they are better than our sheds. You go and ask, they will definitely help you." Yi Zhonghai said.

He had no good intentions. He just wanted to ask Yan Fugui to give it a try. If Li Kangri was willing to help Yan Fugui, then things would be much easier. He felt that the Li family must have stored a lot of food, especially meat and vegetables.

If we don't help, everyone in the courtyard will hate the Li family. There is strength in numbers. Even if Li Kangri is not easy to deal with, as long as we go against everyone in the courtyard, we can at least check and balance him.

"I've heard this too, but as for Xiao Li, ah! It's hard to say, hard to say!" Yan Fugui said bitterly.

"You go ask Lao Liu and ask him to help you. After all, he is the eldest uncle in the hospital and he has the responsibility and obligation." Yi Zhonghai suggested.

"Okay!" Yan Fugui said helplessly, "But Lao Yi, if there is no room in the backyard, you have to take me in. Don't worry, I just want to take shelter when it rains."

"No problem, it's a small matter, go ahead!" Yi Zhonghai said with a smile.

Soon, Yan Fugui brought his son to the backyard again. At this time, Liu Haizhong was sitting on the bed to rest.

Seeing Yan Fugui coming in, Liu Haizhong called out, "Hey, Old Yan, have you guys cleaned up the front yard? You have so much free time, why are you hanging out here?"

"Hey, Lao Liu," Yan Fugui said bitterly, "I don't have the mood to hang around. I'm here to ask you for help."

"Help?" Liu Haizhong asked in confusion, "What help? Food? I don't have much at home!"

He really didn't think there was anything he could do to help Yan Fugui.

"It's not food. My family doesn't have an earthquake-resistant shelter, so I can't spend the night. Can you help me find a place to stay?" Yan Fugui said hurriedly.

"Find a place for you? Don't you have a place to go? No way!" Liu Haizhong asked knowingly.

"Yes, Second Uncle, I saw that you had already started building it this morning." Liu Guangtian came over and said.

"Hey, didn't I see that my second and third sons' families had no wood, so I dismantled the shed and gave them the wood, so..." Yan Fugui said bitterly.

"Hey, Uncle Er, who are you fooling? You have so much wood at home. I heard you were selling wood at noon! Three dollars for one wood, how could you not have wood?" Liu Guangtian joked. In fact, he had been out when Yan Jiefang and others came to cause trouble, and he knew what was going on. He also told Liu Haizhong everything.

"This..." Yan Fugui hesitated.

"Hey, Old Yan, we are all family, so don't hide it from me. I know everything. I'm telling you, your way of education is wrong. Look at me, I beat my sons until they obey me if they don't listen. If it were me, I would beat them until they cry for their parents if they dared to say a word loudly, let alone tear down the house." Liu Haizhong said indignantly. He just couldn't stand those unfilial people. He felt that there was nothing that couldn't be solved with a beating.

"Since you already know, I won't hide it anymore. Well, the children are grown up now, I can't do anything about it," Yan Fugui said, "Old Liu, let's not talk about other things. Can you think of a solution for me?"

"What can I do? I am also powerless. I have a big family! There is not enough space for Guangtian's family and Guangfu's family! And you can see that Xiao Lu's family also does not have enough space. We just cobbled together some wood from here and there."

"I can see it," Yan Fugui said, "You don't have a place, but there is one over there! I heard they have a yard full of tents! Why don't you go and talk to them and ask them to give my family a place?"

Seeing Yan Fugui looking towards the Li family yard, Liu Haizhong immediately knew what he was thinking. He didn't want to provoke Li Kangri, and he didn't have the face to do so, so he quickly refused, "Old Yan, go talk to Xiao Li about this matter yourself. You know, I don't usually have any contact with his family."

"No! Old Liu, you are a big shot after all. They will at least give you some face." Yan Fugui said anxiously.

Although Yan Fugui's words sounded pleasant, they were useless! He knew his own worth. If he had face, he would have been living a luxurious life in the Li family yard.

So Liu Haizhong said, "You should go by yourself. Others may take me seriously as an old man, but you know the Li family, they won't take me seriously."

"How about we go together?"

"Forget it. To tell you the truth, I've already been there this morning, but was turned away, so... you should go and ask yourself." Liu Haizhong told the truth.

Seeing Liu Haizhong refused again, Yan Fugui could only give it a try and slowly walked to the door of Li's house.

After knocking on the door several times, it was Xu Damao who opened the door.

"Hey, Uncle, what brings you here? Is there something wrong?" Xu Damao asked with a grin.

"Da Mao! Something happened. Where is your master? I'll talk to him."

"Hey, just tell me what's going on. If I can't make a decision, I'll ask my master."

"It's like this, Damao, I'm in trouble! I lack materials to build a shed, so I wanted to ask if you could lend me a place to live for a while. You see, there are quite a few tents in your yard, so it should be no problem, right?" Yan Fugui said.

As he said this, he poked his head inside and looked around.