Chapter 44: Changes in the Courtyard

The meeting continued.

Yi Zhonghai took up the topic.

"The situation is like this, our courtyard's good comrade Yang Qing, because he feels sorry for us elderly people, getting up at night is inconvenient."

"So he decided to use the money left over from building his own house to build a toilet for the elderly in the courtyard."

"For such noble conduct, we should applaud Yang Qing and thank him for his spirit of dedication."

Hahaha……

A round of applause broke out, a crowd looked at him, with all kinds of expressions.

Yang Qing had no choice but to stand up and start bootlicking.

"Here, we should mainly thank the First Elder, who donated money to help a poor child like me, giving me funds to repair my house so I could move into a good home."

"Returning a peach for a plum, I therefore decided to take out the remaining money to do something meaningful."

"Let's give the First Elder a round of applause."

Hahahaha……

Xu Damao looked at him with a complex expression.

This brat won't betray us, will he?

Yi Zhonghai took it up and continued.

"This is nothing I should do, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning."

"Let's get back to the matter of the toilet."

"We originally planned to build a dry toilet, but everyone knows what a dry toilet is like."

"Building it that way wouldn't be good, after all the courtyard is full of people, especially since Yang Qing still lives here."

"We shouldn't make the person who does the work suffer, so I suggested digging a fertilizer pit; besides, there's a hutong behind, making it easy to haul out the waste."

"Once the septic tank was done, Yang Qing and I decided to make it bigger, to solve the courtyard's toilet problem."

"After expanding it, hygiene became an issue, so we thought of connecting a water pipe to make a flush toilet."

"Everyone should have seen a flush toilet; it's clean, hygienic, and easy to clean."

"And so it became the current situation."

"Over the past half month, we three elders have run our legs ragged over the flush toilet matter."

"We couldn't get the tiles, and there was no specification, so we decided to use discarded ceramic tile fragments from the tile factory to mosaic and lay ourselves; this link has been opened, and we've already ordered many broken tile pieces."

"We couldn't get a Western-style toilet, so we begged and pleaded to get a few squat toilets, the kind the leaders use."

"Furthermore, we also managed to get the water pipes and tanks; I won't go into specifics."

"Now we're just lacking cement."

"Tomorrow, every household will go to the lime house to get cement; we'll have Master Lei calculate whether it's enough."

"If not enough, we'll think of another way."

"As for the toilet's expenses, if Yang Qing's remaining funds aren't enough, we'll chip in."

"That's the situation; does anyone else have any opinions?"

"Who would dare to have an opinion when the big shots have already spoken? Would you dare to have an opinion?"

"Alright, since nobody has any opinions, let's see if the San Da Ye has anything to add."

"The San Da Ye adjusted his glasses, chuckling, full of confidence like never before."

"I know some people have doubts, like there's already a public toilet, building another would be wasteful."

"I understand such voices."

"But haven't you often encountered queuing for the toilet, delaying work?"

"Or haven't you had the experience of nowhere to put your feet, stepping everywhere?"

"A few days ago, someone in the neighboring courtyard fell into the waste pit while going to the toilet at night."

"The toilet has already become a very important part affecting our quality of life."

"Now we have a chance to change it; why not change?"

"We've solved the toilet problem, no need to crowd with the big crowd, and it lets our neighbors have fewer toilet worries—why not?"

"Moreover, with flush toilets, the young men from each household can more easily find partners."

"Yan Fu Gui's few words were well said, and many people accepted his reasoning."

"Agree, agree, we'll fully cooperate."

"I've long had enough of that toilet."

"Flush toilets—that's not on the same level as the leaders'."

……

"The toilet matter finally came to a close."

"The anticipated scenario of Yi Zhonghai scheming to take over his courtyard did not occur."

"Maybe Yi Zhonghai has let go, since he has no children anyway."

"Or perhaps it's because Jia Zhangshi, that troublemaker, isn't around, so everything has become much more peaceful."

"Gu Ning has been learning to fish from Yang Qing these past days, but the catch was poor; still, Yang Qing gave her some bait, and only then did she settle into her fishing endeavor."

"These days, Jia Dongxu's status at home has risen straight up, his backbone has hardened considerably, and seeing Bang Geng's mischief, he dares to give him a slap."

"Xiao Dang is also quite satisfied with her current life; occasionally Sha Zhu gives her a lunchbox, and she can now eat meat, but her brother's attitude toward her has worsened, and he doesn't play with her much anymore."

"Qin Huairu, as the mistress of the house, has also become addicted, especially when disciplining Bang Geng, she feels a great sense of accomplishment."

"Watching Bang Geng's gradual changes, she feels satisfied in her heart."

"Only a world where Bang Geng is injured has been born."

However, when he was bullied, his parents together went to the teacher, and with the teacher's help, now no one bullies him.

So he couldn't bring himself to hate his parents.

Instead, he came to hate Xiao Dang, this money‑losing good‑for‑nothing snatched away his tasty food.

As for Sha Zhu, seeing Yang Qing's household change day by day, like Xu Damao, he started thinking about getting a wife.

He Yushui didn't want to manage him, couldn't manage him, and feeding himself was still a problem, so he was too lazy to bother with this trivial matter.

Instead, the deaf old lady gave him strong support.

"Hmm, you should get a wife; others don't dare to marry at this time because there isn't enough food."

"You're different—you're a cook; marrying now is exactly when you have an advantage, and you can be picky."

"Tomorrow take ten yuan, go find Wang Meipo, and propose."

"She will surely find you a good wife."

He Yuzhu was praised by the deaf old lady, and as a cook he swelled with pride.

"Then I want to find someone like Qin Sister, with a prominent front and back, capable of bearing children."

"And she must have studied."

Lady Long felt that Sha Zhu's current conditions made finding someone like that suitable.

In a famine year, cooks are in high demand; there's no big problem.

"Hmm, that's picking something satisfactory."

He Yuzhu heard the deaf old lady support his high standards, became happy, and indeed felt he deserved better.

Suppressing his excited, trembling hand, he went home, took out his leather shoes and Zhongshan suit, tidied them up, and waited to use them when meeting the young lady.

Yang Qing returned to his courtyard again.

The place of those four rooms was dug up, with a hole here, a hole there.

Floor tiles and strips filled his small courtyard.

One can imagine how bustling it once was here.

I also don't know if anyone has dug up any treasure.

Nobody would talk about this matter; if they did, you wouldn't come back, so Yang Qing didn't go looking for trouble himself.

At home, the tiles had been relaid, the mountain wall newly built neat and tidy, just waiting for plastering and whitewashing.

The beams, columns, rafters and purlins had been tidied up to be clean and like new.

The floor tiles were still not laid, the doors and windows not yet installed, and it might still take several days.

Coming again to the South Shed, the paint on its beams, columns, rafters and purlins was already firm; a touch felt smooth and sleek, like a woman's skin.

He hadn't lit a fire for several days; returning, he wanted to try his own smokeless stove.

Just today he caught a carp weighing over one jin.

After killing it, he poured on soy sauce, chopped some old ginger, and marinated it.

He lit the pot to boil water, placed the bamboo steamer, the steamed buns, the plate of fish, and covered the pot lid.

The fire burned brightly, with no smoke escaping and no smoky smell.

Soon the water boiled; Yang Qing took out a few pieces of wood and let it simmer on low heat.

At this point the smokeless stove showed another advantage: it burns raw firewood.

Its heat conversion rate is high.

Tonight, in front of the stove stand, Yang Qing's meal tasted especially fragrant and sweet.