Chapter 55 Jia Dongxu: Is it too late for me to regret now?
Sunday.

morning.

After breakfast, Wang Mengde took He Shengnan, moved a bench and came to the central courtyard.

Last night, Yi Zhonghai could not bear the pleading of Jia Dongxu and Jia Zhang, so he discussed with the two uncles Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui and decided to hold a meeting of the whole hospital the next morning.

They found a place by the side and sat down. The protagonists today were the three members of the Jia family, so they had nothing to do.

After a while, the neighbors in the courtyard came over one after another. Those who were well-informed knew the purpose of holding a courtyard-wide meeting today and their faces were not very happy.

When everyone arrived, the three uncles also sat down at the small square table in the middle. Yi Zhonghai looked around, then coughed and said slowly:
"Ahem, today I am calling everyone to a meeting of the entire institute for two main things.

The first one is that yesterday the leaders of the street and neighborhood committee came to our courtyard to publicize a policy. The three of us uncles thought about it and thought that maybe some people in the courtyard still have doubts, so we can raise them later and let the third uncle explain them.

The second thing is about the situation of the Jia family. As everyone knows, Jia Dongxu is the only one in their family who has a Beijing household registration. The rest, including his sister-in-law and children, have rural household registration.

According to the policy, they will not have food coupons in the future. Let's discuss it later and see what to do."

"Okay, if anyone has any questions about the policy, you can ask Uncle San."

After Yi Zhonghai finished speaking, he picked up the enamel pot in front of him and took a sip of water.

"Uncle, I came back late last night and only listened to half of it. I didn't hear the previous policy. I want to ask, will people like me who don't have a job also be given food coupons?"

Aunt Qi stood up in the crowd and asked nervously.

"Don't worry, auntie. People with urban household registration who don't have jobs are considered 'general residents and children over ten years old' and can eat 24 to 28 kilograms a month."

Yan Bugui pushed the frame of his glasses and explained with a smile.

"Then I feel relieved, thank you." Aunt Qi let out a long sigh, said thank you and then sat down again.

"Uncle, I also have a question. There are many people in my family. What if there is not enough food?" Aunt Zhang asked.

There are four or five children in her family, all of them are teenagers. As the saying goes, "the teenagers eat their fathers to death." In those days, people were short of oil and water, so each of them had a big appetite.

"Sister-in-law, you don't have to worry about this. The policy has already provided a solution. Let me read it to you. 'The rations purchased by urban residents according to the quantitative standards, if there are any surpluses, can be transferred, donated, or exchanged with each other. They can also be sold to state grain stores, but they are not allowed to speculate in grain.'

This is the provision of Article 12 of the policy. If there is not enough food, or if there is excess food at home, the state allows transfer, donation and mutual adjustment, but everyone should be careful not to speculate, otherwise they will be sent to labor camps or even shot. "

Yan Bugui explained calmly, and finally gave everyone a shot of prevention, warning everyone not to engage in speculative activities.

As everyone's questions were answered one by one, it was finally time for the second item of today's college meeting.

"Since everyone has no questions, let's start talking about the Jia family." Yi Zhonghai said with a smile.

"The Jia family has four people in total, including adults and children. Now only Dongxu has a ration. The food gap is huge. Our courtyard has always had a fine tradition of helping each other, so as neighbors, we all have to help the Jia family get through this difficult time."

After saying that, he glanced at everyone.

Jia Zhang's face looked a little ugly. She cried at home for half the night and didn't sleep well the whole night.

Qin Huairu hugged Bang Geng, silently wiping her tears without saying a word.

In the crowd, Sha Zhu was about to stand up to respond to Yi Zhonghai, but the deaf old lady beside him hurriedly pulled him back. When he turned around, the deaf old lady stared at him with a warning look in her eyes. "Uncle, I'm afraid our family can't help the Jia family." Wang Mengde said loudly as he sat there.

Without waiting for Yi Zhonghai to ask back, he continued: "This matter is not my fault. Jia Dongxu told me a few days ago that if we don't help him in the future, he won't help us. He also said that whoever regrets will be a grandson.

So, in order to prevent him from becoming a grandson, I can’t help him even if I want to.” (Part of the content of Chapter 53 has been modified)

Jia Dongxu's face turned red and he was speechless for a moment.

In fact, he already felt a little regretful in his heart, but it was impossible to get him to admit his mistake.

Qin Huairu behind him sighed in her heart. Her man had many advantages. He had a job, was good-looking, and was usually nice to her. However, his shortcomings of being stubborn and argumentative gave her a headache.

If he had the ability, that would be fine, but he was just talking nonsense.

Moreover, it would be great if you could be so persistent in every aspect, but unfortunately, he is only persistent in words, not in other aspects.

Moreover, last night, after the eldest uncle left, Jia Zhang blamed her for not having an urban hukou and even causing her child to have a rural hukou. Although Jia Dongxu did not say anything, his eyes betrayed him.

In his heart, he also agreed with what Jia Zhang said, thinking that it was all her fault. This behavior made her feel a little chilled.

Some time ago, I proposed to ask an uncle for help to transfer my household registration, but he and my mother-in-law insisted on not doing it. Now they blame her.

Seeing Jia Dongxu's expression, there was no need to ask, he must have said something like this. Yi Zhonghai frowned slightly, then quickly recovered.

Why is this apprentice talking more and more without thinking? He can say such things casually in the courtyard, which is so embarrassing for his master.

"Meng De, Dongxu is also very angry when he said that. Don't take it to heart. You two just have a small misunderstanding. So, you don't have to help Dongxu's family for the time being." Yi Zhonghai said with a smile.

After a pause, he continued, "There are two people in my family who have a ration. So, I will start with one pound of white flour and five pounds of corn flour every month from the month when the food coupon policy is implemented."

After saying that, he looked at Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui.

He had made up his mind. Since the three uncles had donated, even if the others were reluctant, they had to donate a little on the spot for the sake of face.

There are more than 20 households in the courtyard, and each family donates one or two kilograms, so the Jia family will have little left.

"We have many children in our family, so I will donate one pound of white flour and two pounds of corn flour." Liu Haizhong said with an unchanging expression.

When Yi Zhonghai discussed with him about holding a meeting of the whole institute last night, he did not mention the matter of donating food. Now that he was suddenly asked to do so, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and donate a few kilograms.

Next, everyone looked at Yan Bugui to see how much he was going to donate.

"I think that donating food to the Jia family won't solve the actual problem. It will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. Besides, this is not something that can be done in one or two months. There is still a long way to go." Yan Bugui said calmly:
"We should let the Jia family be self-reliant. If they are short of food, they can discuss the transfer and adjustment with the neighbors who have extra food. If they don't have enough money, we can help apply to the street office and let the old sister-in-law make money by making matchboxes at home."

"Yes, that's right."

"This is a good idea. You are worthy of being the Third Uncle."

"We must not lose the spirit of self-reliance and hard work."

After hearing what Yan Bugui said, all the neighbors agreed.

(End of this chapter)