Siheyuan: Struggle Begins in the 1950s

After Zhao Guilan went out, she went to the post office.

She had a younger brother who was lost during the war and later went to Tianjin.

Later, when her brother grew up, he found it again based on his memory.

Her brother passed away a few years ago, leaving only her nephew and his family at home.

Over the years, her nephew and she have often exchanged letters.

A few months ago, her nephew gave birth to his fourth child, a son. Zhao Guilan originally wanted to discuss with Yi Zhonghai to let her nephew adopt the child, but she never had the chance to say it.

But Zhao Guilan has changed her mind now.

She has given up on Yi Zhonghai.

Zhao Guilan felt despair when she thought that she would be accompanied by a murderer for the rest of her life.

So she planned to divorce Yi Zhonghai and then go to live with her nephew.

I am not too old and can help my nephew take care of his children.

I think my nephew would be willing to take care of me in my old age.

Zhao Guilan wrote a letter at the post office and told her nephew about her situation. Of course, she did not tell her that Yi Zhonghai had killed Jia Dongxu.

She just said that she couldn't live with Yi Zhonghai anymore and wanted to divorce.

The love they had for each other for many years made it impossible for her to bear to report Yi Zhonghai.

Now she only wants to completely sever ties with Yi Zhonghai after the divorce.

After Zhao Guilan sent the letter, she waited for half a month and finally received a reply from her nephew.

Zhao Guilan opened the envelope with trembling hands, and she breathed a sigh of relief after seeing what was written inside.

The nephew did not ask her too many questions, but just gave her an address and asked him to come directly, and told her not to worry, as he would take care of her in her old age.

Zhao Guilan felt relieved and immediately put the envelope away and waited at home for Yi Zhonghai to come back for a showdown.

When Yi Zhonghai returned home in the evening, he saw that Zhao Guilan had already cleaned up everything in the house.

Her clothes were also sorted and packed up.

"Gui Lan, what are you doing?"

Yi Zhonghai had a bad feeling when he saw this scene.

Zhao Guilan looked at Yi Zhonghai and said calmly:

"Zhong Hai, I want to divorce you."

Hearing this, Yi Zhonghai’s eyes widened.

He looked at Zhao Guilan in disbelief and asked:

"Are you crazy?! We are already so old and you are telling me you want a divorce?"

"I'm not crazy. I'm very calm. I've already made up my mind. Today I'm here to inform you that we're going to the neighborhood office tomorrow to go through the divorce procedures."

Yi Zhonghai snorted coldly and refused:

"No, I won't agree to this."

"Zhong Hai, we have been married for many years, so let's part ways amicably. If you don't divorce, don't blame me for not caring about our relationship as husband and wife."

Yi Zhonghai felt a chill in his heart.

He almost forgot that the other party still had the leverage over him.

He looked at Zhao Guilan with an uncertain expression. To be honest, Yi Zhonghai didn't have much affection for Zhao Guilan.

I just feel like after the divorce there's one less person serving me.

But then he changed his mind and thought this was a good thing.

If he and Zhao Guilan divorced, then it would be natural for him to marry Qin Huairu.

Moreover, Qin Huairu is also good at serving people.

Giving up an old woman and replacing her with a young and beautiful young woman seems like a good deal no matter how you look at it.

Thinking of this, Yi Zhonghai pretended to be sad and said:

"Since you insist on leaving, I won't stop you. I'll go with you to the street office tomorrow to complete the formalities."

"Okay, since you don't mind, let me tell you something else. After we divorce, I want to take some of the money from our family. I don't want much, just give me two thousand dollars."

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai jumped up and shouted:

"Are you crazy? You want two thousand dollars?!"

Zhao Guilan looked at Yi Zhonghai expressionlessly and said:

"Two thousand yuan isn't much, right? Your annual salary is about one thousand yuan. We don't have much to spend, so we save all the money. Over the years, we've made at least tens of thousands of yuan. Two thousand yuan isn't much at all."

Yi Zhonghai stopped pretending and stood up, staring at Zhao Guilan and said:

"You also said that this salary is earned by me. You, a woman, can't earn any money at all. How dare you ask for money? I tell you, Zhao Guilan, if you want a divorce, then divorce. If you want money, forget it."

Zhao Guilan now saw through Yi Zhonghai's character. She looked at Yi Zhonghai and said calmly:

"I went to the street office to ask about this a few days ago. The money in the house is our joint property. If we divorce, we must each take half, even including these two rooms.

I don't want your house either, just give me two thousand dollars.

I don't want to argue with you, I just want to say one thing, if you don't give me the money, I will report you to the street office."

All I can say is that once a woman becomes ruthless, she will do anything to achieve her goal.

Zhao Guilan, who has always been a good person, even threatened Yi Zhonghai with Jia Dongxu's affairs in order to divorce him.

Yi Zhonghai looked at Zhao Guilan in shock and anger.

For a moment he even wanted to kill the other person.

His mind raced, but he finally realized helplessly that he had no idea what to do.

Jia Dongxu’s affairs have always been his biggest threat.

He didn't dare to bet whether Zhao Guilan would really report him.

In the end, Yi Zhonghai could only sit down dejectedly and said bitterly:

"Okay, I'll give you the money. But you have to keep this a secret forever."

"Don't worry, after the divorce I will leave Sijiu City and join my nephew and never come back again."

Hearing this, Yi Zhonghai also breathed a sigh of relief.

This time, just consider it as a way to avoid disaster.

Just thinking about having to give out two thousand yuan at a time, Yi Zhonghai felt extremely distressed.

The next day, Yi Zhonghai went to the street office with Zhao Guilan to go through the divorce procedures.

The people in the neighborhood office found it hard to believe that they wanted to get a divorce at such an old age.

He kept persuading the two not to be impulsive.

After all, he has been in charge of marriage registration for so many years, and this is the first time that someone has divorced at such an old age.

But Yi Zhonghai just asked the other party to handle the procedures for him with an expressionless face.

He didn't want to see Zhao Guilan again for a moment.

After the formalities were completed, Yi Zhonghai emphasized once again that she was not allowed to disclose the password before handing over the two thousand yuan to Zhao Guilan.

Zhao Guilan was not polite either. She took the money, counted it, put it in her arms and turned away.

Yi Zhonghai looked at Zhao Guilan's departing back and snorted in his heart.

Sooner or later you will regret it.

Yi Zhonghai didn’t know whether Zhao Guilan would regret it, but a few days after Zhao Guilan left, Yi Zhonghai started to feel a little overwhelmed.

The reason is simple. Without a woman at home to help with housework, many things become very inconvenient.

He can't cook, but he can make do with eating in the canteen at the steel mill.

But there is no way to solve the housework.

Yi Zhonghai hadn't washed clothes for decades. Just a few days after Zhao Guilan left, the pile of dirty clothes filled a bucket.

Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to take a bucket to the central courtyard to fetch water for washing clothes.

After washing it a few times, it still seems to be no different from not washing it.

For the first time, Yi Zhonghai discovered that there were things that he, an eighth-level fitter, could not do.

Moreover, he works so hard every day that he has no energy to do these housework when he gets home.

As a result, within just a few days, Yi Zhonghai looked extremely haggard.

In addition to having no one to do housework, Yi Zhonghai also has to face another problem.

Zhao Guilan's absence for a few days would definitely attract the attention of people in the hospital.

Those who were on good terms with Zhao Guilan would ask him where Zhao Guilan had gone from time to time.