Siheyuan: Starting from a Truck Driver

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No, we must find a way. Yi Zhonghai thought hard and came up with two solutions: one is to persuade He Daqing to go back, and the other is to use evidence to threaten him to keep silent. However, these two methods are difficult to implement.

Yi Zhonghai suddenly took a breath and instinctively wanted to refuse. But then he thought that if he handled it improperly, he might lose all his money. In order to keep at least half of the amount, he decided to compromise.

"Okay, half is half, but you have to give me a solution," he said.

"No, you have to give me the money first, and then I'll tell you the solution." The other party answered firmly. After some eye contact, Yi Zhonghai finally compromised, took out the box beside the kang, opened it and showed it to the aunt. After counting the cash, he took out half and handed it to her, which was exactly one thousand yuan.

In this era, there were no hundred-yuan notes yet, and one thousand yuan was one hundred ten-yuan notes, many of which were worn out and some even had stains. The money was piled up together and tied with paper strips, which looked very heavy.

The aunt had never seen so much money in her life, and she was very excited. But she remained calm in front of Yi Zhonghai and politely accepted the money bag.

The other party looked at her puzzledly: "Since you have already received the money, what is the solution?"

The aunt whispered to him and explained. Yi Zhonghai's face changed drastically and he looked very shocked. She asked him, "Do you think this method is too cruel?"

Yi Zhonghai did not deny it, and obviously agreed with her point of view. The aunt asked sarcastically: "When you were **, did you ever think about the little girl and her brother who could only eat sweet potatoes and corn porridge because of lack of money?"

Yi Zhonghai shamelessly defended himself: "They are living well now."

"Oh? According to you, they also thanked you?" she asked sarcastically.

Yi Zhonghai smiled awkwardly. He always thought he was a good person, always remembering the good things he did, but forgetting the dishonorable deeds.

This is "moral amnesia", and Yi Zhonghai is an incurable patient. He always remembers to help others at critical moments, but forgets the origin of money.

The aunt knew Yi Zhonghai's temper and was too lazy to argue with him. She said calmly: "I have told you the method. It is up to you to decide what to do next."

He Yuzhu was tidying up the old Spring Festival couplets on the door frame. When he heard the old lady's words, he turned around and replied, "Well, the old lady has been urging me to get married, and my partner also thinks that we should get things done while we are both free. So I took a few days off to finish all the work that needs to be tidied at home, put up new couplets, and marry my daughter-in-law."

He did not mention inviting friends. Otherwise, neighbors would definitely take advantage of the opportunity to curry favor with him. If everyone had to be invited, even though He Yuzhu had enough money, he did not want to do so. His money did not fall from the sky, so how could he waste it at will?

If the neighbors had a better relationship, it would be acceptable. But they met on the road and didn't help each other. This is a very sad act. He Yuzhu wanted to learn from Li Weidong and ask the neighbors to give some money to help him plan the wedding, but without Yan Bugui's support, the neighbors were not willing to give even two dollars. They had already said in advance that they advocated thrift and would not give gifts at the wedding banquet this year.

A neighbor was chatting with He Yuzhu when He Yushui's voice came from afar: "Brother, what are you dawdling about? Hurry up! We still have a lot of things to do!"

"Coming!" He Yuzhu responded, and then said to his neighbor: "Hey, I won't talk to you yet, I'm busy now!"

"Okay, go ahead and do your work, don't worry about me." The neighbor said with a smile. After He Yuzhu left, he immediately went to Yan Bugui's house. Yan Bugui was a master at eating for free and had a lot of experience!

Yan Bugui is not only good at eating for free, but also good at getting free rides, free oil, and free salt. He never misses any opportunity. As long as Yan Bugui shows up, things will be solved smoothly. At that time, as long as one person is invited, the whole courtyard will have opinions, and if things go wrong, there will be a commotion. In this way, He Yuzhu may not be accepted by both sides, and will have to prepare a big banquet again and invite everyone to attend the wedding.

Whether the neighbors would embarrass He Yuzhu was not his concern at all. Everyone thinks of themselves, this is the law of nature. Faced with such a rare opportunity to eat for free, how could he let it go?

At this moment, He Yuzhu had no idea that he had become their prey, and he was still busy with He Yushui. But when he thought about the house that had not been repaired for many years and was in a state of disrepair, with drafts in the windows, leaking roofs, and cracks in the walls, he realized that he and He Yushui could not complete all the work in one day, so he began to consider seeking help from outside.

First, he thought of Wang Ruxin, the fiancé of He Yushui. He dialed the phone and called him, but three people were still not enough. There were too many items to buy and things to be done. So He Yuzhu returned to the steel rolling mill and found his apprentice Ma Hua.

When Ma Hua went out to help, He Yuzhu happened to see Li Weidong who had just returned from a long run. Seeing that Ma Hua needed help, Li Weidong simply asked Niu Yong for half a day off. His apprentice Niu Meng also followed his master's example without hesitation and asked for leave as well.

With this group of helpers, He Yuzhu's pressure seemed to be relieved a lot. In the end, even the old lady came to help. She was experienced, and compared with Li Weidong and He Yuzhu, it could be said that she was too experienced to count. Han Zhizhi also wanted to help, but was dissuaded by Lao Huang, who thought that this approach was not in line with the norm. Besides, there were enough people and he didn't need to come forward.

After a busy day, it was already dark, but finally everything was done. After everything was done, seeing that everyone looked tired, Li Weidong asked Yu Li to buy a chicken and then make a convenient and quick Guangdong hot pot. After a full meal and hot drinks, everyone seemed more satisfied.

Just then, Li Weidong burped contentedly and asked He Yuzhu what time he would go to pick up the bride tomorrow.

He Yuzhu replied: "We have to set out before daybreak. The old lady emphasized that we need to walk a full circle along the auspicious streets after picking up the bride."

Li Weidong had a deep understanding of this matter. His team at that time far surpassed He Yuzhu. He was about to speak when a voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Hey, I thought you were all here! Silly Zhu, come out for a moment, I have something to tell you." Li Weidong and He Yuzhu looked at the source of the voice and found that Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui, the three managers, were standing outside the house without knowing when.

The person who spoke just now was Yan Bugui. Li Weidong and He Yuzhu exchanged glances and felt that things might not be going well. As the saying goes, no one comes to visit without a reason. The three managers came to visit at the same time, so there must be something important!

Li Weidong winked at He Yuzhu, who nodded in understanding. The two of them stood up and walked out of the room. He Yushui and Wang Ruxin, who were inside, also stood up, but Ma Hua was embarrassed and could not come forward.

He Yuzhu straightened his clothes and looked at the three managers with a smile: "Three gentlemen, it seems that something big is going to happen from the look of things happening here?" Yi Zhonghai did not answer. He was called by Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong. He had no intention of participating, but Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong were both here. If he did not show up, he would have no status in the courtyard in the future.

Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong looked at each other and started to talk: "Shazhu, I heard that you are going to hold a wedding banquet tomorrow?" He Yuzhu nodded to confirm: "Yes, is there any problem?"

"This is a big problem. According to the rules of our courtyard, every family that holds a wedding must invite neighbors to a wedding banquet, but you didn't say anything. Do you have no intention of doing so?" He Yuzhu explained: "My wife and I have discussed it and only want to invite one or two relatives and friends. The main reason is that the economy is tight and we can't afford to spend too much money."

Liu Haizhong shook his head after hearing this: "Silly Zhu, I'm wrongly blaming you. Everyone in the factory knows that you only earn 37.5 yuan a month, and you often pick up scraps, even saving money for buying vegetables. I can understand that others can't afford to pay, but you should stop pretending to be poor."

He Yuzhu smiled after hearing this: "I am excited when I talk about this. According to my salary, I can indeed save some money, but things are unpredictable. In the past, Xu Damao and I often had conflicts. They were personal grudges, but you always interfered. Not only did you ask me to compensate for the losses, but you turned a blind eye to your own losses. Even so, you still want me to pay a high price. You want to pay one dollar for an egg worth a few cents, and five dollars for a hen worth three dollars. The reason is that I have a high income and don’t care about this little money? Now you ask me why I don’t ask my neighbors. I want to ask you, if it weren’t for your favoritism, my money would have been gone long ago. Would I do this?"

Li Weidong listened to the speech and silently praised He Yuzhu. In terms of eloquence, He Yuzhu never admits defeat. Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui seemed very embarrassed. They did a lot of such things. In addition to the fact that He Yuzhu usually did not flatter them, it was mainly because Xu Damao often gave them benefits. In this case, they would naturally stand on Xu Damao's side. After all, it was He Yuzhu who paid the money, not them, so who would feel sorry?

After Xu Damao came in, He Yuzhu brought up the past, and they felt somewhat guilty. Fortunately, they were not thin-skinned, otherwise they would not be so righteous every time they showed partiality. Yan Bugui cleared his throat and said, "Silly Zhu, let the past be the past. What's the point of bringing it up? Marriage is a big deal, and it cannot be perfunctory. Everyone is not here for your wedding, but mainly to get some of your good luck. Too many things have happened in the courtyard this year, and it's just right to use your incident to get rid of bad luck!"

At this time, Li Wei, who had been silent all the time, suddenly spoke up: "Uncle Yan, there is something wrong with your thinking! The superiors have repeatedly emphasized that feudal superstition is prohibited. Your idea is too old-fashioned. I have to talk to the neighborhood committee about this issue!" Then, he looked at Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui: "Do you two think so too?"