Siheyuan: Starting from a Truck Driver

"Okay, let's wait and see."

So, Li Aiguo sat next to Xu Damao again and reached for the newspaper bag he was carrying.

Xu Damao looked at him silently again, with a complicated look in his eyes.

Among the crowd, Yi Zhonghai completed his mobilization and announced loudly: "That's it. In difficult times, everyone works together. I hope everyone will donate generously, starting from 10 yuan, with no upper limit."

Life is not easy these days. Sometimes even the rough black steamed bread is not enough to fill your stomach. Every penny counts. If you lose money, the whole family may be worried.

When this number was mentioned, there was silence for a moment and no one responded.

Noticing the silence of the crowd, Yi Zhonghai adjusted his stance and looked at Liu Haishui: "Second Uncle, have some people donated money this afternoon?"

Liu Haishui nodded hurriedly and opened the box beside him. "Yes, many families have donated money. Five families have donated money, and one family donated 15 yuan. I have written down the names and will send them to the neighborhood affairs office during the New Year. The leaders will praise these enthusiastic people."

Yi Zhonghai nodded with satisfaction, straightened his back, and continued to emphasize loudly: "Everyone has seen that there are many kind-hearted people in our courtyard. I hope everyone can respond positively and not fall behind."

Then, he took out three five-dollar bills from his pocket, displayed them high in the air twice so that every resident could see them clearly, and finally put them back into the donation box.

[The Big Black Ten has been in circulation since 1957, which means we have to wait until next year. Currently, the highest denomination is only five yuan. ]

"As the elders in our courtyard, I will donate fifteen yuan. I hope that the Jia family can overcome the difficulties as soon as possible." Yi Zhonghai's words were powerful, and coupled with his majestic face, he was simply a moral role model in the courtyard.

Liu Haizhong was not to be outdone. He took out two five-yuan bills from his pocket and put them into the cardboard box. "As the second oldest, I'm learning from my eldest brother. The Jia family is homeless now, and we can't just sit back and watch."

At this time, warm applause broke out in the crowd, and everyone was deeply moved by these two respected people.

Jia Zhang led Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu to the crowd, and they bowed deeply to the two uncles Yi and Liu. "Thank you, you are really kind people, and you are our saviors."

Qin Huairu moved her eyes flexibly, wiped away her tears, turned to the residents and said, "Grandpas, aunts, uncles and aunts, we will record everyone's name and donation amount for this fundraising. If our Jia family makes a comeback one day in the future, we will definitely repay it in full as soon as possible."

This passage is like a chain of traps that has penetrated deeply into people's minds.

People often follow the crowd.

Those who were originally hesitant about supporting the Jia family, after seeing someone donate first, were afraid of being misunderstood as having old-fashioned ideas and were unwilling to lend a helping hand.

Moreover, Qin Huairu's promise to repay the debt just now also made them feel at ease. The money that had been donated could be taken back one day, so what was there to be afraid of?

Xu Damao, who had been actively striving to unite the masses, was the first to stand up, holding a handful of loose coins of fifteen yuan in his hand and raising them high into the air. "I am Xu Damao, who contributed fifteen yuan on behalf of the Xu family."

Seeing Jia Dongxu's gloomy face, Xu Damao deliberately said in a sarcastic tone: "Jia Dongxu, this doesn't count as a relationship, don't misunderstand my good intentions."

Jia Dongxu was extremely furious and waved at Xu Damao, indicating that he wanted to teach him a lesson.

"Dongxu! What are you going to do!" Jia Zhang grabbed Jia Dongxu in time. Xu Damao was about to donate money, so he must not be angry.

Even if I am angry, I have to do it after he puts the money into the donation box.

Seeing Xu Damao showing off the money but not buying it, Erye couldn't help but feel anxious. He simply took the money and put it in the box. "Da Mao, thank you for your kindness."

Jia Dongxu breathed a sigh of relief when Xu Damao's move paid off. He spat at Xu Damao and turned his gaze to Li Aiguo who was standing by. "Li Aiguo, as a train driver, you support your entire family, shouldn't you donate at least 30 yuan?"

"Everyone is here to witness that you extorted ten dollars from us last time, and this is a good opportunity to return it to you."

"Did everyone hear that?"

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"Young man from the Li family, you are the one who blew up my house. You should be responsible for compensation. At least donate 100 yuan!"

Jia Zhang was like an angry wild boar, roaring towards this side with a ferocious look on her face, her mouth wide open as if she might burst out at any time.

I am so drunk!

Li Aiguo pressed his hands on his waist, the curse in Jia Zhang's throat was choked by sobs under the tense expression, and her face was flushed red. That Li Aiguo always acted unconventionally.

When other people quarrel, at most their faces turn red and their necks become thick, but he is keen on taking out the gun, which is thrilling.

Aiguo had already seen through the pretentious performance of the two bosses. Jia Zhang barged in and tried to subdue him, but he did not show any anger, but found it a little funny.

Since you guys want to make a fuss, let's just have a good time.

Aiguo raised his hand to stop He Yushui from speaking for him, and stood up and said, "Jia Zhang, I'm warning you for the last time. It's because of your selfishness that you've fallen into this predicament. I have nothing to do with the Railway Police Station."

"If you continue to make trouble, you will harm the country's workers and hinder national construction. I will expose your true colors now!"

Yi Zhonghai saw that Jia Zhang had touched on a sensitive topic again, and hurried to pull her away. "Sister-in-law, today we are just collecting donations, stop making a fuss."

Jia Zhang felt aggrieved: "Li Aiguo, do you want to donate money?"

Aiguo folded his arms across his chest like a child and said, "The housekeepers always teach us to respect the order of seniority. The elders haven't donated yet, so how can I set an example?"

Xu Damao's face flushed when he heard this, and he felt guilty. He only remembered to show off himself, but forgot about this matter. He would have to ask Aiguo for advice in the future.

"That makes sense," said the butler, "Old Liu, why don't we proceed according to the order of seniority." Since Yan Bugui was absent, Yan Jiecheng was the representative at this time.

What surprised everyone was that Yan Jiecheng took out ten yuan from his pocket and put it into the donation box without hesitation. Where did his stingy look go?

Then several big men followed the most basic bottom line and donated ten yuan. Even the hot-tempered Zhang Gangzhu surrendered under the general trend and took out the greasy banknotes and put them into the box.

When the residents' donations were almost complete, Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong walked towards Li Aiguo with boxes in their arms.

"Li Aiguo, what else do you have to say?"

Facing their provocative looks, Li Aiguo smiled lightly and said, "Thirteen households donated money, three of which donated fifteen yuan, and ten households added ten yuan."

What does this mean? Jia Zhang stared at him closely, and after hearing his incomprehensible answer, she couldn't help but ask, "Are you trying to be cunning?"

Thinking back to what Li Aiguo had just said, Yi Zhonghai's face suddenly changed, and he wanted to grab the donation box back, but he was a step too late, and the box had already fallen into Li Aiguo's hands. Stunned, the neighbors all reacted and surrounded him.

"What's going on? Why did Li Aiguo grab the box? What on earth is going on?"

"Don't be impatient. Li Aiguo never does anything irresponsible. Let's wait and see."

Yi Zhonghai was both shocked and angry: "Li Aiguo, what on earth do you want to do?"

"Old Jia, I was just counting the number of people who donated money. There are thirteen households in total. Three of them donated fifteen yuan each, and ten donated ten yuan each."

"Add to that the five previous donations totaling fifty-five yuan."

Li Aiguo held up the donation box in his hand: "So, there should be a total of 210 yuan in the box."

"But now I suspect there isn't that much money in the box!"

His words came out loud and clear, each word distinct and perceptible.

In an instant, the whole yard fell silent, and everyone had a look of surprise and suspicion on their faces.

"Li Aiguo, you little bastard, if you don't want to donate, just say so, don't make up stories."

Jia Zhang crossed her arms across her chest, looked sharp, and started cursing.

But before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Li Aiguo's contemptuous response: "I will not communicate with people who use foul language."

"you……"

Jia Zhang had a lot of swear words stuck in her throat and her steps were staggering. Fortunately, Qin Huairu helped her up in time, otherwise she would have fallen and been bruised and battered.

Seeing his mother fail, Jia Dongxu ran out in a hurry, "The money inside is our Jia family's business, it's none of your business."

"No, there is something wrong!" Xu Damao pondered for a while and finally understood something.

He stood up and shook his head: "If there is less than 210 yuan in the box, it means that the two gentlemen just now were actually cheating."

“No one else donated before them!”

Yi Zhonghai's face was gloomy, and his left eyelid kept twitching. It seemed that all his previous methods had lost their effectiveness in front of Li Aiguo.

It's really weird.

So Yi Zhonghai went up to Jia Dongxu and winked at him, suggesting that he should take the box back. Jia Dongxu gritted his teeth, thinking of taking advantage of Li Aiguo's negligence to quickly snatch the box and run away, thus denying Li Aiguo's statement without physical evidence.

Although the idea is beautiful, the reality ruthlessly shatters expectations.

Just as Jia Dongxu's hand touched the box, Li Aiguo kicked him in the lower abdomen. Jia Dongxu screamed and fell to the ground like a bird flying backwards.

Seeing her son being beaten, Jia Zhang became so angry that she rolled up her sleeves and rushed forward to fight.

Zhang Gangzhu pulled out the butcher knife from his waist, swung it twice, and said fiercely: "Whoever doesn't explain things to me clearly today, don't even think about touching that box!"

There were two major moments of deception in his life, one was after his father was injured.

At that time, the capital had not yet been liberated. With the help of Yi Zhonghai, Lou Zhenhua's people set up a fraud scheme and made him sign a compensation agreement. In the end, he only got two dollars as compensation.

This was the second time in his life.

Xu Damao and others surrounded Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haiyang and the Jia family, isolating them from outside.

"Yes, this matter must be made clear."

"This is our hard-earned money, and they resorted to such despicable means to get them to donate."

“Is there anyone in this world who can do this?”