Chapter 103

Tonight.

It is destined to be a sleepless night.

The Jia family's farce did not subside because of the Dayuan meeting; instead, it showed a trend of intensifying contradictions, and it was past eleven o'clock at night.

The neighbors were dreaming of Zhou Gong.

The Jia family erupted in an unparalleled brutal civil war.

Widow Jia fought Jia the short-lived.

Mother and son fought each other.

Horrifying to the extreme.

It is unknown whether Jia Zhangshi was beaten by Jia Dongxu, or Jia Dongxu beat Jia Zhangshi, or the Jia mother and son teamed up to deliver a violent blow to Qin Huairu.

The Jia family's three beasts' wolf-like howls tore through the silent night sky, plunging the Siheyuan into a chaotic uproar like chickens flying and dogs jumping; the front, middle, and rear courtyards each had crying voices echoing, presumably some children were frightened into tears by the Jia family's three beasts' quarreling.

The silent Siheyuan.

Became lively.

The neighbors who could not dream of Zhou Gong gradually gathered in the Zhong Yuan, and the one, two, and three Second Stewards each appeared.

Originally, Yi Zhonghai did not want to appear.

Jia Zhangshi's remarriage was an internal Jia family matter, and with relevant policy endorsement, let alone Yi Zhonghai being just a dispensable Siheyuan steward, even if he became the director, he could not interfere in this matter, saying Jia Zhangshi's remarriage was wrong.

Is a May-December romance not love?

Everyone has the right to pursue their own happiness.

Not coming out would also be unacceptable.

Liu Haizhong came, Yan Fugui came, the neighbors came, and if Yi Zhonghai did not come, it would make him seem guilty, turning what was originally nothing into something.

"Jia old woman, Dong Xu, Huairu, what are you shouting about so late at night?"

When Yi Zhonghai spoke.

The neighbors all turned their gaze to the Jia family's three beasts.

The truth was somewhat horrifying.

Jia Zhangshi's cheek bore a clear five-fingerprint mark, unknown who slapped it, her hair was messy like a chicken coop, looking very disheveled.

Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu's faces also bore the marks of having been slapped hard.

The facts were very clear.

The Jia mother and son trio had fought fiercely, and none of them gained any advantage.

"Old Yi is right, it's already past midnight, why are you still shouting?" said Liu Haizhong with a stern face; the Jia family's shouting would make him, this Second Steward, look incompetent, "What is there to shout about? Haven't you already been settled?"

Foolish.

With this IQ.

Still obsessed with becoming an official.

During the day, the incident of Jia Zhangshi being proposed to occurred, and Jia Dongxu immediately gave Jia Zhangshi a cold face; at night, he still held the Dayuan meeting to focus on discussing Jia Zhangshi's remarriage, and now the Jia family mother-son fight has erupted again.

Besides this remarriage as the fuse.

Could there be any other cause?

And it was settled.

If it were truly settled, it would not be in this current state, and the Jia family's three beasts' faces would not bear these slap marks.

The crowd advised one another, each holding the principle of enjoying the spectacle without fearing greater trouble, loudly criticizing Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu, saying that the short-lived Jia and the widow Qin obstructing Jia Zhangshi's pursuit of a May-December romance was wrong.

On the matter of Jia Zhangshi's remarriage.

The neighbors unanimously thought of the same thing.

The embarrassing ones are the Jia family.

Not them!

……

Early next morning.

A rather bizarre scene appeared.

The Jia family members, who were still engaged in brutal civil war in the middle of the night, miraculously staged this dog-blood drama of bedhead fighting and bedtail reconciliation the next morning.

The Jia family old woman, Jia the short-lived ghost, and the future widow Qin, harmoniously tidied up the Jia household chores; if not for the shattered glass and the slap marks still on their faces, silently describing last night's brutal Jia family infighting, these people in the Siheyuan would probably think they had hallucinated.

Amidst the chickens flying and dogs jumping urging children to go to school.

Shazhu rode his bicycle, arriving in a puff of smoke at the Red Star Scrap Station.

Just entered the station.

He discovered that Wen San had become a frost-beaten eggplant, the whole person listlessly squatting on the ground.

This was not the Wen San in Shazhu's cognition; the Wen San in Shazhu's impression, a typical braggart, always had "Wen Ye" on his lips opening and closing.

"Shitou, what's wrong?"

Shitou gave a glance toward the not-far stationmaster's office, then briefly explained the situation's origin and development.

The scrap station had newly transferred in a deputy stationmaster, abbreviated as Old Deputy.

Just now, Wen San, as usual, bragged, saying "Wen Ye" with every word, claiming how he slapped the little Japanese devils' big mouths, boasting while it was lively.

Old Deputy, without asking right from wrong, seized Wen San for a scolding; the meaning in his words, Wen San saying "Wen Ye" with every word, was treating the scrap station as a cart-pulling business from years ago, claiming Wen San had problems, and the head-to-toe scolding left Wen San unable to recover even now.

Shazhu wryly smiled and shook his head.

This Wen San person.

Just cannot control this mouth.

The principle that disaster comes from the mouth.

Wen San knows that he will talk about anything he gets hold of; when he's anxious, a few drinks will have him bragging so hard he could blow a cow into the sky.

After working with Shazhu for three or four months, my impression of Wen San is not bad—he's like the happy nut at the scrap yard: when you're down, listening to Wen San brag lifts your gloom to the clouds; when you're up, listening to him brag feels like a quality upgrade.

"Wen Ye, lighten up."

"He Ye, it's not that I, Wen San, am bragging—if this were a few years ago, I'd slap him with my big palm, ten times, no, no, no, twenty big slaps; even Wen Ye, the little devil, wouldn't fear it, let alone fear his little bastard of a trick."

Shazhu asked Wen San for his specific thoughts on marrying Jia Zhangshi; in Shazhu's mind, finding a stepfather for Jia Dongxu is better than anything.

He just wants to see the scene where Jia Dongxu calls someone Dad.

If it weren't for Jia Zhangshi being old and faded, Shazhu really wanted to step in himself and adopt Jia Dongxu as a godson.

"Wen Ye, what do you think about that thing yesterday? Before I came this morning, someone had already asked me to inquire about your thoughts, to ask what you mean."

Shazhu made up a few nonsense lines.

First, play matchmaker.

The raw rice became cooked rice.

Regret is useless.

Wen San was truly frightened silly by Jia Zhangshi; Shazhu could see with his own eyes that after Shazhu finished speaking, Wen San's body inexplicably trembled a few times, and his face showed a panicked expression.

"He Ye, spare me, will you? That old woman—offering to pay two qian to Wen Ye, I wouldn't even take it; last night Wen Ye thought it over all night—though Wen Ye I come and go alone, we eat our fill and the family isn't hungry—but just looking at that old woman makes me panic; Wen Ye I can't afford to provoke her—it's not that the ugly ghost named Jia Gui desperately wants to marry Jia's old woman, let Jia Gui that ugly ghost marry Jia's old woman."

On Stone's face.

A strange glint flashed by.

He actually heard from the mouths of Wen San and Shazhu a name he hadn't heard in a long time.

Jia Gui.

"Having taken Jia Gui's betrothal gifts and still refusing to admit it—if I, Wen Ye, married such a woman, would this face of mine still be a face?" Wen San pointed at his own face, "Buttocks."

"The Jia family woman didn't take a liking to Jia Gui, but to you—she said your conditions aren't bad, and you're one of the Eight Great Staff."

"He Ye, spare me, will you? The Jia family woman wants to find one of the Eight Great Staff; An Jiahe and An Ye are not bad—they work at the supply and marketing cooperative, much better than our scrap-collecting lot." Wen San slapped his thigh, recalling An Jiahe, "For my own safety as Wen Ye, I'll go find An Ye after work today."

"Wen Ye, won't you consider it?"

"Consider what? Swapping his daughter-in-law would be about the same."

Between Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu's two choices.

Wen San chose the latter.

Man.

Forever faithful.

Always fond of this pretty girl of about twenty.

The three of them chatted intermittently.

Suddenly, a fierce argument came from inside the office, during which a crisp "pa" sound rang out—the standard sound of a big slap landing on a face.

Stone, Wen San, and Shazhu felt doubt rise in their hearts.

Who got the big slap?

In the midst of thinking.

Then they saw Zhou Xianghong storm out of the office in anger, with Old Zhao following behind.

They were stunned.

Could it be that Old Zhao offended Zhou Xianghong and got slapped by her?

Taking the chance as the two ran past him, Shazhu sized up Old Zhao's cheek—there was no five-finger slap mark.

A bold idea floated into Shazhu's mind.

Could it be that the newly arrived deputy got slapped by Zhou Xianghong?

The more he pondered, the more he thought this possibility extremely likely.

These people at the scrap yard, Shazhu knows them all, especially Zhou Xianghong—this girl has her heart set on going to the toughest, most needing-sacrifice place; Shazhu has worked at the scrap yard for seven or eight months, and he's never stopped trying to persuade Shazhu to follow her there.

Quite a good person.

How did the deputy provoke Zhou Xianghong?

"Old Zhao, what's going on?"

"It's not anything else—it's that deputy causing the trouble."

After Old Zhao's explanation, everyone finally understood the truth.

The deputy really isn't something—this bastard is just over forty, divorced last month; the reason for divorce was marital breakdown, without this...

A living, breathing person-shaped teddy bear.

The deputy saw Zhou Xianghong in the office, was stunned senseless; from entering to getting slapped by Zhou Xianghong, within thirty minutes he did nothing but keep telling her he wanted to become her lifelong partner; Zhou Xianghong gave him no good look, the deputy grew unhappy, said a few vulgar things, and was fiercely slapped by Zhou Xianghong.

"Well slapped!"

Wen San let out a loud shout.

At this moment.

A-Q possessed.

He mistakenly took his gloom from being lectured by the deputy and, borrowing Zhou Xianghong's slap, vented it out.

"What's well slapped?"

Speaking of Cao Cao.

Cao Cao arrives.

The deputy, who had been slapped by Zhou Xianghong, strode over with a menacing aura to where Shazhu and the others stood.

Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimp.

The deputy was treating Shazhu and the others as his targets for venting.

"We're criticizing Chen Shimei!"

Shazhu had a sudden idea.

He blurted out an excuse to escape without even thinking.

Wen San and the others weren't stupid either; they followed the steps Shazhu had set up and slipped away.

"Right, right, right, we're talking about this Chen Shimei."

"Chen Shimei is ungrateful and treacherous, not a decent person."

"Using the word 'thing' to describe Chen Shimei is an insult to things; I think we should use 'beast' to describe Chen Shimei."

"Is 'beast' not insulting? Then it's 'worse than a beast.' Chen Shimei really isn't anything decent."

"You're insulting the two words 'plaything' again."

In the gap while everyone was indirectly scolding someone,

Shazhu sized up the old deputy before him.

Thief-like eyebrows and mouse-like eyes.

At first glance, he's no good.

A typical petty man, even more petty than Xu Daming's petty man; such a person, once offended, must be eradicated completely, with no chance of a comeback given.

On the old deputy's left cheek, there was a clear five-fingerprint mark.

The force was quite strong.

Such a person.

Should be beaten.

Does beastly deeds.

It's strange.

How did such an inhuman thing end up at the scrap yard? With this scoundrel around, the harmonious scrap yard is likely to enter troubled times.

His tolerance is no bigger than a needle's eye.

Just now, Shazhu and them had this discussion, which offended this old deputy, who, thinking he'd lost face in front of his subordinates, would try every means to regain his dignity.

In other words.

This old deputy, upon entering the scrap yard, had already formed the idea of cleaning up these people at the scrap yard.

"Chen Shimei, for wealth and honor, married a princess and became a prince consort, ignored his original wife Qin Xianglian and their two children, and when Qin Xianglian brought their daughter to the capital to find him, he conceived murderous intent, spared no expense in sending assassins, and in a ruined temple, slaughtered Qin Xianglian; he even dealt ruthlessly with his own bloodline—such a person is a beast in human skin."

"Of course he's not human; if he were, how could he divorce his wife of twenty years? Shameless, utterly shameless."

This amounts to pointing at the old deputy's nose and cursing him to a bad end.

Yet the old deputy couldn't say anything in return.

People are criticizing the abandoning-wife-and-children Chen Shimei, not you, old deputy—why are you so anxious? You can't just assume it's about yourself.

Knowing he couldn't win, the old deputy let out a cold snort, turned his head, and left.

As he turned, his glance sweeping over Shazhu and them carried a trace of fierce ruthlessness.

Though brief, Shazhu precisely caught it.

Petty man.

A pure petty man.

He doesn't even bother hiding his intention to deal with Shazhu and them.

Once such a person gets going, he'll surely find ways to deal with you.

Shazhu clearly knew what would happen next, and his vigilance toward the old deputy rose to twelve out of ten.

Shameless.

Unscrupulous.

In the name of free love, he didn't hesitate to part with his wife of twenty years; on his first day at the scrap yard, he openly fawned over Zhou Xianghong like a male dog.

This behavior can only be described as beastly.

The label on the old deputy now has another addition: worse than a beast.

Such a person is truly the most frightening.

Because he has no bottom line, no conscience.

Shazhu had just one thought.

How to get this old deputy sent away.

Nip the threat in the bud.

In another fifteen or sixteen years, the old deputy will definitely be a key figure of that era, and if he comes to cause trouble for Shazhu then, what the outcome will be, Shazhu really can't say—he can run, but Yushui can't.

The best way.

Is to send the old deputy away.

A Chen Shimei who isn't Chen Shimei.

Without psychological burden.

As Shazhu pondered how to deal with the old deputy, Shi Tou, Wen San, and the others slapped his shoulders and called him back to his senses.

"Master He, Master Wen, I've been working at the scrap yard for several months, always thought you had no temper, turns out it's not that you don't have one, but that you haven't reached the point of losing it yet; in operas, there's a phrase—how does it go again? To save this woman."

"Wen San, I say you should find time to learn a few characters—what 'save this woman'? That's 'hero saves the beauty.'"

"Exactly, exactly, exactly, that's what I mean—anciently, the Overlord lifted his cap in anger for his beauty; now, Master He rages with anger for Xianghong; no wonder Zhou Xianghong occasionally comes to our Master He's side, whispering privately."

"What are you guys saying?"

"My Master He, just stop pretending—things have come to this point, and you're acting all muddled with us; is that fun?"

"I truly don't know what you're talking about."

If it weren't for Zhou Xianghong, He Ye wouldn't have been so furious today as to scold that newly arrived old deputy.

Zhou Xianghong!

I angrily scolded the old deputy for Zhou Xianghong!

As the person involved, how could I not know?

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Shazhu glared at Wen San and his group who were talking nonsense, "I'm only seventeen this year, Zhou Xianghong is just over twenty, there's an age gap."

"A woman three years older brings gold bricks; a woman ten years older brings gold mountains."

Gossip isn't exclusive to women; if men really get into gossiping, they're ten times worse than those tongue-wagging women. Take this topic of Shazhu heroically saving the beauty Zhou Xianghong—Wen San and his group kept harping on it all morning, to the point that Shazhu's ears were almost calloused from listening. As soon as work ended, he rode his bicycle like the wind toward the siheyuan.

Just entered the siheyuan.

He saw Xu Daming rushing back from outside in a hurry, this bastard clutching his pants with one hand, looking extremely flustered.

Shazhu's heart stirred.

Could Bie Sun have been caught messing around?

The image of him fleeing with his pants pulled up perfectly matches the scenario of being discovered and chased by someone's husband.

Seeing Xu Daming in the state of having been caught messing around and chased by someone's husband, Shazhu thought of teasing him a few words—Bie Sun had rarely fallen into such a predicament.

The words were on the tip of his tongue.

Shazhu noticed that Xu Daming, who had run up to him, gave him no chance to lecture or tease, one hand holding his pants, the other holding toilet paper, he turned his head and rushed back outside.

After going back and forth several times, he gradually calmed down.

At this moment, Xu Daming had a sallow complexion, dull eyes, was exhausted all over, his limbs weak, appearing as if all his vitality had drained away.

"Xu Daming, have you done too many wicked deeds?"

"I don't know if it's because I got chilled in the stomach last night or ate something I shouldn't have, causing diarrhea."

This bastard had diarrhea.

One morning's time.

He went to the toilet seven or eight times.

The person who defecated became weak.

Xu Daming didn't treat himself as an outsider, following behind Shazhu into the house.

"Xu Daming, how did you get in here?"

"Brother, I've almost shat out half my life—can I cook lunch myself? Make me something to eat." He truly didn't treat himself as an outsider, made a request for food, Xu Daming forced himself to stay energetic, threw a small package on the table toward Shazhu, and said: "This is the culprit that made me run to the toilet over ten times."

Shazhu opened the paper package.

He took a look.

Croton oil powder!

"It's the ghost haunting the Jia family opposite—damn bastard, giving me croton oil, spotted by Third Aunt, Second Aunt even saw Jia Zhangshi enter my house. Shazhu, I won't let the Jia family off."

Xu Daming, looking through the glass at the opposite Jia family's three beasts, secretly hardened his resolve.