Chapter 105: Piercing the Hypocrite's False Benevolence Mask

The face of the Head Steward of the Siheyuan.

All lost.

Some mischievous children, laughing, asked Yi Zhonghai if 'dad' tasted good, while another child said 'dad' was stinky and inedible.

Really couldn't tell whether it was an innocent question from a child, or the child's parents deliberately doing it, using the child's mouth to mock the hypocrite.

The hypocrite has anger but nowhere to vent it.

He wouldn't stoop to the level of a brat playing with urine-soaked open-crotch pants.

The cause of Long Laotaitai's diarrhea.

It has been investigated clearly.

It was because of Shazhu's bowl of pork.

It seems somewhat baseless.

Regardless of the truth.

Regardless of the truth, Yi Zhonghai would always put the blame on Shazhu's head to vent his own resentment. Long Laotaitai slapped Yi Zhonghai's face, mocking the resentment of him and his wife for not giving Long Laotaitai meat. Shazhu refusing to come forced Yi Zhonghai to personally intervene to rescue Long Laotaitai, venting his resentment.

There was also the idea of taking the opportunity to suppress Shazhu.

As the Jia Family experienced too many things that left Yi Zhonghai completely helpless—Jia Dongxu's arrest, Qin Huairu's miscarriage, Jia Zhangshi's remarriage, and the incident where Jia Dongxu chased Jia Gui with a knife but accidentally slashed Yi Zhonghai with the cleaver—under these circumstances, Yi Zhonghai began to waver on letting Jia Dongxu support him in his old age.

After much thought.

Still felt that Shazhu was reliable.

The hand of Yi Zhonghai, a fourth‑grade worker at Yagangchang, still couldn't reach the Red Star scrap station.

No solution.

Could only use the Dayuan meeting as a pretext.

At the instant Shazhu belched, entering the Siheyuan from outside, Yi Zhonghai's repressed depression piled up to the extreme.

Nice one, Shazhu.

We're here waiting for you to start the meeting.

Yet you come back drunk and full.

Not treating the Head Steward as a steward.

"Shazhu, the old lady fell into the latrine, why did you only just come back?"

"Head Steward, if I come back, does that mean the old lady won't fall into the latrine?" Shazhu chuckled, retorting Yi Zhonghai, "The old lady is doing just fine, isn't she?"

Shazhu, as he spoke,

He parked his bicycle.

He also sent He Yushui to the ear room, reminded him to do his homework, and then went to the meeting hall as if nothing had happened.

"Shazhu, do you still have any sense of organizational discipline?" Liu Haizhong put on the airs of a Second Steward, "We've been waiting for you for about thirty minutes for the Dayuan meeting."

"Second Steward, that's not right—how am I lacking organizational discipline? Who notified me about the Dayuan meeting? As the elders say, no investigation, no right to speak. As a Second Steward, how can you slap a label on me without asking about right and wrong?"

Shazhu refuted Liu Haizhong's accusations with clear logic.

"If you tell me in the morning or at noon that there will be a Dayuan meeting tonight, then if I'm late it's my fault. But nobody notified me, so how would I know about the meeting? Otherwise, starting tomorrow, we'll do nothing and just stay in the compound waiting for the Second Steward to call the meeting; if that really doesn't work, we'll skip work and wait for the Second Steward to hold the meeting."

In the midst of speaking,

Shazhu's peripheral vision also swept over the people present.

Saying something that shouldn't be said.

Everyone looking on looked as happy as during New Year.

The pleased expression could not be concealed at all.

One can see how much joy the incident of Long Laotaitai's diarrhea and fall into the latrine brought to the neighbors.

The only person suffering at the scene.

Only Long Laotaitai.

Long Laotaitai sat slumped in a chair, her body askew; under the light her face was pale and limp, and if her eyes weren't darting around, some might truly think she had already kicked the bucket.

Even the sturdy young man Xu Daming was knocked flat by croton bean powder, let alone the elderly Long Laotaitai.

Heaven opened its eyes.

She had a big fate.

Otherwise, she very likely would have perished.

"Old Yi, Old Liu, Shazhu's back, the Siheyuan folks are all here; let's grab the time to hold the meeting—tomorrow we still have things to do."

Yan Fugui spoke up in Shazhu's defense.

Shazhu's investment wasn't wasted.

Among the three stewards, one must be won over, one united, and one distanced.

"Alright, let's start the meeting." Yi Zhonghai glanced around and said, "This afternoon, something truly awful happened in our Siheyuan: the old lady in the back courtyard ate a bowl of pork, had diarrhea, went seven or eight times, and on the last trip her legs gave out and she fell into this latrine. Fortunately the old lady had a big fate; otherwise the neighbors might not have seen her again."

Shazhu only knew that Long Laotaitai had fallen into the latrine; he truly didn't know she had had seven or eight bouts of diarrhea.

He was somewhat frightened.

He made a sound of sucking in cold air.

The rhythm of this diarrhea could match Xu Daming's!

Yi Zhonghai furrowed his brows.

Long Laotaitai opened her mouth.

Although the two of them hadn't exchanged this specific insight, they unconsciously blamed Shazhu for the diarrhea.

The given reason.

Although Shazhu had always kept his distance from them, today he agreed without hesitation to Long Laotaitai's request for help preparing meat dishes.

This is the first one.

This is the second one.

Long Laotaitai gave a clear answer, saying she had brought half a jin of pork to Shazhu, and Shazhu brought her a half-jin meat dish.

The two pieces of evidence corroborate each other.

They believed Shazhu had given someone poison.

Otherwise, why would Shazhu not have gotten any benefit!

Now seeing Shazhu's startled look, it was clearly the fright of not knowing that Long Laotaitai had diarrhea, and both Yi Zhonghai and Long Laotaitai felt doubt arise in their hearts.

Yi Zhonghai thought that surely someone dissatisfied with some of Long Laotaitai's actions had given her poison.

Long Laotaitai wondered if, after not eating meat for over two months, her five viscera and six bowels were no longer accustomed to it.

This is intolerable!

Long Laotaitai lives off her greed for food.

Not allowing her to eat meat.

That's equivalent to taking half of Long Laotaitai's life.

Although Shazhu doesn't know why Long Laotaitai ended up in the same situation as Xu Daming—being poisoned and suffering diarrhea—he also knows how certain people would think.

That bowl of pork at noon.

This is what Yi Zhonghai said.

Shazhu spoke, his tone very unfriendly, and his facial expression turned hostile.

"Eldest Uncle, wait a moment; I've just figured it out—it turns out that not only did the old lady fall into the latrine, she also had diarrhea; what does that mean? I gave the old lady poison!"

Administering poison—such a thing.

Once there is solid evidence.

Not to mention Shazhu couldn't keep his scrap-yard job; he figured he'd have to go inside for a while.

When will he come out.

Let's not mention that for now.

Just speaking of this reputation.

What good reputation could someone who goes in have?

The work after coming out, marrying a wife, etc., will be greatly affected; if things go badly, Shazhu might prematurely enjoy the super treatment of freezing to death and starving to death on the streets from his previous life.

And there's Yushui.

If Shazhu goes in, how will the little brat Yushui survive?

"Shazhu, Eldest Uncle doesn't mean it that way." Eldest Aunt saw Shazhu angry, fearing Yi Zhonghai would suffer a loss, quickly spoke to smooth things over: "You've misunderstood Eldest Uncle."

"Eldest Aunt, I obey you, I also obey Eldest Uncle, I obey all the uncles and aunts of our Siheyuan, I obey, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid, nor does it mean I can be easily manipulated."

"Shazhu."

"Eldest Aunt, don't speak, let Eldest Uncle speak. Just now Eldest Uncle kept saying the old lady ate a bowl of pork at noon and started having diarrhea in the afternoon. Everyone in the neighborhood knows: this morning the old lady found me and asked me to help make a meat dish; I agreed; at noon I made a salted pork dish; Xu Daming can testify for me; San Daye was also present then; after I finished, I personally brought it to the old lady; Eldest Uncle's meaning is that I poisoned her, I gave the old lady poison."

"Shazhu."

Yi Zhonghai's voice was even louder than Shazhu's.

Fueled by anger.

His whole body was trembling.

"Yi Zhonghai."

"Shazhu, what do you call me?"

"Yi Zhonghai, you call me Shazhu; I can't call you Yi Zhonghai?"

"Alright, alright, alright, I ask you: why did the old lady eat your pork and then start having diarrhea in the afternoon? If it weren't for someone discovering it in time, the old lady would have died. I sent people to the scrap yard to find you; your leaders also gave you leave; why didn't you come back?"

"Why should I come back?"

"Of course it's to fish out the old lady!"

"Eldest Aunt called you back; you saw the old lady fall into the latrine, yet you sent people to the scrap yard to call me, going back and forth over ten li, wasting how much time? Yi Zhonghai, we have matters to discuss openly; you just despise the old lady as disgusting, you don't want to go down to rescue her, why are you spouting all this nonsense?"

Every word is like a blade.

Every sentence is a sword.

Every move struck Yi Zhonghai, causing the pretentious gentleman who cared about his image to lose composure.

Yi Zhonghai turned into an enraged lion, glaring with bloodshot eyes, ferociously staring at Shazhu, as if he wanted to devour him alive.

"Shazhu, answer me, why did the old lady start having diarrhea after eating your pork! Are you despising the old lady, unwilling to make her a meat dish, and deliberately using poison to force her?"

Shazhu suddenly calmed his emotions.

With Jia Zhangshi taking the blame.

What's there to fear.

Moreover he discovered, the calmer he remained, the heavier the blow Yi Zhonghai suffered.

If they really managed to anger Yi Zhonghai to the point of harm.

Shazhu would buy several strings of firecrackers to celebrate properly.

"Yi Zhonghai, I still say the same thing: if you think I'm suspected of poisoning the old lady, have people go to the police station and let the police investigate; if the police say I poisoned the old lady, I'll serve time, eat peanuts, I accept it—what are you? Do I need to explain these things to you? A worthless Siheyuan overseer, truly treating yourself like a scallion, still talking?"

Shazhu turned his face toward Long Laotaitai.

"Old lady, I ask you now: do you also think I gave you poison?"

Long Laotaitai did not answer Shazhu.

Her gaze shifted toward Yi Zhonghai.

Long Laotaitai relies on Yi Zhonghai and his wife for her livelihood; if she sides with Shazhu, it would be equivalent to offending Yi Zhonghai.

In the situation where Shazhu did not clearly express wanting to provide for Long Laotaitai's old-age care and see her through to the end, there is also the fact that Shazhu has been distancing himself from Long Laotaitai.

Long Laotaitai would not choose to turn against Yi Zhonghai at this time; her best support for Shazhu is silence, neither acknowledging nor denying.

Not speaking.

"Old lady, I understand what you mean."

Shazhu turned his face and expressed his stance to the neighbors of the Siheyuan.

Long Laotaitai's silence.

For Shazhu.

A good thing.

Shazhu finally has the opportunity and also the reason to openly say no to Long Laotaitai.

To take the blame for the matter of drugging.

Shazhu stands on the side of reason.

"Neighbors of the Siheyuan, I am He Yuzhu, also called Shazhu by some. I am seventeen years old, young, yet I also know certain things. Taking this opportunity, I will say one thing. In the future, I hope the uncles and aunts, uncles and aunts in the courtyard can bear witness for me. From now on, I, He Yuzhu, and my sister He Yushui, will have no further dealings with Long Laotaitai in the rear courtyard and Yi Zhonghai and his wife in the central courtyard, forever. Thank you."

Long Laotaitai secretly groaned in her heart.

Shazhu's this act of breaking ties.

It disrupted Long Laotaitai's series of steps.

In Long Laotaitai's heart.

Shazhu is the image of a foolish cook; his greatest use is to make some hereditary Tan family dishes for her, letting Long Laotaitai indulge her greedy cravings.

They will have no further dealings until death.

How can we still have Shazhu help with cooking!

Yi Zhonghai also felt ill at ease; he had just thought of promoting Shazhu to be the primary person responsible for old-age care, but Shazhu threw down the task and refused to do it, and he realized he still had to place the old-age care goal on Jia Dongxu.

"Zhuzai, you kid, why are you talking nonsense? The Head Steward is also flustered from overconcern, panicked, muddled, and said some things he shouldn't have."

The Head Steward's wife is still helping Yi Zhonghai clean up.

Shazhu felt that he might have misunderstood the Head Steward's wife.

Everyone says the Head Steward's wife is good.

Good in what way?

Yi Zhonghai's wife, who shares a bed with Yi Zhonghai.

The old saying goes well.

If they are not family, she will not enter the household.

The hypocrite's rank is high.

The Head Steward's wife's rank is not low either.

The excuse of 'overconcern leads to confusion'—if given to another woman, one might not even think of it; she would have already turned into a headless fly, or else just cry loudly.

"Overconcern leads to confusion?"

Shazhu muttered a sentence.

He began to recount, word by word, to the Head Steward's wife.

"Head Steward's wife, have you considered what would happen if the fact that I drugged the old lady were proven? Speaking lightly, I would be taken away; speaking seriously, I would be sent to do labor below. Let's just talk about the lighter outcome: if I were taken in, what would happen to Yushui? What would become of my future? No job! Even if I had cooking skills, who would hire someone who has been taken in to cook? And what about starting a family—would the parents of any girl be willing to marry their precious daughter to someone who has been taken in?"

The more Shazhu spoke, the more indignant he became.

His emotions became ever more agitated.

"This is not a matter of 'overconcern leads to confusion'; it is about exterminating our He family's line. Who I am, others may not know, but can you two not know? Can Long Laotaitai not know? To so confidently say I drugged her, produce evidence—there is none, just baseless slander. Yi Zhonghai's reputation must not be harmed, but can Shazhu's reputation be discarded? Do you think that because I am called Shazhu, I am an idiot?"

"Zhuzai, you have misunderstood."

"Head Steward's wife, what happened between our two families is known only to our two families; I have always saved face for you, and yet this is how it ends?"

Yi Zhonghai's heart.

It was raised into midair.

The hypocrite felt a rising terror of impending disaster.

"The old man has passed; I bring Yushui to make a living. With my abilities, becoming an apprentice worker in the Yagangchang cafeteria is easy, and they have agreed to take me on as an apprentice."

The past hidden deep in Shazhu's heart.

It was thus brought up.

His hand.

It pointed to Yi Zhonghai, whose mind was a tangled mess.

"The Head Steward of our Siheyuan, Yi Zhonghai, who is also a fourth‑level technician at the Yagangchang, deliberately went to the Yagangchang and gave a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes to the cafeteria chief, saying that no matter what, I must not be made an apprentice worker."

The scene instantly exploded in an uproar.

Mainly because what Shazhu said was true, yet too unbelievable.

The moral paragon Yi Zhonghai turns out to be someone who is different inside and out, and furthermore he deserves the label of scum.

In short, a scumbag.

"I know the neighbors don't believe it; those who doubt can go to the Yagangchang to inquire and see whether this is true or false. Yi Zhonghai, using his connections at the Yagangchang, prevented me from becoming an apprentice, yet in the Siheyuan he patted his chest and assured me, saying that securing my apprenticeship was his responsibility, and added that if I failed to become an apprentice, I could take him as my teacher and learn his skills."

More shocking revelations follow after this shocking revelation.

One revelation after another.

"Before the old man left, he left some money. This money Yi Zhonghai refused to divulge, whether alive or dead, until the Head Steward's wife inadvertently let it slip, and only then did Yi Zhonghai give it to me. I bought a bicycle with it; if the Head Steward's wife had not spoken up, would this money have just been swallowed by Yi Zhonghai?"

"Zhuzai, Head Steward's wife begs you, please stop speaking."