Chapter 120: Shocking: Bangeng Is Yi Zhonghai's Son?

Jia Zhangshi had just been knocked down by a cyclist, her leg injured, then chased by a dog all the way; full of anger with nowhere to vent, she took Shazhu as a target to vent.

The whole Siheyuan.

Only Shazhu has a bicycle.

Moreover, from the neighbors' heated discussion, she learned that Shazhu had gone out riding his bicycle at night.

Jia Zhangshi instantly had an idea in mind.

Shazhu and the Jia family have their share of right and wrong, gratitude and grudges.

Jia Zhangshi is well aware of that.

The root cause is that Jia Dongxu lost Shazhu's bicycle; Shazhu insists on compensation, so he moved the Jia family's sewing machine to offset the debt.

You lost my bicycle, I moved your sewing machine—what kind of neighbor are you?

Jia Zhangshi, who had spent ten months in detention.

Her worldview completely shattered.

In Jia Zhangshi's view, Jia Dongxu losing Shazhu's bicycle is not at all Jia Dongxu's fault; if Shazhu hadn't bought that bike, our Dong Xu wouldn't have borrowed it, the bike wouldn't have been lost, and our Jia family's sewing machine wouldn't have been snatched by the He family.

Young one.

Always better to keep things for oneself.

Things.

Always insufficient for one's own family.

"Shazhu, pay me for my old woman." Jia Zhangshi sat down in front of the neighbors, rolled up her pant legs to reveal two purple bruises from the bicycle, and said, "My leg is swollen from being run over by your bike."

I have never done anything against my conscience.

I fear no ghost knocking at midnight.

Shazhu sucked in a breath of cold air.

He thought: No way, how does Jia Zhangshi know the cyclist who ran over her leg was me? I recall there were no streetlights then, and I was pedaling fairly fast.

Wrong.

Jia Zhangshi is trying to deceive me.

Having realized this, Shazhu instantly became calm.

"Jia Pozi, show some decency—how could my bicycle have run over your leg?"

"My old woman just had her leg run over by a bicycle; you just went out riding yours, and on our street only you have a bike—if it wasn't you, who else could it be?"

Ten months in jail.

Jia Zhangshi has improved.

Her thinking ability gradually lengthened, and her eloquence grew along with it.

"I have a bicycle; I rode it out at night, you were hit by a bike, so I'm the culprit, Jia Pozi—if you think you've got something good coming, produce evidence; without evidence, stop spouting nonsense, or I'll say you're trying to extort me."

Shazhu grabbed Yi Zhonghai and pulled him down into the water.

The matter of calling the midwife.

But this is Yi Zhonghai's doing.

Struck by lightning.

It's also you, Yi Zhonghai, helping me bear it.

"Elder, won't you give an opinion on this? I was acting on your orders to fetch the midwife; Qin Huairu is giving birth, the head of the household Jia Dongxu pays no heed, but out of regard for the big compound I rode my bike to call the midwife without a word—this is the reward for my goodwill, and yet you blame me like Zhu Bajie framing the good, saying I rode my bike and ran over Jia Zhangshi's leg—do you think I'm easy to bully? If the compound doesn't give me an explanation, I'll go to the street office tomorrow. I still don't believe there's no place in the world where I can reason."

A voice full of righteous confidence.

It flew clearly into everyone's ears present.

The pinnacle of lying.

It is first making oneself believe it.

At such a moment, you must not leak any flaw; your tone and facial expression must be completely sincere, even carrying a hint of grievance for having done a good deed yet being wronged.

"Shazhu, you say our Qin Huairu is giving birth? You called the midwife?"

"What do you think?" Shazhu glared at Jia Zhangshi, "Good intentions treated like dog's lungs—I scoff."

"Boy? Girl?"

Jia Zhangshi went straight to the point.

As a patient suffering from severe son preference, Jia Zhangshi couldn't forget to hold a big grandson, so she pre‑registered the nickname Bangeng.

In the words.

Carrying intense trembling.

Perhaps Jia Zhangshi herself hasn't even noticed.

This shows Jia Zhangshi's mood at the moment—filled with urgency, also with anxiety, fearing to hear the word "girl".

"A boy, a big chubby kid weighing six or seven catties."

"Heaven bless us, the Jia family now has an heir." Jia Zhangshi muttered, suddenly sobered, and lunged toward the Jia household.

To hold the grandson.

She is fast.

Shazhu is not slow either.

He grabbed her waistband in one swoop.

"The matter of running someone over isn't settled yet—you can't leave."

"Let me see the grandson first." Jia Zhangshi looked at Yi Zhonghai, wanting him to step in and mediate, "I want to see the grandson."

"First clarify the hitting‑someone incident, or else you'll never get to see Bangeng; otherwise my reputation would be ruined—if I acquire the bad name of hitting an old person with a bike and fleeing, could I still marry? When the matchmaker comes to propose and the parents inquire, if they hear I hit someone and ran off, would they entrust their daughter to me? If one inquiry disagrees, another refuses, I'll stay single my whole life."

In the darkness.

Xu Daming's eyes actually glowed with endless brilliance, his eyes simply stared at Shazhu from a distance.

Abnormal.

There's a situation.

Damn it!

Shazhu is feeling frisky.

He wants to get a wife.

We'll refine: "This self-incriminating remark is solid evidence that Shazhu wants a wife. As for cooking, Xu Daming? may not be as good as Shazhu, nor as good as the others in the Siheyuan. But when it comes to affairs beyond friendship with female comrades, Xu Daming? claims to be second-best, and nobody dares claim first— not even Deputy Factory Director Li, who holds great power in the back, can rival him."

That family's daughter, huh?

It could make Shazhu this anxious.

Don't let Shazhu's heartbreak slip away.

Okay.

Out of brotherly loyalty, Xu Daming decided to properly help Shazhu and see to it that Shazhu gets married.

Tell the truth.

Xu Daming really doesn't trust Shazhu's judgment of women.

As for finding a partner.

Xu Daming is way ahead of Shazhu.

Shazhu.

You little brat, obediently wait to become my disciple; I, as your master, will surely make you a man in no time.

Xu Daming is helping.

Yi Zhonghai is ruining things.

In such a large courtyard, only a few people understood Shazhu's amorous remark: Liu Haizhong, Yan Fugui, Xu Daming and his wife, Yi Zhonghai and his wife, and the deaf old lady.

The only people affected by Shazhu's marriage are Yi Zhonghai and his wife, plus the deaf old lady.

As for Shazhu's marriage, they voice support—but it's not the same kind of support; it's Yi Zhonghai personally stepping in to help Shazhu choose a wife. The hypocrite eyes Shazhu with a strange thought.

The neighbors are all there, and Jia Zhangshi says that the claim that Zhuzi hit her with his bicycle is baseless.

Also "街坊們" is generic "neighbors", not a name.

Do you acknowledge it, Jia family old lady?

I admit it.

The voice is too low—I can't hear it, and neither can the neighbors. I don't trust your Jia family's character; we need the neighbors to bear witness.

I admit it.

Everyone thought this would just blow over.

Even Yi Zhonghai thought the same.

Little did they know.

Shazhu still has to keep up his rivalry with Jia Zhangshi.

Upon returning, Laoqianpo draws her sword on Shazhu.

Shazhu won't tolerate her.

Uncles, neighbors—Jia Zhangshi just admitted she was lying, making up the false story that I hit her with my bike; thus, her earlier demand for compensation is nothing but extortion.

Exactly, I'm just extorting you.

Jia Zhangshi, intent on getting a grandson, completely missed the trap in Shazhu's words; perhaps her mind is filled with the image of her eldest grandson, Bangeng.

Jia Zhangshi will admit to whatever Shazhu says.

As usual.

He'll have to throw a tantrum no matter what.

Eldest uncle, give me an explanation for this; out of respect for the neighbors, I won't lower myself to Jia Zhangshi's level—if not by tomorrow, I don't mind going to the police.

As things stand now.

Yi Zhonghai can only reluctantly agree.

Seeing the hypocrite fall into the trap, Shazhu loosened his grip on Jia Zhangshi's waistband. She had been struggling hard, but when Shazhu suddenly let go, she shot forward like a ball.

Yi Zhonghai was blocking the way.

It was also a coincidence to meet the Coincidence Mom; the whole Coincidence family was there.

Jia Zhangshi lunged at Yi Zhonghai, knocking him flat, and by sheer coincidence their mouths collided.

Xu Daming, the troublemaker.

He really looked.

Jia Zhangshi's foul mouth pressed against Yi Zhonghai's big mouth.

This matter.

Xu Daming wouldn't add fuel to the fire; otherwise he'd be ashamed of his own name.

The Jia family old lady and the eldest uncle's mouths were stuck together.

The voice was loud and urgent.

Not only the courtyard neighbors, but even those on either side likely heard it.

Yi Zhonghai is the master of Jia Zhangshi's son, and Jia Zhangshi is the mother of Yi Zhonghai's disciple; with an aunt in between, it's absurd to think they could be involved.

With a splash.

Some of the neighbors stuck indoors doing chores all rushed to the central courtyard.

A scene unfolded before their eyes.

Shattered many people's fantasies.

Jia Zhangshi and Yi Zhonghai are still tangled together.

It's an eyesore.

"Mom!"

Jia Dongxu's voice carried strong depression; he had already been resentful about Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai's affair, and he felt that Bangeng was not his son but Yi Zhonghai's bloodline.

While holding in his anger with nowhere to vent, hearing Xu Daming say that her mother Jia Zhangshi and Yi Zhonghai had their lips pressed together made him even angrier, his teeth itching.

Before coming out.

He had the idea of fighting Xu Daming.

He came out.

No longer wanting to fight, he thought of using a knife to chop down the two shameless old men on the ground, disregarding whether they were his master or his birth mother, and just went ahead and chopped them down with a knife.

He also blamed Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhangshi for accidentally bumping into them, saying, "Come on, get up quickly," but Jia Zhangshi and Yi Zhonghai just lay there where they should be, causing the neighbors to misunderstand, and also making Jia Dongxu misunderstand.

On the contrary, the crafty first aunt, the dog-headed strategist, smoothly smoothed things over, saying, "Jia old lady, what are you doing? Watch where you're going—you knocked over our Old Yi. Don't just lie there; get up."

A few words.

He explained the matter clearly.

It was a misunderstanding.

But the fact that the two had their lips pressed together cannot be changed.

"Xu Daming, you child, what good does the first aunt say about you, and why are you shouting nonsense?"

"First aunt, I'm also anxious."

"You're still young, you have a long way to go in life." The first aunt educated Xu Daming with a few sentences, then turned her face and shouted at Jia Zhangshi, "Jia old lady, why are you just standing there? Go check on Bangeng."

"Yes, yes, yes, look at Bangeng. Dongxu, Bangeng has been born, why are you still wearing a long face?" Jia Zhangshi, called back to her senses by the first aunt, took small hurried steps toward the Jia family, arrived before Jia Dongxu, saw his angry face, and casually explained the whole situation, merely trying to show that she and Yi Zhonghai were innocent, saying, "It's all Shazhu's fault; if Shazhu hadn't grabbed Mom's waistband, Mom couldn't have head-butted your master."

Jia Zhangshi, while speaking.

She looked toward the inside of the Jia family house.

She did not see Qin Huairu's figure.

She couldn't help but hesitate in her heart.

Giving birth is like walking past the gates of hell; Qin Huairu had just given birth and was not in the house—is she courting death?

Jia Zhangshi wasn't concerned about Qin Huairu herself, but about whether Qin Huairu could continue to bear her grandchildren.

There is a belief that many children bring much fortune; the more children, the more blessed, with families often having several, even a dozen or more children.

"Qin Huairu? Bangeng?"

Jia Dongxu said nothing.

He let out a cold snort.

He turned his head to the side.

Jia Zhangshi finally realized something was wrong.

Jia Dongxu's expression was directed the wrong way—not a glare at himself, but a glare at Yi Zhonghai.

What happened?

My old lady hasn't been in the Siheyuan for ten months.

How has the Siheyuan become so melodramatic and unbearable?

His gaze did not fall on Yi Zhonghai but on Xu Daming and Shazhu; in the Siheyuan, only Xu Daming and Shazhu have a grudge against the Jia family, and while everyone else would lie about anything, these two would not, and they would kick someone when they're down.

"Qin Huairu gave birth to the child at the first uncle's house, Shazhu helped call the midwife, Qin Huairu almost caused a tragic double death, and indeed, when the midwife asked about preserving the adult or the child, Jia Dongxu remained silent, while the first uncle gave an answer to preserve the adult."

Xu Daming deliberately gave the wrong answer.

Because he knew Shazhu was standing in front of him.

Shazhu would certainly speak up to correct Xu Daming's mistake.

"I remember the first uncle said to preserve the child."

In the crowd.

Taking advantage of the night's cover, a well-meaning person, whom Yi Zhonghai couldn't see clearly, used a muddy-water ploy to reveal the truth about preserving the child.

Someone started it.

Then someone else echoed it.

After several such voices, they were all correcting the mistake.

"Preserve the child."

"Not 'preserve the adult,' but 'preserve the child,' meaning to preserve Qin Huairu's baby in her womb."

This confirmed that, during Qin Huairu's difficult labor, Yi Zhonghai gave the answer to preserve the child.

Moreover, some people took the opportunity to stir trouble, fishing in troubled waters as much as possible; it wasn't just Shazhu and Xu Daming who thought this way—many people did.

"I don't dare to confront you directly, yet you won't even let me scheme against you behind your back."

"How did the first uncle say to preserve the child?"

"Jia Dongxu is Qin Huairu's man, so shouldn't he be the one to say this?"

"Maybe something came up; we don't know."

Jia Zhangshi's head buzzed nonstop.

Her daughter-in-law Qin Huairu had a difficult labor; the midwife asked whether to preserve the adult or the child, but as Qin Huairu's husband, Jia Dongxu stubbornly refused to give an answer, while instead Jia Dongxu's master, Yi Zhonghai, gave a suggestion to preserve the child.

Between the two options of preserving the adult or preserving the child,

many people would choose the former.

Even though Yi Zhonghai was Jia Dongxu's master, he shouldn't have shouted "preserve the child"; although the words reached Jia Zhangshi's heart, she still wasn't pleased, feeling as if she had swallowed a dead fly, a vague nausea spreading through her whole body.

"Preserve the child."

Did you, Yi Zhonghai, say this?

If you were to say "protect the big".

People wouldn't be so wildly imaginative.

Jia Zhangshi suddenly recalled a movie she had seen last year, 《Three Whips》, which contained a scene describing "protect the big, protect the small"; the old gentleman shouted the slogan "protect the small", because the woman who was nominally the old gentleman's daughter-in-law was carrying a child who had to call the old gentleman "father", so the old gentleman then shouted the two words "protect the small".

Yi Zhonghai also shouted "protect the small", which is similar in effect to the old gentleman's shout of "protect the small" in the movie 《Three Whips》.

No way!

Jia Zhangshi dared not imagine further; her legs went weak and she lost all strength.

Qin Huairu gave birth, not at the Jia family's home but at the Yi family's; the midwife's lucky money was still given by Yi Zhonghai, who gave twenty thousand.

What does the Jia family's daughter-in-law giving birth have to do with him, Yi Zhonghai? On what basis does he give the midwife twenty thousand in lucky money?

Protect the small.

This clearly shows that Qin Huairu gave birth to Yi Zhonghai's son.

Jia Zhangshi suddenly felt like crying.

In the autumn of the year before last, Yi Zhonghai found Jia Zhangshi and said he wanted to take Jia Dongxu as his disciple.

Jia Zhangshi had thought the Jia family's hardships were finally over, but just a few days later, Yi Zhonghai proposed to introduce a rural girl as a wife for Jia Dongxu.

That girl was Qin Huairu.

For Jia Dongxu's marriage, Jia Zhangshi personally went to Qin Family Village to inquire about Qin Huairu's situation. When she heard that Qin Huairu was the landlord supported by Yi Zhonghai in Qin Family Village, she felt that Yi Zhonghai's introduction of a wife for Jia Dongxu was ill-intentioned; when Yi Zhonghai was young, he messed around, got sick, and caused an elder aunt to be unable to bear children.

Among the three unfilial acts, having no posterity is the greatest.

Jia Zhangshi was busy arranging for the Jia family's incense lineage, let alone mentioning Yi Zhonghai.

Jia Zhangshi, who sensed something was wrong, disagreed to the marriage between Qin Huairu and Jia Dongxu, but unexpectedly Jia Dongxu seemed to have fallen ill with a "Qin Huairu disease", insisting on marrying Qin Huairu no matter what.

On the day of the matchmaking, Yi Zhonghai enthusiastically sent a sewing machine and insisted that Qin Huairu stay overnight in the siheyuan.

Jia Zhangshi didn't think much of it, assuming Yi Zhonghai wanted Jia Dongxu to help him with his old age; but later Qin Huairu became pregnant, Yi Zhonghai sent a radio, and Jia Zhangshi realized things weren't as simple as they seemed, so she used a pretext to push the boat along with the current, causing Qin Huairu to have a miscarriage.

After the miscarriage occurred, Yi Zhonghai glared at the Jia family with furrowed brows.

Now Jia Zhangshi understood.

The child in Qin Huairu's womb belongs to someone else, Yi Zhonghai.

Treating Jia Dongxu and the Jia family as a gullible mark, they wanted to pretend to be someone else, using the Jia family's name to raise Yi Zhonghai's bloodline.

Poor my Dong Xu.

Been given a green hat.

Just as Jia Zhangshi was about to open her mouth to utter a few curses, when the foul words were about to come out, she urgently clenched her teeth.

Family disgrace should not be aired outside.

Jia Dongxu must not be saddled with the bad reputation of a green hat.

Taking small, hurried steps.

Heading toward Yi Zhonghai's home.

She wanted to see, to see how unlike Jia Dongxu the baby Qin Huairu gave birth to was, and how somewhat similar it was to Yi Zhonghai.