Chapter 15: Who's scheming whom?

On Jiēdào.

Shazhu, anxious as if on fire, carried He Yushui and rushed toward the hospital.

Overconcern leads to chaos.

An inexplicable faint panic welled up in his heart.

Until He Yushui said, reeking of alcohol, 'I feel awful,' a drunken remark.

Only then did Shazhu's panicked heart calm slightly.

It's fine as long as Yushui is okay.

This girl.

Too heavy.

Shazhu figured out the direction, carrying Yushui toward the Siheyuan; he truly forgot about Xu Daming, and didn't recall that he still had to pay the bill.

Upon reaching the Siheyuan gate, he bumped into Xu Daming, whose face was full of fire; only then did Shazhu realize he seemed to have screwed Xu Daming over, and an embarrassed expression appeared on his face.

Xu Daming, who was already fuming from paying for Shazhu and not having eaten anything, saw Shazhu grinning at him.

His anger grew even greater.

He reached out directly at Shazhu.

'What are you doing?'

'Give me 30,000 and it's settled.'

Xu Daming intended to act as a middleman; he actually spent 23,500, then demanded 30,000 from Shazhu, haggled, and settled around 28,500, netting him a profit of 5,000.

Shazhu is his rival.

Screwing over Shazhu causes him no psychological burden.

Just as Shazhu had screwed over Xu Daming.

Both feel completely justified.

'Meal money?'

'I thought you forgot that.'

'You can forget anything, but you can't forget that eating costs money—30,000, right? No problem, but you can see the situation: Yushui is on my back; I'll send her home first.'

Shazhu turned sideways.

Let Xu Daming see that He Yushui, drunk and asleep, is on his back.

To show he wasn't lying.

Matters have priorities.

Let's sort out the important ones first.

'I should have paid; Yushui drank baijiu, collapsed face-first onto the table, I panicked and forgot to pay the bill.'

'Just give me the money and it's settled.'

'Xu Daming, I'm not the kind of person who defaults on debts!' Shazhu said emphatically, facing Xu Daming's surprised cheeks, then shifted his tone: 'But I can't give you this money; let's just call this meal your treat, next time I'll pay, and we'll be even. Why say this? I'll treat you to a meal, and you should return the favor sometime; otherwise, Xu Daming, you'd feel awkward too—you treat me once, I treat you once, neither of us loses out, you agree, right?'

Possessed by Zhao Benshan.

A round of cajoling.

It actually made Xu Daming feel that Shazhu's words made sense.

He turned and went home.

Shazhu also walked home carrying He Yushui, but he didn't take her to the small room.

Yushui had drunk too much and needed care; besides, Yushui is Shazhu's younger sister, only nine years old, so Shazhu didn't avoid those messy things.

He soaked a towel in hot water, wrung it out, and placed the hot towel on Yushui's forehead.

Little girl.

She actually learned to drink.

One liang of baijiu.

Spotless.

One can't say He Yushui contributed nothing; if she hadn't drunk, Shazhu wouldn't have had an excuse to keep eating and drinking with Xu Daming.

The hypocrite never stops scheming.

He probably feels somewhat unwilling.

Staying up late at night waiting for Shazhu.

After Shazhu applied the hot towel to Yushui, the hypocrite, wearing a concerned expression, kicked Shazhu's door.

'Shazhu, I saw through the glass that you came back carrying Yushui; He Daqing just left—Yushui must not come to harm; should we go to the hospital?'

Xiang Zhuang brandishes his sword.

Aimed at Pei Gong.

Apparently concerned about He Yushui, but the hidden meaning everywhere hints at He Daqing's elopement with a widow.

'Yushui accidentally took a sip of baijiu, feeling a bit light-headed; Elder, do you have any business?'

'Shazhu, Elder originally didn't want to talk about this, but after thinking, Elder felt it better to clarify things with you; you've grown up under Elder's watch, you're a good kid—Elder can hide things from anyone, but not from you, Shazhu.'

Besides Yi Zhonghai's suggestion that Shazhu take Yushui to Baocheng to find He Daqing, the only other matter he mentioned was Shazhu getting a job at Yagangchang.

While He Daqing was around, Shazhu followed him to learn cooking, wearing an apprentice's hat, never even getting to the 'worker' character after 'apprentice'.

According to Yagangchang's personnel regulations, as an apprentice, Shazhu has no position in Yagangchang's staffing plan and does not occupy a worker quota; he belongs to the kind of temporary worker that can't even be called temporary.

When He Daqing left, he had everything arranged; as long as Shazhu works in Yagangchang's cafeteria, they will give him an apprentice-worker quota.

Monthly wage: 175,600.

But because Yi Zhonghai, after listening to Long Laotaitai, wanted to make Shazhu his second-choice retirement backup, at the cost of a big front door, he forcibly delayed Shazhu's promotion from apprentice to apprentice-worker by half a year.

In the previous life.

Shazhu just stepped into Yi Zhonghai's pit.

Okay.

The hypocrite is going to reuse his old trick.

「Shazhu, your cooking skills are hereditary; you followed Da Qing and learned to cook for several years. By rights, the Yagangchang should give you an apprentice worker slot. Elder Uncle went to the Yagangchang and asked: there is an age limit for apprentices to become apprentice workers; you are sixteen this year, and they stipulate that one must be seventeen to be promoted. They say eating is a serious matter, cannot be careless. 」

The excuse is not bad.

At the very least, Shazhu can't find fault with their reasoning.

「Elder Uncle's meaning is, you still hold the title of apprentice and work at the Yagangchang. Elder Uncle will discuss with the old lady to see how you can become an apprentice worker. Da Qing is gone, and you also have to support your sister; not earning money won't do. Shazhu, Elder Uncle puts it bluntly: even if you can't temporarily become an apprentice worker, don't worry; Elder Uncle and Elder Aunt said they will give you thirty thousand each month, so you won't go hungry. 」

In the original drama.

Bangeng's chicken-stealing incident occurred.

Xu Daming made Shazhu compensate five yuan; Qin Huairu said five yuan is about the same as the food and drink expenses for their family of five.

Yi Zhonghai gave Shazhu thirty thousand yuan, letting Shazhu support him and his sister Yushui; it just happens to be in the stage where they won't starve but also won't be full.

In order to gain a good reputation, Yi Zhonghai deliberately manipulated Shazhu and Yushui, waiting until they were starving, then appearing as a savior to give them food, drink, and clothing, causing the Shazhu siblings to suffer many false accusations.

If it were the Shazhu of the previous life.

He might have just accepted this favor from Yi Zhonghai.

The current Shazhu.

Deliberately act confused.

「Elder Uncle, I appreciate your good intentions, but I really can't take this money; you are a level-four worker, you also don't earn much, and you still have to look after the old lady. I'm young, I can endure hunger; as for Yushui, I'm not afraid of your jokes, she won't starve either. If it really comes to that, I'll take Yushui to Baocheng and, in front of my father, beg for food. 」