Chapter 313: Yu Li Who Protects Her Husband

From the Holy Mother's perspective.

How can you stoop to his level?

Subtext.

Stooping to her level loses you face; what you lose is yourself.

Their statuses are unequal.

This is the main reason.

Shazhu is an adult, the only person in the Siheyuan holding a leadership position at the Yagangchang, overseeing ten canteens and responsible as the canteen director for the Yagangchang's tens of thousands of workers' meals.

This is Shazhu's status.

It is also the shackle that binds Shazhu.

In everyone's eyes, the Yagangchang canteen director cannot argue with the underage Jia Family's white-eyed wolf Bangeng; even if it's Bangeng's fault, people afterward would say Shazhu is throwing his weight around.

Status is a shackle.

But at the same time it is also a weapon.

In the midst of worldly affairs, many people envy Shazhu and seek opportunities to flatter him.

Faced with Bangeng's direct addressing of Shazhu, in fact there's no need for Shazhu to act himself; with so many people around, they are the knives in Shazhu's hand.

The first to bear the brunt is Liu Haizhong.

Don't look at him now being the head of the Siheyuan, having fulfilled a long-held wish, but because Yi Zhonghai's assistance to the Jia Family gave a bloody lesson.

Frightened, Liu Haizhong also dares not overly favor the Jia Family in certain matters.

Precisely, ninety-nine percent of matters in the Siheyuan arise because of the Jia Family—either Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu have caused trouble, or Bangeng has brought disaster to the neighbors' potatoes and cabbages.

Liu Haizhong now wishes Yi Zhonghai would come back from the dead, so Yi Zhonghai could do certain things while he hides behind the scenes to watch the show, like Yan Fugui does.

He wants, through Shazhu, to become a true leader of the Yagangchang.

Everyone in the Yagangchang knows that Shazhu is a trusted subordinate of the Yagangchang's head, Deputy Factory Director Li.

An excellent opportunity to flatter Shazhu.

One must seize it.

Liu Haizhong couldn't be bothered to stand on ceremony as the head of household, he pursed his lips and said to Bangeng: "Bangeng, how are you speaking? You're a school-going child; didn't your teacher teach you how to address people? Older folks should be called grandpa and grandma, or uncle and aunt. Zhuzi is about the same age as your father, yet you keep calling him Shazhu—what's the deal? As for them, they wouldn't bother with you. If it were someone else, they'd have slapped you already."

They're all sly.

Seeing Liu Haizhong take the lead.

One by one, they echoed.

"Second Elder's words are right; this Bangeng kid has truly been ruined by Jia Zhangshi's teaching, recklessly shouting names without restraint—back when Jia Dongxu was around, he wouldn't dare call Shazhu to his face either. A kid of ten or so, constantly shouting Shazhu, still dreaming of getting a job at the Yagangchang—give me a break. Do you think the Yagangchang is a junkyard?"

"Bangeng's grandmother, you also don't care about this? Your family's Bangeng speaks to our family's Zhuzi like this?"

Yu Li, hearing the commotion indoors,

After Weiguo fell asleep,

She came out wearing slippers.

She doesn't care about Jia Zhangshi or Qin Huairu, nor does she take An Jiahe to heart; whoever bullies Shazhu, she will stand up for him.

Shazhu, mindful of his face as the Yagangchang canteen director, doesn't dare press too hard on some matters, but Yu Li, as a housewife, dares to.

Protecting her husband.

Yu Li is professional at it.

It's just throwing a tantrum, right?

You really think Yu Li won't?

Make her angry,

She also dares to, in front of the neighbors, give Jia Zhangshi, Qin Huairu, and Bangeng a good scolding.

"Our family's Zhuzi is the Yagangchang canteen director, living in this Big Courtyard for years, not wanting to gain a reputation for bullying the weak, yet you still stick your nose in our face, calling Shazhu over and over in front of the neighbors—adults finish, kids follow—what's the point, bullying people?"

Jia Zhangshi lowered her head, silent, not knowing what she was thinking, or perhaps feeling frightened.

Qin Huairu's face showed displeasure, not knowing whether she disliked Yu Li's words or held a grudge against Jia Zhangshi.

An Jiahe remained calm and indifferent, like an outsider.

"A thirteen-year-old kid, who dares call him small? Our courtyard also has kids over ten—look at others, then look at Bangeng—can they be the same? However they talk behind my back, I, Yu Li, can't control, but I won't let you call my husband Shazhu to his face over and over—what does that mean? Are you saying my husband is an idiot? Or that I, Yu Li, am dead? Bullying me is fine, but bullying my husband is not."

Shazhu felt pleased inside.

This daughter-in-law.

She's truly worth marrying.

When trouble arises, she truly dares to step up.

Her way of protecting Shazhu is comparable to a hen protecting her chicks.

They're both women.

Look at Yu Li, then think of Lou Xiaoe who fled to Hong Kong Island yet still writes me letters—they really differ in certain ways.

"I'm also a mother; educating children, I know that regardless of whether I'm happy or not, at the very least I must let my own child leave a good impression on others, just as Second Elder said: when seeing an elderly person with white hair, you either call them grandfather or grandmother; for people roughly your parents' age, call them elder uncle or elder aunt, otherwise uncle or aunt; for people roughly your age, call them older brother or older sister—this is a matter of courtesy."

"Yu Li's words hit the mark." On Jia Family matters, Yan Fugui, who rarely speaks, rarely expressed his view: "Good and bad are others' evaluations of you. Just like Bangeng, adults calling Shazhu is nothing, they're peers, just joking. You, being a generation below Shazhu, calling him Shazhu to the neighbors' faces, people won't praise Bangeng's bravery; they'll say the Jia Family lacks upbringing."

In the crowd,

A sound came through.

A voice blaming the Jia Family.

Exactly as Yan Fugui described.

Faced with Bangeng's direct calling of Shazhu, what is looked down upon is not Bangeng but the Jia Family.

What is lost is not Shazhu's face.

It's the Jia Family's face; Bangeng threw the Jia Family's face into the muddy ground.

"Bangeng, this kid is truly hopeless."

"Having Jia Zhangshi as a grandmother, it's a miracle if one turns out well; teaching the grandson to steal, and saying that's taking, now being so disrespectful, in a few years still wanting to marry a wife—might as well marry air."

Qin Huairu, who has been bitterly waiting for an opportunity.

She realized sharply.

Her opportunity has come.

Anyone who isn't a fool knows what to do.

"Bangeng, Mom is so disappointed in you; you've learned this from your grandmother, not learning the good, only learning the bad; as a neighbor in the courtyard, there's no reason to directly call someone by their nickname, and yet Shazhu, today I'm giving you face; if you keep acting unreasonably, I'll slap you to death."

"Qin Huairu, stop spouting nonsense; try hitting Bangeng once, and this old woman will fight you to the death."

"Jia Zhangshi, Qin Huairu, I, Yu Li, don't care what big drama you Jia Family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are putting on, but I want to warn you: the Jia Family's affairs have nothing to do with our He Family; don't use my husband as an excuse to scheme against your former mother-in-law or former daughter-in-law; if we really break faces, we'll see who fears whom."

Yu Li domineeringly protects her husband.