Chapter 324: Intending to Pry Information with Wine

The wife spoke.

How could there be no reason to carry it out?

After giving Yu Li a promise not to get drunk,

Arrived at Liu Jianguo's home.

Since Shazhu was revived ten years ago, he has kept his distance from Yi Zhonghai as much as possible, and naturally would not rush over to Yi Zhonghai's house as a guest.

Everything before his eyes.

Unfamiliar yet familiar.

The reason for this feeling is

It is because those memory fragments from the previous life are playing tricks; even though Liu Jianguo moved in, it seems no major changes were made to the layout, the cabinet remains where it was, the jar still sits where it originally was, the only thing that changed is that the photo of Yi Zhonghai and his wife hanging on the wall is gone.

One being carried out.

One returning to the hometown.

Still keeping their photo.

A bit inappropriate.

Where the Yi family's photo frame used to be, Liu Jianguo posted a half-body portrait of an elderly person, and placed a book with a red cover underneath.

Don't bother looking.

Just because of that conspicuous red.

Then you know what book it is.

It is a book written by the hometown folks.

Not far from the cabinet sits a square wooden table.

It is also a familiar object.

An important fixture of the Dayuan assemblies, the solid wood square table that signifies the status of the three steward elders; at each Dayuan assembly, Yi Zhonghai's three steward elders sit around it.

The table remains the same table.

However, the people eating at this table have changed; it's no longer the familiar Yi Zhonghai to Shazhu, but has become Liu Jianguo, who is suspected to be his brother-in-law.

Each side harbors their own thoughts.

Both hope to use this drink to draw from the other useful information.

The drink is key.

Liu Jianguo was not wrong; it really is an unopened bottle of baijiu, with a plate of peanuts beside it, two pairs of chopsticks laid on either side of the plate, and two five-qian wine cups set apart by the plate, facing each other.

"Conditions are limited; they can't compare to your steel mill, Director He—please don't look down on them."

Reciprocity in courtesy.

They give me face.

I cannot fail to return the favor.

Otherwise people will gossip.

Shazhu grinned.

"In this setting, having peanuts with drinks is nice; some comrades drink with vinegar-dipped stones or soy sauce-dipped iron nails, but we at least have a plate of peanuts. As the saying goes, "peanuts with liquor, peanuts honor the liquor." Also, don't call me Director He; we're in the compound, not the steel mill, and you're not from the steel mill, so the title "Director" sounds distant. We're all neighbors here—call me by my name, He Yuzhu, or Comrade He, or Old He."

"Then I'll call you Brother Zhu!"

That's a fairly ordinary title.

It actually makes Shazhu feel heartbroken.

He doesn't mind the title 'Brother Zhu'; he minds the person who calls him that.

If it were someone else.

For example, Xu Daming or Yan Jiefang call Shazhu Brother Zhu, and Shazhu really doesn't think much of it.

The person now calling him Brother Zhu is Liu Jianguo, who shares the same name, surname, and occupation as He Yushui's husband in the previous life, and he naturally suspects Liu Jianguo is the man who married He Yushui in that past life.

Along with this title,

This suspicion has actually turned into substantive evidence, slowly leaning toward solid proof.

He Yushui, whom Shazhu has raised since he was seven or eight, is nominally his sister but in fact he treats her like his own daughter, giving him the feeling that his own cabbage is being coveted by a pig and the pig is coming to root at his cabbage.

He's in a bad mood.

His complexion isn't very good.

It feels as if someone has snatched away his most precious possession, a bleak misery.

Seeing Shazhu's expression, Liu Jianguo didn't think of romantic matters; he mistakenly believed Shazhu had guessed his purpose for inviting drinks and was pondering concrete countermeasures.

The effect of going south while aiming north.

It immediately became apparent.

You harbor this thought, he is scheming accordingly.

They invited each other and then took turns sitting down.

"Brother Zhu." Liu Jianguo, who twisted open the bottle cap and poured baijiu for Shazhu, kept talking, seizing the moment to ask: "Are you unhappy with my way of addressing you?"

"We're the same age; this form of address is inappropriate—not that I'm unhappy, but I've thought of some things."

Shazhu clearly said that He Yushui married Liu Jianguo.

The suspicious Liu Jianguo instead pondered the case file, thinking about the residents of this siheyuan, all of whom are not simple, especially He Yuzhu opposite, who became the steel mill's cafeteria director and knows all the compound's gossip.

This drink.

Really should be drunk.

As the saying goes, truth comes out after drinking.

Liu Jianguo wants to hear Shazhu's drunken words.

On the contrary.

Shazhu also wanted to hear Liu Jianguo's drunken words.

When a turtle meets a big tortoise, they both see eye to eye, and each thinks the other stepped into their own pit, and they themselves will ultimately be the one to win.

"Brother Zhuzi, just follow you, I'll call you brother."

"Comrade Liu, we've agreed like this."

"I'll call you Brother Zhuzi, you call me Comrade Liu—this isn't being formal, as you just said, we're neighbors living in the same Zhong Yuan, heads down we don't see each other, heads up we do."

Jianguo

"That's right." Liu Jianguo raised his wine cup and toasted Shazhu, "This is our first time drinking together; there's no other meaning, it's all in the wine."

He raised his neck.

The baijiu in the cup was completely drained.

After drinking, he also inverted the cup.

The meaning is obvious.

I've done it.

You also have to drink.

Facing Liu Jianguo's eager gaze, Shazhu also drank the baijiu in his hand into his stomach.

Liu Jianguo tilted his hand, the baijiu in the bottle was refilled for Shazhu, and he immediately invited Shazhu for a second cup.

Shazhu finished drinking.

Again following the rule of three cups of baijiu.

He had the third cup with Shazhu.

In the blink of an eye.

Shazhu and Liu Jianguo each consumed one and a half liang of baijiu.

Finished drinking.

Didn't eat any side dish.

Looking at Liu Jianguo pouring him a fourth cup of baijiu, Shazhu felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had experienced this scene before.

He rummaged through memory fragments.

He felt relieved.

No wonder he felt familiar; this scene of being deliberately plied with alcohol, Shazhu had experienced once before, and a few days ago he also knew the concrete results of getting drunk.

He brought that incident into the current drinking scene.

The ins and outs of the matter became instantly clear.

Liu Jianguo is trying to get me drunk, then take advantage of my drunken state to worm some words out of me. If the person drinking with Shazhu were Xu Daming, given their relationship, he wouldn't speculate so recklessly. Now the person drinking with Shazhu who still wants to get him drunk is Liu Jianguo, whom he has no prior dealings with, and Liu Jianguo is a public security officer; Shazhu has his own secret.

Rebirth is his lifelong secret; not to mention Liu Jianguo, even Yu Li cannot be told!

If he really drinks too much, losing the ability to keep his mouth shut, it could easily turn into a disaster where a city gate fire implicates the fish in the pond, needlessly implicating Yu Li, Weiguo, and Yushui.

Simply, he saw through Liu Jianguo's tricks.

Thus he gained the initiative.

There's still fun to be had.

"Jianguo, I can at most drink three more cups."