Chapter 37

"Yi Zhonghai, it's fine, this matter is my fault. Xu Damao would say he broke the sky, I'd still have to treat him to two meals." Shazhu pretended not to catch the meaning in Yi Zhonghai's words, and said to Xu Damao: "Xu Damao, go on, tonight and tomorrow night, you pick any place you like; as long as you pick a good place, I'll pay first, then we'll drink. If you get drunk and try to grab the bill, I can't do anything about it."

"Shazhu, am I the kind of person who blocks the door to force you to treat me?"

Shazhu sized up Xu Damao from head to toe.

He nodded.

"Not just similar, it's too similar."

"Shazhu, don't be so despicable."

"You're blocking the door; what else is it if not to make me treat you?"

"I have something to discuss with you; anyway, it's not about treating you."

Xu Damao pulled Shazhu toward a secluded corner to talk in detail.

This matter can't see the light of day.

It needs to be concealed.

Yi Zhonghai had waited for Shazhu all afternoon, and finally managed to catch him; there was no way he'd let Xu Damao pull Shazhu away just like that.

The hypocrite worried that this was a trick Shazhu and Xu Damao were playing on him, Yi Zhonghai.

Since He Daqing left.

Long Laotaitai said Shazhu hasn't been close to her lately.

Yi Zhonghai also felt that Shazhu wasn't the Shazhu he remembered.

Exactly where had the change occurred?

Yi Zhonghai couldn't quite put it into words for a moment.

"Shazhu, wait a moment, Elder Yi has something he wants to ask you."

"Elder Yi, go ahead."

Yi Zhonghai glanced at Xu Damao.

He wanted to ask Shazhu privately.

mainly to brainwash Shazhu.

After work in the evening, Long Laotaitai secretly complained to Yi Zhonghai, saying Shazhu had taken white flour steamed buns and meat dishes from the cafeteria at noon and secretly given them to He Yushui to eat, without sending any to her, Long Laotaitai.

"Elder Yi, Xu Damao isn't an outsider; he's my brother."

Xu Damao hurriedly nodded.

He also added a word of agreement.

"Shazhu and I, Xu Damao, are brothers."

Shazhu glanced at Xu Damao and realized Xu Damao seemed to have something he needed Shazhu's help with.

Yi Zhonghai hesitated for over ten seconds, then steeled himself and asked: "Shazhu, Xu Damao said this afternoon you're not working at the steel mill anymore; Elder Yi just wants to ask you, is this true? Let's not have any misunderstanding between us."

He spoke nicely.

Leaving nothing to fault.

Truly lives up to being the schemer-in-chief of the Siheyuan.

"Elder Yi, speaking of this matter, I was just about to report to you: this morning I went to the steel mill and even prepared a reception meal; I asked Liu Dasheshi, my skills are more than enough to be an apprentice cook, even a junior chef would be fine, but Liu Dasheshi said no, told me to wait a year. I thought, fine, since this place won't keep me, there's another place that will. I quit, this afternoon I found Director Wang, used his connections, and got a job as a mid-level recycler at the scrap yard in Hongxing District, with a monthly salary of 400,000, much better than the steel mill cafeteria."

The fool said it lightly.

But the hypocrite hearing these words.

was no less than hearing a thunderbolt from clear sky.

Holy shit!

After all the calculations, I still didn't expect this.

Shazhu just threw down his tools and quit.

The plans for his old age, plus the future reception meals at the steel mill, turned into two heavy hammers that slammed hard into Yi Zhonghai's body, leaving the hypocrite's mind and spirit shattered.

"Shazhu, you're muddle-headed."

"Elder Yi, we're not muddle-headed; we've thought this through well. At the steel mill, as an apprentice I wouldn't earn a penny—how could I support Yushui? If something happened to Yushui, outsiders would talk about me; they'd even stab me in the back and curse me for being inhuman, for not supporting my sister. This won't do. Although the scrap yard is small, the key is they pay me—400,000 a month."

"Shazhu, your family's cooking skills—you must work in the steel mill cafeteria." Yi Zhonghai grew anxious, grabbed Shazhu's hand and headed for the steel mill: "Now, Elder Yi going with you to the steel mill means I'm putting my old face on the line; I'll also have to let you become an apprentice worker."

"Elder Yi, it's too late; I've already completed the paperwork for the scrap yard."

Shazhu flashed his work permit.

Looking at the seal on it.

Yi Zhonghai felt utterly weak.

Trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it.

He wasted a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes for nothing, and still ended up sending Shazhu to the scrap yard.

Had I known it would turn out like this.

He also stopped playing that little trick.

It felt like losing his own parents.

Yi Zhonghai's mood was terrible.

He lifted his head.

He looked at Shazhu with a bitter expression.

He let out a long sigh in his heart.

Is planning for my old age really this hard?

"That's fine too; after a while, Elder Yi will figure out how to transfer you into the steel mill."

Shazhu didn't refuse; if he could really get into the steel mill cafeteria during the three years of famine, at least his stomach would be guaranteed not to go hungry.

By then it'll be trouble for the eldest uncle.

"What trouble, no trouble." Not being turned down, Yi Zhonghai, who still sensed a hint of hope, thought of the deaf old lady's complaint to him: "Shazhu, the old lady said you brought rice from the cafeteria at noon?"

"Liu Dashetou won't let me earn money, won't even let me bring some food, I have to support Yushui."

One sentence.

Yi Zhonghai, being talked back to, didn't know what to say.

No matter what they say, Yushui and Shazhu are still close siblings.

"Shazhu, the old lady has no children; back when you were an apprentice, the eldest uncle helped look after her daily life; now you have a job, earning about as much as the eldest uncle, the old lady is also blessed."

The more Shazhu listened, the less it sat right with him.

Is Yi Zhonghai trying to shift the deaf old lady's daily routine onto himself?

The eldest aunt is an idle person.

She is the most suitable to take care of the deaf old lady's daily life.

I work during the day.

I come back to look after Yushui, then look after the deaf old lady.

I'm so bored!

"Taking care of the deaf old lady" — Yi Zhonghai saying that is inappropriate; if Shazhu really agreed, that would also be Yi Zhonghai's merit, and the deaf old lady would be receiving Yi Zhonghai's favor.

"Eldest uncle, you're right and also wrong; if I had no job I could still earn money, looking after the old lady would be natural, but since our courtyard only has this one old lady, everyone should respect her. However, the problem is I'm busy with the recycling station work during the day, and when I come back at night I still have to look after Yushui, so I have no time. I think the eldest aunt is fine; all these years she's been the one looking after the old lady, and it's not that I don't care for the old lady; if there's some rare delicacy, I'll have Yushui send it to the old lady."

Yi Zhonghai furrowed his brows.

He was utterly dissatisfied with Shazhu's answer.

What is it that the eldest aunt is taking care of?

What the deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai couple want is for Shazhu to voluntarily take on this duty of looking after the deaf old lady, not just some rare delicacy that Yushui sends to the deaf old lady; even the sending should be done by Shazhu himself.

"Shazhu, think it over."

"Eldest uncle, I've thought it through clearly; I have no time, our station chief said we must work overtime for the country's construction, I still have to go study at night to strive to become a cultured person useful to the nation, please understand."