Chapter 484

Are you my son?

This is just an offhand remark by Shazhu.

But I never expected that Liu Guangfu, driven to desperation, would do such a desperate act.

Taking advantage of Shazhu's remark.

He shouted "Dad" at Shazhu in front of the neighbors.

The lively siheyuan fell silent instantly at that "Dad".

The onlooking neighbors focused their scrutinizing gazes on Liu Guangfu, eyes full of mockery; Liu Haizhong's family education is truly lacking—why do the Liu sons, for money and profit dare to do anything, even shouting "Dad" at Shazhu before the neighbors, and this "Dad" uttered without the slightest embarrassment, the more righteous they sounded, the louder it rang.

Who.

He gave a mocking laugh.

"Heh!"

Shazhu's mind also turned into utter bewilderment at that sound, whether it was watching the show or mocking Liu Guangfu.

He stood there stunned for thirty-odd seconds.

Then he reacted extremely quickly.

Such an unfilial son—even if given to Shazhu for free, he wouldn't want him; he hurriedly replied.

"Liu Guangfu, I don't have a son like you; if I did, I'd probably have been angered to death by you long ago."

Facing Liu Guangfu's and the neighbors' gazes.

Shazhu expressed his attitude that he would not refund the money.

"Liu Guangfu, Liu Guangqi, I lay it out: I won't refund you the money. Initially I didn't want to sell the house, but you kept begging me to sell; out of respect for your filial piety I sold it to you, yet your filial piety turned out to be a joke, aimed at the treasure Liu Haizhong had hidden inside. Thanks to Grandma Bangeng's report to the street office, they confiscated it in front of all these neighbors."

The conversation shifted.

He gave the Liu brothers no face at all.

"I wonder if you're planning to dig up the treasure and then pin a hat on my head, He Yuzhu? After all, I bought this house over ten days ago, my wife and Third Aunt gave it a fresh coat of paint, yet you're trying to put a chamber pot on my head—whether it's genuine mud in the trousers or not, the outcome is the same."

Around, neighbors intermittently chimed in agreement.

Think about it seriously.

What Shazhu said makes sense.

"Goods and money settled—this is an old rule. Just now we exchanged money for house; the contents were confiscated, so you ask me for a refund—is that appropriate? Conversely, if the street office hadn't confiscated the treasure and I regretted the sale, saying I won't sell the house, would you be willing? Let's put ourselves in each other's shoes—isn't that fair? I still say: I won't refund the money; I never forced you to buy the house. If you're unhappy, go sue me at the street office."

After making his stance clear.

Shazhu also couldn't be bothered with these bastards; he turned and went back home.

Behind him were neighbors shouting approval and the Liu brothers utterly dumbfounded.

Not long after.

The courtyard again echoed with the Liu brothers' quarrel over the house, unlike before—this time Liu Guangtian's voice joined in.

Strictly speaking.

Among the three Liu brothers.

The only one who truly suffered a loss was Liu Guangtian.

He bought back the Liu family's old house at a high price, thinking he could rely on the gold and silver treasure inside to live like a rich man, but he never expected Jia Zhangshi's report to cause the Liu brothers to end up in utter ruin.

In a rage, Liu Guangtian struck out and knocked two teeth loose from Jia Zhangshi, infuriating her so she wanted to report him to the street office for revenge.

Fully aware of what fate awaited him, Liu Guangtian knelt outside the siheyuan and called Jia Zhangshi "grandma"; in the end she demanded a compensation of five hundred yuan with lion's mouth.

Liu Guangtian originally did not want to pay.

But after some thought.

Upon thinking of the combo of being fired, imprisoned, and wife and children scattered.

He instantly turned into a wilted eggplant.

Five hundred yuan.

At most that's a year and a half's salary; as long as he has a job and isn't fired, he'll eventually earn it back.

He accepted it.

This is also why Liu Guangtian exerted all his strength to fight his eldest brother Liu Guangqi and youngest brother Liu Guangfu for the house—he couldn't possibly spend seven or eight hundred yuan and get nothing in return.

To avoid being so unlucky.

And to get the house back.

Liu Guangtian moved against Liu Guangqi, having thought Liu Guangfu would help him, but instead Liu Guangfu aided his rival Liu Guangqi.

Interests at stake.

Liu Guangqi and Liu Guangfu, who don't get along, joined forces and cooperated to deal with Liu Guangtian.

"Old Three, are you helping him?"

"Old Two, this isn't about helping or not; it's that we two stand on principle—how did this house become yours alone? Ask the neighbors: wasn't this house bought with our three brothers' pooled money? Our three brothers pooled money to buy the house—on what basis do you monopolize it?"

At this moment Liu Guangqi was possessed by the Moral Heavenly Venerable.

He became an Yi Zhonghai who was not Yi Zhonghai.

He insisted on putting gold on his own face.

"We bought this house back so Mother could come live here; don't you have your own place? The neighbors in the courtyard all say we're unfilial, beastly children—you don't really think this is a good reputation, do you?"

"Older Brother, Big Brother's words make sense; you don't think for yourself, but you should think for the kids too? You wouldn't want to end up like our parents, would you?"

"Liu Guangfu, I realize I really underestimated you—when did you start colluding with the eldest? Back then, how did the eldest treat us, and how did our parents treat us? If you don't know, ask the neighbors: you let him beat us up then, but you won't let us settle scores with him now?"

"Settling scores is settling scores, but the house matter belongs to Mother."

Liu Guangfu's idea is simple.

First join forces with Liu Guangqi to drive out Liu Guangtian, bring Second Aunt back to live there; then he and his wife will move back in openly under the pretense of caring for their mother.

Given time.

Sneakily going to the Jiēdào to transfer the procedures into Liu Guangfu's name, it's as if he had earned it.

Out of the thousand yuan for buying the house, he took out three hundred thirty; the Liu family's house can now sell for four hundred sixty, so calculating, it's equivalent to him making a net profit of over one hundred thirty.

One has to say.

Liu Guangfu's abacus calculation is nothing but shrewd.

However, at this moment Liu Guangqi and Liu Guangtian both harbored the exact same thought as him, especially Liu Guangtian's thought being the strongest.

"Just because of this house, I've lost seven or eight hundred; I ask you, should this house be given to me?"

"Each of us put in three hundred thirty; the eldest put in ten more than us, how can you say you yourself put out seven or eight hundred?"

"I compensated Jia Zhangshi five hundred; what is this if not money? You didn't miss what just happened, did you? I gave Jia Zhangshi two slaps."

"Second brother, speaking of this matter, as brothers we should talk about you; can you change your habit of lashing out at the slightest disagreement? Hitting Jia Zhangshi wasn't something we two brothers told you to do; it was you who decided to strike, what does that have to do with the house?"

"I'm also doing this for the house; I can't stand it. Jia Zhangshi said she'd go report me for revenge; then I'd be fired, jailed, my wife would run away, my child would be gone—you can't just watch my family be destroyed, can you? As for this house, treat it as a good deed, pity me, give it to me, okay?"

"Older brother, you're twenty-seven or twenty-eight; how can you act without thinking? Hitting Jia Zhangshi is your own business, unrelated to us; besides, we didn't tell you to hit Jia Zhangshi—whether you compensate five hundred or one thousand, it's still unrelated to us; as an adult, you must pay for your impulsiveness."

"Liu Guangqi, we're all brothers; you can't write the Liu surname twice in one stroke—how can you treat me like this?"

"Simply because you can't write the Liu surname twice in one stroke, this house is meant for Mother to live in."

"Alright, Liu Guangqi, Liu Guangfu, don't think I don't know what you're planning—are you still intending to bring your wives over to serve Mother? Then you'll push Mother out, and this house will be monopolized by you; I, Liu Guangtian, have laid down my words: if you don't let me have an easy time, I won't let you have an easy time either."

……

Jia Family.

Jia Zhangshi took out from her pocket the five hundred yuan she had extorted from Liu Guangtian, counted out five bills each worth ten yuan, and handed them to Qin Huairu.

Looking at the money being handed over.

Qin Huairu's heart.

It leapt up disappointedly.

Jia Zhangshi gave money to this widowed daughter-in-law.

This seems to be the first time since Qin Huairu moved into the Siheyuan that she slightly frowned.

She always felt Jia Zhangshi had some ulterior motive.

"You holding it?" Seeing Qin Huairu looking doubtful and hesitating on the spot, Jia Zhangshi urged her with a sentence, also swaying the banknote in her hand, "What are you spacing out for?"

"Mom, where did this money come from?"

Because of Jia Zhangshi's series of godlike moves that screwed over teammates.

Qin Huairu worried it would implicate her.

Times have changed.

The neighbors now knew many things, such as when encountering theft, they no longer handled it internally within the siheyuan but knew to go to Jiēdào or public security, and the head steward no longer had the former authority where a single word carried great weight.

"Huairu, are you worried this money isn't clean?"

Jia Zhangshi opened her mouth, pointing out the two gaps in her teeth that Liu Guangtian had slapped out to Qin Huairu, and also showed her swollen cheek from being slapped hard by Liu Guangtian.

"Earning with them, you just went to inquire about renting a place, not in the siheyuan; Mom will explain so you don't worry. Mom saw the Liu brothers offering a high price to buy a house, sensed something was wrong, so she reported to Jiēdào; the Jiēdào people came and confiscated the Liu family's valuables; Liu Guangtian slapped Mom twice—this is retaliation. If Mom reports to Jiēdào, Liu Guangtian would at least have to go in for several years, and he'd also be fired. Mom uses this as leverage with Liu Guangtian; he compensates Mom five hundred, and Mom doesn't report him to Jiēdào, so he doesn't have to go to jail."

"Aren't you afraid Liu Guangtian will retaliate against you?"

I, the old lady, would love for him to retaliate; if he hits me once, I'll go to Jiēdào to report him for retaliation, and he wouldn't dare; otherwise he wouldn't willingly give Mom five hundred. With this money, our family's house is saved; I'm giving you fifty, not for you to spend, but to hurry to Dongbei and bring Bangeng back for me, the old lady. Yi Zhonghai is dead, Shazhu ignores our family, we can only rely on ourselves. I heard people say, if he doesn't come back next month, Bangeng will never come back for life.

Upon hearing that Bangeng wouldn't come back.

Qin Huairu was also anxious.

She also didn't want to become another Yi Zhonghai, scheming against others for her own old-age support.

There's a ready-made son.

Naturally, the son would support her in her old age.

If Bangeng spends his life in Dongbei, how could he see her through her final days?

"Mom, I understand; I'll ask for leave tomorrow."

Dongbei isn't the Capital City; some things are beyond our reach. I still say that Bangeng must come back no matter what he says; otherwise, who will cover his shift at Yagangchang? That widow who married Bangeng isn't just after following him to the city to enjoy blessings? The widow herself is fine, but her child is not.

"Mom, I understand."

You also need to settle Xiao Dang's matter; when you come back from Dongbei, swing by her place, after all she's a daughter of the Jia Family; although a married daughter is like spilled water, she still bears the Jia surname—if she can come back, it's best she does; if she doesn't, she shouldn't become an enemy; if Bangeng runs into trouble, as his sister she can't just ignore him.

Qin Huairu suddenly felt that Jia Zhangshi was different.

Nothing else to say.

Just saying, regarding this lecture to Qin Huairu, if it were only about Bangeng, Qin Huairu would still understand, but Jia Zhangshi's words also mentioned Xiao Dang.

Jia Zhangshi's catchphrase has always been that a girl belongs to another family.

Is the sun rising from the west?

There's also the matter of the money.

Jia Zhangshi's foolish mind actually could think of using the tactic of reporting to threaten and manipulate Liu Guangtian, and somehow it succeeded in manipulating Liu Guangtian.

The five hundred is the best proof.

……

The night passed in silence.

The next day.

Shazhu rode his bicycle straight to Bai Xu Restaurant.

Qin Huairu, following Jia Zhangshi's instructions, went to Yagangchang to ask the section head for leave; she took Jia Zhangshi's words as gospel, fearing Bangeng wouldn't be able to return to the Capital City.

She found the head of the Cleaning Section.

She explained her purpose to him in full.

As one would expect.

You can take leave.

However, Qin Huairu is currently in a status of making amends through service; during Deputy Factory Director Li's tenure, she once served as the head of the correction team.

If it weren't for the fact that she hasn't committed any major offense.

She might have ended up in there keeping Liu Haizhong company.

The head of the cleaning team simply said no.

"Qin Huairu, I can't approve this leave."

Qin Huairu was stunned at once.

I thought just mentioning it would be enough.

But I didn't expect the other party to block her.

"Team Leader, I really have something to attend to."

"I know you have something going on—who would ask for leave if they didn't? But you need to watch your status; you're currently in the correction phase. Those who know understand you have something to do, while those who don't might think you're resisting the punishment from Yagangchang. By then, would I still be able to hold my position as team leader? Listen to me: honestly get through this period, and then you can take leave, even vacation."

Honestly get through this period.

Qin Huairu's punishment period.

It is three years.

Three years later, will Bangeng still be able to come back?

Qin Huairu began to plead.

"Team Leader Liu, you know our family's situation; I need to go to Dongbei to see my son—his leg is broken, yes, his leg is broken."

In order to bring Bangeng back.

Qin Huairu fabricated the fact that Bangeng's leg was broken.