Chapter 84

Liu Haizhong and Yan Fugui advocated giving gifts, giving big gifts, each household sending one or two people to attend the banquet.

The unvirtuous faction led by Xu Daming and his associates, which aimed to achieve big results with small expenses, thus the two sides generated a conflict over this notion.

"Xu Daming, Zhou Tianfu, Zhao Hongxing, Wang Shitou, what are you doing?" Yan Fugui, who was in charge of accounts, looked at the seven or eight young men before him, lost for words.

The Jia family's wedding.

Yi Zhonghai, as Jia Dongxu's master, would sit at the host seat of the banquet; all the chaotic matters of the banquet were not his responsibility.

Liu Haizhong served as the steward for the east, responsible for specific affairs.

Yan Fugui was the accountant, responsible for this money.

"San Daye, neighbors of the big courtyard, we've come to cheer Jia Dongxu's wedding, or are we in the wrong?"

"Damu, San Daye didn't say you're wrong; it's just that this account can't be recorded."

Yan Fugui pointed to the gift list in front of him, which wrote who gave how much gift money; when the time came, the Jia Family would return the gift money according to this list.

Xu Daming led a group of people who jointly gave Jia Dongxu a mirror.

If the mirror were bigger.

That would also work.

The mirror is only about a foot square.

I don't know whose idea it was, but they used red paint to densely write words all over it, wishing Jia Dongxu to have a son in August; today Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu's marriage means having a child, which would actually be ten months later, yet you bless them to have a child in eight months—what does that mean?

Obviously they came to seek revenge.

They came to cause trouble at the Jia family's wedding.

Yan Fugui truly didn't know what to say.

"Old Yan, what's going on?"

"Old Liu, take a look—how is this written, and also the words on the mirror."

Liu Haizhong took a look.

His face also turned green.

Xu Daming clearly came to cause trouble.

"Xu Daming." Liu Haizhong put on the airs of the second elder; after Yi Zhonghai finally stepped down and yielded for a moment, he had to seize the opportunity: "Today is Jia Dongxu's big happy day."

"Second elder, third elder, regarding the gift giving—should the Jia Family return gifts? Of course they should. We few brothers jointly gave Jia Dongxu a mirror, clearly indicating we don't expect a return gift; if you don't register it, we'll save money."

"Are you not eating the banquet?"

Xu Daming looked at Yan Fugui and said: "The gift can be skipped, but the banquet must be eaten; living in the same big courtyard, we must give the Jia Family this face."

Yan Fugui thought it over, and finally, having no choice, wrote the names of Xu Daming and his few companions on the gift list.

They hadn't left yet.

Then they saw Shazhu pulling Yushui along as they came.

Xu Daming also meant well, not wanting Shazhu to spend money; everyone in the Siheyuan knows that Shazhu and Xu Daming are on bad terms with the Jia Family, so they came to the banquet just to disgust the Jia Family—while causing trouble for them, they also get to eat the Jia Family's banquet, killing two birds with one stone; why not?

"Shazhu, hurry up, go in and find a seat."

Shazhu pointed at Yan Fugui, meaning he wanted to give a gift.

We few brothers pooled money to give Jia Dongxu a mirror; worst case, we'll later write your name in red paint on it, so we won't be eating his banquet for free.

"I don't have your shamelessness, Xu Daming; I must give a gift."

Shazhu pulled out a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket.

He gently pushed it in front of Yan Fugui.

"Third elder, this is the gift money from me and Yushui."

One hundred yuan.

Not even enough to buy a rubber eraser.

And it's the gift money from me and Yushui.

On the gift list in front of Yan Fugui, the minimum amount is five thousand yuan, some are ten thousand yuan, and Yi Zhonghai gave the most—eighty-six thousand yuan.

On the whole list, you can't find anyone who gave a gift of one hundred yuan.

Shazhu can be considered to have started a precedent.

Even the surrounding streets have no one who gave a gift of one hundred yuan.

Yan Fugui smiled at Shazhu, picked up his pen, and wrote on the gift list: He Yuzhu together with his sister He Yushui gave a gift of one hundred yuan.

Xu Daming felt helpless.

He just stared at Shazhu.

I thought he was already bad enough.

But compared to Shazhu, Xu Daming seems far inferior in shamelessness; seven or eight people each contributed a few hundred yuan before they could scrape together the money for that mirror.

Shazhu directly gave a gift of one hundred yuan.

If he had known Shazhu would give a gift of one hundred yuan, Xu Daming wouldn't have bothered with this salty-bland nonsense.

"Shazhu!"

Jia Zhangshi saw Shazhu give a gift of one hundred yuan.

She felt hatred so intense her teeth itched.

Xu Daming and his friends pooling money to give a mirror had already made Jia Zhangshi furious; the fact that Shazhu, together with Yushui, gave a total gift of one hundred yuan—an amount that couldn't even buy half a steamed bun—broke her last line of defense.

Before the third day of the first lunar month, helping Old Li cook at Old Li's house caused the Jia family to spend money hiring another cook, not to mention the red envelope, and even led some leaders at the Yagangchang to choose not to come.

Those leaders initially agreed to attend Jia Dongxu's wedding banquet after hearing that Shazhu would be the chief cook; for example, the workshop director, deputy director, section chiefs and deputy section chiefs of the workshop, and the group leaders and deputy group leaders of the workshop teams—but later, when they heard that Shazhu would not be the chief cook, they all refused to come, dealing a huge slap to the Jia Family's face, and Jia Zhangshi had already spread the word that leaders from Yagangchang would attend Jia Dongxu's wedding.

After all, only two airs came.

By then, the Jia Family will become a laughingstock known far and wide.

Seeing Shazhu arrive with his sister, Jia Zhangshi flew into a rage.

「Shazhu。」

Unkind words.

It really makes people question Jia Zhangshi's attitude.

「Jia Madam, congratulations, wishing you to grow old together, have sons early, many children and blessings, year after year have today, year after year have this day. 」

Jia Dongxu gets married.

Shazhu, however, expressed blessings to Jia Zhangshi—'wishing you to grow old together, have sons early, many children and blessings'—and everyone knows Jia Zhangshi is a widow; saying that is like stabbing her in the heart.

Jia Zhangshi, already furious over the behavior of Xu Daming and others, could no longer contain her anger and erupted like a volcano.

「Shazhu, you're crazy, my son is getting married, you wish me to grow old together, have sons early, many children and blessings—what do you mean? I'm a widow. 」

「Jia Granny, today is Dong Xu's big day, what are you doing? 」 Liu Haizhong hurried over to smooth things, scolded Jia Zhangshi with a sentence, then turned to Shazhu and said: 「Shazhu, we can say this, we say it, we can't say it, we just won't say it; listen to what you said—wishing Jia Zhangshi to grow old together, have sons early—this is baseless. 」

「Second Elder, I'm just inexperienced, right? 」 Shazhu's attitude was very good; realizing he was wrong, he immediately apologized to Jia Zhangshi: 「Jia Madam, sorry, you also know I'm inarticulate and uneducated; this is my first time encountering such a thing—please be magnanimous and don't hold it against me. 」

Jia Zhangshi also knew she had just lost her composure.

This was her son's wedding celebration.

If something really went wrong.

What would be lost would be the Jia family's face.

Under normal circumstances.

Jia Zhangshi insisted on lying on the ground to properly reason with Shazhu.

Today really won't do.

「As the saying goes, first time nervous, second time familiar; next time Dong Xu gets married, I definitely won't cause a joke like today's. Sorry, really sorry. 」

Liu Haizhong glared at Shazhu.

This kid, ever since he fell in with Xu Daming, has visibly learned bad habits, constantly finding ways to harm the Jia family.

The Jia family too—it's just a sewing machine, after all..

As for the stalemate with Shazhu, Jia Dongxu lost Shazhu's bicycle, so he must compensate Shazhu's bicycle; Shazhu's bicycle is new, using your Jia family's sewing machine to offset the debt is completely justified.

「Shazhu, give Second Elder some face, can you say a few less sentences? 」

「Since Second Elder said so, I'll give you this face. 」

「Shazhu, I ask you, why don't you cook for our Jia family? Don't use the excuse of cooking for Old Li's family to fool me—my wife asked around, and there's no Li family in Qingyan Hutong at all. 」

「I don't want to cook for you. 」

Shazhu's frank truth.

Almost choked Jia Zhangshi to death.

I had thought Shazhu would make all kinds of excuses, but I didn't expect him to state his attitude outright.

「If you won't do it, then you won't do it—I ask you, why do you give a gift of only a hundred while everyone else gives five thousand? You're special, giving just a hundred—what can a hundred buy? You can't even afford a couple of pounds of noodles; you're deliberately slighting our Jia family. 」

「It's the thought that counts; a hundred—what's wrong with that? This hundred is also my goodwill toward Dong Xu's wedding; if you think it's too little, I'll take the hundred back—everyone in the siheyuan knows I have no money. 」

「Piglet。」

Yi Zhonghai stepped forward.

The hypocrite realized he couldn't stay out of it.

Shazhu kept poking at the Jia family's tender spots.

「Today is Dong Xu's good day; please settle down. 」

「Settle down? Bring a hundred over to eat, and we Jia family will still have to compensate to death. 」

「Third Elder, take five thousand from the gift money and write on the gift list that I gave ten thousand, marking it as owed gift money; when Dong Xu marries again, I'll pay it all back. 」

I thought Shazhu would be shameless.

But I didn't expect him to be this shameless.

Borrow five thousand.

Wait until next time to repay it all together.

The Jia family will still have to rely on Shazhu to clean up.

Everyone in the siheyuan is holding back anger.

Jia Zhangshi stipulated that anyone giving a gift to the Jia family must give at least five thousand.

Out of concern for face, they had no choice but to cough up the money.

Granny Jia wanted to say something.

Then he saw Liu Guangqi and Yan Jiefang, who had accompanied Jia Dongxu to fetch his bride, rush back to the siheyuan, while Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu lifted a string of firecrackers on a bamboo pole, which went off with a 'patter-patter'.

Firecrackers to welcome the newcomer.

Symbolizing that the newcomer will have a prosperous, fiery future.

This is a rule passed down from the elders.

The children swarmed over, searching among the smoking gunpowder scraps for undischarged firecrackers; each time they found one, they'd show it off to their playmates.

The festive atmosphere dispelled the unhappiness that Shazhu, Xu Daming, and others felt toward the Jia family.

Jia Zhangshi couldn't bother anymore; she turned and walked toward the siheyuan gate, wanting to watch Dong Xu bring his bride inside.

In her gaze.

Qin Huairu in red was carried on Jia Dongxu's back toward the siheyuan; around them were onlookers and playing children.

Amid everyone's blessings.

Qin Huairu was carried by Jia Dongxu into the Jia household.

Their appearance.

Let Siheyuan's atmosphere enter a climax.

One hour later.

Zhong Yuan.

The neighbors waiting to eat all raised their heads in unison.

The newlyweds have performed the heaven-and-earth bow.

As rivals, Shazhu couldn't help but admit that Jia Dongxu's looks deserved a woman like Qin Huairu.

"Stupid Cat."

"Hmm." Xu Daming, who only reacted after answering, looked at Shazhu, "What are you calling me, Shazhu?"

"Stupid Cat."

"I am Xu Daming."

"In my heart, you are Stupid Cat."

"Shazhu, you're not done, are you?"

"Stupid Cat, you say you're stupid, yet you won't admit it, you scraped together money to give Jia Dongxu a mirror, deliberately writing on it with red paint— isn't that just to disgust the Jia family?"

Xu Daming admitted he was no match for Shazhu.

In the matter of disgusting the Jia family.

Xu Daming was severely stepped on by Shazhu.

Shazhu truly achieved spending little to gain much, and even made Jia Zhangshi furious.

"Stupid Cat."

"Hmm."

"Are you going to be active tonight?"

Xu Daming turned his head to look at Shazhu, his face full of shock; today is the day Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu get married, and as a rival of the Jia Family, how could he possibly let the Jia family spend the bridal night so easily?

"Let's accumulate some hidden virtue."

"Likewise, likewise."

Their voices were drowned out by Liu Haizhong's voice.

"Comrades, today our Siheyuan welcomes double joy, as Jia Family's Dong Xu and Qin Huairu's wedding day arrives—this is one joy. The second joy is that our great nation has successors."

Shazhu and Xu Daming exchanged a glance.

There are successors.

Could it be that Qin Huairu is pregnant?

Xu Daming's gaze fell on Qin Huairu's body, staring intently, as if his eyes were X-rays, trying to see how many babies Qin Huairu was carrying.

Shazhu's gaze, however, fell on Jia Zhangshi's face.

Just as Shazhu had anticipated.

Liu Haizhong's idiom about successors came out.

Jia Zhangshi's face turned green instantly.

"The phrase 'successors' refers to Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu adding offspring to the Jia Family after marriage, not what you imagine."

It's better not to explain.

This explanation.

It's like drawing legs on a snake.

In the crowd.

Someone in the crowd let out a howl.

Liu Haizhong's face instantly darkened; realizing he had messed up, he quickly resorted to the tactic of diverting attention by inviting everyone to eat, announcing that Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu's wedding feast had officially begun.

Dishes were brought out one after another.

Before seeing the dishes, the neighbors' hearts burned with hope; upon seeing the food, a chilling feeling rose.

Felt cheated by the Jia Family.

Out of ten dishes, only one was meat; the rest were all vegetable dishes—stir-fried cabbage, stir-fried carrots, stir-fried greens, stir-fried potato slices, etc. It seemed they treated the neighbors like rabbits, even serving pickled vegetables as a proper dish, clearly showing the Jia Family's lack of virtue.

Qin Huairu's complexion revealed neither joy nor displeasure, seeming immersed in the happiness of marriage and becoming a city dweller.

The facial expression of Qin Huairu's natal family who came to see her off.

Somewhat interesting.

A bit more anger, a bit less joy.

The wedding feast.

The pickled vegetables were all placed on the main table.

Even worse than his hometown M countryside.

Yi Zhonghai's expression was as calm as water, but in his heart he cursed Jia Zhangshi to death; this move was clearly Jia Zhangshi's doing, you damned Jia old woman, again disgusting Yi Zhonghai.

After all, this marriage alliance was mediated by Yi Zhonghai.

The Jia Family's hospitality extended even to the guests sent by Qin Huairu's natal family on her wedding day.

They struck Yi Zhonghai's face.

They jabbed Yi Zhonghai's heart.

"If this had been done earlier in the year, it would definitely be richer; later we received a notice from superiors saying we must promote the spirit of hard struggle and practice thrift; Dong Xu was the first to respond, and back then we still said, 'Won't this slight Huairu?' Dong Xu said Huairu is open-minded and generous, said Huairu's natal family are well-educated and reasonable; after thinking it over, I realized it's true—Huairu marrying into the Jia Family means the Jia Family has married up."

Jia Zhangshi gave Yi Zhonghai a cold stare.

This bastard.

An aura of the Jia Family's head of household.

Still marrying into the Jia family is marrying up.

Nonsense.

It should be Qin Huairu who's marrying up.

Jia Zhangshi really looks down on Qin Huairu, a country girl; no matter how pretty she is, what can it do? Jia Zhangshi's greatest hope is for Jia Dongxu to marry a working-city person, so that the Jia family becomes a dual-income household.

Unfortunately.

Jia Dongxu has been poisoned by Qin Huairu.

He will marry none but Qin Huairu.

Today's wedding banquet is deliberately arranged by Jia Zhangshi just to disgust Yi Zhonghai and disgust Qin Huairu.

Yi Zhonghai merely clicked his lips, lightly defusing Jia Zhangshi's tactics, and moreover took the chance to praise Jia Dongxu a bit.

"Dong Xu will become a regular fitter at the Yagangchang this year, and at latest next year, promotion to first-class fitter is no problem."

Yi Zhonghai praised Jia Dongxu with a double entendre.

Jia Zhangshi understood the implied warning.

If she were to stir up trouble.

Then let Jia Dongxu fail to become a regular employee.

Jia Zhangshi, seeing sense, chose to remain silent.

Laoqianpo didn't kick up a fuss, but Xu Damao and his crew were still around; yet, out of respect for Yi Zhonghai's status and position, Xu Damao and his crew could only resort to petty tricks in private.

In the end, it couldn't see the light of day.

Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu's wedding banquet concluded perfectly amid an ostensibly harmonious atmosphere.

After that come the wedding night pranks and the like.

As for that.

Shazhu had no interest whatsoever; after returning from the Jia family's feast, he lay on the bed like a corpse, desperately recalling the bits and pieces of his previous life.

Qin Huairu married into the siheyuan.

As for Shazhu.

It carries a different meaning.

The archvillain who reduced Shazhu to destitution and loneliness in his previous life.

Jia Dongxu was four years older than Shazhu; when Bangeng was eight, Jia Dongxu suffered a fatal accident; at that time Shazhu was twenty-four or twenty-five.

A doubt arose in Shazhu's mind.

A man in his mid‑twenties actually hadn't taken a wife.

Strange.

A tremendous oddity.

In his previous life, the twenty‑four‑ or twenty‑five‑year‑old Shazhu had already become a ninth‑rank cook at the Yagangchang, earning about twenty‑seven or twenty‑eight with wages and subsidies.

The siheyuan had two rooms.

Cooking was also not bad.

Yet he never married.

First doubt.

Second doubt.

After Qin Huairu became a widow, Yi Zhonghai suddenly had someone introduce prospects to Shazhu, but every one of them was as unsuitable as Zhu Bajie's second aunt.

The marriage matter thus came to nothing.

Shazhu sprang up from the bed with a sudden 'teng'.

Yi Zhonghai.

Long Laotaitai.

These two are the biggest suspicious factors that kept Shazhu from marrying before Qin Huairu became a widow.

If they had married.

Then none of that later melodrama would have happened.