Chapter 19

Unfortunately, Second Elder didn't want to help anymore; he hummed and hawed a few sentences, then sent Yi Daye away. It's not about money or not money; it's not his debt.

A few days ago we had already agreed that Yi Daye would take responsibility for the entire debt.

Returning home, Yi Daye wore a worried expression; tomorrow is the day to repay the money, and if he can't come up with it, he'll lose face at his maternal grandmother's house.

The deep autumn sunlight was strong but not warm enough; He Yuzhu went out in the morning and felt his legs freezing. Today is Yi Daye's repayment day, and afterward his finances will finally ease a bit.

His daytime shift passed as usual with a cup of tea and a newspaper; He Yuzhu felt no panic at all, and frankly, such a life is what most people dream of.

From after work until seven, Yi Daye didn't even show his face; since you don't want to maintain dignity, I'll help you do so.

After closing the grocery shop, he went straight to Yi Daye's home.

"Little Zhu has come; let us two old men have a good drink." Yi Daye forced a smile and said, "This is fine liquor—smell it, it goes straight to the heavens."

"Who drinks this? When you have money, you ought to drink bottled liquor, maybe some Lotus White."

Yi Daye looked as if he understood everything, saying he was worried that the boy wouldn't know how to manage life, so he had kept this money for him. Although Yi Daye wasn't young, he had still experienced little.

"Cut the nonsense, Yi Daye; if you don't want to repay the money, today will be your last drink." He Yuzhu said coldly, without courtesy, "Have you got your bedding ready?"

Yi Daye's face was full of resignation, but he sat on the kang and didn't want to move.

He Yuzhu was about to say a few more words when suddenly several tree switches whipped his back; Qin Huairu appeared behind him at some point, holding a peach branch fork in her hand.

"Little Zhu, little Zhu, are you possessed by someone? Why are you speaking to Yi Daye like that?"

Good grief, this is to ward off evil for herself, and she even used a peach branch—why didn't she prepare garlic instead!

He snatched the branch away, He Yuzhu looked at her with the expression of someone viewing an idiot; what a wild imagination it takes to come up with such an idea—if a troublemaker saw it, it would cause another hassle.

"Little Zhu, what Yi Daye said is correct; you've experienced too little, and this money belongs to you and your sibling, so why are you coming to claim it yourself?"

"Don't try to drive a wedge between us siblings; Yi Daye, if you don't intend to repay the money, just say so, and I won't pester you." He Yuzhu shook his head, "Just get your things ready; tomorrow morning I'll take you in."

Yi Daye sighed.

This money still has to be repaid; he doesn't want to go to jail, or his retirement plan would be ruined.

But little money, it's truly sweet.

After rummaging around his backside for a while, Yi Daye produced a cloth bundle and handed it to He Yuzhu, saying, "The money is all in here; count it properly, and we'll be square."

Wanting to settle accounts, it's still early for that.

Qin Huairu stood beside, staring at the stack of money with wide eyes; this amount could feed their family meat for several years, and she needed to find a way to get closer to He Yuzhu.

One cannot afford to be thick‑skinned.

Yi Daye sat on the kang, face full of dejection; Qin Huairu whispered comfort: "Yi Daye, I don't think Zhu is a bad person—he's still running a grocery shop, maybe he needs to restock; sigh, if there's blame to assign, blame the Wen family."

"Exactly, I've long disliked Old Wen; what right does he have to snatch Zhu? I had my eye on him first." Yi Daye took another sip of liquor, "What will I do when I grow old?"

"Let's think of another plan, persuade Zhu again, and get him to turn over a new leaf."

Yi Daye said out the plan they had originally discussed, but unfortunately it didn't work out; such a fine young woman, and he didn't even take a liking to her. m.

"Yi Daye, back home I have a female cousin who is prettier than me; I'll introduce her to Zhu, and maybe they'll become a couple."

They were still discussing countermeasures here; He Yuzhu could see it even from the back teeth of his home, this money wasn't a small amount, enough to sustain him for a long time.

"Ding, the host has finally gotten the money back, but he still can't be careless; Yi Daye hasn't yet met utter ruin. Reward: 1,000 catties of grain, one bicycle ticket, one radio, open all seasonings, open all alcoholic beverages."

Not bad, not bad; this time it's really a bumper harvest.

"Ding, detecting that the host has sufficient funds in hand, system upgrading."

He Yuzhu waited anxiously for the system upgrade; suddenly his room door was knocked on, and he felt a slight start—could it be the neighbors from the Courtyard House coming to borrow money?

"Master, open the door; I'm Ma Hua."

This kid Ma Hua snatched a few apples and rushed in hurriedly.

"What business do you have coming so late?" He Yuzhu let him sit down to talk, "You brought stuff over; you're not thinking of becoming that deputy group leader, are you?"

He Yuzhu made a joke.

That rumor was spread thanks to Ma Hua's help; how could he be thinking about that deputy group leader? He came to tell He Yuzhu that the cafeteria was about to have a major incident, asking if he could return to the cafeteria to lend a hand to turn the tide.

"What's up." He Yuzhu guessed the cafeteria had also reached its time to blow up, and indeed he thought anyone could manage the cafeteria. However, he now plans to first watch the show; trying to turn the tide is no match for bringing the dead back to life.

"Master, I think you'd better hurry back and figure something out; I feel something big is going to happen." Ma Hua took a sip of water, "Our meat there is completely used up."

Now He Yuzhu was also somewhat surprised; it's only mid-month and the meat is already gone—what will happen at month's end? Are we to let the workers eat only vegetables?

The Steel Rolling Mill involves heavy manual labor; every few days they need some meaty fare, and now most of the meat is supplied by ticket, so the chance of getting extra is still low.

No meat to eat, these workers will surely cause trouble.

"What have you been eating these days?" He Yuzhu, who had been bringing his own lunch these days, replied, "We've been eating braised pork."

"More or less, the first few meals were good, but these past few days it's run out; the workers are already dissatisfied." Ma Hua was a bit anxious, "I went to check, and only then did I discover the meat was all gone."

No need to guess where the meat went; the cook doesn't steal, and the five grains are not harvested.

This person's hand is quite ruthless.

Ma Hua was actually afraid that this fire would burn him too; He Yuzhu comforted him, saying above there's Deputy Factory Director Li and Section Chief Qi, and below there's that short, fat guy.

In any case, it won't be Ma Hua's turn to take the blame.

"Master, when do you plan to go back?" Ma Hua said as he was leaving, "The cafeteria staff really miss you; they'd all like you to come back and take charge."

"It won't be too long; I've always been a cook."

Just after seeing Ma Hua out of the Courtyard House, the system suddenly prompted that his time was up, and the new system went online.

Lying on his own kang, He Yuzhu began to examine the changes in the updated system.