Chapter 22: You can't play favorites just because he's handsome

Yang Changzhang paused, then went on to say:

As for He Yuzhu, he is to receive a major demerit and have his wages lowered by one grade.

Moreover, he must apologize immediately, sincerely, and must gain Liu Lan's forgiveness.

All right, He Yuzhu, apologize now and the matter will be settled; from now on, no one is allowed to mention it again.

Yang Changzhang also wanted to quickly finish handling this matter.

As long as it doesn't affect Lin Shengli, it's fine.

Shazhu's head was buzzing.

Apologizing and accepting the punishment are no problem.

Having his wages lowered by one grade would be the death of him.

His current wage is 27.50, and if lowered by one grade it would be only 22.

Just now he was fined five yuan by Master Yang, so this month's wage would be only 17 yuan.

Although his family only has a sister still in school, he works as a cook, so he doesn't go hungry and can sometimes bring home leftovers.

Even if his wages are lowered by one grade, he is still much better off than many people.

At least he won't go hungry.

But.

The leftovers he takes are basically all given to Qin Huairu's family.

Moreover, with his wages reduced, how will he continue to support Qin Huairu in the future?

If Qin Huairu asks for help and he has no money, wouldn't that be terribly embarrassing?

He also feels uneasy about it.

Qin Huairu is so pretty, and her several children are so cute.

Her family is really in dire straits.

How could I not help them?

If I don't help them, how will they manage?

Thinking about it, a wave of sorrow suddenly welled up in his heart.

As for Yang Changzhang's demand that he apologize right now, he had tossed it to the back of his mind.

As for Shazhu's punishment, Xu Damao felt somewhat comforted.

He even began to feel a bit of schadenfreude.

Compared to him only being fined five yuan and losing two points, He Yuzhu's situation is much worse.

A wage reduction of one grade means a few yuan less each month.

Plus there's the major demerit on his record.

However, that is far from enough.

Xu Damao shifted his eyes and said to Yang Changzhang:

"Yang Changzhang, actually I also witnessed the whole incident with my own eyes just now."

"Everything Liu Lan said is true."

"He Shazhu is simply condoning the child's theft of public property."

Speaking, he pointed to the oil stain on the ground and said, "Look, the child fell over and spilled the stolen oil all over the place."

Shazhu's face was full of anger.

He glared at Xu Damao, fists clenched, wishing he could tear Xu Damao limb from limb.

Yang Changzhang's brows involuntarily furrowed—why won't Xu Damao let this go?

He let out a light sigh, looked at Shazhu, and said in a deep voice: "He Yuzhu, you are again condoning the child's theft of public property—adding guilt upon guilt."

Hearing this, Ma Hua hurried over and said:

"Yang Changzhang, may I say a word?"

Yang Changzhang: "Speak."

Ma Hua: "Yang Changzhang, I was also present the whole time just now."

Ma Hua: "My master, oh, that is He Yuzhu—he really did not condone the child's theft."

Ma Hua: "He was stir-frying vegetables when the child ran in and stole the oil; he truly did not condone it."

Ma Hua: Having said that, he turned back and pointed to several kitchen staff, then continued:

Ma Hua: "If you don't believe me, ask them—they were there too."

"Right, what Ma Hua said is correct."

"At that time, Master He was stir-frying, and the child himself ran in to steal the oil."

"Yes, I can also testify."

Yang Changzhang: "Since someone has testified, He Yuzhu cannot be considered as condoning it. All right, He Yuzhu, apologize quickly, and this matter is settled."

Shazhu: "Yang Changzhang, I have no problem apologizing."

Shazhu: "But this person also laid hands on me."

Shazhu: "Why aren't you mentioning that?"

Shazhu: "You can't show favoritism to him just because he's handsome, a college student, or whatever engineer section chief."

Lin Shengli chuckled, about to speak, when Liu Lan suddenly slapped her forehead and said: "Shazhu—no, He Yuzhu—he didn't mention me, so I almost forgot."

"Yang Changzhang, this matter really can't be blamed on Section Chief Lin."

"It was He Yuzhu who first pointed his finger at Section Chief Lin's eyes."

"At that time, he was standing right in front of Section Chief Lin, so close he was about to poke his eyes."

If he hadn't made such a provocation, Section Chief Lin couldn't have acted.

So, my understanding is that he struck first.

Also, after Section Chief Lin threw him out, he was unwilling to accept it and struck Section Chief Lin again.

But he couldn't even withstand a single move against Section Chief Lin.

Even Section Chief Lin didn't have to use much force to subdue him.

How many times was he thrown down?

Shazhu's face instantly turned completely red, and he shouted angrily:

"Liu Lan, you're lying."

"I was too careless."

"How could I not withstand even a single move against him?"

"What the hell do you know!"

Xu Damao stood up and said, "Shazhu is lying."

"What Liu Lan said is true."

"Shazhu always strikes first, but each time he is instantly defeated by Section Chief Lin."

"My understanding is that he struck first, and Section Chief Lin only retaliated out of necessity."

"We can't let Shazhu ride on our heads and bully us, can we?"

Xu Damao has already gone all-in.

Because of Shazhu, he has been fined and had points deducted.

If Shazhu doesn't receive more punishment, he won't forgive himself.

Factory Director Yang looked at Shazhu and asked, "Is that really the case?"

Shazhu hesitated, then said, "Factory Director Yang, please hear me out..."

Factory Director Yang interrupted, "Just answer: is it really as Liu Lan and Xu Damao said?"

Shazhu gritted his teeth and nodded.

Factory Director Yang finally let out a sigh of relief.

It's not that Lin Shengli made a mistake.

He also doesn't have to openly favor Lin Shengli in front of so many people.

He looked at Lin Shengli and asked, "Section Chief Lin, He Yuzhu has wronged you; how do you think he should be punished?"

"It's up to you to decide."

Before Lin Shengli could even speak, Shazhu bowed at a 90-degree angle toward him and said:

"Section Chief Lin, it's all my fault for being blind; at the time I might not have seen clearly."

"I thought you had hit a child; that was my mistake."

"I hope you, being magnanimous, will be tolerant."

"I hope you can accept my apology."

Nowadays, Shazhu can only apologize, and it's a sincere apology.

The situation is already lost.

He can't win in a fight, and Factory Director Yang still favors Lin Shengli.

What else can he do?

He was originally given a major demerit and had his wages reduced by one grade.

If punished further, he might even be expelled.

Although he's tough, at critical moments he still acts like a normal person.

Lin Shengli also noticed that.

Shazhu's apology is very sincere.

Now the factory has assigned him a house in the Siheyuan, so from now on they'll constantly run into each other.

It's not good for the relationship to become too stiff.

Just now he provoked me, and I also struck out to teach him a lesson.

As long as he doesn't come provoke me again in the future, that's fine.

Moreover, in the original story he was also quite good to Yi Zhonghai and the eldest aunt.

So I also don't plan to quarrel with him; I don't want to pursue him to the bitter end.

Leave a line when dealing with people, so we can meet again in the future.

Of course.

It's impossible to be friends with someone like Shazhu, who is a tough sycophant.

He was still thinking about farming martial arts points from Shazhu.