Chapter 141

He Yuzhu decided to completely resolve the trouble that was Xu Damao.

There was no other way; even if He Yuzhu wanted to call a truce, Xu Damao wouldn't. He Yuzhu and Xu Damao were destined to be mortal enemies. If he wanted to live a peaceful life in the future, he had to resolve the Xu Damao problem once and for all.

Furthermore, in a few years, the storm would arrive, and heaven knows what kind of trouble Xu Damao would stir up.

"Brother Damao, I'm sorry, but I'm doing this for your own good. You're already notorious in Sijiucheng anyway; it wouldn't be bad to find a new place to start over," He Yuzhu thought to himself.

It's good to have the ability to distribute resources. The essence of so-called power and money is the ability to distribute resources.

He Yuzhu slowly made his way outside Li Huaide's office. With a thought, a white bag containing twenty small yellow fish appeared in his hand. Anyway, these were obtained from the black market; He Yuzhu had plenty, and he couldn't spend them all—he really couldn't spend them all.

Since he couldn't spend them all, he might as well use them for serious business.

He Yuzhu knocked on the door, and after receiving Li Huaide's permission, he entered the office.

"Director Li, I have a favor to ask of you." After saying this, He Yuzhu placed the bag in front of Li Huaide.

The crisp "clinking" sound and the flash of gold caught Li Huaide off guard. Li Huaide subconsciously weighed it in his hand, then was stunned again.

Li Huaide couldn't help but open the bag to take a look, then immediately pressed it shut and looked toward the office door, seeing that it was tightly closed.

Beads of sweat appeared on Li Huaide's forehead. It wasn't because he was shocked by the twenty small yellow fish—it wasn't as if Li Huaide hadn't seen such things before—what shocked him was what would follow.

"He Yuzhu can offer such a large gift; what he's asking for must be huge. And the origin of this..." Li Huaide thought to himself.

In the end, greed gained the upper hand.

"He Yuzhu, if you have anything to say, just say it. If I can do it, I will certainly do it," Li Huaide said calmly.

If he could do it, he would; if he couldn't, he couldn't.

He Yuzhu didn't mind and laughed lightly: "Director Li, you should know about the conflict between Xu Damao and me, right?"

"I've heard a little," Li Huaide said, still calm, though he thought to himself: "Could it be that He Yuzhu wants to deal with Xu Damao? But that wouldn't require such a large gift."

"Xu Damao ruined my blind date this time, and I spread the news of his infertility all over Sijiucheng. We are now mortal enemies. I wanted to resolve the Xu Damao problem once and for all."

"However, Xu Damao is my dear friend and brother; I can't bear to kill him. So, I would like to ask Director Li to take action and send Xu Damao to the Great Third Front to shine and heat. To prevent Xu Damao's parents from jumping over the wall in desperation, let his parents go too, so the family of three can be reunited," He Yuzhu said.

Li Huaide couldn't help but roll his eyes upon hearing this. Isn't this still resolving it once and for all? Li Huaide suddenly discovered a weakness in He Yuzhu: he was soft-hearted. If he really wanted to kill the Xu family, he wouldn't need twenty small yellow fish; two would be enough to get plenty of people to do the job.

"That's it?" Li Huaide asked curiously, thinking to himself: "This He Yuzhu must have something else in mind. Sending the Xu family of three to the Great Third Front shouldn't cost this much money."

"That's it. However, there is a small problem: Xu Damao's mother used to be a servant at Lou Bancheng's house," He Yuzhu said.

He Yuzhu wanted to banish Xu Damao's family of three—no, it should be a family of four, including Xu Damao's sister Xu Xiaoling—to the Great Third Front. Xu Damao's mother would definitely go to Lou Bancheng for help; one could guess that with their toes.

Li Huaide not only had to withstand the pressure from Lou Bancheng but also had to ensure that the Xu family of four could not return to Sijiucheng for nearly twenty years. This was the reason He Yuzhu offered such a high price.

"That's it?" Li Huaide said again.

"That's it," He Yuzhu said.

"Then leave it to me. I thought it was a big deal. In the past, I would have been three parts wary of Lou Bancheng, but now it's the era of the workers and peasants. If it weren't for someone above protecting him, he would have been sent to the countryside to receive education from the poor and lower-middle peasants long ago."

"However, even a broken ship has three pounds of nails. I can handle the official matters; as for the private matters, that's up to you," Li Huaide said.

He Yuzhu understood; Li Huaide was telling him to be careful of Xu Damao's underhanded tactics, or rather, the underhanded tactics from Lou Bancheng's side.

"Thank you for the reminder, Director Li. I, He Yuzhu, am not someone to be trifled with either," He Yuzhu said.

"Alright, as long as no one dies, everything is a small matter. Also, don't be so extravagant next time. You are my person; if you encounter trouble, just say the word. If I don't stand up for you, who will?" Li Huaide said with a smile.

He Yuzhu wouldn't believe Li Huaide's words. If it were a minor matter, Li Huaide would certainly stand up for him, but as long as it harmed Li Huaide's interests, and his value to him was less than those interests, Li Huaide would certainly not care.

"Director Li, what are you saying? There's no extravagance here. You are using my things to do my business. I am already very grateful that you are willing to help," He Yuzhu said.

Li Huaide was stunned, then laughed "ha-ha," pointed at He Yuzhu, took a pack of cigarettes from his drawer and threw it to him, then waved his hand to signal He Yuzhu to leave.

He Yuzhu took the cigarettes, said thank you, and left the office.

"Heh, good stuff, internal special supply." He Yuzhu looked at them and then stored the cigarettes in his consciousness space. He Yuzhu decided that it was time to scavenge for some internal special supply items; these were all good things that couldn't be bought even with money and coupons.

After He Yuzhu left, Li Huaide stopped laughing and muttered to himself: "Using your money to do your business, interesting."

After saying this, Li Huaide began to make phone calls. Since he had taken He Yuzhu's money, he had to do He Yuzhu's business; in this regard, Li Huaide still had a lot of credibility.

Li Huaide acted quickly. By the time work was ending, Xu Damao received the notification, and it was Ming Tai who gave it to him.

"What? The factory is sending me to support the Great Third Front? How is that possible? I am the only film projectionist in our Rolling Mill! I can't leave; the factory needs me! I have shed sweat for the factory, I have shed blood for the factory; the factory can't treat me like this!" Xu Damao roared hysterically.

"This is a decision from above; there's nothing I can do," Ming Tai said, spreading his hands.

Ming Tai came from a noble background and didn't quite understand the thoughts of a small person. Supporting the Great Third Front might just be a trip for Ming Tai, but for Xu Damao, it was a disaster.

Because Ming Tai had the ability to return at any time, while Xu Damao did not. For Xu Damao, this was equivalent to banishment.

Xu Damao went to find the section chief of the Propaganda Department, who said it was an order from above and he couldn't help. Xu Damao then went crazy looking for Li Huaide, but in the end, he couldn't even see Li Huaide's face.

Xu Damao went to find Xu Zhongyi. Xu Zhongyi was slipperier than a loach, but fortunately, he gave Xu Damao a tip, telling him to hurry home and ask his father.

"Damao, we've known each other for a while. Let me give you a piece of wisdom: when trouble strikes, in this world, besides your own father and mother, no one else will help you; everything else is nonsense."

"Brotherhood, leaders, superiors—it's all nonsense. Hurry up and go find your parents. Find connections where you need to, spend money where you need to. Don't be stingy with money at a time like this," Xu Zhongyi said.

"Thank you, Brother Xu." After saying this, Xu Damao hurriedly prepared to ride his bicycle to find his father.

At this moment, Xu Damao realized the meaning of "when people leave, the tea goes cold." His bicycle had been confiscated; it belonged to the Rolling Mill, and now that he was being banished to the Great Third Front, he naturally couldn't ride it anymore.

Xu Damao left, cursing and swearing, and ran quickly to his father's house. As soon as he entered, he was stunned. He saw Xu Fugui smoking with a grave expression, his mother crying and packing things on the side, and Xu Xiaoting hiding on the side, heartless.

Perhaps for Xu Ting, supporting the Great Third Front was just an ordinary move. She was tired of staying here anyway, so a change of environment was fine.

"Dad! I received a notice that I'm being banished to the Great Third Front. What is going on?" Xu Damao asked impatiently.

"What? You've also been banished to the Great Third Front? Your father has also been banished to the Great Third Front. Our family of four is all going to the Great Third Front. What kind of sin have we committed?" Xu mother cried, slapping her thighs.

"Stop howling!" Xu Damao's father, Xu Fugui, shouted at her in a deep voice. Then, he looked at Xu Damao and asked: "Have you offended anyone recently?"

"What do you mean?" Xu Damao asked.

"It's obvious. We've offended someone, and offended them deeply. That's why the other party is banishing all four of us to the Great Third Front. Fortunately, they didn't try to kill us," Xu Fugui said.

"Offended someone? No, I haven't... Wait, I offended Shazhu. I ruined his blind date. But Shazhu also took revenge on me; he told everyone about my 'dead end' business," Xu Damao said.

Xu Damao had told Xu Fugui about his "dead end" status last night; naturally, there was nothing he couldn't say.

"Think again, who else have you offended?" Xu Fugui asked.

Xu Fugui naturally knew what happened yesterday, and he didn't believe He Yuzhu had the ability to banish his whole family to the Great Third Front.

"No, I really haven't offended anyone! It's Shazhu, it's just Shazhu! Dad, do you remember Yi Zhonghai, the Deaf Old Lady, Liu Haizhong, and Jia Zhangshi from our Siheyuan?"

"Yi Zhonghai ate a peanut shell (was executed); Aunt Yi ran away with Yi Zhonghai's money; the Deaf Old Lady went to a nursing home, life or death unknown; Liu Haizhong went to the Great Third Front; Jia Zhangshi went to the countryside to do hard labor..."

"They all ended up like that because they offended Shazhu. This must be Shazhu's doing! It must be Shazhu! I'm going to settle the score with him right now!" Xu Damao roared hysterically.

"Stop! You are not going anywhere; stay at home and behave! Let alone whether this was Shazhu's doing, even if it was, what can you do? Are you going to go and get beaten up?" Xu Fugui shouted.

"Then what can we do? We are about to be banished to the Great Third Front," Xu Damao shouted anxiously.

"Don't panic! There are still two days. Wife, go find Madam Lou. Let her find a way to persuade Lou Bancheng to investigate who is targeting us."

"When you get to the Lou house, tell them this isn't just targeting our Xu family; it might also be targeting the Lou family," Xu Fugui said.

Xu mother instantly understood what Xu Fugui meant. This was to make Lou Bancheng mistakenly believe that someone was taking this opportunity to test the Lou family.

"Alright! I'm going to the Lou house now," Xu mother said.

"Good, go. Let's find out who is moving against our family first," Xu Fugui said.

Xu mother tidied herself up a bit and immediately rushed to Lou Bancheng's house.

Xu mother used to be a servant at the Lou house, so she could still see Madam Lou.

"Madam, help! Someone is moving against our family. Our family of four is about to be banished to the Great Third Front. We wouldn't care if someone moved against us—perhaps we offended someone we shouldn't have without knowing it—but I'm afraid someone is going to move against you and the Master," Xu mother said in grief.

Lou Bancheng's wife, Tan Yali, didn't take Xu mother to heart at first, nor did she take her words seriously. But once Xu mother finished speaking, Tan Yali couldn't help but frown.

It was indeed as Xu mother said: cleaning up the Xu family wasn't scary; what was scary was whether this was a test of the Lou family by someone with ulterior motives.

In the past, the Lou family wouldn't have feared this, but now, with the situation in turmoil, the Lou family was also precarious and in danger. At this time, the Lou family didn't fear someone dealing with them openly; they feared someone using underhanded tactics in the dark.

"You wait here; I'll go tell the Master." After saying this, Tan Yali went to find Lou Bancheng and told him about the matter.

Apparently, Lou Bancheng was also afraid that someone was using underhanded tactics to deal with his Lou family. Lou Bancheng had initially thought about marrying Lou Xiaoe off to Xu Damao to show his loyalty to those above, but he hadn't expected such a mess to happen before he could even act.

Lou Bancheng immediately went to his study and made a phone call, then waited anxiously.

Lou Bancheng waited for a full half-hour before the other party replied. After finishing the call, Lou Bancheng couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Tell Xu Mu that this matter has nothing to do with our Lou family. It's because Xu Damao offended He Yuzhu, and He Yuzhu found Li Huaide to send their family of four to support the construction of the Great Third Front," Lou Bancheng said lightly.

Lou Bancheng was only calm on the surface; he wasn't calm in his heart. Lou Bancheng was afraid that Li Huaide also had covetous intentions toward his Lou family.

The current Lou family didn't fear the big leaders above, nor did they fear the small leaders below; they only feared leaders like Li Huaide, who were neither big nor small.

The small leaders below weren't enough to touch the Lou family. Like Li Huaide, even if he touched the Lou family, if those above found out, they would at most stop him and then punish him with three cups of wine, and that would be the end of it.

Tan Yali hurriedly told Xu mother the news, and Xu mother was instantly stunned.

Xu Damao was actually right.

"Madam, please beg the Master. For the sake of the half-life I spent working hard for your Lou family, please let the Master save our family of four," Xu mother begged.

"Xu Mu, we can barely protect ourselves; we really can't help you. You'd better make plans early," Tan Yali said.

Xu mother didn't listen at all, directly hugging Tan Yali's legs, crying and howling. Anyone who didn't know would think the Lou family had bullied Xu mother.

"Enough! What kind of behavior is this, crying and howling? Qu San, help Xu Mu out," Lou Bancheng shouted angrily.

Lou Bancheng was already agitated, and Xu mother's crying and making a scene made him even more annoyed. He directly had Qu San chase her out; he said "help out," but in reality, it was "throw out."

Although Lou Bancheng had dismissed his servants, he had kept some personal bodyguards. Otherwise, if something really happened, a single joint defense team member could handle Lou Bancheng.

After Xu mother was thrown out of the Lou mansion, she cursed Lou Bancheng and his wife twice, then turned and went home.

At this time, Father Xu and Xu Damao were waiting anxiously. As soon as they saw Xu mother return, they asked impatiently: "Did you find out what's going on?"

"It was Shazhu's doing!" Xu mother said.

"What? Shazhu? Does Shazhu have such great ability?" Xu Fugui said in disbelief.

(End of chapter)