Chapter 151: Yan Jiecheng

Whoever wants to go to the Great Third Front can go; Yan Jiecheng decided he wasn't going.

Yan Jiecheng knew that Yan Bugui looked submissive and cautious on the surface, but that was only toward outsiders; Yan Bugui was ruthless toward his own family.

Yan Jiecheng was right; Yan Bugui treated his own family even worse than Zhou Bapi.

Yan Jiecheng knew that Yan Bugui could do anything for money, and if he said he would sell the house, he definitely would.

Yan Jiecheng also knew that if he wanted to stand firm in Sijiucheng, he needed a sum of money—the more, the better. If he had enough money, he could even buy a job position and become a regular worker.

Yan Jiecheng set his sights on Yan Bugui's savings. Yan Jiecheng knew the situation; he knew Yan Bugui had money and wasn't as poor as he appeared on the surface. However, Yan Jiecheng didn't know where Yan Bugui had hidden the money.

It must be at home, not in the bank. Yan Bugui didn't trust banks; he would rather forgo the interest than put his money in a bank.

Yan Jiecheng was just waiting for an opportunity.

"Director Wang, since you can't help me solve the problem here, please help me keep the fact that I came to the Street Office a secret. I don't want my father to be distracted by these things," Yan Jiecheng said.

"That's fine, no problem," Director Wang said affirmatively.

Director Wang also didn't want any more trouble before Yan Bugui left. Everything could wait until the Yan family was gone.

After receiving Director Wang's affirmative answer, Yan Jiecheng returned home, lay on the bed, and went to sleep, looking extremely unwilling.

*Hmph, fighting with me? Don't look at who I am. A little sparrow can't fight an old house thief, * Yan Bugui thought triumphantly to himself.

Yan Jiecheng's performance, in Yan Bugui's eyes, was naturally just a temper tantrum. A temper tantrum meant Yan Jiecheng had no other way to resist and could only use this to express his dissatisfaction.

Yan Bugui wouldn't bother with Yan Jiecheng. Seeing Yan Jiecheng in this state, Yan Bugui's mood inexplicably improved again.

The transfer order had been issued, so Yan Bugui naturally had no way to delay. Yan Bugui told his family to start packing.

Yan Jiecheng lay on the bed with his head covered, not moving at all. San Dama was just about to scold him when she was stopped by Yan Bugui.

"He who does not work shall not eat. Don't eat tonight's meal," Yan Bugui said coldly.

Yan Bugui was hoping Yan Jiecheng wouldn't move; that way, he could save one person's rations for dinner. The Yan siblings were also happy; if Yan Jiecheng didn't eat, they might get a little more.

Yan Jiecheng sneered in his heart, determined to strike Yan Bugui hard.

"Fine, I won't eat!" Yan Jiecheng said with his eyes closed, still not moving at all.

"Let's see how long you can hold out," Yan Bugui sneered, then directed the Yan family to start packing their luggage.

Yan Jiecheng just lay on the bed and went to sleep. Yan Jiecheng knew that Yan Bugui was deeply guarded against the four of them and didn't trust them at all. If Yan Bugui wanted to take out the hidden money, it would definitely be in the dead of night, while they were asleep.

Yan Jiecheng decided to rest up during the day and watch them at night, striving to "swipe" the money—no, it should be "take" it. How could it be "swiping" when it was family business? It was "taking." Anyway, there were still two days left, no rush.

"Old Yan, should we retaliate against Shazhu?" San Dama suddenly asked.

"How to retaliate?" Yan Bugui asked back.

San Dama was stunned; she couldn't think of a way to retaliate against Shazhu for the moment.

"Mess up his blind date. I'll go find Matchmaker Zhang tomorrow and say that Shazhu is eating what's in the bowl while eyeing what's in the pot—clearly already on a blind date, yet going on another one with Qin Huairu's sister," San Dama said.

"Useless! Who says you can't go on another blind date after one? Besides, Shazhu is a leader. Aren't you afraid he'll play dirty?" Yan Bugui said.

"He plays dirty? What dirty tricks can he play? We're going to the Great Third Front; are we still afraid of him?" San Dama said dismissively.

"You also know we're going to the Great Third Front? Shazhu was able to send us to the Great Third Front, so he can send us to places with even worse environments."

"The Great Third Front is just a general term. Different units have different environments. Some units have better environments, while others are truly bad. Eating sand every day is no joke."

"You want to retaliate against Shazhu? Aren't you really afraid Shazhu will make you eat sand every day?" Yan Bugui said in a low voice.

Yan Bugui was a typical example of being submissive and cowardly toward outsiders, while being more ferocious than a beast toward his own family, eating people without spitting out the bones.

"Then we have no way to retaliate against Shazhu?" San Dama asked unwillingly.

"It's not that there's no way. Once we go to the Great Third Front and stand firm, I'll write a few report letters to report him," Yan Bugui said coldly.

"That's all we can do then," San Dama said helplessly.

While the Yan family was packing up the house, He Yuzhu got off work and returned to the Siheyuan in a leisurely manner.

"Yo~ Old Miser Yan, packing up already?" He Yuzhu said smugly.

San Dama was just about to curse, but suddenly remembered what Yan Bugui had said earlier, so she had to swallow her anger and stay silent, though in her heart she was thinking that once they got to the Great Third Front and stood firm, she would definitely make Yan Bugui write the report letters as harshly and severely as possible.

"Zhuzi, I ask myself, I haven't offended you like Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, or Xu Damao, have I? Why are you pitting me like this?" Yan Bugui asked with a dark face.

"Old Miser Yan, you're being heartless saying that. I'm doing this for your own good. You were cleaning toilets at school; not only was the pay low, but the reputation wasn't good either."

"I went through all kinds of hardships to get you transferred to a teacher position, not only restoring your reputation but also increasing your salary. And you, instead of thanking me, you curse me. You're simply an ungrateful wretch."

"Yan Bugui is an ungrateful wretch! Yan Bugui is an ungrateful wretch!" He Yuzhu shouted loudly, then ran off.

He Yuzhu went to Hu Shen's house and, at the cost of ten catties of cornmeal, got Hu Shen and four other aunts to spread the word about Yan Bugui's wolf-hearted and dog-lunged nature.

Ten catties of cornmeal divided among five people was two catties each. Although it wasn't much, it was food. The five aunts finished their meal in a hurry and started spreading the word in the hutong, and they did it house by house, blatantly.

Anyway, they already knew about the Yan family going to the Great Third Front, so they weren't afraid of offending them at all. They just went all out saying the Yan family were ungrateful wretches, ruining the Yan family's reputation. This was equivalent to pointing at Yan Bugui's nose and cursing him.

Not long after, Director Wang of the Street Office also heard the rumors and hurried to the Siheyuan.

"Yan Bugui, what do you want to do? Are you dissatisfied with the policies from above?" Director Wang shouted angrily.

For the Street Office, supporting the Great Third Front was a good thing. Director Wang didn't want this to turn into a bad thing because of Yan Bugui's unwillingness. "Director Wang, how could I? How would I dare? I don't even dare to complain," Yan Bugui said nervously.

Although Yan Bugui was leaving, he didn't want to offend Director Wang. After all, Director Wang was a leader, and some files had to be transferred from the Street Office to the Great Third Front. If Director Wang wrote a bad evaluation, Yan Bugui would be in big trouble.

Furthermore, Yan Bugui not only wanted to sell the house to the Street Office at a high price but also wanted to exchange some national grain coupons with Director Wang, so he couldn't offend her at all.

It wasn't that Yan Bugui hadn't thought about transferring the house to a private individual, but almost the entire street knew Yan Bugui was going to the Great Third Front, so everyone was desperately driving the price down. Yan Bugui couldn't find anyone suitable to take it over, so he could only pin his hopes on the Street Office.

"Uncle Yan, that's right. You must believe in the higher-ups and the organization, and you must also have a heart of gratitude. Don't just flip your face and deny people at every turn. Otherwise, how are you different from a beast? I helped you out of the kindness of my heart, yet you bite back. If you aren't an ungrateful wretch, what are you?"

"When you get there, work hard. Don't extort the students again, and don't steal school notebooks, chalk, and the like to take home every day. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to entrust Factory Director Li to tell them about your glorious deeds," He Yuzhu said with a chuckle.

Yan Bugui was so angry he nearly vomited blood and died. *So even after I go to the Great Third Front, I still have to be under your control? *

Yan Bugui had a deeper understanding and realization of the term "mutual protection." No matter how thorough Yan Bugui's realization was, at this moment, he could only swallow his broken teeth.

He Yuzhu was also extremely excited. He had finally let Yan Bugui experience the feeling of being bullied and manipulated.

In the past, Yan Bugui relied on his status as a teacher to bully and oppress the people in the courtyard at will. There was no other reason: the children in the courtyard all had to go to school. If you offended Yan Bugui, Yan Bugui would definitely make things difficult for you and pick on your children.

Now, Yan Bugui had finally been driven away. Although the beasts of the Siheyuan didn't show it on the surface, they were actually much happier inside.

Seeing Yan Bugui acting like a shrinking turtle, Director Wang wasn't happy, but thinking about just getting through these two days and waiting until Yan Bugui left and the Street Office got the honor, she gave Yan Bugui a few more timely warnings.

"Director Wang, you came at the right time. Let's discuss the house. My house is private property and I can't take it with me, so I plan to entrust it to the Street Office," Yan Bugui said.

Seeing Yan Bugui being so tactful, Director Wang breathed a sigh of relief. She was afraid Yan Bugui would say he wanted to sell the house to the Street Office, as that would easily give people something to talk about.

"Everyone, disperse. Old Yan, let's go, let's talk at your place," Director Wang said.

Director Wang didn't force everyone to stop spreading rumors about Yan Bugui because she understood that such things couldn't be stopped at all. The more you tried to stop them, the faster they spread. Besides, He Yuzhu was behind this.

Director Wang was also quite helpless. It was truly a case of "today's fruit from yesterday's seed." In the past, Director Wang had also indulged the small actions of Yi Zhonghai and the others. Now that it was He Yuzhu's turn to play small tricks, Director Wang didn't have the face to lecture He Yuzhu.

The most critical thing was that Yan Bugui and the others would be gone in two days. Director Wang didn't want to offend He Yuzhu, so she just let it be and tried to muddle through these two days.

Director Wang went to Yan Bugui's house to discuss the issues of Yan Bugui's house and furniture. After not saying two sentences, Director Wang was annoyed.

Director Wang had long known that Yan Bugui was petty, but she hadn't expected him to be *this* petty. It was a case of the stick not hitting one's own body, so one didn't know how much it hurt.

Now, Director Wang knew.

Director Wang was also extremely experienced in dealing with such people. She reported the price directly according to the market rate and said: "Old Yan, this is the number. If it's a deal, it's a deal; if not, forget it."

"Director Wang, this is too low. My going to support the Great Third Front can at least bring honor to the Street Office..." Yan Bugui babbled on, complaining about his hardships.

Director Wang sat there calmly, unmoved. After Yan Bugui finished speaking, Director Wang stood up and walked out.

"Director Wang, where are you going?" Yan Bugui was stunned.

"I'm leaving. You didn't agree to my terms, so why should I stay here?" Director Wang said very crisply.

"I didn't say I didn't agree?" Yan Bugui was stunned again.

"You babbled on for a long time, isn't that disagreeing? Old Yan, I've already quoted you the market price, and I also told you: if it's a deal, it's a deal; if not, forget it. If you don't agree, then that's that," Director Wang said, spreading her hands, looking very indifferent.

"I didn't say it wasn't a deal. I just hope you can add a little more, Director Wang. I've maintained this furniture very well..." Yan Bugui started babbling about his hardships again.

This time, Director Wang didn't listen to Yan Bugui's complaints and turned around to leave.

"Director Wang, don't go," Yan Bugui said urgently.

"Old Yan, I'll give you one last chance. Do you agree or not? By the way, you can only answer 'agree' or 'disagree.' If you say anything else, that's 'disagree,'" Director Wang said very directly.

Yan Bugui didn't see at all that Director Wang's patience with him had reached its limit and continued to say to himself: "Director Wang, I'm going to the Great Third Front, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to come back in this lifetime. Can't you add a little more for me?"

Director Wang couldn't be bothered to deal with Yan Bugui and turned around to leave.

Only then did Yan Bugui panic and hurriedly chase after Director Wang, because only Director Wang would give a price according to the market rate; others would drive the price down too hard.

"Director Wang, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Let's talk some more," Yan Bugui hurriedly chased after her.

"Old Yan, I'll give you one last chance. Do you agree or not?" Director Wang said in a low voice.

Yan Bugui still wanted more money, but seeing that Director Wang's patience had reached its limit, he said dejectedly: "I agree to Director Wang's price."

For people like Yan Bugui, not taking advantage is equivalent to suffering a loss. It wasn't that there weren't such people in the Street Office, but there was no one like Yan Bugui.

Director Wang had originally wanted to whitewash the process of Yan Bugui going to the Great Third Front and Yan Bugui's character. Now, Director Wang just wanted to tell the truth and evaluate Yan Bugui objectively and fairly.

Director Wang had also seen it clearly: in other courtyards, one might be able to muddle through, but in this courtyard, one must never do so. Otherwise, you wouldn't know when a mine would explode, thereby implicating yourself.

"I'll bring people to take inventory tomorrow," Director Wang said, then walked away.

Yan Bugui returned home dejectedly. Yan Jiecheng, lying on the bed, remained unmoved, preparing to get a good night's sleep and rest up, preparing for the big event to come.

After the Street Office finished verifying tomorrow, they would definitely give the money. After getting the money, Yan's mother would definitely hide it. The place where she hid the money would definitely be the place where she originally hid it. Since they were leaving, they would definitely put the money together.

Even if they didn't put the money together, the money for the house and furniture wouldn't be a small amount.

Yan Jiecheng was prepared to take all this money away—take as much as he could.

Yan Jiecheng was waiting for tomorrow to come, and He Yuzhu was also waiting for tomorrow to come.

Tomorrow would definitely be very lively.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 152 =====