Chapter 120: He Yuzhu Encounters Trouble While Leaving the City

After hearing this, He Yuzhu didn't even have the heart to meddle in the affair. This Xu Fugui was truly courting death; he was capable of doing anything, no matter how filthy!

Xu Fugui was beaten until his face was bruised and swollen, his whole body covered in injuries. He knelt in the snow, kowtowing incessantly: "Spare me, big brothers! This money was truly given to me by someone else; I couldn't tell it was fake! I am Lou Bancheng's driver, a man who values his reputation. I swear to heaven, I really didn't know it was counterfeit money. If I've said a single word of falsehood, may I die a horrible death! Have mercy, big brothers, stop hitting me. I'll compensate you with Big Ocean, won't that do? I'll give you five... no, ten!"

He Yuzhu hurriedly pulled out his Camera and, with a "Click!", took a photo of Xu Fugui—this was ironclad evidence the old rascal would never be able to wash away for the rest of his life.

The onlookers, seeing He Yuzhu taking photos, began to jeer: "Using fake money for prostitution, he's going to be in the newspapers! He's going to be in the newspapers!"

Upon hearing this, the group of thugs immediately dared not strike again.

A man with sideburns said viciously: "I'll spare you this time, but if there's a next time, I'll break your dog legs!"

Xu Fugui kowtowed like he was pounding garlic: "Thank you for sparing my life, sir! Thank you for sparing my life, sir!"

The man with sideburns added: "You must take us to your home to identify the place, and pay another ten Big Ocean! Today's matter will be considered settled."

Xu Fugui's face turned green, and he pleaded: "Sir, identifying the place is fine, but you can't let the neighbors know, can you? If that happens, I really won't have the face to go on living!"

"If you don't want to lose face, then give us twenty Big Ocean!" said a tall, thin thug.

He Yuzhu didn't watch any further and turned to enter the Chen Family Silk Store.

As soon as He Yuzhu entered, he was surprised; this silk store had been renovated, with half selling fabric and the other half selling ready-to-wear clothing.

Most of the people coming to the shop today were there to buy ready-to-wear clothes. He hadn't expected his designs, based on those from later generations, to be so marketable, which made him feel very satisfied.

He Yuzhu also admired Chen Xueru; for a teenage girl to act so decisively, it was impressive to think of what she would be like when she grew up.

He Yuzhu wandered through the crowd for a long time before seeing Chen Xueru calculating at the counter, her abacus moving rapidly.

He Yuzhu stood to the side and observed quietly, discovering that she didn't even need to look at the abacus; her eyes were fixed only on the numbers in the Account Book, while her fingers danced on the abacus like butterflies.

When she finished and looked up to see He Yuzhu, she gave a fake smile and asked: "Why are you here? Is something the matter?"

"To renovate the shop like this in just a few days, that's not simple! You really are a talent!" He Yuzhu said.

"If you have something to say, just say it. I'm busy today!" Chen Xueru said somewhat coldly.

Upon hearing this tone, He Yuzhu forgot what he wanted to say, but he still felt a bit unhappy inside.

"I came to ask, Xiao Erduo hasn't caused you any trouble, has he?"

When Chen Xueru heard this, she immediately put on a smiling face: "Xiao Erduo sent word saying that out of respect for you, he won't collect protection fees anymore. My father even prepared a gift specifically for you." As she spoke, she handed over a bundle of high-quality fabric.

"Then I shall accept it without modesty." He Yuzhu also handed over a package, "This is my New Year's gift in return."

Just as Chen Xueru was about to decline, He Yuzhu had already turned and left.

As soon as He Yuzhu went outside, he slapped himself a few times. He thought, I have the soul of a thirty-year-old, yet I'm trying to woo a young girl and got snubbed—truly shameless.

He made up his mind not to bother with this young girl anymore.

It seemed he should stick to associating with mature women like Liu Rusi and Wang Jiazhi.

Chen Xueru opened the cloth bag and found the items inside were very valuable. She couldn't help but frown and mutter to herself: "What kind of bad idea is this kid cooking up? I don't have eyes for someone like him!"

After leaving, He Yuzhu bought some more things for his parents. Because there were so many items, he had to find a secluded place to store them in his space.

When two rickshaws loaded with New Year's goods arrived at the entrance of the Qianmen Small Courtyard, Wang Jiazhi and Li Xiangxiu were there pasting Spring Festival couplets.

Li Xiangxiu was standing on a stool to paste them, while Wang Jiazhi directed from the side.

"Yo, you're back!" Wang Jiazhi saw him first and trotted over to help unload the goods.

After Li Xiangxiu finished pasting a couplet, she also came over to help. When she saw how many firecrackers He Yuzhu had bought, she couldn't help but pout: "Why buy so many firecrackers? What a waste of money!"

He Yuzhu laughed: "If you have money, you have to spend it! Returning home without showing off your wealth is like wearing silk robes and walking in the dark."

Wang Jiazhi laughed upon hearing this: "No one here even knows you! What are you showing off for?"

"Then I'll just show off for you all to see!" He Yuzhu said shamelessly.

After moving everything into the living room, He Yuzhu began to distribute the New Year's goods. He divided the items for women into three portions.

Wang Jiazhi saw that those items were all quite expensive and couldn't help but ask: "Are these things all for Miss Liu?"

"No, Miss Liu's have already been given. These are for you."

Wang Jiazhi hadn't expected that she would also receive a New Year's gift, and her eyes immediately lit up.

She was someone who knew quality; seeing that they were all foreign goods, even when she was at Yi Xiansheng's house, she hadn't used such high-end items often.

"Did you rob a bank?" Wang Jiazhi teased.

He Yuzhu's heart skipped a beat—he had indeed robbed a bank!

"I did rob a bank. Ill-gotten gains should be spent as quickly as possible!" He Yuzhu said solemnly.

"You really are improper!" Li Xiangxiu said.

"Regardless of whether I robbed a bank or not, these are divided for you all," He Yuzhu said readily.

Li Xiangxiu saw that her portion was exactly the same as the others. She picked up the makeup box to look at it, then quickly put it back and waved her hand: "Zhuzi, these things are too valuable, I can't take them."

"This is employee welfare; if you don't want it, I'll give it to someone else!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangxiu quickly wrapped the items up, hugged them, and ran back to her room.

After distributing the items, He Yuzhu quit the work, handing the cooking duties to Li Xiangxiu and her daughter, while he ran into the courtyard to set off firecrackers to vent his emotions.

Early the next morning, He Yuzhu tied on an apron and ducked into the kitchen to start cooking. In the He Family, finishing the midday meal counted as the New Year's Eve dinner.

Li Xiangxiu also changed into old clothes to help in the kitchen.

Wang Jiazhi also wanted to help, but she ended up causing more trouble than help, either putting out the fire while adding wood or filling the whole kitchen with smoke while burning the firewood.

"Alright, alright, you should just go rest outside!" He Yuzhu pushed her out, "You can just be responsible for setting the table!"

Before long, an enticing aroma wafted from the kitchen.

Boiled Fish, Scallion-Braised Sea Cucumber, Twice Cooked Pork, Pickled Fish, Kung Pao Chicken, Shredded Pork in Beijing Sauce, Dezhou Braised Chicken, Zhizi Barbecue, and fried chicken wings filled the Eight Immortals table to the brim.

Chen Qingshan and Chen Daya arrived.

Chen Daya saw the table full of dishes and her eyes went wide: "Zhuzi, why did you make so many dishes? We aren't living like this in the future; this is too wasteful!"

"Anything that goes into the stomach isn't a waste," He Yuzhu laughed.

Everyone had arrived, and they began to eat.

Li Xiangxiu's mother was quite reserved at first, gripping her chopsticks tightly, but later, seeing everyone enthusiastically serving her food, she slowly relaxed and a smile appeared on her face.

He Yuzhu raised his glass filled with red wine: "Come, let's raise our glasses, wishing everyone a happy New Year and a smooth year ahead!"

Everyone raised their glasses one after another, and the sound of clinking glasses echoed in the small courtyard.

After the meal, Chen Qingshan was thinking about the restaurant and went straight back to look after the shop.

Chen Daya stayed behind to play mahjong with everyone.

On this day, the small courtyard was filled with laughter and joy, and everyone was in high spirits.

Early on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, He Yuzhu took some things and hurried toward the direction of the Jidong Guerrilla; one reason was to see how his parents were doing, and the other was to give the materials brought from Yi Xiansheng to Lao Zhou, as he had been so busy last time that he had actually forgotten.

On the main street, the checkpoints set up by the Police had already been removed; it seemed the gift he had sent to Bureau Chief Wang on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month had worked.

There were still some checkpoints set up by soldiers, but most of them were hiding in their sheds and not coming out.

He Yuzhu's journey was relatively smooth, but as soon as he left the city gate, he saw that the group from the American Advisory Group was still there.

He Yuzhu was not carrying those Military Statistics Bureau credentials today; the ones used last time were temporary documents made by Liu Rusi, and once the matter was finished, she had taken them back.

It was too late to go back now, so he could only bite the bullet and head forward.