Chapter 347: Divorce Crisis

Liu Rusi took one look at He Yuzhu and saw he seemed genuinely angry, so she stepped forward, gently hugged him from behind, and scolded: "You brat, have you learned to be temperamental now? I never noticed you had this skill before."

He Yuzhu turned around, kissed her on the face, and said: "Today is my mother's birthday, I have to hurry back to celebrate it for her! I was just teasing you earlier."

Upon hearing this, Liu Rusi lifted her foot and stepped on his instep, feigning anger: "Fine, playing tricks on me, are you? See if I don't pinch you!" As she spoke, her hand reached toward the soft flesh at his waist.

He Yuzhu hurriedly begged for mercy, "I was wrong, I was wrong! How about... you come back with me?"

Liu Rusi shook her head, "I haven't gone to wish her a happy birthday in the past; if I suddenly go now, your mother will inevitably notice something."

He Yuzhu nodded and said: "Then I'll head back first."

"Wait." Liu Rusi turned and walked to the vanity, opened a small box, and took out a jade necklace with excellent luster, "Give this to your mother for me, consider it a small token of my sincerity."

He Yuzhu took it and looked at it, but stuffed it back into her hand: "This is too valuable, she definitely won't accept it. She likes gold; if you have something gold, just give her that."

Liu Rusi lowered her head and rummaged in the box for a while, finally taking out a pair of carved gold bracelets: "Take these then."

Only then did He Yuzhu say: "I'll thank you on behalf of my mother!"

He ordered a table of dishes from "He Ji Restaurant," instructed the waiter to deliver them to the Siheyuan later, and then walked home quickly.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw Zhao Yingzi and his mother Shen Guizhi sitting in the main room talking.

The moment Zhao Yingzi saw He Yuzhu, she stood up immediately, her face showing some urgency: "Zhuzi, I... I have something I want to ask you."

Seeing this, He Yuzhu asked: "What secrets could there be between us? Just say it."

Zhao Yingzi blushed, glanced at Shen Guizhi, and whispered: "Let's go outside and talk?"

He Yuzhu said: "Let's go upstairs to talk, it's not good if people see us outside!"

The two went up to the small study upstairs, and the emotions Zhao Yingzi had been holding back collapsed, tears falling in torrents, "Zhuzi, you have to give me an idea... Jia Zhangshi is pushing Dongxu hard behind my back to divorce me, I, what can I do?"

Once He Yuzhu heard it was this matter, he immediately felt it was thorny, scratched his head, and said: "Sister Yingzi, it's hard for even an honest official to settle family affairs; how would a big man like me know how to handle this?"

"Zhuzi, you are knowledgeable and quick-witted. Teach me a trick, I really don't want to divorce..."

He Yuzhu watched her cry pitifully, pondered for a moment, and said: "The root of this matter still lies with Jia Zhangshi. She probably hates you because of the bride price; your temperament is too unyielding, 'two tigers cannot share one mountain,' eventually... one has to go."

Zhao Yingzi wiped her tears and asked urgently: "But my mother-in-law won't leave either!"

He Yuzhu poured a glass of water, handed it to Zhao Yingzi, and asked: "Your mother-in-law... is she working at the Street Office factory?"

Zhao Yingzi took the water glass and said hatefully: "It's just because she got into that street factory and can earn a few pennies that she feels the Old Jia Family is doing well again, and she encourages Jia Dongxu to divorce me every day. If I hadn't heard it when I went to the restroom that day, I would still be kept in the dark."

He Yuzhu pondered for a moment and said: "Jia Zhangshi's destructive power lies in her constant rumor-mongering and splashing dirty water on others. If someone also splashes a basin of dirty water on her, makes her lose face in public, or even confirms a reputation for having sticky fingers... she won't have the face to go out and scold people anymore..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yingzi actually knelt down with a "thump," tears welling up again: "Zhuzi, I know this method isn't good for my and Dongxu's reputation either, but it's better than divorce, let's do it!"

He Yuzhu hurriedly helped her up, his voice lowered even further: "Tomorrow, I happen to be going to the street factory to handle some business... let her be 'caught red-handed'..."

Zhao Yingzi suddenly remembered something and frowned: "This... if this reputation is ruined, will it implicate the children and affect the next generation?"

He Yuzhu looked at her, his tone cold: "If this family is torn apart by her, what kind of next generation are you even thinking about?"

Zhao Yingzi was stunned for a moment, her eyes gradually becoming resolute.

"Fine! Let's do it! Zhuzi, you are my great benefactor. If there's any place you need me in the future, I will go through fire and water, and will not refuse even death!"

He Yuzhu said indifferently: "Just help my mother out when you have time."

Zhao Yingzi nodded vigorously, said nothing more, turned around, and left resolutely.

"Is Yingzi not staying to eat at home?" Shen Guizhi asked, looking at her back.

"No, Auntie, I still have to go back to cook!" Zhao Yingzi responded without looking back and left in a hurry.

He Daqing returned carrying a few bags of Daoxiangcun pastries, "Guizhi, I bought you your favorite ox-tongue cakes!"

He Yuzhu glanced at him: "Dad, today is my mother's birthday, didn't you remember to bring back any gifts?"

He Daqing rubbed his hands and laughed/scolded: "You little brat, starting to sow discord between me and your mother, aren't you! These pastries are the birthday gift."

He Yuzhu didn't bicker with him, turned around, took out the pair of gold bracelets, and handed them to Shen Guizhi: "Mom, this is a birthday gift for you from my sister... Liu Rusi."

Shen Guizhi took the heavy, bright yellow bracelets and was stunned; after a long while, she muttered: "This girl... is too generous. Is this the way someone who lives a normal life acts?"

He Yuzhu smiled: "You really know how to worry for nothing. Do you know how much money she sold that Bicycle Factory for?"

Shen Guizhi asked curiously: "How much?"

"Twenty billion," He Yuzhu said calmly.

"My heavens! This... this is too rich!" Shen Guizhi said.

"So you can just accept it with peace of mind!" He Yuzhu said.

Shen Guizhi turned to He Yuzhu and said with a smile: "Zhuzi... if Xiaomi is really willing to be with you... Mom has no objections."

He Yuzhu was between laughter and tears: "Mom, you are too snobbish."

Just as they were talking, He Yushui ran in like a gust of wind, followed by Xiaomi, Dahua, Xiaoqi, and Ding Li.

"Mom! Happy birthday!" He Yushui threw herself in front of Shen Guizhi.

Xiaomi and the other children also shouted in unison: "Godmother! Happy birthday!"

Shen Guizhi's face blossomed with smiles, and she hurriedly greeted: "Quick, everyone sit down and eat! If we wait any longer, the food will get cold!"

Under the lights, the table of food was steaming, and on this ordinary night, it seemed exceptionally warm.

The next day, He Yuzhu went to the street where Wang Xia was located.

The moment Wang Xia saw him, her face was full of smiles: "Zhuzi! You are truly a rare guest; it's been a while since you came."

He Yuzhu got straight to the point: "Sister, I came this time to bring you a big business deal. My cousin Liu Rusi has connections and wants to sell your chili sauce abroad. The first batch needs one hundred thousand jars, and the price offered is generous, about one yuan per jar (ten thousand in old currency equals one yuan). Do you agree?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Xia's eyes lit up, and she said excitedly: "This is too good! We harvested a lot of chili peppers this year and were afraid we wouldn't be able to sell them; this is great, I can have the goods ready in a month..."

"Done," He Yuzhu nodded, "I want to go to the factory to see for myself, so I can have a better idea."

"I'll accompany you!" Wang Xia led the way enthusiastically.

The two arrived at the factory workshop.

He Yuzhu carefully checked every process, from material selection to cleaning, watching very seriously.

Wang Xia only thought he was concerned about quality, not knowing he had another key purpose for this trip.

When walking to the cleaning workshop, He Yuzhu's gaze keenly caught the figure of Jia Zhangshi, who was buried in scrubbing chili peppers.

Jia Zhangshi also saw He Yuzhu and cursed in a low voice, "Little bastard, you're everywhere!"

A woman said, "Jia Zhangshi, who are you cursing?"

Jia Zhangshi cursed, "None of your damn business!"

He Yuzhu had long since heard Jia Zhangshi cursing him; with a thought, he moved a pocket watch belonging to a Workshop Director near Jia Zhangshi into her pocket.

He performed a Scanning and saw a jade bracelet inside a female worker's coat hanging on the wall, then shifted the position of the jade bracelet as well, placing it into Jia Zhangshi's pouch.

After finishing both tasks, although He Yuzhu felt that using such methods to deal with a widow was a bit like bullying, he felt relieved when he thought about the things Jia Zhangshi had done over the years.

After inspecting all the production procedures, He Yuzhu said to Wang Xia and her group who were accompanying him, "Seeing that everyone has such high hygiene requirements for the production process, I am relieved."

"It's noon, why not try the food in our factory canteen?" Wang Xia invited.

He Yuzhu nodded.

Just as the group walked into the canteen, a middle-aged man ran over and said, "Director, it's bad, something was stolen from the cleaning workshop!"

Wang Xia said, "What was stolen?"

"A pocket watch and a jade bracelet!" the middle-aged man said.

"Hurry and call the Police, otherwise those of us who visited the cleaning workshop will also be suspects!" He Yuzhu said.

Wang Xia hesitated for a long time before saying, "Go find Captain Xiao of the Lianfang Team!"