Chapter 717: All Schemes Come to Naught

He Yuzhu's temper flared up instantly, and he glared, shouting: "Third Aunt, if you keep spouting nonsense, I really will throw you out!"

Yang Ruihua wailed earth-shatteringly, cursing foully: "I don't know which god-forsaken, virtue-less bastard reported us for doing business! What kind of world is this, bullying us honest folks? Why does no one care about what the He Family does?"

Jia Zhangshi heard the commotion and came trotting over.

She had been on good terms with the He Family recently, mainly because He Yuzhu had resolved the employment for her grandson and granddaughter.

As soon as she saw Yang Ruihua throwing a tantrum on the ground, she immediately perked up and retorted sarcastically: "Yang Ruihua, if you ask me, you all deserve it! You didn't teach properly and insisted on smuggling, so how's that now? You got caught, and you still have the face to come here and cause trouble? Have you no shame? Look at how cocky you were a while back, buying a TV and bragging everywhere... How is it now? It's all over, isn't it!"

Yang Ruihua was stunned by Jia Zhangshi's barrage of insults; her head was buzzing, and she was completely bewildered.

She returned home in a daze, and from a distance, she saw Yan Jiekuang and his wife sitting at the door on small stools, eating melon seeds and chatting happily; the joy on their faces was like it was the Lunar New Year.

Yang Ruihua was instantly enraged and cursed immediately: "Lao San, your father and your eldest brother have both been arrested, how can you act like nothing happened? Hurry and go find your second brother to think of a way!"

Yan Jiekuang cracked a melon seed and said with a smile: "If you want to find him, go yourself; I don't have that much influence. I'm just a pauper, my words carry no weight."

Yang Ruihua was so angry she kicked him and cursed: "Even if your eldest brother treated you poorly, your father has been arrested! Don't you even care about your father?"

Yan Jiekuang curled his lips dismissively: "My father is already retired, who do you think wants to lock him up? They even provide meals, don't you worry, he won't be locked up for many days."

Yang Ruihua was trembling with rage, pointing at his nose and cursing: "You unfilial thing! Such a big thing happened at home, how can you still be so happy?"

Yan Jiekuang retorted irritably: "Do you expect me to cry and wail? When there were good things, I didn't get a share, but now you want me to shoulder the bad things? No way!"

His wife on the side also added a cold remark: "I think it's quite good now, everyone lives the same life; otherwise, some people would still be acting so high and mighty."

Half a month later, the verdict for the Hongyuan Trading Company was finally handed down.

All goods were confiscated, all company assets were seized, and a fine of five thousand yuan was imposed.

Li Huaide had long since vanished, and this debt fell entirely on Xu Damao.

The Yan family was fined two thousand, and Liu Haizhong was also fined two thousand.

Xu Damao was so anxious that blisters formed on his lips; with no other options, he had to have Liu Sanmei make a trip to Tianjin to find his Siqiang, and only then was the fine paid in full.

The Liu family and the Yan family also begged everyone they could and borrowed enough money, and only then were the few of them released.

As soon as Xu Damao saw Liu Sanmei, his eyes turned red, and he cursed immediately: "Sanmei, did you find out? Who exactly reported us? Was it that bastard He Yuzhu? That grandson just can't stand seeing me make money!"

Liu Sanmei shook her head and said: "It doesn't look like the He Family. The day we were reported, He Yuzhu was in Guangdong Province; it couldn't possibly be him."

Xu Damao stomped his feet in anger: "If it wasn't He Yuzhu, who else could it be?"

Liu Sanmei rolled her eyes and lowered her voice: "Recently in our courtyard, the happiest person is Yan Jiekuang. Third Aunt said it herself, saying that even though such a big thing happened to their family, Lao San was still celebrating there!"

Xu Damao slapped his thigh, his teeth grinding: "Fortresses really are broken from within! Ten days ago he came to ask me for money, saying he had done so much work for me and never received payment. I refused him flat out, and he even threatened me not to go too far. I didn't take it seriously at the time! I didn't expect this grandson would actually dare to strike!"

Liu Sanmei curled her lips: "The Yan family is indeed excessive; it seems they made a lot of money and didn't share a cent with Lao San. It was only because Yan Bugui felt sorry for him that he gave him five hundred yuan; if he did it, it wouldn't be strange!"

The more Xu Damao thought about it, the more furious he became, cursing through gritted teeth: "That bastard Li Huaide is also vicious enough; as soon as trouble started, he greased his heels and ran, leaving me to clean up his mess. What Siqiang said was indeed right!"

Speaking of Liu Haizhong, as soon as he pushed open his front door, he was stunned.

The room was empty, as if it had been raided by bandits—those two little brats Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu had long since moved out, even carrying away the gas cylinder and gas stove.

As soon as Second Aunt saw him return, she let out a "waa" and burst into tears, her tears falling like beads from a broken string: "Old man! Those two bastards Guangtian and Guangfu are truly not human! As soon as you got into trouble, they heard about it, and not wanting to suffer the consequences with you, they moved out..."

Liu Haizhong stood there blankly, looking at the two empty rooms, his lips trembling several times, unable to say a word, when suddenly with a "thump," he fell straight to the ground.

Second Aunt was scared out of her wits and ran around the courtyard screaming like a madwoman: "Help! Help! Liu Haizhong is dying! Liu Haizhong is dying!"

Xiaodang and Huaihua heard the commotion and ran over, peeked in, and quickly asked: "Second Aunt, what happened to Second Uncle?"

Second Aunt was crying until she was out of breath: "As soon as the old man came back and saw those two ungrateful wolves had run off, even taking the furniture, he was literally angered to this point!"

Xiaodang had worked in the infirmary of the Red Star Rolling Mill; she squatted down to take a look and said: "Let's not move him around, let's call an ambulance immediately. Doesn't your family have a phone? Why don't you call?"

"But... but I don't know the phone number!" Second Aunt stomped her feet in anxiety, her tears falling pitter-patter.

Huaihua shouted from the side: "Call the fifth bureau, five-six-seven-eight—"

Xiaodang urged anxiously: "Huaihua, since you know, why don't you go call!"

Just as they were speaking, He Daqing also ran over, peeked in, and asked with a frown: "Old Liu's wife, what happened to Old Liu?"

Second Aunt tearfully recounted the whole story.

After listening, He Daqing shook his head helplessly and looked at Xiaodang, asking: "Xiaodang, you've worked in the infirmary, what should we do?"

Xiaodang answered decisively: "Huaihua is calling the hospital right now, we should wait for the hospital staff to come. I know you have a car, but if we take him ourselves and something happens on the way, it would be even harder to handle."

He Daqing understood Xiaodang's meaning and did not intervene.

Inside the Shichahai Barbecue Restaurant, it was steaming hot, and the aroma drilled straight into their noses.

In front of Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu were two plates of oily grilled meat, plus a few cold dishes, and they were eating mouthful after mouthful with beer.

Liu Guangfu asked while chewing: "Brother, you say we moved everything away, when the old man comes back, will he disown us?"

Liu Guangtian let out a "pssh," swallowed the meat in his mouth, and cursed: "When he was making money, he held onto it tightly; he only paid a few hundred yuan in wages every month. We worked for him for a year and only earned a few thousand in total. If we don't move out early, will we have to support him in his old age? Why? The eldest brother came back last time, cried a few times, and took away twenty thousand. You say we worked for him for a year and only earned peanuts. Why should we support him?"

Liu Guangfu muttered: "But I still feel like we went a bit too far with this!"