Chapter 745: Wealth Polarization in the Siheyuan

The Yan family in the No. 95 Siheyuan has been in constant turmoil lately.

Yan Jiekuang had his eye socket bruised by Yan Jiecheng, while Yan Jiecheng had a tooth knocked out by Yan Jiekuang.

Now, whenever the two meet, they are no different from sworn enemies.

The cause of the matter was that Yan Bugui demanded five thousand yuan back from Yan Jiekuang, but didn't give a single cent to Yan Jiecheng, stuffing it all into his own pocket.

Yan Bugui's reason was simple: this money was the retirement fund he demanded from Yan Jiekuang; if Yan Jiecheng had the ability, he should go ask for it himself.

Yan Jiecheng actually went to find Yan Jiekuang and Wang Fang for the money, but the other party wouldn't budge an inch.

Yan Jiekuang simply stopped pretending and directly admitted that he was the informant.

He said that Yan Jiecheng's belongings were confiscated by the state, that he was in the right, and that he had no obligation to compensate a criminal for the state's losses; if he had the ability, Yan Jiecheng should go ask the state for it.

Every word of Yan Jiekuang's was reasonable, and Yan Jiecheng had no upper hand at all.

After the two had a big fight, Yan Jiekuang immediately decided to move out of the Siheyuan at once.

Yan Jiecheng couldn't swallow this insult, so he turned around and went to the police station to report Yan Jiekuang, but the police station wouldn't accept the case at all—Yan Jiekuang was just a small street vendor who had never been caught in the act, so there was simply no evidence to investigate.

Now, about He Yuzhu.

During this period, he spent most of his time over at Liu Rusi's place, helping to manage the company's affairs.

Although Liu Rusi had returned, she had no desire to manage the Liushi Trading Company at all.

Her cousin Shen Yan was already sixty-six years old this year and truly couldn't work anymore, his heart set on retirement.

Because of this, there was actually no one in charge of the entire company.

There was no other way, so they had to call He Mu back from Hong Kong to take over.

He Mu was thirty-three years old this year; although he wasn't very familiar with the situation in the Mainland, he had been learning how to do business from Zhao Ying all these years and had accumulated quite a bit of experience.

He had been married for five years; his wife was the daughter of one of Liu Rusi's employees and was a few years younger than him. The two had a three-year-old daughter named He Miao, who was at the most adorable age.

He Yuzhu was incredibly fond of this granddaughter and brought her back to the Siheyuan to play every day.

This matter naturally attracted a bunch of gossip once again.

He Yuzhu simply stopped hiding or covering things up; in any case, he was just a retired old man now.

As the end of the year approached, the brothers Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu returned.

Two years of prison life had worn them down and made them much more honest.

The forty-something-year-old Liu Guangtian was still single, and he felt quite at ease after returning to the Siheyuan, sponging off meals and drinks at Liu Haizhong's house every day.

But Liu Haizhong's retirement pension wasn't much to begin with; how could it withstand such squandering by two sons? Within a few days, the brothers were kicked out.

Liu Guangfu's life was even more miserable.

As soon as he entered prison, his wife divorced him and remarried a boss from the south who sold speakers. Hearing that he was about to be released, the other party took the child and left directly; Liu Guangfu couldn't even find them.

With nowhere else to turn, the brothers had no choice but to go to Panjiayuan to find Xu Damao.

Seeing them, Xu Damao joked, "You two must have made plenty of friends on the street while inside, right? How about calling a few over to be my guards?"

Liu Guangfu said irritably, "Brother Damao, I never want to do anything illegal again; the taste of being inside is too unbearable. Now my wife has run off with my son, and I can't even find them. Can you point me to a way to make money quickly? Once I have money, I'll go find them and at least snatch the child back."

Xu Damao smiled, "Finding you a job that makes quick money isn't hard, I'm just afraid you won't be able to endure that kind of hardship."

Liu Guangtian gritted his teeth and said, "Brother Damao, as long as the money is enough, we brothers will even clean out latrines!"

Xu Damao was amused and asked, "Do you know what that kid Bang Geng is doing now?"

Liu Guangtian shook his head, "Jia Zhangshi is silent all day long now, and there's also Yan Bugui's wife, Yang Ruihua; when they see us, they hide like we're a plague, just afraid we'll ask to borrow money. We don't hear a single bit of news about things in the Siheyuan."

Xu Damao said, "Bang Geng is making a fortune now by collecting furniture."

Liu Guangtian was curious, "Collecting what kind of furniture?"

Xu Damao laughed, "That kid is now in partnership with Yi Zhonghai's son, Yi Xiaotian, and He Yuzhu's son, He Zheng, to run a trading company. Bang Geng specializes in collecting old furniture, things like red sandalwood, yellow rosewood, and the like. He collects them, finds old carpenters to repair them, and then ships them to Hong Kong. Between the collection, repairs, and travel expenses, the cost is only ten or twenty thousand, but once it gets there, the price can flip ten or twenty times, or even twenty times."

Upon hearing this, Liu Guangtian immediately said, "Brother Damao, then why don't you do it?"

Xu Damao said, "Who says I'm not doing it? It's just that I'm short on manpower. Do you know how many people Bang Geng has under him? Fifty or sixty, all trained by him, now scattered all over the country collecting old furniture and antiques. The scale is huge; I hear the annual profit is several million."

Liu Guangtian was troubled, "Brother Damao, we don't know the first thing about these tricks; if we make a wrong judgment, we won't even be able to afford the losses."

Xu Damao said, "I can teach you, but I'll say the ugly things first: you have to sign a contract with me. I'll teach you the skills, but if you turn around and go solo, you'll have to pay me."

Liu Guangtian quickly promised, "Don't worry, if you help us brothers this time, we'll remember your kindness for a lifetime."

Xu Damao nodded, "There are only a few days left until the New Year; you come over every day and learn properly from me. Once the New Year starts, you'll go out and run the business!"

The 1984 Spring Festival arrived very quickly.

For the No. 95 Siheyuan, it was truly a time of joy for some and sorrow for others.

On the Yan family's side, with Yan Bugui clutching the money he had demanded from Yan Jiekuang, they spent the New Year quite comfortably.

Yan Jiecheng had no money on hand, so he simply sponged off his parents at home, buying nothing and relying on them for all his food and drink.

Liu Haizhong would chase Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu away whenever he saw them, and the family lived a miserable life.

Looking at the Yi and Jia families, they were truly wealthy.

Bang Geng and Yi Xiaotian had impressive performance, with each receiving a year-end bonus of one hundred and fifty thousand.

After bringing the money home, the two not only bought a large color TV but also added a refrigerator, a washing machine, and all kinds of new-style furniture.

The He family went without saying.

He Zheng alone received six or seven hundred thousand.

Although He Yuzhu had never been short of money, he had always believed that enough was enough for his children and had never given them a large sum of money all at once.

As soon as He Zheng had money, he wanted to buy a good car, but He Yuzhu wouldn't let him spend money recklessly and bought him a luxury car directly.

Jia Zhangshi also began to show off her good grandson everywhere.

For the New Year, Bang Geng bought her a whole set of gold bracelets, gold earrings, and gold jewelry.

Wearing this outfit, Jia Zhangshi was known by almost half of Nanluoguxiang.

Now, when Yang Ruihua sees Jia Zhangshi, she is as polite as if she were a junior.

Life for the Qin Huairu family has also improved along with the times this year.

Qin Tianzhen has helped out a lot at the company, and He Zheng took one hundred thousand yuan from his own dividends and gave it to her, telling her to buy wedding supplies and not to be too stingy.

Qin Huairu originally told Tianzhen to just buy the "three rounds and one sound" according to the old customs, but Tianzhen drives a car whenever she goes out now, so she doesn't even look twice at the old-fashioned "three rounds and one sound."

Qin Huairu's current husband, Lao Ma, pondered for a long time before gritting his teeth and purchasing the new "four big items": a refrigerator, a color television, a washing machine, and a Tape Recorder.

Lao Ma winced in pain, saying, "Buying these things cost nearly twenty thousand yuan; how many years would an ordinary worker have to earn to save that much? These appliances will be scrap metal after five years of use."

Qin Huairu laughed and said, "It didn't cost your money, so what are you feeling so pained about?"

Lao Ma shook his head: "The He Family is being too flashy now. If this were the fifties, they would definitely have been labeled as capitalists."

Qin Huairu was amused to the point of laughter: "Lao Ma, you really don't understand He Yuzhu. He is very shrewd; when he needs to pretend to be poor, he is more convincing than anyone. Do you know how my uncle got that restaurant? He Yuzhu gave it to him directly. He warned my uncle at the time that taking over these properties could easily lead to problems with his class status in the future and that he might be targeted. My uncle didn't listen, which is why he took over the restaurant. Through so many movements and so much turmoil, the He Family has never fallen. The fact that they aren't hiding anymore means that no one will hold class status against people in the future. Is your brain still stuck in the fifties?"

Lao Ma chuckled: "I also heard that back then, He Yuzhu tried to stop you from marrying Jia Dongxu, saying he would die, but didn't Jia Dongxu turn out just fine?"

"That was because Zhao Yingzi begged He Yuzhu to transfer his job! Besides, I don't regret it; if I had really married Jia Dongxu, I wouldn't have had Zhao Yingzi's ability, and I would have been nagged to death by Jia Zhangshi sooner or later. By the way, who did you hear this gossip from?"

"Who else could it be? Naturally, it was Jia Zhangshi. She said that when He Yuzhu told you that back then, she and Jia Dongxu happened to overhear it, and because of this, He Yuzhu even got into a fight with the Jia Family," Lao Ma said with a grin.

"Stop playing mahjong with Jia Zhangshi and those old ladies; your mouth has become so gossipy now," Qin Huairu chided.

At the entrance of the No. 95 Siheyuan, a figure slowly came to a halt.

The man was wearing a pair of black sunglasses that covered most of his face; it was none other than the long-unseen Cheng Shao.

He had not yet fully recovered from his illness when he was forcibly summoned back by the old man of his family.

Previously, he had sent his men to tail the Secretary, but they were caught directly, causing a massive disaster that even led to his father receiving a stern warning.

Returning this time, Cheng Shao locked his gaze directly onto the He Family.

Beneath the sunglasses, his eyes were sinister and cold.

He could not swallow this insult and decided to settle both new and old scores together; the retaliation against the He Family had officially begun.