Chapter 873: Gathering Evidence

After taking the photos, the whole family began to eat.

Six tables were set up in the large living room, with braised pork knuckles, Boiled Fish, spicy diced chicken, sweet and sour pork ribs, broccoli with minced garlic, home-style tofu... all dishes the He Family usually loved to eat; there were no rare delicacies, but they were substantial and flavorful, filling the tables completely.

Before the chopsticks had moved many times, the door opened, and three people slipped in.

It was the three "elders" of the courtyard—Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui—who came in swaying.

The Old Age Home was not far from here, and Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui often looked for Yi Zhonghai to play chess together; today, the three of them had played for a while, saw that the East Cross Courtyard was very lively, and just strolled over.

As soon as Yan Bugui entered the door, he froze right on the threshold.

The He Family, old and young, sat in a large crowd; it was truly clamorous.

This one called out "Grandpa," that one called out "Dad," and there were several little ones running around the room; they didn't stop even after bumping into people, just giggling and continuing to run, as if a nest had been bombed.

Yan Bugui couldn't help but stomp his cane, and He Yuzhu came over with a grin.

Yan Bugui said sourly: "Zhuzi, you kid are really something! Children and grandchildren filling the hall, and we didn't even know before—you really can put on an act, can't you?"

He Yuzhu laughed, his smile carrying a bit of smugness and a bit of indifference: "If I had told you everything, you wouldn't have known how many times you would have reported me in the early years. But it's useless now—no one can control me anymore. Are you angry?"

Yan Bugui was choked by him, his mouth opening and closing, his face turning the color of pig liver.

Yi Zhonghai hurriedly came out to smooth things over, grabbing Yan Bugui's sleeve: "Lao Yan, the family is having a reunion, why are we making a scene here? Let's go, let's go, let's go back to my living room to play chess."

Yan Bugui stiffened his neck and let out a heavy sigh, "I'm not here to make trouble! I'm just... just envious! Look at the He Family, flourishing with people, children and grandchildren filling the hall. Look at my three sons—not one of them visits! They don't even make a phone call during holidays!"

The more he spoke, the more uncomfortable he felt, his voice changing tone: "It seems that for a person, one still needs money!"

Liu Haizhong stood to the side with his neck crooked, a bit of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth, and also chimed in indistinctly: "It's just that you need money! It's just that you need money, I, three sons, not one is a good thing! Look at He Daqing, children and grandchildren filling the hall, a family of fifty or sixty people... truly envious, truly envious."

Yi Zhonghai couldn't listen anymore and scolded with a smile: "You two are really something—you keep saying you came to see me, but you ended up running to the He Family to annoy them? Go, go, don't embarrass yourselves here!"

As he spoke, he prepared to drag them away.

At this moment, He Daqing walked out from inside with a smile, waving his large hand, his voice resonant: "The three of you, since you're here today, don't leave! Sit down, let's drink!"

Early the next morning, just as the sky was turning bright, He Yuzhu went to the chip factory.

The machines in the workshop were humming, and the workers had already started working.

Just as He Yuzhu walked into the office, Liu Siman came in.

When she saw He Yuzhu, her eyes turned red instantly, and tears began to fall.

He Yuzhu patted her shoulder, his voice very soft: "I am very happy to see you back at work in good health."

Liu Siman wiped her tears, her voice trembling: "Siqiang, thank you... if it weren't for your ginseng, I might not have survived. Thank you, really thank you."

He Yuzhu comforted her: "Don't be sad. When you had that accident, I was terrified too, and I didn't know what to do in the future."

Liu Siman gritted her teeth, a flash of ruthlessness in her eyes: "I heard what you did for me... those people, they deserve to die."

He Yuzhu didn't respond, just patted her shoulder again.

Ma Rui's advertising company had been growing larger recently; they no longer rented space at the Beijing Film Studio but had rented an entire floor of an office building outside.

Ever since *My Fair Princess* became a hit, more and more people were looking for Yang Jing to act, stuffing script after script into her hands.

Ma Rui couldn't see her often either.

Today, Yang Jing happened to be free, so she wandered over to the advertising company.

Ma Rui was looking down at some documents; when he looked up and saw her, he smiled: "How does the big star have time to come find me today?"

Yang Jing sat on the sofa, crossed her arms, and deliberately put on a stern face: "I'm here to hold you accountable—your family had a gathering, why didn't you call me? Am I still your girlfriend?"

Ma Rui was stunned and hurriedly explained: "I thought you were busy, so I didn't call you."

"I went to see Grandpa He and Grandma He today, and Grandma kept asking me why I didn't come yesterday; she even thought I was putting on airs!"

"Aren't you just back? I thought you were still out of town!" Ma Rui explained.

Yang Jing stared at him and said: "You still don't care about me. Wouldn't you know where I am if you called a few times a day?"

Ma Rui shook his head, "My phone bill is already four or five thousand a month now; if I spent hours on the phone with you every day, wouldn't it be tens of thousands? I'd be poor to death."

Yang Jing rolled her eyes at him and said: "Enough, stop pretending to be poor with me. Your company is making millions a year, do you still care about that little bit of phone money? By the way—I heard Chen Jiadong got into the Film Academy again?"

Ma Rui nodded: "Yes, Teacher Qi likes him quite a bit and insisted on taking him in."

Yang Jing sighed with emotion: "He has such good luck, meeting you and Teacher Qi."

Ma Rui lifted his chin and said cockily: "Chen Jiadong's acting is indeed not bad, but back in our class, when it came to acting, he was still a bit worse than me."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a voice came from the doorway: "Who is being so arrogant, saying they act better than me?"

Chen Jiadong had arrived at some point and was leaning against the doorframe, looking at him with a smile.

Ma Rui laughed: "It's no use being good; you're still becoming my junior fellow student now."

Chen Jiadong smiled and said: "Let me reveal some bad news to you—Teacher Qi said that for your class's final performance, he wants Li Xiang to be the male lead. You're out of luck."

Ma Rui didn't care at all and said with a smile: "I didn't intend to fight for it anyway. As long as Deputy Director Liu is there for one day, I'll be lucky as long as I'm not expelled or disciplined."

Chen Jiadong leaned in closer: "I also heard that Deputy Director Liu is running classes outside to take in students and make money. The tuition is over twenty thousand a year... only holding classes on Fridays and Saturdays."

At this time, Zhao Hu pushed the door open and entered, picking up the conversation: "I heard that too. For that class, Deputy Director Liu asks senior students to substitute teach, and the money he gives is very little. Many students aren't willing to go and find all sorts of excuses to decline."

Ma Rui narrowed his eyes and squeezed out a sentence through his teeth: "I really want to report him so he can't be a Deputy Director anymore."

Zhao Hu shook his head: "It's useless. He's an old fox; that class is likely registered under a relative's name. Even if you investigate, at most you'll find out he's substitute teaching there, and you won't find anything else."

Ma Rui slapped the table: "But he's been giving me trouble for almost two years now, and I really can't swallow this anger."

Yang Jing, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up: "I heard a piece of news—it seems Deputy Director Liu is divorced. He seems to have... gotten involved with a student. Can this take him down?"

Ma Rui's eyes lit up fiercely: "We have to get evidence."

Zhao Hu's mind turned quickly: "Zhao Weiguo was originally a photographer; if we let him go take secret photos, it shouldn't be much of a problem."

When Ma Rui heard this, his eyes shone like lightbulbs, and the corners of his mouth slowly spread: "Deputy Director Liu, don't blame me for being unrighteous if you are unkind. Sorry about this."

He took out his phone on the spot and called Zhao Weiguo.

More than an hour later, Zhao Weiguo rushed over from the film studio's photography stage.

After hearing the task, he smiled, patted his chest, and said: "Ma Rui, buddy, I've always felt I owed you a big favor; this time I will definitely get this done for you."

Ma Rui patted his shoulder, his eyes full of light: "That's great. If we can topple him, my life will be much better."