Chapter 76: Jia Zhangshi's Lucidity

Yi Zhonghai rushed straight at Liu Haizhong; Liu Haizhong, also unwilling to be outdone, assumed a stance, ready to go all out with Yi Zhonghai.

"Stop!" Just then Li Qiang rushed over.

"What are you doing? The two of you add up to over a hundred years old, and you're not ashamed?" Li Qiang came up to the two and shouted sternly.

"Qiangzi, you don't know, this Liu Haizhong is too bullying," Yi Zhonghai said, feeling wronged.

"Master Yi, don't be impulsive; whatever the matter, let's calm down and talk it out. If you fight, whoever gets hurt won't be good—if you win, you'll go to the police station or I'll take you back to the Security Section; if you lose, you'll go to the hospital. Do you think either of those is an advantage?" Li Qiang said solemnly.

"Liu Haizhong, today I'm giving Qiangzi face; if you dare to cheat me again in the future, I won't let you off." Yi Zhonghai said this and then went home.

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Liu Haizhong, seeing Yi Zhonghai leave after still saying harsh words, also unwilling to be outdone, replied in kind.

"All right, Second Grandpa, you're still the second grandpa of this courtyard. If Director Wang finds out you fought with Yi Zhonghai, what do you think she'd do to you?" Li Qiang asked Liu Haizhong.

"Qiangzi, today I'm also giving you face, so I won't hold it against him," Liu Haizhong said, but in fact he was truly afraid Director Wang would find out and strip him of his second grandpa position—just as Yan Butgui had been stripped of his third grandpa position after fighting with Jia Zhangshi, a lesson learned; as an official-minded man, Liu Haizhong didn't want to lose his second grandpa seat.

"All right, everyone stop gathering here, disperse," Li Qiang again said to the onlookers.

Yan family.

"Old Yi this time probably regrets it till his intestines turn green," Yan Butgui said, gloating.

"Who made him so scheming? I heard Jia Dongxu was seriously injured, afraid he couldn't support himself in old age, afraid the Jia family would drag him down, so he rushed to cut ties with the Jia family. Now it's fine—Jia Dongxu is unharmed, and even praised by the Yagangchang. You say he could feel good inside? No way." Third Aunt said with a smile.

"I heard the Yagangchang also helped solve Qin Huiru's job, so even if the Jia family parts with Old Yi, their life won't be worse; plus the Yagangchang not only rewarded Jia Dongxu with a new bicycle, but also gave grain and a hundred yuan." Yan Butgui said sourly.

"How come all the good things fall to the Jia family? Our Jie Cheng is grown up and still has no formal job; I've asked several matchmakers to find him a marriage, but when they hear he has no job and no housing, they all refuse." Third Aunt said with a worried face.

"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten—I'll go to the Jia family to ask, see if we can get Qin Huiru to transfer her job quota to us two, Jie Cheng." Yan Butgui began daydreaming again.

"Can she do that?" Third Aunt said, somewhat disbelieving.

"Jia Zhangshi is a short-sighted person; as long as we're willing to give her some money, she'll surely agree," Yan Butgui said confidently.

"Fine, then go ask," Third Aunt also said, holding a hopeful attitude.

"Dongxu, are you home?" Yan Butgui shouted upon arriving at the Jia family gate.

"It's Teacher Yan, come in," Jia Dongxu replied from inside.

"Dongxu, you haven't eaten yet, have you?" Yan Butgui asked with a smile.

"No, Teacher Yan, do you have something?" Jia Dongxu asked with a smile; everyone in the siheyuan knows Yan Butgui's temperament—he won't just go to someone's house for no reason.

"Dongxu, you say the Yagangchang solved Qin Huiru's job for your family—is that true or false?" Yan Butgui probed.

"Of course it's true; at today's commendation meeting, the Union Chair said so." Jia Zhangshi said happily.

"Old sister-in-law, look, after Huiru gives birth and still has to care for the child at home, working is indeed inconvenient; can you transfer Huiru's job quota to our family's Jie Cheng? Rest assured, I won't take it for nothing—I'll pay you." Yan Butgui said with a smile.

"Old Yan Xi, how much money do you plan to give us?" Jia Zhangshi asked with a smile.

"Mom," Jia Dongxu was about to speak to stop him, but Jia Zhangshi waved her hand and cut him off.

"How about three hundred?"

"Old Yan the miser, Old Yan the miser, the Yagangchang gave our family Huiru a formal position, and you think three hundred yuan can buy a formal slot? What are you thinking?" Jia Zhangshi said sarcastically.

"How much do you say?" Yan Butgui deliberately offered three hundred yuan to test Jia Zhangshi's tone; he also knew three hundred yuan really isn't much.

"One thousand," Jia Zhangshi said offhand.

"Jia Zhangshi, you're also too bold—daring to ask one thousand for a job quota?" Yan Butgui didn't expect Jia Zhangshi to open her mouth so wide like a lion.

"Is one thousand a lot? Once Huiru has a job, our children's registrations can move over, and there will be a fixed amount; besides, even if Huiru earns twenty yuan a month, that's 240 a year, 1,200 in five years—this is a lifetime iron rice bowl. Do you think one thousand yuan is still a lot?" Speaking of reckoning, Jia Zhangshi is no worse than Yan Butgui at calculations.

"But one thousand is too much; the Yagangchang's job quotas normally go for five or six hundred yuan." Yan Butgui, while inwardly agreeing with what Jia Zhangshi said, felt one thousand yuan really exceeded his psychological price by too much.

"Then go buy a normal quota; we never intended to sell ours," Jia Zhangshi said.

"You..." Yan Butgui then realized he'd been played by Jia Zhangshi. She never intended to sell; she'd been stringing him along just to tease him.

"Old Yan, don't be angry either; I was just joking with you. Let me be frank: even if you really gave me one thousand yuan for this quota, I couldn't sell it. You know our situation—now Yi Zhonghai has cut ties with us. Huiru is about to give birth; if we lose this job, our whole family, relying only on Dongxu, could we still make a living?" Jia Zhangshi said very seriously.

"Old sister-in-law, what you say makes sense; I was too abrupt." Yan Butgui also knew Jia Zhangshi was speaking the truth; everyone always thought Jia Zhangshi was short-sighted and liked to cause trouble without reason, but now Yan Butgui realized everyone had underestimated her—Jia Zhangshi lives more clearly than he does. If he held a job quota and someone offered one thousand yuan for it, he would sell without hesitation; it seems his own clever calculations were for nothing. He's not as far-sighted as Jia Zhangshi, a virtuous woman.

"Old Yan, sorry, I can't not look out for my family's survival," Jia Zhangshi rarely said a kind word.

"Old sister-in-law, I'm not as good as you," Yan Butgui said, giving Jia Zhangshi a thumbs-up.

"Old Yan, it's life forcing us—especially Yi Zhonghai wanting to see our family as a joke, afraid we'd drag him down. From that night I swore I would live well, I want everyone to know that without him Yi Zhonghai, our Jia family will live better. I used to like to stir up trouble unreasonably, but I was also doing it to survive; when you can't even fill your stomach, what's face for? Now it's different—our Dongxu has promise, Bang Geng is growing up slowly, and I can't let people say they have an unreasonable mother or a troublemaking grandmother. In a few years our Bang Geng will be talking about taking a wife." Having experienced Yi Zhonghai's betrayal, Jia Zhangshi also came to fully understand: relying on others is no match for relying on oneself.

"Old Yan, I misjudged; I'd guess the whole siheyuan misjudged too." Yan Butgui said this and then left the Jia family directly.