Chapter 81

Liu Guangqi's running away from home dealt a huge blow to Liu Haizhong; in the following days, Liu Haizhong seemed to have aged considerably overnight, and he no longer acted arrogant when meeting people. Second Aunt was also listless all day; the old couple had practically emptied their savings to get Liu Guangqi married, but the result was that Liu Guangqi packed up all his belongings and ran away from home.

"Old Lady, I want Shazu to handle the cooking for the adoption ceremony, but I'm worried I won't be able to persuade him," Yi Zhonghai went to the Deaf Old Lady's house to discuss the adoption ceremony with her.

"Hey, I told you to get on good terms with Zhuzi usually, but you didn't listen, and now you know it's difficult?" the Deaf Old Lady said, frustrated that he wouldn't shape up.

"I..." Yi Zhonghai couldn't refute; all his thoughts had been on Jia Dongxu before, he basically looked down on He Yuzhu, and after falling out with the Jia family, he still wanted to try to mend relations with them, so he had no mind to deal with He Yuzhu; now wanting to use He Yuzhu, he found he had no face with He Yuzhu at all.

"All right, I'll go talk to Zhuzi myself; he should give me this face." How could the deaf old lady not know Yi Zhonghai's thoughts?

"Then it's troublesome for you." Yi Zhonghai came over and told the deaf old lady that the purpose of saying this was to get her to go find He Yuzhu.

"Zhuzi, what are you busy with?" The deaf old lady, leaning on her cane, came to He Yuzhu's door.

"Old lady, how come you came?" He Yuzhu asked with a smile.

"In a couple of days, Xiao Yi isn't thinking of holding a recognition banquet, is he? He wants to ask you to help with the cooking, but he's afraid he can't persuade you, so I came over." The deaf old lady said with a smile.

"Sure, Master Yi is overthinking; I just make a living with my skills, whoever invites me I'll go." He Yuzhu said nonchalantly. Although he had beaten Yi Zhonghai before, that was many years ago; back then he was young and hot-blooded, but now his son is this big, and he has become much steadier.

"Xiao Yi, did you hear that? You're overthinking; Zhuzi is definitely not that kind of person. Although this kid sometimes causes trouble, he's still pretty good." The deaf old lady still thought highly of He Yuzhu.

"Old lady, I was measuring a gentleman's heart with a petty mind." Yi Zhonghai said embarrassedly.

"Master Yi, how many tables do you want to set up, and what standard?" He Yuzhu didn't pick up on Yi Zhonghai's remark but went straight to the point.

"I don't have many relatives either; just the neighbors in our Siheyuan. I think five tables will be enough, and the standard can just follow Liu Guangqi's." Yi Zhonghai is not short of money; Liu Haizhong has always looked down on him, and he also wants to use this opportunity to slap Liu Haizhong's face. Liu Haizhong spent so much effort on his son's wedding, only to end up a laughingstock.

"Fine, I'll still charge according to Second Grandfather's standard at five yuan per table. You only have five tables, and for the helpers I'll have Ma Hua and Liu Lan come over." He Yuzhu doesn't care what your standard is; as long as you pay him, it's fine.

"All right." Yi Zhonghai knew it wasn't the time to haggle with He Yuzhu; his willingness to help was already pretty good.

"By the way, Zhuzi, my meat coupons aren't enough; do you have a way to get me some meat?" Yi Zhonghai didn't know that the meat at Liu Haizhong's house was obtained with Li Qiang's help; he thought that since He Yuzhu was a cook, he definitely had a way to get meat.

"Just go to the backyard and find my second brother; the meat at Liu Haizhong's house is something he helped someone buy." He Yuzhu also didn't hide it.

"All right, then I'll go ask Qiangzi." Yi Zhonghai didn't expect Li Qiang to have such wide connections, even able to get meat.

After sending the deaf old lady back, Yi Zhonghai went straight to Li Qiang's house, told him he wanted to ask Li Qiang to help buy meat, and Li Qiang didn't refuse his face, directly agreeing.

Sunday morning, the deaf old lady wore a set of bright red clothes, looking very festive; Yi Zhonghai and his wife also wore new outfits.

Today's host is Liu Haizhong; originally Yi Zhonghai wanted to invite Li Qiang to host, but Li Qiang refused due to lack of experience.

"Today is a great joyous day for our Siheyuan; the Yi Zhonghai couple have been taking extra care of the old lady for many years, and the relationship between the two families is very good, but since it's not proper in name, per Comrade Yi Zhonghai's request, we voluntarily become sworn kin with the old lady; today all the neighbors are helping as witnesses." Liu Haizhong said loudly.

"Good." The neighbors followed with applause and cheers.

"The recognition ceremony now begins; please have Yi Zhonghai offer tea to the old lady." Liu Haizhong then announced.

Yi Zhonghai and his wife held tea bowls, kneeling before the deaf old lady; the deaf old lady sat in the master's chair, smiling as she looked at the two people before her.

"Please drink, foster mother." Yi Zhonghai handed the tea bowl to the deaf old lady.

"Good, good, good." The deaf old lady took the tea bowl and symbolically took a sip.

After the deaf old lady finished her tea, Yi Zhonghai and his wife respectfully kowtowed three times to her; this kinship was thus recognized.

"Xiao Yi, take this." The deaf old lady pulled out two red envelopes from her bosom and handed them respectively to Yi Zhonghai and the eldest aunt.

"Thank you, foster mother." Yi Zhonghai accepted the red envelope and expressed thanks.

"The rites are complete; now let's begin the feast." Liu Haizhong then loudly announced.

Upon hearing Liu Haizhong's announcement, the neighbors all found tables and sat down. Actually they had been eagerly awaiting the start of the banquet; they had all heard that Yi Zhonghai's banquet standard this time was the same as Liu Guangqi's wedding standard, the key point being that no gifts would be accepted, which meant a free meal, so everyone was naturally pleased. In fact, Yan Butgui had initially wanted to persuade Yi Zhonghai to accept gifts, after all, who holds a banquet without accepting gifts? Yi Zhonghai knew the neighbors couldn't contribute much in gifts—just a few cents—and he really didn't care about that amount. His purpose in holding the banquet as a sworn kinship was not to collect gifts; first, he wanted to set an example for the young people in the Siheyuan by becoming sworn kin; having no children himself, becoming sworn kin with the deaf old lady was his hope that, in his old age, the young people in the courtyard would respect him as they respect the deaf old lady. Second, not accepting gifts was meant to repair his image in the neighbors' eyes. After all, the few things he had done in recent years had given the neighbors an impression of him.

"Qiang Ge, you say Yi Zhonghai is fine, so why did he suddenly decide to become sworn kin with the deaf old lady? The deaf old lady is a lonely old woman with no property—what is he after?" Xu Damao didn't really understand Yi Zhonghai's meaning; after all, for so many years the deaf old lady has been taken care of by the eldest aunt, so whether they become sworn kin or not really makes no difference.

"Damao, you still don't get it, do you? The deaf old lady is the biggest asset." How could Li Qiang possibly not understand Yi Zhonghai's intentions?

"You mean Yi Zhonghai wants to use this affair to re‑instill the idea of respecting the elderly among the young people in the siheyuan?" Xu Damao is very sharp; Li Qiang only needed to hint and he got it—if it were He Yuzhu, he certainly wouldn't have understood so quickly.

"This is one reason; another is that he's buying people's hearts," Li Qiang said with a smile.

"Understood," Xu Damao said with a smile.