Chapter 1341: I really want to kill him

"Who was that person last night?"

Li Yuanchao had just come out of the guesthouse when he saw Zhang Haiyang walking toward the restaurant, so he took the initiative to greet him.

Zhang Haiyang was stunned by the question. Turning back to see it was him, he mumbled vaguely: "No one, just borrowing a light."

"Borrowing a light took that long to chat?"

Li Yuanchao looked him up and down and reminded him: "Don't do anything you'll regret."

"Look at what you're saying." Zhang Haiyang smiled and asked: "What's wrong? Are you treating me like a secret agent?"

"I'm not joking with you."

Li Yuanchao didn't smile; he said seriously: "You should know that Xiaobai is walking the dog."

"What do you mean?" Zhang Haiyang frowned and looked at him, asking: "Are you saying those people who talked to me are dogs?"

"You know what they are yourself."

Li Yuanchao said firmly: "We are all on the same boat now. If anyone capsizes the boat, none of us will have it easy."

"You should know that in this environment, money is hard to earn and shit is hard to eat. Who you relied on to buy a car, I don't need to emphasize."

Zhang Haiyang's face changed instantly; he pressed his lips together tightly and didn't speak.

"Of course, you can say I'm a dog catching a mouse and meddling in other people's business."

Li Yuanchao took a puff of his cigarette and said: "But I want to tell you to use your brain more when doing things."

"You have to distinguish what can be done and what cannot be done, or you won't even be able to be brothers by then."

He patted Zhang Haiyang's arm and walked forward.

He had already made his point clear. How Zhang Haiyang chose was his own business. If he really dared to smash Zhou Xiaobai's plate and leave everyone without food, he could just wait to face everyone's anger.

Zhang Haiyang stood in the morning sun, feeling ice-cold all over.

They had drunk too much last night and didn't dare go home to sleep, and it wasn't appropriate to find a place to stay at a brother's house, so they all came to the club's guesthouse to rest.

Don't look at this as the club's guesthouse; it only serves members. There were only so many rooms upstairs and downstairs, but it was never idle.

Many members had private reception needs; sending them to the unit's guesthouse would mean the whole unit would know.

So the club had become the best place for members' private receptions.

Moreover, the service level here was good, the hardware facilities were new, and the room design was very fashionable, so many people were willing to stay here.

Although Zhang Haiyang and the others weren't members of the East Wind No. 1 Club, they were members of the Youth Society and could check in.

Zhang Haiyang was the last one to return last night. In the dark environment of the Lang Tao Sha parking lot, Li Yuanchao and the others had seen him chatting with two people for quite a while before he returned.

Combined with Zuo Jie and Zhou Xiaobai's caution, Li Yuanchao could guess with his butt who those people who took the initiative to find Zhang Haiyang were.

Zhang Haiyang also didn't expect that Li Yuanchao and the others would notice him in the dark environment of the parking lot.

Not to mention that they didn't even give him a chance to defend himself, having already guessed the other party's identity. How was he supposed to answer?

Did he have to admit that his jealousy had messed up his mindset, that he had drunk too much, that his mouth had slipped, and he had said some things he shouldn't have?

Li Yuanchao didn't seem to want to expose him, but he had drawn a bottom line, warning him to handle the matter properly.

If bragging also required paying taxes, then this tax bill for breakfast today really made Zhang Haiyang's head buzz.

The person who talked to him was a senior he had known before. They had only met a few times, and they hadn't been in touch since the senior graduated.

He suddenly found him last night and beat around the bush, asking about the identity information of those people at the gathering last night.

Zhang Haiyang didn't know what he was thinking. Apart from not saying Zhou Xiaobai's identity, he spilled the beans on everyone else's situation.

He felt he still had a bit of conscience, even selling out his good big brother Li Yuanchao, but he didn't sell out the goddess.

Let's put it this way: he could betray the world, but he wouldn't betray Zhou Xiaobai.

Zhou Xiaobai was not just his "white moonlight"; no one knew Xiaobai's identity better than he did.

Although those people didn't reveal their identities, they also coerced and lured him. What could he do?

No matter how he betrayed, he didn't dare betray Zhou Xiaobai.

Zhang Haiyang knew very well that if he betrayed those brothers, he would be isolated, but if he sold out Zhou Xiaobai, he would be hacked to death.

So, having his bottom line and fig leaf ripped off by Li Yuanchao, Zhang Haiyang stood there, his face turning red and white.

Li Yuanchao already knew; did that mean Zhou Xiaobai already knew too?

That's right. He suddenly remembered the scene when he saw Zhou Xiaobai yesterday. Li Yuanchao teased her, and she said she was walking the dog.

Did this mean Zhou Xiaobai knew very well that someone was tailing her and investigating her social relationships?

Thinking of this, Zhang Haiyang couldn't stand still. He wanted to find Zhou Xiaobai to explain clearly or apologize.

Where did Zhou Xiaobai live?

Of course, she wouldn't live in the guesthouse; the grade here wasn't high enough, and it wasn't convenient for her to act, so she was still at the International Hotel.

Zhang Haiyang wished he could grow wings and fly over to repent and apologize to the goddess for the first time.

If it was really as Li Yuanchao said, that Zhou Xiaobai was deliberately playing with the other party, did his behavior last night affect Xiaobai's plan?

Or rather, did Xiaobai already expect him to betray her, and was this all a trap set by the other party?

He had no joy, because even if Zhou Xiaobai had calculated him into it, it was his own tragedy.

Zhou Xiaobai didn't trust him at all, yet he wasn't strong enough.

Now he was worried about gains and losses, not knowing what to do.

Thinking of the situation last night, his heart twitched, and he really wanted to slap himself.

Last night...

"Yo, isn't this Haiyang—"

A senior he hadn't seen for a long time passed by the entrance. Seeing him going to get the car, he praised him with surprise and envy.

"Not bad, Haiyang, you even have a car!"

Ask the world what posturing is; it makes people willing to die for it.

Some people, for the sake of posturing, don't even care about family and friendship, just for that little bit of vanity.

Zhang Haiyang's mood today was quite bad; the reason was still the comparison, as Li Yuanchao mentioned that person teasing Zhou Xiaobai.

He was actually the same as Zhong Yuemin, both cowards in love, not daring to face the reality of Zhou Xiaobai.

Everyone had eyes; as long as Li Xuewu came to the club, Zhou Xiaobai's gaze wouldn't leave him.

She wished she could pounce on him and hang on him as soon as they met; that admiration and closeness went without saying.

Look at Zhou Xiaobai's lavish spending; if you say it's family support, they wouldn't believe it even if they were beaten to death.

Only Li Xuewu, only this secretary of the Red Star Steel agency, had the ability to support Zhou Xiaobai in creating a joint venture company.

The fact that this company could get the distribution resources of the Red Star Steel Group was already enough to make people float with wild thoughts.

Think again about the young general manager, how she moved the secretary-general.

No, it should be said she was moved by the secretary-general.

The facts were right in front of them; it was he and Zhong Yuemin who chose to act like quails, turning a blind eye to this because of their admiration from middle and high school.

Last night, he had to admit that he had drunk too much, lost control, vented some emotions, and said some things he shouldn't have.

It's just that he hadn't thought about what kind of danger these words would bring to Zhou Xiaobai and Li Xuewu.

He could only hope now that this was all a trap set by Zhou Xiaobai and the others, even if he was calculated into it.

"What are you thinking?"

Zuo Jie had called Li Ge last night and received another call from Li Ge this morning, so he rushed to the International Hotel early.

Sure enough, just as Li Ge expected, when Zhou Xiaobai heard the news he brought, she was truly furious.

"What am I thinking?" Zhou Xiaobai said angrily: "I really want to kill him. This is damn betrayal—"

"Li Ge asked me to tell you that the human heart is the least worth testing."

Zuo Jie was just a messenger, but he was also carrying a mission. His mission was to pacify Zhou Xiaobai.

Zhou Xiaobai's fiery temper, even Luo Yun said she had changed when she saw her, saying she wasn't like this before.

Indeed, Zuo Jie still remembered what she looked like when he first met her: quiet and gentle, not even daring to speak loudly.

Only a year and a half, not even two years, had passed. Look at Zhou Xiaobai now.

How does that saying go?

"Those who stay near vermilion get stained red, those who stay near ink get stained black."

She had only been mixing with Li Ge for such a short time, and her entire personality had changed, becoming straightforward and generous.

Or perhaps Zhou Xiaobai herself was a resilient girl, just limited by her environment before, so she wore a protective layer.

Ripping off the camouflage net, the current Zhou Xiaobai is like a bandit.

"He's not here. If he were here, I'd split him in two—"

Zhou Xiaobai was truly furious, standing in the room with her hands on her hips, loudly counting Zhang Haiyang's bastard behavior and talking about how she had treated him.

What could Zuo Jie say? He could only listen silently. He truly regretted coming in such a hurry and not bringing Luo Yun.

Luo Yun was better at pacifying Zhou Xiaobai. He could only use Li Ge's words to suppress her and let her calm down and think as soon as possible.

"Don't give him the car purchase discount quota, this bastard."

Zhou Xiaobai soon thought of retaliating against Zhang Haiyang's betrayal, waved her hand at him, and said: "Let him stay wherever it's cool."

"Not only will he not get the car purchase discount quota, but from today on, he can forget about doing any business in the supply chain."

She pointed at the ground and said firmly: "If I don't teach him how to be a person, he'll really think he's an elephant."

"The quota has already been applied for."

Zuo Jie drank the free coffee provided by the hotel and said very calmly: "Li Ge's meaning is that it should still be given."

"Why—" Zhou Xiaobai asked dissatisfiedly: "He acted like that, and we still have to indulge him?"

"Sit down and talk, calm down first."

Zuo Jie waved his hand and reminded her kindly: "After all, you live in the same compound. He has let Li Ge down, but he hasn't let you down."

"Li Ge said, anyone can talk about him, but you can't. This is not conducive to your management image in the future."

"I'm truly convinced—"

Hearing Zuo Jie's words, Zhou Xiaobai knew it must be Li Ge's meaning, because Zuo Jie couldn't say such things.

"Thinking that he has this kind of face, I shouldn't have brought him to play in the first place."

"Don't take yourself too seriously, and don't take others too lightly." Seeing her emotions stabilize a bit, Zuo Jie continued: "The earth turns without anyone; getting angry isn't worth it."

"Li Ge asked me to tell you not to target him, just act like you don't know about this."

He leaned to the side, looked at Zhou Xiaobai, and reminded her in a low voice: "It's not worth ruining a pot of soup for one fish. You understand, right?"

"Is it because he's worried he'll go out and talk nonsense?"

Zhou Xiaobai frowned slightly, looked at Zuo Jie, and said: "Or is he afraid he'll reveal the club's situation?"

"These aren't the key." Zuo Jie said seriously: "The key is his identity; he is still a part of your supply chain."

"Of course, he is only a part of the supply chain. You understand what I mean, right?"

"It's really exhausting." Zhou Xiaobai understood and nodded, but her face still showed indignation and disdain.

She preferred quick revenge. Zhang Haiyang was shameless; she really wanted to find him and reason with him, asking what kind of brain he had.

What kind of brain would sell out their own friends? This was before even entering the prison, before even getting hit by a stick.

"Alright, Li Ge is worried about you, so he specially arranged for me to come early, just fearing you would do something reckless."

Zuo Jie stood up, looked at Zhou Xiaobai, and said: "Everything must be done with a beginning and an end, with causes and effects. The big picture is the most important."

"You must have other missions on you, right?"

He was quite smart, giving Zhou Xiaobai a hint without asking in detail.

"Don't let Li Ge down, and don't let his plan be ruined."

Zhou Xiaobai's anger had dissipated quite a bit. Although she was still cursing Zhang Haiyang in her mouth, she also stood up to send Zuo Jie out.

"I advised you yesterday to slow down, don't be so anxious." Zuo Jie stood at the door and gave Zhou Xiaobai another reminder: "You insisted on testing Li Yuanchao's state of mind. What was the result?"

"Beating the grass to scare the snake, who knew that bastard was so useless." Zhou Xiaobai curled her lips in disdain, hugged her arms, and stood at the door: "Alright, I'll be back in Tianjin in these two days."

"I'll just act like I don't know, just act like I don't see him, is that alright—"

She rolled her eyes, still muttering in her mouth, venting her anger and blame for Zhang Haiyang's betrayal.

She wasn't impatient with Zuo Jie's nagging; on the contrary, he was arranged by Li Xuewu to pacify her, and she was very happy.

What did this explain? It explained that Li Ge cared about her very much and understood her very well; otherwise, how would he know she would definitely be angry?

Fearing she would do something impulsive, he specially let Zuo Jie come to pacify her. Didn't this explain that they had a tacit understanding?

Good heavens, people say women in love are unreasonable.

Zuo Jie looked at Zhou Xiaobai, who was cursing one moment and laughing the next, and felt helpless, waving his hand to leave.

Zhou Xiaobai then remembered Zuo Jie's credit for coming early in the morning, waved at his back, and shouted: "Call Luo Yun to eat together tonight."

"No time, save it." Zuo Jie waved his hand without looking back: "It's not that I don't have time, it's that Luo Yun doesn't have time."

"Tsk, busier than me?"

Zhou Xiaobai glanced in the direction of the stairs, then quietly walked to the window in the corridor to look down.

As expected, that 212 was still parked there.

"Really have perseverance—"

It snowed a little last night. The Antelope car had wind heating, but the 212 didn't.

That is to say, those people tailing her had been freezing outside for half the night?

"Sigh, why bother—"

Zhou Xiaobai shook her head slightly and sighed: "A salary of thirty or forty yuan a month, why risk your life?"

Yes, a salary of a hundred or so yuan a month, why risk your life?

Do you think Zhou Zechuan is a big fool?

Of course he isn't, which is why he asked Yu Decai for advice, requesting the security department to help investigate Zhou Xiaobai's identity and background.

Yu Decai also didn't know what to say. He had seen soft-tempered people, but he hadn't seen people with soft knees.

This damn thing just knelt? It's too empty.

"I really didn't expect it, I couldn't have imagined it no matter what."

Sitting opposite Li Xuewu, Yu Decai was still sighing, saying: "He actually found his way to me."

"Hehe—" Li Xuewu glanced at him and sneered: "He's clever but falls into a trap and can't climb out."

"He still has a bit of cleverness."

Yu Decai laughed, looked at Li Xuewu, and said: "But he lacks the right time, place, and people. Relying on a gambler's mentality, I really don't know what Vice Director Su promised him."

"Vice Director Su is also a cautious person."

Li Xuewu smiled and reminded him: "It's not necessarily that Vice Director Su promised him; he gave himself a psychological hint."

"That's really possible—"

Yu Decai raised an eyebrow, pondered, and said: "Then it makes sense that he found his way to me."

If you ask whether Yu Decai knew about Li Xuewu's plans before.

The answer is certain. Although Li Xuewu hadn't told him, as a part of the group's agency, he could still grasp some situations.

Li Huai De taking several members of the team to Tianjin couldn't be said to be too coincidental.

This was behavior after Li Xuewu went to the Beijing freight station to fire a shot; it absolutely couldn't be called a coincidence.

Although he wasn't in Li Xuewu's action this time, it didn't affect him being prepared to act at any time.

In fact, it's like this in the agency. You follow the right leader, but you can't expect the leader to help you decide everything and prepare everything.

You have to exert subjective initiative, and on the premise of doing your own job well, actively care about changes in the situation.

Especially changes in organizational ecology, some personnel changes and business drivers, all must be understood and mastered.

Only by mastering these can you actively stand up and do some things when the leader needs you, and only then will the leader use you.

If the leader doesn't move, you don't move; are you waiting for the leader to beg you to move?

They are all old comrades. After three years of getting along, this tacit understanding is still there.

"His leader in charge is no longer Vice Director Su."

Yu Decai narrowed his eyes slightly, turned the teacup in his hand, and continued: "Even if Vice Director Su has support and connections from above, what does that have to do with him?"

"Besides, Vice Director Su wants to move so many people at once. Daring to continue investigating to this point is just courting death."

He picked up the teacup and took a sip, saying lightly: "Vice Director Su has a pawn to cushion him, does he still want to follow him to his death?"

It's not dangerous to find out that Director Li's wife is in office, and it's nothing to find out that relatives of other related units are in office.

Lu Xun has a good saying: if they say you can, you can, even if you can't; if they say you can't, you can't, even if you can.

It's the same here. If they say it's not okay for Director Li's wife to hold a post in a related business unit, then it's not okay.

But if no one above is pursuing it and no one below is reporting it, who would care about these things?

Look at Director Li's wife; she is so low-key, never stepping out of the house, which is quite enough.

Investigating further, investigating the Beijing supply chain network, how big a pot does Su Weide want to cook this dish in?

The final mine is Zhou Xiaobai, but it might not necessarily be Zhou Xiaobai.

Li Xuewu's methods are unpredictable; maybe he has circled someone in, investigating something extraordinary.

A Zhou Xiaobai can involve so many relationships; can Su Weide believe she has no relationship background?

Su Weide must be thinking seriously about whether this Zhou Xiaobai is someone he can handle.

What should he do if he really can't handle it?

Zhou Zechuan is also an old discipline inspector. He lost his way because of greed before, but now he understands as soon as it's pointed out.

If something happens, Old Su will definitely dump him to take the blame, because he is the discipline inspection division chief.

Old Su doesn't even manage discipline inspection work anymore, so he can explain it clearly to those above.

Besides, this point of Zhou Xiaobai exploded, and with Zhou Zechuan on top, wouldn't there be others to continue stepping on the next mine?

Su Weide has also thought it through: you Li Xuewu can't bury mines beside Li Huai De forever. I'll let people keep stepping forward, and I don't believe you have a net that covers everything.

Indeed, he has no net that covers everything.

But don't look at Zhou Zechuan as someone brought by Su Weide; he is not willing to take this blame, and even less willing to be cannon fodder for stepping on mines.

"I understood as soon as he told me this."

Yu Decai nodded slightly and said to Li Xuewu: "I didn't give him a clear attitude at the time, just told him that since he discovered a problem, he could continue to investigate."

"I told him this is the responsibility of discipline inspection. If there is a need, the security department can support discipline inspection work at any time."

Support? Support my ass—

Zhou Zechuan is not a big fool. He doesn't believe a single punctuation mark of Yu Decai's words, because this is Li Xuewu's soldier.

Li Xuewu is that kind of person; can he still trust Yu Decai, the number one general under Li Xuewu in the security department?

Although Li Xuewu has left the security system now, his influence on the security system still exists.

Old Su hasn't had much influence on the security system since he took office, not even much influence on personnel.

Let's put it this way: there are so many people in the group, but anyone who actively leans toward him, if they are really arranged to come to the security department, they have to squint.

It's not like there weren't jumpy ones before, but under Li Xuewu's hands, they were all disciplined and obedient.

Ding Xuebo, who was thrown out by Gu Weijie as a stepping stone, had a miserable end and doesn't even have cadre status now.

Of course, his bad luck wasn't because of Li Xuewu, but because he was disciplined for opposing Old Li.

But the result is the same; the security department can only have one voice.

So Yu Decai said he would support him, but Zhou Zechuan absolutely didn't believe it.

Support what?

By the time the Security Division supports him, it won't be him anymore—will they support him with gun barrels?

No matter how direct Old Su's influence is, he cannot shake the foundation of the Security Division; Wang Xiaoqin is the one who calls the shots here.

Who is Wang Xiaoqin? Li Xuewu's comrade-in-arms.

Therefore, Zhou Zechuan thought it through very clearly: if Old Su asks him to investigate Zhou Xiaobai, Li Xuewu could dig a pit for him to jump into within minutes.

Or rather, the current case is already a giant pit.

"These Chinese cabbages, they're great—"

Li Xuewu came to the courtyard to pick up Li Ning to go home, and seeing the neighbors in the courtyard busy at work, he smiled and greeted them.

Seventh Sister-in-law, from Old Qi's family, saw him and responded very enthusiastically: "Xuewu, has your family bought Chinese cabbage yet?"

"You talk too much nonsense—" Old Qi came out from the main gate and sprayed at the back of his wife's head: "Could the Secretary-General's family possibly be short of cabbage to eat?"

"Hey—what kind of talk is that!"

Li Xuewu was so amused he laughed, reaching out as if to punch him, but Old Qi dodged it with a laugh.

Only then did Seventh Sister-in-law realize the two were just joking around, but because one of them was Li Xuewu, she still felt terrified and gave a dry laugh.

"You just know how to blather on, you scared me."

She took the opportunity to punch Old Qi on the shoulder, then said politely to Li Xuewu: "I saw Aunt Liu busy finishing up this morning."

"Guodong must have brought it back for her."

Li Xuewu smiled, and seeing many neighbors watching him, he mentioned it in passing: "It's like this every year."

"Guodong is a good man." Old Qi said something pertinent: "The snow came early this year, so the cabbage and radishes came down early too."

"Isn't that right? The recycling station stopped work for two days, and he organized workers to help families in the neighborhood who had trouble hauling back their cabbage and radishes."

Other neighbors also spoke in praise of Shen Guodong's righteous act, saying that he led the neighbors to start a small factory to make money, solving the employment problems of many unemployed youths.

Moreover, whenever there was any difficulty in the neighborhood, he was always the first to step forward; he was a genuinely warm-hearted person.

"That's why the neighborhood accepted him as a member of the organization." Old Qi smiled and tilted his chin at the First Elder who was walking out of the gate, saying: "Right, First Elder? I admire this the most."

"You're the one who talks too much—" Yi Zhonghai said with a smile: "Hurry up and move them into your house; it's your family every year, always waiting until the very last minute."

"This is called good food doesn't fear being late—"

Old Qi also accepted the First Elder's reminder and urging, laughing as he shouldered the bag of Chinese cabbage from the tricycle and headed straight inside the gate.

"Here to pick up the child." Yi Zhonghai greeted Li Xuewu: "You came at just the right time today; the courtyard is really lively."

"I heard, quite a few children, right?"

Li Xuewu laughed; standing at the main gate, he could hear the children's laughter and joy—this courtyard had really opened a kindergarten.

He wasn't in a hurry to walk into the courtyard because the main gate was almost blocked; every family was moving cabbage into the courtyard.

If you ask why they don't buy it during the day or on the weekend, it's very simple: no time, and they are in a rush.

Many families are dual-income, and both are at work during the day; where would they find the time to go to the main street to buy cabbage?

Only those with elderly people at home would struggle to buy cabbage and radishes ahead of time.

Because they pick them early, they are all good ones, and there is less waste.

If you wait until you get off work in the evening or go buy them on the weekend, those are almost all the leftovers picked over by everyone else, or there are more crooked and ugly ones.

People in this country are just like this; they are in a hurry to do everything, even when they know the goods are right there, they insist on lining up to wait.

Old Qi and his wife are not a dual-income couple; his wife would sleep until noon at home without even thinking about going out to buy vegetables.

She has to wait for the head of the household, Old Qi, to return; otherwise, the couple would fight, because Old Qi is narrow-minded and fussy.

He finds fault with whatever his wife buys, and Old Qi's wife is also a spirited one, so she simply waits for him to come back to buy everything.

That the couple has been able to live together until now and have four children must be true love.

"Have you finished tidying up your winter vegetables at home?"

Li Xuewu found a moment to walk into the courtyard with the First Elder, saying politely: "We'll be moving into the high-rises this winter."

"I'm just discussing it with Zhuzi—"

Yi Zhonghai was out returning a bag; their family had also just finished tidying up their winter vegetables.

At this moment, as he entered the courtyard with Li Xuewu, hearing him mention moving into the high-rises, he said: "Zhuzi is a bit reluctant to leave this courtyard."

"He would be reluctant." Li Xuewu said with a smile: "He only finished renovating that house of his a year ago; why would he be willing to trade it for a high-rise apartment?"

"Aihai, you hit the nail on the head!"

Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives; the two had just entered the outer courtyard when they saw the window of the inverted room pushed open, and Seeing Sha Zhu poked his head out to chime in.

He laughed and pointed to his own house inside the hanging flower gate, telling the two: "No matter how I look at this house of mine, it's perfectly square and upright; I'm not trading it, no matter how big an apartment you give me, I won't trade."

"The First Elder and First Aunt want to live in a high-rise." Li Xuewu teased Yi Zhonghai and said with a smile: "Can't you be considerate of the two old folks?"

Yi Zhonghai, of course, knew he was joking; he looked at Seeing Sha Zhu and didn't speak, waiting for him to continue.

"Don't try to persuade us; First Aunt has no intention of moving into a high-rise."

Seeing Sha Zhu raised his eyebrows and said: "The other day, Diliya and I took the child and brought the First Elder and First Aunt to the construction site to see."

"I didn't need to say anything, I didn't need to persuade them; just seeing the height of those high-rises, First Aunt didn't want to trade houses anymore—living here is quite good."

He rambled: "I've heard it all; our group is going to integrate the housing of these residents and carry out secondary renovation and resettlement."

"Is that what it means?"

"Oh, right, I also wanted to ask you."

Hearing Seeing Sha Zhu say this, Yi Zhonghai also became interested and looked at Li Xuewu, asking: "What is the group going to use our houses for after trading them?"

"It can't be to reallocate them to other factory workers, right?"

"Once they are taken back, they are taken back."

Li Xuewu explained to the two: "Reallocation is impossible; in the future, the group will only provide housing rewards to a small number of high-end technical talents and workers with special contribution awards."

"As for the recovered residences in the city, they will generally be integrated and processed, which means they will be redeployed."

He raised his hand to signal Seeing Sha Zhu and said: "For 'nail households' like those in the courtyard, they basically won't be moved, but some residents from other courtyards who are unwilling to move into high-rises will be migrated here to live."

"We always need to regulate some overall courtyards to carry out re-decoration and organization, to be used as the group's offices or commercial housing."

"Used for commerce? A courtyard like this?"

Seeing Sha Zhu looked at Li Xuewu with some surprise, leaning on the window and asking: "What kind of commerce can you do in a courtyard like this?"

"That's none of your business; just take care of yourself."

Li Xuewu smiled and retorted, then signaled toward the hanging flower gate and said: "I'll go home and take a look first; you two keep busy."

"Are you staying here for dinner tonight?"

Seeing Sha Zhu greeted him with a smile: "Old Shang doesn't know where he dug up some river fish; stay and have a drink tonight?"

"Not drinking; drinking with you is not challenging."

Li Xuewu had already entered the hanging flower gate, but his tongue was sharp as a knife, almost digging a hole for Seeing Sha Zhu.

Yi Zhonghai looked at his frustrated expression and smiled, reminding him: "Stop thinking about drinking; your body isn't old yet, but you're full of ailments."

"I'm not even there yet; I'm still young." Seeing Sha Zhu said to the First Elder, then asked seriously: "If you and First Aunt like living in a high-rise, let's trade the old lady's house in the back courtyard for one; even if it's a small one, you can live there first."

He pointed toward the direction of the First Elder's house in the back courtyard and said: "We'll keep that room of yours; you can come back whenever you want."

"How many more days can this body of ours live?"

Yi Zhonghai was also speaking the truth, because Seeing Sha Zhu had already clearly indicated that he would support him in his old age.

Although he hadn't been recognized as a foster father, he had let He Zhuang kowtow to him and his wife, and he had been calling them Grandpa and Grandma ever since.

Diliya was even closer to the two of them; the child had been thrown into their house since she was small, and it had always been the old lady who took care of her.

This was trust, and it was also closeness.

The two stood there talking, without hiding anything, and without any calculation or hypocrisy.

Yi Zhonghai tilted his chin, signaling toward the direction of the courtyard, where the children's laughter and noise were coming from.

"Looking at He Zhuang, he's about to grow up; haven't you thought about the future?"

He reminded Seeing Sha Zhu: "Diliya works at the recycling station, but she doesn't have proper medical and educational benefits; the child still depends on you."

"Looking at the current teaching conditions and situation, He Zhuang will still have to go to the United School in the future; at the very least, his job will be guaranteed."

Yi Zhonghai said in a very earnest tone: "If you really want the child to go to the United School, starting from kindergarten, with such a long distance, have you thought about how to pick him up and drop him off?"

"Then what should I do?" Seeing Sha Zhu understood the First Elder's meaning and asked with a slight frown: "Do I really have to trade for a house in the Workers' New Village?"

"If you ask me, you have to consider it this way."

Yi Zhonghai tapped the windowsill and said softly: "Take advantage of the fact that First Aunt's legs and feet are still good, so she can take care of the child for you for a few years."

"We aren't after that high-rise apartment; just like you said, when He Zhuang gets a little older and I retire, I really want to come back and live here."

"Then let's trade the house in the back courtyard for one."

Seeing Sha Zhu thought for a moment and made up his mind: "We'll still keep your house for you; if that doesn't work, I'll add more money."

"I say we just trade mine together." Yi Zhonghai thought for a moment and said: "There's no money in our hands now, and you..."

"No, that's not appropriate." Seeing Sha Zhu waved his hand to refuse: "First Aunt's health is not good; if she suddenly changes environments, she won't be able to take it."

"It's not that I oppose you moving into the upper house to live with us." Seeing Sha Zhu explained patiently: "Yushui bought a house herself; the house was ready before the New Year, and after the renovation, she moved out."

"When did that happen? Why didn't you say a word—"

Yi Zhonghai looked at Seeing Sha Zhu and said: "You, as an older brother, sigh... I even told First Aunt that if Yushui needed money, we should give it to her immediately."

"She can toss and turn on her own; let her be."

Seeing Sha Zhu was also helpless; his own sister hadn't told him about buying a house in the Workers' New Village, and he only found out after seeing the list.

Don't even ask; with his sister's current salary and her previous savings, it was absolutely impossible for her to buy such a big house.

The list marked it as a full-payment commercial property, which had nothing to do with mortgage replacement, let alone a loan; there was no need for him to ask anything.

Ask where the money for the house came from?

He knew even without asking, and asking would only make things more awkward.

Yi Zhonghai seemed to have realized something too; he didn't say anything more, just nodded and said: "Don't be too nervous; First Aunt and I still have some savings, and sooner or later, they will all be yours."

"Please stop, you should say less of this old-fashioned talk."

Seeing Sha Zhu was truly righteous and had pure filial piety; he said seriously to the First Elder: "I hope you live a long life and enjoy more blessings."

Regarding the First Elder's health, everyone actually knew very clearly that because the Second Elder in the back courtyard had made such a scene, his health had suffered.

If you talk about shortening his life, no one could estimate it accurately, but in the last two years, it was obvious that the First Elder's health was aging rapidly.

When Li Xuewu picked up Li Ning and came out of the courtyard, the two were still chatting there, their expressions full of emotion.

"Say goodbye to Grandpa Elder, say goodbye to Grandpa."

Li Xuewu taught his son to speak, holding his little hand to greet the two.

Li Ning was a bit shy, but he wasn't a stranger; he knew both of them, especially Seeing Sha Zhu, who would tease him whenever he saw him.

At this moment, Li Ning was too embarrassed to greet them, but insisted on holding his hand to wave at the two; he looked extremely cute.

As long as the weather was good and Li Xuewu wasn't busy, Li Ning would come to Grandma's house to spend the day.

Er Ya had just become familiar with the work environment at home, and Liu Yin wasn't at ease leaving her alone to take care of the child.

Hearing that her son had found another nanny at home, she had also gone twice to carefully observe Er Ya's character and ability to do things.

She was not a mean person, and certainly not an old landlady.

It was out of concern for her son and daughter-in-law, and also out of care for her granddaughter and grandson, that she came to the house.

Of course, she wouldn't pressure her son with whatever was on her mind, but would just speak out in the form of chatting.

However, after Er Ya experienced the initial panic and blindness, she had settled down recently.

Sometimes Gu Ning would secretly tell Li Xuewu that Er Ya would hide in her quilt and cry at night; when Li Xuewu asked her how she knew, she only said she guessed.

This wasn't fortune-telling; doctors always have a meticulous ability to observe the human body.

Traditional Chinese medicine pays attention to looking, listening, asking, and feeling the pulse; Gu Ning had read plenty of books on traditional Chinese medicine, and sometimes when Li Shun came home, he would also give lectures to his daughter-in-law.

This was the benefit of a medical family; with three medical workers at home, at least the medical experience was worth sharing.

Er Ya's red eyes, swollen eyes, or the suppressed sobbing she heard when she came down at night—this was the evidence for her guess.

Li Xuewu had no way to deal with this; he still remembered that when he lived at school in middle school "in the past," he had also missed home and cried like this.

It was just that transportation in later generations was relatively developed, and wanting to go home was a matter of a month, not like Er Ya, who couldn't go home once a year.

He had wanted to make a phone call to Jicheng so Er Ya could hear the local accent, but unfortunately, there was no phone in their village.

If he really called Da Qiangzi, Er Ya herself wouldn't want it; she was very afraid that her brother would say she wasn't strong enough, wanting to go home just a few days after coming to the capital.

Children who grow up in the soil always have a kind of resilience.

Even if she cried at night, she wouldn't look sad during the day, except for her red eyes.

Perhaps this is the process of a young person's growth; as time passes, the number of times Er Ya is this sad becomes fewer and fewer.

Until the first heavy snow fell, one could even hear the Errenzhuan folk tunes in the kitchen, and the singing was quite meaningful.

(End of Chapter)