Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 108

Then he suddenly saw He Yuzhu wink at him. He was so shrewd that he instantly understood what He Yuzhu meant: he didn't have any money, but Lao Yi did!

Then Xu Wude changed the subject and asked, "Grandma, you don't want Yi Zhonghai to go to jail either, do you?"

The old lady was instantly displeased. Yes, whether Yi Zhonghai could get out depended on Xu Wude's attitude.

He asked, "Hey, Mr. Xu, what do you want?"

Xu Wude said, "This is very simple. You give me 1,500 yuan, and I will immediately withdraw the report."

"What? Fifteen hundred yuan? Are you out of your mind?" the old lady shouted.

Liu Haizhong was also a bit dumbfounded. Just now he was thinking that it was too much for He Yuzhu to ask for 1,000 yuan, and no one expected that Xu Wude would ask for 1,500 yuan in the blink of an eye.

Xu Damao could have lost his life if he had attacked He Yuzhu, so the matter was quite serious. However, Yi Zhonghai only said one more thing to Xu Damao, and now he wants to pay 1,500 yuan to settle the matter.

This compensation is too much. When did money become so worthless?

The old lady said anxiously, "Mr. Xu, you're asking for way too much. Zhonghai only said one thing, why do you want to pay so much?"

Xu Wude explained, "Grandma, I had no choice. I can't just let Lao Yi out and leave my son in the juvenile detention center, can I?"

"But..." the old lady wanted to argue further.

Xu Wude said, "Grandma, if Yi Zhonghai wants to come out, he should come out with Da Mao, otherwise he shouldn't come out at all."

The old lady was dumbfounded: "How...how can these be confused?"

Xu Wude said, "Old Yi is the mastermind, and my son is just an accomplice. It's clearly a case, so of course we should talk about it together."

"You..." The old lady was so angry that she couldn't speak.

"To me, Da Mao is more important than Lao Yi. Only when Da Mao comes out can Lao Yi come out."

The old lady nearly vomited blood from bottling up her anger.

Liu Haizhong advised, "Grandma, why don't you go back and discuss it with Sister-in-law Yi? It's the right thing to do to get Old Yi out as soon as possible."

The old lady thought again. Although 1500 yuan was a lot, it wasn't the worst-case scenario. The worst-case scenario, of course, was that the two sides couldn't reach an agreement, and no matter how much money was given, it wouldn't make a difference. That was the truly troublesome situation.

Taking a deep breath, the old lady realized what was happening.

Right now, we need to get Lao Yi out as soon as possible. Otherwise, if he's sentenced and loses his job, he won't be able to make a living.

At this point, I started to regret it. It turns out that the money given to Sha Zhu was also paid by Lao Yi.

I didn't think 1000 yuan was a lot before, but now I feel like I gave Sha Zhu too much.

"Zhu Zi, you're perfectly fine. Isn't asking for 1000 yuan too much? You bastard..."

"Stop! Old lady, you just said 1000 yuan wasn't much, how come you're saying it's too much now? Besides, Yi Zhonghai isn't my uncle anymore. He can order Xu Damao to chop me up, and I'm still going to call him uncle? That's not how you behave!"

"What nonsense is this kid spouting? Old Yi didn't mean it. He was just venting his anger and didn't really mean anything by it."

He Yuzhu said fiercely, "Grandma, don't bother explaining anymore. What do you mean by unintentional? He clearly wishes I were dead."

Although He Yuzhu was very angry before, he was, after all, a model young man born under the red flag and raised in the spring breeze, and never thought of doing anything to them.

But now he knows that Yi Zhonghai secretly wishes Xu Damao would take a kitchen knife and chop him up.

what is this?

Isn't this just trying to kill yourself?

Even if they don't die, it's common to be half-paralyzed or lose an arm or a leg.

He Yuzhu was so angry that he wanted to tear Yi Zhonghai to pieces, but he wasn't in a hurry to get revenge. He wanted to swindle a thousand yuan first and make Old Yi feel the pinch, and then he could play around with it slowly later and let him save up some money first.

The old lady pouted and didn't say anything more to dissuade her.

He sighed and said, "Zhu Zi, this was just an accident, don't take it to heart. It's settled then, the Yi family will pay you two 1500 yuan to write a letter of understanding."

He Yuzhu and Xu Wude exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.

Xu Wude was extremely satisfied. The 1000 yuan compensation to He Yuzhu was essentially paid by Lao Yi, and he could still keep 500 yuan. Although it didn't make up for his losses, it was enough to offset most of them.

Overall, the situation is still acceptable.

He Yuzhu sighed. He originally wanted to make Xu Wude bleed a lot, but he didn't expect Yi Zhonghai to get involved as well. In the end, it was all Yi Zhonghai's money that was spent.

But this is not bad either. If it weren't for Lao Yi's money, Xu Wude really wouldn't have been able to get much out of him. He couldn't very well have Xu Zhaodi pay off the debt.

The old lady didn't want to stay there for even a minute. Seeing that the two men agreed and confirmed that they weren't lying to her, she got up and went back.

Liu Haizhong said, "Let's go to the police station together tomorrow morning."

He Yuzhu said, "No problem."

Xu Wude instructed, "Make sure they have the money ready. I won't go in unless they give me the money."

"Don't worry, you'll get your money back."

Liu Haizhong then said, "Old Xu, I never thought you could turn things around like this."

He gave He Yuzhu 1000 of the 1500 yuan, leaving Xu Wude with 500 yuan. This was a sum he couldn't save in two years, and he was on the verge of becoming a penniless pauper. But suddenly he had a sense of security.

At that time, everyone was struggling financially. Most of the 20 households in the courtyard couldn't afford 100 yuan.

"I didn't want this to happen either; I almost lost my underwear."

Liu Haizhong shook his head, then nodded. He was initially annoyed that he didn't have the brains to buy grain from He Yuzhu.

Who knew that in the blink of an eye, Xu Wude was arrested, and all the grain was confiscated.

Then I was glad I didn't take that step; Hulwood was a cautionary tale.

After exchanging a few words, Liu Haizhong left first, but Xu Wude lingered, wanting to speak with He Yuzhu alone.

"Zhu Zi, your Uncle Xu is so sorry!"

As he said this, Xu Wude knelt down. He Yuzhu was too close and had no choice but to reach out to help him up.

Taking advantage of the situation, Xu Wude stopped kneeling and was helped to sit on a chair next to him by He Yuzhu.

“Zhu Zi, my grain was confiscated. It’s not that I know it was you who reported it, but I just didn’t have time to tell Da Mao that child.”

Xu Damao knew very well who the whistleblower was; it was not He Yuzhu at all.

Who knew that Xu Damao's foolish son would be so easily provoked by Yi Zhonghai that he grabbed a kitchen knife and came to fight He Yuzhu.

Xu Wude knew that he needed to make a certain gesture to dispel He Yuzhu's resentment and prevent her from targeting him again in the future.

Although the news hadn't spread yet, the police officers at the police station had already explained that he no longer held the identity of the "manager of the compound."

After all, Xu Wude was buying and selling grain when everyone was starving. Although he was not guilty enough to go to jail, he would still be punished. The most direct punishment was that he would lose his position as the head of the management office.

They'll be just ordinary people again. This time they squeezed so much money out of Yi Zhonghai, who might make things difficult for them in the future.

The best course of action would be for me to stand with He Yuzhu and fight together against Yi Zhonghai's retaliation.

He Yuzhu said, "Uncle Xu, you're really too kind to me. Da Mao is still young and acts impulsively. I won't blame him. If Yi Zhonghai hadn't been talking nonsense behind his back, Da Mao wouldn't have done such a thing."

“Zhu Zi, it’s good that you can be reasonable. Thank you, Uncle Xu. It’s too late today, but I’ll host a feast for Da Mao tomorrow night when he comes out so he can apologize to you.”

"Uncle Xu, you're too kind."

He Yuzhu knew he had to accept the invitation, otherwise it would be a sign that he had not forgiven them.

After exchanging a few words, He Yuzhu saw Xu Wude out of the tavern.

Turning around and coming in, Xu Huizhen asked, "How did things go?"

He Yuzhu explained the result, and Xu Huizhen said fiercely, "In my opinion, you've let him off too easily. They should both be in jail."

"You still don't quite understand social etiquette. We've grown up together as neighbors, so I can't be too ruthless."

He Yuzhu knew how much money Yi Zhonghai's family had. After losing 1500 yuan, there was practically nothing left.

That's why I only asked for 1000 yuan; I wanted to find a way to squeeze every last drop out of Yi Zhonghai's wealth and harvest all the savings he had accumulated over the years.

Although one can use their mind to take money out, one must still have basic moral principles; one cannot steal.

It would be better to just let Yi Zhonghai hand it over himself.

As for future retaliation, He Yuzhu certainly wouldn't tell Xu Huizhen; how could he let others know about such a thing?

The next morning, the old lady, Aunt Yi, Xu Wude's family, and He Yuzhu came to the police station together.

Right outside the police station, Aunt Yi reluctantly handed over her savings of 1300 yuan, including small yellow croakers and silver coins, to Xu Wude.

Xu Wude checked and exclaimed in surprise, "Wasn't it supposed to be 1500? How come it's only 1300? You don't want Lao Yi to come out, do you?"

Aunt Yi said, "Xu Wude, since you were able to get out of the police station, shouldn't the 200 yuan fine that my husband paid be included in that amount?"

"this..."

Xu Wude wanted to say that the 200 yuan didn't count, but he had already admitted when he came out of the police station that the 200 yuan was borrowed from Yi Zhonghai.

He Yuzhu was secretly delighted. After calculating this, Xu Wude wouldn't have much money left after paying off his debts.

He advised, "Uncle Xu, this is not bad. After all your efforts, you haven't lost money, so don't cause any more trouble."

"Alright then." Xu Wude could only reluctantly agree, realizing he had completely forgotten to repay Yi Zhonghai the two hundred yuan he had borrowed.

He Yuzhu received 1,000 yuan of the 1300 yuan, while Xu Wude only received the remaining 300 yuan.

After the two split the money, Aunt Yi urged, "I think we should hurry inside."

Having received the money, they naturally had to get things done, so the two went inside and found Ye Dapeng.