A hundred flavors of life

Chapter 1470 Even I'm afraid of him when he gets ruthless! (Please subscribe!)
On the way back, Cui Mengmeng, sitting on the crossbar of the car, hesitated for a moment before finally expressing her doubts:

"Dad, you seem a little different today."

Hua Shier chuckled: "Don't you think your old man is more handsome now?"

Cui Mengmeng looked at him seriously:
"I do have that feeling, but what I want to ask about is what just happened. I feel that if it were the old you, you wouldn't have done something like that; you would have definitely punched him!"

Erpang, who was in the back seat, nodded vigorously when he heard what his sister said:
"Uncle, I also think this isn't like you!"

Hua Twelve smiled faintly:
"I'm teaching you both a lesson, telling you not to act impulsively when things happen. The most important thing is to use your brain. First, observe the enemy's weaknesses, and then use those weaknesses to force them to submit. That's much more effective than beating them up!"

The two children nodded thoughtfully, and Cui Mengmeng said:

"Dad, then buy me a hair clip, a ten-yuan Mickey Mouse one. If you don't buy it for me, I'll tell Mom you're hiding money!"

Hua Shier was speechless; it was hard to learn good things, but it was easy to learn bad things.
He naturally couldn't let a little brat control him, so he coughed lightly:
"Then I'll tell your classmates, you're already in elementary school and still..."

Before the words "bedwetting" even left her lips, Cui Mengmeng was already convinced, her face breaking into a smile, instantly transforming into a sweet and adorable daughter:

"Dad, I was just joking with you, why did you take it seriously!"

Hua Shier snorted but didn't say anything.

A moment later, Cui Mengmeng asked again, "Dad, how much did that red car he was driving cost?"

"That car is a Xiali, right? It's worth about 110,000 or 120,000 yuan now, what's wrong?"

Hua Shier knew perfectly well that her daughter was starting to compare herself to others. In the original story, Cui Guoming had promised to buy his daughter a Xiali car, but he had never been able to do so.

Sure enough, Cui Mengmeng said:
"Several classmates in my class have families that bought that car this year. When will our family buy one too?"

Hua Shier said as he pedaled his bicycle:
"Several students in the city got first place in the district last semester. When are you going to get first place in the district too?"

"Oh, Dad, these can't be the same!"

Cui Mengmeng immediately became anxious. Although she was a good student, there was still a considerable gap between her and the top student in the district, and she was also far behind the top student in the school.

Hua Twelve said:
"How is it different? You see your classmate's family bought a car, and you want to buy one too. That's called keeping up with the Joneses!"

"That's the same thing. Your dad also has a competitive spirit. When I see other kids getting first place in the whole district, I also want my daughter to get first place in the whole district. Isn't that the same thing?"

Sitting on the crossbeam, Cui Mengmeng tossed the powder and said, "Dad, you're so boring!"

Hua Twelve chuckled:
"How about this: you take the lead in getting first place in the whole district to satisfy Dad's competitive spirit, and Dad will buy a car to satisfy my daughter's competitive spirit. How about we make a fair exchange?"

Cui Mengmeng hummed twice, clearly lacking confidence, but finally said:
"Alright, I'll give it my best, but don't back out later!"

Erpang, sitting on the back of the bicycle, said, "I think bicycles are fine, there's no difference!"

Cui Mengmeng made an excuse: "You're in a car, not riding a bike. Look how tired my dad is!"

Hua Shier shook his head and smiled, then suggested:

"The Xiali car is so ugly. How about this, you've seen Andy Lau's 'A Moment of Romance,' right? The fiery chariot he rode was so cool. After you do well on your final exams this time, Dad will buy you one of those cars and get you a helmet. Then Dad will ride it to school with you."

He hummed a tune as he spoke: "Let the breeze stir your long hair, let it guide your dreams. Doesn't that sound cool?"

When Cui Mengmeng thought of the scene Hua Shier described, she was immediately tempted and nodded repeatedly, thinking that it would be even better if her father could be replaced by Andy Lau.

Hua Shier had no idea what this little brat was thinking. He just thought the kid was easy to fool, and he could just find an excuse to take out the 'Fiery Chariot' and ride it later.

Instead of riding home, he took Erpang to Dingqinglou.

Dingqinglou is a nearly 100-year-old restaurant. Now, Cui Guoming's father, Mr. Wang, or rather, Mr. Cui, is the manager of Dingqinglou, and Cui Guoming's wife, Li Xiaozhen, is the accountant. So going there is no different from going home.

Erpang's father is in jail and his mother is abroad. The child usually lives with his maternal grandparents, and of course, his uncle and aunt also have to take care of him.

Hua Shier thought about it and felt it was quite strange. In the previous world, he was someone else's nephew, living in his uncle's house. In this world, he had a nephew to take care of. Hey, what a twist of fate.

Outside Dingqing Tower, Hua Shier locked his bicycle and let the two children go in first. As he turned around, he saw a disheveled young man in tattered clothes sitting opposite Dingqing Tower. He knew that was Ji Qiang.

Ji Qiang is also a tragic figure in the "Uncle's World". In the early 80s, he was admitted to a prestigious university in Beijing, but he was forced to give up his enrollment opportunity because his father could not afford the tuition and travel expenses.

His father committed suicide by jumping into a well out of guilt and self-blame. This double blow caused Ji Qiang to suffer a mental breakdown and fall into a state of madness, becoming a homeless person outside Dingqinglou.

Grandpa Cui and Cui Guoming's family felt sorry for him and would process the leftovers from the restaurant for him, allowing him to barely survive. However, Dingqinglou was later privately contracted out, and Ji Qiang eventually died on the street.

Although the medical staff who came to collect the body in the original drama said it was a sudden hemangioma, Hua Shier complained when he watched it: "Do you have an X-ray or an MRI? You don't use any machines, how can you tell it's a ruptured hemangioma just by looking at the body?"

Hua Shier walked up to Ji Qiang and saw the latter squatting on the ground with a geometry book next to him, doing problems by drawing on the ground with pebbles.

"Is Ji Qiang studying again?"

As Hua Shier spoke, he reached out and grabbed Ji Qiang's wrist. The latter struggled a few times but couldn't break free. In that short time, Hua Shier had already felt Ji Qiang's pulse.

"Emotional distress is the primary cause, injuring the liver first. It disrupts the flow of Qi, causing phlegm to cloud the heart. It depletes the heart's blood, leaving the spirit without nourishment. Thankfully, you don't have schizophrenia. I'll treat your illness later!"

Hua Shier released Ji Qiang, waved with a smile, and then turned and entered Dingqing Tower.

As soon as we entered Dingqinglou, we saw Old Master Cui and an old lady carrying an enamel rice bowl out.

Hua Shier possesses Cui Guoming's memories, replacing his identity and inheriting his cause and effect. His past and personal experiences are identical, and he feels no burden when addressing people.
"Mom and Dad, this is to deliver food to Ji Qiang!"

Although the old lady is old, she has a good temperament. In her youth, she was a famous opera star in the province. The artistic talent of Cui Xiaohong and Cui Guoming, siblings, was inherited from her.

The old lady was overjoyed to see her son: "Your dad has made another big pot of mixed stew to fool Qiangzi!"

Old Master Cui chuckled:
“I don’t like hearing that. What do you mean by fooling me? Qiangzi loves vegetarian food. I was even planning to name this dish 'Vegetarian Stew'!”

Hua Shier smiled and said, "I think it's a good idea. My dad's cooking skills are impeccable; everything he makes tastes delicious!"

Grandpa Cui was somewhat surprised: "Hey, you can speak human language now!"

Hua Shier turned around and walked inside. This old man doesn't even know how to have a conversation!

"Sister Zhou!"

"Xiao Zhang!"

Hua Shier greeted two waitresses in the restaurant. Sister Zhou was an old-timer at Dingqinglou. Xiao Zhang was young and beautiful but hadn't worked for many years. She was introduced to Fatty Zhang Hailong by his wife, Li Xiaozhen, which became the root of Zhang Hailong's tragedy.

The main issue is the stark difference in appearance between the man and woman. Xiao Zhang is young and beautiful, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she looks like a star. Although Zhang Hailong is Hua Shier's friend, the latter has to admit that this guy's image is rather far-fetched, and he's only saying this from the perspective of a good friend.

If you don't get along, then no swearing is allowed!

Such a couple, with the woman fair-skinned and beautiful and the man sleazy and low-class, could only be kept together if, like Wang Ying the Dwarf Tiger, he killed Hu Sanniang's entire family, frightening her so that she dared not have any other thoughts. Otherwise, even if they managed to stay together temporarily, their relationship would hardly last long.

Zhang Hailong and Xiao Zhang are like that; their looks are too different. The latter is dissatisfied with life. In the original story, Xiao Zhang ran away with a boss. Zhang Hailong couldn't think straight, so he abandoned his infant child and committed suicide by jumping into the river.

However, with Hua Twelve in this life, such a thing is destined to be impossible.

A Korean boss? Break his legs!

The woman tried to run, so his legs were broken! Zhang Hailong tried to jump into the river? His legs were broken!

When Hua Shier gets angry, he doesn't care about family or relatives, and even he himself is afraid.

Upon reaching the finance office of Dingqing Building, he peeked inside and saw Cui Mengmeng and Erpang doing their homework. Behind the desk, a young woman was calculating accounts; this was his wife in this world, Li Xiaozhen.

This woman isn't stunningly beautiful, but she's the kind of woman whose beauty grows on you; the longer you spend time with her, the more charming you find her.

Li Xiaozhen was tutoring Erpang with his homework when she looked up and saw Hua Shier peeking at her. A smile appeared in her eyes.

"What are you doing, sneaking around like that? Are you hiding something from me?"

Hua Shier touched his nose: "It's nothing, it's just that Guo Dapao asked me to go out for drinks tonight, and I just wanted to let you know!"

He wasn't making this up; it really happened. Guo Dapao's real name is Guo Dalei. He's a butcher and Cui Guoming's high school classmate. The two are best friends.

This guy is also one of the most miserable people in "Old Uncle's World," and his misery is even greater than that of Cui Guoming.

In recent years, Guo Dapao has suffered a series of misfortunes, including the unexpected death of his mother, his father's paralysis due to cerebral thrombosis, and the death of his wife due to illness. He is now the only able-bodied man in his family, supporting his daughter who is in school and his bedridden father by selling meat.

To relieve stress, Guo Dapao went to a hair salon a few days ago, but was caught red-handed by Uncle Hat because his attempt to have sex failed. He was even interviewed by reporters on the spot and made it onto Donglin News.

I was just released today, and I called Cui Guoming's office first thing this morning to arrange to have barbecue together tonight.

Speaking of Guo Dapao, his bad luck isn't over yet. If it weren't for Hua Shier's intervention, tonight, this guy would have taken Cui Guoming's advice and gone to a blind fortune teller to seek a change of fortune.

The fortune teller said that he had accumulated a lot of blood debts because of selling meat. He told him to go to the riverbank to burn paper money and throw away the boning knife, which would redeem the blood debts. After that, he would have no worries about food and clothing and would become very famous in the future.

As a result, the day after Guo Dapao went to the riverbank to burn paper money and throw away knives, an unidentified female corpse floated up from the riverbank where he threw away the knife.

Guo Dapao was identified by witnesses for his strange behavior and was listed as a major suspect due to his identity as a butcher.

Then, in order to avoid being bullied in the detention center, Guo Dapao boasted to other inmates that he was a murderer, which reversed the nature of the case. He was eventually sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve and served nearly 20 years in prison, which also confirmed the fortune teller's prediction that he would have no worries about food and clothing.

Hua Shier remembered that he had a date that evening, and just casually mentioned it.

Upon hearing that it was a gathering of shady friends, Li Xiaozhen immediately got up and came out, closing the finance office door behind her so the provincial children could hear her. Only then did she speak sternly:
"Didn't Guo Dapao get arrested? Can you please stay away from people like that? Don't go out at night, you hear me!"

Hua Shier thought about it and agreed, nodding immediately.
"Okay, I'll call him back. I won't be going tonight; I'm going to the night market to buy some books!"

Li Xiaozhen asked, "What books are you buying? Don't you have enough books at home? If you're preparing for graduate school, why are you buying so many books? I haven't seen your salary increase at all!"

This woman was just saying it casually; she wasn't exactly sharp-tongued, but her heart was softer than tofu. She added immediately after saying it:
"Go ahead, but don't spend more than fifty yuan!"

Hua Shier smiled and nodded: "Okay, I'll go make a call first!"

He ran to Old Master Cui's manager's office, picked up the phone, and called the vegetable market, asking for Guo Dapao, the butcher. After a while, Guo Dapao's voice came through the phone:

"Cui, what's wrong?"

"Dapao, I can't go over tonight. I have other things to do. Let's get together another day!"

Guo Dapao said somewhat dejectedly, "What could possibly be wrong with you? Fine, fine, then you'll have to treat us another day!"

Hua Shier smiled and agreed:

"Okay, I'll treat you then. Oh, by the way, I heard Uncle Hat is going to have another SH operation these past two nights. You just stay home and don't go running around, you hear me!"

After giving his instructions, Hua Shier hung up the phone. He wouldn't be going to the appointment that night, mainly for two reasons.

Firstly, Guo Dapao's bad luck starts tonight. Although Hua Shier is now Cui Guoming and no longer intends to give the other party that "fortune telling" idea, what if something unexpected happens and Guo Dapao repeats the same mistake?
It's better to avoid meeting at all, and change the date; maybe that will allow them to escape this predicament.

Secondly, in the original storyline, the floating female corpse, according to the police's examination, died around the same time as Guo Dapao threw the knife; otherwise, the latter wouldn't have become a suspect.

Hua Shier plans to go for a stroll along the riverbank in the next couple of days, perhaps to do something heroic, since saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda!

He hung up the phone and went downstairs to leave, just as he ran into Old Master Cui coming upstairs:
"It's so late, what are you still going to do?"

Hua Shier pointed outside and said, "I've recently become somewhat interested in traditional Chinese medicine. I plan to go to the night market to buy a few books and study them on my own. That way, you and the old lady won't need to go to the hospital for medical treatment anymore!"

He told Li Xiaozhen that buying books was true; Hua Shier planned to help Grandpa Cui and Grandma Cui improve their health, but he needed a reasonable explanation, so he bought two books on traditional Chinese medicine as a pretext.

Grandpa Cui was about to say something, but after thinking about it, he changed his mind and said, "Go ahead, but ride your bike slowly!"

"Okay!" Hua Twelve went out and rode off on his bicycle.

Grandpa Cui watched his son's retreating figure and sighed.

His son was exceptionally bright, excelling in everything he studied and possessing artistic talent. When his son wanted to go to the Central Conservatory of Music, Grandpa Cui stopped him. Later, when his son was admitted to the University of Technology and wanted to study aerospace, Grandpa Cui stopped him again, and in the end, his son could only become an engineer in a factory.

Although Grandpa Cui was acting out of a desire for stability, he sometimes felt guilty for not allowing his son to realize his talents and ambitions.

So even though Cui Guoming is over thirty and still not stable, and likes to cause trouble, the old man thought of those things from back then and thought, let him be a little spoiled, since it was him who stopped him in the first place.

Hua Shier rode his bicycle towards the night market. Just after turning a corner, he suddenly squeezed the handbrake to stop the bicycle and looked up at a rather large billiard hall on the side of the road.

He rode his bike over, locked it, went into the billiard hall, and asked the waiter who came to greet him:

Do you have any poles here?

"Hanging the cue" is actually a form of betting on billiards, usually involving agreeing on "how much per cue" or "how much per ball." This practice was common in billiard halls across the country during that era, although the names may vary from place to place.

Before the waiter could speak, the owner came out to greet him with a smile and said, "Yes, I'll call someone for you!"

Before long, the boss brought out a master of the game and asked Hua Shier how to play.

"How about the national standard ball? Five yuan a ball, is that okay? It's 5:30 now, I can play until 7!"

"Sure, let's go!"

The expert displayed the demeanor of a true expert, letting Hua Shier tee off first while he himself took out his special cue and made all sorts of pre-match preparations.

Hua Shier casually picked up a cue stick and blasted the ball away with a "bang," pocketing the colored ball. He then proceeded to hit the balls one by one, easily clearing the table in one shot, and then smiled and said:
"Thanks for the concession, you have eight balls left, forty!"

A true expert's skill is immediately apparent; Hua Shier's clean sweep of the table instantly drew the attention of top players.
"You've got some skills, bro! Then I won't hold back!"

The expert handed over forty yuan to Hua Shier, determined to use all his skills to defend the expert's dignity.

At seven o'clock, Hua Shier finished his game, paid the table fee, and left the billiard hall with more than five hundred yuan. Humming a little tune, he rode his bicycle to the night market.

Inside the billiards hall, the expert stared blankly in the direction Hua Shier had left, while the surrounding billiards enthusiasts buzzed with discussion:

"Holy crap, that's amazing! He cleared the entire table in one go. Is he a pro?"

"My brother plays professionally, and I've never seen him this good. He doesn't even look at the ball when he gets a pass, and his shot goes in every time."

The pool hall owner patted the expert on the shoulder to comfort him, saying, "What can you say if you're not as skilled as someone else?"

Thanks to 08a, Little Tiger of the Demon Realm, and Brother Li Meng of the God of Death for their donations, and thanks to the brothers who voted for monthly tickets and recommendations. Thank you so much!