Siheyuan: Start with a Truck Driver

The third uncle has lived in this courtyard for so many years, he is not a fool. He knows that although these security officers sometimes act tough, they will not mess around with such things. If it really goes to the police station, the comrades at the police station will definitely investigate the matter thoroughly. Yan Jiecheng must be lying.

But after all, he was his own son. Although he was angry, the third uncle could only bite the bullet and plead for Yan Jiecheng. He said to the security officer with a smile on his face: "Comrade, you see this child is ignorant, please bear with him. This ten yuan is not a small amount, can you give less?"

The security officer frowned, looking impatient: "This is already a favor from the boss lady. He should have gone to the police station to reflect on this matter. The wine bottle is ten yuan, and the wine is fifty cents, a total of ten yuan and fifty cents, not a cent less."

When the third uncle heard this, he was so distressed that he couldn't stop crying. These ten yuan and fifty cents were like the death of him. He gritted his teeth and continued, "Comrade, you see our family is not well off, can you give us less? Five yuan is okay?"

The security officer immediately got angry and glared at him: "Do you think this is a market to buy vegetables? Bargaining! This is compensation for the pub's losses, not a cent less. If you keep pestering me like this, I will take him back to the police station right now."

The third uncle was so scared that he trembled, but he still did not give up: "Comrade, please don't be angry, let's discuss it again. This child is ignorant, and we as parents are willing to educate him well. Please be merciful and give him a discount."

The security officer angrily shouted, "Are you done yet? Your son caused trouble in the tavern, broke an antique wine jug, and refused to pay for it. He should have been punished. You didn't teach him a lesson, but are still bargaining with me here. You are condoning his mistakes!"

The third uncle's face turned red and he stood there feeling very embarrassed, but he really couldn't bear to pay the money.

Seeing that the third uncle was reluctant to pay, Yan Jiecheng was frightened. He knew that if the third uncle didn't pay, he would be sent to the police station, and the consequences would be disastrous.

He quickly knelt down in front of the third uncle, hugged his legs, and begged in a sobbing voice: "Dad, please save me! I don't want to go to the police station. I was wrong this time, and I won't dare to do it again. Please pay the money, I really know I was wrong."

As he spoke, Yan Jiecheng couldn't stop his tears from flowing down. He cried and shook the third uncle's leg: "Dad, if I go to the police station, I will have no future and our family's reputation will be ruined. Please have pity on me. I will be a good person and listen to you in the future."

The third uncle looked at Yan Jiecheng kneeling on the ground, feeling angry and helpless, with mixed feelings in his heart. He knew that if he paid the money, he would feel painful for a long time, but if he didn't pay, his son's life might be ruined.

The third auntie was so anxious that she stamped her feet. She couldn't bear to watch her son being taken away. She hurried to the third uncle's side, took his arm and persuaded him: "Old man, don't hesitate. If Jie Cheng is taken to the police station, it will be the end of everything! Let's pay the money. We can earn money again if we lose it, but what if something happens to our son?"

The uncle stood there, frowning, his facial muscles trembling slightly, and he was struggling fiercely. That was ten yuan and fifty cents, which was an astronomical sum for him. He felt as if his heart was being grabbed by an invisible hand, and it hurt a lot every time.

But for the sake of his eldest son, the heir of the Yan family, the third uncle had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree this time.

He went back into the room, took out a ceramic jar from under the bed, and took out a cloth belt.

The uncle's hands were shaking as he carefully untied the worn-out cloth bag. His eyes widened instantly. The bag contained the money he had saved for a long time. He was hoping to get ten yuan and fifty cents from it, so he carefully counted them one by one. But after counting them all, he found that there were only five yuan in total. His face turned pale and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"What should I do?" The third uncle muttered to himself, anxious like an ant on a hot pot. He knew that his family was really out of money, and this little money was saved with great difficulty for emergency use.

The third uncle gritted his teeth, turned around and walked towards the security officer, with a flattering smile on his face: "Comrade, you see, I only have five dollars here, it's really not enough. Can you please make an exception? I promise that I will send the remaining five dollars and fifty cents to the pub tomorrow. Please be kind."

The security officer frowned, looking at the Third Master's appearance, knowing that he was a stingy and calculating person. He snorted coldly: "No, the money must be settled today. The boss lady has already given you a chance, don't play tricks again."

When the third uncle heard this, he was so anxious that tears almost came out: "Comrade, I am really not playing tricks. My family is really in trouble now. Please be merciful. I am an old man. I will keep my word and send the money tomorrow."

The security officer was unmoved and said firmly: "Stop talking nonsense. If you don't have money, just follow me and let the police station handle it."

Seeing that the situation was not good, the third aunt hurriedly said, "Comrade, we have no money now, but we can borrow money. You just need to wait for a while."

The security officer was also unwilling to waste time going to the police station, knowing that it would be very troublesome.

"Okay, but you have to be quick and don't waste time. I'm waiting to get off work."

When Auntie No. 3 heard that the security officer agreed to lend money to compensate, she felt like she had grabbed a life-saving straw and hurriedly said to Uncle No. 3: "Old man, go to every household in the yard and ask if you can borrow money!"

The third uncle pulled the third aunt aside, frowned, and scolded in a low voice: "You are confused! At this time of night, who in the compound has spare money to lend us? Now everyone is living a tight life, who would lend us money for no reason?"

The third aunt was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes: "What should we do? Are we just going to watch Jie Cheng being arrested?"

The third uncle scratched his head in annoyance, and suddenly his eyes lit up, and a person appeared in his mind - Xu Damao. He gritted his teeth and said: "Now I can only go to Xu Damao and try. That guy looks slick, maybe he has some money."

The third aunt was overjoyed: "Yes, yes, yes, Xu Damao helped our Yan Jiecheng last time. He is still the leader of the workshop and has a very high salary. He will definitely lend it to us."

...

The third uncle and aunt hurried to the door of Xu Damao's house. The third uncle took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Xu Damao's impatient voice came from the room: "Who is it?"

"It's me, Third Uncle."

The door opened, and Xu Damao saw that it was the third uncle and the third aunt. He frowned slightly and said, "Hey, third uncle and third aunt, it's so late, what's the matter?"

The third uncle smiled and said, "Da Mao, we have something urgent and want to ask you for help." Then the two of them went into the house.

Xu Damao and Qin Jingru were sitting at the table eating dinner. There was a simple meal on the table. Xu Damao looked at the third uncle and raised a faint smile: "What's the emergency?"

The third uncle rubbed his hands awkwardly and said, "It's like this. Jie Cheng got into some trouble outside and now needs to pay some money. We are short of money, so we wanted to ask if you could lend us some money."

When Xu Damao heard this, his face suddenly darkened and he put his chopsticks on the table. "Humph, that kid Yan Jiecheng? I think I've seen through him. I helped him last time, but he was such an ungrateful person. Now that he sees me, not only does he not thank me, he's even glaring at me, as if I owed him something."

Qin Jingru echoed, "That's right, Damao, you helped him out of kindness, but he didn't appreciate it. If it weren't for Third Uncle's sake, we wouldn't be able to get involved in his affairs this time."

The third uncle and aunt's faces turned red and white, and they were very embarrassed, but for the sake of their son, they had no choice but to continue begging. The third uncle smiled and said, "Da Mao, this child is ignorant, don't bother with him. If you help us this time, we will definitely let him thank you in the future."

Xu Damao sneered: "Thanks? I don't dare to expect it. But, for your sake, I can consider it. What's going on?"

The third uncle told Xu Damao everything about how Yan Jiecheng got drunk and accidentally broke someone's antique wine jug in the tavern, and now he was being escorted back by the security officer to raise money for compensation.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

After hearing this, Xu Damao was stunned at first, and then he couldn't help laughing out loud: "Haha, Yan Jiecheng, this kid, still has money to go out and drink? Then how come he has no money to compensate for the wine jug now? This is really interesting."

The third uncle looked helpless and quickly explained, "Da Mao, you don't know, this kid recently met a kid from a big courtyard. It was the kid from the big courtyard who invited him to drink, but he didn't have the spare money to drink. So, he got drunk and caused this kind of trouble, and now we are worried."

Xu Damao raised his eyebrows, still with a slightly mocking smile on his face: "Oh? The young men from the big courtyard invited me to drink? Yan Jiecheng is quite capable, to be able to climb up to such a high position as a young man from the big courtyard. However, since someone invited me to drink, he should have some sense of propriety. Drinking too much will cause trouble, which will bring trouble to the family."

The third aunt also said, "Yes, Damao. Jiecheng is just an ignorant child, but now that the problem has happened, we have no choice but to ask you for help. Can you lend us some money to get through this difficult time first? When Jiecheng makes money in the future, he will definitely pay you back immediately."

Xu Damao looked at the anxious and flattering looks of the third uncle and aunt, and thought to himself, this is quite interesting. Yan Jiecheng is usually quite arrogant in front of him, and now he wants to see how he ends up. But as for the money, whether it can be returned after lending it out is still uncertain. He deliberately said slowly: "This money is not a small amount, I also have to consider my own situation."

When the third uncle heard this, his heart skipped a beat, thinking Xu Damao was going to refuse, so he quickly said, "Damo, please be kind, we really have no other choice. Please help us this time, as we are neighbors."

Xu Damao looked at the anxious look of the Third Uncle and nodded slightly: "Alright, for your sake, I will lend it to you this time. But let me be frank, you have to pay me back as soon as possible. If Yan Jiecheng dares to default on his debt, don't blame me for being rude."

When the third uncle and aunt heard that Xu Damao had agreed to lend them the money, they were overjoyed and said hurriedly, "Of course, Damao, don't worry, we will pay you back as soon as possible. Thank you so much!"

Xu Damao stood up, took out some money from the house and handed it to the third uncle, but he was thinking in his heart that Yan Jiecheng owed him a big favor this time, and he must be treated well in the future.

The third uncle took the money handed to him by Xu Damao with both hands, as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw. He kept saying thank you, and then hurried home.

When he got home, he didn't even bother to wipe the beads of sweat off his forehead. He quickly handed the money to the security officer and said, "Comrade, the money is ready. Please count it."

The security officer took the money, counted it carefully, and after confirming that it was correct, he looked at Yan Jiecheng with disgust in his eyes: "You are lucky today, kid. Your parents are really worried about you. Can't you be a good person and cause less trouble for your family? This is a lesson for you. Don't make mistakes again in the future. If there is a next time, no one can save you."

Yan Jiecheng was not convinced, but he did not dare to say anything in front of the security officer.
After the security officer finished his speech, he turned around and left. In the yard, the third uncle and the third aunt looked at Yan Jiecheng, their faces full of fatigue and heartache. The third uncle was so angry that he was shaking all over. He pointed at Yan Jiecheng and cursed: "You bastard, look at what you have done! In order to raise this money for you, we begged others for help, can't you let us save some trouble?"

The third aunt was wiping tears from her eyes: "Jiecheng, you can't do this again. You almost ruined yourself this time. We old couple can't stand your torment."

Yan Jiecheng stiffened his neck and said unconvincedly, "Mom and Dad, don't worry. I know you think I've gotten into trouble this time, but I want to do big things. Isn't it just ten dollars now? You have to take a long-term view. When I become rich in the future, ten thousand or one hundred thousand dollars will not be a problem."

At this time, Liu Haizhong happened to pass by. He heard what Yan Jiecheng said, stopped, and a mocking smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. After he understood the whole story, he couldn't help laughing: "Haha, Yan Jiecheng, you want to do big things? With your character, you got drunk and made trouble, and you were almost sent to the police station. How can you talk about making 10,000 or 100,000 yuan? Don't daydream. It's good enough to be able to compensate this ten yuan, and you are still bragging!"

Yan Jiecheng's face turned red with anger at Liu Haizhong's ridicule. He glared at Liu Haizhong and said, "What do you know? I have my own plans. One day I will be successful. Don't make fun of me here."

Liu Haizhong was not willing to give in and continued, "Oh, you're still planning? With your impulsive and reckless personality, you still plan to make a lot of money? I think you should learn how to avoid getting into trouble first."

Yan Jiecheng gritted his teeth. He decided that after he succeeded in currying favor with Zhong Yuemin, the first thing he would do was to deal with Liu Haizhong. (End of this chapter)