Siheyuan: The Era of Struggle

Chapter 376 Reason
As the voice fell, a man in his fifties walked in from outside with a smile on his face.

The man had gray hair, a square face, and wore a pair of black-framed glasses. His ironed navy blue Zhongshan suit did not make him look bulky on his slightly thin body, but instead made his cultured temperament more prominent.

When He Yuanchao was looking at the person who came, the man had already walked up to him carrying a brown briefcase.

"You are Xiao Zhao's brother-in-law, right?"

Hearing this, He Yuanchao nodded and said, "Yes."

After receiving He Yuanchao's affirmative answer, the smile on the man's face deepened a little bit, appearing very friendly.

"I'm Xiao Zhao's father-in-law. I just heard from him that you came to Yangqu. On behalf of the whole family, I welcome you to visit us."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhao's father-in-law extended his right hand towards He Yuanchao.

After shaking hands, the two stood in the doorway and exchanged a few simple greetings. Zhang Zhao's father-in-law looked at his wife and said to He Yuanchao:
"I just heard outside the door that you were going to the county government. Is there something urgent?"

"This tactless guy is bringing up something that is not relevant to the topic."

When Zhang Zhao's mother-in-law heard her husband bring up this topic, she secretly complained in her heart, and without waiting for He Yuanchao to speak, she hurriedly said with a smile:
"You are already old, why don't you have the basic courtesy to entertain guests? It's unreasonable to let people stand outside to talk. If you have anything to say, let's go inside and talk. Xiao Zhao's father is still in the house!"

Hearing what his wife said, Zhang Zhao's father-in-law raised his hand and patted his forehead twice.

"I was wrong. I was so happy to see Xiao He that I forgot that my father-in-law was also here."

After saying that, he nodded to He Yuanchao and hurriedly walked towards Zhang Zhao's room.

Seeing this, He Yuanchao no longer had the heart to argue with Zhang Zhao's mother-in-law, so he turned around and followed her into the house.

Zhang Zhao and Lu Wenli have been married for more than nine years, almost ten years. Except for Ma Xiufang when Zhang Dongdong was born, the Lu family has never met any other members of the Zhang family.

As a result, Zhang Zhao rarely returned to Kyoto in recent years, and even seldom made phone calls.

He Yuanchao never asked much about Zhang Zhao's affairs, and he didn't know why his elder brother-in-law had such a bad relationship with his family. As for who was right or wrong, he couldn't comment.

The reason why I followed them into the house in a hurry was that I was afraid that the two of them would have another disagreement over some face issues. After all, the child has been married for nearly ten years, and both sets of parents have never met each other. Who wouldn't have some resentment in their heart?

However, the facts were beyond He Yuanchao's expectations. There was no verbal sparring. Both of them seemed to have forgotten their past unpleasantness and shook hands and greeted each other warmly.

"Brother Lide, I'm so sorry that I didn't pick you up when you came. I'm so neglectful."

"Brother Zhenbang, what are you talking about? I am sorry for disturbing you by visiting you."

……

The two stood in the room chatting politely like old friends, until Zhang Zhao's mother-in-law walked into the room with a small white porcelain jar with blue and white patterns. Then Zhang Lide and Lu Zhenbang stopped talking, smiled at each other, and sat down on both sides of the table.

"Father-in-law, we don't have any good tea at home. This can of tea was given to me by classmate Lao Lu. I think it should be okay. You and Xiao He can drink some of it."

While Zhang Zhao's mother-in-law was talking, her hands were not idle. She swiftly picked up the thermos and teapot on the table and started to make tea.

Zhang Lide came here mainly to deal with Zhang Zhao's misappropriation of military supplies. With the lawsuit on his mind, he had no time to enjoy tea and chat. He politely responded to Zhang Zhao's mother-in-law and turned to look at Lu Zhenbang and said straight to the point:

"Brother Zhenbang, we are not strangers. I won't beat around the bush. I'm sure you know the purpose of my visit. Xiao Zhao has been by your side. How much do you know about his misappropriation of military supplies? Can you tell me about it?"

"Alas! What misfortune for our family!"

Lu Zhenbang put down the teacup in his hand and sighed heavily. He raised his hand and took out half a pack of Purple Qi Dong Lai cigarettes from his jacket pocket and gave them to Zhang Lide and He Yuanchao, then said:

"Brother Lide, this is all my fault for not disciplining him properly. If it weren't for that bastard boy in my family instigating this, Xiao Zhao wouldn't have gotten into this situation..."

cough cough...

Ignoring the noise made by his wife, Lu Zhenbang took a puff of cigarette and continued to explain the whole story.

"A few years ago, my bastard went with his friends to play cards in the surrounding towns, and he got involved with a local widow.

At the end of March of the following year, the bastard went to look for the widow again. But not long after he entered the house, he was blocked by the widow's in-laws. Without saying a word, they beat him up. After that, they not only took away the money and watch from the bastard, but also forced him to write a confession.

I thought the matter was over, but I didn't expect that within two days, the widow's family would go directly to the entrance of the machinery factory with a confession letter to block this bastard.

This time they didn't want money, but food and clothes. If that wasn't possible, they would send him to the police station. The bastard was scared and didn't dare to tell me, so he went to find his brother-in-law.

Xiao Zhao took him to the widow's house, thinking of giving her more money to settle the matter, but she disagreed and gave a specific time. The two of them were at a loss, so they turned to the army's supplies.

After telling the story, Lu Zhenbang seemed to feel a little embarrassed. He didn't dare to look at Zhang Lide and He Yuanchao again. He lowered his head and smoked his cigarette in big puffs.

Although Zhang Lide and He Yuanchao knew the general cause of the incident when they came from Kyoto, it was only after hearing the details that they realized there was such a mess.

There's nothing wrong in helping your brother-in-law when he's in trouble, but you can't get yourself involved no matter what!

Zhang Lide secretly cursed his brother-in-law Zhang Zhao in his heart, but at the same time he felt sorry for his own son. He had been a soldier for so many years, suffered a lot and finally made it to the rank of battalion commander, but he ruined his future just for such a trivial matter. It was not worth it for him to think about it.

He Yuanchao was not very close to his eldest brother-in-law, but he also felt it was a pity to ruin his future because of this matter.

The troops' handling results have come out. It is probably impossible to take them back. The only thing we can consider now is whether we can recover part of this batch of supplies.

The three men were each thinking about their own things and no one said a word. Zhang Zhao's mother-in-law looked at this and that, and she, who was usually eloquent, didn't know what to say for a moment.

No one spoke in the room, and no other sound could be heard except the sound of breathing and the birds singing outside the window.

After about six or seven minutes, He Yuanchao, who had just finished a cup of tea, began to ask about some specific details of the matter, finally breaking the solemn atmosphere in the room.

"Uncle, I want to ask you if we asked them to write a certificate of receipt when we handed over the supplies to them."

After saying this, He Yuanchao suddenly remembered something and quickly added another sentence.

"Has the confession been taken back?"

(End of this chapter)