Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1085 The Conference Ends
Yi Zhonghai stood in front of the table, adopting the air of someone in a superior position, and surveyed the room. Seeing that everyone below was looking at him, he was quite satisfied. He then continued, "The first house is Grandma Yang's house in our front yard. Grandma Yang had a tough life; her son and daughter-in-law both became martyrs, leaving behind a son and a daughter."

"Grandma Yang is a very strict person who never accepts personal donations. This year, her grandson Wang Huan started school. Although the tuition and fees were waived, other expenses like food and drink still add up. In two more years, her granddaughter Wang Xiao will also be starting school, right, Grandma Yang? The family relies entirely on the meager income Grandma Yang earns from pasting matchboxes. As a family of a martyr, don't you all think we should help them?"

Instantly, shouts erupted from below, all saying they had to help. Yi Zhonghai smiled, Liu Haizhong looked at Yi Zhonghai with envy, and Yan Bugui's eyes were full of admiration.

Yi Zhonghai continued, "Speaking of another family, they're having a tough time too. The old are old, the young are young, and both are widowed. They have no source of income and don't know where their next meal will come from. That's the Jia family in the Central Court."

"That's how it is. Up until now, their family hasn't asked anyone for anything or asked for help. If it weren't for the fact that Jia Zhangshi, who is frail and sickly, insisted on taking over the family business a few days ago, I wouldn't have known that their family had reached such a desperate point. Everyone has a heart, and neighbors should help each other out when they can, right? Everyone has difficult times, so let's help each other if we can."

After Yi Zhonghai finished speaking passionately, he paused for a moment to see the reactions of his neighbors in the compound. He felt that it was alright; it seemed that no one had any objections, but there were also few people who responded. Yi Zhonghai was instantly embarrassed.

No one living in this courtyard is easy to deal with. Even Liu Gen, who's a bit dim-witted, knows that all his cheap master's words have only one purpose: to donate money to the Jia family. As for the Yang family, they've been used as pawns. Based on Liu Gen's understanding of Yi Zhonghai, if the Yang family takes a third of the money, Yi Zhonghai will be considered merciful.

Xiao Sun, the clerk, whispered a reminder from the side, saying, "Let the three senior men in charge give their opinions, after all, there are three senior men in charge of this compound, and then we can get started."

Yi Zhonghai knew that the neighborhood committee could allow him to donate, but it did not allow him to force or otherwise induce his neighbors to donate. If he were to elaborate on this, it would be a fundamental error.

Yi Zhonghai's purpose was not these things. He wanted to establish his prestige and test the methods of several uncertain factors in the courtyard. Therefore, he said directly, "Now, let's invite our third uncle, the manager of the front courtyard, to make a supplement."

Yan Bugui sat to one side, adjusted his glasses, and said, "I won't say any more. What the old man said is comprehensive enough. I'll follow his instructions."

Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, "This old bastard never misses an opportunity to profit, but when he sees there's no benefit to be had and he has to pay up, he backs down. He really doesn't give me, a grown man, any face."

Yi Zhonghai glared at Yan Bugui, but Yan Bugui pretended not to see it. Without wasting any time, Yi Zhonghai quickly said, "Alright, the donation ceremony is about to begin. I'll set an example by donating fifty yuan."

"Wow!" "Good heavens!" "This old man is bleeding!"

A commotion erupted below. Xiao Sun was completely dumbfounded. He was a supervisor, and his monthly salary was only eighteen yuan. This Yi Zhonghai was far too rich.

Liu Hai, standing next to him, felt a sudden jolt. He had just made up his mind that since this was a donation conference supervised by the street office, a good performance would definitely get him more support from the street office in the future. So he decided that no matter how much money Yi Zhonghai donated, he would donate the same amount. But he never expected that Yi Zhonghai would raise the amount so high that he felt a little pained if he donated it.

Liu Haizhong had no choice but to stand up at this point, because he was the second uncle. Liu Haizhong gritted his teeth and said haltingly, "Then I will too."

Before he could finish speaking, he heard his second aunt shout from behind, "Old Liu, Guangqi is getting married soon!" Liu Haizhong suddenly snapped out of his daze and said, "Everyone knows that my Guangqi is getting married, and the family needs money right now. Today, I'll donate thirty yuan on behalf of the whole family."

Yan Bugui sat below, his small eyes darting around. These two old guys were putting him in a very difficult position. "You two started from such a high point, what am I supposed to do?" In the end, Yan Bugui still chose to follow his heart.

Yan Bugui stood up and said, "Well, I can't compare to Uncle Yi and Uncle Er. As everyone knows, my salary is only a little over twenty yuan, which is enough to support a family of six. My family's situation is not much different from theirs, but I was deeply moved by Uncle Yi Zhonghai today, so I will also donate one yuan."

"Hey, you're acting like a big shot? You're making more than three yuan a month just by picking up scraps at the door." Sha Zhu's voice came from the crowd.

Yan Bugui, being a teacher, still valued basic professional ethics. Upon hearing Sha Zhu's words, he shouted, "Sha Zhu, this is slander! This is spreading rumors! This is..."

"Alright, enough with the 'this' and 'that'. If you're going to cut back, you're cutting back. Watch me, I'll donate twenty yuan. Everyone, keep an eye on this." With that, Sha Zhu put the twenty yuan into the donation box.

Yan Bugui was so embarrassed that he had no choice but to take out two yuan from his pocket and say, "This is my Yan Jiecheng's living expenses for a month."

After that, the donations went more smoothly, with no one donating more than three yuan. Only Xu Wude donated five yuan on behalf of the Xu family, and no one said anything. It was only then that Sha Zhu noticed that Xu Damao from the backyard hadn't appeared in the yard for quite some time.

After Yan Bugui recorded the donations and under the supervision of Xiao Sun, the total donation amount was 130 yuan and 3 mao. Under Xiao Sun's supervision, the donations were divided equally between the Jia and Yang families, and both families gave receipts to the street office.

The donation conference ended, and Yan Bugui walked home with suspicion. He didn't think he was wrong. He always felt that Yi Zhonghai, that old fox, had held this conference for the Jia family, and that the old man would definitely not agree to split the donation with the Yang family.

But at the meeting today, Yi Zhonghai didn't do anything unusual. As he walked, he felt a pang of heartache when he thought about his three yuan. The main thing was that he couldn't swallow his anger. He had spent the money and was still being bullied by Sha Zhu.

After a donation meeting ended and everyone in the compound had left, Director Wang happened to come out of the deaf old lady's house, asked Xiao Sun a few questions, and then took him back to the subdistrict office.

Meanwhile, Yi Zhonghai returned home and, without even resting, took two cans of food and went straight to the backyard. This scene was witnessed by Jia Zhangshi in the west wing. Jia Zhangshi muttered to herself in the room, "Pah, what a hypocrite. He's using my family to build his prestige. I wonder what he'll scheme against my family next."

Qin Huairu heard Jia Zhangshi's words clearly and sat quietly alone in the inner room, recalling the whole incident from beginning to end.

(End of this chapter)