Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1096 The Cabbage Scandal
Yan Jiekuang laboriously carried two large cabbages to his window. The whole family had come out today. No, the eldest son had run off to help his father-in-law. Yan Bugui hadn't seen him all morning and was so angry that he threw his teacup away.

Yang Ruihua was also very dissatisfied with the eldest son, but now the eldest son was very important to his family. Whether it was the money he handed over every month or the living expenses, it had become one of the sources of their livelihood. This was also the main reason why Yan Bugui had been delaying the wedding for Yan Jiecheng.

Yan Jiefang also helped carry the cabbages, while Yan Bugui was in charge of stacking them at his doorstep, and Yang Ruihua was responsible for removing the rotten leaves and handing them to him.

As they were carrying the cabbages, Yan Jiefang stopped Yan Jiekuang and asked, "Third brother, how many cabbages are you carrying at once?"

"Two trees? What's wrong?" Yan Jiekuang asked, looking at his second brother with a puzzled expression.

“That’s not right. I carried four trees at a time, and you carried two, making a total of eight. There are eight trees on each side of the cart. How did they all disappear just now?” Yan Jiefang said.

"Are you sure you didn't see it wrong? Let's go back and check again later," Yan Jiekuang said.

After the two finished carrying the load, they returned to the cart. This time, they were more careful. Halfway there, they turned around and looked at their own cart. There they saw Liu Gen's mother tiptoeing towards the courtyard with two cabbages in her arms.

"You old hag, you stole our cabbages! You stop right there!" Yan Jiefang's shout echoed throughout the entire courtyard.

The couple, Yan Bugui and his wife, who were busy at their own doorstep, were stunned. Yan Bugui asked suspiciously, "Was that your second son you just called?"

"Probably," Yang Ruihua said, though she wasn't entirely sure.

"Oh no! Someone stole our cabbages!" The couple stood up and ran towards the door. At this time, the neighbors also came out, but no one came out from the backyard. Everyone from the middle yard ran to the front gate.

Everyone saw Yan Jiefang grabbing Liu Gen's mother's clothes. Liu Gen's mother was holding two large cabbages in her arms and wouldn't let go, trying hard to break free from Yan Jiefang's grasp and head towards the central courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai had long disliked Yan Bugui, and without asking any questions, he shouted, "Stop it, all of you! Yan Jiefang, what kind of behavior is this, pulling and tugging at a female comrade?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Jiefang was so frightened that he immediately let go of her hand. Taking advantage of this moment, Liu Gen's mother grabbed the cabbage and rushed back to the central courtyard. Once home, she locked the door and refused to come out.

Yan Jiekuang said, "Uncle, do you know what you're doing? To put it nicely, you're helping a thief escape; to put it bluntly, you're an accomplice to the thief, teaming up to steal my cabbages."

Yan Jiefang, who was standing next to him, was also furious. At this moment, Yi Zhonghai looked at Xiao Yan Jiekuang and was also angered. He said, "You little brat, how dare you talk to me like that? Don't you know how to respect your elders?"

“Yeah, little third brother, how can you talk to an old man like that?” Sha Zhu also stuck his head out and said.

“Am I wrong about what my fourth brother said? That Liugen’s mother stole my cabbage. I caught her. If it weren’t for Uncle Yi’s arrival, would we have let her go?” Yan Jiefang said, sticking out his neck.

Yi Zhonghai was taken aback. He really didn't know about this situation, but who was he? He said, "You can't just pull and shove like that. After all, there's a difference between men and women. You're a grown man, how can you not understand this? Is this how your father, Yan, raised his children?"

"Yi Zhonghai!" A loud shout came from behind the Yan brothers. Yan Bugui saw the whole thing, but he tripped while running over and was a little slow.

"Yi Zhonghai, why have you been causing trouble for our family lately? How much do you look down on us? If you don't like us, fine, we'll just cut ties. Today's events are all out in the open. What do you mean by this? Are you trying to cause trouble? Yan Jiefang, stop talking nonsense and go call the police!" Yan Bugui was furious. Was the whole courtyard bullying his family? They even had their cabbages stolen. At this moment, a fat man suddenly rushed out from the side, grabbed Yan Jiefang, and said, "Old Yan, no, we can't call the police. If we do, the donation conference's reputation will be completely ruined."

"Liu Haizhong, what do you mean? Are you protecting the vegetable thief too? The vegetable thief is Liu Gen's mother, everyone saw it. What else do you want to say? Is the whole compound bullying our family?" Yan Bugui was now so angry that he was almost going crazy, and he was speaking directly.

Yi Zhonghai stood there, somewhat regretting his actions. He shouldn't have mentioned Yan Jiefang in the first place. Now that Liugen's mother had run away, he was in a bind. But Yi Zhonghai reacted quickly, saying, "Old Yan, this matter isn't clear yet. If you rush to call the police, isn't that a bit disrespectful to the honor of this courtyard house? Calm down. Let's call Liugen's mother out and discuss a solution."

"No need. Our family has had enough bad luck lately, and I've had enough. Yan Jiefang is going to call the police. It's no use talking to anyone today," Yan Bugui said stubbornly.

Yan Jiefang tried to break free from Liu Haizhong's grasp, but who was Liu Haizhong? He was a blacksmith by trade, incredibly strong, and there was no way Yan Jiefang could break free from him.

Liu Haizhong was also a little angry and said, "Yan Laosan, don't you take me, your second uncle, too lightly? I'm telling you nicely, why won't you listen? Listen to me, you can't call the police."

"As for matters within the institute, the institute will handle them. Liu Gen, Liu Gen, you come out here and call a institute-wide meeting so we can all discuss how to resolve this issue."

Liu Haizhong's shout really intimidated Yan Bugui, and with Yi Zhonghai's timely intervention, everyone started to advise Yan Bugui. After all, they were from the same compound, and they couldn't afford to offend them too much and make the two families enemies again.

Yan Bugui stood there, looking conflicted, while Yang Ruihua remained calm, pulling Yan Jiedi, who had come from her home, to stand there and watch. She had just discovered that Yan Jiekuang had slipped away in the chaos, and it was obvious where he had gone.

Yan Jiefang pointed to his family's handcart and said, "Dad, shouldn't we check how many cabbages we've lost?"

Yan Bugui suddenly realized what was happening and turned around to pull Yan Jiefang back to count the cabbages. He knew exactly how much they had bought. After the father and son finished counting the cabbages, the meeting table in the middle courtyard was brought out. Everyone in the courtyard had arrived, except for the deaf old lady in the back courtyard. However, Liu Gen's mother, who was the person involved, refused to come out no matter what.

Liu Gen went to help the workshop director's family early in the morning and wasn't home at all. His family didn't go to buy cabbage today either. Liu Gen did this behind Yi Zhonghai's back, since Yi Zhonghai was his master and it would be very bad for Liu Gen if he found out. So Yi Zhonghai didn't know where Liu Gen went.

Yi Zhonghai looked at the door and wondered how to open it. Liu Genniang was locked and wouldn't come out. Without the parties involved, how could they resolve the matter?
When Yan Bugui returned to the Intermediate Court and saw the scene, he said coldly, "Everyone knows that six cabbages of mine were stolen. This morning, my Yan Jiefang caught Liu Genniang, who stole our cabbages. If it weren't for Uncle Yi Zhonghai, this matter would have gone through the authorities. You two uncles said you would resolve this through a meeting. Fine, you can resolve it now."

Yi Zhonghai looked at Liu Haizhong, and Liu Haizhong looked at Yi Zhonghai; neither of them knew what to do.

Just as the stalemate was at hand, two policemen entered the Intermediate People's Court and headed straight for Liu Gen's house. Everyone was stunned. This was the first time someone had called the police in the courtyard. Everyone wondered who had called the police.

Yi Zhonghai was stunned. Who was the meddlesome person who called the police? We've talked about the compound's affairs so many times in meetings, how could someone still call the police? They really don't take the person in charge seriously.

Liu Haizhong was also shocked. Now he didn't know how to handle the situation. A police officer knocked on Liu Gen's door and shouted, "Listen up, everyone inside. Please come out now. Someone reported that your family stole someone else's cabbage. We hope you will cooperate. You have one minute. If you don't come out, we will go in and arrest you. Then it may not be resolved in the yard."

Everyone looked toward Liu Gen's house, but no one noticed that one person had secretly slipped away and headed home.

(End of this chapter)