Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1171 A Major Meeting is About to Be Held
The dim light flickered in the air, and the table under the light was already a mess. Bang Geng was in a good mood; he ran back to bed to sleep after finishing his meal. Xiao Dang was also sent back to his room by Qin Huairu. In the main room outside, only the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were still discussing something in hushed tones.

In the main house next door, Sha Zhu looked at Yi Zhonghai as he approached, feeling quite dazed. He was no longer the same person he had been at the alley entrance. Now, Sha Zhu had come to his senses. Apart from not thinking about his reputation, he had figured everything else out. There were no leftovers today, and he hadn't drunk any alcohol, so he was quite sober.

Yi Zhonghai was still lost in his own thoughts, sitting opposite the fool, and said, "Zhuzi, if we're talking about righteousness in this courtyard, it has to be you. Look at Xu Damao in the backyard, he only thinks about himself and never considers the neighbors. The Liu family's children, except for the one who ran away, are all troublemakers. Now that their six senses have matured, they don't listen to their master's summons anymore. The two brothers in the front yard hardly talk to anyone in the courtyard. And the Yan family is even worse, selfish and self-serving. That's why I say, the most reliable person in this courtyard is still you."

“Look, ever since Dongxu left, the Jia family’s life has gotten worse day by day. In the past six months, they haven’t seen a single egg, let alone meat. The child is still young and needs to grow. As a neighbor, you should help this widow and her orphan family. Sometimes you can’t just think about yourself; you have to help these poor neighbors too. Don’t you think so?”

Sha Zhu looked at the incessantly chattering old man and felt very strange. What was he doing here tonight? Just now outside, this old man hadn't said a single kind word to him. Now, he'd come over late at night after having a few drinks, just to lecture him? Sha Zhu asked, "Please stop, old man. What exactly do you want to say? You lectured me quite a bit outside, and I even backed down. Why are you coming all the way here to lecture me?"

Yi Zhonghai paused for a moment before saying, "Zhu Zi, look, you're the head chef in the cafeteria now. You get free meals all the time, and you even go out to pick up guests for weddings and funerals during your breaks. You always bring back meat and vegetables. I think you should give these to the Jia family. After all, the Jia family's children are still young and growing. If they don't get enough nutrition, it will seriously affect their development. Okay, it's settled then. From now on, all your lunchboxes will belong to the Jia family. The Jia family will be grateful to you. I'll head back now. It's getting late. You should get some sleep."

Sha Zhu finally understood why Yi Zhonghai had come. Seeing Yi Zhonghai about to leave after speaking, Sha Zhu shouted, "Wait, Grandpa, don't go! What do you mean my lunchbox belongs to the Jia family? How could you decide that? It's my own lunchbox, can't I even decide? If you say that, let me tell you, from now on, the Jia family is the Jia family, and I am me. I will never give my lunchbox to them! You know exactly what happened just now. Put your hand on your heart and tell me, did I do anything wrong? Oh, we were just chatting for a bit, and before I even understood what was going on, they labeled me an adulterer and took my lunchbox away. I didn't even get a bite! How come these three lunchboxes aren't enough? They're eyeing all the future lunchboxes! Grandma, I agree I won't take them anymore. I can't let that old woman have them."

Sha Zhu's voice was loud, and not only Yi Zhonghai heard it, but several families in the outer courtyard also heard it. Jia Zhangshi also heard it, and she looked out the window indignantly. Qin Huairu looked at her mother-in-law and said, "Mom, I don't think this will work."

"That damned idiot Zhu, why won't he give it to our family? That shameless scoundrel!" Jia Zhangshi said.

Yi Zhonghai stood at the door, looking at the idiot Zhu who refused, and suddenly didn't know what to say. He had always thought that this was no big deal, and that as long as he asked, Zhu would definitely agree. But he never expected Zhu to refuse so easily and get so angry. After thinking about it carefully, Yi Zhonghai understood. The idiot had sorted out what happened at the alley entrance in the time that had just passed, which was why he had such a big reaction.

Yi Zhonghai still didn't give up, saying, "Shazhu, why don't you listen to your old man? Look how hard the Jia family is doing. Why don't you help them? Isn't this just neighbors helping each other? Isn't this a good thing? Don't you have even a little bit of compassion?"

Sha Zhu's reckless temper flared up immediately, and he said, "I have no sympathy at all. Alright, old man, give me a break. Asking me to bring them lunch is out of the question. She cursed me so badly at the alley entrance just now. Because of that old woman, it's impossible for me to do this. Alright, if there's nothing else, you should go back now. I won't see you off."

After finishing his sentence, Sha Zhu ignored Yi Zhonghai and went to the bedside to tidy up the bedding, looking like he was going to sleep. Yi Zhonghai saw this and knew it was pointless to say anything today, so he gave up, turned around, and left Sha Zhu's house. Liu Haizhong was still waiting for him at home to continue drinking. Yi Zhonghai glanced deeply at the west wing and turned to go home. It's unclear what Liu Haizhong and Yi Zhonghai discussed while drinking, but late at night, the two of them went to the front yard together and knocked on the Yan family's door. Yan Bugui was already asleep, but the two of them woke him up. Opening the door, Yan Bugui was a little angry. These two had been drinking in the middle of the night; weren't they just making things difficult for him?

Besides Yan Jiedi and Yan Jiefang, who were still asleep, Yan Jiekuang and Yang Ruihua were also awake. Yan Jiekuang was just curious about why these two people came to see his father in the middle of the night.

Yan Jiekuang secretly got out of bed, opened the door to his room, ran to the door of his parents' room, and peered through the crack in the door.

At this moment, Liu Haizhong and Yi Zhonghai were sitting casually at the square table. Yan Bugui didn't intend to entertain them, so he put on his cotton-padded coat and sat down directly opposite Yi Zhonghai. Yi Zhonghai didn't hesitate and directly explained his purpose.

It turns out that Yi Zhonghai was still resentful about Sha Zhu's rejection. Not only did he not give up, but he wanted to control Sha Zhu even more. On the other hand, he also considered that if Sha Zhu gave the lunchbox to the Jia family, the two families would inevitably become deeply involved in the long run. This was exactly the result that Yi Zhonghai wanted, so he told Liu Haizhong about it.

Liu Haizhong didn't care whether Sha Zhu gave the Jia family lunchboxes or not, but today Sha Zhu didn't give him, his second uncle, any face, and contradicted him in front of so many people. This made Liu Haizhong lose face, and he also wanted to teach him a lesson. When Yi Zhonghai said this, wasn't this a good opportunity? He planned to hold a hospital-wide meeting and criticize Sha Zhu at the meeting. This was what Liu Haizhong was thinking.

Unfortunately, the rules are not just for show. If they want to hold a general meeting of the entire institute, they can't get around the Yan family, whom they all dislike. After all, Yan Bugui is still the third uncle in charge. They can only hold the meeting if Yan Bugui agrees. The two of them discussed it and decided to strike while the iron was hot. They didn't even drink the wine and went straight to find Yan Bugui.

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui was secretly pleased, thinking, "Oh, so they remember me now. It's not like they were ganging up on me and isolating me a while ago. They want to hold a college-wide meeting? That's impossible, unless..."

It was already past midnight, and the three of them didn't argue. After Yi Zhonghai promised Yan Bugui two bottles of cabbage and ten catties of cornmeal, Yan Bugui agreed, but also said that he would not express any opinions at the meeting and would only be an observer.

Every word the three men said reached Yan Jiekuang's ears. Yan Jiekuang returned to his room, lay on his bed, and thought about how he could use this incident to gain some benefit. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

(End of this chapter)