Siheyuan: I am a trader in both worlds!

Chapter 93: Second Master is a real man!

"No! We finally managed to draw a line between us! If she comes back to blame us for this, who will be held responsible?"

"But there are really too many people gossiping in the courtyard right now. I'm worried that the reputation our family has worked so hard to build will be ruined."

Even in later times when materialism is rampant, there are still quite a number of people who care extremely much about reputation.

Not to mention 1955, when gossip was enough to be a pen and rumors were enough to be a knife.

What's more, this reputation was accumulated with great difficulty after Yi Zhonghai painstakingly cultivated it for half of his life.

Even if he has become more open-minded now and may lose less, it is of course better to lose less.

So, when he heard that his reputation was about to be damaged, Yi Zhonghai immediately took the matter seriously.

He put down his bowl and chopsticks and asked Aunt Tan.

"Tell me, what did they say?"

"That's hard to hear, I still..."

"It's okay, just keep talking. I'll listen to whatever you say and forget what I hear. I won't take it to heart."

"Then I'll tell you."

"Just tell me, it's okay."

With Yi Zhonghai's repeated assurances that he would never get angry, Aunt Tan slowly told Yi Zhonghai the gossip she had heard in the past two days with a grim expression.

"Of course, there are also reasonable people who say that our two families have no relationship. We can take care of each other if we want to, and we can not take care of each other if we don't want to. We won't get close to anyone."

"But some of the neighbors who don't understand what's going on, or are just bad, are very harsh. When they say we're making a profit, they treat the deaf old lady like an ancestor and worship her. No one can touch her or say a word against her."

"But now the deaf old lady is no longer of much use to us. We just throw her away like a used rag and don't know where she is."

You know what, this description is quite apt.

So, until this point, apart from being a little irritating, Yi Zhonghai didn't feel anything too much.

Because what they said is indeed the truth.

It wasn't until Aunt Tan talked about one of the families, the one that her family had helped a lot in the past, that she said she was ungrateful and even unkind because of her wealth.
Yi Zhonghai really couldn't stand this.

"I'm ungrateful? What kind of favors have I received from this deaf old lady? If I hadn't helped her and protected her in every way over the years, how could she, a cunning, lazy, slanderous, and cunning old woman with no one to support her at home, live such a comfortable life?"

"I did use her. I let her take the lead to bolster my reputation, but I didn't let her down at all! I certainly didn't do anything wrong to Liu Laowu's family!"

"If I hadn't spent all my money and effort to help his family with the funeral of his mother, his spine would have been broken by the neighbors! Now that he's in Changxing City, he's still talking about my faults!"

"Anyone has the right to say that, except him! I'll go find him!"

As he said this, Yi Zhonghai, who was so angry, was about to go to Liu Laowu's house to argue with his family.

Aunt Tan was so frightened that she quickly stopped him.

"Who are you going to argue with in the middle of the night? You're going to make a fool of yourself! Besides, the person saying that is the crazy woman he married. Everyone in the courtyard knows that woman is a bad person. Liu Laowu didn't say that, so why are you going to talk to him?"

After much persuasion, Yi Zhonghai was finally persuaded to come back and not cause trouble for Liu Laowu's family. After Yi Zhonghai had caught his breath, Aunt Tan finally brought up the old matter again.

"So I thought, if nothing else, I might as well go and see the deaf old lady. I don't expect it to be very effective, but at least it can shut up the neighbors. Old Yi, what do you think?"

After being persuaded by Aunt Tan, Yi Zhonghai's mood gradually stabilized.

But precisely because he had regained his sanity, he would not agree to let Aunt Tan see the deaf old lady at this critical juncture, causing the plan to fail.

Thinking about it again, Second Uncle Liu Haizhong has always wanted to show off in front of Ximen Lang and suppress his long-cherished wish.
A bold idea once again came to Yi Zhonghai's mind.

Yi Zhonghai, now with an idea in mind, spoke more confidently.

He spoke to Aunt Tan in an unquestionable tone.

"Don't worry about it. If those gossips are willing to talk, let them talk all they want. After these two days, I will definitely get rid of this burden once and for all!"

"I heard that Master Liu's family is still lining up at the hospital to take care of the deaf old lady. What's going on? Is this family so respectful to the elderly and loving to the young? Why didn't I see it?"

I see Ximen Lang still has the nerve to say this.

Bai Ling was speechless. She obviously knew more details than Ximen Lang and knew what kind of mess the second uncle's family had gotten into in order to take care of the deaf old lady.

"Isn't it all because of you? If I hadn't suddenly praised him that day, he would have been so excited that even his few remaining brains were washed away. Would he have taken on such a big responsibility and agreed to take care of the deaf old lady?"

"Look at what's happened to their family these past few days because of this. The old ones won't talk to each other, and the young ones won't talk to each other. They're almost on the verge of a fight. Don't you know?"

"But why didn't I notice it?"

"Nonsense! He patted his chest and rushed to agree to this deal right in front of you that day. Even if there was a huge conflict, they wouldn't argue in front of you and let you see it!"

Ximen Lang actually always knew that the second uncle wanted to use his own means to help him smooth out the relationship so that he could also become a small official.

But he never expected that the second uncle's obsession with becoming an official would be so strong, and that he would flatter others so thoroughly in order to become an official.

Just because he doesn't like it, a person who likes to beat children actually says he won't beat them anymore.

And now, because of a promise, I am so stubborn that I will fight to the end even if I have to kneel down.

It even made Ximen Lang feel that the second uncle was a real man who could bend and stretch.

Thinking of this, Ximen Lang couldn't help but sigh.

"Master Liu is truly a talent! If he truly had this kind of perseverance and determination, there's nothing he couldn't accomplish. Why does he have to resort to such crooked methods?"

This is not something Ximen Lang can talk without any hesitation.

But in today's 55 years when there is a shortage of people everywhere and there is no such thing as a locked upward channel, opportunities are truly everywhere.

As long as you work hard enough and don't have any bad habits that have too serious a impact, you can go to a literacy class to study hard for a while and learn more words.

It's hard to say whether you could become a high-ranking official, but after a few years, it wasn't difficult to become a foreman or even a deputy workshop director! (Or maybe I was thinking it was too easy, but there were indeed many opportunities and a real shortage of people at that time.)
In fact, if the second uncle hadn't beaten the child so harshly that his reputation became so bad, he would have been promoted long ago!

Why do we need to follow Ximen Lang’s path?
It’s a pity that the second uncle, who was only interested in taking shortcuts, didn’t understand.

(End of this chapter)