Siheyuan, Shazhu: I have both parents in this life

Chapter 341 Pillar's Wife's Charm Remains Undiminished

Meanwhile, Liu Haizhong was rebuffed at the entrance of the He residence and was quite indignant.

He returned to courtyard number 95, seething with anger.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw Yan Bugui holding a pair of scissors, tending to a few rose bushes in his tiny flowerbed by the door.

"Old Yan! Old Yan!" Liu Haizhong shouted when he saw that Yan Bugui seemed to have found an outlet for his anger.

Yan Bugui adjusted his glasses and slowly turned around: "Hey, Lao Liu, why are you so flustered? Did you lose some money?"

"You're the one who lost money."

"Then what about you?"

Liu Haizhong leaned closer and lowered his voice, saying, "Guess who I'm looking at?"

"Who is it that could make you, Old Liu, so startled?" Yan Bugui said dismissively, continuing to prune his flower branches.

"He Daqing! He Daqing is back!" Liu Haizhong said, emphasizing each word.

With a "snip," Yan Bugui's scissors trembled, and a perfectly good flower branch was accidentally cut off.

He forgot all about the heartache, abruptly raising his head, his eyes wide behind his glasses: "Who? Who are you talking about? He Daqing? Impossible! We haven't heard from them in years. Didn't everyone say it was their family back then?"

"Was blown away by the wind and died out there?" Liu Haizhong asked, then shook his head vigorously. "Nonsense! He's doing just fine! He's even bought a new mansion in Nanluoguxiang!"

"Really? Are you sure you saw it clearly? You must have mistaken me for someone else." Yan Bugui still couldn't believe it.

“Absolutely true! I called him, but he pretended not to recognize me, got on his bike and ran away faster than a rabbit! Even if he were burned to ashes, I would still recognize his face!” Liu Haizhong said with certainty, his spittle almost landing on Yan Bugui’s face.

"Why don't they recognize you? Did you offend them before?" Yan Bugui asked.

“By the time I became the team leader, they had already left,” Liu Haizhong said.

"Oh, if they don't want to acknowledge it, they don't want to. They don't even come back to visit our courtyard, so they probably don't want to have anything to do with us." Yan Bugui said, then went to tend to his flowers.

"Hey Lao Yan, aren't you even a little bit curious about where their family has been all these years?"

“What’s there to be curious about? They went out and were able to come back; that’s their own ability,” Yan Bugui said. Over the years, he had truly seen through it all. His children had schemed and plotted until they had taken all his savings. If he hadn’t hidden the property deed well, they would all be sleeping on the streets now.

"Hey, you stingy old man Yan, this isn't like you at all!"

"What kind of behavior is this? You have so much time to worry about other people's families, you should be working on your relationships with your sons. Look at yourself now."

"Hmph, how are you any better than me?"

"Then let's not talk about the second brother anymore, I'm going to continue working on the flowers."

The two old men were speaking in voices that were neither too loud nor too soft, and were overheard by a woman returning from grocery shopping.

"Uncle Liu, did you say that Old He from the Zhongyuan Courtyard has returned?" The woman came over to speak when she saw that the two old men had stopped talking.

"Huai Ru, why do you walk so quietly!" Liu Haizhong knew who it was without even turning around.

"Isn't it because I didn't want to interrupt your conversation?"

"I think you just want to hear what the two of us have to say," Liu Haizhong said, showing her no mercy.

"Uncle Liu, what are you saying? I just happened to be passing by on my way back from buying groceries."

"Then you should hurry home," Liu Haizhong said, and started walking towards his house.

"Hey, hey, Grandpa Liu, don't go! Is what you just said true? Old He's back?"

"Whether it's true or false, what does it matter to you?" Liu Haizhong said.

"Why not?"

"Hmph." Liu Haizhong had no intention of continuing the conversation with her, and turned away with a flick of his sleeve.

Teacher Yan

The cloying sound almost made Yan Bugui stab himself with the scissors. He grabbed the scissors and hurried home, slamming the door shut behind him.

Qin Huairu didn't care; she had heard everything she needed to hear, she just wanted to confirm it.

Upon returning to the central courtyard, Qin Huairu did not go back to her own home but instead went to the east wing where Jia Zhangshi lived. Indeed, decades later, Jia Zhangshi moved back into her east wing.

"mom"

"Huai Ru, what's the matter?"

“I heard something interesting in the front yard.”

"What is it? What's going on in our courtyard?" Madam Jia glanced sideways at Qin Huairu. The Jia family had all the news in the courtyard, so what could be new? She hadn't gone out for the past few years. Why? Because if she went out, people would gossip about her, and she was the type to never lose a verbal argument. The problem was, she was getting old and couldn't win an argument anymore.

"Old He's family is back."

"Who?" Jia Zhangshi nearly poked her thigh with the awl she was using to sew shoe soles, and she quickly dropped it in fright.

"He Daqing, you've forgotten."

"Did you see it?"

“I heard it from Grandpa Liu and Grandpa Yan in the front yard.”

"How much of what they say is reliable? Last year, that stingy Yan said he saw He Yuzhu, but it turned out he was just seeing things."

"What they were saying just now was very detailed and convincing. Grandpa Liu said that the He family now lives in Nanluoguxiang and they have a new house."

"So what if they have it? Do you think you're that close to them?" To be honest, Jia Zhangshi didn't really want to mess with the He family because she always ended up getting the short end of the stick.

"Mom, I don't want to have anything to do with his family, but have you forgotten whose name this house is under?"

“Wang Cuiping,” Jia Zhangshi replied.

"Where do I live? Where do your grandson and granddaughter live?"

“Didn’t Director Tan distribute and buy those?” Jia Zhangshi asked.

"We went to the housing management office to ask, and we were only allocated a right of residence. We bought the right of residence, but the house still belongs to the He family." Qin Huairu dropped a bombshell.

"What about my house?"

"It still belongs to Wang Cuiping; the property certificate is in her hands."

"What? So all that money we spent wasted? Will they come back to take the house back? Let me tell you, I'm not moving. I've lived here my whole life." Jia Zhangshi was furious.

"Then we'll have to go find the He family. Wang Cuiping disappeared along with them," Qin Huairu said.

"Go if you want, don't look for me. Anyway, I paid for this house." Jia Zhangshi wasn't fooled. They had been together for so many years, and she knew her daughter-in-law too well. She had taught her in the first few years, but the daughter-in-law had become more capable and surpassed her teacher.

"Alright then, at worst, Banggeng and the others can move back to the rear-facing house."

"That won't do. How will my eldest grandson get married if he lives in the back house?"

"So we still need to go to the He family. I heard they've become wealthy, so they shouldn't care about this little bit of money." A glint flashed in Qin Huairu's eyes.

"Then go ask Lao Liu where he saw He Daqing?"

"No need, I'll go out and look for it in a bit. But I found it, Mom, you have to come with me."

"Alright, fine." Madam Jia had no choice but to agree.

"I'll go right away." Qin Huairu, having received confirmation, turned and walked out.

She first wandered around Nanluoguxiang and sure enough, she saw a house with a plaque that read "He Residence" hanging above the door, and the house looked very grand.

She didn't dare to go directly forward, and instead hid behind the old locust tree at the entrance of the alley, peering out.

About an hour later, she saw a jeep pull up and stop in front of the He residence. She had never seen this car before; it looked even more impressive than the car driven by the steel mill's leaders.

When she saw who got out of the car, her mouth dropped open. "He Yuzhu, He Yuzhu!"

The name kept repeating in her mind. He Yuzhu glanced at her intentionally or unintentionally, which frightened her so much that she immediately hid behind a tree.

Then she saw the car drive away. After waiting for a while, she saw He Daqing riding back on his bicycle with several oil paper packages hanging on the handlebars.

She stopped staring and turned to walk towards No. 95.

After returning home, she told Jia Zhangshi what she had seen. Jia Zhangshi said she would rather die than go with her. What a joke! What if he had become a high-ranking official? You know, He Yuzhu was originally a very high-ranking official. Many people have been reinstated in recent years. Who knows what He Yuzhu's situation is?

The most troublesome mother-in-law became timid, and Qin Huai cursed inwardly that she was unreliable. She then went to find her son.

Bang Geng is a reckless scoundrel. He shouldn't be doing the job he's doing now. All he thinks about is how to make some money so he can go into business.

He had his eye on the house for a long time, but unfortunately, the property rights weren't his. He had secretly cursed the He family countless times, leaving behind trouble even after they left.

Little did he know, the house had been re-registered; otherwise, they might have actually acquired the property rights.

The families who moved out of the backyard were said to have sold their houses, but in reality, they just moved to another house and received some compensation. They didn't actually sell their houses. However, those people had wanted to move out of the yard for a long time, so naturally no one told them what was really going on.

When they arrived at their house hoping to sell it for some money, well, that was a joke.

"Mom, have the He family really come back?"

"I'm back, at No. 66 Nanluoguxiang."

"Then what do you mean?" Bang Geng asked.
"Let's find a way to get the property rights back."

"Would they be willing to give it?" Banggeng asked.

"Isn't that why I asked you to come up with a solution?" Qin Huairu said.

Banggeng listened to his mother's words, his eyes darted around, and he started to make plans.

He's spent all these years hanging around in the alleys; he may not have any other skills, but he's certainly learned a lot about being unreasonable and shameless.

"Mom, just you wait and see, I'm going to go and have a go at the He family right now." Banggeng said, and started walking towards No. 66.

Qin Huairu quickly grabbed him: "Don't do anything reckless. I saw He Yuzhu come back in a car. Looks like he's made it big."

"It's good to be successful, the more successful you are, the more you care about face, right?" Banggeng shook off Qin Huairu's hand and swayed away.

Banggeng arrived near No. 66 Nanluoguxiang and saw He Ningxue riding her bicycle back outside.

His eyes lit up. The girl was pretty and dressed fashionably; she clearly didn't come from an ordinary family.

"Hey, whose daughter is this? She's really pretty." Banggeng stepped forward and deliberately blocked the bicycle.

He Ningxue frowned. "Excuse me, could you move aside?" "Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Let's be friends," Banggeng said with a grin. "I'm from around here. My name is Jia Geng, but everyone calls me Banggeng. You're new here, right?"

He Ningxue didn't want to pay attention to him and pushed her cart to walk around him.

Banggeng stepped in front of him again: "Don't be disrespectful. I'm a big shot in this area."

At this moment, He Yaozu and He Yaozong rode over on their bicycles. The three of them had just been racing to see who would get home first, and the two brothers naturally had to give way to their sister. This gave way for several dozen meters, and He Ningxue kept looking back. Since the two brothers had caused their sister to fall, they didn't follow as closely.

Seeing their sister being stopped, the two brothers pedaled their bicycles so hard they were practically sparking. When they got close, He Yaozu threw the bikes away, jumped off, and stood in front of his sister, coldly staring at Bang Geng.

"what happened?"

Bang Geng sized up He Yaozong, noticing his respectable attire and distinguished air, and felt a little uneasy, but still stubbornly replied, "Who are you? What business is it of yours if I talk to this girl?"

“She’s my sister, do you think it’s none of our business?” He Yaozong came over at this moment.

Bang Geng is bad, but not stupid. If there's any commotion here, people will look this way. These days, there's a crackdown.

Banggeng's eyes darted around, and he deliberately wobbled and crashed into the front of the bicycle.

"Ouch!" Banggeng cried out dramatically, then flopped down on the ground. "How did you ride your bike? You hit someone!"

He Ningxue blushed and said, "I...I didn't bump into you."

"How come I didn't get hit? My leg is almost broken!" Banggeng rolled on the ground, clutching his leg. "Everyone, come and be the judge!"

When Bang Geng pulled this trick, the brothers He Yaozu and He Yaozong were a little confused. Could there really be such a shameless person?
"Second brother, go back and tell the family to see if Dad has come back yet," He Yaozu whispered to He Yaozong.

"Hmm." He Yaozong responded and was about to leave when Bang Geng grabbed his leg and shouted, "You can't leave! Your sister bumped into me, and you still want to leave?"

He Yaozong tried to shake him off but couldn't. By then, a crowd had gathered around. He Yaozu whispered to He Ningxue, "Go home and see if Dad is back yet."

"Oh, oh!" He Ningxue nodded hurriedly and ran home. Banggeng didn't dare to hug He Ningxue's leg.

As people gathered around, he grabbed He Yaozong's leg and started crying out, "Look, look! They not only hit someone, they beat someone up too!"

"Isn't this that good-for-nothing kid from the Jia family? He's been stealing chickens and dogs since he was little. He came back from the countryside and got a job, but he doesn't do it properly. Is he here to stage an accident to extort money?"

Someone recognized the stick and said sarcastically.

"Hey bro, do you know this kid?"

"There are a few people I don't recognize in Nanluoguxiang. You've just moved here, haven't you?"

"Yes, we've only been here for a few months."

"You have no idea what the Jia family is like."

"You're talking nonsense, that's not how my family is."

"Oh, you did it and you don't want people to talk about it?" At this moment, an old woman who had suffered at the hands of Jia Zhangshi in the past shouted.

"That girl wasn't paying attention while riding her bike and hit me like this! She's not leaving until she pays me!"

"It looks to me like you're the one who stopped that girl."

"You're talking nonsense. How could you see clearly from that far away?" Banggeng refused to admit it. There was indeed no one around just now; the closest person was dozens of meters away.

Just then, Qin Huairu appeared out of nowhere and rushed to Banggeng's side, wailing and crying, "My son! What happened to you? Who bumped into you like this?"

She cried and yelled at the He brothers, "You rich people only know how to bully us ordinary people! You hit someone and then refused to admit it!"

He Yaozong was about to argue when He Yaozu stopped him with a look. The two brothers exchanged glances and both realized that this was not a simple matter.

“Ma’am, since you say we hit her, then let’s ask the police to handle this,” He Yaozu said calmly.

Upon hearing that the police would be called, Qin Huairu plopped down on the ground and cried even harder: "Call the police? Even if the police are called, they'll have to pay compensation first! If my son is left disabled, can you take responsibility for that?"

"This daughter-in-law of the Jia family has really learned her mother-in-law's mannerisms perfectly," someone said.

"Her mother-in-law is much more formidable than her."

"Is it true or not? Tell us, tell us."

The He brothers had never seen such a shameless person before, and for a moment they were at a loss for what to do.

The gate of the He family opened again, and the first person to come out was not He Yuzhu, but Chen Lanxiang carrying a feather duster, followed by He Ningxue who looked like she wanted to watch the show. There was no trace of the fear and tension she had shown when she went in.

Pushing through the crowd, Chen Lanxiang saw that her second grandson was still being held by the leg, so she hit him with a feather duster.

Bang Geng, in pain, released He Yaozong. When he saw an old woman, he yelled, "Who are you, old woman? What business is it of yours? If you hit me, you'll have to pay for it if you hurt me."

"Oh, who do we have here? Isn't this Banggeng, the chicken thief? What's gotten into you now?" Chen Lanxiang didn't recognize Banggeng, but she recognized Qin Huairu. She then said, "Isn't this Old Jia's daughter-in-law? What are you doing sitting at my door? Are you begging with your son?"

"Aunt He, you can't just say things like that. These young men hit my son, and I want an explanation." Qin Huairu recognized Chen Lanxiang immediately; she was quite formidable back in the day.

"I want an explanation? My granddaughter said that your son was trying to commit indecent acts!" Chen Lanxiang said.

“Aunt He, please don’t talk nonsense. My son did not do anything indecent. That’s a serious crime.”

"Oh, really? Does anyone here have seen this and would like to be a witness?" Chen Lanxiang shouted.

"I."

"I."

"Me!" There were quite a few people who enjoyed watching the drama unfold.

"Shall we go to the police station? Let's see if it was your son who was being a hooligan or if he was hit by a car?" Chen Lanxiang said, pointing at Qin Huairu with a feather duster.

Qin Huairu was following behind Banggeng just now. Although she was a bit far away, she could still see clearly that it was her son who blocked the girl's way. If this really went to the police station, Banggeng's life would be over.

The crucial point is that she had no idea these were the He family's children before. Now she was truly on the verge of tears, cursing Bang Geng in her heart.

Soon after, officers from the local police station arrived at the scene, and the crowd of onlookers automatically parted to make way for them.

The leader was a middle-aged police officer; they had been called there by concerned citizens.

"What's going on?" The police officer glanced around, his gaze lingering on Qin Huairu, who was throwing a tantrum, and Bang Geng, who was lying on the ground. He was clearly familiar with the mother and son.

"Officer, you've finally arrived!" Qin Huairu cried out as if she had seen a savior, sobbing uncontrollably, "They...they hit my son with their bikes and they're trying to deny responsibility! Look what they did to my son!"

The police officer ignored her and turned to the He Yaozu brothers and Chen Lanxiang, who was standing in front of the door, holding a feather duster and still as imposing as ever: "Auntie, are these young comrades telling the truth?"

“Officer, that’s not how it happened at all!” He Yaozong interjected. He was young and hot-blooded and had never seen such a distortion of the truth. “It was him,” he pointed to the stick on the ground, “who blocked my sister’s way and used foul language. When we came over to argue with him, he lay down on the ground and grabbed my leg, preventing me from leaving!”

"You're talking nonsense! It was clearly you who hit someone!" Bang shouted, his neck stiff, but his eyes flickered.

The police officer frowned and looked at the surrounding crowd: "Did any of you see what happened?"

The old man who had recognized Bang Geng immediately stood up: "Officer, I saw it! It was Jia Geng who stopped that girl's car first. Her brother came to protect her, but he acted like a scoundrel and lay down on the ground! That kid has never been easy to deal with since he was a child!"

"Yes, yes, I saw it too!"

"He's the one who provoked them first!"

Several onlookers chimed in, and Qin Huairu and Bang Geng's faces immediately turned extremely ugly.

The police officers knew perfectly well that the Jia family, mother and son, were notoriously difficult to deal with in the area.

But since Banggeng's father was his old comrade-in-arms, he decided to let bygones be bygones and not make a big deal out of it. He sternly shouted at Banggeng, "Jiageng, stand up! What kind of behavior is this!"

Overwhelmed by the police officer's imposing presence, Banggeng reluctantly got up, dusted himself off, and muttered, "They're all in cahoots."

"Shut up!" the police officer snapped, then turned to Chen Lanxiang, his tone softening slightly. "Auntie, look at this situation. Although Jia Geng was at fault first, no actual harm was caused. We're all neighbors, so how about we mediate?"

Bang Geng shuddered; he didn't dare to think about it if it actually came to pass.

Chen Lanxiang snorted coldly: "Officer, it's not that I'm not giving you face. You saw it yourself, they're just being unreasonable and ruining my child's reputation! If it weren't for the neighbors' sharp eyes today, wouldn't we have been extorted by them? Mediation is not out of the question, but I think this mother and daughter have other intentions. I won't feel at ease until this matter is resolved."

She didn't think it was a coincidence. How could it be such a coincidence that her grandchildren encountered the Jia family's scoundrel, and then Qin Huairu appeared, even faster than her own family, who lived right next door?

Qin Huairu hurriedly said, "We apologize, we apologize, Bang Geng, quick, apologize to you and Grandma He's child!"

"mom!"

"Apologize!" Qin Huairu shouted.

"I'm sorry." Banggeng bowed reluctantly.

"Auntie, do you think it's done?" the police officer asked.

“I don’t think much of them. What, do you know this mother and daughter? I get the feeling you’re biased towards them,” Chen Lanxiang said to the police officer.

"Ma'am, it's good to be lenient when you can!" the police officer said earnestly.

"Hehe, I'm afraid of repaying evil with kindness!" Chen Lanxiang said.

"What do you mean by that, ma'am?" The police officer's expression changed.

The people around her also got into a gossip frenzy, waiting to see what the old lady would say.

"Aunt He, we've already apologized, what more do you want?" Qin Huairu was also getting anxious.

"Don't worry, I won't take your son's life, but we're going to take back our things. Jia family daughter-in-law, right?" Chen Lanxiang asked.

This is even more outrageous.

"Her things?"

"what?"

"Does anyone know this old lady?"

"The one who said he's lived here for many years, come out and tell us about it."

Qin Huai felt a chill run down her spine. This old lady was as formidable as ever. Now that someone had caught her red-handed, even with all her cunning, she couldn't think of a way to break free.

"Ma'am, tell me what they took from you, and I'll help you mediate," the police officer said, forcing a smile.

"No, we can handle it ourselves. If we rely on you guys, hmph."

"Auntie, you have to trust us police officers."

"That depends on the person," Chen Lanxiang retorted.

(End of this chapter)