The Courtyard House: He Yuzhu, Who Defied Fate

He Daqing must have thought that he had gotten close to other leaders.

But Cui Dake knew his own situation. If he had gotten close to a leader, how could he still be in this position?

I couldn't get close to any leader, so I resorted to some underhanded tactics.

Now look what's happened! I've offended the boss, and I've also offended the boss's son.

Two years ago, I could have gotten some local specialties from the countryside to give as gifts.

But that's impossible now. You can't buy any food in the countryside unless you trade it for more coarse grains.

There is a nationwide food shortage right now. If it weren't for the steel mill, I would have starved to death long ago.

Thinking of this, Cui Dake knew that he had no choice but to endure it. If he didn't, and they kicked him out, he would really starve to death.

After He Yuzhu and He Daqing finished looking at the other canteens and finished telling him about the class monitor, He Daqing asked He Yuzhu:

"Zhu Zi, what made you decide to come here!"

He Yuzhu said:

"I'm on holiday now, and I'll go back to work after the New Year, so I came to see you. Anyway, there's nothing fun at home."

You don't have time either!

He Daqing sighed and said:

"Alas, there was no harvest this year, and life is even harder now. I heard that a large number of people are starting to starve to death."

There was no other way; the whole country was short of food, and many people even died from overeating clay.

It's pitiful; the outer bark and grass roots have been almost completely eaten away!

The capital city was somewhat better, but other places were like hell on earth.

He Yuzhu sighed and said:

"Sigh, there's nothing I can do. If the country had listened to me a few years ago, things would probably have been better, but nobody listens to me."

It's too late now. Next year, I'll plant my optimized seeds, along with drip irrigation and well-drilling techniques, which should help a bit.

But things will gradually get much better after next year!

Upon hearing He Yuzhu's words, He Daqing sighed and said:

"Ah, it's all fate!"

He Yuzhu didn't bring up that topic, but instead asked He Daqing:

"I heard that Yi Zhonghai is in dire straits now!"

He Daqing said with a half-smile:

"It's not just down on his luck, it's downright miserable. You have no idea, Yi Zhonghai is now... he's practically..."

Before He Daqing could finish speaking, Yi Zhonghai arrived with a bruised and swollen face:

"He-Yu-Zhu!"

Yi Zhonghai looked at He Yu with boundless hatred. If it weren't for He Yuzhu, he wouldn't be in this state now, with no reputation left.

Otherwise, things wouldn't be like this now, with no one helping us.

He Yuzhu heard Yi Zhonghai's voice, turned around, looked at Yi Zhonghai, and said with a smile:

"Hey, isn't this an old man? What happened? Who did he fight with?"

"You're so old, why are you still fighting like a young person?"

Hearing He Yuzhu's gloating words, Yi Zhonghai became even more furious:

"He Yuzhu, why did you publish my story in the newspaper?"

He Yuzhu asked:

"Did I say something wrong?"

Yi Zhonghai was taken aback. "No," he said, "there's no exaggeration whatsoever." However, Yi Zhonghai continued:

"I've already reconciled with your father, so isn't this matter over?"

He Yuzhu nodded:

"Yes, we've reconciled, and it's all in the past, right? I didn't say anything, did I?"

Upon hearing He Yuzhu's words, Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth and asked:

"Then why did you publish it in the newspaper?"

He Yuzhu said:

"That's like the short stories; my wife is an editor, and we've run out of story material."

I wrote about what happened between us. If I hadn't gone there, you would have been behind bars long ago.

Besides, this matter is in the past, but we can't let others follow the same path we did.

It's about speaking out, letting everyone know how wicked people can be!

After He Yuzhu finished speaking, Yi Zhonghai was almost furious.

Looking at the angry Yi Zhonghai, He Yuzhu asked:

"What's wrong? But I didn't write your name, and I changed all the names in our department!"

It doesn't name names; it mainly talks about trivial things that happen in daily life!

Hearing He Yuzhu's words, Yi Zhonghai was speechless. Looking at He Yuzhu, Yi Zhonghai said:

"How could you do this? We're all from the same compound, even though you're doing well now."

We're not in the same compound anymore, but we used to be neighbors. What good does it do you to treat me like this?

He Yuzhu said:

"I didn't do anything to you. I just told you that my wife works at a newspaper and we don't have any material to share."

I'm just using our story as writing material; I haven't questioned what you did before.

If we hadn't been in the same compound before, you would have been finished long ago, given what you've done.

Can you still go to work now? Besides, you've already done it, why are you afraid of what others will say?

If you're afraid of what others will say, then don't do it in the first place!

You're not uneducated, you must know the principle that if you don't want others to know, then don't do it in the first place.

"You've already done it, sooner or later people will find out!"

Yi Zhonghai's sharp tongue left him feeling helpless, since he needed someone to morally blackmail him.

Now, He Yuzhu is no longer in the courtyard house, nor in the steel rolling mill, so Yi Zhonghai has no one to kidnap.

A steel rolling mill, yes, a steel rolling mill.

Yi Zhonghai said:

"It's fine if you just write about what I did, but why did you have to bring up the steel mill?"

He Yuzhu was taken aback, then said:

"I didn't specifically name Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, nor did I mention our Hongxing Courtyard."

I used aliases, but how your story got leaked, I have no idea!

At this moment, a bystander shouted:

"That's right, I read the newspaper. It said it was the Third Steel Rolling Mill, a collective courtyard house."

"I didn't write your name, Master Yi!"

Yi Zhonghai looked back and saw that he was surrounded by onlookers, and he couldn't find the person who had spoken at all.

He Yuzhu said:

"See? You definitely didn't read my wife's article properly. As for mentioning the steel mill, that wasn't my fault either."

Of all the steel rolling mills in Beijing, how did we find Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill so quickly? Why didn't anyone mention the other steel rolling mills?

There were also Shengli Steel Rolling Mill and Kaixuan Steel Rolling Mill, where there were also level eight fitters.

Besides, when I wrote this, you had just been promoted to level eight fitter, so I didn't want the readers to know it was you.

I was officially certified as an eighth-grade fitter, but when this happened between our two families, you weren't an eighth-grade fitter!

Upon hearing He Yuzhu's thoughts, the people around him began to murmur amongst themselves:

"Yes, that's true, and they didn't even write Yi Zhonghai's name on it."

"I don't know either. After this incident came out, some people said that the protagonist in this story was Yi Zhonghai, who had just been promoted to the eighth-level worker at the time!"

Why is it that no one is arguing with me?

"How would I know that? I knew it was Master Yi's story first, and then I read it in the newspaper!"

"me too!"

"I also heard about Yi Zhonghai's story, and because I didn't know much about him, I bought the newspaper!"