The fat man immediately thought of Qin Huairu, but quickly ruled her out. Because Qin Huairu's family was dirt poor; if she had the guts, she would have already killed Xu Damao herself.

Who could it be? Who did this brat offend this time?

Whoever this person is, they're up to no good. If they only said they'd give Xu Damao 500, that would be fine; but the 10,000 yuan they asked for later reveals something. They want to both deal with Xu Damao and swindle the Five Tigers of Red Star.

Clearly, Shi Bowen had also thought of this.

Otherwise, why would Fatty always take extra care of him? This kid is smart, principled, and incredibly skilled. Plus, he's very filial to his mother. If he were in "Water Margin," he could easily be one of the 108 heroes.

The fat man asked him, "So they've got their eyes on this 500 yuan?"

Shi Bowen scoffed: "How could that be? Yang Weimin gets 300 yuan each, while the two of them only get 100 yuan each."

The fat man sighed: "Then call them back. I'll pay the 200 yuan for them."

Shi Bowen's face darkened: "Fatty, what kind of rule is this?"

"Don't worry, I won't pay for it. Of course, Xu Damao will pay for it."

Shi Bowen thought for a moment and said, "Alright, they're still willing to listen to you."

"..."

After seeing Shi Bowen off, the fat man thought for a moment and then went back to the backyard to find Xu Damao.

After calling him out of the yard, the fat man said to him, "Someone wants you, offering five hundred and ten thousand."

Xu Damao's hair stood on end, and cold sweat streamed down his neck: "Brother, you're not joking, are you?"

The fat man retorted, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Xu Damao panicked completely: "What do we do? What do we do?"

The fat man sighed: "Take out two hundred yuan."

Xu Damao instinctively reached into his pocket: "What do you need money for?"

"Of course it's for the two people who take the job. Also, you should go stay with your parents for a while, ten days or half a month is not too little, a month or two is not too much."

Xu Damao understood immediately, but still had concerns: "What about my job?"

The fat man tapped him: "Is work more important or your life? If they can't find you, they'll just let it go in a while."

Xu Damao pulled out two hundred yuan without hesitation and hurriedly went home to pack his valuables.

Before the fat man went back into the house, a possibility suddenly occurred to him, and he felt a jolt of electricity run through his body.

Could it be... no way... could it be her?!

Xu Damao's sudden departure not only disrupted Yang Weimin's plans but also caused him to lose three hundred yuan for no reason.

It also disrupted the plans of another person, Bang Geng.

Qin Jingru had already told him that he would go to the club and work as a temporary worker, learning how to project movies from Xu Damao.

Xu Damao suddenly told her that something had happened at home and took her to the countryside.

Having been stood up by Banggeng once again, Qin Huairu brought up the old issue again: "What are you thinking? You're 20 years old, are you just going to stay at home all day waiting for your grandma and me to support you?"

Banggeng shouted, "Of course not!"

"No, why didn't you go to the street when I told you to?"

"Mom, that's sweeping the main streets!"

Qin Huairu retorted sarcastically, "Do you know how many people like you who cut in line and can't find work? There's a long queue even for street sweeping jobs! If it weren't for my good connections with the neighborhood committee, would you even have a chance?"

Banggeng silently lowered his head, clenched his fists, and remained silent.

On Monday in the workshop, Fatty gave the money to Smiling Tiger and Dragon-Catching Tiger: "Let's leave it at that. You two better not get involved anymore."

Qin Longhu looked troubled: "Yang Weimin said that we two did a bad job, and he wants us to pay the three hundred as compensation..."

Shi Bowen kicked him, yelling, "What the hell are you talking about?!"

The fat man quickly stopped him, helped Qin Longhu up, patted him on the back, and earnestly advised, "It's time to part ways with him."

Dragon-Catching Tiger glanced at Smiling Tiger with a troubled expression, and the boy guiltily looked away; judging from their expressions, Fatty knew they were still reluctant to give up this vague "prestige".

He sighed and led Shi Bowen away, saying, "See? It's not that I don't want to give them a chance."

Shi Bowen hurriedly explained, "Fatty, Qin Longhu isn't that kind of person, he's just brainless..."

"I know, he's stubborn. But people like him won't turn back until they've been bruised and battered."

Shi Bowen was speechless; all his words ultimately turned into a long sigh.

On the third night after Xu Damao ran away, the fat man was having a sweet dream with Yu Li in his arms when suddenly he felt the earth shaking!

He woke up immediately, and his exceptional hearing immediately picked up the sound of a courtyard wall collapsing outside.

At this time, in this month, the fat man sprang out of bed with a swift movement, grabbed a towel and rolled Yu Li up in it.

He rushed into his second sister's room, shoved Chen Mengqi into her arms, and then, carrying Chen Yan in one hand and Yu Li in the other, broke down the door and ran out!

The fat man was probably the fastest to react; they had been out for quite a while before the other families in the front yard hurriedly came out.

Liu Yuanyuan's father was busy with something just now; he ran out without even putting on his underwear, frantically pulling down his vest to try and cover himself while trying to avoid everyone...

Yu Li had fully regained her senses by this time. She quickly wrapped her daughter in the blanket and whispered to comfort Chen Mengqi, who had been crying from fright.

Yan Jiecheng and his wife came out quickly, and as soon as they saw the fat man, they asked, "What's going on?"

The fat man remained relatively calm: "It must be an earthquake, and a fairly strong one at that. Where's your dad?"

Only after being reminded did Yan Jiecheng realize that Yan Bugui and his wife had not yet come out.

Yan Jiecheng shouted and tried to rush home, but Zhang Hongying desperately pulled him back. Fortunately, Yan Bugui came out shakily at this moment, still holding his family's television in his arms. The three aunts kept scolding him from behind: "What time is it? Why are you still holding onto it when you're trying to escape?"

Yan Bugui argued confidently, "This is the only valuable thing we have left in our family."

"..."

By now, everyone in the courtyard should have woken up from their dreams.

Yi Zhonghai came over from the Intermediate People's Court and, without hesitation, took command:

“This earthquake is bound to change the weather. If you can’t get back into your houses, it will be a real problem. I know that each of you has wood that you saved from digging air-raid shelters in 1969. Don’t be stingy, take it all out and quickly build earthquake shelters. Our central courtyard has already started building them, so don’t dawdle in your front yards!”

However, his words reminded everyone that they should quickly set up earthquake shelters.

At this point, no one cared about anything else. Seeing this, the third uncle immediately called everyone to his house to get the wood.