After Banggeng came in, he was locked up here.
And then it was as if the whole world had forgotten about it.
There was a major incident at the police station today, and no one could attend to him; the station chief notified the neighborhood committee to have his family come and pay the fine immediately.
The neighborhood committee knew all too well what kind of people Qin Huairu's family was, so they just randomly picked a child to go and inform them.
As a result, the child went off to play with his friends halfway through the journey, so Ah Banggeng's family didn't know he had been locked up again until dawn.
It wasn't until the afternoon of the next day that the police remembered him.
The police officer asked, puzzled, "What's going on? His family hasn't come to pay the fine yet?"
The female office worker scoffed dismissively: "They're still asking for a fine? We haven't even seen a trace of them!"
The police officer was already in a bad mood, so he randomly called out a name: "Hey you, Niu Qin, go to Bang Geng's house and tell Qin Huairu to come and pick him up right away."
"..."
When Niu Qin came to the courtyard, the Third Uncle was sitting in the yard again, dutifully acting as his watchdog.
So he learned immediately that Bang Geng had been arrested.
Once he found out, the whole hospital knew.
Those at home flocked to the central courtyard to see what was going on; in front of the Jia family's gate, Qin Huairu stood with a livid face: "Comrade, are you mistaken?"
Niu Qin was also very impatient: "So many eyewitnesses saw it, how could there be a mistake? I'm telling you, Qin Huairu, hurry up and go to the police station to pay the fine and settle the restaurant's bill; this is a crackdown period, and people like your Bang Geng with a criminal record..."
As soon as Niu Qin left, the courtyard erupted in chaos.
Li Xianying's wife and Qin Jingru chattered on and on: "I heard that Fatty went to Banggeng's place to eat for free, and not only did he eat for free, he also cursed at the waitress and even tried to hit her!"
Qin Jingru scoffed, "His place? Eating at Qili Pavilion? That's the funniest joke I've heard all year! Do you know how much it costs Fatty to eat there?"
Li Xianying's wife, like a straight man in a comedy duo, said, "We're just a poor family, how could we afford to go? It's your Da Mao who goes all the time."
"Of course! When Da Mao is doing business, the place where he treats people to meals can't be cheap. Rather than letting others benefit, it's better to take care of our own brothers. Let me tell you, a meal at Fatty's place costs at least 10 yuan!"
"My God, how much money does that fat guy make in a day?"
"..."
Qin Huairu's mind was buzzing. Where would she get the money?
Since Jia Dongxu died, so many years have passed, and she has never been rich.
Her spendthrift mother-in-law has squandered all the money in the house; now the compensation for the meal alone is 16.35 yuan, and the fine for fighting and causing trouble is another 5 yuan, which is more than 20 yuan in total. Isn't that going to kill her?
There was no hope for Jia Zhangshi, so Qin Huairu hurriedly went to find an old man.
Anyway, she already owed that old man a lot of money. As the saying goes, "If you have too many lice, they won't bite; if you have too much debt, you won't worry." If she didn't borrow from him, who else could she borrow from?
But the old man was not home, which made Qin Huairu curse inwardly, "Where has that old man gone off to again?"
Who in this courtyard has money? Second Uncle and Third Uncle, but Qin Huairu didn't want to borrow from them; debts to these two families were not easy to incur.
Uncle Erda is easy to talk to, but Aunt Erda is stingy and petty. If she doesn't pay back the money on time, she'll really come to our house to ask for it back.
As for Uncle San, forget it! Borrowing money from him requires a written agreement and interest, not a penny less!
After much deliberation, Qin Huairu finally had no choice but to go to the Red Star Factory to look for locust flowers.
On her way to the factory, Qin Huairu noticed that the factory was becoming increasingly desolate.
Many workshops are empty, and the workers are either playing cards or chess in small groups or just chatting and killing time.
When they arrived at the entrance of Huaihua's workshop, Qin Huairu acted as if she were entering her own home, and stepped inside without any hesitation.
Along the way, some people who recognized her greeted her warmly: "Master Qin is here?"
Qin Huairu found Huaihua, called her outside the workshop, and bluntly told her, "Your brother is in trouble. Do you have any money? Quickly give me 21 yuan."
Huaihua exclaimed in surprise, "So many? I don't have any money!"
His tone and expression were exactly like Qin Huairu's.
Qin Huairu frowned: "Borrow some money from someone at the factory. Your brother is counting on this money to save his life!"
Huaihua pointed to the dilapidated factory behind her: "Nobody has any work. It's uncertain whether we'll even get paid next month. Who are we going to borrow from? Who's willing to lend to us!"
"I don't care, you can't just stand by and watch your brother go to jail!"
Huaihua shouted in frustration, "Why? Why do I have to borrow money because of the trouble he caused?"
Qin Huairu's eyebrows shot up again: "Who told you to take my job? If you don't pay, who will?"
It's happening again and again. Ever since she took over Qin Huairu's job in 1977, how many times has this happened? I've almost lost count of how many times it's happened!
He kept asking her for money, and when Huaihua refused, Qin Huairu brought it up.
This time, however, Huaihua had truly had enough: "Go ahead and ask whoever wants it, I have no money anyway, and no one will lend me any. If you keep pushing me, I'll do what Xiaodang did and split up the family, and I'll never go back again!"
After saying that, he turned and left, leaving Qin Huairu standing there, trembling with anger...
Huaihua is no pushover; she doesn't submit to fate easily. Besides, she's the youngest child in the family and has been pampered by Jia Zhangshi since childhood. Qin Huairu really doesn't dare to push her too far.
Otherwise, if she were to go and cause trouble for Jia Zhangshi, and with the addition of Banggeng, it wouldn't be Huaihua splitting the family, but Qin Huairu splitting the family!
Left with no other choice, Qin Huairu hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to go find the fat man.
※※※※※※
Unlike in the TV series, Qin Huairu dared to go to the restaurant and even the apartment to find Lou Xiao'e several times;
She dared not go to Qili Pavilion to find Yu Li.
Don't let Yu Li's usual mild demeanor fool you; it's only because nobody bothers her. But if anyone dares to provoke her, their fate will be just as tragic as Qin Huairu's…
Since we can't go to Qili Pavilion, we'll have to go to Fatty's house tonight.
But Fatty has been up to something these past few days, running straight to the backyard as soon as he gets home; every time Qin Huairu sees Chen Yan, she thinks of the two rooms left by the deaf old lady.
I feel so uncomfortable, how can I possibly get through this?
Therefore, Qin Huairu used a trick she hadn't used in many years: squatting by the water tap and waiting for the fat man to pass by.
By the way, with the arrival of reform and opening up, the hutongs in Beijing also underwent an upgrade and renovation at the end of 1979.
In addition to the removal of the water tap in the Intermediate People's Court, every household now has running water in their kitchens.
They also have coal stoves, and heating is available in winter. Furthermore, the public toilets have been upgraded.
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