Zheng Ya reached out for money, Yan Fugui chimed in, and everyone in the courtyard watched with bated breath, as if to bear witness.
Yi Zhonghai, his face burning with anxiety, forced a smile and said, "Please wait a moment, we'll discuss how to gather the money for you. Please wait a moment."
"Liu Haizhong, Xu Damao, Shazhu, Jia Dongxu, come inside with Zhonghai and we'll talk." Old Lady Long started conscripting men.
Jia Zhangshi immediately threw a tantrum, yelling, "Old Jia, come back and see! This whole courtyard is bullying us, a widow and her orphan! Come back and take them away!"
"Mom, don't do this, people will laugh at you!" Jia Dongxu pretended to be concerned and stepped forward to pull his mother aside to persuade her.
On the surface, he acted like a virtuous gentleman who cared about his reputation and integrity, but secretly he gave his mother a knowing look and did just that.
Grandma Long called him to raise money, but he's not stupid; there's no way he'll get the money.
Old Mrs. Long laughed in anger and issued an ultimatum in a cold voice: "Hmph, who are you and your son putting on this show for?"
Let me tell you, if you don't want to lose money, don't even think about taking advantage of China Overseas.
No one will help your family anymore, so you'll just have to go home and suffer.
"If you don't want to help, then don't. You've never helped our family once in all these years. Who cares if you help us?" Jia Zhangshi got up, grabbed Jia Dongxu, and ran away as fast as she could.
They were afraid that Old Lady Long and the others would stop them and demand compensation.
As long as we don't lose money, we can deal with the rest later.
The bizarre mother and son slipped away, and Xu Damao turned to run away as well, but was grabbed by Sha Zhu, who had been pretending to be dead and got up: "Kid, where are you going?"
"Let go! I wasn't involved in your business, and I won't raise money to compensate the aggrieved party, Zheng Ya. Let go!" Xu Damao struggled and shouted desperately.
At this point, it is necessary to state one's position and prove one's innocence.
Otherwise, they would be grouped with Old Lady Long and Yi Zhonghai by the people in the institute and become criminals who murdered Section Chief Zheng's family.
This is a matter of principle. Xu Damao isn't stupid; he'd be trying to avoid it as much as possible. Only a fool would hang out with them and give himself away without being asked.
Unfortunately, Sha Zhu grabbed him by the back of his collar and wouldn't let go no matter how much he struggled: "Kid, you dare to say you didn't hit Zheng Ya? Come on, say it out loud!"
"Shazhu, you bastard, it's not wrong for me to hit him, but you guys forced me to. You forced me to hit Zheng Ya, otherwise you should have hit me, you're targeting me?"
"I only hit Zheng Ya lightly a few times to protect myself..." Xu Damao argued loudly, insisting he wasn't lying.
Given his despicable behavior, currying favor with the powerful is an instinctive action for him.
He couldn't bring himself to bully Zheng Ya in front of Section Chief Zheng. If it weren't for Section Chief Zheng's sacrifice, and the fact that he was forced to beat Zheng Ya by Old Lady Long and others, he would have been one of them.
The others in the courtyard were in the same boat; they were all forced by Old Lady Long and others to frame Zheng Ya, otherwise they would be enemies, and it would be their turn to suffer.
That's the truth, and Sha Zhu understands it too, but he just won't let Xu Damao go: "Kid, we've already fought, you have to pay some compensation."
You don't want to be labeled an accomplice, deny your guilt, and be ostracized and targeted by the people in the hospital, right?
Besides, if you don't pay Zheng Ya some compensation as a token of your appreciation, what will Zheng Ya think of you?
"Fine, I admit defeat, I'll pay for it." Xu Damao gave in, but he made it clear that he wasn't afraid of being misunderstood as being part of Old Lady Long's faction.
The best way is to spend your money to avoid disaster and avoid provoking Zheng Ya's methods of harming people without showing his face!
He was cunning and very perceptive in judging situations.
Seeing that Xu Damao hadn't slipped away, Liu Haizhong braced himself and approached Yi Zhonghai's door, saying, "This matter has little to do with me!"
I'm willing to pay compensation to settle this matter. It's my way of contributing to the harmony of the neighborhood, and I'm happy to do so.
But if you want me to pay a lot of money and become a criminal in your gang, I won't pay a single penny.
"Alright, everyone sit down!"
This happened so suddenly, don't rush to argue about how much money you'll lose.
The most important thing is to calm things down.
Otherwise, Zheng Ya won't forgive us if he doesn't get the 20,000 yuan. We'll all be in jail, laid off, or executed..." Old Lady Long, trembling with her cane, tried to persuade everyone to chip in.
They were determined to protect Yi Zhonghai and minimize his losses.
Besides, if everyone shares the cost equally, it proves that we are all in the same boat and united against external threats.
Whoever opposes will become the target of public criticism.
Xu Damao felt he had been tricked, and as soon as he sat down, he stood up and shouted, "I object to this!"
I had no choice. I had arranged a marriage these past few days, and we registered our marriage this morning.
"We need to prepare for the wedding banquet soon, and my family also needs to give me money to buy some wedding supplies. The money we have is only enough for the wedding itself..."
"Xu Damao, you're practically getting married through a blind date, aren't you?"
"Fine, you'll foot the bill, or you can forget about getting married, I told you!" Sha Zhu slammed his hand on the table and angrily rushed up to Xu Damao, shouting at him.
If Yi Zhonghai hadn't grabbed Sha Zhu's right arm, Sha Zhu would have punched Xu Damao in the face.
The two are sworn enemies, always fighting whenever they meet.
When Xu Damao was getting married through a blind date, Sha Zhu, who was two years older than him, was still single, he was so angry that he lost his temper.
Sha Zhu is twenty-one this year, while Xu Damao has just turned nineteen!
These days, you can get a marriage certificate and get married by exaggerating your age by 20.
Besides, Xu Damao is twenty years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning), which isn't wrong.
The mistake was that Xu Damao registered for marriage without saying a word, which made Sha Zhu feel embarrassed and angry, so he wanted to beat him up.
While giving Sha Zhu a wink, Old Lady Long comforted Xu Damao: "Damao, your marriage is a big deal."
We can't delay your important life event.
But as you know, the compensation given to Zheng Ya was 20,000 yuan, and nobody has that much money!
The crucial thing is that this money must be raised for Zheng Ya, otherwise the consequences will be unbearable for us all!
"No, old lady, what do you mean by that?"
"Why do you say we're all the same? We didn't conspire with you and Yi Zhonghai to steal money or kill people..." Liu Haizhong got angry and stood up to argue.
This relieved Xu Damao, who decided to let Liu Haizhong hold the line first and see how things went before discussing compensation.
Grandma Long laughed without saying a word. Yi Zhonghai chimed in: "Liu Haizhong, Second Uncle, you're plotting to seize Zheng Ya's house so that your eldest son, Liu Guangqi, can get married."
Everyone here knows that you're trying to shirk responsibility right now. Is that even possible?
The key question is, can you really deny it completely?
"No, my Guangqi didn't have a wedding house. You instigated me to hold a meeting and make Zheng Ya give up his house for Guangqi's wedding."
"I'll give you three hundred yuan afterwards. Now you're framing me for plotting to seize Zheng Ya's house. I understand now. You set a trap for me beforehand!" Liu Haizhong realized what was happening and was furious.
This matter is hard to explain.
If Yi Zhonghai and Granny Long insist that Liu Haizhong was the mastermind behind the murder of Section Chief Zheng's family, Liu Haizhong will have no way to defend himself!
After all, this was something they had secretly planned. If it came to light, Liu Haizhong would be held responsible in public for targeting Zheng Ya.
Xu Damao was dumbfounded. He had messed up in Liu Haizhong's case, and without anyone to help him, he would have to pay a lot of money. What should he do?
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