Meanwhile, on the way to the police station, Ning Yuan whispered to Grandma Xia all the way.
Grandma Xia looked at Ning Yuan with some surprise and a strange look in her eyes: "You little girl, you know how to take advantage of a crisis."
Ning Yuan smiled, her eyes crinkling: "This isn't taking advantage of someone's misfortune, it's a reasonable request."
...
Wujiao Police Station
The largest office was crowded with family members from the Fudan University residential compound.
A refined middle-aged man said helplessly—
"Our school leaders have indeed considered the contributions Professor Tang has made to the school."
“He had just returned to Shanghai. He was in poor health, old, had no children, and had to support his wife and raise his adopted granddaughter who was in school. He was indeed having financial difficulties.”
Since the school office director had said so and acknowledged Ning Yuan's reasons, most of the teachers' families gave up their objections.
Yu Qiang immediately thought, "This won't do!"
If we just let it go like this, wouldn't their whole fuss have been for nothing, they wouldn't have gained anything, and they'd only have their charge of instigating trouble confirmed?
Especially the younger brother, Yu Jun, might even get arrested!
I might lose my job watching over the students' bicycles!
He stood up and said with a smile, "Director, you're right, but our school also has many teachers and their families facing difficulties. It's not appropriate to give them special treatment, is it?"
As soon as these enticing words were uttered, some people, like the Yu family, grumbled in dissatisfaction—
"That's right, these days, who isn't struggling!"
"Yes, my son is already married, but he hasn't been allocated an apartment by the school and is still living in a single dormitory!"
Back in those days, when private buying and selling of houses was prohibited, everything was owned by the state.
Only the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone has begun piloting the sale and purchase of houses.
Seeing that someone responded, Yu Qiang immediately gave a wink to the panicked Tian's mother, who then burst into tears—
"That's right, those two old folks got two-bedroom apartments because of their connections, while we, Lao Yu, only got a one-bedroom apartment. There are four of us, what are we going to do when my son gets married!"
Director Chu looked at Aunt Tian and the others with a somewhat unpleasant expression: "Aunt Tian, please speak with some respect. According to the regulations, housing allocation should also take into account individual contributions. The school is fair!"
As he spoke, he looked at the others and said, "Professor Tang is one of the founders of our economics department. If you can contribute to the school, so can you!"
He was also one of Professor Tang's students, but he didn't dare to help his teacher back then, watching him fall into misfortune.
The fact that we can lend a hand now is with the school's consent, and it's reasonable and compliant with regulations!
After these words were spoken, the other family members couldn't find any reason to say anything more and looked at each other in bewilderment.
Mrs. Tian was furious, her face darkening: "Fine, the school has its reasons for allocating housing, but letting his family sell things on the playground is wrong, it violates the rules!"
She had to justify her vandalism; only by sticking to that could her son escape unscathed.
Ning Yuan handed hot water to Grandpa Tang and Grandma Xia, and said slowly—
"Fine, we can stop selling sparkling water on the playground, but your son hitting me and your family's bullying behavior of vandalizing my house should be severely punished!"
Grandma Xia immediately said, "Yes, we need the People's Police to stand up for us!"
So what if we just target their weakness? Who's afraid of who!
Mother Tian was furious. She stood up and pointed at them: "You..."
Yu Qiang quickly winked at Officer Cui. They had given Officer Cui cigarettes, and his cousin was Officer Cui's girlfriend; he couldn't just ignore it!
Officer Cui frowned and whispered to Director Chu, "Director, Teacher Yu is a fifty-year-old teacher. It's not good to detain his son and wife at the police station."
He shook his head and sighed: "You can't just focus on retired professors and discourage the current teachers."
That hat is a bit too big.
Director Chu gave Officer Cui a slightly strange look.
When someone else reported the situation earlier, they mentioned that the security department hadn't shown up today.
It seems that Officer Cui is indeed favoring Yu Jia.
However, whatever his reasons for favoring his family, one thing he said is true—
Teacher Yu Weian is indeed a veteran teacher at the school, and he was sent back from the countryside. The school doesn't want this matter to become too ugly.
So, about this matter...
"This matter is difficult to handle in some ways, but easy in others. Unless the Yu family and Professor Tang reach a settlement, the police station can only handle it as a neighborhood dispute," Director Chu said calmly.
As an officer in the security department, Officer Cui naturally knew this was the procedure.
He frowned and pulled Yu Qiang and Aunt Tian aside to talk.
Mrs. Tim was furious: "You can't even handle those two old geezers and that little brat?"
"Director Chu's attitude is very clear. You need to think about how to get Old Man Tang and the others to agree, otherwise we can't help you." Secretary Cui was a little annoyed.
He had just started dating a cousin from the Yu family when he was asked to do something, which caused him a lot of trouble.
Yu Qiang was quite shrewd; he immediately whispered to Officer Cui—
"Officer Cui, do you think it would be possible to ask Director Chu to ask Professor Tang and the others? We had such an unpleasant argument just now, I'm afraid they won't want to talk to us!"
At this moment, Officer Cui also wanted to get rid of this hot potato. He planned to pass on the message to Director Chu and then slip away.
After Director Chu learned about it, he frowned and still conveyed the Yu family's message to Old Tang and Grandma Xia alone in the corridor.
He also conveyed the school's message, hoping that Mr. Tang could make an exception, since they were both from the same school and were seniors to each other.
Old Tang said calmly, "I'll listen to my wife about this. The director knows that men in Shanghai tend to listen to their wives."
Director Chu: "..."
Fine, what can he say? That he thinks this is wrong? If that gets back to the shrew in the house, he'll be kneeling on a washboard tonight!
He could only look at Grandma Xia.
Grandma Xia squeezed Ning Yuan's hand, who was standing obediently to one side, and did as she had instructed—
“We can reconcile with Teacher Yu’s family, but they hit my little girl and smashed my stall. There has to be an explanation for that.”
Director Chu understood, and his point was that the Yu family needed to bleed some money—pay compensation!
He nodded: "How much compensation do you think is appropriate?"
Grandma Xia smiled and said, "It's not much, just one hundred and fifty yuan."
Upon hearing this, Director Chu thought it wasn't excessive—it was only two months' salary for Teacher Yu: "Okay, I'll talk to them about it!"
They assaulted me and smashed things, preventing me from going home to cook after get off work and forcing me to stay here. They should compensate me!
Ning Yuan's heart skipped a beat. She tilted her head and feigned concern, saying, "But Aunt Tian and the others are so fierce. I'm afraid they won't give the director any face."
Brother Chu probably doesn't know that the family is destitute. One hundred and fifty yuan is a huge loss for them. Let's give them a piece of our mind first!
Director Chu's face darkened: "If they refuse to pay, I'll speak for them!"
Having achieved her first goal, Granny Xia immediately pressed her advantage, feigning difficulty—
"We are also willing to consider the school's interests and will no longer sell drinks near the teaching building or playground."
Hearing Grandma Xia bring up this very difficult matter that had put Director Chu and the school leaders in such a predicament was quite surprising.
Director Chu pushed up his glasses in disbelief, a little excited: "Really? Professor Tang, you really are insightful!"
The school had initially agreed to let Mr. Tang and his wife sell things on the playground, but they never expected things to turn out this way!
The reasons he gave have left the other teachers and their families in the compound speechless, but their resentment is still very obvious, and they don't know what might happen in the future.
If Grandma Xia and Old Man Tang could give up on their own initiative, that would be the best outcome!
Grandma Xia's old face crumpled up: "But we really are having a hard time, the leaders know that, we have to find a way to make a living for ourselves and our little girl, don't we?"
Director Chu immediately asked cautiously, "What are your requests? Please state them first."
Grandma Xia smiled and said, "Aren't there some small buildings near the back gate of the school on Zhengming Road? Do you think the school could rent one of them to us facing the street?"
Now all the shops are state-owned; the row of small buildings behind the school are actually full of various state-run stores and shops.
Upon hearing this, Director Chu frowned slightly: "Alright, I will report it to my superiors."
Now, the row of low-rise buildings on Zhengming Road behind the gate are mostly shops of state-owned enterprises, selling all kinds of things, and at least a third of them are still empty.
The school has only recently recovered and is busy focusing on teaching, so there's not much time to manage the shops.
Renting it to Mr. Tang is a kind of compensation.
When Ning Yuan heard that Director Chu hadn't refused, she guessed that the matter was very likely to succeed.
She was overjoyed. The shop on Zhengming Road behind Fudan University—she had been craving it ever since the first day she visited Fudan University!
It will be worth a lot of money in a few years, but it's not popular now. Without connections or special circumstances, no one will rent it to an individual!
We have to thank the Yu family for this "special" situation!
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