Madam Jia's eyes lit up, and a greedy look appeared on her face. She excitedly slapped her thigh and said, "Dongxu, your idea is great. You are indeed my son. You have so many clever ideas."
Qin Huairu hesitated, saying, "This isn't a good idea. Uncle Yi has always been good to our family. This is just kicking us when we're down. Besides, if others find out, it won't be good for our family's reputation. We'll all be too ashamed to show our faces in the courtyard."
"You don't know anything! Can reputation put food on the table?"
Madam Jia wanted to strangle Qin Huairu, but she snorted coldly, "Woman's compassion, what do you know? At a time like this, you have to think about your own family."
"Huai Ru, you're just too soft-hearted. Don't worry about this. Mom is right. If we don't do this, we won't even have enough to eat. We can't just starve to death."
Jia Dongxu composed himself. "No matter what, we have to seize the time before Yi Zhonghai gets into trouble and make as much profit as possible. Besides, he only seems upright usually. Who knows what bad things he did behind the scenes that led to this investigation? We're just going with the flow."
“Yes, yes.” Madam Jia nodded repeatedly. “Dongxu, you’re right. We need to hurry up with this, but we also need to be careful and not let Yi Zhonghai see through our scheme.”
Qin Huairu hesitated and muttered, "But what if Grandpa is alright? We won't be able to explain ourselves then."
Jia Dongxu glanced at Qin Huairu impatiently, "What do you know, you woman? He's in the eye of the storm right now, he can't even protect himself, what right do you have to explain yourself?"
"Dongxu really saw it clearly!"
Madam Jia turned and glared at Qin Huairu, then looked at her son, "However, we can't be too blatant. We can first subtly tell Lao Yi that we're struggling to make ends meet and see his reaction. If he's willing to help, that would be great. If he seems hesitant, we can back off in time."
Hearing his mother's words, Jia Dongxu nodded repeatedly, "Mom is the most thoughtful. Let's do it this way."
Therefore, the Jia family decided to act according to Jia Dongxu's plan.
Jia Dongxu, the apprentice, approached Yi Zhonghai and made up various excuses to borrow money and grain from him.
Qin Huairu sighed helplessly, knowing he couldn't persuade the mother and son and could only watch as they plotted to scheme against Yi Zhonghai. Yet, a vague unease lingered in his heart, a feeling that their actions would bring negative consequences.
After discussing it for a while, Jia Dongxu was eager to go out and headed straight for Yi Zhonghai's house across the street.
"Master, have you eaten? I need to discuss something with you."
Jia Dongxu hesitated for a few seconds outside the door before lifting the curtain and going inside.
Yi Zhonghai was somewhat surprised to see Jia Dongxu arrive at his home at this time: "Oh, it's Dongxu. What's up?"
"Master, you see, my family is struggling to make ends meet. Could you lend me another fifty yuan?"
Jia Dongxu looked troubled, tears welling up in his eyes. "It's gotten colder recently, and my mother's back has been hurting so badly. I see it and it really hurts me. I want to get her to see a doctor and buy her some ointment, but I really don't have any money."
When Yi Zhonghai heard Jia Dongxu ask to borrow fifty, he was stunned for a moment before he finally spoke: "Dongxu, you know that because of what happened to you, I also had my wages deducted at the factory, and I don't have much money on hand right now!"
Although Yi Zhonghai had his doubts, he couldn't resist Jia Dongxu's persistent pleading, and also had to consider the teacher-student relationship, so he eventually lent her the money.
After Jia Dongxu left with the money, Yi Zhonghai felt something was off. He thought about it for a while but couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he stopped thinking about it. After all, he was still troubled by the rumors, and after a whole afternoon of running around, he still hadn't found the source and had no clue whatsoever.
"Why would Dongxu come here to borrow so much money?"
After Jia Dongxu left, Yi Zhonghai's wife came out from the inner room and asked in puzzlement, "I've never heard of Jia Zhangshi having a chronic back pain. What is the Jia family up to?"
Yi Zhonghai slowly shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.
“After all, I’m still Dongxu’s mentor. Whether his back pain is real or not, he looks like he’s in trouble. How can I not care?” Yi Zhonghai sighed. “I’m also swamped with problems right now. I don’t even know how much the rumors will spread when I get to the factory tomorrow!”
"The truth will never be hidden, and what is false will never become true."
Yi Zhonghai's wife brought the food to the table and gestured for her husband to eat. "We didn't do that. Don't let those rumors distract you from your meals. I believe the factory leaders will clear our name."
Yi Zhonghai sighed heavily. He couldn't possibly let his wife's words of comfort make him forget about the matter.
No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't figure out where the rumor came from.
Picking up a white steamed bun and taking a bite, Yi Zhonghai was still preoccupied: "Although I did not embezzle public funds, if this rumor is not stopped in time, it may have a significant impact. The workshop director even questioned me after get off work today."
"Is it that serious?"
"Um."
Yi Zhonghai nodded. "This matter isn't a huge deal, but it's not insignificant either. It's devastating to my reputation in the factory and the compound. If things go wrong, I might even have to go to the police station to cooperate with the investigation."
Hearing this, Yi Zhonghai's wife also became anxious, put down her chopsticks and asked, "What should we do? We have to think of something quickly."
"If there were a way, I wouldn't be so anxious and upset."
After a moment of contemplation, Yi Zhonghai said, "Let's not talk about my matter for now. I find Dongxu's request for money rather suspicious. Think about it, his family is not rich but they are doing alright. Why would they suddenly ask to borrow a large sum of money? I'm afraid Jia Zhangshi's illness is just a pretext."
Yi Zhonghai's wife's eyes lit up. "Could it be that he wants to use the money for something else?"
Yi Zhonghai shook his head. "No matter what, the money has already been lent to him, and the day he has to pay it back is probably a long way off. But then again, if he can take care of us in our old age, then it's okay to lend it to him."
Yi Zhonghai's wife sighed, looking at the dishes on the table with no appetite: "After what happened to you last time, I've finally figured it out. This isn't our own child; he's not on our side. Huai Ru is trustworthy, and the child is filial, but who can guarantee that Jia Zhangshi won't scheme against us!"
"So we'll have to wait and see."
After finishing his sentence, Yi Zhonghai put down the steamed bun and continued thoughtfully, "There's one more thing we need to take care of quickly. We also need to ease the tension between us and Sha Zhu. I've thought about it, maybe we should talk to the old lady. Sha Zhu listens to her to some extent."
Yi Zhonghai's wife nodded, "Alright, we'll have to give it a try."
Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth, "I hope both of these matters can be resolved smoothly, otherwise I'll never have a peaceful life."
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