Liu Haizhong felt a buzzing in his ears, and immediately slammed his hand on the table, shouting, "Alright, stop arguing!"
Then he turned to the deaf old woman and said, "Grandma, let's get this straight. Who caused what happened last night?"
"I don't care who caused it, I'm not satisfied with the outcome."
The deaf old woman knew she was in the wrong, so she glared at him with her small eyes, then turned her head to the side after speaking.
Liu Haizhong chuckled: "Alright, I see now. You're not here to discuss anything, you're here to stir things up."
"Liu Haizhong, you're talking nonsense! How dare you talk to me like that!"
After the deaf old woman finished shouting, she immediately looked at Qin Huairu and found that Qin Huairu had a cold face.
Qin Huairu finally understood. What kind of deaf old woman would start by blaming people like that? Besides, they had come to ask Liu Haizhong for help.
Liu Haizhong is right. This deaf old woman is just stirring up trouble. She says she's helping, but who knows what she's really up to.
However, Qin Huairu was still shrewd. She had already broken ties with Yi Zhonghai's family, and she couldn't afford to offend the old deaf man, otherwise her Jia family would be even more isolated and helpless in this courtyard.
"Grandpa and Grandma, please calm down. My grandma misspoke in her anxiety."
Qin Huairu quickly moved closer to the older woman, tears welling up in her eyes. "Auntie, please don't be angry. I really didn't come here to upset you."
"Actually, there was nothing between Yi Zhonghai and me. I was just afraid that if we talked in the yard, people would see us and gossip. As a widow, I had to avoid suspicion, so I went to the vegetable cellar."
As she spoke, tears streamed down Qin Huairu's face. "Auntie, believe me, if I had done that kind of thing with Yi Zhonghai, may my whole family die a horrible death."
The middle-aged woman, who had been unwilling to pay attention to Qin Huairu just moments before, was startled when she heard Qin Huairu make such a vicious oath.
"What nonsense are you spouting, kid? Spit it out!"
The older woman's expression softened considerably. She glanced at the deaf old woman beside her before patting Qin Huairu's arm. "Child, don't cry. It's alright. I believe you. Tell me what happened."
Qin Huairu pursed her lips, her eyes red, and nodded vigorously.
“I took over Dongxu’s job, but the workshop had a tight schedule at the beginning of the year. If I went there, I would only be an apprentice. Not only would the workshop not accept me, but no one in the team wanted me either. They were all afraid that I would be a burden.”
"Later, the supervisor asked me to go to the kitchen to help out, and then I would be transferred back after the tasks in the workshop were completed."
Qin Huairu recounted her story, tears streaming down her face from time to time: "But there were already kitchen helpers there. If I went there, I would be taking their jobs. They were senior staff members, and I was bullied by them every day. The tasks they assigned me were so heavy that two people couldn't finish them."
“These days, my hands and feet are shaking when I get home. I don’t even have time to rest at the factory. It’s really too much of a bullying. Sha Zhu knows about this, but that person seems to have powerful connections. Sha Zhu has been punished before, so he doesn’t dare to do anything about it.”
"So I approached Uncle Yi a few times, hoping to use his status as an eighth-grade worker to transfer me back to the workshop."
"The workshop was in a hurry and there was no time to talk. That's why I thought I'd talk to him when I got back to the compound. But as a widow who just lost her husband, I didn't dare to talk to Grandpa Yi openly in the yard for too long, so I went to the vegetable cellar."
Qin Huairu gritted her teeth and knelt down before the old woman with a thud. "Auntie, please help me. I really have no other choice."
Finally, Qin Huairu spoke the truth. At this point, she was facing both internal and external troubles, and if things went wrong, she would be finished.
An older woman quickly helped Qin Huairu up, sighed, and said, "Huairu, I know about this, but you also need to understand that your uncle is a man who values rules the most. The misunderstanding you left for everyone in the courtyard before is not easy to clear up."
Liu Haizhong, who had been silent all along, spoke up after listening to Qin Huairu's story: "Qin Huairu, I understand your difficulties, but you really shouldn't have gone to the vegetable cellar with Yi Zhonghai to discuss things, causing gossip throughout the courtyard. This matter is being talked about in the neighboring courtyard, and even half the street, and it's very difficult for me to handle."
Qin Huairu lowered her head and sobbed softly.
"Grandpa, please help me clear things up, otherwise I really won't be able to face anyone. My whole family depends on me to support them."
Just then, with a loud crash, the door was pushed open.
The group looked up and saw Sha Zhu walking in with a stern face.
Seeing that Sha Zhu looked like he was about to fight, Liu Haizhong was startled. His two sons weren't home, and after what happened last night, he was really afraid that Sha Zhu would lose his temper.
Unexpectedly, Sha Zhu's first words were: "Grandpa, I've come to apologize to you."
After speaking, Sha Zhu paused for a few seconds, his face showing undisguised embarrassment.
He could hear the commotion inside from outside, and he also heard what Qin Huairu said. In particular, when Qin Huairu said that even a fool like Zhu wouldn't dare to interfere, his face burned with embarrassment.
“I was being foolish last night and lost control. I got into a fight with everyone, including you, sir. It was my fault. I’ll buy you some wine to apologize tomorrow.”
Liu Haizhong was momentarily stunned. Had Sha Zhu gone mad? He actually came to his house to apologize and even offered to buy him wine?!
Sha Zhu stood in front of Liu Haizhong like a primary school student: "Uncle, you have authority in the courtyard. Why don't you call a meeting to clarify things for Sister Qin?"
"Otherwise, if this matter continues to be spread like this, it won't have a good impact on our compound."
"You know it has a bad influence?!"
Liu Haizhong got angry. He knew that Sha Zhu had come to apologize because of Qin Huairu. "You know it's not a good thing. You even hit someone last night. If you hadn't hit someone, maybe none of this would have happened."
Sha Zhu stiffened his neck and said, "I didn't think that much at the time. We've lived in the same courtyard for so many years. Don't you know my temper?"
"Alright, alright."
Liu Haizhong waved his hand impatiently and turned to Qin Huairu, "I need to think about this matter some more. I need to discuss it with Lao Yan and the others. It's not something that can be resolved so easily."
The deaf old woman refused, saying, "What are you considering? You should hold a hospital-wide meeting tonight, or I, this old woman, will not leave your place."
"Okay, then you can stay in the chair."
The older woman wasn't going to tolerate the deaf old lady, and after saying that, she went inside.
The deaf old woman pointed at the back of an older woman, intending to reprimand Liu Haizhong, but was stopped by Sha Zhu.
"Oh dear, my goodness, you've made a mistake again. Come on, let's go home first, don't make trouble here."
With that, Sha Zhu picked up the deaf old woman and left.
He took a couple of steps, then turned back and picked up his cane.
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