"Zhu Zi, you haven't rested yet? I have something to tell you. That rainwater..."
Yi Zhonghai walked into Sha Zhu's room with his hands behind his back and started talking about He Yushui. But he had barely begun when he realized something was wrong; why were there so many people in the room?
Jia Zhangshi, Qin Huairu, Banggeng, Xiaodang, Huaihua, and the entire Jia family were all in Shazhu's room, sitting at Shazhu's table eating.
"What's going on here?" Yi Zhonghai asked, almost thinking he had come to the wrong place.
"Uncle, have you eaten yet? Why don't you come and have something to eat here?" Qin Huairu warmly invited.
"I've already eaten. I was planning to talk to Zhu Zi about something. Since you're still eating, I can talk to you tomorrow."
Looking at this large family together, Yi Zhonghai instantly felt betrayed. His own family should be eating with Sha Zhu like this, so why had the Jia family come over without his permission?
Yi Zhonghai had always wanted to use the Jia family and Sha Zhu as his backup forces for retirement, and even wanted to directly match Qin Huairu and Sha Zhu together, thinking that 1+1 is greater than 2. But at this moment, his thoughts wavered. If these two families really joined forces, they would definitely abandon him immediately.
"Uncle, it's alright. You're fine. We've almost finished eating too." Sha Zhu didn't seem to mind at all; on the contrary, he was quite happy.
Today, he learned that a friend of his, a chef, had some mutton, so he went to great lengths and spent a considerable amount of money to get his hands on it. While at the steel mill, he told Qin Huairu that he would treat her and her family to dinner that evening.
After returning to the courtyard house, he first went to the Jia family and told Jia Zhangshi about the meal. Jia Zhangshi would never go against anyone's wishes to eat meat, so she naturally agreed. However, when she heard that Sha Zhu was also going to invite Yi Zhonghai's whole family, she became very unhappy.
Jia Zhangshi said that with so little mutton, plus what Yi Zhonghai and his wife gave to the deaf old lady, her eldest grandson wouldn't have any meat to eat. If Yi Zhonghai went, her family wouldn't go.
When Sha Zhu heard that the main guest he had invited today was not going, his wishful thinking for the day would be in vain. So he had no choice but to listen to Jia Zhangshi's words and think that he would consider Yi Zhonghai next time there was something good to eat.
Although Yi Zhonghai had eaten well that evening, he was still quite tempted by the smell of mutton. However, since it was leftovers, he naturally couldn't sit down and eat with them.
"Zhu Zi, I was about to talk to you about Yu Shui's work. By the way, where's Yu Shui, you guys have dinner?" Yi Zhonghai suddenly remembered that He Yu Shui had come back in the evening, but he hadn't seen her at dinner.
"Is she back? I haven't seen her. Maybe she's already back at school." Sha Zhu didn't care at all.
Hearing Sha Zhu's reaction, Yi Zhonghai felt a chill run down his spine. This Sha Zhu was only focused on Qin Huairu now, not even caring about his own sister; how could he possibly care about him in the future?
"Oh, it's alright since Rainwater isn't here. Rainwater contacted me this afternoon and said..."
So, Yi Zhonghai told him about He Yushui's job search.
When Sha Zhu heard that He Yushui had actually gone to see his old rival Xu Damao, he was initially very unhappy, feeling that he had lost face. But after listening to Yi Zhonghai's explanation, he realized that he hadn't lost anything and hadn't gotten involved; it was He Yushui's interaction with Xu Damao and his group.
“Uncle, I’ll do as you say. You can arrange it,” Sha Zhu said.
"No, how can we let an outsider worry about He Yushui's affairs? If word gets out, will Sha Zhu lose his reputation?"
As soon as Sha Zhu finished speaking, the first person to jump out and object was Jia Zhangshi.
Jia Zhangshi's "No!" surprised everyone present, and no one spoke for a long time. As for He Yushui's matter, even Sha Zhu, her own brother, had no objections; what right did an outsider like her have to think?
"Mom, this is about the rain, Shazhu is here." Qin Huairu looked at Yi Zhonghai's eyes and had no choice but to tug at Jia Zhangshi's arm.
"What do you mean by 'rainwater'? That's the compound's business. Now that Sha Zhu is too embarrassed to talk about it himself, we have an obligation to speak for him. Look how kind Sha Zhu is; he even treated us to mutton. How can we just watch Sha Zhu's reputation be ruined like this?" Jia Zhangshi said righteously.
At this moment, Jia Zhangshi was no longer the shrew who threw a tantrum, but the voice of justice in the courtyard and the guardian of Shazhu.
"Sister-in-law Jia, it's good for Sha Zhu that He Yushui has found a good job. They can help each other out in the future."
"If the rain doesn't work well, it'll be hard to find a partner, and she might even become a burden to Sha Zhu in the future."
Yi Zhonghai seemed to understand Jia Zhangshi's concerns, so he began to explain. In Yi Zhonghai's judgment, Jia Zhangshi was worried that after He Yushui started working at the auto repair shop, she would stay in the courtyard house and never leave. At that point, if Sha Zhu owned half of Yushui's house, it wouldn't be so easy for the Jia family to profit from it.
As the saying goes, experience is the best teacher. Jia Zhangshi was an experienced mother, and so was Yi Zhonghai; they guessed it immediately. Indeed, when Yi Zhonghai mentioned the work of He Yushui, Jia Zhangshi's first thought was that if He Yushui didn't leave, her family's house would be left without a home, so she objected without hesitation.
Qin Huairu, who is at the heart of the problem, knows that her mother-in-law is shrewish, but she won't argue with someone who has nothing to do with her for no reason. With Yi Zhonghai's words guiding her, she naturally thinks about the relationship between He Yushui's job and the house.
Furthermore, she also thought that if He Yushui continued to live in the courtyard house, it wouldn't be so easy for her to get money back from Sha Zhu. He Yushui had recently demanded that the money she borrowed from Sha Zhu be settled.
When it came to He Yushui's job, the three outsiders were all eager to argue and determine who was right, but Sha Zhu, her own brother, just stood there dumbly, not saying a word.
"Zhu Zi, you still need to keep an eye on Yu Shui's job. If you think Xu Damao's side isn't suitable, you can also look for Yu Shui yourself. Anyway, you know so many leaders."
Qin Huai knew she couldn't be too extreme, so she could only guide the conversation this way. In her opinion, as long as He Yushui wasn't in the courtyard house anymore, she didn't care where she worked. Of course, the farther away, the better.
“Yes, I’ll ask Yushui about it in the next few days. It’s easy for a young girl like her to find a job; she doesn’t need Xu Damao’s help at all.” Shazhu thought about Qin Huairu’s words and realized they were absolutely right. This was the future partner he had been longing for.
When Yi Zhonghai heard the scales starting to tip, he became a little anxious. He now understood that this silly Zhu was like "the bride being brought into the house, the matchmaker being thrown over the wall." It seemed that he couldn't let these two get together so easily, otherwise his role as the middleman would be greatly diminished.
"Zhu Zi, you can handle the rainwater situation yourself. If anything happens, tell the rainwater or you can communicate with me."
After saying that, Yi Zhonghai left Sha Zhu's house.
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