Chapter 129 Driving the Zheng Family Out of the Compound
Seven or eight middle-aged women were chatting in front of Aunt Cao's house in the courtyard, creating a very harmonious scene, except for the only young person among them—Cheng Jiajia.
Cheng Jiajia also felt very embarrassed and wanted to leave, but she couldn't bear to leave behind the gossip that Aunt Cao and her friends were talking about, so she lingered there.
Suddenly, Aunt Yan asked Cheng Jiajia with a puzzled look, "Little Cheng, isn't Dong Siwei your stepsister? Why doesn't she go to your house? Why does she always go to the Zheng family instead?"
Cheng Jiajia raised an eyebrow, her intuition telling her that this person was about to cause trouble again. After all, everyone in the compound knew that she had a bad relationship with her stepfather's family, so no one would deliberately ask her about it.
The person surnamed Yan is clearly setting the stage for trouble.
Sure enough, before Cheng Jiajia could speak, Aunt Yan, with a "I'm doing this for your own good" look on her face, said, "As the old saying goes, harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things. We women still have to rely on our maternal families after all, so we can't be so discordant."
Everyone immediately fell silent.
Good heavens, is Xiao Cheng's mouth something to be trifled with?
Even Chang Dafeng, the most notorious woman in their compound, never got the better of her, which shows how formidable she was.
Aunt Yan is usually quiet and reserved, so what's she up to today?
Everyone kept their mouths tightly shut, leaving only their eyes to look left and right, keeping them very busy.
What's Aunt Yan up to?
During this period, after "friendly negotiations" between the two families (with the sons threatening to support him in his old age), Qin Weimin's salary is now split in half between the two families. Bai Zhenzhu is naturally dissatisfied, but Aunt Yan is quite happy. You see, before the divorce, she had no access to Qin Weimin's salary. He gave her household expenses every month, and the amount was exactly right. She couldn't squeeze out much money at all.
Now at least she has the money in her own hands. Although she has to give the thirty-odd yuan to her three sons, Aunt Yan is still very happy.
People tend to stand taller once they have money in their hands. Aunt Yan felt that she was no longer the spineless person she used to be.
That's over thirty yuan, much better than most of the old women in the courtyard who don't work.
In other words, she, Yan Xiaocui, is much better than these old women in the courtyard!
This gave Aunt Yan the illusion that she could now interfere in everything.
Simply put, this person got arrogant.
Everyone held their breath, waiting to see how Cheng Jiajia would retort, but instead, Cheng Jiajia obediently nodded, contrary to her usual self. "Although I don't entirely agree with that statement, sometimes it really is like that."
The women were very disappointed.
I've already taken my pants off, and this is what you show me?
Aunt Yan was secretly pleased with herself. She used to always be embarrassed by this little brat, but today she finally got her revenge.
Just as she was about to say a few more words of lecture, she heard the little vixen say, "Otherwise, the Wu brothers wouldn't have come over and beaten up your third son, Aunt Yan, don't you think?"
Then, as if remembering something, she asked in surprise, "Oh, right! Aunt Yan, when is your Wu Meifang coming back? Is she spending the New Year at her parents' house? That won't do!"
In an instant, Aunt Yan's face turned green.
Aunt Yan used to like Wu Meifang as much as she does now, but now she loathes her.
Now that the Wu and Qin families have fallen out, and the Wu family is unlikely to help her son, Aunt Yan naturally no longer wants to support Wu Meifang. Not to mention that the little bitch even instigated some of the Wu family's bandits to beat up her most precious third son, which makes Aunt Yan grit her teeth in hatred.
Moreover, that little slut's body is already ruined and she won't be able to have children in the future. If it weren't for the Wu family keeping an eye on things, Aunt Yan would have wanted the third son to divorce his wife and marry someone else.
It's just that that little bitch has been staying at her parents' house ever since her miscarriage, making her family look like some kind of wicked in-laws who bully their daughter-in-law, causing the neighbors in the courtyard to gossip about them endlessly. Aunt Yan felt extremely ashamed and usually disliked people mentioning Wu Meifang.
Cheng Jiajia's words are a public slap in the face to her.
Aunt Yan's face immediately turned ugly, and she dared not say anything more.
Seeing that the desired effect had been achieved, Cheng Jiajia's lips slowly curled up. If you're going to stab someone, you have to stab them right in the heart, otherwise what's the point?
Several middle-aged women watched and shook their heads, clicking their tongues in disapproval. Why did you provoke her?!
Sure enough! Xiao Cheng is still the same Xiao Cheng!
Only Aunt Cao felt it was bad luck.
She and Cheng Jiajia had a pretty good relationship and a deep bond of mutual support. Wasn't Yan Xiaocui making things difficult for Cheng Jiajia in front of her just disrespecting her?
Bah! This Yan Xiaocui, she didn't invite her here, she insisted on coming over herself, and then she said some unpleasant things. What's she trying to do?
What bad luck!
...
Just as everyone finished their internal monologue, Zhao Sanzi from the next courtyard rushed in excitedly, muttering, "Aunt Chang, Aunt Chang, your Haicheng, your Haicheng, he's been sentenced to three years!"
Three years?!
Before everyone could recover from the shocking news, a sharp explosion came from the west wing.
The people in the courtyard were so frightened that they stopped talking and looked at each other in dismay.
When the police came that day, news of Zheng Haicheng's arrest spread. Not only was the Zheng family worried, but all the neighbors in the courtyard were also very concerned. They were worried about the reputation of the courtyard, because no one wanted a convict to come from their own compound; it would be so embarrassing to talk about.
It was only after the Zheng family subtly hinted to outsiders over the past few days that their Haicheng problem was minor and that he would be released soon, and seeing their confident and unconcerned demeanor, that everyone gradually felt relieved.
Who knew, who knew this person would still be sentenced to three years?!
They were initially a little hesitant to believe it, after all, Zhao Sanzi was a boastful person, and you could only believe half of what he said. But now they thought it must be true, otherwise the Zheng family would be making such a fuss.
Cheng Jiajia's lips twitched slightly as she recalled the information she had gathered.
The fact that things turned out this way is not their fault; it can only be said that Zheng Haicheng was naive.
I have no idea what this guy is thinking. He actually went to work as a lackey for the father of the kid he had bullied. Does he really think that gang leader is so nice?
He deserved to be scammed!
A large crowd quickly gathered around the second courtyard.
A scream and a series of crackling sounds came from the Zheng family's house in the west wing.
Some hesitated, "Judging from the noise, it sounds like a fight. Should we go and try to stop them?"
"Go where? Don't you know Chang Dafeng's personality well enough? Don't end up pleasing neither side and getting blamed on the other! You've seen how affectionate Chang Dafeng has been with that man and woman these past few days! Who knows what's going on?"
Upon hearing this, the man immediately recalled how he had braved the north wind to find Zheng Haihua a few nights ago, only to be falsely accused by Chang Dafeng of extorting medical expenses. He instantly lost all interest in mediating the fight and simply ignored the commotion coming from the Zheng family's house. Let them fight, it's none of his business!
The others pretended not to hear and started discussing it with great interest, "So, that kid from Haicheng really got three years in prison?"
Guan Ailian gloated, "Of course! Oh dear, the Zheng family has produced a convict!"
Grandpa Guo suddenly stared at her. "What are you laughing at? We live in the same compound as the Zheng family. If a convict comes out of this compound, the reputation of our entire compound will be affected. How can you still laugh?" Is this woman stupid?
Guan Ailian: "!!!"
Damn it, I miscalculated!
It was only then that Guan Ailian, who was gloating, remembered that her family also lived in the same courtyard as this unfortunate creature.
Guan Ailian was startled. "My God! There really is a convict in our compound?!" She was very concerned about her reputation and didn't want to live in the same compound as a convict!
She slapped her thigh excitedly and said, "No way, no way! I won't live in the same compound as this kind of person! My youngest son doesn't even have a girlfriend yet, I can't let such a rotten apple spoil the whole bunch!"
"No, I have to talk to Grandpa Zou and ask the Zheng family to move out. Otherwise, what will happen to the unmarried young men and women in our courtyard?"
Everyone's lips twitched.
I was thinking to myself, why should your youngest son be influenced by others? Isn't your precious second son just a recent rotten apple?
Given Ren Yongsheng's reputation for having affairs and being unable to perform due to his promiscuity, which family would dare to marry their daughter into the Ren family? Aren't they afraid that all the men in the family are the same?
However, everyone kept these thoughts to themselves and dared not say them out loud to offend anyone.
Moreover, Guan Ailian's words were not without reason. It was indeed a bad influence for the compound to have a convict, which would affect the marriage prospects of their own children.
Guan Ailian egged them on a few more times, and several people actually started to consider it.
Some men, not wanting to show their faces, would give their wives a knowing look, suggesting that it would be better for the women to make a scene.
So several middle-aged women followed Guan Ailian and ran to the Zou family's house in the front yard.
The Zou family.
Zou Qianjin opened his mouth in disbelief, his voice trembling with shock, "What did you say? You want the entire Zheng family to move out?!"
Guan Ailian, as the leader of this group, stepped forward first and said in a firm voice, "That's right! The Zheng family has a convict. They will ruin our reputation and affect our children's ability to find partners. We don't want to live with them anymore. We apply to have them move out!"
The others chimed in, "That's right, that's right! We wouldn't dare live with someone like that!"
Zou Qianjin looked at the group of old women in front of him with a headache, thinking they were just having wild ideas.
He said impatiently, "These houses were allocated to them by the factory. If you have any objections, go find the factory. Why are you talking to me? I don't have that kind of power! You can't reason with me!"
What are these old women dreaming about? Aunt Chang's husband died in the line of duty. For that reason alone, the factory leaders wouldn't fire her, otherwise it would be too disheartening for the other veteran employees.
Guan Ailian, however, felt this was just an excuse and said unhappily, "Uncle Zou, you are the head of the courtyard, and we all have to listen to you. How come you don't have that ability?"
Zou Qianjin's lips twitched, thinking to himself, "I've told you guys not to cause trouble before, but you never listened to me."
He waved his hand vigorously, repeating the same thing: "I have no right to make people move out. If you have any ideas, go talk to the factory, don't come to me!"
Guan Ailian was still unwilling to give up and wanted to say a few more words.
Suddenly, a dark figure darted out from the gate of the Zou family's house, heading straight for his face.
The next second, Chang Dafeng's shrill voice rang out, "Damn you, Guan Ailian! You heartless, rotten, treacherous little man! You still want to drive our whole family away? I'll teach you to be evil! I'll teach you to be evil!"
Guan Ailian: "!!!"
When Guan Ailian was caught doing something immoral behind someone's back, she felt guilty for a moment.
In those few seconds of stunned silence, Chang Dafeng scratched several bloody marks on his face, leaving it burning with pain.
"Ouch! Chang Dafeng, you old bitch, you hit me again!"
Guan Ailian was also furious, and she rolled up her sleeves and started fighting with Chang Dafeng.
The other older women, who considered themselves to be on Guan Ailian's side, began to take sides.
Chang Dafeng was furious and slapped each of them a few times, then pulled their hair. In an instant, the usually quiet Zou family was bustling with activity.
Chang Dafeng fought against many opponents, and the two sides were evenly matched, resulting in a chaotic scene.
Zou Qianjin: "!!!"
Damn it, can you please not fight in his house!
...
On the other side, Xu Dongliang and Dong Siwei, who had come to claim credit but were instead beaten, were also kicked out of the No. 35 compound by Zheng Haiyang in a sorry state.
The two of them still can't understand how Zheng Haicheng became a 'small leader'.
"Didn't you say it was a small matter and that you could definitely get it done?" Dong Siwei complained to Xu Dongliang, feeling that this man wasn't as capable as described in the book.
Xu Dongliang retorted angrily, "You still dare to say that? Didn't you say Zheng Haicheng only committed a minor offense? He's become a black market boss, and you call this a minor offense?!"
Dong Siwei felt guilty for a moment. This... this was indeed something she had said without asking clearly before making such a boast.
But she was thinking about their future, which is why she was so eager to get involved with the male lead.
Thinking about it this way, Dong Siwei became confident again.
The two blamed each other and argued all the way.
Let alone these two people who think they know the plot and have prophetic abilities, even Zheng Haicheng himself doesn't understand how he became a 'small boss' in the black market.
Zheng Haicheng had no idea that, after interrogation, the henchmen left behind by the crime boss insisted that Zheng Haicheng was their leader and that they were only there to speculate on the black market under his orders. They even provided corresponding "evidence."
So much so that even though the police still had some doubts, they had no choice but to make this judgment in the face of such overwhelming evidence and witness testimony.
...
Zheng Haiyang was furious when he learned that some people in the courtyard wanted to drive his family out of the tenement. However, he knew that the most important thing now was not to settle scores with those people, but to minimize the impact that Haicheng had on him.
Desperate, Zheng Haiyang couldn't think of any other way, so he took his family's savings and went to the home of the factory leader who appreciated him.
Upon returning, he spoke to Chang Dafeng with a serious expression.
“Mom, you know those people in the compound still want to kick us out. If my job falls through, our whole family will really be homeless and starving. There’s only one way now, Mom, we have to cut ties with Haicheng. Only then can we avoid being implicated by him and keep my job. You absolutely can’t be soft-hearted…”
Zheng Haiyang was afraid his mother would be reluctant, but he was obviously overthinking things. Before he could finish speaking, Chang Dafeng slapped her thigh and said, "Yes, sever ties, we must sever ties!" She was very decisive and did not hesitate at all.
Zheng Haiyang's expression shifted subtly for a moment.
Never mind, his mother is just worried about him and his family. She should prioritize the bigger picture.
I'm sorry to Haicheng, but sacrificing him for the peace of the whole family is worth it.
Zheng Haiyang quickly went to the newspaper office to publish a notice, severing ties with Zheng Haicheng.
As a result, his work was not significantly affected.
This caused another round of sighs from the people in the courtyard.
Some people think this family is heartless, while others think it's just human nature; opinions are divided.
Only after this matter was resolved could the Zheng family finally breathe a sigh of relief.
It was at this point that the family realized Zheng Haihua was missing.
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