Watching the deaf old woman leave, Yi Zhonghai lay on the bed, beginning to despair. He knew the Jia family would never come up with 300 yuan. Even if they could, they wouldn't give it to him.
If the Jia family were truly wealthy, they would have already bought Qin Huairu a job. At this moment, Yi Zhonghai also regretted that he had gone too far in his calculations.
If I had known this would happen, I should have taught Jia Dongxu more skills. If Jia Dongxu's salary were higher, I wouldn't have needed to keep subsidizing the Jia family, and they would have been able to save more money.
Now that the money was actually needed, they discovered that the Jia family couldn't even come up with 300 yuan. Asking Jia Zhangshi to sell her dowry was simply a pipe dream.
The only breakthrough now is Huang Xiaojuan, and the only way is to get Huang Xiaojuan to borrow money from her parents' home.
“Xiaojuan, stop being so stubborn. We’ve come to this point. Go back to your parents’ home and borrow 300 yuan from them. I’ll find a way to pay it back within the next two years.”
"You probably know Sha Zhu well enough. If we really don't pay, that hothead Sha Zhu might actually report us, and then our whole family will be finished."
"Hahaha! Who said we're family? Wei Hua was right last time, you're not the eldest grandpa of the courtyard house at all, you're the eldest grandpa of the Jia family. Now that something's happened, you remember my family and realize we're family."
"Before this incident, I was just a hen that couldn't lay eggs. You can hit me if you don't like me, but I've never seen you hit Zhang Xiaohua?"
"You think you're so capable, Yi Zhonghai? Go ahead and try to take advantage of the Jia family. I'm not putting up with this anymore. Do whatever you want! I've had enough of this life. If things get really bad, I don't care if I die."
“Huang Xiaojuan, since that’s how it is, let’s just die together. You want to drag me down with you? Then I don’t mind taking your whole family with me. Don’t think I know nothing about your family.”
“Fine, very well. Since you want to involve the Huang family, I don’t mind dragging your Yi family into it as well. Don’t think I don’t know about your Yi family’s affairs. I’ve been married into your Yi family for almost 21 years.”
"I already know everything about your Yi family, including things I shouldn't know."
Hearing Huang Xiaojuan's words, Yi Zhonghai became completely anxious. He didn't know much about the Huang family. Even if he revealed these things, it wouldn't affect them much, but Huang Xiaojuan had lived in his hometown for so many years. Who knew how much Huang Xiaojuan actually knew?
If Huang Xiaojuan really exposes the matter, who knows what will happen.
"Stop making a fuss. I'll figure out the money. Go back to Yijia Village tomorrow and find my cousin. Have him bring 300 yuan over."
“Yi Zhonghai, who are you trying to fool? You know your cousin Yi Zhonghe’s character. If he were to lend you 300 yuan, there’s something fishy going on.”
“Just tell him I’ll pay double the interest, and if he can’t pay back the money in three years, I’ll give him my job. If there’s a benefit to be had, he’ll definitely lend us the money.”
"Hurry up and get the deaf old lady's money and jewelry, then go to the black market tonight and sell them. Sell as much as you can, so we might not have to borrow so much money."
"Better to live a wretched life than die," Huang Xiaojuan thought, having heard that a solution had been found. She went to the backyard alone, explained Yi Zhonghai's plan, and successfully obtained several hundred yuan and a box of jewelry from the deaf old woman.
After leaving the courtyard with her belongings, Huang Xiaojuan did not enter the black market. Everyone has their own circle, and the black market has its own rules.
Selling this on the black market would result in a loss of at least several hundred yuan. And as Yi Zhonghai's wife, she was certainly no pushover either.
The Yi family used to be considered wealthy in the neighborhood, and some of Huang Xiaojuan's friends were also wealthy. Whether they had sons or daughters, they all hoped to leave something for their daughters-in-law or daughters.
The items in the deaf old lady's jewelry box were all in relatively good condition. What happened in Yi Zhonghai's family couldn't be hidden from these people no matter what they wanted to.
After leaving the courtyard house, Huang Xiaojuan started selling jewelry in the neighborhood. Although the price of the jewelry was lower than the market price, it was still much higher than the price of black jewelry.
After Huang Xiaojuan sold all the jewelry, she discovered that she had actually made nearly three hundred yuan. She secretly pocketed 250 yuan and then returned to the courtyard house with the money.
"All the jewelry was sold, and together with the money from the deaf old lady, we raised 1240 yuan."
Yi Zhonghai was quite pleased to hear that he had sold 40 yuan more. Selling 40 yuan more meant he could borrow 40 yuan less, making future debt repayments much easier.
Forty yuan was more than a month's salary for him. After offering Huang Xiaojuan a few words of encouragement, Yi Zhonghai lay down on the bed to rest.
Seeing Yi Zhonghai resting in bed, Huang Xiaojuan pretended to start washing up. Then she secretly hid the money in the kitchen.
Huang Xiaojuan knew that her marriage to Yi Zhonghai wouldn't last long. If she didn't save some money on her own soon, the Yi family's wealth might end up in the Jia family's hands. Rather than letting the Jia family benefit, she thought it better to secure a future for herself.
After hiding the money, Huang Xiaojuan quickly washed up and went to bed. But lying in bed, she couldn't fall asleep. Although she didn't want to be with Yi Zhonghai anymore, life had to go on.
Yi Zhonghai, lying in bed, was also unable to sleep. He hadn't expected such a dramatic change to occur within the courtyard house in just over a month.
He went from being a respected elder in a courtyard house, a level 6 fitter at a steel mill, to someone everyone despised. Now, not only is he no longer a respected elder, but he's become a level 1 fitter. And his body has turned into this grotesque state.
The pain in his legs made Yi Zhonghai's face contort in agony. He decided to borrow more money tomorrow. Only then would he have enough to pay for his leg treatment at the hospital. If he became crippled, he feared he would never be able to repay the debt.
The thought of possibly becoming a cripple made Yi Zhonghai involuntarily glance at Sha Zhu's house. If looks could kill, Sha Zhu would probably have been torn to pieces long ago.
After looking at Sha Zhu's house, Yi Zhonghai's gaze involuntarily drifted to Wei Hua's house. Finally, he fixed his attention on the Jia family's house in the backyard.
The entire Jia family was still awake. The day's events had left them somewhat bewildered. The whole family was discussing how to deal with Yi Zhonghai.
Yi Zhonghai is no longer of much use to the Jia family. But Jia Zhangshi doesn't want to waste any of his remaining value.
“Dongxu, you don’t need to be too close to Yi Zhonghai in the future. The more distant you are from Yi Zhonghai, the more he will want to make up for it. You just need to maintain that aloof attitude, and Yi Zhonghai can still be used by our family.”
"It's a pity that in the last two or three years, I'm afraid we won't be able to squeeze any more money out of Yi Zhonghai. In the end, it's all the fault of that little bitch Huang Xiaojuan and Wei Hua."
"If it weren't for those two, Sha Zhu would never have known about Yi Zhonghai's scheme. That way, we can keep taking advantage of Sha Zhu. We can trick that silly boy into doing things that are inconvenient for us to do."
"Now that Sha Zhu knows everything, there's no need to waste time on him anymore. Qin Huairu, when you have free time, you can get to know those two little bastards from the Liu family."
"Liu Haizhong doesn't care about Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu at all. If you just show them more care, they will definitely remember your kindness. It may not seem like much in the short term, but it will be a completely different story in a few years."
Hearing her mother-in-law's words, Qin Huairu nodded habitually. Once someone has done it once, they'll do it countless times. For the sake of the Jia family, Qin Huairu had already humbled herself countless times. Now, doing something like this, Qin Huairu had absolutely no psychological burden.
Even Jia Dongxu, standing nearby, had no objections. Habits, once formed, are impossible to change. Moreover, they constantly lower a person's moral standards, making them feel that scheming against others is perfectly acceptable. If they don't scheme, it becomes their fault.
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