Hearing the deaf old woman's words, Yi Zhonghai didn't refute them. Instead, he was thinking about how to maximize his benefits. He wanted to take advantage of Wei Hua without completely enraging her. If he went too far, he might end up losing more than he gained.
Now, no matter what, Wei Hua is still the workshop director. If you go too far, it will arouse Wei Hua's resentment. If you really anger Wei Hua, Wei Hua can make things difficult for you in the steel rolling mill at any time.
However, finding a way to gain an advantage over Wei Hua without angering him was extremely difficult. Yi Zhonghai spent a long time at home thinking about it but couldn't come up with a good solution. In the end, he had no choice but to give up on his idea.
Yan Jiecheng, who was taken to the subdistrict office, is now in big trouble. After bringing Yan Jiecheng back from the courtyard, the subdistrict office staff went to the police station to find out what happened.
The two sides also exchanged information. After the exchange, Yan Jiecheng was escorted from the street office to the police station.
The situation with the Yan family is now clear. No matter how badly Yan Bugui is injured, he deserves it all.
If Yan Bugui hadn't stolen Wei Hua's bicycle, things wouldn't have turned out this way. The main responsibility for this lies with Yan Bugui for stealing someone else's paint.
If paint hadn't splattered on his glasses, none of this would have happened. It's just that Yan Bugui was incredibly unlucky; he fell into a lime pit when he fell.
Wei Hua's family bears absolutely no responsibility. Now that the bicycle is basically totaled, the Yan family should naturally be held liable for compensation. After Yan Jiecheng was detained, the police officers from the local police station brought the totaled bicycle to the courtyard house.
When the Yan family saw the police station had come knocking again, none of them knew what to do. The Yan family was already in such a predicament; they truly didn't know what to do next.
Seeing the completely deformed bicycle, they really couldn't afford to pay for it. A single Phoenix brand bicycle would cost nearly 200 yuan, not even including the ticket price. Including the receipt, it would cost at least 210 yuan.
If Yan Jiecheng hadn't divorced, he could indeed afford to pay compensation. However, when Yan Jiecheng divorced, Zhang Qiuju took some of the money with her. Adding to that, they paid a considerable amount of medical expenses today, and the Yan family simply can't come up with that much money.
What's more, Yan Jiecheng has been taken away by the neighborhood committee, and no one knows what will happen next. The three women are now completely panicked.
"This is Wei Hua's bicycle. Please compensate us according to its original value. The bicycle is so badly damaged that even if it is repaired, it will never be comparable to its original value."
“If you compensate me with a new bicycle, Yan Bugui’s situation will be much better. Otherwise, even if Yan Bugui is disabled, he will still have to bear the corresponding responsibility. Our police station will focus on mediation. We will try our best to avoid making things worse. Handling it as a neighbor’s dispute is in your best interest.”
"Besides, your eldest son is already in detention. If you don't want your son to go to jail, you should try your best to appease the Wei family."
"We're all neighbors, and we don't want to ruin your family. So please stop bullying others in the future. Otherwise, our police station won't be so lenient next time."
The police officers at the local police station handle matters relatively peacefully, since everyone is a neighbor and there are no criminal cases involved. They mainly focus on persuasion and mediation.
Now that Yan Bugui is in this state, it's unrealistic to put him in jail. It's better to resolve this peacefully and let it go. Having Yan Bugui compensate the Wei family for their losses is the best outcome.
In this way, the Wei family will not suffer any losses, and Yan Bugui's fate will remain unchanged. As for Yan Jiecheng's punishment, that will depend on the Wei family's attitude.
Although the police station primarily mediates disputes, they won't let any bad guys get away with it. While Yan Jiecheng's actions, strictly speaking, don't constitute a crime, they deeply despise the Yan family's character, so the police don't mind giving Yan Jiecheng a good talking-to.
The police didn't care what the Yan family would choose. They had already said what they needed to say, so the police didn't linger.
But the auntie, who had just woken up, fainted again not long after. With one of the family's pillars in the hospital and the other unconscious, the Yan brothers, Jiefang and his brother, were at a loss.
Fortunately, it wasn't long before Auntie San woke up. She hadn't taken it seriously in the morning, but now her tone had completely changed, and she was constantly blaming Yan Bugui at home.
As they were talking, they got out of bed and went to the Wei family's house.
"Hua Zi, please forgive my old man! He really didn't mean to break your bicycle. We're in such a state now, how can we afford to pay for the bicycle?"
"If you really make our family pay for the car accident, you're deliberately driving us to our deaths. How can you bear to watch our family be torn apart and destroyed?"
"No matter what, we are the elders who watched you grow up!"
"Can we just let the bicycle issue go like this? And then you can help us get Jiecheng out. If you help us get Jiecheng out, our two families can still be good neighbors."
Before Wei Hua could even speak, the people around him burst out laughing at what the three aunties were saying.
If we're talking about sharp tongues, Jia Zhangshi and Sha Zhu in the courtyard have to be the ones. Jia Zhangshi has already gone inside, but Sha Zhu hasn't. Moreover, Sha Zhu doesn't have a good relationship with the Yan family.
"Having a neighbor like yours is much better than having none at all. I don't know where you get the nerve to say such things. You stole someone's bicycle this morning, then came to frame someone else this afternoon, and now you're extorting money from Hua Zi's family tonight."
"Tell me, what else can a neighbor like you do besides cheat people? Is Hua Zi your father? You suffer injustice and have to swallow your pride, even losing a bicycle you just bought recently."
When Sha Zhu spoke, everyone around laughed. Even the neighbors, who knew the Yan family was completely finished, wouldn't miss the chance to mock them.
Everyone knows how to flatter the powerful and belittle the weak. After Sha Zhu finished speaking, Yi Zhonghai also stepped forward. Yi Zhonghai wanted to use this opportunity to get closer to Wei Hua's family and win Wei Hua's favor.
"It would be better to have no neighbors than to have none. What else can your whole family do besides scheming against others all day long?"
"That's a bicycle. The receipt for the bike is worth at least two hundred. You took it and used it, and now you're trying to turn around and blame us. And now you have the nerve to ask us to just let it go."
"No wonder your son was so self-righteous this afternoon; he's learned from you. You're clearly in the wrong, so don't act like someone's framing you. I've never seen such a shameless person."
The old woman didn't care at all when she heard what her neighbors were saying, because the Yan family was shameless. In the entire courtyard, perhaps only the Jia family could compare to them.
The third aunt looked at Weihua with hopeful eyes, longing for her husband and son. She had no other hope but Weihua; he was her only hope.
Wei Hua has no masochistic tendencies. Although he performed slightly weaker for the reward, it was not to the point of giving up.
"Don't look at me like that. I don't agree with what you're saying at all. Others have already given me the reasons."
Instead of wasting your time arguing with me, you should think about how to raise money for a new bicycle.
Upon hearing Wei Hua's words, the old lady plopped down on the ground. She wanted to say something more, but seeing the expressions on her neighbors' faces, she knew it was pointless to continue.
Back home, the three women started scrambling to raise money. Meanwhile, Yan Jiecheng in the detention center was completely panicked. His situation could be serious or minor, but once he was in detention, he would have a criminal record. If the steel mill found out, he could be disciplined again, and a pay cut wasn't out of the question.
Yan Jiecheng's plan did not fail. The steel rolling mill learned about Yan Jiecheng's situation the next day. Everyone fawns over Yan Jiecheng, and compared to Wei Hua, no one cared about him at all.
Yan Jiecheng not only received a major demerit, but was also demoted from cook to handyman. Seeing that the steel mill had already been punished, the police station didn't make things difficult for Yan Jiecheng. However, Yan Jiecheng couldn't accept this cruel reality; after being released from the detention center, his face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
Despite their dark expressions, they had no choice but to find a way to buy Weihua a new bicycle. The Yan family had to scrape together money from all sides for the bicycle. In the end, Yan Jiecheng paid the lion's share, essentially emptying his meager savings. As for the rest of the Yan family, they probably couldn't even scrape together three yuan.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com