Seeing others pointing and whispering about him, Yi Zhonghai could only hurry away to avoid being ridiculed. This was a tremendous blow to Yi Zhonghai, who valued his reputation.
Watching Yi Zhonghai leave, Wei Hua decided to teach him another lesson. The old man's leg pain he'd obtained from Liu Haizhong was used on Yi Zhonghai. If it weren't for gynecological problems and menstrual cramps, these two things shouldn't be used on men. Wei Hua wanted to add all these things to Yi Zhonghai, letting him have a good time.
Yi Zhonghai, who suffered from rheumatism, didn't notice anything different. Since he was already in considerable pain, adding another layer of pain made no difference to him.
Back home, Yi Zhonghai lay down on the bed. It wasn't that he didn't want to make a fuss; he simply couldn't muster the energy.
Yi Zhonghai didn't want to cause trouble, but some people wanted to make things difficult for him. The Jia family was almost able to live a happy and fulfilling life, but because of this incident, they were back to square one.
Jia Dongxu had already passed the Level 2 fitter exam, but because of this incident, he remained a Level 1 fitter. With this disciplinary record, Jia Dongxu had no chance of promotion in his lifetime. Unless he could achieve some great merit, there was no hope of advancement for him.
Most importantly, Jia Dongxu's medical expenses are no small sum. The Jia family was not wealthy to begin with, and now, suddenly having to pay such a large amount is undoubtedly a huge blow to them. Considering that all of this is because of Yi Zhonghai, how could Jia Zhangshi possibly let Yi Zhonghai off the hook?
If she hadn't been still plotting to exploit Yi Zhonghai, Jia Zhangshi would probably have already made a scene. Although she couldn't confront Yi Zhonghai directly, that didn't stop her from continuing to take advantage of him.
Upon seeing Yi Zhonghai return, Jia Zhangshi immediately went to Yi Zhonghai's house.
"Zhonghai, you're finally back. How are you doing? Are you feeling any better than before?"
"Sister-in-law, how good can my situation be? You can tell how miserable I am just by looking at me."
"Oh, this damned heaven, it just keeps bullying us poor souls. Dongxu still can't go to work, it hurts whenever I touch him. Why is our Jia family so miserable? Our whole family is counting on Dongxu to earn money, but looking at him, he'll need to rest for at least another month or two."
Upon hearing Jia Zhangshi's words, Yi Zhonghai understood her purpose. Although Yi Zhonghai didn't want to give her the money, he now had no choice but to do so; otherwise, his relationship with the Jia family would break down.
Having schemed against the Jia family for so many years, it would be a loss to give up now.
Yi Zhonghai knew the Jia family definitely harbored resentment towards him. He had promised to help them get a house, but not only had they failed to do so, Jia Dongxu had also ended up in this state. They had even been punished by the steel mill.
In an attempt to repair his relationship with Jia Dongxu, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to go to the place where he hid the money. After lifting the bed board, Yi Zhonghai prepared to open the box. But before he could even open it, he let out a scream.
The screams drew Huang Xiaojuan and the deaf old woman who was about to confront Yi Zhonghai. They wondered what had happened in Yi Zhonghai's room.
But as soon as they entered the room, they saw Yi Zhonghai standing there crying, crying very sadly.
"Old man, what's wrong with you? Why are you crying all of a sudden?"
Yi Zhonghai didn't speak, but simply held the bed with his finger. Wang Xiaojuan looked over and immediately let out a scream, then quickly took out the box.
The small wooden box was already dented and battered, and banknotes were scattered all over the floor under the bed. Without Huang Xiaojuan saying anything, Jia Zhangshi and the deaf old lady already knew what had happened.
Wang Xiaojuan opened the small box; the situation inside was even worse than outside. Huang Xiaojuan emptied out all the money and then sorted it out one bill at a time. To make it easier for her to organize, she tossed aside any crumbs. With each bill she threw away, Huang Xiaojuan and Yi Zhonghai shed one more tear.
"How much money do we have left? Have you counted it correctly?"
“We only have less than 300 yuan left. The rats chewed up almost 3,000 yuan.”
Upon hearing Huang Xiaojuan's words, Yi Zhonghai fainted. His retirement savings accumulated over so many years were now practically gone. This was a shock to the extremely frugal Yi Zhonghai, who found it hard to accept reality.
Seeing that Yi Zhonghai had fainted, Wang Xiaojuan could only help him to bed. Then she quickly put the 200-plus yuan into her pocket.
Huang Xiaojuan had heard everything Jia Zhangshi said, but she hadn't said anything because she had no status in the family. Now that Yi Zhonghai had fainted, Huang Xiaojuan didn't want Jia Zhangshi to take advantage of her.
After putting the money in her pocket, Huang Xiaojuan kept pressing hard on Yi Zhonghai's philtrum. Not long after, Yi Zhonghai woke up.
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and call the police to help us look for some more. Our family’s situation is different now. I’m no longer a Level 6 fitter; I’m just a Level 1 fitter now.”
Upon hearing Yi Zhonghai's words, Huang Xiaojuan understood what he meant and immediately left the courtyard.
Huang Xiaojuan wasn't the only one who understood Yi Zhonghai's words; Jia Zhangshi naturally knew what he meant as well. Now that such a big thing had happened to the Yi family, Jia Zhangshi knew that it was indeed inappropriate to ask Yi Zhonghai for money at this time.
Although they couldn't ask Yi Zhonghai for money, they could use the excuse of looking for money to go find the money that had been carried away by the rats. Rats don't recognize money; they'll just chew it to shreds.
Even though Yi Zhonghai lost so much money, some of it wasn't chewed up. Even if it was only half chewed up, he could still take it to the bank to exchange for cash.
"Old Yi, how come your house has mice? Since the money was taken by the mice, I, as your neighbor, have to help you look for it."
After saying that, she completely ignored Yi Zhonghai and began searching under the bed. Jia Zhangshi's guess was indeed correct; the rats hadn't chewed up all the money. In no time, Jia Zhangshi found a few coins among the damaged bills.
This drove Jia Zhangshi even more frantic. Now, disregarding everything else, she reached directly into the rat hole and started rummaging. She pulled out another handful of tattered coins—any fragment that could still be exchanged. Jia Zhangshi didn't want to miss a single one; any slightly larger coin was stuffed into her pocket.
Jia Zhangshi understood Yi Zhonghai, and Yi Zhonghai understood Jia Zhangshi just as well. Once the goods were in Jia Zhangshi's pocket, getting them out was harder than climbing to heaven.
Yi Zhonghai cursed Huang Xiaojuan countless times in his heart. He even cursed Huang Xiaojuan's ancestors for eighteen generations.
But things had come to this, and Yi Zhonghai had no other choice. He still needed the Jia family to support him in his old age, and the Jia family had suffered such a great loss last time. If he didn't let Jia Zhangshi gain some advantage, things might not end so easily. Helpless, Yi Zhonghai could only close his eyes. Watching this unfold, he feared he wouldn't be able to accept the reality.
To divert his attention, Yi Zhonghai could only focus all his attention on the deaf old lady.
"Grandma, what brings you here this time?"
“Zhonghai, you promised to take care of me in my old age. Now that I’m no longer a recipient of the five guarantees, I’ll have to rely on you from now on. I’ll start coming to your house for meals starting tomorrow. I came here today specifically to inform you of this.”
Upon hearing the deaf old woman's words, Yi Zhonghai nearly vomited blood. He had originally thought that since the deaf old woman was a recipient of the Five Guarantees (a government welfare program for the elderly), he wouldn't need to contribute anything to take care of her, and could even rightfully inherit her estate.
But who would have thought that the deaf old lady would actually lose her status as a recipient of the "Five Guarantees" (a government-provided social welfare program for the elderly, disabled, and orphans)? Yet, she had written down a document in black and white, even including the background and details. If anyone found out about this, she would be in serious trouble.
"Grandma, please rest assured, I, Yi Zhonghai, am a man of my word. If you want to eat, just come to my house. As long as I have something to eat, you will definitely have something to eat too."
Having gotten what she wanted, the deaf old lady left the Yi family home, leaning on her cane.
Jia Zhangshi, who had just picked up the money, also crawled out from under the bed.
"Yi Zhonghai, how could you do something so stupid? That old lady is no longer a recipient of the Five Guarantees (a government welfare program for the elderly and disabled). How could you agree to take care of her in her old age?"
Seeing Jia Zhangshi's anger, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to tell the truth.
"The reason we did all this is to help your Jia family get a house, isn't it? Otherwise, do you think getting a house is so easy?"
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