I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 66. The Invoice Incident
"Hey! What's all the noise about? Can't a person get any sleep?!" Xu Qingfan angrily removed the black clothes covering his eyes, opened the bedroom window, and looked downstairs.

In the courtyard on the first floor, neighbors stood in twos and threes watching the play. A woman he didn't recognize was kneeling on the cement floor with two children. The two children were holding onto the pants of a middle-aged man on the left and right, while the woman kept kowtowing.

"Please, give me the invoice, and I'll pay you back for the electric scooter. The lawyer said you can't sue the seller without an invoice!" The woman kowtowed several more times after saying this.

"Have you no shame? You stole my electric scooter and you still have the nerve to ask me for a receipt? I'm telling you, go back where you came from, or I'll call the police!"

As soon as Xu Qingfan went downstairs, he saw Uncle Li pointing at the woman kneeling on the ground and cursing loudly.

"Waaaaah~ I'm begging you, my man has level nine burns, the hospital has already issued a critical condition notice, we can't raise any more money...waaaaah!"

"Come on, Lao Li, those widows and orphans aren't having an easy time either. Didn't she say she'd pay you back for the electric scooter? I think you should just give the receipt to someone else!"

"Yeah, you're not losing out anyway, just consider it as buying a new electric scooter."

"Stop kneeling! The floor is so cold, you might get sick from kneeling there!"

"It's not easy!"

"The child is innocent."

"."

After learning the whole story, the onlookers all stepped in to mediate.

Old Li was somewhat swayed by her words. After all, no one has a heart of flesh and blood. It would be hard for anyone not to be moved by a woman kneeling on the ground begging with her family in tow.

Except for Xu Qingfan.

Because there was a follow-up to this incident, it left a particularly deep impression on him; to be precise, it left a deep impression on every household living in the Lotus Courtyard.

The plot is simple: a woman stole Uncle Li's newly bought electric scooter from the sixth floor, and a month later the scooter spontaneously combusted, severely burning her husband.

The lawyer advised the woman to sue the electric scooter manufacturer, but the lawsuit would require an invoice for the purchase of the scooter.

The woman shamelessly begged Uncle Li for a receipt. Perhaps out of pity for the mother and child, or perhaps because he wanted the money for the electric scooter back, Uncle Li eventually gave it to her.

Everyone thought the story should have ended there. Uncle Li provided the invoice and got his money back for the electric scooter. The story should have ended with good people being rewarded.

however.

The woman's lawsuit against the electric scooter manufacturer ended in failure because Uncle Li had secretly connected a battery pack to the scooter after purchasing it.

The woman, having lost all conscience, actually sued Uncle Li in court, claiming that he had sold her the electric scooter. Faced with the invoice and bank transfer records, she naturally won the case.

Ultimately, the court ordered Mr. Li to pay the woman 20 yuan in compensation. Mr. Li's family was also torn apart because of this incident.

Seeing the woman crying so hard, Xu Qingfan felt a chill run down his spine. These were crocodile tears!

"Alright, I'll go upstairs and look. I'm not sure if it's still there." Uncle Li finally softened and patted the trouser leg that the two little boys had crumpled.

"Thank you, thank you!!" The woman kept kowtowing to her two sons.

As neighbors, Xu Qingfan naturally wouldn't stand idly by for such a small favor. He turned around and ran upstairs before Uncle Li could.

When they arrived at Uncle Li's house, his son Li Da was sitting on the floor in front of the TV watching TV. "Xu Qingfan? What are you doing here?" Li Da had heard Xu Qingfan's name from his parents quite often over the past year, and he instinctively showed hostility when he saw him arrive.

"Huff huff huff~ Last time, the woman who stole your electric bike came to your dad asking for the receipt. Your dad said he wouldn't give it to her even if he burned it. He told me to tell you to find it and burn it quickly, so that when they come up and can't find it, you can say that you don't know where the receipt is!" Xu Qingfan finished speaking in a long breath.

"Damn it! How can there be such a shameless person?! The invoice is in my parents' bedside table, I'm going to get it right now!" Li Da slapped his thigh, got up angrily and rushed into the room.

Xu Qingfan returned to the corridor and looked down. Uncle Li and the woman had already gone up to the second floor.

"Hurry, they're up to the second floor!" Xu Qingfan urged.

"I found it! My parents put their household registration book and everything in here." Li Da came out of the bedroom holding a brown leather bag. "There's no time, let's go to my house to burn it!" Xu Qingfan grabbed the brown leather bag without saying a word and ran towards his house.

"Hey, wait for me!" Li Da casually slipped on a pair of slippers and chased after him.

"Why are you going to the rooftop? Aren't you going to your house?" He chased after Xu Qingfan to the bottom of the stairs and saw him walking up. He was very puzzled.

"Your dad and the others have already gone up to the fourth floor. If we go down now, won't we just run right into them?" Xu Qingfan glanced back at the other person, said this, and continued running.

“Oh right!” Li Da scratched the back of his head and followed.

Upon arriving at the rooftop, Xu Qingfan emptied the contents of the leather bag onto the ground. It contained everything from property deeds and birth certificates to television and washing machine invoices. After searching for a while, he finally found the electric scooter invoice, and after confirming that it was correct, he stuffed it into his pocket.

"Take the leather bag home. I'll burn the receipt for you. Remember, if your dad asks, just say you don't know anything. Don't let him get caught in front of that thief, or he'll lose face, and your family will have to buy a third feather duster." Xu Qingfan handed the leather bag back to Li Da, patted his hand behind his back, and turned to go downstairs.

When it comes to doing good deeds, it's best to do what you can, without expecting anything in return, and ideally, not to do them at all.

Xu Qingfan had done his best to help Uncle Li's family. He wouldn't step in to explain the ins and outs to them, because if he were to incur the woman's wrath, it would be a loss for him!

If that woman could do such a vicious thing in her past life, who knows what she would do to him after learning the truth? Xu Qingfan was unwilling to gamble with his personal safety.

Back in his home on the third floor, Xu Qingfan found a lighter and lit the invoice.

Hello.

Li Da returned home in a daze, carrying the leather bag, and bumped right into Uncle Li, who was also in a daze as he came out of the bedroom.

"You brat, why are you rummaging through my bedside table? I had to search for it!" Uncle Li raised his hand and slapped his son on the back of the head.

Li Da recalled what Xu Qingfan said on the rooftop: "Pretend the invoice doesn't exist. Dad hitting me must be an act to help me!"

[As expected of a father, his acting skills are unparalleled!]
"Mom told me to take it to her," Li Da said, sounding aggrieved.

"Go do your homework! All you do all day is play! Just wait, the invoice is inside." Uncle Li glared at his son, then turned to the woman and said.

Li Da silently walked back to his room, glancing at the woman's retreating figure with disgust as he closed the door.

"Waaah~ Thank you."

Three minutes later.

"That's not right! I clearly remember you brat, where's my electric scooter receipt?" Uncle Li yelled at his son in the room.

[Here it comes, my time to act! Dad, don't worry, I definitely won't let you down!]
Li Da suppressed his excitement, took a deep breath, and opened the door: "What electric scooter invoice? I don't know about it?"

"Snapped!"

"You don't know! You don't know? Did the invoice grow wings and fly away on its own?" Mr. Li hated being lied to the most, and he slammed his fist on the table in anger.

[With acting skills like this, Dad, it's a real shame you're not an actor!]
"I just don't know!" Li Da straightened his back and looked directly at his father.

"I think you're asking for trouble again!" Uncle Li looked around and quickly found the sparsely bristled feather duster.

[Holy crap, Dad, what are you doing? What are you doing? Don't come any closer! You're not really going to hit me, are you?!]
"what!!!"

"Tell me, where did the invoice go?!"

"No! I know!"

"what!!!!"

Xu Qingfan, who was eavesdropping at the stairwell, silently made a prayer in front of his chest: "May there be no domestic violence in heaven, Amen."

(End of this chapter)