Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

"One hundred yuan...how about I let Zhuzi compensate you one hundred yuan?" Yi Zhonghai said with gritted teeth and a look of heartache on his face.

Xu Damao shook his head and replied: "Uncle..."

"You know what the doctor told me: How much is it going to cost to cure my concussion?"

"At least two hundred..."

"You asked Sha Zhu to pay me a hundred dollars. Do you think I have to pay for my own treatment after being beaten by Sha Zhu? Is this what an old man calls fairness?"

Although Xu Damao rejected his proposal again, Yi Zhonghai was not as anxious as before.

Xu Damao felt that one hundred yuan in compensation was too little, which meant that there was still room for negotiation on this matter.

As long as He Yuzhu can be brought back and his job at the steel mill can be saved, the money issue will be easy to deal with.

Anyway, I still have the more than one thousand yuan that He Daqing sent back from Baoding in my hand, so I won’t feel bad about spending more.

After taking a deep breath, he replied, "Two hundred dollars, then?"

Xu Damao shook his head again: "Two hundred yuan is just the medical expenses. I can't go to work during my hospitalization, and the steel mill will definitely not pay me!"

"I'm sure you need to buy some good stuff to replenish your body during your recuperation period?"

"You know, uncle, the price of an old hen on the black market has soared to five dollars. I will have to eat more than ten old hens while I'm in the hospital!"

"The doctor also said..."

"During treatment, it is best not to eat coarse grains, and try to eat more white flour..."

"The price of flour has skyrocketed to 60 cents per pound. In a few months, I will definitely consume more than 100 pounds..."

"All these things cost money to buy, there's no way an old man would let me pay for them myself!"

Yi Zhonghai was almost driven crazy. He never expected that one day he would be tricked by the fool Xu Damao.

He really wanted to curse, but business was more important, so he held back in the end.

He took another deep breath to calm himself down, then answered with gritted teeth: "Three hundred yuan..."

"This is the limit of what I can bear. Any more will be gone!"

Three hundred yuan was the best number agreed upon by himself and Wang Dong. Any more would probably exceed Yi Zhonghai's psychological endurance, and if both parties failed to reach a deal, it would be a loss.

But he didn't nod immediately.

Instead, he hesitated for a full minute before speaking: "Okay..."

"I'll give you a favor. Bring me three hundred yuan and I'll write a letter of apology. But when I return to the courtyard, Shazhu must apologize to me in front of all the residents in the courtyard."

"If I get beaten up on my way home from get off work again, the culprit will most likely be the butcher..."

Three days later, He Yuzhu was released.

Uncle Yi Zhonghai took the deaf old lady to the police station to take him home.

After three days of detention, He Yuzhu seemed like a different person, with hollow eyes, untidy beard, and no energy at all.

It was not until Yi Zhonghai and Old Lady Kong appeared before him that a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes.

He quickly quickened his pace, walked up to the two of them and greeted them: "Grandma, godfather, why are you here?"

Yi Zhonghai said angrily: "You have such a big problem, and the old lady and I don't come to take care of you. Are we going to watch you being sent to prison by Xu Damao?"

"That beast Xu Damao, I will make him pay sooner or later..." When He Yuzhu mentioned Xu Damao, anger suddenly surged in his heart. His eyes turned red. He clenched his fists and cursed loudly.

"Shut up..." The deaf old lady rarely scolded He Yuzhu in front of Yi Zhonghai.

But He Yuzhu really went too far this time. He stared at He Yuzhu with an expression of disappointment.

"Zhu Zi..." "Don't you think the trouble you've caused is big enough?"

"What did the uncle tell you? Don't act rashly. This is a civilized society. Don't use your fists to speak..."

"You just didn't listen, and now you're in trouble..."

"If it weren't for the uncle running back and forth for you, you would have been sent to a labor camp by now, and you would have even lost your job at the steel mill."

He Yuzhu has been detained in the police station these days and has no idea of ​​the situation outside.

After hearing what the deaf old lady said, his first reaction was disbelief. He frowned and asked back: "Old lady..."

"I just beat up Xu Damao, it's not that serious. It's not like I haven't beaten Xu Damao before. The worst that can happen is that I have to pay him a few dollars for his medical expenses."

Yi Zhonghai realized that he had to teach He Yuzhu a lesson today, otherwise he would continue to use his fists to speak, continue to make trouble in the yard, and ask him to help clean it up. Then, no matter how rich his family background was, it would be emptied by He Yuzhu.

He snorted and replied, "Isn't it just a beating?"

"Pillar……"

"It's easy for you to say that. Do you know how much money I paid for your beating?"

"Three hundred..."

"It took me a lot of persuasion to get Xu Damao to agree to this number. Otherwise, Xu Damao might not even agree to pay 400 yuan."

He Yuzhu's anger, which had just been suppressed by Yi Zhonghai, surged up again, and he stared with his big eyes and asked back: "What... three hundred yuan..."

"Why doesn't Xu Damao go and rob..."

"No, even robbery doesn't make money that fast."

"This is clearly blackmail... Godfather, you absolutely cannot give him 300 yuan. At worst, I will be arrested by the police and sent to labor reform..."

Seeing that He Yuzhu was getting more and more outrageous, Yi Zhonghai really wanted to beat him up. He suppressed the anger that was surging in his heart and cursed: "Shut up..."

"How can you get out without Xu Damao's letter of apology? Do you really intend to go to labor camp for half a year and then lose your job in the kitchen of the steel mill..."

"Half a year of reform through labor?" He Yuzhu's face once again flashed with an expression of disbelief, and he continued to ask back.

"Godfather...how can it be so heavy..."

“I beat Wang Dong so badly that he was sentenced to one month of forced labor.

"At most I beat Xu Damao up, which was not a serious injury at all. How could he be sentenced to six months of forced labor?"

Yi Zhonghai sighed and replied, "A normal person wouldn't be punished so severely for beating Xu Damao. At most, he would be sentenced to two months of labor reform."

"But you are different. You still have punishment to deal with."

"If Xu Damao really intends to hold you accountable, then your crime will be aggravated, and half a year of hard labor will be a light punishment."

"And the steel mill work..."

"You are a canteen chef and a regular employee of the factory."

"If I lose it, even 500 yuan might not be enough to buy it back in the future."

"It's a good deal to be able to use three hundred dollars to keep your job at the steel mill and get you out of jail."

"And Xu Damao didn't go too far..."

"I went to the hospital and the doctor said that you gave me a concussion and I need a long period of rest and treatment to recover."

"Although the two hundred yuan treatment fee Xu Damao mentioned is a bit exaggerated, it's not much less."

"Adding the nutritional expenses during the treatment, three hundred yuan is not too much." (End of this chapter)