Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

After some bargaining, the two sides finally agreed on the final price of 1,300 yuan.

Yi Zhonghai was so heartbroken that he almost cried.

According to the agreement he had made with the deaf old lady, the old lady only took out five small yellow croakers worth 500 yuan, and he had to bear the rest of the compensation himself.

I originally thought that another 500 yuan would be the maximum I could give, but I didn't expect Xu Damao to have such a big appetite and directly asked me for 1,300 yuan.

Moreover, this 1,300 yuan was the result of negotiation after I dug a hole for myself.

Seeing Xu Damao staring at him with a happy face, Yi Zhonghai knew he was in trouble.

Although his face was filled with reluctance, he had to swallow the bitterness in his heart in order to protect his elderly sponsor, Sha Zhu. After all, he negotiated the price himself.

"Zhonghai, give money to Xu Damao and ask him to write a letter of apology to Zhuzi as soon as possible..." the deaf old lady interrupted at the right time.

At this time, no matter how reluctant Yi Zhonghai was, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and get the money.

More than an hour later, Yi Zhonghai hurried back to the courtyard, but the unlucky He Yuzhu did not come back with him, which made the deaf old lady who was waiting at the gate of the courtyard very disappointed.

When he saw Yi Zhonghai, he asked anxiously, "Zhonghai, where is Zhuzi? Why didn't he come back with you?"

"I'll be locked up for another three days..."

Yi Zhonghai replied with a long sigh.

"The police said that Zhuzi refused to tell the truth after he was arrested and even lied to the police. If they hadn't found out how Zhuzi attacked Xu Damao in advance, he would have almost gotten away."

"The next three days will be your punishment for deceiving our public security comrades. We will pick them up again in three days."

The deaf old lady became even more anxious and asked immediately: "It will take another three days for him to come out. What about Zhu's work in the steel mill? Will it be affected?"

Yi Zhonghai shook his head and replied: "Probably not."

"I asked the police, and they said that as long as Xu Damao wrote a letter of apology and Sha Zhu was not sentenced, they would not inform the steel mill."

"I'll ask for leave from Zhuzi tomorrow and tell him that he needs to go to the countryside for three days."

"As long as the factory doesn't know about the dispute between Zhuzi and Xu Damao, and doesn't know that Zhuzi was arrested by the police, the steel mill will not take the initiative to punish him."

Yi Zhonghai’s dream is beautiful, but the reality is very cruel.

When he was delivering the letter of apology to He Yuzhu, a call from the steel rolling mill happened to come to the police station in the area where the courtyard was located.

Although He Yuzhu will not be sentenced because of Xu Damao's letter of apology, the fact that he attacked Xu Damao, stripped him of his clothes, and left him to freeze in the yard for a night cannot be changed by the appearance of the letter of apology and still exists.

If the steel mill wanted to, it could still punish him for the crime of murdering and ambushing his fellow workers.

…………

The next morning, the factory leaders sat together to hold an emergency meeting as usual.

After several agenda items were completed, Director Yang was just about to announce the adjournment of the meeting when Deputy Director Li once again took the lead and stood up from his seat.

"Comrades...Yesterday afternoon I heard about a terrible incident involving a steel mill.

"For unknown reasons, comrade He Yuzhu from the kitchen ambushed Xu Damao on the road he had to take to get home the night before yesterday and attacked him, beating him up with a club."

"They carried him back to the courtyard, stripped him naked, and left him in the yard to freeze all night." "Luckily, it's not winter yet, and Xu Damao is not in danger except for a slight cold. Otherwise, another life would have been lost in our steel mill."

"At present, the culprit of this incident, Comrade He Yuzhu, has been arrested by the police."

"Comrade Xu Damao is a very kind person. Considering that He Yuzhu is not only his co-worker at the steel mill, but also his neighbor in the courtyard, he planned to forgive him and wrote a letter of apology to him."

"But the public security comrades considered that the mistakes made by Comrade He Yuzhu were too serious, and that during the interrogation, He Yuzhu not only did not honestly confess his problems, but also deceived and misled Comrade He Yuzhu, so they still decided to detain him for three days.

"I think the steel mill must not show mercy to comrades who murdered their fellow workers. They must be severely punished to make them realize their mistakes."

"Otherwise, all of us here may become targets of revenge by Comrade He Yuzhu..."

He Yuzhu is a key chess piece that Director Yang uses to infiltrate the logistics system of the steel rolling mill. He must not be easily given up unless it is absolutely necessary.

After all, he was the one most likely to be promoted to cadre among all the chess pieces he had infiltrated into the logistics system.

If something happened to him, it would be harder than climbing to the sky to find a cadre who would obey him in Deputy Director Li's back garden.

After listening to Deputy Director Li's introduction, Director Yang felt angry and aggrieved.

He was angry because He Yuzhu and Yi Zhonghai, who were his own people, did not tell him about such a big incident at the steel mill.

If his opponent, Deputy Director Li, had not spoken up, he would not even have known such an important matter as He Yuzhu being arrested by the police.

He felt aggrieved because what Deputy Director Li said was well-reasoned and he didn't even know what happened. He couldn't find a way to help He Yuzhu, let alone explain the reason.

Faced with Deputy Director Li who was talking eloquently, there was nothing I could do except listen.

In this situation, the only solution he could think of was to delay.

Try to postpone this matter to the next internal meeting so that you have the opportunity to figure out what happened and find a solution.

I could only frown and continue: "Lao Li..."

"What you said happened so suddenly. I have never heard of it... and the steel mill has not received any notification from the police."

"Although I believe in what you just said, I think the steel mill should still consider this matter carefully in the absence of official documents. After all, it concerns the future of a worker."

"Once we give this punishment, this worker will most likely not get any promotion for two or three years, and may even be laughed at by his fellow workers."

Deputy Director Li obviously underestimated Director Yang's ability to respond.

I thought I could catch Director Yang off guard by using He Yuzhu's mistake and decide on the punishment at the same time.

I didn't expect that Director Yang would bring up the rules and regulations of the steel rolling mill and asked me to produce the public security notification document instead of listening to my own introduction.

In addition, he did not have any documents notifying the police, so although he was unwilling, he had no choice but to accept the decision made by Director Yang.

As soon as he got back to the office, he started banging the table and cursing to vent his anger and rage.

He Yuzhu is a thorn in Director Yang's logistics system, who may launch a fatal attack on him at any time.

Even if I can't pull out this nail, I won't let him grow in the kitchen and have the opportunity to get in touch with more secrets. (End of this chapter)