Siheyuan's Silly Pillar has been replaced by someone else

Yi Zhonghai had long since noticed Qin Huairu's little scheme, but pretended not to know anything about it.

Qin Huairu was his wife, so it was perfectly reasonable for her to help him pack his things; he had no reason to refuse.

There was no way to refuse.

He's been plotting for so many years, all he wanted was for Qin Huairu to serve him, right?
Packing clothes is also part of serving.

Yi Zhonghai allowed Qin Huairu to do this because he was confident that Qin Huairu wouldn't find what she wanted.

For Yi Zhonghai, the most important thing was the gathering of the three old men, so that Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui could know how he was doing every day.

With these two people watching outside, Qin Huairu didn't dare to mistreat him.

That day, the three of them gathered at Liu Haizhong's house again. His second aunt prepared a plate of peanuts and asked the three of them to drink.

As for the other dishes, forget about them.

They have little income and simply can't afford to eat.

Yi Zhonghai sighed: "I never thought we would end up like this."

"Old Liu, how long has it been since your Guangqi last visited you?"

Liu Haizhong's expression was somewhat unpleasant: "Why bring this up? Let him come or not, I'll just pretend I don't have this son."

They say harsh things, but they're really hurting inside.

In order to force Yi Zhonghai to move, he pressured Liu Guangqi again, completely offending Liu Guangqi.

Liu Guangqi never came to his place again. Even when he sent him living expenses, he had someone else deliver them. He never saw him at all.

This completely thwarted Liu Haizhong's attempt to appeal to emotions.

Yan Bugui quickly said, "Let's not talk about those unpleasant things. I have an idea."

"What are your thoughts?" Yi Zhonghai turned and asked.

Not wanting to upset Liu Haizhong, he took the opportunity to change the subject.

Yan Bugui's eyes gleamed with shrewdness: "I want to go back to my old ways."

"Just say what you want to do, don't beat around the bush," Liu Haizhong said, sounding impatient.

Yi Zhonghai was also somewhat confused about what their old business was.

"Yes, Lao Yan, just say it outright."

Yan Bugui took a sip of wine before saying, "What I mean is, let's go back to collecting scrap."

"Collecting scraps?" Yan Bugui's suggestion was so unexpected that both of them exclaimed in surprise.

"You're crazy."

Yan Bugui shook his head: "I'm not crazy. You guys think carefully about what our situation is right now?"
Our children don't care about us at all; at most, they give us some money so we don't starve.

At least Lao Liu and I have kids to give us money, Lao Yi, what about you?
Does Bang Geng give you pocket money?

We all know that's all the kids in the family do.

Don't expect them to give you more money.

But we're getting old, how can we manage without money?
What if someone gets sick or suffers a disaster?
We must find a way to make money.

Besides collecting recyclables, there's nothing else we can do.

This is a question that Yan Bugui has been considering.

Besides scheming, there is also anxiety about reality.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong both fell silent.

Although they had worked as scrap collectors before, that was several years ago.

They still can't accept continuing to do this.

But Yan Bugui's words make sense.

They must prepare for their future.

Aunt Erda suddenly spoke up: "I think Lao Yan's suggestion is good. Anyway, we don't have anything else to do every day, so we might as well earn a little bit."

She also had her own little schemes.

The three old men had a gathering, and most of the time it was at her house.

This means she needs to serve the three people their food and drink.

It costs money, not to mention it's incredibly tiring.

Find something for the three old men to do, and they can make money too—it's definitely a good deal.

With support from others, Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong began to waver.

Liu Haizhong sighed, "Fine, I guess." Yi Zhonghai wanted to object, but couldn't find a reason: "I'll go back and talk to Huairu about it."

The party ended.

Yi Zhonghai returned to the Jia family home step by step, but the Jia family had already finished eating and had not left any food for him.

Qin Huairu responded enthusiastically, "Zhonghai is back. I thought you would be eating at Lao Liu's house, so I didn't cook for you."

What could Yi Zhonghai say? He could only say that he had finished eating and mentioned Yan Bugui's suggestion.

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi exchanged a glance, but she still hadn't agreed.

Tang Yanling then spoke up: "That's a good idea. Our family's expenses are increasing."

The money I and Bang Geng earned wasn't enough to cover our expenses.

She had long been unwilling to support Qin Huairu and the other two for nothing.

Now that Yi Zhonghai had offered to make money, Tang Yanling couldn't wait to kick the group out and make them go collect scrap.

Tang Yanling said it wasn't enough, and quietly kicked the stick stem, signaling him to speak.

Banggeng hesitated for a second before standing on Tang Yanling's side: "If Yi's father is willing to collect recyclables, then let him go. I support you."

Yi Zhonghai cursed inwardly, "Only a fool would be willing to collect scrap."

Did he plan his whole life just to end up collecting scraps in his old age?
That's how it was settled.

After everyone went back to rest, Qin Huairu held a small meeting with Jia Zhangshi.

"Qin Huairu, did you see that? Yi Zhonghai went to collect scraps just to hide the jade pendant."

Tomorrow, you will follow him and secretly monitor him.

Qin Huairu also had this idea.

With the excuse of collecting recyclables, she could openly follow Yi Zhonghai.

Collecting recyclables isn't something you can just do on a whim.

At the very least, you need to understand the market, know what items can be bought for money, what items can be sold for more money, and who is the most profitable supplier for scrap.

These are questions that can only be asked of Yan Bugui.

After clearing away the dishes, Qin Huairu suggested, "Let's go find Old Yan and ask him what's going on."

Yi Zhonghai was also going to see Yan Bugui, so he agreed.

The couple went to Yan Bugui's house together, found out what was going on, and then began their journey of collecting recyclables.

Several years have passed, and people's living conditions have improved, so they are no longer so calculating.

Things like aluminum cans and cardboard boxes are often thrown away.

Collecting recyclables became much easier, and my income increased significantly.

The group of people collected recyclables and put them all in the yard. Once they had enough, they would sell them together.

Soon, news of their collecting recyclables spread, and many people inquired about them.

They certainly couldn't tell anyone that collecting recyclables was quite profitable.

The neighbors found out, and the landlord soon found out as well.

The landlord was unhappy about this.

If their houses become known as junkyards, they won't be able to raise the rent when they want to rent them out.

So the landlords came to them and said, "You can collect recyclables, but you can't leave them in my house."

"Why?"

"Because the house is mine. What if you put junk in my house and damage it?"
If people know my house has become a junkyard, how can I rent it to anyone else?

"What do you mean? We're still renting the house, and you want to rent it to someone else?"

"How many more years can you rent this place? I mean in the future." Clearly, the landlord didn't think Yi Zhonghai and his group would live for very long.

After a brief argument, the landlord left the room with the option of either removing the junk or moving out.

Not only that, the landlord also threatened to double the rent next time, his aim being to force them out.

Yi Zhonghai slammed his fist on the table in anger: "This is outrageous!"

He didn't want to collect recyclables, but he couldn't tolerate anyone stopping him.

No matter how angry they are, it's useless. The house belongs to someone else; if the other person isn't happy, they can't do anything about it.

Therefore, Yan Bugui wanted to find a secret base. After searching around, he found that there was only a place in a more distant place.

The environment there was even worse, and none of them wanted to go. (End of Chapter)