Siheyuan: I am Banggeng's uncle

Chapter 792 Yang Ruihua's Regret!

Inside the coal preparation workshop of the Sijiucheng Coking Plant, a middle-aged man walked into the workshop from outside and shouted to Yan Jiecheng, who was working, "Yan Jiecheng! Yan Jiecheng! There is an old lady outside the factory gate who says she is your mother and wants you to go out right away."

Yan Jiecheng, who was working, heard the middle-aged man's explanation and learned that Yang Ruihua had come to the factory to see him. He looked puzzled and asked the middle-aged man curiously, "Director Lin! Did my mother say why she came to see me?"

Upon hearing Yan Jiecheng's question, Director Lin instinctively shook his head and replied, "The security department didn't say anything. You'd better go out and check!"

With a puzzled look in his eyes, Yan Jiecheng quickly arrived at the factory gate. Seeing Yang Ruihua standing by the gate, he asked her with a questioning expression, "Mom! Why did you suddenly come to find me?"

Upon hearing Yan Jiecheng's question, Yang Ruihua quickly grabbed Yan Jiecheng's wrist and said, "Jiecheng! Your father is sick and hospitalized. The doctor wants you to go to the hospital immediately."

Upon hearing Yang Ruihua's explanation and learning of Yan Bugui's illness, Yan Jiecheng was not worried. Instead, he replied with dissatisfaction, "Mom! What does Dad's hospitalization have to do with me? Why would the doctor send me to the hospital if there's nothing wrong? Besides, I only get 80 cents a day. If I take a day off, I'll lose 80 cents."

When Yang Ruihua saw that Yan Jiecheng was not only not worried about Yan Bugui's illness, but also did not ask what was wrong with him, he was worried about being docked pay if he took leave and was unwilling to go to the hospital with her. This made Yang Ruihua very dissatisfied, and she angrily questioned Yan Jiecheng: "Yan Jiecheng! That's the father who raised you. In your eyes, is your father's illness less important than eight cents of wages?"

Upon hearing Yang Ruihua's angry rebuke, Yan Jiecheng instinctively glanced at the security room behind him, quickly pulled Yang Ruihua aside, and replied, "Mom! My dad always says, 'You won't go poor from eating or dressing, but you will go poor if you don't plan ahead!' I learned that from my dad."

"Besides, I'm already a son-in-law of the Wang family, and Dad isn't. I'm his only son. You can go find Jiefang and the others!"

In the past, Yang Ruihua found Yan Bugui's catchphrases quite reasonable, which made her, a woman accustomed to thrift, feel that Yan Bugui's words made perfect sense. Now, hearing Yan Jiecheng repeat Yan Bugui's catchphrases, she found them particularly grating and angrily said to Yan Jiecheng, "Yan Jiecheng! Your father has cancer. If he doesn't have surgery, he won't live much longer."

"The doctor asked you brothers to come to the hospital to discuss your father's surgery. Do you think eight cents is more important than your father's life?"

When Yan Jiecheng learned that Yan Bugui had cancer, his face showed a shocked expression. He quickly asked Yang Ruihua for confirmation, "Mom! What did you just say? My dad has cancer? Is it true?"

Upon hearing Yan Jiecheng's question and seeing that Yan Jiecheng was finally taking Yan Bugui's condition seriously, Yang Ruihua replied with great certainty, "Yan Jiecheng! Do you think I would joke about something like this? I still need to go find Jiefang. You should quickly ask for leave and go to the hospital."

Upon hearing Yang Ruihua's reply and confirming that Yan Bugui had cancer, Yan Jiecheng didn't immediately return to the factory to ask for leave. Instead, he said to Yang Ruihua, "Mom! Why don't you just have Jiefang represent us siblings and go to the hospital first? I'll go see Dad during my lunch break!" Back when Yu Li's father was sick and needed money, Yang Ruihua saw that Yan Jiecheng deliberately used temporary work as an excuse not to visit him in the hospital. She felt that Yan Jiecheng was doing the right thing, since not visiting Yu Li's father would save money on gifts.

Seeing that Yan Jiecheng was not at all nervous about Yan Bugui's cancer diagnosis, and even made excuses to avoid going to the hospital, she couldn't help but recall why the deaf old lady had said that the couple's scheming would eventually destroy their family ties.

Yan Jiecheng's decision finally made Yang Ruihua realize that they could no longer rely on their eldest son. With a look of disappointment, she said, "Alright! I'll go to Jiefang to take a look. But the doctor said your father's surgery will cost two or three hundred yuan. Remember to bring the money when you come to the hospital."

"What! You want me to bring money?" Yan Jiecheng thought he had misheard Yang Ruihua's words and questioned her with dissatisfaction, "Mom! My dad doesn't only have me as his son, why should I bring money to the hospital to pay for his surgery?"

Hearing Yan Jiecheng's rebuttal and seeing the dissatisfied expression on Yan Jiecheng's face, Yang Ruihua felt a surge of anger and questioned Yan Jiecheng angrily: "Yan Jiecheng! Your father raised you all these years, and now he's asking you to contribute some money to pay for his surgery. Isn't that right?"

Upon hearing Yang Ruihua's question, Yan Jiecheng immediately retorted, "Mom! What you're saying is wrong. When I went to my wife's house to become a live-in son-in-law for my current job, I made an agreement with Dad that I would give you two ten yuan every month as your support. As for other things, they have nothing to do with me."

When Yang Ruihua heard Yan Jiecheng mention that before Yan Jiecheng was to become a live-in son-in-law, Yan Bugui, for the sake of the Yan family's reputation, tried to stop Yan Jiecheng by offering alimony, he quickly said to Yan Jiecheng, "Jiecheng! Have some conscience when you say that. Wasn't your father's request to stop you from becoming a live-in son-in-law of the Wang family?"

When Yan Jiecheng heard Yang Ruihua mention what happened back then, he thought of the other people his age in the courtyard and retorted to Yang Ruihua with a face full of disdain: "Mom! Give me a break. In my dad's eyes, money is always more important than face. Rather than him deliberately asking me to give you alimony every month to stop me from becoming a live-in son-in-law, he probably just wanted to take the opportunity to get more money from me."

"Besides, look at the other young people in our compound who are around my age. Which of them didn't get their jobs through their parents' help? Even though Liu Haizhong in the backyard dislikes Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu so much, he still paid for them to get temporary jobs."

"And what about my dad? He could have helped me get a job at the steel rolling mill several times, but he was reluctant to spend the money, which made me miss the opportunity to work at the steel rolling mill time and time again. In the end, I had to become a live-in son-in-law in Xuemei's family, which is how I took my father-in-law's job at the coking plant."

“Now that my father is sick and hospitalized, you’re asking me to pay for his medical expenses. Over the years, I’ve been paying your living allowance on time every month. That should include the money for my father’s hospitalization, right? It’s not appropriate for you to ask me for money again now.”

The reason Yan Bugui initially asked Yan Jiecheng to give his family ten yuan a month was because he was worried that after Yan Jiecheng became a live-in son-in-law, he wouldn't be able to get money from Yan Jiecheng anymore. At the time, when Yang Ruihua saw Yan Jiecheng agree to Yan Bugui's conditions, he was secretly pleased and thought that Yan Bugui was scheming. Now, hearing Yan Jiecheng's words, Yang Ruihua suddenly felt a sense of regret, as if he had shot himself in the foot.

(End of this chapter)