Era: Starting with the struggle to refuse being taken advantage of

Chapter 275 A Humble Beg

Seeing the unreasonable Wang Xia'an, Wang Jinshan felt a surge of anger. After getting up from the ground, he slapped him hard across the face.
"I'm such a sinner, how could I have given birth to such a good-for-nothing like you?"

"It's the same training program, so how come others can do it well, but you can't?"

"Not only that, you show no remorse whatsoever and justify your actions."

"Smash the machine? Who gave you the courage? You're not even worth as much as that machine."

For the first time ever, Zhao Yuju didn't comment on Wang Jinshan hitting her precious grandson; she just remained silent, lost in thought.

That's a debt of five thousand yuan. Even if she's the most carefree person, she'd be scared at this point.

Having been slapped, Wang Xia'an glared fiercely at Wang Jinshan like a wounded wild beast and roared:
"Hit me? How dare you hit me?"

"It's clearly because you're incompetent and can't compare to Wang Tieshan that I've suffered so much. And now you dare to hit me."

"I don't have a useless father like you!"

To the disbelief of the two, Wang Xia'an angrily rode his bicycle, which was parked to the side, toward the village entrance.

After a long while, Wang Jinshan finally reacted and shouted, "What a disaster! What a disaster! How could I have raised such a son?"

……

The Wang family's old residence.

After hearing their descriptions, Wang Degong's face turned ashen, and he shouted angrily:
"What a misfortune for my family! How could such an idiot have come from my family?"

"It's one thing to be bad at your own job, but to take it out on such expensive machines, and now you've even run away from home. You've really grown some guts."

Patting Wang Degong on the back, Zhao Yuju said ingratiatingly, "Old man, don't be angry."

"We shouldn't be discussing who's right and who's wrong right now. The most important thing is to find Xia An."

Thump, thump, thump—that was the sound of Wang Degong's cane hitting the ground.

Since his second and third sons left, he felt increasingly that this family was acting out of line, and immediately began to loudly rebuke them:
"Does it even need to be discussed who is right and who is wrong? It's definitely Xia An's fault."

"As for chasing them, if you guys don't go after them, do you expect an old man like me to go after them?"

"Besides, he rode away with the only bicycle in the house, so how are we supposed to catch him?"

“He’s not a child; he takes responsibility for his own actions.”

"Instead of discussing how to find him, we should think about how to handle the five thousand yuan compensation."

"He can't possibly be so naive as to think that if people run away, the debts don't have to be repaid. It's those of us who stay behind who will suffer, since we can't all run away."

At this point, Wang Degong's expression turned serious, and he said with a hint of helplessness:

"Tell me, how much money do you all have? Let's pool our resources to compensate Xia An for the damaged equipment."

"Don't rush to say you have no money. If you want Xia An to go to jail, then you can completely ignore this matter."

“I’ll take the lead. There are more than 800 yuan in the family account, and I personally have a few dozen yuan in savings. In total, we can raise 900 yuan.”

The mother and daughter, who originally planned to say they had no money, immediately backed down when they heard that if they didn't pay, Wang Xia'an would be sent to jail.

After a moment's hesitation, Zhao Yuju spoke first:

"I, I think I have about a thousand yuan left."

"That's my dowry that I brought back from my parents' home, so don't overthink it."

Dowry? If I weren't your husband, I'm afraid I would have been fooled by you.

Zhao Yuju was in such a hurry to marry into the family for some reason, and Wang Degong was poor at the time and couldn't find a wife, so they didn't discuss the dowry.

Zhao Yuju's family was very honest; they didn't negotiate and simply refused to give her anything, so they didn't let Zhao Yuju bring back a single penny of dowry.

However, now is not the time to dwell on such matters. Wang Degong did not argue with Zhao Yuju, but instead looked at Wang Jinshan calmly and said:
"Jinshan, this is to save your son, how much money can you offer?"

When questioned by Wang Degong, Wang Jinshan immediately started scratching his head and looking at himself.

After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said:

“1200 yuan, I can scrape together 1200 yuan by selling everything I own.”

So, I'm the poorest person in this whole family?

Thinking of Wang Yinshan and Wang Tieshan's predicament, a shadow crossed Wang Degong's eyes. He seemed to have done many wrong things.

With a sigh, Wang Degong said:
"It's three thousand one hundred yuan in total. I hope my old bones are still strong enough to get Wang Yong to do me a favor and lower the price a little."

"I'm going out for a bit. You'd better take care of yourselves!"

Just as Wang Degong was walking out of his house with his cane, he vaguely heard a whisper:
"Spending so much money to save a useless person is not as good as sending him to jail."

"I'm really miserable; I can only watch helplessly as all the money in my family is drained."

Looking back, it became clear that the family members each seemed to be preoccupied with their own thoughts, and it was impossible to tell who had said those words.

Feeling a deep sense of frustration that he couldn't vent, Wang Degong could only sigh sadly and walk towards Wang Fucheng's house, leaning on his cane.

This group of people is really getting worse as they get older; they even need this old man to take charge.

Although Wang Xia'an had already ridden the bicycle away, fortunately, Wang Degong's house was not far from Wang Fucheng's house, and after walking for more than ten minutes, they finally arrived at their destination.

Smelling the fragrance in the air, Wang Degong suddenly realized that it was already dinnertime.

Feeling the hunger rising in his stomach, he hesitated for a moment, but decided to wait a little longer.

Visiting someone's home now is rather impolite and could even have the opposite effect.

Anyone who is having a pleasant meal with their family and is disturbed will definitely not give an uninvited guest a friendly look.

After waiting for a full half hour, and when the shadows inside the house began to move, Wang Degong finally mustered up the courage to knock on Wang Fucheng's door.

Thump, thump, thump...

After a series of knocks, an extremely impatient voice came from inside: "Who is it?"

As the door was pushed open, Wang Yong's slightly tired face was revealed.

The emergence of Dapeng Sugar Factory was both an opportunity and a challenge for Wangjia Village.

Especially when the syrup begins to solidify and gradually turns into finished sugar blocks, that's when Dapeng Sugar Factory will face its real challenges.

How to package it, how to sell it, and what price to sell it at—these are all extremely difficult questions.

Upon seeing that the person outside the door was Wang Degong, Wang Yong's expression softened slightly.

Even if you don't care about the monk, you can still show respect to the Buddha. Just for Wang Chengpeng's sake, he couldn't give Wang Degong a hard time.

Thinking this, Wang Yong smiled and said, "Grandpa Wang, what brings you to our house today?"

"Come in and sit down, just tell me what's on your mind." Realizing that Wang Yong was completely different from the Wang Jinshan and Zhao Yuju had described, Wang Degong wasn't stupid and immediately understood that he had benefited from Wang Chengpeng's influence.

Since the opening ceremony of Dapeng Sugar Factory, Wang Chengpeng's work has been exposed, making everyone understand his contributions to the sugar factory.

It is precisely because we understand this point that many seemingly illogical things can be explained.

The thought that he had benefited from Wang Chengpeng, the grandson with whom he had severed all ties of support and who was not even related by blood, made Wang Degong feel a flush of heat on his face.

However, he still had to take advantage of this, and thinking this, his face flushed even more.

After sitting down, Wang Degong took a deep breath and finally stated his purpose directly:

"Director Wang, I'm so sorry."

“My grandson Wang Xia’an is really too naughty and has caused trouble at the sugar factory.”

"I just hope that you will be lenient and let him off the hook, considering his youth and ignorance."

Upon hearing Wang Degong's words, Wang Yong, sitting opposite him, visibly frowned and said:
“Old Master Wang, you may not have understood the facts. It’s not that I’m not letting Wang Xia’an go, but that he’s not letting me go.”

"The sugar factory has only been open for two days and this mess has already happened. Whether you look at his passive resistance and waste of food or the damage he caused to the factory's equipment, this is a provocation against the entire Dapeng Sugar Factory."

"How can we expect the hardworking workers at Dapeng Sugar Factory to be satisfied if we don't fire him?"

“If a bad precedent is set and people think that it’s okay to cheat and shirk responsibility, how can the factory continue production? It might go bankrupt immediately.”

"As for the machines that Wang Xia'an destroyed, I'm not exaggerating at all."

"Don't underestimate the power of a single punch; it had far-reaching consequences, rendering the machine unusable."

"The sugar-making machine is a critical piece of equipment in the factory. Do you know how much the factory's output will decrease if one of them breaks down?"

"Mr. Wang, you are a reasonable person. To be fair, is it too expensive for me to ask for five thousand for such an excellent piece of equipment?"

"You know, those precision machines in big factories can easily cost tens of thousands of yuan."

"As for repairs? Who knows how to repair them, and who has the skill to do so?"

"If you can fix it, I will not pursue the matter of Wang Xia'an damaging the sugar factory equipment."

After hearing Wang Yong's description, Wang Degong's face turned ashen with worry.

If it weren't for the fact that Wang Xia'an was his grandson, he would have thought that this person was beyond redemption and should be dealt with.

After hesitating for a moment, Wang Degong finally spoke, saying:

"Three thousand yuan, can our family contribute three thousand yuan? It can be considered compensation for the damage to the sugar-making machine."

"As for Wang Xia'an's job, you... you should fire him..."

After saying those last few words, Wang Degong seemed to have exhausted all his strength and completely resigned himself to his fate.

However, Wang Yong was clearly dissatisfied with Wang Degong's proposal and shook his head in rejection:
“Old Master Wang, the conditions you have offered seem very generous, but they cannot make up for the losses caused by Wang Xia’an at all.”

"I'll say it again: you either pay me five thousand yuan in compensation, or you find a way to fix the sugar-making machine within three days."

"As for Wang Xia'an's matter, he should have been expelled in the first place, so don't worry about it."

Seeing Wang Yong, who refused to budge, Wang Degong felt utterly powerless, realizing that he had completely lost control of the situation.

As if unwilling to give up, he asked one last time, "Is there really no other way?"

“It’s not that my Wang family is unwilling to take responsibility, it’s just that we really can’t afford the compensation of five thousand yuan.”

"Being able to come up with three thousand yuan has completely emptied our family's coffers."

Although there was still a hundred yuan left, the Wang family also needed to eat and live, and it was impossible for them to hand over all their money because of Wang Xia'an's matter.

Seeing Wang Degong's desperate situation, Wang Yong's eyes darted around. Remembering his own predicament, a brilliant idea suddenly struck him:

"There might actually be a solution."

"If you can persuade my master, Wang Chengpeng, to intervene, this matter might be resolved."

"Repairing a sugar-making machine is practically impossible for most people, but it's not entirely impossible for the designer of the sugar-making machine."

“It just so happens that my master knows the designer of the sugar-making machine; you could even say they are very familiar with each other.”

"If we can get him to agree, there might actually be a sliver of hope for this situation."

At this point, Wang Yong stopped there and waited for Wang Degong's reply.

Should we ask Wang Chengpeng for help?
Wang Degong clearly didn't believe the solution Wang Yong had suggested, and asked doubtfully:

"Director Wang, are you joking with me?"

"Of course I know Wang Chengpeng. He's my good grandson. He's kind and filial."

"Although he has some skills, he doesn't seem to have any great abilities."

"I really don't believe you can help me."

Wang Yong smiled meaningfully, offered no explanation, and simply uttered a vague sentence:

“Grandpa Wang, if you think that way, then you are seriously underestimating your grandson’s abilities.”

"He's incredibly capable, much more so than you can imagine."

"If you can get him to give his all, it's not impossible for him to even keep your grandson's job."

"Besides, what harm could you possibly lose by just giving it a try?"

Yes, if it's just a try, there's no harm in it.

With that in mind, Wang Degong nodded in agreement and whispered a thank you to Wang Yong.

At that time, it was a collective economy. Although the factory director was a respected person, if he abused his power for personal gain and could not win the support of the people, he would likely be ousted from office.

That's why Wang Degong understood Wang Yong's words and didn't make things too difficult for him.

This will also teach Xia An a lesson and help him grow up quickly!
With this thought in mind, he leaned on his cane and walked towards Wang Chengpeng's house.

However, Wang Chengpeng's family is not like Wang Fucheng's family. They live in a remote corner of the village, and it would take more than ten or twenty minutes to get there.

After walking shakily for almost an hour, Wang Degong finally saw the familiar yet unfamiliar building before him.

He came once, when Wang Chengpeng hosted a banquet for all the guests who came to help.

If Wang Chengpeng's family at that time was showing their talent and beginning to show their potential,

After a period of time, the Wang family transformed into a simple, unassuming, and dignified household.

(End of this chapter)