Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand, signaling Yan Jiecheng to shut up. He stared at Yan Bugui, his eyes gleaming with cunning: "Old Yan, that's not how it works. You spent money to save face, to fulfill your duty as a father-in-law. Everyone in the courtyard saw it, and they all praised you for being generous. But if you take the money back, your face will be shattered. People will gossip behind your back, saying you, Yan Bugui, held the banquet to make money. Where will you, a people's teacher, put your face then?"

Yan Bugui was speechless. He valued his reputation above all else, and Yi Zhonghai's move hit him right where it hurt.

Seeing this, Liu Haizhong immediately chimed in, adding fuel to the fire: "Exactly! Old Yan, think long-term. The three of us brothers are about to take charge again, you need to have the demeanor of a leader! Making a scene over a few dollars, causing family discord, and alienating your son—who will listen to you in the yard then? You won't even be able to stand up straight!"

These words are more effective than anything else. A glint flashed in Yan Bugui's cloudy eyes. "That's right, sir!"

Seeing that the time was right, Yi Zhonghai played his final trump card: "And, Lao Yan, don't forget. Elections involve voting. Jie Cheng and his family are now a separate household, so he holds a vote. If you take this money today and hurt your son's feelings, it's hard to say whether he'll vote for you or someone else. Losing a vote for a few dollars—can't you, with your shrewd calculations, understand this?"

With a loud "boom".

Yan Bugui felt as if something had exploded in his head.

He stared blankly at Yi Zhonghai, then at Liu Haizhong, and finally his gaze settled on his "biological son," Yan Jiecheng. Yan Jiecheng was looking down, pretending to fiddle with Yu Li's clothes, but a hint of smugness was hidden at the corner of his mouth.

One vote!

Yes, one vote!

Yi Zhonghai is right. He's schemed his whole life, how could he have overlooked this one detail? To offend someone you hold a vote for a mere ten-odd yuan in bribes—what a terrible deal!

He figured it out.

But just because he's come to terms with it doesn't mean he's not angry.

Yan Bugui's chest heaved violently, like a broken bellows. He looked at the faces before him: Yi Zhonghai's hypocritical sanctimoniousness, Liu Haizhong's ambition for officialdom, and his own son's sense of entitlement. He felt as if the whole world was conspiring against him.

How did he, an honest man who dedicated his life to teaching and nurturing students and was meticulous in his calculations, end up in this state?

Finally, he managed to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth.

"Fine...the money...is theirs."

After saying this, as if all his strength had been drained away, he suddenly raised his hand, pointed to the door, and roared with his last ounce of strength:

"You...all of you, get out!"

If he didn't leave soon, he was afraid that his stomach, which he had just cleaned, would be so angry that he would vomit blood again.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong exchanged a glance. Having achieved their goal, they didn't linger. Liu Haizhong even patted Yan Jiecheng on the shoulder in a mock manner: "Jiecheng, take good care of your father, and don't make him angry again."

Yan Jiecheng nodded repeatedly and respectfully saw the two old men out of the ward.

Only the four members of the Yan family remained in the ward.

Yan Bugui lay on the bed, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, motionless, as if he were dead. Yang Ruihua sat beside him, wiping away tears and sighing softly.

Yan Jiecheng returned to the bedside, his smile returning to his face.

After sitting for a while, he and Yu Li had to go to work, so they left the ward.

They hadn't gone far from the ward when Yan Jiecheng lowered his voice and excitedly started calculating the odds: "Lily, you do the math, we didn't lose out this time!"

Yu Li was so annoyed by his carefree attitude that she pinched him, but she still couldn't resist her curiosity.

"You went to Xu Damao's house for that meal, and we gave a 50-cent gift. Yesterday's meal was the main event; we ate our fill, didn't spend a penny, and even received 12.3 yuan in gifts. All in all, we made 11.8 yuan on a 50-cent investment! And we even got two free meals!" Yan Jiecheng became more and more excited as he spoke, his eyes practically clicking with the sound of his abacus. "This is the best deal I've ever made in my life!"

Yu Li listened and agreed that the calculations were correct. The guilt she felt towards her father-in-law was instantly washed away by this "huge sum of money." Looking at her husband's beaming face, she thought he was just like the man lying in bed.

No, it should be "the student surpasses the teacher".

On the bed, Yan Bugui's fingers were digging into the sheets, his knuckles turning white from the force.

He heard it.

He heard it all.

He schemed his whole life, only to end up as a pawn in someone else's abacus. And the one manipulating that pawn was none other than his own son.

Two streams of tears silently slid down his gaunt cheeks, soaking the yellowed pillowcase.

These tears are not for physical pain, nor for emotional suffering.

This is the complete collapse of a lifelong glory for a shrewd calculator.

孽 孽!

I suddenly remembered something—when Zhang Dabiao had just regained his senses 60 years ago, he said that none of his four children would take care of her in her old age.

Could this really be true?

Then I'll definitely act like a big shot!

Only with money and power can I guarantee that someone will take care of me when I get old!

----------

Two days later, Yan Bugui was discharged from the hospital.

He had lost a lot of weight, his eyes were sunken, and the flesh on his cheeks sagged, making him look ten years older. But his spirits were strangely much better—that was from hunger. For two days in the hospital, he drank only bland rice porridge, and his mouth felt utterly tasteless. Now, everything looked like braised pork.

When he got home, Yang Ruihua told him to go to bed and rest, but he waved his hand.

He went straight to the locked old wooden cabinet by the bedside, trembling as he took out the key, opened the cabinet door, and from the innermost part, took out his old abacus that he had used for decades. The frame of the abacus was polished to a shine, and each bead seemed to be soaked with his painstaking efforts.

He placed the abacus on the table, sat up straight, took a deep breath, and began his first and most painful accounting since being discharged from the hospital.

I bought groceries for 12.64 yuan.

Sha Zhu's wages are four yuan and two jiao.

The hospital bill was three yuan.

Expenses: Nineteen yuan and eighty cents... Never mind, let's just say twenty yuan, round it up, it'll make me feel better.

Income: Gift money of twelve yuan and thirty cents... No, this money belongs to the Yan family, but it doesn't belong to me.

Therefore, the income is zero.

Net loss: 19.84 yuan.

pat.

A bead popped out, slipped from his trembling fingers, fell to the floor, and rolled under the bed.

Yan Bugui stared blankly at the vanished bead, as if he were looking at his own nineteen yuan and eighty-four cents that had disappeared.

My heart aches as if a piece has been ripped out.

He silently put the abacus beads back in their place, and then carefully wiped the abacus again and again with a clean cloth. Finally, he put the abacus back into the deepest part of the cabinet and locked it with a "click".

Having done all this, he let out a long sigh of relief and said to Yang Ruihua, who looked worried, beside him:

"Old woman, remember this. From now on, if I ever try to persuade anyone in the neighborhood to host a dinner party, you can slap me across the face."

He paused, then a smile that looked more like a grimace appeared on his face.

"What's in it for me? Why would I bother joining in this fun?"

"What a huge loss!"

Looking at the old man's state, Yang Ruihua felt both sorry for him and amused. In the end, she could only sigh and pour him a cup of hot water: "Alright, what's lost is lost. Consider it a loss to avoid further trouble. It's good that you're alright."

Yan Bugui didn't say anything, but picked up the cup and drank the hot water in one gulp, as if it wasn't water, but the hard-earned money he had lost.

The commotion in the courtyard temporarily subsided as the Yan family's farce came to an end.

But beneath the surface, another undercurrent has begun to quietly surge.

Several former "old men" want to be re-elected and regain power!