Regarding Yi Zhonghai's words, there were still quite a few people in the courtyard who supported him, seeing as he still held a certain amount of prestige around here.
Besides, they also knew that the Jia family seemed to be having a hard time.
At that moment, Jia Dongxu and the others felt a surge of smugness. Believing that so many people were on his side, Jia Dongxu was certain that Li Jianjun would be forced to compromise.
He might not even have to pay any compensation.
Hearing this, Li Jianjun simply cast a calm glance at Yi Zhonghai. This old fossil was still taking the Jia family's side.
Though that was hardly surprising.
After all, Jia Dongxu was his prized apprentice.
Yet even now, he still wanted to use moral blackmail to pressure him? How utterly ridiculous.
"Yi Zhonghai, you've got it all wrong."
"Since when is the Jia family poor? They even have a sewing machine at home. Do any of you?"
"Besides, look at this pot-bellied Mrs. Jia. Anyone can tell she eats well. These days, who else lives like her?"
"Forget all that, though—I want to talk about what happened tonight."
"This whole mess is the Jia family's fault to begin with. Sneaking over in the middle of the night to steal food—who wouldn't be disgusted by such behavior? What if the ones who got stolen from were you people? What would you do?"
As soon as Li Jianjun finished speaking, the people in the courtyard fell into deep thought. They realized that what Li Jianjun said actually made a lot of sense.
They snapped back to their senses, nearly having been led astray by Yi Zhonghai.
What if they had been the victims of the theft?
With that thought, they all promptly shifted to Li Jianjun's side.
"I think Li Jianjun is right. This was definitely Banggen's fault. If he doesn't get taught a lesson, he'll never learn."
"If stealing goes unpunished, that really is completely unreasonable."
"Pay up right now, or else we'll help report this to the police."
"..."
"You people..."
Mrs. Jia flew into a rage. These damned fools actually sided with Li Jianjun this time! It was infuriating.
Things used to not be like this—they always used to support the Jia family.
"Enough!"
"Mrs. Jia, say no more. Jia Dongxu, give him the money right now."
Yi Zhonghai cut Mrs. Jia off with a sharp shout, then turned and snapped at Jia Dongxu. He could see clearly now that if this kept up, the situation would blow up.
And when that happened, the Jia family would be the ones to suffer.
So it was better to settle this matter right away!
"First Uncle? Do we really have to pay?"
Jia Dongxu looked pained. Thirty yuan! That was more than a whole month's salary for him—how could it not hurt?
"Just do it," Yi Zhonghai said, waving a hand.
"Fine!"
Grimacing with pain, Jia Dongxu pulled out thirty yuan and handed it over to Li Jianjun.
He still listened to Yi Zhonghai. His career evaluations and daily life all relied on the old man's backing; how could he dare disobey?
"Such a good boy. Fitting for the First Uncle's godson—so obedient," Li Jianjun said coldly after pocketing the money.
With that, he turned and left.
He had made a tidy profit tonight.
Actually, he had considered calling the police. Since it was just stealing and eating a piece of fruit, calling the police would definitely get the kid locked up.
But Banggen was still a minor; at most, he'd be released in a month. What good would that do?
Better to extract some cash and live it up a little.
After Li Jianjun left, Yi Zhonghai told everyone to disperse.
Only then did he turn to Jia Dongxu.
"Dongxu, what happened tonight was indeed Banggen's fault, but it's best to get it settled quickly. You don't want to see Banggen actually get arrested, do you?"
Knowing that Jia Dongxu was harboring resentment, Yi Zhonghai offered some words of guidance.
"This..."
Hearing this, Jia Dongxu furrowed his brow slightly.
"All right, say no more. Isn't it just thirty yuan? For the next evaluation, I'll make sure to call you. You're guaranteed to pass."
Yi Zhonghai offered some comfort.
Only then did Jia Dongxu feel a little better. After exchanging a few more words with Yi Zhonghai, he gathered his family and left.
Back at the Jia household.
The moment she stepped inside, Mrs. Jia started cursing Li Jianjun up and down. After railing against him for quite a while, she finally turned her gaze to Jia Dongxu.
"Dongxu, how could you give that damned wretch so much money?" Mrs. Jia demanded, deeply dissatisfied.
"Not give it? What else could I do?"
"Did you want to watch Banggen get thrown in jail? That bastard has been hoping for this day all along," Jia Dongxu snarled back.
He was already in a foul mood, and here was Mrs. Jia nagging and picking faults.
"Go to bed, all of you!"
With that, Jia Dongxu went off to sleep. He had taken a huge loss tonight; never in his wildest dreams had he expected to have to pay out so much money.
He had planned to go out for drinks with his good-for-nothing friends, but now he was broke.
There would be no going out to live it up.
How could he not feel depressed?
So he had no desire to say another word.
...
The next day!
"Check in!"
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for a successful check-in. You have obtained: one Bad Luck Talisman, one box of apples, two hundred yuan in cash.]
"Oh?"
"You can get things like this from checking in? It seems this system isn't bad after all."
"He had just been wondering how to deal with those people from the Jia family."
"Too bad there's only one talisman."
Li Jianjun shook his head, got up, and made himself some breakfast.
Once he had eaten his fill, he headed out for work.
As soon as he reached the Middle Courtyard, he spotted Mrs. Jia wearing a malicious expression, her mouth working incessantly. He didn't even need to guess to know she was cursing him.
Without hesitation, he used the Bad Luck Talisman on Mrs. Jia, then calmly set off for work.
"Damned Li Jianjun, you—"
Mrs. Jia opened her mouth to hurl a fierce curse, but suddenly, a stick came flying down out of nowhere and smacked her right on the head, hurting so much that tears almost welled up in her eyes.
Before she could resume cursing, a small bird flew overhead and dropped a dollop of bird droppings straight into her open mouth.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"
Mrs. Jia felt utterly wretched. What on earth was going on today? This was too unlucky.
"..."
Meanwhile!
Li Jianjun had already arrived at the Rolling Mill. As soon as he stepped into his workshop, he saw the workshop director walking over with an honest, naive-looking young man in tow.
And they were heading straight toward him.
This left him rather puzzled, wondering what the workshop director was up to.
"Jianjun," the workshop director greeted him.
"What is it?" Li Jianjun asked.
"Well, it's like this. This is my distant grandson, Zhou Dashan. He just came to rely on me today, but he doesn't know anything yet, so I wanted to ask—would you be willing to take on an apprentice?"
"Don't worry, he's very diligent and I guarantee he won't disappoint you."
With that, the workshop director pulled Zhou Dashan forward and introduced him to Li Jianjun.
"Take on an apprentice?"