The fading glow of the setting sun draped a thin, orange-red veil over the capital, and Xushu had been wandering the streets of this ancient capital of five dynasties for a long time.
Before he knew it, time had quietly slipped to six o'clock.
By now, the sky was darkening, and the streetlights along the road were flickering to life one after another, their dim yellow glow swaying in the twilight.
Xushu stretched, brushed the dust off his clothes, and finally stood up at a leisurely pace, heading in the direction of the courtyard.
As he walked along the familiar street and drew close to the courtyard, the backs of three people walking shoulder-to-shoulder ahead caught his eye.
Something stirred in Xushu's mind; he felt as though he had seen these three figures somewhere before.
So, he quickened his pace, intending to go up and see who they were. If they were acquaintances, he would greet them and exchange some pleasantries.
The trio was deeply engrossed in their conversation, chatting animatedly, utterly unaware of Xushu gradually closing in from behind.
In the progressively quiet street, their voices carried clearly.
Xushu narrowed his eyes slightly, carefully distinguishing the source of the voices.
Suddenly, he heard Yi Zhonghai's calm and somewhat authoritative voice drifting over.
In an instant, he knew exactly who the three in front of him were.
The thought of saying hello dissolved like a bubble.
In its place rose a powerful surge of curiosity.
He decided to follow quietly behind to hear what they were discussing.
Yi Zhonghai turned his head slightly to look at Shazhu beside him. With an earnest and well-meaning expression, he spoke slowly.
"Zhùzi, your Brother Dongxu is still only a Grade 1 worker, making just twenty-seven point five yuan a month. But his family has four mouths to feed, and Banggen is at the age where he's shooting up and growing fast; his nutrition has to keep up. Our courtyard has always been an exemplary one; unity, affection, and mutual aid are our fine traditions. Among the young people in our courtyard, you have the highest income, so you should help your Brother Dongxu's family out more."
As he spoke, Yi Zhonghai lightly patted Shazhu's shoulder, his eyes full of expectation.
Ever since his father, He Daqing, abandoned him and his younger sister, He Yushui, to run off to Baoding, Shazhu had been like a lost lamb. To him, Yi Zhonghai's words were as good as an imperial decree.
Over the years, Yi Zhonghai had constantly drilled various notions into his head.
Over time, Shazhu had become almost entirely obedient to Yi Zhonghai.
What was more, ever since Qin Huairu married into the Jia Family, Shazhu's heart had been pulled by an invisible thread, secretly harboring feelings for her.
However, Shazhu was a simple and honest man by nature. Though he had designs on Qin Huairu, he had the desire but lacked the courage to act.
Now, hearing Yi Zhonghai say this, he didn't even think before nodding heavily. Puffing out his chest, he said loudly,
"First Uncle, Brother Dongxu, don't you worry. As long as I can help, I absolutely won't hesitate."
The corner of Yi Zhonghai's mouth curved slightly into a barely perceptible smile as he continued,
"Zhùzi, you're a head chef in the cafeteria now, and you eat all your meals there. As I see it, why don't you just give some of the food you bring back from the cafeteria to the Jia Family to help supplement Banggen's nutrition?"
Yi Zhonghai's tone was incredibly natural, as if all of this was only right and proper.
Hearing Yi Zhonghai's words, Shazhu scratched his head, not finding anything amiss at all.
In his mind, the old saying "if a cook doesn't steal, the harvest will fail" was deeply ingrained.
Therefore, he felt no moral burden about bringing leftovers from the cafeteria to the Jia Family. Without a second thought, he agreed:
"Sure, First Uncle, no problem. But Yushui is coming back for the weekend, so I have to save the lunchboxes from Friday and Saturday for her."
Hearing this, Jia Dongxu immediately felt a bit displeased.
Over the years, under the influence of Mrs. Jia, he had also become thoroughly selfish, always wanting to squeeze out every last bit of advantage.
Now, hearing that Shazhu wanted to save the lunchboxes for He Yushui, his instinct was to speak up and stop him.
However, before he could utter a word, the sharp-eyed and quick-handed Yi Zhonghai secretly nudged him with his elbow while shooting him a warning look.
Jia Dongxu froze, swallowing the words on the tip of his tongue, and could only stand aside with a face full of reluctance.
Seeing that Jia Dongxu had kept quiet, Yi Zhonghai nodded in satisfaction. Turning back to Shazhu, he said,
"Alright, Zhùzi, then it's settled. You really didn't disappoint my expectations. At the next courtyard general meeting, I will definitely praise you thoroughly in front of everyone."
Hearing this, Shazhu grinned from ear to ear, a smug expression spreading over his face. Beaming, he said,
"Hahaha, First Uncle, you're praising me too much. Who am I, Shazhu? I'm a real, red-blooded man of Sijiu City! Helping others is exactly what I ought to do."
Shazhu patted his chest as he spoke.
Looking at Shazhu, Yi Zhonghai smiled with satisfaction, nodded slightly, and said,
"Yes, indeed very good. You have a high level of awareness."
Meanwhile, Xushu, who was tailing the three of them, felt his entire worldview taking an unprecedented hit.
Just yesterday, he had heard from Xu Damao that Yi Zhonghai was a sanctimonious hypocrite.
On the surface, he was highly respected and virtuous, but in reality, his mind was full of depravity and deceit.
He wanted Jia Dongxu to provide for him in his old age, yet he didn't want to pay any price of his own.
At the time, though Xushu had listened to Xu Damao's words, he had still found them somewhat exaggerated.
After all, at yesterday's courtyard general meeting, Yi Zhonghai had conducted himself with great fairness and dignity.
But now, having heard this conversation with his own eyes, Xushu truly saw the real face of this so-called "First Uncle."
A wave of disgust surged within him. Staring at Yi Zhonghai's hypocritical back, he thought to himself:
"This courtyard looks peaceful on the surface, but in truth, undercurrents are raging, hiding so many secrets. It seems I'll have to keep my wits about me during my future days here."
Thinking this, Xushu followed them cautiously, continuing to listen to their conversation.
As a Grade 8 fitter at the Rolling Mill, Yi Zhonghai was a highly skilled master craftsman, drawing a basic monthly salary of ninety-nine yuan.
With overtime pay and various allowances added in from time to time, his monthly income easily broke the hundred-yuan mark.
Such a handsome salary was second to none in the entire courtyard, almost several times Xushu's current wage.
Furthermore, his household was simple, consisting of only himself and First Aunt. With very few financial burdens, they were extremely well-off.
Reasonably speaking, if Yi Zhonghai truly wanted Jia Dongxu to support him in his old age, with his comfortable financial situation, it wouldn't have been hard at all to spare a little money to support the Jia Family.
Yet just now, following behind Yi Zhonghai, Shazhu, and Jia Dongxu, Xushu had heard their conversation loud and clear.
From their exchange, Xushu keenly sensed that this calculating old fox, Yi Zhonghai, was clearly working his own angles.
He was trying to exploit He Yuzhu's kindness and simple-mindedness to indirectly achieve his goal of having the Jia Family care for him in his old age and arrange his funeral.
As for He Yuzhu, he truly lived up to his nickname; he was utterly foolish.
The nickname "Shazhu" suited him perfectly.
Faced with such an obvious scheme by Yi Zhonghai, he had actually agreed without a second thought, completely unaware that anything was wrong.
As for Jia Dongxu, throughout the entire conversation, he had stood there like a wooden carving, remaining completely silent from beginning to end, calmly accepting it all.
Such behavior undoubtedly exposed the weakness and incompetence bred into his very bones. Having no spine or ambition to speak of, he was the very definition of a useless weakling.
Having heard this much, Xushu had gained a more genuine and profound initial understanding of these key figures in the courtyard.
Yi Zhonghai and the other two had no idea that Xushu had been following them all this time, and continued walking forward as if nothing had happened.
Upon returning to the Middle Courtyard, Shazhu spotted Qin Huairu busy at work from afar. A simple, honest smile instantly spread across his face.
He raised a hand to greet her, his voice tinged with joy, and then turned to go back to his own home.
Yi Zhonghai, meanwhile, paced over to the West Side Room. His gaze settled on Jia Dongxu, and with a look of scrutiny, he spoke slowly.
"Dongxu, were you thinking just now of having Zhùzi give you the weekend lunchboxes as well?"
Hearing this, Jia Dongxu showed no sign of shame whatsoever. Instead, he straightened his back and responded righteously,
"Yes, Master. Since he's agreed to help, then the weekend lunchboxes should naturally belong to our Jia Family too."
His tone made it sound as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai shook his head helplessly, followed by a heavy sigh.
"You, oh you, why don't you ever use your head? He hasn't even started giving you the lunchboxes yet, and you're already trying to take his entire week's worth. What about He Yushui? Do you think that, as of right now, your Jia Family is more important to him than He Yushui?"
As Yi Zhonghai spoke, he frowned slightly, his eyes filled with frustration at his apprentice's failure to live up to expectations.
Jia Dongxu was left speechless by the question, his tongue tying up.
Because what Yi Zhonghai said had hit right on his true thoughts, and he simply didn't know how to answer.
Right at this moment, Mrs. Jia came waddling over.
She was sharp-eared by nature, and she hadn't missed a single word of what Yi Zhonghai had just said.
Hearing Yi Zhonghai question the Jia Family's place in Shazhu's heart, Mrs. Jia instantly flew into a rage. Raising her voice, she screamed,
"Old Yi, what do you mean by that? He Yushui is nothing but a money-losing girl. How can she be compared to our Jia Family? My son is right! Since Shazhu agreed to help, all of his lunchboxes should belong to our family."
Mrs. Jia stood with her hands on her hips, her face a picture of arrogance and unreasonableness.
Looking at the greedy, unreasonable mother and son before him, Yi Zhonghai felt a wave of helplessness wash over him.
The anger inside him flared up, and he couldn't help but curse, "You fool, can you please use your brain?"
Hearing this, Mrs. Jia immediately went ballistic. Her eyes glared like brass bells as she stared viciously at Yi Zhonghai and roared,
"Yi Zhonghai, what do you mean by that? What did I say wrong? How dare you curse at me!"
She looked as though she would rush forward to tear him apart at any second.
Yi Zhonghai trembled with rage. He pointed a finger at Mrs. Jia, stammering "You, you, you..." for a long while without being able to squeeze out a complete sentence.
Seeing that things were going downhill, Jia Dongxu hurriedly grabbed Mrs. Jia and said anxiously,
"Mom, don't get angry yet. Since Master said so, he must have his reasons. Let's hear him out first."
While coaxing her, Jia Dongxu winked at Mrs. Jia, gesturing for her to calm down first.
Though Mrs. Jia's temper cooled slightly, her face was still full of defiance. Curling her lip, she said aggressively,
"Fine, let's hear what kind of reason you can come up with. If you can't convince me, don't blame me for not letting you off easily."
Her tone remained extremely stubborn.
Yi Zhonghai suppressed the disgust in his heart. Looking at Mrs. Jia's repulsive face, he wished he could just turn around and storm off on the spot.
But at the thought of his beloved plan for retirement support, he had to force down his anger. Taking a deep breath, he spoke slowly.
"Sigh, Zhùzi has only just agreed to help, which is already a very good start. If you push him too hard and he backs out entirely, what are you going to do then? Don't forget, He Yushui is Zhùzi's own sister. The fact that he can give you four days' worth of lunchboxes and only keep two days for He Yushui is already a massive concession. Everything must be done gradually, step by step. Since I can get Shazhu to give you four days now, I can naturally get him to give you the whole week later on. Think about it carefully."
As Yi Zhonghai spoke, he carefully observed the reactions of the mother and son.
After listening, Mrs. Jia knew in her heart that Yi Zhonghai was right. However, she had always been one to save face and would never easily admit she was wrong.
She curled her lips and said with a look of reluctance,
"Fine, if you had just said so earlier, we wouldn't have had this fuss."
Her tone was still tinged with resentment.
Jia Dongxu, however, nodded quickly and said,
"Alright, Master, I understand everything now."
A glint of cunning flashed in Jia Dongxu's eyes, as if he were plotting something.
Seeing that the mother and son had finally listened, Yi Zhonghai really didn't want to stay in this suffocating atmosphere for another second, fearing his heart wouldn't be able to take it.
So, he waved his hand, said nothing more, turned, and left.
And Xushu, hiding in the shadows, had witnessed the entire scene.
In his heart, he gained an even deeper understanding of the complex relationships and calculating minds within this courtyard.
He couldn't help but shake his head in secret, adding a few more layers of caution and contemplation to his expectations of his future life in the courtyard.