Courtyard House: Starting as an engineer, crushing a yard full of poultry

Page 212

"On what grounds? Just because he's your Section Chief Li's brother-in-law?"

"Brother-in-law? What evidence do you have to prove our relationship? If you can't, that's defamation. Aren't you afraid of being sued?"

There has always been talk in the factory about the special relationship between Li Xiangdong and Yu Bin. Li Xiangdong's statement can be seen as an opportunity to shut up the gossip, since he and Yu Li have not yet officially registered their marriage.

"You...everyone says that!"

"Fine, then find out who else said the same thing, and you'll all face the lawsuit together."

"I......"

Xu Damao looked around, but no one dared to respond to him; everyone was busy with their work.

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'I'? First, figure out your own divorce case, otherwise I'm afraid you won't be able to process it.'"

"Also, there will indeed be bonuses for those who can complete the tasks in the workshop with guaranteed quality and quantity and exceed the targets, but given your work ability and attitude, I want to add a clause today: those who fail to meet the quality and quantity standards will have their pay deducted, starting today."

After saying that, Li Xiangdong turned and left with Yu Bin, leaving Xu Damao standing there dumbfounded.

"I'm truly speechless, Xu Damao. What bad luck I had to be grouped with someone as brainless as you..."

He Yuzhu, caught in the crossfire, rolled his eyes and quickly got back to work. He hadn't received his wages since returning to the factory, and it would be a huge loss to have them deducted from his paycheck.

"Hey, I'm saying, why hasn't anyone looked for the people who work in your community who are missing? Where's my daughter-in-law, Qin Huairu? Why hasn't she come to work?"

For the past few days, Jia Zhangshi had been worried that Qin Huairu would run away with the child. This morning, she went to the street where Qin Huairu usually cleaned to look for her but couldn't find her. Feeling increasingly uneasy after returning home, she went straight to the community office after lunch, behaving arrogantly.

"Qin Huairu came over a couple of days ago and said she needed to take leave, but she didn't tell us the specific reason. I saw that she was in a hurry, so I didn't ask any more questions."

The director replied somewhat helplessly.

“When my son Qin Huairu was working in the factory, he would come home on time every day. How come he disappeared after cleaning the streets here for two days!”

Jia Zhangshi sat down in someone's office, crossed her legs, and shifted all the responsibility to the neighborhood committee, without mentioning at all that she had driven Qin Huairu away.

"Auntie...you can't say that, can you? Qin Huairu is just a temporary worker we hired. Her personal safety while at work is indeed our concern, but we have no obligation to monitor her outside of work, do we?"

"Besides, she didn't come through the normal leave application process. Even if she really is missing, the problem lies with your family."

Although speechless, the director still explained the reasoning clearly to Jia Zhangshi.

"Fine! With such inhumane leaders like you, you still have the nerve to talk about the neighborhood serving the people? Bah!"

"Let me tell you, my daughter-in-law is holding a child in her arms and is pregnant with another child. If anything happens to these three, I'll never forgive you!"

Seeing that her attempt to cause trouble had failed, Jia Zhangshi uttered a harsh remark and left.

"Huai Ru? Where have you been these past few days? Your mother-in-law is looking for you all over the place!"

"Come here, Grandpa, look at your little face, it's so dark, you've lost so much weight!"

At the same time, Qin Huairu staggered back to the courtyard with Banggeng, just as Yi Zhonghai bumped into her.

"Are you hungry? Grandpa has peach shortbread, I'll go get you one!"

Although Banggeng couldn't speak, he kept rubbing his stomach with both hands. When Yi Zhonghai saw this, he rushed into his house and took out a piece of peach shortbread that he usually carefully avoided eating.

"Bang Geng... quickly thank Grandpa..."

Qin Huai forced a smile and said weakly.

"Huai Ru, you... why do you look so pale? Are you feeling unwell?"

Yi Zhonghai then noticed that Qin Huairu's face was sallow and her eyes were glazed over, and he quickly went to help her up.

"I...I'm fine...I just haven't eaten much these past couple of days...my legs are a little weak and I feel a little dizzy..."

At this moment, Qin Huairu even had difficulty speaking, and was out of breath, her lips white and dry.

Just then, Jia Zhangshi returned from the neighborhood office, fuming. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw Yi Zhonghai supporting Qin Huairu. This scene enraged Jia Zhangshi, who was already in a bad mood.

"Qin Huairu! Where have you been these past few days? Look how much my grandson has suffered because of you! Is this how you act as a mother and daughter-in-law?"

She rushed up and grabbed Qin Huairu by the collar, questioning her.

"You...you shouldn't be angry...it's good that the children are back..."

"Huai Ru is pregnant, and look how pale she is. She should go home and rest..."

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai once again acted as a peacemaker, and even winked at Jia Zhangshi with pursed lips.

Chapter 298 Internal Strife in Yi Zhonghai's Home

"Knowing she was pregnant, yet still running around everywhere, what else could it be but asking for trouble?"

"Look at what she's done to this big one, let alone the little one in her belly!"

Yi Zhonghai thought that Jia Zhangshi would listen to his advice as before, but to his surprise, Jia Zhangshi avoided his gaze and continued to blame Qin Huairu.

Yi Zhonghai paused for a moment before realizing that he might have made Jia Zhangshi uncomfortable because of the excessive physical contact he had with Qin Huairu.

"I......"

Qin Huairu had no strength left to retort; she barely opened her mouth before fainting. Bang Geng, though unable to speak, was so anxious that tears streamed down his face.

"Quickly call a cart; her condition looks really bad..."

Yi Zhonghai, who was standing to the side, did not dare to say anything more about his concern for Qin Huairu, but seeing the critical situation, he could not help but interject.

"Why are you calling for a cart? She's already awake, and it's not like she's broken her leg while pregnant. Besides, the hospital isn't far; she can just walk there..."

Jia Zhangshi pursed her lips and helped Qin Huairu up with a look of disgust, and they walked unsteadily toward the hospital.

"Hey, what should we do with this stick? Maybe I should take it home and let you guys keep an eye on it."

Seeing Bang Geng standing there blankly, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to take the child home first, since he had an unspeakable relationship with this child.

"You still want to eat this?"

As soon as they entered Yi Zhonghai's main room, Banggeng stood in front of the peach shortbread box and started gesturing.

"What are you eating! Yi Zhonghai, when did you become so generous? Or have you made some big money somewhere that you can even eat peach shortbread to your heart's content?"

Yi Zhonghai was all smiles as he prepared to give Bang Geng some peach shortbread when an older woman suddenly rushed over, snatched the box of shortbread away, and looked very unhappy.

"Look at what you're saying. The Jia family is in a special situation, and we're all neighbors, so shouldn't we help each other out? We've watched Banggeng grow up, after all. If the child wants a piece of peach shortbread, how can his grandparents refuse him?"

Yi Zhonghai then began his incessant lecturing.

"Stop giving me that nonsense. There are other kids in the yard besides Jia Banggeng. Why don't I see you treating other kids like this?"

"Also, I'm not his grandmother, Jia Zhangshi is his grandmother. You two are a grandmother and a grandfather, which is good."

The middle-aged woman was already immune to Yi Zhonghai's lecturing and said angrily. She had long since reached her limit in her tolerance of Yi Zhonghai's close relationship with Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu.

"Look at you, what's wrong with you? It's just a broken peach shortbread. I bet you're going through menopause..."

Yi Zhonghai, feeling offended, tried to mask his guilty conscience with anger.

"Yes, a peach shortbread doesn't cost much. Why don't you check how much money you have left in your cupboard?"

“I’ve worked hard and saved every penny of my life with you, and all I’ve saved is this little bit of money. And now you’re old and starting to cause trouble. Wang Yan alone takes more money from me every month than a young man can earn doing hard labor.”

This was the first time the usually good-tempered woman had ever slammed something on the table and made such a commotion, which startled Yi Zhonghai.

"You still have the nerve to mention Wang Yan to me? Do you think I'd willingly give her that much money? Wasn't it you who promised her?"

"I don't want to give her a single penny. Is that alright? Can you take it if you, an old man, go to jail?"

Knowing he was in the wrong, Yi Zhonghai stopped talking. The old woman's voice grew louder and louder, so he quickly pulled his stick away and hid, afraid that others would hear him.

After returning to the factory from the hospital, He Yuzhu worked diligently, never having worked so hard in all his years at the factory, leaving Xu Damao, who was standing next to him, dumbfounded.

"What's the point of just staring at me? Get to work! Haven't you heard they say you get docked pay if you don't finish your tasks?"

Sweat dripped down He Yuzhu's forehead. He glanced at the lazy Xu Damao and couldn't help but urge him on.

"Have you been drinking chicken blood? Aren't you always the one who loves to cheat and be cunning? What's wrong with you today?"

Instead of getting up to start working, Xu Damao mocked He Yuzhu.

"Xu Damao, if you ask me, someone like you will only ever be like this (Zhao Dede) in your life. Don't you know how to strive for progress? What did Director Yang tell us the other day? He said the workshop is a lucrative job. If you lose this job, you'll be the one who suffers!"

He Yuzhu stated grandly that his rush to work was simply to get off work early and go home to cook for Grandma Feng Ting. Of course, re-establishing contact with Feng Ting had also become his main motivation at the moment.

After being lectured by He Yuzhu, Xu Damao slowly came to his senses and prepared to get to work. He was a money-loving guy, and if he didn't work hard and Li Xiangdong took notice of him, losing his job would be even more of a headache.

"No way...it's almost six o'clock already?"

Chapter 299 Implementation of the Deduction System

After finally managing to get Xu Damao up to work together, He Yuzhu got up to take a sip of water, only to see that the sun had already set outside the window. Looking closer at the clock in the middle of the workshop, he realized there were only ten minutes left until the end of the workday at six o'clock.

"What do you think? Don't tell me you were so focused on your work that you forgot to check the time..."

Xu Damao rolled his eyes, but his hands continued to work very slowly.

"Alright, it's almost time. If any of you have finished your work for today and don't have plans to work overtime, you can come to me for a quick check before heading home. For those of you who are working overtime, we'll check your work after dinner. The cafeteria will still be providing free meals for everyone working overtime today."

Just as He Yuzhu was worrying, Li Xiangdong clapped his hands and shouted.

"So, are you saying we'll work overtime or not?"

Xu Damao raised an eyebrow at He Yuzhu and asked.

"I have something to do tonight, I can't work overtime..."