Siheyuan: tomb robbing? I am serious about hunting.

Chapter 432 Overt and covert fighting

After this farce, the atmosphere in the courtyard became more awkward and depressing. The conflict between Jia Zhang and the first aunt was completely publicized, and Qin Huairu was caught in the middle, feeling very uncomfortable. She knew that all this was caused by her, but she didn't know how to resolve the conflict between them. She could only sigh silently, hoping that time would slowly calm it down.

After this quarrel, Jia Zhang and the aunt started to fight overtly and covertly. The aunt would deliberately shake off the dust beside Jia Zhang when she was drying her quilts; while Jia Zhang would loudly criticize the aunt when she was chatting with the neighbors.

Once, the street organized a sanitation evaluation and required each household to clean the sanitation in front of their door. Auntie got up early to clean up and sprinkled more water at the door of her house to make the ground look cleaner. When Jia Zhang saw this, she came up with a plan. She waited for Auntie to return home and secretly swept her own garbage to the corner in front of Auntie's house. When the evaluation personnel came to check, the garbage at Auntie's door was discovered and was criticized. Auntie knew that it must be Jia Zhang's doing, so she went straight to Jia Zhang to argue, and the two had another big fight in the yard.

However, this fight not only made the relationship between the two worse, but also affected the harmonious atmosphere of the entire yard. The neighbors were also very dissatisfied with this and advised them to stop making trouble. But the two were so angry that they didn't listen to the advice at all.

Qin Huairu felt very upset when she saw this situation. After thinking about it, she decided to find an opportunity to mediate the relationship between the two. One day, Qin Huairu bought some fruits and sent them to Jia Zhang and Auntie's home respectively. She first said to Jia Zhang, "Grandma, everyone has had a hard time recently. It's all my fault. I caused a conflict between you and Auntie. We are all neighbors, and this is not a solution. Please do not bother with her for my sake." Then she went to Auntie and said, "Auntie, I know you are also doing this for the good of the yard. Maybe your methods are not right sometimes, but Grandma Jia Zhang has no ill intentions. Let's all calm down and live in harmony in the future."

After Qin Huairu's repeated persuasion, although Jia Zhang and the first aunt were still unforgiving, they were somewhat relented in their hearts. Gradually, the two of them fought less and the atmosphere in the courtyard slowly returned to its former calmness. There were still some minor frictions occasionally, but overall it was much better than before.

Yan Bugui was drinking tea leisurely in the yard that day, holding his beloved old teapot in his hand, sipping it intermittently, with a look of contentment on his face.

Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li pushed each other over, with flattering smiles on their faces. Yan Jiecheng spoke before he even stood still: "Dad, we have something to discuss with you." Yu Li also echoed beside him: "Yes, Dad, see if you can help us."

Yan Bugui raised his eyelids and glanced at them. He had already guessed about 70% of what was going on. The comfort on his face disappeared instantly, replaced by a vigilant look. He put down the teapot and said, "Just tell me what you want to say. Don't beat around the bush."

Yan Jiecheng scratched his head awkwardly, looked at Yu Li, and then said, "Dad, this is the case. I'm a little short of money recently. I need to buy some tools for work, and I'm still short of money. Can you lend us some money first?" Yu Li also quickly said, "Dad, we will pay you back as soon as Jiecheng gets his salary."

Yan Bugui was immediately upset when he heard this, and his face was long. He thought to himself: These two kids don't know how to save money, and they come to me when they are short of money. My money is not blown by the wind. Thinking of this, he said unhappily: "How can I lend you money? My monthly pension is so tight that I can't live on it. You have started your own family, can't you find a way to go?"

When Yan Jiecheng heard what his father said, he said anxiously: "Dad, please don't make it difficult for us. This time it is really urgent. If you don't help us, it will be difficult to handle the work." Yu Li also pleaded: "Dad, you always love Jiecheng the most, please help us this time."

Yan Bugui was unmoved. He stood up and said while packing up the tea sets: "I can't help you. You are already grown up. It's time to learn to live on your own and stop thinking about relying on your parents." After that, he walked into the house without looking back, leaving Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li standing there, looking at each other with helplessness and disappointment on their faces.

Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li watched Yan Bugui walk back to his room, and they felt disappointed. Yu Li couldn't help but complain, "It's all your fault. I told you that Dad would never lend it to you, but you insisted on trying. Now you've been rejected."

Yan Jiecheng was also full of grievances, muttering: "Isn't this because there is really no other way? I thought that after all, he is my biological father, maybe he could help me, but who knew he would be so heartless."

The two stood in the yard for a long time before walking back to their own room in dejection. After Yan Bugui returned to his room, he was actually not feeling very good. He sat on a chair and thought to himself: Although these two children have started families, they are not well off. Was it a bit too harsh to reject them directly just now? But the little money he had saved with great effort was all saved for emergency. What if he lent it to them and they couldn't pay it back?

A few days later, Yan Bugui overheard other neighbors whispering that Yan Jiecheng was criticized by his superiors in the factory because he did not collect enough money to buy tools for work, which affected his work. Yan Bugui's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. Although he did not say anything, he still felt a little guilty.

Another weekend, Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li came to see Yan Bugui with some homemade snacks. After they entered the house, they did not mention the matter of borrowing money. They just chatted with Yan Bugui about family matters and things in the factory. Yan Bugui felt more and more uncomfortable when he saw how cautious they were. He finally could not help but said, "It's not that I didn't want to help you with the last time you borrowed money. I was really afraid that you would develop a habit of dependence and not try to solve the problem yourself."

Yan Jiecheng quickly said, "Dad, we understand your painstaking efforts. Later, we thought of other ways. Please don't take it personally." Yu Li also smiled and said, "Yes, Dad, we just wanted to come and see you. We have no other intentions."

Yan Bugui sighed slightly, hesitated for a moment, then took out a small cloth bag from the cabinet. He opened it and found some money inside. He handed it to Yan Jiecheng and said, "You can use this money. Although it's not much, it can be used in an emergency. You must spend it sparingly. You must remember this and live a good life in the future."