Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

The second son's wife had lived with Yan Fugui for over ten years. She knew her father-in-law, Yan Fugui, inside and out, and was well aware of his scheming nature.

In addition, she has been working outside for so long that she is no longer the naive girl she was when she first married Yan Jiefang, who would listen to whatever her father-in-law said.

He quickly understood the implied meaning in Yan Fugui's words and asked directly, "First, raise three thousand yuan to redeem someone... who do you plan to redeem first?"

The second son's wife knew very well.

In order to seize this great opportunity to "make a fortune", not only did she and her husband invest all their savings in Xu Damao, but her father-in-law also invested his retirement savings of decades in Xu Damao.

Now all that money has gone down the drain; three thousand yuan is the maximum amount Yan Fugui can raise.

This means that Yan Fugui can only redeem one son from the police at present, while his other two sons will go to jail.

In this situation, it was impossible for her not to be nervous.

In order to seize this "money-making" opportunity, she and Yan Jiefang not only emptied their savings, but also mortgaged their house to borrow more than 1,000 yuan, promising to pay off the principal and interest by the end of the year, otherwise they would mortgage the house in the south of the city to someone else.

If Yan Fugui's next target for redemption is not Yan Jiefang, but one of the other two brothers in the Yan family, it will certainly be difficult for him to keep the house they are currently living in by himself.

In this situation, it was impossible for the second son's wife not to be nervous.

Faced with his second son's wife's questioning, Yan Fugui was reluctant to answer.

He could guess that if he said he was giving up on his second son, Yan Jiefang, his wife would definitely cause a huge uproar at home.

At that time, the Yan family will not only lose money, but also lose all face.

But the second son's wife blocked the doorway, making it seem like she wouldn't let him open it unless he spoke up. No matter how much Yan Fugui wanted to hide it, he had no choice but to speak up.

After a half-minute silence, he answered, "Second son's wife..."

"The third child is still young and has finished high school, so he'll definitely be successful in the future..."

"But if you go to jail or commit a crime, it will be difficult to find a job in the future."

"The eldest and second eldest brothers aren't very educated, so they'll definitely find jobs that aren't as good as the youngest brother's. Even if they've been to jail, it won't really matter..."

"After careful consideration, I've decided to pay the fine for the third son first..."

"I'll pay the fine for the second son and bring your man back after I raise the money again..."

Yan Fugui's last sentence was definitely a boast to himself. Given the Yan family's current situation, raising three thousand yuan was already the limit, and it was almost impossible to raise another three thousand yuan.

Moreover, the police only gave him three days to pay the fine. After three days, his husband would be sentenced to prison, at least for three years. Even if Yan Fugui managed to raise three thousand yuan, he wouldn't be able to get Yan Jiefang out of prison.

This means that no matter how nicely Yan Fugui says to her now, it won't change the fact that her man is going to jail.

At this time, the second son's wife was particularly envious of Zhang Juan, who had already divorced Yan Jiecheng.

If he hadn't been misled by the high returns Yan Fugui promised, and had remained calm like Zhang Juan, or had directly divorced Yan Jiefang, at least their house wouldn't have been mortgaged.

Now not only is the house gone, but the man is gone too.

The culprit behind all this, Yan Fugui, not only showed no intention of helping him, but also righteously explained to him why he should pay the fine for Lao San first. Isn't that a joke?
Her mind raced as she considered how to resolve her current predicament, and eventually, she actually came up with an idea.

Looking at Yan Fugui with a dissatisfied expression, she said, "Why should the third brother pay the fine, but not my husband...?" "My husband and I invested in Xu Damao because we listened to you, and even had Jiefang quit his job at the steel mill to work for Xu Damao. Now that Jiefang is in trouble, you can't do anything about it..."

"I do not care……"

"You must pay the fine for the transaction first, otherwise I'll cause a scene at home..."

"Let the whole courtyard know that you're unfair, that you favor the third son, and that you don't care about me and our children's lives."

The Yan family's money is gone. If the second son's wife really makes a scene in the whole courtyard because of this, then the reputation and prestige that I have built up in the courtyard for decades will definitely be ruined.

This was absolutely unacceptable to Yan Fugui, who had been aloof for most of his life.

Faced with a daughter-in-law who was acting like a rogue, he could only patiently ask in return, "So what do you want to do?"

"I want a divorce from Yan Jiefang, and the Yan family will compensate me 500 yuan, and I will get custody of both our son and daughter..."

Yan Jiefang is about to go to jail. If his second son's wife really intends to divorce him, she can get it done through the neighborhood committee even without his consent as her father-in-law.

Yan Fugui agreed to the condition without hesitation.

But he hesitated over the remaining two conditions proposed by his second son's wife.

The elderly couple had just lost their eldest son's two grandsons during the Spring Festival. If their second son's two grandsons also went to live with their mothers after the divorce, then the Yan family would have no grandsons left.

This was extremely difficult for Yan Fugui, who dreamed of having many children and grandchildren, to accept.

But another voice in his mind urged Yan Fugui to accept the proposal.

If the second son's wife divorces Yan Jiefang and the two grandsons live with her, their future schooling, food, and education will definitely cost a lot of money.

He could only collect a fine from one person by mortgaging his house, and he was hoping to pay off the debt within two years and save the Yan family's house.

If the two grandsons of the second son's family were left at home to be cared for by the two elderly people, given the current prices in Beijing, it would still cost more than 100 yuan a year for the two children, no matter how frugal they were.

It will cost at least 500 yuan to raise two children over two years.

The Yan family might lose their house because of these two grandsons.

Thinking of this, although Yan Jiecheng was extremely unwilling to give up his second son's two grandsons to the woman, in order to save the Yan family's house and prevent the Yan family from becoming homeless in the future, he had already unconsciously agreed to the proposal.

As for the 500 yuan that his second son's wife demanded, Yan Fugui refused to agree no matter what.

He had to mortgage his house to raise enough money for his third son's fine. If he gave his second son's wife 500 yuan as compensation, how would he raise the money to redeem his third son?

If the third son is not redeemed, he will not be able to pay off all the debts within two years, even if he saves every penny, relying solely on his pension.

Moreover, once the third son has a prison record, he will definitely not be able to find a good job in the future, and the elderly couple can forget about expecting him to live a good life.

But since the second son's wife has already made the decision to divorce Yan Jiefang and go her separate ways, she certainly won't let Yan Fugui and his wife off easily.

After some haggling, the compensation was reduced from 500 yuan to 250 yuan.

For the sake of the Yan family's reputation, Yan Fugui, though still extremely unwilling, had no choice but to agree. (End of Chapter)