Siheyuan's Silly Pillar has been replaced by someone else

When someone else's house is finished, you can't wait to move in.

Only Liu Haizhong's and Yan Bugui's houses are empty and uninhabited.

Liu Haizhong didn't care; the house that was built was prepared for his eldest son, Liu Guangqi.

After the house was built, he wrote a letter to Liu Guangqi. In the letter, he told Liu Guangqi that his family had prepared four rooms for him.

After the letter was sent, it disappeared without a trace. Liu Haizhong had no idea whether Liu Guangqi had received it or not.

For so many years, Liu Guangqi has neither returned nor written back.

The last time Liu Guangqi wrote a letter was after Liu Haizhong stepped down, when he wrote back accusing Liu Haizhong of implicating him.

Yan Bugui, on the other hand, couldn't keep up. Building the house cost him several hundred yuan and exhausted him; he had to recoup that investment.

He then asked someone to bring Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang back.

The two brothers had already guessed his purpose, but pretended not to know.

"Dad, why did you call us over?"

"Yes, you're retired, you have plenty of time. We're still working."

The three women glared angrily at the two of them: "We are your parents. Can't we let you come home and see us?"

"Sure. What did you prepare for us for lunch? Just so you know, I came in a hurry and didn't bring any money with me."

“My wife was doing my laundry yesterday and took the money with her; I didn’t bring it with me.”

The three women immediately shut up. Even if it were her own son, she wouldn't let them eat for free.

The Yan brothers exchanged a glance: "Alright. If you don't want to provide meals, then hurry up and get to the point. We need to rush home for dinner."

Yan Bugui was afraid that the two would stay at his house and eat for free, so he quickly started to talk about his business.

"Do you see the doorway? It's our two newly built houses."

These two houses were built especially for you. So you won't accuse me of favoritism.

Yan Jiekuang said, "You really gave it to us for free. Then hurry up and give us the key."

Yan Jiefang also reached out for the key.

Yan Bugui said, "What's the rush? The house is for you, but it can't be given to you for free."

I argued with your uncle many times about building this house.

And then there's the cost of building the house, which your mother and I built brick by brick.

If you want to stay, then follow the rules Yan Jiecheng set back then.”

Yan Jiefang scoffed, "So you've come here to be our sucker."

The three women said, "How is it that we're making you the ones who get ripped off? We're doing this for your own good."

Look at where you two live. Your combined house isn't even as good as this one room outside.

Yan Jiekuang said, "Yes. Our houses are indeed not as big as the ones you built."

But the government recognizes our houses.

Does the government recognize the houses you built?
Who knows, the government might demolish your house at any time with a single word. And then they'll fine you.

"May I ask, who will ultimately pay this fine?"

One sentence shut Yan Bugui and his wife up again.

Yan Jiefang said, "Dad, Mom, we're coming to stay here so you can protect yourselves from lightning strikes."

You two should discuss how much money you want to give us.

Don't worry, if we get punished, my brother and I will never betray you.

Yan Jiekuang nodded firmly: "That's right. Whether it's being executed or going to jail, we two brothers will take it all."

The two men's words nearly made Yan Bugui furious.

He spent money to build the house and kindly let his two sons live there, but then he turned around and asked his two sons for money.

How can this be justified?

The couple was counting on this house to keep their son close to them and, incidentally, earn some money for their retirement.

You can't afford to lose money instead of making it.

Only a fool would agree to something like that.

"You two are dreaming. I'd rather leave the house empty than give you any money."

"Get out of here!"

Yan Jiefang said, "Dad, have you thought this through? No one but us brothers will live in this house."

If you leave it empty, the money spent on building the house will have been wasted.

Yan Jiekuang then added, "Don't even think about letting anyone else stay here."

Your house is illegal to begin with. If someone moves in and doesn't move out, the house belongs to them. Going to the government won't help. They'll eventually demolish it.

Yan Bugui looked at the two of them with surprise. He had indeed originally intended to use this reason to threaten them.

After hearing what the two said, he really didn't dare to rent it out to anyone else.

But he will not compromise.

This house cost him a lot of money. He absolutely couldn't let the two of them live there for free.

"You don't need to worry about it. From now on, one of these two rooms will be used to grow flowers, and the other will be used to raise fish. They won't be idle."

The Yan brothers exchanged a glance.

"Alright, then you can stay and raise flowers and fish. Will you provide meals? If not, we'll leave."

The three women angrily said, "Get out of here!"

After the two brothers left, the third aunt looked at Yan Bugui with some worry.

"What should we do? If they don't stay, won't all our money have been wasted?"

Yan Bugui's face showed some panic at first, but then he calmed down.

"You two little brats have grown up and dared to use this trick against me."

This time we panicked and the two of them caught us red-handed.

We should wait for them to come and beg us.

With Yan Bugui's reminder, the three aunts finally understood the situation.

"So what do we do now?"

Yan Bugui said, "No need to rush. The house is fine as long as it's vacant."

When they come begging to us, we'll raise the price and make our money back.

You won’t be poor if you have enough food and clothes, but you will be poor if you don’t plan well.

These are the family rules I set.

They even wanted to use this against me? It's like showing off your skills in front of an expert; they don't even know the meaning of the word "shameful."

Now that things had come to this, the three aunties couldn't think of any other way, so they had no choice but to do as Yan Bugui suggested.

Outside the door, the Yan brothers, Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiefang, were looking around the house.

"Brother, I never expected that Dad, who has been stingy his whole life, would be so generous this time."

These two houses are quite well-built.

Yan Jiefang said, "What do you mean by being generous? He's obviously trying to make us the suckers."

Yan Jiekuang said, "We definitely won't be the ones to suffer this loss; we'll stick with him."

When he becomes unreliable, he'll let us stay for free.

"It's agreed beforehand that my wife and I will be staying in this room."

The two houses are basically the same except for their location.

Yan Jiefang didn't think too much about it and agreed directly: "Okay, I'll stay in this room."

"Let me make this clear first, you can't be a traitor."

Yan Jiekuang said, "Why would I be a traitor? Being a traitor would cost me money, and I'm not stupid."

Yan Jiefang thought about it and realized that made sense.

When Yan Jiecheng learned that the two brothers had returned, he came out to see them.

"Jiefang, Jiekuang, have you discussed this with our parents? How much money did you contribute this time?"

Yan Jiekuang said, "You should ask Dad how much to pay."

My brother and I looked after the house for him; he shouldn't pay us for our services.

Yan Jiecheng was stunned for a moment before he understood what was going on: "You're living in our dad's house, and you're asking him for money?"

Yan Jiefang said, "What's so strange about that? The two houses that Dad built are illegal."

We live here, and that comes with risks.

If the government investigates this, they'll definitely arrest the two of us.

Shouldn't he compensate us?

"Yes."

Yan Jiecheng was truly astonished. He had only thought about getting the house for free, never imagining he could ask Yan Bugui for money.

However, he also felt there was no problem with saying that. Living in this house meant bearing the crime of opposing the government, so asking Yan Bugui for money was perfectly reasonable. (End of Chapter)