Siheyuan's Silly Pillar has been replaced by someone else

Xu Damao escorted He Daqing back, and just as he was about to enter the house, he was caught by Liu Haizhong.

What kind of business do you do now?

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao immediately understood what was going on: "I've figured it out. Come on, let's go inside and talk."

He opened the door and led Liu Haizhong inside.

Just as I was about to pour tea for Liu Haizhong, I discovered that the thermos was empty.

"Uncle Liu, what bad luck, there's no water. I'll boil some right away."

Liu Haizhong, needing someone's help, quickly said, "Don't bother, let your second aunt boil a pot for you."

He called his second aunt over from the doorway and asked her to take the thermos and get some hot water from inside the house.

Xu Damao smiled and took out some fruit: "These are washed grapes, please have a taste."

Liu Haizhong asked in surprise, "Grapes are already here this season? Where did you buy them?"

Xu Damao explained, "I don't have that ability. I got this from Uncle He's house."

Uncle Liu, let me tell you, this is what it means for the rich to live.

People at other homes have huge quantities of grapes like these. My Aunt He makes her own wine at home.”

Liu Haizhong stared wide-eyed, saying incredulously, "Wouldn't it be a waste to make wine from such good grapes?"

"What kind of waste is this? If they don't make wine, the grapes will just rot."

Xu Damao ate a grape with relish and continued, "Uncle He's family not only has grapes, but also apples and bananas, and even more of those."

There's not enough room in the refrigerator.

Look, these were all given to me by Aunt He.

It's the same old saying: money talks. If you have money, you can eat whatever you want.

Liu Haizhong couldn't understand where the He family got so much money.

"Is Sha Zhu's salary that high? Can he eat fruit instead of rice?"

Xu Damao said mysteriously, "Relying solely on his salary is definitely not enough. He has a good relationship with the Lou family, so he can get whatever he wants to eat."

Let me tell you, they've set up a restaurant near Chaoyangmen, and it'll open on the 8th of next month.

Ma Hua, Duan Zicong, and their apprentices will all be working at the restaurant from now on.

I heard that MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) salaries are at least this much.

Xu Damao held up three fingers.

"Three hundred. That's so high!" Liu Haizhong exclaimed in surprise.

Xu Damao said, "It's not three hundred, it's three thousand. Chef Gu at Yu Li Restaurant is far less skilled than Ma Hua, yet he earns over five hundred. Can Ma Hua be worse than him?"

He said all that in order to seduce Liu Haizhong and get him to do business with him.

Xu Damao's plan succeeded.

Hearing that MCA earns so much money in a month, his eyes turned red.

Xu Damao continued, "Do you know who's taking care of Uncle He now? It's his apprentice. His apprentice is from Tianjin, and he brought his wife to Beijing to take care of him."

Can you see the problem here?

Liu Haizhong asked, puzzled, "What's the problem?"

Xu Damao said, "If you have money, there will be plenty of people to show you respect."

Uncle He's apprentice, for the sake of money, treated Uncle He like his own father.

If you had money, wouldn't a few of them be able to fawn over you every day?

Do you still need to live under someone else's roof and have to depend on them for your livelihood?

Liu Haizhong sighed and said, "You're right. If you have to eat based on other people's opinions, even the best food won't taste good."

Your second aunt also said that as long as I achieve something and have some money, my children will come back on their own.

Xu Damao laughed and said, "That's right. When they come back, if you change your temper, they'll definitely not want to leave this home."

When I ran into Guangtian and Guangfu, they told me that they didn't ask me to favor them, they just hoped I could be fair.

Their biggest dream is that you don't hit them.

Liu Haizhong laughed and said, "I can't fight anymore."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Auntie Er came in and put down the thermos: "Da Mao, you should try to persuade my husband, Lao Liu."

Liu Haizhong smiled and said, "No need to persuade me, I've already figured it out. Da Mao, let me ask you, what kind of business are you doing now, and how much money are you making?" Xu Da Mao replied, "What I'm doing now is a small business, nothing worth mentioning."

"If you'd like to partner with me, I have a good business opportunity here."

Liu Haizhong quickly replied, "Don't worry, I keep my word."

Xu Damao then explained his business with rebar: "I've already contacted clients. As long as I get the goods from the steel mill, I can resell them and make money."

Liu Haizhong thought for a moment and said, "Your second aunt and I don't have much money for retirement. We can only contribute 30% at most."

Xu Damao said, "Thirty percent is fine too. I'll take seventy percent, and you take thirty percent."

Liu Haizhong was displeased: "Don't be in such a hurry, let me finish. The profits should be split 50/50."

"Why should I?" Xu Damao protested. "Uncle Liu, what you're doing is a bit unreasonable."

Liu Haizhong said, "How is this unreasonable? Don't forget, my apprentice is now the factory manager of the rebar plant."

With just one sentence, he said, "We can have as much stock as we want."

Xu Damao chose to partner with Liu Haizhong precisely because of this.

But he didn't want to be taken advantage of.

"Yes, you need to go to Director Lan; he can get the goods. But that doesn't mean I can't."

Don't forget, Brother Zhu used to be the factory manager of a steel rolling mill. I can get some rebar from him too.

Also, I can ask my sister; she can get them from other factories too.

Liu Haizhong was dumbfounded, realizing that Xu Damao was right. With these connections, Xu Damao really didn't need to rely on him.

"But Factory Manager Ke Lan said that we can get a lot of goods. The more goods you have, the more money you will make."

Besides, if he doesn't agree, you won't be able to get the goods from the steel mill.

Xu Damao said, "Uncle Liu, don't threaten me. At worst, I'll just quit this business."

But if I don't do it, no one else can either.

The two men threatened each other.

The second aunt couldn't stand it anymore and quickly gestured for Liu Haizhong to lower his head.

Liu Haizhong had no choice but to reluctantly agree to Xu Damao's request.

"Fine, I'll do it your way. But my name must be on the business license."

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao immediately agreed.

Seeing this, Liu Haizhong breathed a sigh of relief: "I have another condition. We need to hire a cook. Your second aunt is getting old and her health isn't good. She can't be too tired."

Besides, you live alone and don't usually have time to cook.

Xu Damao didn't mind this small matter: "No problem. Now that we have money, we naturally can't treat ourselves poorly, don't you think?"

Every now and then, I would go to Ma Hua again and ask him to cook us some good food for free.

What do you think?

Liu Haizhong readily agreed and happily went home.

The next day, he asked Yi Zhonghai to dissolve the partnership.

Yi Zhonghai said angrily, "Didn't we agree on this? We've only been eating together for a few days, and you're already doing this?"

Liu Haizhong's business hasn't started yet, and he's afraid of being sabotaged, so he doesn't dare to say anything.

He gave another reason: "I don't think it's worth it to eat out with others."

Look at what we're eating now. If I had that money, I could eat much better myself.

Yi Zhonghai naturally sided with Qin Huairu, and used Qin Huairu's reasoning to explain: "Things are different now than before; everything has gone up in price."

Besides, we're getting old; we can't spend all our money.

We must be careful to avoid getting a headache or fever.

In a debate, Liu Haizhong is no match for Yi Zhonghai.

"Stop talking, I just don't want to eat with you anymore. From now on, I don't need Qin Huairu to help me collect my pension."

Okay, let's leave it at that.

Yi Zhonghai said angrily, "Fine, don't eat it then. It's not like anyone's begging you for it."

The two had a falling out, and Yi Zhonghai vowed that if Liu Haizhong came begging him for forgiveness, he would never forgive him easily. (End of Chapter)