Siheyuan's Silly Pillar has been replaced by someone else

It's better to be alone than to be in a group.

With a spirit of fearlessness, Yan Bugui told Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu about He Yuzhu opening the Fragrant Half City Fried Chicken shop.

This successfully elicited expressions of envy, jealousy, and resentment from the two of them.

Finally, he felt at peace.

Yi Zhonghai said indignantly, "They're getting more and more shameless. It's one thing to run a restaurant and be a capitalist, but they're even stealing small businesses like this."

Does he still offer ordinary people a way to survive?

Neither Yan Bugui nor Qin Huairu paid him any attention.

There's nothing shameful about making money.

In other words, they are incompetent. If they were truly capable, they would end up like He Yuzhu.

Seeing that the two remained silent, Yi Zhonghai grew even angrier: "Tell me, has Sha Zhu turned into a heartless capitalist?"

He's the modern-day Huang Shiren (a notorious landlord in Chinese folklore known for his cruelty and exploitation).

Yan Bugui came to see Yi Zhonghai not to hear these kinds of things.

What happened to Huang Shiren this time?
He'd be happy to do anything as long as he gets rich and becomes a ruthless exploiter.

For money, he would sing praises to Huang Shiren.

"Old Yi, why are you acting like a stubborn old man? The newspapers are saying that some people should get rich first."

What we need to do now is to become one of those who get rich first.

Yi Zhonghai said angrily, "I think you've become obsessed with money."

Even if you're rich, if you lack filial piety and compassion, and are selfish, you're not a good person.

"Why are you coming at me? Who says rich people can't be compassionate?" Yan Bugui retorted, equally displeased.

Yi Zhonghai snorted: "Look at Sha Zhu, look at Xu Damao, look at what they've become."

Old Yan, don't blame me for not warning you, if you keep going like this, you'll end up like Sha Zhu and Xu Damao.

Yan Bugui snorted, "I'd love to be one of them."

Those who build bridges and pave roads leave no remains; those who commit murder and arson wear golden belts.

"Give me money and let me live like Sha Zhu, you can block my door every day and call me unfilial, you can do whatever you want."

"You are being unreasonable."

"You're the unreasonable one."

The two have different ideas and can't talk to each other at all.

Yi Zhonghai grew angrier the more he thought about it.

Retirement is clearly everyone's responsibility, but other people only care about money and don't care about retirement at all.

It's as if he's the only one who needs to take care of himself in his old age.

Yan Bugui is already quite old, and none of his children are filial.

We should have teamed up with him to plan for retirement together.

Unfortunately, Yan Bugui doesn't do anything productive; he spends all his time thinking about how to make money.

To think that having money will automatically make your children filial is wishful thinking.

If being rich were the only way to be filial, He Yuzhu would have obediently come to serve him long ago.

Yan Bugui was also angry. Wasn't it wrong for him to like money just because he was poor?
He wanted to be among the first to get rich, following the country's policies. What's wrong with that?

Qin Huairu finally woke up from her reverie. Just now, she heard that He Yuzhu had opened a fried chicken shop and made money again.

For some reason, she just felt that all the money He Yuzhu earned should be given to her.

She had already planned how to spend the money she received from He Yuzhu.

The first thing to do is to find a beautiful and filial daughter-in-law for Banggeng, so that she can also experience being a mother-in-law.

Secondly, she hid the money and refused to give it to anyone. She earned it all through her own abilities; why should she share it with others?

The argument between Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui interrupted her sweet dream.

"Old Yi, Old Yan, stop arguing. The country allows us to make money, so why are we arguing about this?"

Her stance was subtly biased towards Yan Bugui.

There was no other way; Yi Zhonghai's ideals were too absurd, and no one was willing to be a sucker for them.

Yi Zhonghai could tell from the conversation, and his face turned ashen.

Yan Bugui looked at Yi Zhonghai with a smug expression.

Qin Huairu didn't care about Yi Zhonghai. Anyway, Yi Zhonghai was asking her to support him in his old age and didn't dare to turn against her.

"Old Yan, is Sha Zhu's fried chicken shop really that profitable?"
No matter how delicious fried chicken is, it can't compare to the taste of a restaurant.

Are there really that many people going to eat there?
"Could Xu Damao be deliberately lying to us?" Yan Bugui pondered. Fried chicken is essentially the same as braised meat.

Having worked in the braised meat business for so long, they have a basic understanding of the industry.

According to his estimation, fried chicken could indeed make money. But even if business was booming, it wouldn't generate much profit.

Considering Xu Damao's character, Yan Bugui became more suspicious.

He felt that Xu Damao might be deliberately trying to provoke him.

Seeing Yi Zhonghai's disdainful look, Yan Bugui decided not to voice his guess.

If I were to say it out loud, Yi Zhonghai would definitely laugh at me.

"I'm not sure either. But I think that Sha Zhu is making money by opening a restaurant and building a factory."

If fried chicken isn't profitable, why would he bother opening a fried chicken shop?

This is not a thankless task.

Who would be that stupid?

Yi Zhonghai suddenly interjected, "You even called him 'Silly Pillar,' so who do you think would be that silly?"

Yan Bugui looked at Yi Zhonghai speechlessly.

Does calling someone "Silly Pillar" really mean they're stupid?

Why do they insist on calling him by this nickname, even after they've been beaten up?

The real reason is that they want He Yuzhu to become the obedient, silly Zhu he used to be.

He Yuzhu isn't stupid; he knows how they scheme against him.

"Old Yi, can you please stop getting emotional? Don't you know whether Sha Zhu is stupid or not?"

Yi Zhonghai immediately glared at Yan Bugui with displeasure.

Yan Bugui was not to be outdone. They were about the same age and had similar status, so why should they think he was a coward?

Yi Zhonghai became even angrier, feeling that Yan Bugui was disrespecting him.

There are no elders who are always wrong.

What is an elder?

The older ones are the elders.

He is older than Yan Bugui, so Yan Bugui should listen to him.

Qin Huai sighed and once again tried to mediate between the two.

"We're talking about serious matters, can you please stop arguing?"

Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui snorted simultaneously, turning their heads to the side and refusing to look at each other.

Qin Huairu didn't care about anything else and said, "I just don't understand. Why does Sha Zhu do everything that makes money?"

And then there's Xu Damao, who wanders around aimlessly all day and still makes a lot of money.

But what about us? We work from dawn till dusk. The little money we earn is barely enough to eat.

Yi Zhonghai didn't care about such issues. He only cared about why the world was changing so fast and why there were more and more unfilial people.

Yan Bugui, however, was very interested in this question: "I've been thinking about this question for a long time too."

"Do you know why?" Qin Huai looked at Yan Bugui with great anticipation, placing all her hopes on him.

Yan Bugui shook his head: "No. We do business honestly and fairly, and we always follow the rules."

Moreover, our braised meat actually tastes pretty good.

Business shouldn't be bad.

If we really have to pinpoint a reason, there's only one:

"what?"

Not only was Qin Huairu eager to know, but Yi Zhonghai also became curious.

He hated the changes in society, but he knew very well that to live well, he needed money.

He won't complain about anything if he can make money.

Yan Bugui said, "If you ask me, we should blame the people in our courtyard."

If even people in our own neighborhood don't support our business, how can we expect others to?
Xu Damao and Lao Liu, in particular, buy their meat from other places.

"If people see this, will they still buy meat from us?"

Qin Huairu thought it made sense. Inside the courtyard, Xu Damao and Liu Haizhong ate the most meat.

If these two people bought meat from them every day, how much more money could they make?

"Yes, Uncle Li's family in the front yard, and Yan Jiecheng, Wu Tiezhu, Miao Jianye... if they all buy our meat, our business won't be bad." (End of Chapter)