Siheyuan's Silly Pillar has been replaced by someone else

Qin Jingru left, but the discussions about her did not stop.

No one in the courtyard could have imagined that the country girl who was once looked down upon would be living such a good life now.

The three women chatted with the others for a while, then ran home.

Yan Bugui was sitting at home, fuming and cursing.

Without even asking, all three aunties knew that it was because Xu Damao treated them to a meal but not him.

To be honest, the third aunt also regretted it.

If she had known that He Yuzhu and Xu Damao were living such good lives, she should have advised Yan Bugui not to collude with Yi Zhonghai.

That's right, the three aunties have now defined the three old men's behavior as collusion.

If it weren't for those three causing trouble, the third aunt felt she could have gotten a lot out of He Yuzhu.

Yi Zhonghai and his two accomplices were the main culprits who prevented her from gaining any advantage; describing them as colluding with each other is not an exaggeration at all.

Even if Yan Bugui were her husband, the Third Aunt would still say that.

"Don't be angry. It's your own fault for treating Xu Damao that way back then."

Yan Bugui sighed, "This world is really strange. How can Sha Zhu and Xu Damao live so well?"

The third aunt blurted out, "Isn't it because you hang out with Yi Zhonghai?"

Yan Bugui glared at her angrily: "How can you blame me? How powerful were the deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai back then?"

If I don't listen to them, I'll end up like Xu Fugui, being targeted by them.

I call that "a wise person knows when to yield."

Who would have thought that Sha Zhu, a simpleton, could withstand their attacks?

The third aunt wasn't an unreasonable person; she knew Yan Bugui was right.

On one side are the powerful deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai; on the other side are the helpless He Yuzhu and his sister. Even a fool would know which to choose.

If there's anything wrong, it's only because He Yuzhu was disobedient.

If He Yuzhu had listened to them, the courtyard house would have become the backyard of the three old men.

The Yan family's children no longer dared to be unfilial to him as they are now.

"Who would have thought that Sha Zhu, a cook who only serves others, would become so successful?"

The three aunts originally wanted to talk to Yan Bugui about Qin Jingru, but now they couldn't bring themselves to do it.

Even though Qin Jingru lived in the courtyard for so long, the couple still looked down on her.

That situation was similar to when he used to look down on He Yuzhu.

"Hey."

Filled with regret, the third aunt couldn't help but sigh.

Yan Bugui looked up at her: "What are they saying outside?"

The three women said, "What else can we say? Everyone's talking about Qin Jingru."

That country girl who used to be so unsophisticated has made it big now. Look at the clothes she's wearing; they must cost at least eighty yuan.

“What do you mean over eighty? It’s one hundred and twenty-three.” Yan Bugui blurted out.

It's his habit to know the price of things, regardless of whether he's buying them or not.

He would go to the department store every week.

However, there are now so many different kinds of things out there that he can't possibly remember them all.

Yan Bugui also regretted his actions when Qin Jingru was mentioned. This was yet another unexpected turn of events.

Yan Bugui wanted to distract himself, so he asked, "Weren't you at the fried chicken shop? Why did you come back too?"

The third aunt said, "Now that you're all back, what's the point of me being there alone?"

Besides, our fried chicken shop doesn't make much money.

Why is Sha Zhu's shop packed with people, while ours only has a few?

Yan Bugui didn't know this either. His so-called shrewdness only referred to trivial family matters.

When it comes to getting angry, he really doesn't know much about it.

"Should I go and discuss this with Lao Yi?"

The three women stopped them, saying, "Don't go now, Old Yi is in a bad mood."

Yan Bugui thought it made sense, so he gave up on going to find Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai was so angry he wanted to smash things. Qin Huairu stopped him. The older woman felt guilty towards Yi Zhonghai and let him vent his anger at home.

Qin Huairu was different; she never felt that she had let Yi Zhonghai down.

On the contrary, Qin Huairu always felt that Yi Zhonghai had wronged her.

She married Jia Dongxu only because Yi Zhonghai promised her a good life.

As a result, on her first day of marriage, she was forced by Jia Zhangshi to get up early and do chores.

She's a girl from the countryside, so she's not afraid of hard work.

The problem is food.

Before she married Jia Dongxu, she ate cornbread at home and still wasn't full.

Even after marrying Jia Dongxu, she still stayed at home eating cornbread and often didn't have enough to eat.

The situation was pretty much the same before and after she got married, so why did she marry Jia Dongxu?

Qin Huairu could only console herself with the thought of Yi Zhonghai's fortune.

Now she's Yi Zhonghai's wife, and everything in Yi Zhonghai's house belongs to her.

Everything Yi Zhonghai smashed also belonged to her.

"Stop smashing it. If you smash this thing, do you still want to buy it?"

Buying things doesn't cost money.

Our family wasn't well-off to begin with, so we didn't have any extra money to buy these things.

Yi Zhonghai dared not smash anything anymore. He had practically destroyed everything in his room.

If he smashes it, Qin Huairu won't buy him a new one. If she keeps smashing things, he won't even be able to find a teacup anymore.

"Look at your cousin, she has no manners and no brains."

Xu Damao is a typical scoundrel.

I kindly reminded her not to let Xu Damao deceive her. But she didn't believe me and even aided and abetted him.

Qin Huairu pursed her lips, disagreeing with Yi Zhonghai's words.

If possible, she would also like to work for Xu Damao.

Look at Xu Damao's life now, he's living such a comfortable life.

Even Wu Tiezhu, who worked for Xu Damao, lived a particularly comfortable life.

The Wu couple, one following He Yuzhu and the other following Xu Damao, are living a more and more prosperous life.

Especially Chen Xiaofang, who wasn't as pretty as her before, but since she got rich, she looks much prettier than her by dressing up.

And all she could do every day was take the two old men to make fried chicken.

"Is this how the world is? Those with money are the boss, what can we do about it?"

Yi Zhonghai slammed his fist on the table: "Why did we have to reform and open up?"

As a victim of the reform and opening up policy, Yi Zhonghai harbored deep resentment towards it.

If we hadn't reformed and opened up, everyone's lives would still be the same as before.

He can continue to live a good life with his pension and savings.

After the reform and opening up, people became increasingly wealthy. The little bit of retirement savings he had accumulated was simply not enough to guarantee him a comfortable retirement.

Qin Huairu was so frightened that she quickly stopped him: "Are you out of your mind? Reform and opening up is a national policy."

Yi Zhonghai wanted to say defiantly that he didn't care, but he never had the guts to do so.

Despite his tough exterior, he's actually a coward at heart.

Qin Huairu had long seen through Yi Zhonghai's true nature—a fierce exterior masking a cowardly interior.

She's supporting Yi Zhonghai now purely because of his savings and retirement pension.

Although, if Yi Zhonghai were to die, all of his savings would belong to his wife.

The problem is, she doesn't know how much savings Yi Zhonghai has, or where those savings are kept.

If she can't find these things, and Yi Zhonghai suddenly dies, she'll get nothing but Yi Zhonghai's house.

Qin Huai could only continue to appease Yi Zhonghai, promising him a rosy future: "Zhonghai, don't be angry. Things will get better once Bang Geng gets married."

Let's try to persuade Sha Zhu to let Bang Geng join his company, preferably as a leader.

"When Banggeng makes money, he'll definitely give it to you as a gift." (End of Chapter)