Just as Ye Zhao expected, not long after she returned home, Zeng Xiaoling's family came to her door.
In the courtyard of the small west building, Zeng Xiaoling's parents and her three brothers lined up in two rows, five people in total, standing in front of Ye Zhao with a menacing look.
Ye Zhao was holding a bag of guavas in his hand and eating one. Looking at the scene in front of him, he was so scared that he didn't even dare to move.
No wonder Zeng Xiaoling is so arrogant at ordinary times, and Skinny Monkey obeys her every word. Damn, if she had known earlier that this local tyrant was so powerful and majestic, she would have accepted the mediation without saying a word in the police station just now.
She can bicker, debate and quarrel, but she can't fight. She is a weak woman and can't beat anyone. She cherishes her life!
Ye Zhao chewed the guava slowly and leisurely. He was already devastated and on his knees, but he looked calm.
I was wondering how to resolve the current situation...
Boom… Boom… Boom…
Zeng Xiang came in on a motorcycle, and he came straight in without even slowing down. The five tigers of the Zeng family were so scared that they quickly moved aside to make room for the motorcycle.
Brother Xiang parked his motorcycle at a turn, chewing gum, holding the car keys in his hand, staring at everyone. His eyes seemed to be asking, what's going on
Isn’t this exactly the famous scene in the story where the hero saves the beauty
Ye Zhao wanted to hold her brother Xiang's arm with both hands and seek the boss's protection, but the boss seemed to understand something the next second. He was talking about the matter, "You two can talk."
There are two families at the head and the end of Zengwuwei who are the most difficult to deal with, Zeng Kaiba at the head of the village and Zeng Zhonglong at the end of the village. Zeng Kaiba is Zeng Xiaoling's grandfather, commonly known as the Little Zeng Family, and Zeng Zhonglong at the end of the village is Zeng Xiang's maternal grandfather, also known as the Big Zeng Family.
The two families rarely interacted with each other, but they gave each other face. However, after Zeng Zhonglong passed away, the Zeng family had few members and its overall power weakened.
Until ten years ago, Zeng Xiaoling's father Ni Meng came to Zeng Erqiao to seize the housing land. Zeng Erqiao took the mute and a few troublemakers in the village to fight with them, and defeated Ni Meng with a small force.
From then on, the younger Zeng family would keep their distance from the older Zeng family.
In Zeng Xiang's memory, Ni Meng had never been a match for their Zeng family.
So he didn't take these people seriously just now.
Ye Zhao didn't know about the grudges in the village. When she saw Zeng Xiang going upstairs, she thought Zeng Xiang didn't want to cause trouble, so she felt even more uneasy.
When a person feels guilty, he will pretend to be powerful even if he has nothing to show for it. Ye Zhao simply killed a chicken to scare the monkey and called Zeng Xiang, "Hey! What's wrong with you!"
Zeng Xiang turned around and looked at her blankly.
"Look, I'm holding a bag of guavas, and you don't even know how to take it back!"
Zeng Xiang: “!”
After being stunned for only two seconds, Zeng Xiang gave face to Teacher Ye and reached out to take the plastic bag of guavas. As soon as he turned around, he was stopped by Ye Zhao again.
"Go back and do the test paper on the table first."
Zeng Xiang thought about it and tried to negotiate: "I think..."
He wanted to be lazy. Who would do a test paper in broad daylight
"There is no room for negotiation!" Ye Zhao interrupted him directly.
OK, you are the teacher, you are awesome! The boss gave in.
I heard that this girl is amazing and she even fooled Zeng Erqiao. It seems to be true.
Ni Meng and his wife looked at each other. They didn't come to this yard often. The last time they came was ten years ago to ask for medical expenses. If it were now, everyone had money in their hands, who would care about the medical expenses? Of course, face was more important.
Zeng Xiang went upstairs obediently, while the mute was cutting his toenails in the yard and staring at them coldly...
Ni Meng did not dare to act rashly.
Ye Zhao continued to eat the guava in her hand, trying her best to control her shaking hands. She glanced at the other team that was broken up by Zeng Xiang's motorcycle, and pretended to be a little impatient: "What's the matter?"
Ni Meng's three sons had already discussed it. They knew that although Ye Zhao was Boss Ye's daughter, she was a country girl from a small place after all. To deal with a country girl, they had to rely on bluffing. No matter what, they would scare the girl first and then force her to reconcile.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they entered the door, the atmosphere was disrupted by a motorcycle.
Looking at the country girl in front of them, she had pretty features and fair skin. She was wearing a little skirt for the performance today. She looked like a little fairy. Not to mention she was so pretty. She looked more like a city girl than their sister.
The key point is that the girl also directly caught the "evil" Zeng Xiang. Was he just a tenant? Could it be true that Zeng Erqiao treated the other party as her daughter-in-law as rumored
This village can offend anyone but Zeng Erqiao! If the reputation they have worked so hard to maintain is torn apart by Zeng Erqiao again, wouldn’t all these years of their life be in vain
"Can we discuss it?" Ni Meng spoke first, his tone very humble.
Ye Zhao exclaimed in his heart, could it be that she really was pretending
Ye Zhao, a talented performer, immediately adjusted her state. She was no longer nervous and her hands were no longer shaking. She imitated Zeng's slow and unhurried tone and asked in a nonchalant tone, "How do you want to discuss this?"
Ni Meng's wife came forward and said with a smile: "Is that piano of yours worth two thousand?"
"Um."
"We'll give you an extra two thousand dollars, okay? We'll reconcile, and you don't have to tell anyone. We've discussed it with the police station and we'll say that it was just a joke between you classmates, and Xiaoling didn't really steal the piano."
"Oh." Ye Zhao finished the rest of the guava and went to wash his hands at the faucet next to him. "I don't want compensation."
The five members of Xiao Zeng's family looked at each other. No one wanted money. If they said they didn't want money, it must mean that it was too little.
Ni gritted his teeth and said, "Add another 2,000, is that okay? You are classmates, and I know your father..."
Ye Zhao emphasized again: "I really don't want money."
"Well, you name a price." Brother Zeng Xiaoling couldn't help it!
Ye Zhao looked at them with a smile. Although she needed money, she did not want to claim compensation for this matter, and she did not want to become enemies with the other party from then on.
"Uncle, aunt and three brothers, I really don't want you to pay me. My dad is rich, but I am also poor. But I can't ask you for money for this."
If not for money, then for a breath of fresh air
"Is there really nothing to discuss?" Ni Meng thought that if it really didn't work out, he would have to find a "highly respected" person to act as a peacemaker.
Ye Zhao smiled innocently, "I am a soft-hearted person. I see that it is really not easy for uncle and aunt to do this for their daughter."
Ni Meng: "It's all my fault for not educating my daughter well..."
“It’s true that they didn’t educate me well.”
Ni Meng and his wife were speechless: "!"
Ni Meng looked like the sea fish Ni Meng, with a face as flat as the bottom of a straw sandal and a lot of white in his eyes. He looked unapproachable. He just stood there, looking awkwardly as if he wanted to laugh but couldn't, and his face looked ferocious and a little funny.
"You all look so friendly, I really can't bear to refuse you and let you down..." At the critical moment, Ye Zhao paused.
Ni Meng's family instantly saw hope again.
"You say it! You say it!"
"You don't need to pay any money. We can reconcile, but not today. Zeng Xiaoling must stay in there at least until tomorrow to learn her lesson. After she gets out, she can formally apologize to me."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Plop…
The youngest son of the Ni Meng family, who was originally standing there with his feet crooked, suddenly fell and almost fell to the ground.
Ni Meng kicked his youngest son, what a shame!
Then his face suddenly lit up with smiles, "Don't even mention staying in there for one day, even three days is fine. Then we have a deal!"
What they fear is staying for three years or longer.
Zeng Xiaoling's elder brother said proudly: "When my little sister is released, I will personally bring her over to you to apologize."
"Little girl, you are so kind and righteous, you will achieve great things in the future!" Ni Meng was very excited and talked a lot, "If you need your uncle's help in the future, just tell me. In Zengwuwei, whether it's borrowing and collecting debts, house leasing, or land trading, there is nothing that my little Zeng family can't handle. Unlike the big Zeng family, who are all in decline, Qiaojie can only play mahjong now."
"Who only knows how to play mahjong?" Aunt Qiao came back from outside with a basket of vegetables in her hand.
When Ni Meng saw Zeng Erqiao, he immediately turned around in fear, "Fatty Ying, playing mahjong every day. Qiaojie, what delicious food did you buy?"
"What are you doing? A whole family is blocking my yard, praying to the gods?"
"It's okay, it's okay. We're here to make friends with classmate Xiao Zhao!"
At noon, there were still three dishes and one soup. He drank the soup first. The weather was too hot, so Zeng Xiang turned on the fan in the room.
Zeng Erqiao asked them to drink more soup, "Pork rib soup with Chinese yam can remove dampness. We have been suffering from dampness recently, so you should drink more."
"It's delicious. I'll have two bowls." Ye Zhao gave face as always.
Aunt Qiao smiled and said angrily, "Your father is Ye Dingguo? Why didn't you tell me?"
"You didn't ask what my father's name was." Ye Zhao felt guilty.
Zeng Erqiao is a person who sees things clearly and does not care about trivial matters, so she does not blame Ye Zhao.
"It shows that deep down in your heart, you don't want to admit that he is your father! Ye Dingguo is so rich, but I didn't expect him to be so irresponsible! He is unworthy of being a father! I don't know how such a man can make the factory bigger and bigger, and also give birth to such a beautiful and smart daughter. Sometimes, God is just unfair."
Ye Zhao said coquettishly: "I wish I were your daughter, Aunt Qiao."
"That won't work. If you were Aunt Qiao's daughter and looked like me, you would be ugly."
"How can you say he's ugly? Aunt Qiao, look at your baby Xiangzi. Xiangzi is so handsome! He's the most handsome in our class. Right, Xiangzi?"
Zeng Xiang was drinking soup when she called him "Xiang Zai" on the left and "The Most Handsome" on the right. He almost blushed and said, "Call me Brother Xiang!"
Seeing that Zeng Xiang was embarrassed, Ye Zhao smiled coquettishly and proudly, "Hey, Brother Xiang, please give me your evaluation of the Erhu I played today. How was it?"
“Better than Beth.”
"That's it?"
How to praise? He didn’t know how, he had never praised anyone before. He thought for a long time and finally uttered two words: “Amazing!”
Ye Zhao couldn't help laughing: "You must have learned this from Zeng Xiaotian!"
Zeng Xiang retorted: "I thought of it myself."
"Xiaotian said 'amazing' so many times today."
"His was 'absolutely, absolutely, absolutely,' and mine was more concise and to the point." The boss defended feebly.
"To sum it up in four words: lack of vocabulary. Learn Chinese well and memorize more poems and songs. Otherwise, when you write a love letter to a girl in the future, you can only start with the sentence, 'You are beautiful, you are amazing'..."
Before Ye Zhao finished speaking, he and Aunt Qiao burst into laughter. Only Zeng Xiang stood there with a sour face.
Aunt Qiao laughed so hard that she almost couldn't breathe. She was so lucky this year. How could she find such a good tenant? It was rare for someone to be able to control her little boy Xiangzai so well.
Aunt Qiao: "Your performance today was great, right? I heard you won the championship?"
Ye Zhao: "It's wonderful, but unfortunately we don't have tickets, otherwise you could have watched our amazing performance live, with thunderous applause and a sensation in the audience."
"That's an exaggeration!" Zeng Xiang poured cold water on her.
"Not an exaggeration. Is there something wrong with your ears? The applause was so intense, you couldn't hear it?" Ye Zhao thought for a moment and said, "It's normal that you couldn't hear it, because the applause was drowned out by the sound of my erhu."
The boss has no objection.
Aunt Qiao didn't understand and asked curiously, "How did you get over it?"
Zeng Xiang finished his soup and stood up to get some rice. Ye Zhao had also finished hers and was leaving her bowl empty. Aunt Qiao gave her a look and said, "Give me the bowl, Xiangzi. You tell me."
Ye Zhao glanced at Xiangzi with a smile...
Zeng Xiang was really afraid that she would call him Xiangzai again, so he took the bowl from her on his own initiative.
"Thank you, Brother Xiang." Ye Zhao began to explain to Aunt Qiao, "The part I played was better with the high notes, the upward pitch, and it was particularly passionate. Aunt Qiao, you may not know that folk music is really unique in suppressing Western music in terms of volume. Fortunately, it was not the suona. If it was the suona, you would only hear the suona and no other instruments in the whole audience."
Aunt Qiao was amused. "You made me want to watch it. Didn't you say that it can be watched on TV? When will it be broadcast?"
"Tomorrow evening."
"Tomorrow night?" Aunt Qiao looked back at the small black-and-white TV in her living room, thought for a moment, and said, "I'll ask Fatty Ying to organize some work and bring her big color TV to the yard to watch."
"Auntie Qiao, when I have money, I will give you a big color TV."
"Oh, you look down on my black and white TV. It's not that I don't have money, I just can't bear to spend it on it, and I don't usually like watching TV series."
Zeng Xiang thought about how hard she had fought today and said, "Eat more."
Her morning was truly colorful today as she participated in a music competition, hooked up with future big clients, caught a thief, dealt with her dad, and almost got into a fight with Ni Meng's family.
However, most of it is mental output. The more mental output you put in, the less hungry you will be.
Especially since she ate guava and drank soup, she felt tired just looking at the full bowl of rice.
Aunt Qiao thought her son did it on purpose, "Why are you pressing so hard?"
Then she coaxed Ye Zhao in a low voice: "It's okay. If you can't finish it, I'll feed it to the chickens."
Fatty Ying raised a few chickens in the backyard. People usually gave their leftovers to her. The chickens had shiny feathers.
In the end, Ye Zhao finished the full bowl of rice.
After she finished eating, she sat there burping, unable to move. She continued chatting with Aunt Qiao, "Aunt Qiao, what do the big Zeng family and the small Zeng family mean?"
"Ni Meng told you, right? He was showing off that their Xiao Zeng family is now prosperous and powerful. These people." Aunt Qiao explained to Ye Zhao, "My great grandfather and his great grandfather are brothers in the same school. They are very good at boxing."
"Wing Chun?" Ye Zhao only knew Wing Chun.
"It's not Wing Chun. They all learned Hong Quan in Focheng before. After they came back, they opened classes and recruited disciples. They each did very well. This area was very chaotic before. There were foreigners, pirates, bandits, and officials. You could not escape one or two of these four. Anyone with a little money had to hire someone to look after the house. The two brothers basically took over all the local tycoons. No matter which side they were on, they had to give them some face. My great grandfather's branch was called the Big Zeng family because he was the senior brother, and they were the Small Zeng family."
Ye Zhao understood that Aunt Qiao was a descendant of the Zeng family, which explained why people here still respected her. "Aunt Qiao, do you know martial arts?"
Zeng Erqiao carried the bowl into the kitchen and said, "What's the point of knowing martial arts now?"
"Of course it's useful. At least most people don't dare to mess with you."
"Do you think ordinary people dare to mess with me?"
Ye Zhao followed into the kitchen carrying the leftovers, "So you know martial arts, right?"
"What's the point of knowing martial arts? In today's society ruled by law, no matter how angry you are, you can't just punch someone to death. Sometimes, when you're bullied, let alone fighting back, you can't even say anything."
Ye Zhao thought of Gang Chengzai. Aunt Qiao was being let down for nothing and she really had no way to seek justice.
"Aunt Qiao, I don't know martial arts, but if there is a chance in the future and I need to reason with you, I will definitely help you get justice!"
Aunt Qiao was so moved when she heard this, "Your father was really blinded by your stepmother. He missed out on such a good daughter..."
"That's not my stepmother!"
"ah?"
"My dad's girlfriend."
Aunt Qiao sneered: "That's a mistress! Do all rich men like this? They are willing to keep a mistress by their side so that others can see how romantic they are?! I think the more romantic he is now, the more depraved he will be in the future!"
Ye Zhao picked up the tablecloth and prepared to wash the dishes, but Aunt Qiao thought she was wasting water and drove her out.
The next night, Fatty Ying's family moved the large color TV into the yard, and set up two tables, preparing to watch TV programs while eating with the people in the yard.
In Xiaotian's room, there was a brand new ten thousand yuan in cash on the table. Ye Zhao handed out the written IOUs to them one by one.
"If we divide 10,000 yuan among the four of us, each of us will get 2,500 yuan. This is equivalent to each of you borrowing 2,500 yuan in cash from me for three months. My interest rate is higher than that of the bank, 100 yuan. That means after three months, I will pay you 2,600 yuan each."
Xiaotian waved his hand: "As you wish, I trust you. I told you before that I still have 2,000. You can always ask me for it when you need it."
"Thank you, brother!"
Ah Wen was embarrassed: "I didn't participate in the final competition, so I won't win it."
Xiaotian and Ye Zhao said in unison: "No, we must take it!"
Ye Zhao: "I used your keyboard in the competition, so why doesn't it count? And you didn't participate in the competition in order to get your bass back."
Xiaotian: "I told you that you have a share of the military medal. Isn't that right, Brother Xiang?"
There was also a dartboard in Xiaotian's room. Zeng Xiang threw a dart with one hand and it hit the bull's eye, a ten-ring. "Yes, I support it."
Ye Zhao suspected that Zeng Xiang didn't listen to what everyone was saying. She laughed and teased: "What did we say? You support it."
Zeng Xiang looked back at her and said, "Ah Wen is a member of Wen Tianxiang, so he should have a share of the prize money. Then we will lend you the money, and I support it."
Xiaotian applauded: "Brother Xiang is wise! It's settled! Hey, Sister Xiaozhao... why did you borrow so much money?"
"Shh, trade secrets!"
"What commercial secrets? Oh... Forget it, the secrets of heaven cannot be leaked, right?" Xiaotian is a very smart person who keeps an eye on everything. He asked again: "What did Mrs. Song say to you during the award ceremony this morning? She talked for so long."
"Words of encouragement. Didn't she talk to you, too?"
"Mrs. Song just said congratulations to me."
"Oh, she also told me congratulations for her excellent erhu playing."
Someone downstairs called them to go downstairs for dinner. Ye Zhao took the money, then put away the IOU to Zeng Xiang, folded it, and put it in his pocket: "Keep it. If you don't have the IOU, I won't pay you back."
Zeng Xiang just looked at her and let her put the IOU into his pocket.
Before leaving, Ye Zhao emphasized to them again: "You are all over 18 years old, I have confirmed it. Also, the matter of borrowing money must be kept confidential!"
"knew!"
Aunt Qiao specially ordered wine and food from Fenghuangju. Li Ruixiang, who was invited to eat, was stunned when she saw the table full of seafood that she couldn't name.
She is a person who has hardly ever eaten seafood and actually doesn't like it very much. She always feels it tastes fishy and she can't get used to it.
So in the end, she ate the most roast duck and barbecued meat.
While eating, Li Ruixiang said to Ye Zhao: "My parents will be here tomorrow."
"Okay. You haven't decided where to stay yet, right?"
"Wait till they arrive."
"I'll arrange it." Ye Zhao greeted Aunt Jiao next to him and asked her to reserve a cleaner guest room for tomorrow.
Li Ruixiang whispered, "I originally wanted to ask Gao Yueyue to come along, but then I thought better of it. I was afraid you might not like her."
"How do you know I don't like her?"
"She's very smart and has some talent, but she's a bit materialistic. I guess you don't like her."
Ye Zhao couldn't say whether she liked or disliked Gao Yueyue, but she was incredibly smart. For example, when she suddenly came out to testify today, she guessed that it was probably perjury and Gao Yueyue just wanted to please her. So, it was better to keep a proper distance from such a dangerous person.
"Didn't you say that she and Feng Zhiyuan have been getting close recently? Don't tell her about our cooperation in bidding for the cafeteria."
Li Ruixiang understood: "Well, what should I tell my parents when they come?"
"Just say that your parents and a relative of yours want to bid for the project, but don't mention my name."
"Okay. I have to think of a specific relative, so that if she really asks about it, I can answer her."
Ye Zhao smiled and said, "A distant relative, a very distant relative, like your cousin's wife's sister..."
Li Ruixiang burst out laughing, "Okay! I know what to say."
After dinner, the show started. It was a high-quality music competition and everyone watched it with great interest.
When Wen Tianxiang's band was performing, Ni Meng and his wife came with Zeng Xiaoling to apologize.
Everyone was watching the show enthusiastically and no one noticed the guests. Seeing them hesitating at the gate of the courtyard, Ye Zhao took the initiative to go forward and say hello.
Ni Meng dragged Zeng Xiaoling to apologize. They were talking fine on the way, but when they got to the door, Zeng Xiaoling changed her mind and didn't want to go in.
Ni was so angry that he raised his hand and wanted to hit her, but he had only one daughter among three sons and spoiled her since she was a child, so he couldn't bear to hit her, so he raised his hand, then put it down, and raised it again.
Hearing Ye Zhao's footsteps coming out, Ni Meng quickly raised his hand and clapped himself hard!
Snapped!
"Hurry up! Admit your mistake and apologize!" Ni Meng said, then turned around and pretended to see Ye Zhao with a smile, "Slap her! She is so disobedient!"
Ye Zhao had seen it all, but she didn't expose it. "Uncle and aunt, please sit inside. I want to talk to her."
"Then you guys chat, it's fine once you open up. You're classmates, don't hold any misunderstandings in your heart."
After Ni Meng and his wife went in, Ye Zhao walked towards the wall on Zeng Xiaoling's side.
Zeng Xiaoling was locked up for a day and a night. She felt depressed and her mental state was not very good.
"Hypocrisy!" she muttered under her breath.
Ye Zhao smiled and nodded: "What else? Do you think I really choose to forgive you like a saint because of my kindness?"
Zeng Xiaoling turned her face away and looked into the distance without saying a word.
"Do you know why I chose to reconcile? Because I envy you for having parents who love you so much. Your father would rather slap himself than hit you. As for me, my mother died early, and after my father found Bai Lu's mother as his girlfriend, he never cared about me again. He didn't even look at me before."
Zeng Xiaoling turned around and looked at her, "So you hate Bai Lu?"
"I can't say I hate her. They hate me more. Mother Bai Lu framed me and almost put me in jail in order to drive me back to Wancheng."
"How is that possible? Bai Lu and her mother are so kind."
"Zeng Xiaoling, you are not just a little stupid, you are really stupid."
"You are stupid!"
Ye Zhao waved at her: "Come, I'll prove it to you."
Zeng Xiaoling stared at Ye Zhao, and finally followed her into the yard and went upstairs together.
Ye Zhao played Zeng Xiaoling the phone recording of Bai Yunlian and her second mother framing her. Zeng Xiaoling was stunned after listening to it. She always thought that she was on the side of justice, but she didn't expect that she was being used!
Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Bai Lu is more resourceful than her mother. She won't ask you to do anything on her own initiative. She will use words to hint you to do it willingly!"
Zeng Xiaoling shook her head slightly, still unwilling to admit that she had misjudged the person.
"Her mother may be a bad person, but Bai Lu is not that kind of person."
Ye Zhao knew that the other party was just being tough on the surface, but in fact, he was already shaken in his heart.
"You can judge for yourself what kind of person Bai Lu is."
"What do you want me to do?" Zeng Xiaoling thought that Ye Zhao was trying every means to alienate her and Bai Lu, and he must have other purposes.
How could she know that Ye Zhao's target was not her at all, but her parents and family.
Ye Zhao: "It's very simple. Please remain neutral between me and Bai Lu from now on. Then we will be reconciled."
Zeng Xiaoling thought about it and finally agreed: "I will remain neutral."
Ye Zhao nodded with satisfaction and smiled.
"I want to explain to you that when I entered your lounge this morning, there were a lot of people there, so I didn't have the chance to steal the bass. I left and came back unwillingly, only to find that the bass had been left at the backstage door, held by a child. I'm telling the truth. There's no need for me to lie to you."
Ye Zhao was a little surprised but not completely surprised. "You mean, someone dislikes us and stole the bass and gave it to a kid, right?"
"Yes. Someone stole the bass before I did."
"I see."
"Do you know who it is?"
Ye Zhao shrugged. She didn't need to tell Zeng Xiaoling about her suspicions. She just smiled and said, "Who cares who she is?"
(End of this chapter)