Chapter 290 It’s easy to change a country but hard to change one’s nature

Qin Huairu took a few glances and put away the account book. She said she would return it to the neighbors after getting reimbursed.

"Uncle, please bear with me. We will pay off the debts owed to our neighbors as soon as possible."

Yan Bugui thought it was too much trouble and didn't want to run another errand, so he suggested, "Huai Ru, you don't have to wait for reimbursement. I think these contributions are almost enough to pay off the debts owed to the neighbors."

"Do you think so?"

Qin Huairu looked at the money in her hand, which was still not warm, and felt reluctant to give it up. But considering that this was the money that the neighbors had collected to help her family with the funeral, her family had to pay it back. So, she said reluctantly: "Okay!"

"No way!" Jia Zhang stared with her triangular eyes and suddenly added: "This is the money given to our family by relatives and friends. Why should we give it to him?" Her tone revealed strong dissatisfaction.

Qin Huairu widened her eyes and looked at the familiar yet annoying face of her mother-in-law, Jia Zhang, and was stunned for a moment.

The expression on her mother-in-law Jia Zhang's face made her feel like she had returned to the past. This was the first time that Jia Zhang had fallen out with her since she came back from labor reform.

"Mom, what are you..."

Jia Zhang glared at Qin Huairu, stopping her from speaking, then rolled her eyes at Yan Bugui and asked, "Yan Laoxi, what do you mean? Do you want to bully us, an orphan and a widow?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui felt that his reputation had been seriously damaged, and he immediately retorted: "Sister-in-law, what are you talking about? How did I bully you? Please explain it to me clearly!" His words were full of anger and grievance, and he felt that he had been treated unfairly.

"Tsk!" Jia Zhang pursed her lips and said, "Oh! Then what do you mean by taking our money? This is the share money that everyone gave to our family, and you have the nerve to ask for it!"

Yan Bugui said: "I am in a hurry to pay back the debts owed to my neighbors. We agreed on this at the beginning. This is a loan for a funeral, and I have to pay it back!"

Jia Zhang glared and said, "Who said we won't pay it back? We agreed at the beginning that we would pay it back after the reimbursement was given. Have the reimbursement been given now?" Her voice was full of anxiety and dissatisfaction.

"Okay! I'll come back in a few days." Yan Bugui was at a loss. He thought that these few days were not a big deal. He had to give the Jia family some time to relax.

After Yan Bugui said goodbye and left.

Qin Huairu whispered: "Mom! What are you doing..."

Jia Zhang sighed and said, "Huai Ru, I did this on purpose. Dongxu is gone, and our family has lost its pillar. We are an orphan and a widow, and if we show weakness, we will definitely be bullied." Her words were full of helplessness and worry.

"Besides, we are just two women and we don't have much ability. How are we going to live in the future? Therefore, we can't pay back the money for the time being."

When Qin Huairu heard that Jia Zhang was going to cheat, she felt that this would not work. She had offended all the neighbors. Who in the courtyard would be willing to help them in the future? What should she do?

"Mom, I don't think this will work. If we don't pay them back, won't we offend them? Who will..."

Jia Zhang said nonchalantly: "If it doesn't work, just push it onto me and let them come to me for it. I don't care about them, what can they do to me?"

In fact, Qin Huairu didn't want to pay back the money. After all, their family still had a long way to go, and this much money was enough for them to live a good life for a while. Alas, there was nothing she could do. It was because her family was poor and her husband had died.

However, she herself did not want to offend the neighbors. Seeing Jia Zhang took the initiative to take the responsibility, she hesitated for a moment, then agreed.

"Oh... Mom, I'm sorry to trouble you..."

Jia Zhang wiped her tears and said, "This is our fate. I became a widow at a young age and raised Da Dongxu alone. I really had no other choice at the time, so I did something shameful."

"If I don't act like a bitch, who wouldn't bully us orphans and widows?"

"Alas! I finally waited until Dongxu got married and started a family, but he passed away at such a young age. Why is my life so miserable!"

"Dongxu...you are such a heartless bastard..."

"Old Jia, you old thing, both of you are worthless and have caused us so much trouble..."

Qin Huairu also burst into tears and hugged Jia Zhang in pain, "Mom! I am suffering too! What should we do in the future..."

The two widows cried loudly, miserably and sadly; they were worried about their tragic fate and the miserable days to come.

In the main house, Sha Zhu and his wife were taking good care of their son He Qiu and Qin Huairu's little daughter Huaihua.

Sha Zhu is a careless person, but his wife Wang Qiuju is more careful. Recently, the children have been taken care of by her, and Huaihua has also looked much better because of her careful care.

Wang Qiuju sighed and said, "It's been several days and they are still so sad. How can their bodies bear it?" Her words revealed her concern for the Jia family's sad crying.

Sha Zhu and Wang Qiuju were both kind-hearted people. After hearing the crying, they couldn't help but feel sad for what happened to the Jia family.

"No, I'd better go over and try to persuade them. It's not good for them to keep crying like this. If they get sick, what will happen to the three children?"

Sha Zhu grabbed Wang Qiuju and stopped her from getting off the kang to persuade them. He said, "Don't go. Someone just died in his family. It's unlucky for you to visit them. They will get over it in a few days. You don't have to worry about it."

Wang Qiuju thought that was right. It was indeed not a good idea to go there so late at night. It would be bad if she brought back some dirty things and disturbed the children.

So she gave up and went back to lie down on the kang with her clothes on.

After Yan Bugui returned home, he became angrier and angrier. Jia Zhang was just a dog that could not change its nature. She turned her face away and refused to recognize anyone.

He helped her family with good intentions, but instead of receiving the proper thanks, he was ridiculed.

Jia Zhang's behavior made him feel disheartened. It was really true that good intentions were not rewarded.

The three aunts saw Yan Bugui sitting there, silent and sulking after he came back. They asked in confusion, "Old Yan, what's wrong with you? Why are you so depressed?"

Yan Bugui shouted angrily: "It's all that damn shrew's fault..." He told the third aunt everything.

After hearing this, the third aunt was also furious and said angrily: "I thought she had changed her temper, but it turns out she is still this bad character."

"No way! I have to go and argue with her. Is she right to not pay back the money she owes me?"

Yan Bugui pointed in the direction of the middle courtyard, where faint crying sounds were coming from, and said, "Just be quiet for a while! If you go over now, you will only cause trouble. Don't make yourself unhappy!"

The third aunt was furious. She sat down on the chair and said angrily: "This is really bullying! Tomorrow, I will let everyone in the yard know about this!" Her words were full of anger and unwillingness.

………………

Liu family in the east courtyard.

Younger sister Liu Zhiruo is coming back tonight to take a Sunday off, and Liu Zhiye also notified his younger brother Liu Zhitai and asked the couple to come back and get together.

Together with Liu Tielin and his partner Guo Lin, it was a rare family reunion for them, so naturally they had to enjoy it.

He Hongmei hugged Xiaoxian and said, "Sister-in-law, please look after the child for a while. I'll help mom clean up!" She couldn't sit still when she saw her sister-in-law and mother-in-law busying around.

Gan Ning smiled and stopped her, "No need, just look after the child. Besides, you're still pregnant!"

"You want to work? You'll have plenty of opportunities in the future. You can work as much as you want. Hahaha..."

Gan Ning gets along well with her two younger siblings and sister-in-law, and her behavior and conduct earn her the respect she deserves from her family.

She is good at communicating, listening, and being tolerant, making her family feel warm and comfortable.

"The eldest brother is like a father, and the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother."

Under her leadership, the family atmosphere becomes more harmonious, and people around her are more willing to get along with her.

He Hongmei blushed and said, "That has to be agreed upon. From now on, I can't be idle while doing housework..."

She is now three months pregnant and is receiving special care from her family at home. During the National Day holiday last October, she and Liu Zhitai got married and moved into the unique courtyard house in Dengshikou.

Liu Zhitai and He Hongmei's wedding was not a grand affair because of his father-in-law He Zhiyan. Speaking of this wedding, its low-key atmosphere left a deep impression on people.

Because of He Zhiyan, many bigwigs attended the wedding of his only daughter.

Now is a difficult time, and these old comrades and some department heads do not support extravagance and waste.

In order to avoid negative impact, the Liu family, father and son, discussed it and decided to hold two wedding banquets separately.

In the morning, a banquet was held in the Nanluoguxiang courtyard to entertain family members, neighbors, and colleagues and classmates of Liu Zhitai and He Hongmei.

In the evening, they held a special dinner at Liu Zhitai's new home and entertained some important people.

At the wedding banquet, Liu Zhiye met many industry leaders, including those from the health sector, education sector, the General Office of the State Council, and several second-generation leaders.

This feast not only expanded his network of contacts, but also enabled him to add several real masters of traditional Chinese medicine to the Liujiazhuang Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Famous Chinese medicine experts such as Liu Jisan, Xu Kaiwu, Li Congpu, Wu Weicheng, and Yang Dafu are all good friends of He Zhiyan. When they heard that Liu Zhiye strongly supported the cause of traditional Chinese medicine, they were all very excited.

Therefore, they decided to go to Liujiazhuang for an on-site investigation in person. If the situation was true, they would also like to do their best to help.

In addition, Director Hua, as the head of the Education Department of the Ministry of Health, is also very concerned about the privately-run Chinese medicine school in Liujiazhuang.

Director Hua also said that he would personally visit Liujiazhuang School for an on-site inspection to learn about the school's operation, teaching staff, teaching facilities and other aspects.

If conditions are right, the school will be incorporated into the formal system and the education provided will be formalized.

This move will help improve the quality and level of TCM education in Liujiazhuang and provide better learning opportunities for more people who are interested in a career in TCM.

This is a great thing! If he can really make this happen, then the private TCM education in Liujiazhuang will be directly upgraded to public TCM education, which is equivalent to adding another TCM college to the village. It is really exciting!
The current highest education level in the village is junior high school, which has already surpassed most villages. If another vocational secondary school is added, it would be truly "unique like a scorpion's shit."

Since there is no such technical school in the entire district, isn't this a huge blessing for Liujiazhuang?
Even at present, the number of technical secondary schools in Beijing is quite limited, but technical secondary school students are highly favored and will have cadre status upon graduation.

The large-scale construction of these technical secondary schools had to wait until after the great education reform in 68.

At that time, with the popularization of education, the status and role of secondary vocational education became increasingly prominent.

This year was a critical moment in China's education reform, and the technical secondary schools in the capital also experienced rapid development in this year.

The Beijing Municipal Government put forward the slogan of "facing the whole city and making a successful start at one stroke" and decided to build a secondary technical school to alleviate the vocational education needs of Beijing City.

As a result, the construction of technical secondary schools in Beijing has gradually become a hot topic.

At the time, the government announced the construction of 10 new technical secondary schools aimed at providing vocational skills and practical knowledge to students preparing to enter the workforce.

In addition to the municipal technical secondary schools, each district and county also followed suit and built their own technical secondary schools, such as Shijingshan Technical Secondary School in Shijingshan and Daxing Technical Secondary School in Daxing.

Although these schools started late, they developed rapidly and became highly regarded educational institutions in the local area.

The construction and development of technical secondary schools in Beijing have made technical secondary education gradually become a popular level of education.

Vocational school graduates can quickly find jobs and become technical backbones in various industries. At present, due to the restrictions on higher education, vocational school education has also become an important asset for various career advancement and promotion.

Of course, these schools are not available now. If Liujiazhuang can build a technical college, it would be like "a cow standing upside down - her B is soaring to the sky."

This topic has gone a bit off topic, let’s get back to the point.

Let’s say that after Liu Zhiye’s family finished their meal, they sat together and chatted.

Deng Ru looked at her nephew Liu Tielin and his girlfriend Guo Lin, and asked with a smile: "Tielin, your two brothers are married, and it's your turn next. What are your plans for the future?"

Liu Tielin smiled and turned to look at Guo Lin. After the two looked at each other, he replied, "Second Aunt, we are not in a hurry. The team is quite busy right now. We want to wait for a while before we talk about it."

They are both special police captains of the public security detachment. They are very busy at work. They plan to consider marriage after a period of stability.

Deng Ru turned to look at Liu Zhiye in disbelief, "Zhiye, you guys are so busy that you don't even have time for your brother to get married?"

A trace of embarrassment flashed across Liu Zhiye's face, and he explained: "We are indeed very busy. Recently, we have been strengthening the special rectification campaign for public security in Beijing."

"Wait a little while longer, I will personally give them leave and let them go home and get married right away."

Liu Jingzhai responded, “Are you guys carrying out a [severe crackdown]? The streets are indeed much cleaner now.”

Gan Ning smiled and said, "Yes, those street urchins, scoundrels, playboys, and gangsters have all disappeared now."

"There are no people who dared to fight or play with durian on the streets anymore!"

Liu Zhiruo said happily: "Now we girls dare to go out and play at night. Those boys no longer dare to whistle or chat with us. Hahaha..."

After hearing this, Liu Zhiye smiled and nodded. This was the result they had been expecting.

For this operation, the Public Security Brigade has been busy from the beginning of the year until now, and the "severe crackdown" operation has lasted for more than three months.

During this period, they continuously strengthened patrols and strictly enforced the law to ensure safety and harmony in every corner of the capital.

The three-month operation cleaned up the capital from top to bottom and "invited" many "evil spirits and monsters" to "visit" the labor camp.

Therefore, the streets are indeed much cleaner now. This shows that the crackdown has indeed played a deterrent role, making some lawless elements restrained.

However, they still need continued supervision and strengthened law enforcement to maintain this good situation.

A few days later, Qin Huairu came to the Red Star Factory to collect Jia Dongxu's funeral expenses and casualty allowance.

The money consists of three parts, including funeral expenses, which is Jia Dongxu's three months' salary of 115 yuan, work-related death allowance of 200 yuan, and pension of 225 yuan.

(抚恤金：根据需要供养人数，每月发放死亡职工月工资的25%-50%，1个人是25%，2个人是40%，3个及3个人以上就是50%封顶。）
Therefore, the Jia family can receive half of Jia Dongxu's salary every month, and can receive the entire year's pension in the first year.

After that, starting from the second year, you will receive the pension for that month every month until your family member takes over your job.

So, the total amount of these three parts is five hundred and forty yuan.

In addition to this money, there was also Jia Dongxu's full month's salary of 37.5 yuan in March, and a donation of yuan from the factory committee leaders.

So Qin Huairu returned home with the heavy sum of 1,200 yuan, feeling both excited and sad.

"Huai Ru, the money has been retrieved..." When Jia Zhang saw Qin Huai Ru coming back, she immediately asked her if she had received the money, and asked her to hand it over to her as soon as possible for her to keep it properly.

Qin Huairu nodded, took out the money wrapped in silk and handed it to her. After Jia Zhang took the money, she carefully counted it.

Qin Huairu watched her mother-in-law Jia Zhang counting money, and her money-grubbing look made her hesitate. She suggested, "Mom, the factory has already paid the compensation, and the leaders gave us an extra 600 yuan. Should we pay back the neighbors?"

Jia Zhang's eyes widened as she looked at Qin Huairu, her tone filled with dissatisfaction: "What are you giving? The leaders in the factory all know that our family is in trouble and are donating money to us. How can you just sit there and watch as a neighbor from the same courtyard?"

Qin Huairu asked in confusion: "Mom, what do you mean?"

"Humph!" Jia Zhang snorted coldly, "Not only will we not pay back the money, we have to find a way to get them to donate more."

Qin Huairu stared at Jia Zhang with eyes wide open in disbelief. How could a person be so shameless?
(End of this chapter)