Chapter 176

Chen Bihua was not sure now. Could it really be his son?

"Well, let's talk in the yard."

When Li Zhiguo arrived in the yard, he called out to Sha Zhu to get a stool.

Then he said, "Uncle San, this is an emergency. You come to preside over the meeting and find the person who stole the money. If not, we can hold a meeting of the whole hospital in the evening."

"okay!"

Yan Bugui was also very curious, wondering who had stolen it.

The residents also brought stools to the central courtyard. Sha Zhu put the square table in place, Yan Bugui sat next to it, and Li Zhiguo sat in the front and pulled Sha Zhu up with him.

"Let me say a few words first!"

Li Zhiguo looked at everyone and said, "Just now, Chen Bihua found that more than 30 yuan was missing from her home, which is not a small amount.

Our hospital has always been an advanced hospital. For many years, we have never lost a needle. Now such a big thing has happened, and it must be dealt with seriously. "

When these words were spoken, everyone blushed a little. Who wouldn't do something that took advantage of the situation? However, it was rare that a needle was lost, and if someone wanted to take something, the ball of thread would be taken away as well.

"Now, I suspect that Bang Geng stole it.

Silly Zhu, I'm sending you with Uncle San, Guangtian, Jiecheng, and Jiefang to find Banggeng. He's gone to play with some kids in the next yard, so you can go ask around."

Li Zhiguo directly sent out several generals. It was not easy to find a child. How far could he run?

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Shazhu was quite proactive. Since there was nothing else to do, he might as well catch a thief.

Yan Bugui also took an active role. Immediately, two people pointed out three children in the yard, and the five of them rushed out of the yard.

Li Zhiguo saw Yu Shui and Xiao Jingru coming out of the house, bringing Xiao Guanxiang with them.

He quickly said, "Yushui, the three of you should just play inside, don't join in the fun."

"Okay, Brother Li."

"Brother-in-law, I won't come out."

The three children went back into the house, still behaving themselves, but they lay at the window and looked out.

Li Zhiguo then asked again: "Old lady, if it was really stolen by Bang Geng, what should we do?"

"Beat him. If you don't beat him, he won't become a good person. He stole so much money. What will happen to him when he grows up?"

The deaf old lady spoke out in support, saying that the joke had nothing to do with her.

"Yes, you have to fight. It's more than 30 yuan. It's too much. Which child dares to take this much?"

"That's right. Two years ago, my child took a penny from our family and was left hungry for a whole day."

"He deserves to be beaten. He needs to be taught well from a young age."

The aunties all said that they could steal small things but they should not teach their children bad habits, otherwise the children might steal from their homes one day.

"Okay, then wait and see if it's a good joke."

Li Zhiguo reached out his hand and touched the table, but there was no teacup. Forget it, just bear with it.

Chen Bihua sat on the stool but didn't say a word. She was at a loss at the moment.

Not long after, Sha Zhu came back with the stick in his arms, and the people who had gone out followed behind him.

Liu Guangtian was the first to shout: "Brother, the money that Banggeng stole has been found, and he still has 27.5 yuan on him.

When we found Bang Geng, he was eating a whipped cream cake outside the Beixinqiao Department Store. One cake cost several cents. I saw my classmates eating it two years ago.

"I didn't steal it, let me go, wuwu..."

Bang Geng struggled, and as a four-year-old child, he couldn't say anything.

Yan Bugui said, "I have inquired about it. Banggeng often uses money to buy things. Everyone in the store recognizes him. He is not the only one stealing. There is also a child in the next yard who also steals money from home. They are in the same group."

Free-range raising is popular now. It is normal for three-year-old children in the city to spend money to buy things, and they can even join in the fun.

In the countryside today, five-year-old children go to primary school. It is common for them to bring their own money and bowls and queue up in the canteen to get food at mealtime. If they lose their money, they will go hungry, so they are forced to learn to hide their money.

"Bang Geng, how could you steal mom's money to buy snacks?"

Chen Bihua cried. After all the emotional turmoil, it turned out that it was not her mother-in-law or Dongxu who stole the money, but her son.

"Mom, I didn't steal the money."

Banggeng was put down by Shazhu and ran into his mother's arms.

"I haven't stolen it yet, so where did you get the money from?"

Chen Bihua raised her hand, but finally stopped hitting him. She had never been hit since she was a child, and had never learned how to hit anyone.

“I picked it up at home.”

Banggeng stole once the day before yesterday. This morning, when he went to buy whipped cream, the person at the counter said he didn't have enough money. So he stole again while eating at home at noon, and this time he took a big one.

"Oh, Mom hid the money in her pillow. How could you have found it?"

Chen Bihua cried, this was stolen.

"okay!"

Li Zhiguo said: "Since it was Bang Geng who stole it, then beat him. What can a child understand? Does he know money? Does he know how hard it is for us adults to earn money?
He didn't know anything, he just saw that other people could buy delicious food with money, so he learned bad things from other children.

Banggeng is still young and hasn’t started school yet. Now that we’ve discovered his mistake, we can correct it in time.

But to educate children, sometimes you have to beat them to make them filial. Without beating, they will not become useful. Silly Zhu..."

"No, what do you want me to do? I never steal anything."

Sha Zhu folded his hands in front of him, sitting on a stool and swinging his legs. At most, he would take some dishes home from the cafeteria, but he never took food, so it didn't count as stealing.

"I didn't say you stole anything, you came here to beat someone up, right now, in front of everyone, teach Banggeng a lesson.

Otherwise, your house is next to Jia's, and Banggeng might sneak into your house one day."

Li Zhiguo did not plan to do it himself. If he wanted to fight, he would fight the Dongxu brothers. As for the stick jokes, he would leave it to Shazhu.

"Hey, that makes sense."

Sha Zhu stood up and pulled Bang Geng over as he spoke.

"Mom, woooo!"

Banggeng started crying and shouted, knowing that he was going to be punished, but he had never been beaten before.

"I let you steal things so that you won't learn your lesson."

Sha Zhu raised his hand and started spanking Bang Geng on his butt, but he was able to control his strength. If he really wanted to cause harm, it would be unacceptable.

Li Zhiguo looked at Yan Bugui, gave him a look, and shook his head.

Yan Bugui quickly stood up and said, "Shazhu, you are not beating the child. Go find some bamboo shoots and make Banggeng a meal of stir-fried pork with dried bamboo shoots."

"Silly Zhu, here are some bamboo sticks."

"Silly, I'll help you get it."

The aunties were happy to watch the fun, and someone immediately found a broom and pulled out a bamboo stick from it. After removing the branches, it became a weapon for hitting people.

Sha Zhu took the bamboo stick and hit Bang Geng on the back with a wave of his hand. It was summer and he was wearing very little, so just one hit made Bang Geng roll on the ground in pain.

“Ouch, it hurts, it hurts!”

Banggeng rolled around on the ground crying, then suddenly got up and wanted to run to his mother to hide.

But who is Sha Zhu? He is really skilled. He grabbed the stick in one go and hit him again with the bamboo stick in his hand.

There is one advantage of hitting people with bamboo sticks, which is that the injuries are only superficial. However, some adults cannot bear the pain, let alone Banggeng, who is just a child.

No one in the yard tried to stop it. Who doesn’t beat their children?

Besides, Banggeng stole more than 30 yuan this time, and he has already spent several yuan, and it seems that he had been stealing money before.

Not to mention such a large amount of money, even if it's three dollars, if it were in another family, if the parents were too powerful, they would hang the child up and beat him for a long time, and it is not uncommon for the child's hands to be broken.

"Are you still stealing?"

Sha Zhu hit Bang Geng a few more times, but he was thinking in his heart that if he had a son in the future, he would have to teach him well, otherwise if he stole something, his own son would be reluctant to do it.

"Ouch, I won't steal anymore. I won't steal anymore. It hurts."

Bang Geng cried and curled up on the ground, and then he became quiet.

If a child makes a mistake, beating him is the solution. But this is only limited to elementary school. Once he reaches junior high school and enters the rebellious period, if you continue to beat him, he will be driven away.

"Brother Li, is that enough?"

Chen Bihua couldn't bear to watch it, because it was her son who was being beaten.

Yan Bugui muttered, "A loving mother often spoils her child."

"Pah, pah!"

Sha Zhu took the bamboo stick and whipped him a few more times before stopping.

Everyone looked at Li Zhiguo. It was obvious that it was Yan Bugui, the third uncle, who was presiding over the meeting, but the one who made the decision was the bad boy.

Li Zhiguo said, "Okay, let's stop here first. There is another situation that I want to talk about.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Jia Zhang deposited her family fortune with me because she found someone was looking through the pension money she had hidden at home.

Jia Zhang suspected it was Jia Dongxu, but Dongxu is my brother and I know him best. I don’t think it’s him.”

After a pause, he continued, "A while ago, Chen Bihua said that money was often lost at home, sometimes a few cents, sometimes one or two dimes. She asked me to talk to Dongxu, but I still believed in Dongxu, so I never asked Dongxu about it.

Today, Bihua lost money again, and I suddenly realized that it might be a joke. I guessed it right."

Everyone was in an uproar, all a little confused. There was more than enough information here.

No one expected that Jia Zhang would give her pension money to Li Zhiguo. This is not like throwing meat buns at a dog, uh, something like that.

Another thing is that the Jia family lost money a long time ago, so Bang Geng is a habitual offender.

"You beat him well. He's only this young and he's already stealing. He'll be even worse when he grows up. If you don't beat him, he might end up eating peanuts one day."

"That's right. We have been in this hospital for many years and have never lost a needle. We cannot let Banggen ruin the reputation of the hospital."

After everyone finished discussing, Li Zhiguo said, "We can't steal money in our hospital. This is the bottom line. That's it. Let's adjourn the meeting."

As soon as these words were spoken, some smart people came to their senses and realized that if they couldn't steal money, then they could steal other things, right?
Hey, everyone knows how to take advantage of a little opportunity. This can’t be considered stealing.

Li Zhiguo then went back to the backyard, where he could take a nap and have a meal.

"Woo!"

Banggeng was crying and was helped up by Chen Bihua. Upon closer inspection, his body was covered with red marks. Shazhu had hit him hard, and he would be in pain for several days.

"Mom, I didn't steal." Banggeng felt so wronged and hurt.

"It's not stolen yet. Do I have to spend all the money to be considered stealing?"

Chen Bihua gritted her teeth and slapped Bang Geng in the face. Although the force was not strong, it was the first time she hit a child.

She understood clearly that Brother Li didn't like people who stole money, and the courtyard would not tolerate children who stole money. If she didn't beat him, everyone would be dissatisfied with him.

"Woo woo!" Banggeng cried even more sadly, and then Chen Bihua took him home and left him alone.

Everyone in the yard talked for a while before going home to cook.

In the evening, people who worked came back one after another. After hearing about this incident, they were all confused. There was actually a thief in the yard?
"Jia Dongxu, you're finally back. Wow, you even thought about buying some meat to eat."

Yan Bugui was just waiting. Although his family was very poor, he deposited some money in the bank, but the deposit certificate had to be kept at home. If it was stolen, he would be so angry that he would die.

"Uncle, what's wrong?"

Jia Dongxu was carrying a piece of meat that weighed six taels. He had taken a big job today and had to have a good meal in the evening. His wife was about to give birth, so he needed to replenish his body occasionally.

"What happened? Your family stole some money. There were more than 30 yuan, but they only found more than 20 yuan. It happened in the afternoon. You should go home and check."

Unless Yan Bugui explains it clearly, Jia Dongxu won’t be able to make a fuss anyway.

"Oh, Bangteng stole the money."

Jia Dongxu hurried home, and was inevitably stopped and questioned by several middle-aged women on the way.

After finally reaching the door and opening the curtain, Jia Dongxu shouted, "Bihua, why did Banggeng steal the money?"

"Oooh, daddy!"

Banggeng was lying there, and when he saw his father coming back, he started crying.

"Don't pay attention to him, Dongxu. Banggeng stole my savings. He has done it before, and today he stole more than thirty dollars!"

As Chen Bihua was speaking, Jia Zhang suddenly opened the door curtain and came in. She was the same person as Dongxu. It was bad luck for her, otherwise they would have met on the road and could have given her a ride.

"How did Bang Geng steal the money?"

Jia Zhang was surprised, she had always thought that Dongxu was stealing the money.

After a while, Jia Dongxu said with a sad face: "Okay, Mom, wife, you actually suspected that I stole the money, but my brother believes me, my brother is my relative."

"Dongxu, listen to what mom said. Didn't you steal my pension money before?"

Jia Zhang felt that she had done nothing wrong, so what was wrong with having doubts?

Chen Bihua followed up by saying, "Dongxu, don't you often eat out? I thought you didn't have enough money, so you took it from me."

Jia Dongxu was silent, and suddenly turned his attention to his son, "Banggeng, how did you learn to steal money? If you steal at such a young age, you won't be able to go to school in the future."

"That's right, Bang Geng, why did you steal the money? Tell grandma what you want to buy."

Jia Zhang was not tolerant of this matter. As soon as she returned to the courtyard, she heard Chen Dasao across the street say that Li Zhiguo said that stealing money was not allowed and nothing else mattered.

There are so many good things in this yard. She once stole the bacon from Sha Zhu's house, and nothing was said about it. Why did she have to steal money?
Bang Geng sat there and didn't dare to speak.

Chen Bihua said hurriedly: "I went to ask around, and it turned out that there was a kid in the yard next door who was also stealing money from home to buy snacks, and he led Banggeng astray."

"Oh my god, damn it! This is going to harm my Jia family. Bihua, which family are you talking about? I'm going to go and scold them right now."

Jia Zhang refused. She didn't dare to make a fuss in the courtyard, but she could still do it outside.

"The one with Zhang Damazi, his wife also has pockmarks all over her face."

Chen Bihua also wanted to pass on the blame, otherwise people would accuse her of not teaching Bang Geng well.

"Mom, you can't just let it go like this, go and give that person a good scolding, and don't let him be a bad influence in the future."

Jia Dongxu also looked angry. Banggeng was so obedient and would never steal before.

"I'm going right now!"

Jia Zhang immediately went to the next yard in anger, and soon she heard shouting and cursing, which spread to this side.

This attracted many residents in the courtyard to come over to watch the fun, only to see Jia Zhang showing off her power and scolding Zhang Damazi's family so much that they dared not say a word.

When I came back, I happened to see Li Zhiguo going to the toilet. What a coincidence.

Li Zhiguo asked casually, "Jia Zhang, I asked Sha Zhu to beat Bang Geng this afternoon. You won't hold a grudge against me, will you?"

"Why are you holding a grudge? I beat him well. Banggeng shouldn't have stolen the money. But Banggeng was also led astray by the kid from the next yard. I just scolded him. He is not allowed to play with Banggeng in the future."

Jia Zhang was indeed worried about her grandson, but could she possibly cause trouble for Li Zhiguo?
But there is no point in scolding Sha Zhu a few times. Lao He has run away and there is no one to protect Sha Zhu.

"Yes, we must teach our children well. Banggeng has been smart since he was young. He will do great things in the future. Don't let him develop the habit of stealing money, which will affect his life."

Li Zhiguo said a few words and went to the toilet. When he came out, he saw Jia Dongxu waiting at the door.

"Thank you for trusting me so much, brother."

Jia Dongxu choked up. He just thought about it seriously and found that both his mother and wife were unreliable. His brother still believed in his character.

"Dongxu, we are brothers, of course I have to believe you.

If you really need a lot of money, there is no need to steal. You can just sell the tricycle and get hundreds of dollars."

Li Zhiguo patted Dongxu on the shoulder, which was considered as pointing out a clear way for his brother to deal with the emergency.

Jia Dongxu was stunned for a moment before he reacted. Yes, he had a large tricycle, so isn’t that valuable?

"Okay, go back and teach Bang Geng a lesson. It's nothing for a kid to steal some money, as long as he corrects his behavior.

But if he steals again, you as his father cannot be lenient and must beat him.

Not to mention you, even if Guan Xiang stole the money, I would have taken action, because it is the fault of the father if the son does not teach well. "

Li Zhiguo went back after saying these words. When he saw his son, he immediately took out a dollar.

"Guan Xiang, Dad will give you and your aunt 50 cents each for pocket money. If you want to buy something, ask your aunt to take you to the store.

If you have no money, tell your dad, but don’t steal money from home, or your mom will beat you.”

He prefers to play the bad guy. Now that he has a wife at home, it would be great to let Qin Huairu be the good guy, with clear division of labor.

"Thank you, Dad. I have a lot of money now. Grandma saved it for me. She didn't steal money."

Xiao Guanxiang handed the fifty cents to his grandma in a blink of an eye.

Qin Huairu kept shaking her head. She didn't know what her mother had said to her son, but the money could not be paid to her.

Mother Qin hugged her eldest grandson and kissed him, then glanced at her daughter and put the fifty cents in her pocket.

Unintentionally, a confrontation took place between mother and daughter.

Little Jingru quietly put away the fifty cents, and when her sister and aunt went to the kitchen, she hid the money in a book.

Her sister had asked her about her piggy box several times before, and she lied to her sister and said she kept it at her aunt's place. In fact, the money was still in her brother-in-law's book. Her sister didn't even read the book, so she wouldn't find it.

Li Zhiguo held his youngest son and wandered around the backyard for a while. It was time for dinner, and he had to talk to his wife about the small yard in the evening.

He provided Liang Ladi with a place to live. Firstly, he needed to settle the person down; secondly, it was not good to leave the courtyard empty for a long time.

Liang Ladi has a salary, and he doesn't have to give any household expenses, so let's just stay like this.

Intermediate Courtyard, Jia Family!
Jia Zhang rushed to cook, and when no one was paying attention, she lifted the lid of the pot and grabbed a large piece of meat. She had made shoe soles for many years and worked as a fitter for several years, which made her have ruthless hands.

Then he turned his head and put the meat into his mouth. It was hot, but it smelled delicious.

"Dongxu, don't feel wronged. The food is ready, let's eat."

"Mom, then you take a rest, I'll serve the dishes."

Jia Dongxu no longer felt aggrieved, because he had a brother who believed in him. There was still a ray of sunshine in his heart, which made him almost want to write a poem, but he was hungry.

Jia Dongxu went to the stove in the corner, lifted the lid of the pot and saw pork stewed with cabbage and vermicelli. There was a little less meat, but it was delicious.

Let's take it out of the pot now, put the dishes into a bowl, and while the family isn't paying attention, pick up a piece of meat and put it into your mouth. Eat a piece secretly first, don't let your mother and wife snatch it all away as soon as the food is on the table. It's not worth it.

The big piece of meat is so delicious. Let’s buy another piece of meat tomorrow and grill it in the suburbs. It will be even more delicious.

"Wife, it's time to eat. Let Banggeng starve. This is not a good thing to do."

Jia Dongxu brought the vegetable bowl to the table, then picked up the steamed bread and put it into a small winnowing basket, ready to eat.

Chen Bihua quickly brought over the bowl and chopsticks, and suddenly said, "Mom, Dongxu, I just remembered that the clothes have not been put away. Go and put them in quickly, otherwise they will get damp."

"Well, go collect it then."

Jia Zhang put down the steamed bread in her hand and thought she had to make a trip as her factory uniform was still hanging out to dry.

Jia Dongxu also put down his chopsticks. After eating the meat, he was not so greedy anymore.

After the two men left, Chen Bihua quickly broke open a steamed bun and used chopsticks to pick up a piece of meat and cabbage vermicelli from it.

He was stunned for less than a second, then took a big bite, turned around and said incoherently: "Bang Geng, hurry up, eat it secretly, and don't steal mom's money in the future, or you will get beaten."

"Mom, I won't steal money anymore."

Banggeng took the steamed bread and ran to the sewing machine, squatted there and started to eat it with big mouthfuls. He was very hungry. He had just taken a bite of the whipped cream he bought in the afternoon when Liu Guangtian snatched it away and finished it in just a few bites. His small fried dough twists and assorted candies were also snatched away.

"Hey, where's Bangteng?"

When Jia Dongxu came back with the clothes, he found that his son was missing?
"I told him to stay inside and reflect on himself. Dongxu, come eat quickly. What big job did you pull today?"

Chen Bihua changed the subject, picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece of meat.

"Let Banggeng learn his lesson by starving. Today, I..."

Jia Dongxu quickly put his clothes on the chair and went to get the chopsticks.

Jia Zhang also put her clothes on the small bed and hurried over to eat.

……

That night!

Li Zhiguo took a shower, put on a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and specially sent Xiao Jingru and Xiao Guanxiang to his mother-in-law.

My youngest son is sleeping soundly on the bed right now, so it won’t affect anything.

Later, he hugged his wife and said, "Huai Ru, I rented the small courtyard at home to Liang Ladi."

"Liang Ladi, why did you let her live here?"

Qin Huairu suddenly felt a little panicked. Liang Ladi had just taken leave two days ago and came back to work today. Her husband happened to be in the countryside for research these two days. Nothing could happen, right?

"It was a coincidence. I was doing research in the countryside, and I met her on the bus on her way back to her hometown. Her father was sick, so she went back to visit him.

As we chatted, I found out that the place she lived in was no longer rented because the landlord's daughter was coming back from another place.

Our yard just happened to be empty anyway, and it would be too much trouble to clean it, so I gave it to her to live in."

Li Zhiguo thought that even if he told Qin Huairu the truth, it wouldn't be a big problem, but this kind of thing should be concealed if possible, even if he saw through it, he would not say it out loud, it was better to be ignorant.

"Oh, that's what happened!"

Qin Huairu thought for a moment and said, "Then how is the rent calculated? Our yard is not small."

"Let her give you five dollars. Let's leave it alone. I'll take care of it.

I want to tell you something else, about our son."

Li Zhiguo immediately changed the subject.

"What's wrong with our son?"

Although Qin Huairu felt that five dollars was too little, since she was told not to worry about it, she didn't dare to ask more questions.

"I plan to ask the third uncle to be my tutor and teach Guan Xiang some simple pre-school knowledge in advance. I can't lose at the starting line. When I go to school, I must strive to get the first place in the exam. If I can't, I will find a teacher to tutor me privately."

(End of this chapter)