Chapter 30 How shameful!
"well!"

Yi Zhonghai felt so ashamed that he didn't even have the face to continue sitting there.

Before leaving, I crossed out his name from the registration book. On final thought, I simply took the book and the pen and ink away.

The Jia family could no longer host the banquet. If he went alone, how would he survive in the courtyard?

After returning home, Yi Zhonghai saw his wife and immediately asked with a straight face: "Cuiyun, did you know about this a long time ago?"

The first lady sighed, "I don't know exactly what happened, I just heard it when I passed by, all the residents in the courtyard, except for my family and the old lady, went to hold a banquet for Li Zhiguo."

Even though Yi Zhonghai had already guessed it, he couldn't help but gasp, "Where did he get the money to hold the banquet? There are so many families in our courtyard, how can we invite them all? Didn't he use all his family savings to buy bicycles?"

"I don't know! Mrs. Chen next door didn't tell me either. She asked me to ask Old Yan, and it was Old Yan who helped to arrange it."

One auntie doesn't like to talk about the gossip in the courtyard, and she doesn't chat with other aunties in the courtyard. She can't have children and is afraid of hearing gossip.

……

But as soon as the female workers arrived at the corridor, they saw a group of people coming towards them.

"Welcome, welcome. The table is already set. The newlyweds will have to wait a while before arriving in the courtyard."

Everyone took the confused female workers to the backyard.

Yan Bugui stood up and shouted, "Come and register with me first. I am the third uncle in this courtyard. I am the accountant hired by Li Zhiguo. His family is this household."

Sister Hua and her group of female workers saw the lively scene in the backyard. Dozens or even hundreds of people gathered there, with more than a dozen tables set up.

There was a door panel over there, and a group of middle-aged women in aprons were chopping vegetables. There were also pots on six or seven stoves, and meat and vegetables could be seen.

This is completely confusing. It is completely different from what I imagined when I came here.

Aunt Chen was the first to react and led the sisters to give gifts.

Yan Bugui happily collected the money and registered. The residents gathered around to watch. This showed that the money had really been received and Li Zhiguo had not lied.

He Daqing also stretched his neck, and felt relieved when he saw that the female workers really gave money as gifts.

"Here they come, the bride and groom are here."

Liu Guangqi shouted at the backyard door, followed by Yan Jiecheng, Xu Fengling, and He Yushui...

There are quite a lot of children in the courtyard nowadays, and it’s quite lively.

"Oh, I really can't do that. My Dongxu is also having a banquet today. What will I do if he comes back?"

Jia Zhang was still standing at the backyard door. She no longer wanted to think about any gifts. She just wanted to get two tables together for her son, otherwise it would be too embarrassing.

"Let's go pick up the bride first!"

"When people come, peanuts and melon seeds will be served. Don't rush to get them. Every household has contributed their share."

"My children have been craving for meat for a long time. Today we have some top quality fat meat. I watched the butcher cut it so that the children can satisfy their cravings."

"I picked the peanuts and melon seeds. They are all freshly fried..."

The residents walked quickly to the front yard in high spirits, waiting for that bad boy Li Zhiguo to bring his wife back. Not only would they be given peanuts and melon seeds, but they would also be given candies and cigarettes.

Sister Hua and other female workers were caught up in the crowd and are still confused.

"Aunt Chen, did Qin Huairu say that Li Zhiguo is so popular in the courtyard?"

"That's right. I think these residents are happy for others from the bottom of their hearts."

"I also saw the chefs He and He from the cafeteria. With them in charge, the dishes will taste great. I should have brought my wife here earlier."

"It's only nine o'clock. We still have three hours to have the feast. Tang Mei'er, go back and bring your man over so we can take a look at him."

Amidst the joking, everyone passed through the extremely deserted central courtyard. There was only an empty table left there, and no one knew where Yi Zhonghai had gone.

When we got out of the compound, we saw Li Zhiguo holding a bicycle with a big red flower on it, and Qin Huairu standing next to him. One of them was handsome, and the other was beautiful, they were a perfect match.

There was also a super big bag hanging on the car, which contained candy.

"Da Mao, what are you still standing there for? I'm going to arrange for you to set off firecrackers."

Liu Haizhong patted Xu Damao on the back and asked, "Why aren't you following my instructions?"

"Go now!"

Xu Damao had a numb look on his face. Why did Li Zhiguo trick the entire hospital into paying for his wedding banquet, and he still had to set off firecrackers for them!

But everyone was staring at him, and they quickly ran over to light firecrackers outside the courtyard gate.

"Crack!"

The sound of festive firecrackers rang out, echoing far away in the alley and attracting residents from nearby courtyards.

"It's time to welcome the bride!"

"There's a new person in our courtyard!"

The residents all shouted, which was quite respectful.

The people in the next courtyard were pointing and talking, all a little confused. They had seen the bride before, and she had lived in the courtyard for quite a while, so why was the wedding being held today?
Qin Huairu saw the lively scene and everyone in the hospital came out to greet them. She also saw Sister Hua and others waving in the crowd. She was so happy.

Li Zhiguo thought it was almost done. If he continued with this pose, it would be tragic if he slipped.

He immediately shouted loudly: "Dear neighbors, I, Li Zhiguo, am getting married today. It's her, Qin Huairu, the daughter-in-law of my Li family.

Thank you all for your support. Here are some wedding candies. Let’s wish you all a good start. I’m handing out the candies now.”

Li Zhiguo had distributed red envelopes in the village before, so he had experience with that. Although he did not prepare red envelopes this time, he asked for the funds to buy candy.

The amount of candies prepared far exceeded the plan, and no one else could notice it, so he could still spread the candies happily.

He immediately reached into the bag, grabbed two handfuls of candy, and threw them out with a fierce shake.

"Ah, wedding candies are being distributed."

"It's wedding candy time. Whoever finds it will be happy."

Everyone cheered, and the children were even more excited, all looking forward to eating candy.

"Huai Ru, come and spread the seeds as much as you can, all the way to the yard."

Li Zhiguo poured out another handful of cigarettes and enjoyed himself so much that he didn't forget that he had a wife.

"Ok!"

Qin Huairu grabbed the candies with a happy look on her face and started scattering them. Everyone followed and cheered along the way. While picking up the candies, they made way for the two to enter the yard.

In this way, Li Zhiguo pushed the brand new bicycle with big red flowers, and Qin Huairu was showing her affection all the way, from the front yard to the middle yard, and then to the back yard. It was so lively.

Not only the residents in the courtyard, but also people from other courtyards came in to pick up candies and watch the fun. This was something to brag about.

Although the residents of the Siheyuan were sad that a lot of wedding candies were picked up by people from other courtyards, they could not care less at this moment. Li Zhiguo did not make any money from the gifts, he just gave out some candies, which was not too much.

Qin Huairu's hands were sore, but she found that there was not much less candy in the big bag. She guessed that her man prepared more candy, which showed that he cared about her.

Suddenly her heart felt as sweet as honey. She did not marry the wrong man.

In fact, it was almost the same. Li Zhiguo saw that there was not much left in the backyard after spreading the sugar like this, so he quickly moved a batch of sugar from the space into the bag.

This is a cloth bag, and others can't tell how many candies are inside.

"The bride is coming in."

"The bride is so beautiful!" Everyone cheered. Yan Bugui then arranged for someone to take out the bags of peanuts and melon seeds and pour some on each table.

At this moment, Li Zhiguo took Qin Huairu's hand and led her into his house. The ceremony was completed, but nowadays it was not too particular.

The bicycle is parked right next to the door. It is a big item and very valuable.

He took down the bag of candy and poured it onto each table. A line of children followed him, waiting to grab a handful of the candy as it was poured out.

Unexpectedly, the adults who were waiting acted even faster.

"Huai Ru, come over and give out candy too."

After pouring the candies on the table, Li Zhiguo called his wife over and gave each of the candies to the aunt helping in the kitchen.

"okay!"

Qin Huairu was talking to Sister Hua and the others. When she heard the shouting, she hurried over and gave them candy again.

When he gave Shazhu a handful of candy, he was so happy that he didn't know what to do.

"Sister Qin, don't worry, I will definitely prepare the banquet for you today."

In Sha Zhu's eyes, Li Zhiguo had nothing to do with him. He only came to help in the kitchen for Sister Qin's sake.

"Silly Zhu, thank you for your hard work."

Qin Huairu imitated what her husband often said.

"Hey, it's not hard, not hard at all."

Sha Zhu was so happy that his mouth almost cracked, and he felt full of energy.

At this time, Yan Bugui started distributing cigarettes. As long as the guests gave a gift, no matter whether they were men or women, each household would be given a pack of cigarettes.

Even female workers like Sister Hua got the cigarettes. Even if they didn’t smoke them themselves, they could give them to others, so at least they made some profit.

Seeing that there was indeed a delicious lunch and it was so festive, some female workers couldn't help but go ahead and call their husbands over.

There were also people who wanted to bring their children along, and after asking, they found out that the seats were planned, and they hurried back home.

But there were still many female workers left. When Aunt Chen and Sister Hua saw that Qin Huairu was free, they called her into the house.

"Qin Huairu, tell me what's going on. Your husband is so rich, how can you hold such a big party with 15 tables and invite everyone in the hospital?"

Sister Hua was extremely anxious and wanted to know what was going on.

Upon hearing this, Qin Huairu's eyes became evasive, not knowing how to explain.

Aunt Chen pressed on, "Is there some inside information? Qin Huairu, please tell us first. We promise not to spread it."

"That's right, we are good sisters."

The female workers tried to persuade them, saying that they were too curious.

Qin Huairu couldn't bear it anymore, so she had to say, "It's nothing, it's just that my elder brother Li asked everyone in the hospital to pay for the banquet."

"What? What do you mean?"

The female workers looked confused and seemed not to understand.

Qin Huairu had no choice but to say, "Each household in the courtyard should hand in their gifts first and give them to the third uncle, the accountant outside, and he will be in charge of the banquet."

The female workers felt stupid and asked, "That's not right. The residents in your courtyard have such a good relationship with Li Zhiguo that they are willing to pool their money to host a banquet for him. How much would that cost for 15 tables? Wouldn't everyone be at a big loss?"

"It's not a loss. There are only more than 20 households in the courtyard, and the gifts are not that much. There is still a gap of more than 100 yuan, which was paid by Master He first. We will use your gift money to make up for Master He."

Qin Huairu decided to go all out and told everything. She couldn't hide it, and her husband didn't let her hide it.

"hiss!"

The female workers all gasped. Sister Hua was shocked and asked, "Doesn't that mean that Li Zhiguo didn't spend a penny to host such a grand banquet for you?"

Qin Huairu nodded embarrassedly, "Yeah! He bought a bicycle and didn't have much money left, so he couldn't take it out."

The female workers were numb, it seemed that Li Zhiguo had not changed.

"That's not right. Jia Dongxu is getting married today. Why are all these people from your hospital coming to your house?"

A sober female worker asked the key question.

Qin Huairu further explained: "Jia Dongxu also invited everyone, but he asked each household to give gifts, and then only sent one representative to the Jia family for a drink.

There were thirty people but only two tables. Everyone felt it was too much of a loss, so they came to me, Brother Li, for advice.

In order to help everyone, my elder brother Li suggested that we all chip in and host a banquet for our family."

Qin Huairu felt that her family was in the right and they didn't make a penny, so there was nothing wrong with this matter.

"Ah! I didn't expect Jia Dongxu to be such a person!"

"The Jia family in your courtyard is too deceiving. Isn't it obvious that they are trying to cheat people out of the gift money?"

The women could not bear to see such shamelessness and started to condemn it.

But if you think about it carefully, Li Zhiguo is equally shameless.

Everyone avoided the Jia family, but could not avoid Li Zhiguo. In the end, they still gave the gift money, but they could really eat and drink when they went back home at Li's house.

Aunt Chen frowned and said, "I finally understand. Li Zhiguo didn't make any money, but he got such a grand wedding banquet for nothing.

It seems like I don’t feel bad at all for giving out these wedding candies, it’s all from everyone’s contributions!”

Qin Huairu moved her lips but ultimately did not explain.

"Wait, you said that all the residents in the courtyard have come to your house, so Jia Dongxu can't invite any guests, right?"

"Oh, this is too tragic. Not only did Li Zhiguo snatch you away from Jia Dongxu, he also snatched the guests away."

Although the female workers were disgusted by Jia Dongxu's attempt to cheat people out of their money by holding a wedding banquet, they couldn't help but feel sympathy for him. Both their blind date and marriage were ruined by one person. Could there still be some sunshine in their future life?

Qin Huairu shook her head and said, "I don't know about that. Maybe Jia Zhang has invited someone else."

"Let's go and take a look. It's already this late. Has Jia Dongxu brought his wife back? Let's go and see what she looks like and see if she can compare to our Qin Huairu."

Sister Hua was not afraid of trouble, so she immediately called a few female workers who wanted to watch the fun and went to the central courtyard.

The male workers in the workshop haven't arrived yet. They have found out that the male workers will gather together in the courtyard later.

"Uncle, you've worked hard today. Have a couple more drinks at noon."

"Hey, Second Master, you have to come to the main table today. I have to toast you with a glass of wine."

"Auntie Wang, Auntie Chen, I'm sorry for not welcoming you well."

"Sun Erniang, your children have all received candy, right? If it's not enough, there's more."

Li Zhiguo moved among the crowd and greeted everyone he met. It was a happy day and everyone who came was a guest. No matter what the reason for their visit, they were all there to show their respect.

Sister Hua happened to come out with her female workers. After seeing this scene, she finally understood how Qin Huairu was deceived.

With Li Zhiguo's thick skin, Qin Huairu, a country girl, could not resist his sweet talk.

"Bah! Shameless!"

(End of this chapter)