radicalducati Chapter 316 Negotiating compensation, 1 yuan!
Chapter 316 Negotiating compensation, 1 yuan!
When Yi Zhonghai heard what the old lady said, he felt a chill rushing from the soles of his feet to his forehead, and all the strength in his body seemed to be drained away in an instant.
His legs went limp and he sat down heavily on the cold, hard ground like a puppet without support.
At this moment, his eyes became empty and lifeless, filled with despair and unwillingness.
It felt like I had suddenly fallen into a bottomless, dark abyss, and no matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't escape.
He raised his head with difficulty, his eyes slowly moved to the middle-aged woman standing in front of him, his lips trembled violently involuntarily, as if he wanted to say something.
But just as he opened his mouth, he was stopped abruptly by a meaningful look from an old lady.
There were so many complex emotions contained in that look: a helpless sigh, heartbroken sadness, and a firm determination that would not tolerate any questioning or violation.
The lady leaned forward slightly, put her face close to Yi Zhonghai, and whispered in a soft and slightly hoarse voice: "Old Yi, things have developed to this point, let's just accept our fate."
As they were talking, a cold wind whistled past, ruffling the few strands of white hair at the aunt's temples, making her, who already looked a little haggard, look even older and more haggard.
"Just thinking about the fact that Qi'er is still somewhere unknown, our top priority is to find him and bring him back. As for the rest, it's no longer important..."
At the end of her speech, the old lady's voice was obviously choked with sobs that she couldn't suppress.
Yi Zhonghai listened quietly to the words of the old lady, his eyes suddenly turned red and tears rolled in his eyes like a flood, but he just nodded silently in response.
Because at this moment, his throat seemed to be pressed down by an extremely heavy rock. No matter how hard he tried, he could not make even the slightest sound.
Liu Haizhong came forward angrily with big strides, his eyes wide open, staring at Yi Zhonghai and the aunt who were sitting on the ground in a mess.
When he saw this scene, the raging anger in his heart seemed to subside a little, but only a little.
Because whenever he thought of his beloved son Liu Guangqi, whose whereabouts are still unknown, his heart felt as if it was being tightly grasped by an invisible hand that was invisible and intangible but extremely powerful, and he suddenly felt a heart-wrenching pain.
"Humph! Since you keep saying you're willing to compensate, then fine, hurry up and give me the money!"
Liu Haizhong's tone was extremely cold, leaving no room for negotiation. Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, full of an unquestionable tough attitude.
"I must take this money and go find my son immediately. If I delay for one more minute, my son may be in more danger!" As he spoke, his bloodshot eyes were like two sharp swords, piercing straight at Yi Zhonghai, as if he wanted to see through the other's body and directly spy on his truest thoughts deep in his heart.
At this time, Xu Damao, who had been watching coldly from the side, saw this and hurriedly echoed.
He smiled flatteringly and nodded his head in response, "Yes, yes, you are absolutely right, Uncle! We should really take out the money as soon as possible. Don't delay any longer!"
As he spoke, he squinted his eyes and glanced at Yi Zhonghai with ill intent, and a barely perceptible smug look inadvertently flashed at the corner of his mouth.
The aunt looked at Liu Haizhong with a sad face. Her face was as pale as paper, her lips were trembling slightly, and her voice was a little hoarse and weak. With full of helplessness and forbearance, she asked carefully: "Then...how much compensation do you want?"
Her hands unconsciously clenched the corners of her clothes, and her fingertips turned white from the force.
When Liu Haizhong heard this, he was suddenly at a loss and hesitated for a moment.
He subconsciously turned his gaze towards Cao Wei, his eyes full of inquiry, as if saying, "Give me an idea quickly, how much is the appropriate compensation?"
Cao Wei stood aside, secretly delighted in his heart. He calmly gestured with one finger, which meant one hundred.
The eyes in the bangs rolled around, and he thought to himself, "Humph, I finally got a chance to extort money from Yi Zhonghai, how can I let him go so easily? Besides, finding my son is an extremely complicated matter, and money is needed in all aspects. How can a mere 100 yuan be enough?"
Thinking of this, he drew his bangs horizontally, clenched his teeth, and a look of determination appeared on his face.
Then, without hesitation, he opened his mouth and shouted, "I want a thousand!"
As soon as this earth-shattering price shout came out, it was like a thunderclap exploding in the crowd, and the surrounding neighbors were instantly in an uproar.
"What? One thousand yuan? That's not a small amount!" someone couldn't help but exclaimed.
"Yes, yes, Uncle Liu asked for one thousand. Isn't that too much?" another person echoed.
For a moment, all the neighbors were whispering to each other, and all kinds of voices were intertwined, one after another, and never stopped.
Some neighbors frowned, with puzzled expressions on their faces, as if they didn't understand why Liu Haizhong made such an outrageous request.
Some neighbors kept shaking their heads and sighing, feeling helpless and annoyed by the escalating farce before their eyes.
Looking at Yi Zhonghai again, he was already collapsed on the ground due to the blow. When he heard the price quoted by Liu Haizhong, he felt as if he was struck by lightning. His eyes suddenly went dark and he almost fainted on the spot.
His eyes widened in horror, staring straight at his bangs, and he simply couldn't believe what he heard.
His lips were trembling, and he obviously wanted to fight back, but his body was too weak to do anything, so he could only let the middle-aged woman next to him hold him down tightly, unable to move at all.
"Old Liu, this is a thousand yuan! Isn't it a bit too much? How can our family afford such a large amount of money?"
The old lady had a look of sorrow on her face, tears welled up in her eyes, and she spoke with an obvious sobbing tone, as if she would burst into tears at any moment.
Her wrinkled face was now filled with deep embarrassment and helplessness.
Cao Wei, who was standing nearby, saw all this. Although he felt a little unhappy in his heart, he could not lose his temper on the spot due to considerations for the relationship.
His eyes rolled around, and he came up with a plan. He immediately started to exaggerate and fan the flames.
"Uncle, your request is not excessive! Back then, Uncle Yi promised to help you find Guangqi. But what happened? There is no news at all!"
"Because of this, we have wasted so much time. Who knows how much suffering Guangqi has endured outside! So, this mere one thousand yuan is just to make up for the losses caused during this period of time. It is not too much at all!"
At this moment, Xu Damao, who had been hiding nearby and watching the fun, took the opportunity to come over and join in the fun.
He was heard shouting in a voice as shrill as a duck's: "That's right! Uncle Yi, since you said it before but failed to do it, it's only natural for you to pay some money to others now. Don't be so stingy!"
As he spoke, he made faces at the people around him, which was really disgusting.
As he spoke, he glanced smugly at Yi Zhonghai and the aunt. His gloating look was disgusting.
The third uncle frowned tightly, and walked forward quickly, while walking he urged anxiously:
"Old Liu, we are old neighbors who see each other every day. Can we discuss the amount of money? A full one thousand yuan is too much. It is impossible for Yi Zhonghai's family to come up with so much money at once."
As he said this, the third uncle's face turned red, and he couldn't hide his anxiety. Even on his forehead, a layer of fine and dense beads of sweat appeared unconsciously, like crystal clear pearls.
However, even though everyone around him echoed what the uncle said, Liu Haizhong actually began to feel a little shaken.
But as soon as he thought of his son who had been missing till now, his heart, which had just softened, instantly became as hard as iron again.
So he gritted his teeth and responded fiercely, "Absolutely not! Not even a penny less is negotiable! My son is out there and there is no news at all. How can I, as a father, not be anxious?"
"This mere one thousand yuan can be regarded as a severe lesson for Yi Zhonghai, so that he will never dare to do things casually and perfunctorily from now on, and will take other people's affairs more seriously!"
Before he finished speaking, he saw a pair of big hands in the bangs clenched into fists. Due to excessive force, the knuckles even turned pale.
His originally normal face now became more and more hideous and distorted, looking extremely scary.
At the same time, poor Yi Zhonghai was sitting alone on the cold ground, holding his head helplessly with his hands, an expression of extreme pain on his face.
At this moment, he knew clearly in his mind that one thousand yuan was undoubtedly a huge sum of money for his ordinary family.
It is no exaggeration to say that this is almost equivalent to most of his savings that he had accumulated through hard work.
But looking at Liu Haizhong's resolute attitude and the eyes of the neighbors around him, he knew that he could not avoid the money today.
The aunt looked at Yi Zhonghai with great distress, and turned to Liu Haizhong and begged, "Old Liu, how about this, we will give you some first, and we will slowly figure out a way to get the rest, do you think it's okay?"
Her eyes were full of pleading and her voice was trembling a little.
Seeing the situation was at a stalemate, Cao Wei felt that he had to add fuel to the fire, so he shouted at the top of his voice: "Auntie, your Yi Zhonghai was a seventh-level fitter in the steel mill before, and his salary was so high, how could he not come up with a thousand yuan? Don't cry poor here, today's money, you have to pay it no matter what you say!"
These words were like a bomb, instantly making the already tense atmosphere even more explosive.
When the old lady heard this, her face turned pale and red, and she could no longer hold back the tears in her eyes and burst out.
"How can you talk like that, kid?"
An old lady cried out, "It's true that Lao Yi is a seventh-level fitter, but the family has had a lot of expenses over the years. How can we save so much money? Besides, it's not that we don't want to take responsibility, but this thousand yuan is too much. We really can't take it out!"
As she spoke, she wiped her tears with her hands and her body trembled slightly with excitement.
Xu Damao chimed in, "Humph, I guess you just don't want to give it to me. You promised it before, but now you're going back on your word. Isn't that cheating?"
As he spoke, he glanced smugly at Yi Zhonghai and the aunt. His gloating look was disgusting.
The third uncle watched the situation getting out of control, stamped his feet anxiously, and shouted: "Stop arguing! If you keep making noise like this, the whole yard will be in turmoil! Is there anything that can't be discussed properly?"
But his words were like a gust of wind, unable to blow away the anger in everyone's hearts.
After hearing what Cao Wei said, Liu Haizhong's attitude became more resolute: "That's right, Yi Zhonghai's salary is not low, and he can definitely afford a thousand yuan. If you don't compensate me today, this matter will not end!"
He crossed his arms over his chest, his face full of anger, like an angry door god, emitting a chilling aura.
Yi Zhonghai slowly raised his head, his face full of pain and helplessness: "Lao Liu, I admit that I was wrong, but this thousand yuan really cost me my life. I haven't saved much over the years, and there are still some miscellaneous things at home that require money. Can't you understand and be considerate of me?"
There was a hint of pleading in his voice and his eyes were full of despair, which made people feel pity for him.
At this time, the surrounding neighbors also began to talk about it.
Some people think that the compensation Liu Haizhong asked for is indeed too much, and that Yi Zhonghai's family has not had an easy life.
Some people think that Yi Zhonghai was in the wrong first and should pay the price.
The yard was noisy, with all kinds of noises intertwined together, making people dizzy.
Some neighbors gathered together and whispered about the right and wrong of the matter; others stood aside, shaking their heads and sighing helplessly.
"Stop arguing!"
Suddenly, a loud voice came from outside the crowd.
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Director Li from the Street Office had arrived in the yard at some point.
It turned out that a neighbor saw that the matter had become too serious, so he ran to call Director Li to mediate.
Director Li, wearing a Zhongshan suit that had been washed to a pale color, walked into the crowd with steady steps and looked at everyone with a serious face.
"What's going on? We're all neighbors. Why can't we just settle our conflicts here? Why do we have to quarrel here?"
When everyone saw Director Li coming, they all quieted down, but the dissatisfaction and anger on their faces were still clearly visible.
Director Li frowned, and after carefully understanding the whole story, he slowly said, "Yi Zhonghai, you promised to help find Liu Guangqi, but you didn't do your best. There is indeed something wrong."
"But Liu Haizhong, you're asking for a thousand yuan in compensation. That's really too much. You have to consider the actual situation."
As he spoke, he slowly turned his head to face the crowd, his eyes solemn and deep, and said earnestly: "Everyone, don't forget that we all live in the same yard!"
"We see each other every day, there's really no need to get into a big fight over such a small matter and damage the harmony between us!"
Following Director Li's sincere words, the originally noisy and quarrelsome scene gradually quieted down, and everyone's tense expressions slowly began to relax.
Under Director Li's earnest mediation, the excitement of the crowd finally receded like the tide and calm was restored.
What followed was a heated discussion, with various voices rising one after another, including arguments, compromises, and concessions.
However, hard work pays off. After a long period of debate and negotiation, everyone finally came up with a compromise solution.
According to this plan, Yi Zhonghai needs to first pay 500 yuan as compensation to Liu Haizhong.
As for the remaining 500 yuan, he would have to wait until he had collected all the money before giving it to Liu Haizhong.
Although Liu Haixin was still somewhat reluctant about this outcome, he felt that it was far from enough to make up for the losses he had suffered.
But after Director Li's patient persuasion, he also realized that there would be no better choice at this point.
So he had to grit his teeth and nodded reluctantly to show that he accepted it reluctantly.
Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai sighed deeply and helplessly, then dragged his feet that felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, and slowly turned around and walked towards his house.
It was the coldest time of the year and although the sun was shining brightly, it was completely cold. Yi Zhonghai's slightly hunched figure looked particularly lonely and desolate under the cold sunlight.
Every step he took seemed extremely difficult, as if he was stepping heavily on his already exhausted heart.
Looking at Yi Zhonghai's back getting farther and farther away, Liu Haizhong's mood was complicated and indescribable.
He knew very well that even if he could successfully obtain the compensation, no amount of money could bring back his son's safety.
Thinking of this, his eyes couldn't help but turn slightly red, and a hint of confusion and helplessness flashed across his eyes for a moment.
At this moment, he could only pray silently in his heart, asking God to bless his son to turn the danger into safety and return home safely as soon as possible.
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