Chapter 2191
Appraisal
After returning from the hospital, Yan Bugui went back to the courtyard house.
When Yi Zhonghai and the others saw him, they immediately surrounded him anxiously.
Where did you go?
Yan Bugui said, "I went to the hospital to bring food to my wife."
Seeing the lunchbox in Yan Bugui's hand, none of the others suspected anything.
Yi Zhonghai said with a hint of reproach, "You should have told us."
Yan Bugui had already prepared a response: "I was afraid you hadn't gotten up yet and I didn't want to disturb your rest."
I'll leave the lunchbox at home first, then we can talk.
Yi Zhonghai and the others couldn't stop him, so they let Yan Bugui go home first.
Back home, Yan Bugui breathed a sigh of relief, hid the inkstone, and went out again.
A group of people sat together, discussing how to make money, but they were really just talking nonsense.
They only think about how to get others to pay for them, but they don't think about why others should pay for them in the first place.
Yan Bugui also took the opportunity to say, "I plan to pack up the things at home, sell what I can, and try to raise some money for my wife."
Yi Zhonghai was somewhat unhappy.
In his view, selling things to raise money was a wasteful act.
If he has to sell his family's assets to get this done, what will he do if he gets sick and needs to be hospitalized later?
Yi Zhonghai said, "How much stuff do you have to sell? This is just treating the symptoms, not the root cause."
"If we don't do it this way, then what do you suggest?" Yan Bugui retorted.
Yi Zhonghai fell silent.
They had tried every possible method, but none of them worked.
No one will pay to be bossed around for no reason.
In Yi Zhonghai's view, the current social atmosphere is a sign of moral decay.
Yi Zhonghai couldn't come up with a good solution, so he couldn't stop Yan Bugui.
Yan Bugui did indeed sell quite a lot of things.
He and his aunt had been frugal their whole lives; whenever they saw something valuable while out, they would bring it home.
After cleaning up the house, we still managed to sell it for a considerable amount of money.
Yan Bugui didn't tell Yi Zhonghai exactly how many were sold.
Yi Zhonghai didn't think those junk items were worth much money, nor was he in the mood to ask.
He's still dealing with his own troubles and has no interest in caring about Yan Bugui.
Recently, people from Tang Yanling's family have been coming to her every day to collect debts.
Tang Yanling couldn't produce it, so she forced a stick-shaped object.
They couldn't even get the sticks out, so they had to ask Qin Huairu for help.
The only thing Qin Huai could do was to find Yi Zhonghai.
Yi Zhonghai was reluctant to spend the money and wished he could never see Qin Huairu.
Taking advantage of Yi Zhonghai's predicament, Yan Bugui went to Chaoyang Hotel every day.
They were shameless and tried to take advantage of the restaurant.
Liu Lan refused, so he picked up the leftovers from other people's meals.
When He Yuzhu returned, he heard Liu Lan complaining: "I've never seen such a shameless person."
They spend their days squatting in restaurants, trying to steal leftover food from other people's meals.
He also said that if he wasn't allowed to eat those dishes, they would just be thrown away.
There were also a few idiots who came to eat, and feeling sorry for Yan Bugui, they paid for his meal.
He Yuzhu said, "You deserve it. Who told you to invite him to dinner?"
Now you know why I never treat them to meals.
It's because they're like a piece of junk plaster; once it's on, you can't peel it off.
The people in the courtyard houses have no sense of boundaries; to be precise, they have no sense of boundaries with others.
In order to support his retirement, Yi Zhonghai promoted the concept of "neighbors as one family" in the nursing home.
Whether others believe it or not, they treat their neighbors as their own private property.
Especially towards Sha Zhu, they didn't take Sha Zhu seriously at all.
They tricked Sha Zhu into leaving the door open, so he could enter Sha Zhu's room whenever he wanted.
He Yuzhu had already fallen out with them, but they still wouldn't change their bad habit. Why?
Because He Yuzhu has good qualifications.
They were relentlessly trying to find a breakthrough with He Yuzhu.
As soon as an opening is made, even the slightest gap, they will swarm around like flies.
This is why He Yuzhu has the memories of Sha Zhu, which constantly remind him that they are a group of beasts who eat bones and don't spit out the scraps.
That's how we can guard against them.
If it were anyone else, who could keep up with them for decades and prevent them from taking advantage of them?
Liu Lan said, "How was I supposed to know he'd be so shameless? I thought that among the three old men in your courtyard, he, as a teacher, would at least have some sense of shame."
He Yuzhu sneered: "If he had any shame, he wouldn't be associating with Yi Zhonghai."
Of the three, only Liu Haizhong was a little shy.
Liu Haizhong is ruthless and vicious. In terms of ruthlessness, Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu are tied for first place, and Yan Bugui is second.
Liu Lan said, "What can we do now? He comes to the restaurant every day and sits in the lobby. Whenever a table of customers is about to leave, he's the first to rush over and grab the leftovers."
He Yuzhu laughed. Liu Lan was exaggerating. Yan Bugui wasn't that shameless.
He would only go over after the guests had left.
This matter is actually easy to resolve. Just call Xu Damao over and let him take a good look.
Once Xu Damao spread the word, Yan Bugui wouldn't dare come over every day anymore.
But before that, He Yuzhu wanted to take a look at Yan Bugui's antiques.
"Have the photos of the inkstone been developed yet?"
Liu Lan gave the photo to He Yuzhu, who then looked at it carefully.
Judging from its appearance, it dates back to the Qianlong period, but he is still unsure whether it is genuine.
He Yuzhu needed to see the actual item in person to confirm.
Liu Lan then asked, "You mean you want to see him?"
He Yuzhu nodded, then shook his head.
It is possible to meet, but one cannot simply tell Yan Bugui that one wants to see him.
He Yuzhu feared that this was a trap set by Yi Zhonghai and his two companions to lure him in with an antique.
Even if they met, he wouldn't agree to Yi Zhonghai's requests, but it would still be troublesome nonetheless.
"Okay, I'll arrange for someone to do this tomorrow. You can tell him that I'm entrusting this person to help with the identification."
"Who are you looking for?" Liu Lan asked curiously. "Don't mention Xu Damao. Yan Bugui doesn't want Xu Damao to know."
He Yuzhu said, "I'll have Han Bo come over. When you see Yan Bugui tomorrow, tell him to let Han Bo take a look first."
Han Bo is the person who looks after He Yuzhu's antiques. He can be considered an expert in the antique world.
Seeing that He Yuzhu had made all the arrangements, Liu Lan went out.
He Yuzhu made another phone call, asking someone to go to the courtyard to keep an eye on Yi Zhonghai's movements.
Yan Bugui was unaware that He Yuzhu had returned, and he still arrived at Chaoyang Hotel in the morning as usual.
Liu Lan found him: "Yan Bugui, this is a restaurant. Your coming here every day is affecting our business."
Yan Bugui said, "I came to wait for news from He Yuzhu. Once he arrives and we've completed the transaction, I won't come back."
Liu Lan said, "I already told you, he needs to take care of his grandson and won't be coming back."
No matter how valuable your thing is, can it be more valuable than his grandson?
I called him, and he found an expert in this field.
Bring the item over and let the expert take a look.
He'll only come if the experts say it's real.
“I guarantee that what I have is genuine,” Yan Bugui said, dissatisfied.
This is something he has treasured for decades, something he wanted to pass down as a family heirloom. How could he allow others to say it's fake?
Liu Lan said, "Don't tell me. I asked you where the things came from, and you wouldn't tell me."
There's nothing I can do about that.
He Yuzhu couldn't possibly abandon his grandson and run back just because of some worthless thing like you.
If all else fails, you can sell it to someone else.
He has many antiques at home; one more from you won't make a difference.
“This was used by Emperor Qianlong,” Yan Bugui said.
Liu Lan spat, "So what if he was Emperor Qianlong?" (End of Chapter)