Siheyuan: Start with a big car

"Ten dollars!"

"Hmph, Liu Guangtian, don't go too far. I can only give you ten dollars now, it's up to you whether you want it or not." Yan Jiecheng tried to be tough.

When Liu Guangtian heard this, his eyes widened: "Ten yuan? Are you sending away a beggar? We agreed on a hundred yuan before, not a penny less."

Yan Jiecheng sneered: "Don't you see what the situation is now? I don't have that much money. If you know what's good for you, take this ten yuan and leave. Otherwise, you won't get a penny."

Liu Guangtian also got angry: "Yan Jiecheng, do you think I'm a three-year-old child? I almost got discovered for this information and took such a big risk. You want to cheat? No way!"

The two men were stuck at the street corner, neither of them giving in, and the atmosphere was so tense that it seemed like a fight could break out at any moment.

Liu Guangtian gritted his teeth, a hint of helplessness flashed in his eyes, but he finally chose to give in. He knew very well that this information was indeed as Yan Jiecheng said, and it had no value to him except to sell it to Yan Jiecheng. If he kept it in his hands, it would just be a pile of waste paper, and it might also bring him trouble.

He took the ten yuan from Yan Jiecheng reluctantly, counted it, and then glared at Yan Jiecheng fiercely, with a warning in his tone: "Yan Jiecheng, I'll take these ten yuan this time, I think you're ruthless. But don't think you can get away with it like this, you have to give me the remaining ninety yuan quickly, otherwise I will never let you go."

Yan Jiecheng raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a smug smile: "I know, I know, I will give you the money after I have processed the information. Don't worry, I, Yan Jiecheng, keep my word." He said this, but in his heart he was thinking about how to get rid of Liu Guangtian and evade the remaining money.

Liu Guangtian snorted and handed the information to Yan Jiecheng: "You'd better do this and don't play tricks." After saying that, he turned and left.
...

Liu Guangtian dragged his tired and somewhat irritable body back home. As soon as he entered the door, Zhang Xiuhua came up to him with an anxious look on her face. Her eyes were shining with anticipation. She grabbed Liu Guangtian's arm and asked impatiently, "How is it? Did you steal the information? Did you get the money?"

Liu Guangtian frowned, shook off Zhang Xiuhua's hand, and said unhappily, "I got it, but only ten yuan. Yan Jiecheng was too cunning and only gave me this much."

Zhang Xiuhua's eyes widened when she heard this, her face full of disbelief: "What? Only ten yuan? Didn't you agree on a hundred yuan? This won't do. We can't just let it go like this."

Liu Guangtian sat down on the chair and rubbed his temples: "What can I do? Now the information is in his hands. If I don't accept the ten yuan first, I won't even have these ten yuan. But I have already warned him to give me the remaining ninety yuan quickly."

Zhang Xiuhua paced back and forth in the room, frowning: "Do you trust him so much? People like him might just want to default on their debt. No, we have to find a way to get the money back. That's what we deserve."

Liu Guangtian sighed helplessly: "I know, I will find a way. Stop nagging here, it's so annoying."

Zhang Xiuhua looked at Liu Guangtian's tired and irritated face, and knew that it was useless to complain now, so she could only give up for the time being. She rolled her eyes and thought of an idea, so she said to Liu Guangtian: "We have earned ten yuan today, why don't we go to the tavern for dinner? It's been a while since we've had a better meal."

When Liu Guangtian heard this, his brows furrowed even more. He looked at Zhang Xiuhua with some dissatisfaction: "Go to a tavern? That's too expensive! I have to spend these ten dollars sparingly. Who knows when Yan Jiecheng will give me the rest of the money."

Zhang Xiuhua curled her lips and said, "Just eat this once. We've all been so busy lately, and you took such a big risk today."

Liu Guangtian still shook his head firmly: "No, this money can't be spent carelessly. We can just eat something at home, and after we get the 90 yuan, we can consider going to the tavern."

Zhang Xiuhua got angry when she heard Liu Guangtian's answer. Yan Jiecheng's usual generous appearance suddenly appeared in her mind. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that Liu Guangtian was too stingy. So, she couldn't help but complain: "Look at you, you don't look like a man at all. Look at Yan Jiecheng, how generous he is, unlike you who is so stingy and timid for ten yuan."

Liu Guangtian was annoyed by Zhang Xiuhua's quarrels. He knew that if he didn't agree, the quarrel would never end. He had no choice but to nod and agree to take her to the tavern.

Zhang Xiuhua's face immediately lit up with joy, as if she had received the most beloved gift. She happily ran into the house, rummaged through the simple wardrobe, and picked out a piece of clothing that she thought was the best to put on. Although the clothing was a little old, in her eyes, it was the proper clothing to wear when going to a tavern for dinner.

The two walked out of the house and just as they came to the yard, they ran into Grandpa Chen who was taking a walk. Grandpa Chen saw them and greeted them with a smile: "Where are you two going?"

Zhang Xiuhua was full of pride and couldn't wait to show off: "Uncle Chen, we are going to the tavern to eat. We have to have a good meal today." Her tone was full of pride.

Uncle Chen frowned slightly, with a puzzled look in his eyes. He knew that Liu Guangtian only earned a small salary every month and usually lived a tight life. How did he suddenly have money to spend in a tavern? This was not like their usual style.

As the uncle in charge of the compound, Uncle Chen felt that it was his responsibility to clarify the matter. He stopped, his eyes became serious, stared at Zhang Xiuhua and asked: "Where did you get the money? Did you do anything shady?"

When asked by Uncle Chen, Zhang Xiuhua's smile froze. She looked at Liu Guangtian nervously, not knowing how to answer. Liu Guangtian's heart skipped a beat. He didn't expect Uncle Chen to ask this question, and he was a little at a loss for a moment. But he quickly reacted and stammered, "Uncle Chen... Uncle Chen, we just saved some money recently and wanted to improve our food. We didn't... didn't do anything bad."

Uncle Chen was not so easy to fool. He examined Liu Guangtian's expression and felt that things were not that simple. "Really? Don't lie. If I find any problems, don't blame me for being rude."

Liu Guangtian felt a chill on his back. He tried to calm himself down and said, "Sir, it's true. We didn't lie."

Zhang Xiuhua's mind raced, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she put on a smile again and said, "Uncle Chen, it's like this. Guangtian has a friend who recently made a small fortune and insisted on treating us to a meal. We refused for a long time, but couldn't refuse anymore, so we went to the pub." When Liu Guangtian heard Zhang Xiuhua's answer, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed, "Yes, uncle, we didn't want to go, but our friend was so enthusiastic, it would be bad to not go." He tried to make his expression look more natural, but he was still a little nervous, afraid that Uncle Chen would see through him.

After listening to their explanation, the suspicion on Uncle Chen's face did not completely disappear. He looked at Liu Guangtian, then at Zhang Xiuhua, and said, "So that's how it is. But you should also be careful not to make friends with people of questionable character. Society is very complicated now."

Liu Guangtian and Zhang Xiuhua nodded and said, "I know, sir, we know what's going on." Then they left the yard and headed for the tavern. Along the way, Liu Guangtian complained to Zhang Xiuhua in a low voice, "How can you make up a random excuse? If you find out later, we'll be in trouble."

Zhang Xiuhua said nonchalantly: "What can we do? Should we tell him about the theft of the information? Let's just deal with it first." Liu Guangtian sighed helplessly, hoping that the matter would not be exposed.

While Liu Guangtian and Zhang Xiuhua were enjoying a rare dinner in the tavern, Yan Jiecheng also hurriedly finished his dinner at home and left the courtyard.

Yan Jiecheng hurried along and arrived at the gate of a large compound. The compound looked quite impressive, and the security officer at the gate stood at his post with a straight figure and a serious face.

Yan Jiecheng calmed himself down, tried to put on a flattering smile, and ran to the security officer. He bowed slightly and said in a very polite tone: "Comrade, hello!" The security officer just glanced at him coldly without responding, his eyes full of scrutiny.

Yan Jiecheng was a little embarrassed, but he still continued: "Comrade, I have a favor to trouble you. I'm here to look for Zhang Li. She is in the courtyard, right? I have something very, very important to tell her. It's really urgent. Can you help me call her out?" As he spoke, he took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and tried to pass it to the security officer.

The security officer frowned, gently pushed away Yan Jiecheng's hand that was offering him a cigarette, and said stiffly, "No smoking here. What's your relationship with Zhang Li? Why are you looking for her so late at night?"

Yan Jiecheng quickly put away the cigarette and explained with a smile: "Comrade, I am her friend, we have an appointment, and it is really urgent. Please help me call her, if I delay, I can't afford it." As he spoke, he shook the bag containing information in his hand, as if he wanted to use this to prove that what he said was true.

The security officer looked at Yan Jiecheng, then at the bag in his hand, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Then you wait here, I'll go take a look." After that, he turned and walked into the compound.

Yan Jiecheng stood there, looking at the security officer's back and wiping the sweat off his forehead.
After a while, Zhang Li came out with disheveled hair and an impatient look on her face.

"Yan Jiecheng, what are you doing? It's so late and I'm ready to go to bed." Zhang Li complained, with obvious dissatisfaction in her tone.

Yan Jiecheng didn't care about her complaints at all. His face flushed with excitement and his eyes sparkled. He couldn't wait to wave the information in front of Zhang Li: "Look, I got the information about new energy vehicles!"

Zhang Li's lazy eyes suddenly became sharp, and she was much more energetic. She looked around vigilantly and whispered, "Keep your voice down. It would be bad if someone found out about this." After that, she took Yan Jiecheng's arm and walked quickly into the dim alley next to the compound.

The alley was extremely quiet, with only the sound of their hurried footsteps. Zhang Li looked around nervously, and after making sure that no one was around, she said to Yan Jiecheng, "Quick, let me see the information."

Zhang Li took the information bag, opened it impatiently, and quickly browsed through it in the dim light. After just two glances, her face became as gloomy as a dark cloud covering the sun, and the original expectation in her eyes was instantly replaced by anger and disappointment.

Yan Jiecheng watched this closely and had a bad feeling in his heart. His excitement suddenly disappeared. He came forward and asked with a puzzled look on his face, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with this information?"

Zhang Li glared at Yan Jiecheng fiercely and said in a cold tone: "Look at what you have done! Among these materials, only the top one has the words "new energy vehicle" written on it. The rest is all waste information and does not contain the core content we want. Were you deceived? Or did you not check it carefully at all?"

Yan Jiecheng's eyes widened when he heard this. He grabbed the information and quickly flipped through it. As pages of old information flashed before his eyes, his face became uglier and uglier. He couldn't believe his eyes and kept muttering, "Impossible, how is this possible? Liu Guangtian said that there was no problem with the information..."

Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and his mind was in a mess.

Zhang Li was so angry that she was shaking all over, her eyes were burning with rage. She pointed at Yan Jiecheng's nose and shouted angrily: "Yan Jiecheng, you are such a loser! You can't even handle such a small matter. I must have been blind to believe that you could handle it. I patted my chest and spoke well of you in front of my father before, saying that you are capable and worthy of trust, just to let you enter the factory as a leader, and you brought me this garbage?"

Yan Jiecheng was filled with shame, with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. He lowered his head, not daring to look Zhang Li in the eye. When he heard Zhang Li mention that he should be a leader, he became even more flustered, knowing that this mistake might have cost him a great opportunity.

"Zhang Li, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I was too careless." Yan Jiecheng said in a trembling voice, "Give me another chance, I will definitely get the real information and will never let you down again. I swear, this time I will handle all the details well, no matter what method I use, I will get the information on new energy vehicles."

Although Zhang Li was furious, she knew that Yan Jiecheng was still indispensable in this matter. The plan had already started, and many links needed to be cleared by Yan Jiecheng. Changing him now would not only be too late, but it might also cause more trouble. She took a deep breath and tried to suppress her anger, but there was still a strong sense of dissatisfaction in her eyes.

"Yan Jiecheng, I'm letting you go this time, not because I trust you, but because the current situation still requires your continued participation." Zhang Li said coldly, her eyes like a sharp knife, piercing straight at Yan Jiecheng, "You'd better pay attention to me and don't make any more mistakes. If you can't get the real information, don't come to see me again, and don't expect me to speak for you in front of my father. All the agreements between us will come to nothing, so you should weigh it carefully."

Yan Jiecheng felt relieved.

Watching Zhang Li leave, Yan Jiecheng gritted his teeth and said, "Liu Guangtian, you dare to hurt me!" (End of this chapter)