Chapter 219: Chapter 206: Father and Son Showdown, Part 1
"When I was handling your promotion approval, what did I say? You can check for yourself. This house transaction was fully entrusted to someone else. As for the talk about grabbing the house, I advise you, elder brother, to think it through before you speak."
Su Chengji lost his patience, his face cold as ice. It was evident that over this trivial matter, the couple had already wasted considerable time.
Bai Sixian listened from the side, feeling that something was amiss...
This promotion approval and house purchase all happened earlier in the year, so why come now to settle accounts?
"As for you wanting to buy back the fields that you had sold to my elder brother, that’s out of the question."
Bai Sixian raised an eyebrow, undoubtedly, there was another twist.
"Buy back? Why?"
She couldn’t help but ask.
Zhou Wenxiu immediately said, "Those fields belong to Dad. Jianyi and I thought about it and decided it shouldn’t have been sold."
Bai Sixian couldn’t help but laugh. This couple was truly amusing... Her beautiful, noble face instantly turned cold. "Zhou Wenxiu, those fields were already given to Su Chenggong by Third Uncle. You initially insisted that my elder brother snatched your land and made him pay for it, and now... you’re back again?"
"Bai Sixian, this is a Su Family matter. What right do you have to speak as an outsider?"
"Haha, Sister-in-law Wenxiu, aren’t you an outsider too?"
"You—"
"Ran out of money? Planning to shake down my brother again?"
"We don’t want money. We just want the fields back!"
"You want it, so we should just give it?"
Su Jianyi actually knew they were in the wrong. He had recently gone to Su Chenggong’s house, and as soon as he opened his mouth, their family chased him out with farm tools.
He initially didn’t want to seek out Su Jianyi, but after discussing with Zhou Wenxiu, he thought that the only person they might be able to talk sense into was still Su Chengji.
The original plan was to come and have a proper talk with Su Chengji, even if it meant compensating a little more financially. But unexpectedly, when they went to Su Chengji’s house, the door opened to a stranger couple.
It turned out that Su Chengji had bought a house in a villa district, and by checking the address, they came only to find, by bad luck, it was the very house they had been running around over for a long time but was ultimately snatched away from them before the end of the year.
This left Su Jianyi and Zhou Wenxiu momentarily stunned.
To say that Su Chengji and Bai Sixian weren’t deliberately opposing them, they couldn’t believe it.
With all these matters piling up, Su Jianyi no longer felt himself in the wrong. When it came to asking for the fields, he was assertive.
"Of course you can refuse, but Chengji, your whole family is indeed too sly. If soft tactics don’t work, we’ll take a hard stance."
Su Jianyi took a deep breath. "Earlier this year’s approval might not have passed, but I carry weight in the municipal government. If the state intervenes, can your brother still refuse?"
"If the state intervenes, that’s for the state. You won’t benefit either."
Bai Sixian looked at the nearly fifty-year-old man in front of her, with his big belly and round face, dressed entirely properly.
"Then what?"
Su Jianyi snorted.
Bai Sixian understood her meaning, suggesting... rather be broken jade than intact tiles.
"Letting the state extend a hand to demand fields from a common citizen... It turns out that the small secretary-general in the municipal government’s office holds such power now."
Yin Shixiu came down from upstairs, hands in his pants pockets, unhurriedly.
Su Jianyi looked up to meet Yin Shixiu’s gaze...
"Mr. Su, if these words reached the municipal government, I wonder what would happen."
Su Jianyi till now hadn’t even remembered Yin Shixiu’s name, just knowing that Su Xiaomeng married a big boss from Beijing.
But even as a big boss, in Su Jianyi’s eyes, he was just a boss with poor judgment...
He even privately speculated with his wife that Yin Shixiu might just be a newly rich parvenu, as nowadays, they all call themselves big bosses.
"So what if it gets out? Chengji and Sixian, manage your son-in-law and teach him how to talk to his elders."
Su Jianyi’s voice turned cold. "I’ve already been quite generous to your family. If I really wanted to mess with you all, I have plenty of ways to do it."
"Su Jianyi, don’t think you’re all that just because you’re a secretary-general!"
"Of course I am all that!"
Su Jianyi’s voice deepened. "Unlike you, who spent their whole life tending a flower shop, tightly controlled by a woman. You’d obviously say I’m not that impressive, because I have power and status, which you lack."
"May I say something fair."
Yin Shixiu yawned and said, "Having power and influence is indeed quite impressive."
Su Jianyi let out a soft snort, giving Yin Shixiu a glance. Clearly, his words had pleased him.
"As expected of a businessman, knowing the times."
Yin Shixiu first looked at Su Chengji and Bai Sixian, then spoke slowly, "If they want it, then just give it to them."
With these words, Su Chengji became a bit anxious. When it came to things involving himself, he couldn’t always balance the pros and cons, but when it hit his brother, it was a whole different story.
Bai Sixian knew Yin Shixiu wasn’t someone who would take a loss, and that he hadn’t finished his point. Seeing Su Chengji a bit impatient, she pulled him aside, signaling him not to speak.
Su Jianyi and Zhou Wenxiu both focused their gaze on Yin Shixiu at this moment...
Only to hear Yin Shixiu slowly say, "Even though it’s just a secretary-general, that’s still someone with influence in the municipal government. Civilians fighting officials... isn’t that like moths to a flame? In this day and age, those with power can always bend the truth a little more their way, Mr. Su, am I right?"
There was no shortage of sarcasm in his words, yet it posed a very realistic question.
Su Jianyi was on the losing side today. At this point, he couldn’t keep pretending to be clean and upright, so he said plainly, "If everyone understood this principle, wouldn’t things be easier to resolve?"
"If Mr. Su had revealed earlier that you were a secretary-general in the city government office, instead of calling everyone brothers and relatives, we would have been much wiser."
Su Jianyi was choked up by these words, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"Since both Mr. Su and your wife are here, I have to clarify something on behalf of Dad regarding the house purchase."
"I was the one who picked out the house. I knew someone had placed a deposit on it, but I didn’t investigate who. If I’d known it was the secretary-general, perhaps I wouldn’t have just paid such a small penalty fee."
"Hmph, at least you have sense."
Zhou Wenxiu found these words quite pleasing to the ear, but this was purely the petty viewpoint of a woman. Su Jianyi was so angry that his face turned pale, yet he couldn’t lose his temper.
Over there, Su Chengji didn’t understand, but Bai Sixian inwardly chuckled.
The implication of Yin Shixiu’s words was that even if he knew you were the secretary-general, unfortunately, since he liked the house, he would have snatched it up regardless. It would just mean throwing more money at the problem, to show that there’s wealth and power here too.
"It’s getting late, and the fields after all don’t belong to my father-in-law and mother-in-law, so they can’t make this decision. You’ll have to give them some time to discuss this with the elder uncle."
"Powerful people always manage to gain the upper hand. We’ll remember the lesson today’s secretary-general taught us all."
Su Jianyi took a deep breath, "Chengji, your son-in-law understands things better than you. Wenxiu and I will head back first. Please discuss everything clearly with Su Chenggong’s family, the price will still be paid by me."
"Wait a minute."
Yin Shixiu hurriedly called out as he saw Su Jianyi and Zhou Wenxiu about to leave.
"Is there something else?"
Yin Shixiu pointed at the carpet in front of them covered in vase shards, "Mr. Su wouldn’t mind cleaning up the vase your wife broke, right?"
Zhou Wenxiu’s face stiffened. She just said he had sense, and now...
"Mrs. Su, don’t look at me like that. Let’s be clear, the vase was broken by you. But since you are the wife of the secretary-general, I’d be embarrassed to make you pay for it. Just take the carpet out along with it and throw it far enough away, so no one gets hurt."
"How much, I’ll pay."
"Are you sure?"
"Quit the nonsense, how much!"
Zhou Wenxiu thought, how much could such a vase possibly be worth, and snorted.
"One hundred and twenty thousand."
After Yin Shixiu said this, he didn’t bother with Zhou Wenxiu’s stunned expression but instead bent down and carefully picked up a piece of the vase bottom with a stamp...
Before Zhou Wenxiu could speak, he handed it to her, "As the wife of the secretary-general, you surely deal with high society regularly, you should recognize this porcelain vase from Jingdezhen, right?"
Over there, Su Chengji swallowed, looking as if he had something to say but couldn’t. Bai Sixian quickly realized what was going on and tugged at Su Chengji, signaling him not to speak.
Zhou Wenxiu wanted to accuse Yin Shixiu of extortion, but since he had already flattered her, she couldn’t lose face.
Keep arguing with him, or... bend down and pick the pieces up.
"Wenxiu, since you broke the vase, help Chengji and Sixian clean up, it’s only right."
With Su Jianyi saying this, Zhou Wenxiu had a step down, and so she bent down, wrapped the vase shards in the carpet, and took them out altogether.
Yin Shixiu went over to close the door.
Bai Sixian brought over a vacuum cleaner, fearing there might still be some tiny glass shards.
Su Chengji walked over to Yin Shixiu, looking a bit embarrassed, "Xiao Yin, that vase... that vase is actually a fake. It’s not from Jingdezhen, I just bought it as a decoration..."
Bai Sixian suddenly laughed... Yin Shixiu cleared his throat and then gently said to Su Chengji, "Dad, I know."
Su Chengji was stunned for a moment. Yin Shixiu quietly went upstairs, and after a long while, his ears turned red.
Bai Sixian pulled him to sit on the sofa, "What time did they come?"
"A little after three, arguing about the same old things until now."
"Look how capable your son-in-law is, getting them to leave with just a few words."
At this point, Su Chengji hurriedly asked, "Xiao Yin doesn’t really intend to make the elder uncle return the fields, does he?"
"Don’t you know your son-in-law? Is he someone who suffers a loss?"
Bai Sixian yawned and leaned on her husband, "If he didn’t know about this matter, then so be it, but since he knows, he won’t just ignore it."
"... How does he plan to resolve it, then?"
"You don’t need to worry about that."
"... Sixian, won’t this be too much trouble for Xiao Yin? After all..."
"He’s got plenty of time on his hands."
Bai Sixian said this, thinking that since he had the time to poke at Su Jianyi’s sore spot and fight over the house with him... how could he not have time to settle this matter?