Chapter 26 of Volume 1: I'll drive away the flowers and butterflies for you

  Xiong Dailing didn't return from Meixi Town until dusk, and she was covered in sweat on her forehead, her face red and panting. As soon as she got home, she angrily complained: "As soon as I got off the bus, I met a pervert who drove a small car and followed me all the way. He even parked his car outside after seeing me enter the building..."

  Shen Hua raised his head.

  Although only nineteen years old, Xiong Dailing has also grown up, wearing a light yellow shirt, her slender figure looks tall and straight; her face is sweet and beautiful, with a transparent white complexion, red lips and white teeth, her temperament is not damaged at all by her current flustered appearance, but instead, she bites her lip in distress, her eyes revealing a helpless resentment, looking especially lovely.

  Xiong Wenbin's home was just above the gate of the tube building, Shen Huai looked out the window and saw a black car parked on the street corner that hadn't left, no one could be seen, probably sitting in the car, thinking Xiong Dailing had only entered the building to avoid him, planning to block the door and intercept people.

  Shen Huai smiled and pointed to the flower pot on the windowsill, saying to Xiong Dailing: "The best way to deal with this kind of person is to pick up a flower pot and smash it down, immediately quiet..."

  Xiong Dailing didn't dare be so presumptuous, stuck out her tongue and looked at her dad: "Want to pour a basin of water down?"

  Bai Su Mei was so angry with Dengzi for bothering her daughter that she couldn't let it go even in broad daylight, what would happen if they met at night?

  Bai Su Mei was about to continue her theory, and scold that good-for-nothing away. Shen Huai stood up, picked up a flower pot from the windowsill, raised his hand and smashed it onto the roof of the car. Without looking at the effect, he withdrew his head and casually closed the window. He smiled at Xiong Wenbin and said: "Let's continue playing chess..."

  The people in the house were startled by a loud "bang" and jumped in fright. Who would have thought that Shen Huan would smash it without fear of hitting anyone? The sound was so loud that the car must have been smashed badly...

  In a little while, the sound of scolding came from outside: "Who the hell doesn't open their eyes, who the hell smashed the flower pot, whose eyes are on their ass, and who dares to smash my car. Do you know who I am? Whoever doesn't come out, I'll make them look good..."

  Zhao Dong and the others were uneasy in their hearts, and they didn't dare to look at the car's condition: a sedan costs tens of thousands of yuan, and if it was damaged, they couldn't afford to compensate. But Shen Hua sat there as if nothing had happened, moving his chess pieces. Xiong Wenbin's eyes jumped, but seeing Shen Hua's calm demeanor, he also pretended that nothing had happened and continued playing chess.

  Outside, the curses continued unabated, getting more and more unpleasant, until finally they were left gasping for breath, threatening to burn down the building.

  As soon as the words came out, after a while, there was another "bang" outside, and it was unknown who smashed something down. Then, the little boy who cursed hurriedly shouted and dodged away.

  Shen Hua smiled, turned his head and said to Zhao Dong, Xiong Dailin and Xiao Mingxia who had been holding back for a long time: "This kid is really blind, threatening to burn the municipal government's dormitory building, isn't this asking for trouble? Now he has provoked public outrage, you can open the window and throw a few eggs down with peace of mind, join in the fun!"

  Xiong Dailing got excited, really wanted to find eggs for her mother, but was stopped by her mother's hand, and wasn't allowed to poke her head out to take a look, fearing that someone would recognize the room.

  Bai Su Mei still had some worries and said: "If they come looking for us, what can we do?"

  Xiong Wenbin glanced at Shen Huai, who was calm and composed, and thought to himself: He's really a bold troublemaker, and he's also good at stirring up trouble. With this dragon stirring up the muddy waters of Donghua, it's hard to say whether it's a blessing or a curse.

  Xiong Wenbin still worried when he saw his old companion, saying: "Nothing's wrong, the municipal government dormitory building is not so easy to bully, just because of his threat to burn down the building, even if the police come, they will only tell him to leave without making a scene. Since the reform and opening up, there are more and more rich people, and the social atmosphere is getting more and more evil, but this world is still under the Communist Party's rule, who can turn the world upside down?"

  Municipal government agency dormitories are home to many young unmarried people who have just started working.

  Don't look at these young people who have just entered the municipal government agencies, their ranks seem not high, but each one is proud and arrogant, when are they afraid of getting into trouble, when are they afraid that things will get out of hand?

  It's those old cadres who gave "forgetfulness" here, they are not the masters of being bullied, can be threatened to burn the building and still don't make a sound?

  As soon as Xiong Wenbin finished speaking, he heard many people in the entire building opening their windows and scolding loudly at him. Some were cursing loudly, while others were smashing things: "You damn thing, if you have the guts, send someone to burn down the building! If I don't die, my surname will be written backwards... Don't even ask if this is a place where you can cause trouble..."

  After a while, the yelling kid probably knew that he had picked the wrong place to cause trouble and tangled with the wrong person, so he could only slink away in his miserable-looking car.

  Bai Su Mei shook her head and sighed, "Young people these days!" She didn't know whether she was referring to the young man who had been bothering her daughter or Shen Huan, who had recklessly smashed the flower pot.

  Xiong Dailing was a little scared, but more excited. When encountering such things, it's best to smash a flower pot to solve the problem; her small face was excited and red, exceptionally radiant, and her good impression of Shen Hua also increased greatly.

  Shen Huai originally wanted to ask about Xiao Li's situation in a roundabout way, so he chatted with her for a few more sentences, teasing her until she burst out laughing.

  "Dai Ling, come and help me pick vegetables." Bai Su Mei was even more vigilant towards Shen Huai, staring at the living room, and as soon as she saw something not quite right, she would call Xiong Dai into the narrow kitchen, not giving Shen Huai a chance to flirt.

  Shen Huai was speechless, his mind elsewhere as he played chess, but his ears perked up to listen to Xiong Dailing and her mother talking about going to Mei Xi Town in the kitchen. Xiao Li's situation wasn't bad, Chen Dan had been by her side all these days, not even returning home once, telling Shen Huai not to worry too much.

  Zhao Dong was also secretly tongue-tied, although he saw Shen Hui take action against Zhou Dàmòu at the municipal steel factory, but before that, Shen Hui had relied on Chen Mingde's backing. Now it seems that Shen Hui is simply a master who doesn't fear causing trouble.

  Xiong Dailing pulled her mother into the kitchen, still excited about what had just happened, chattering non-stop. Then she heard her say to Zhao Dong's fiancée Xiao Mingxia: "I think Zhao Dong should learn from Shen Secretary, they live together and don't care if your parents disagree, they just went ahead and got their certificate... see what your parents have to say about that..."

  Hearing Xiao Mingxia's sighs in the kitchen, Shen Hua asked Zhao Dong: "What's wrong with you two? You're getting married soon, and you're still sighing..."

  Xiong Wenbin was also quite concerned about Zhao Dong's marriage, picking up the chess piece and putting it down again, waiting for Zhao Dong to explain what was going on.

  "Mingxia's mother didn't say she disagreed, but insisted that the wedding must have a dowry of 680,000. She also said they don't want a single cent of this money, just to give it to Mingxia as spending money, and that they just don't want to see Mingxia suffer after marrying me. And she's afraid that Mingxia will help me cheat her, so she must see the money before agreeing to the marriage." Zhao Dong furrowed his brow so much that water could be squeezed out of it.

  Zhao Dong is the head of the technical department of the municipal steel plant, but in the past three or four years, the plant's efficiency has plummeted, and his income is only slightly better than that of an ordinary worker.

  Xiao Mingxia herself was a flower of the municipal steel plant, with a beautiful appearance. Her mother was an obstetrician at the Municipal People's Hospital, and her father was a mid-level cadre in the Tangzhai District Construction Bureau. The family conditions were considered good in Donghua City, and her parents looked down on Zhao Dong from the bottom of their hearts.

  Zhao Dong is also from a rural area and has no family background. The 680,000 yuan dowry is a huge burden for him, and he will probably need eight or nine years to save up for it. In short, Xiao Mingxia's parents do not agree with their daughter marrying Zhao Dong and want to use the high dowry as an excuse to break them up, hoping that their daughter can marry into a better family.

  "It's that much?! Then it seems my mom sold my sister off too cheaply..." Xiong Dailing stood at the kitchen door peeling garlic, and upon hearing Zhao Dong mention the amount of betrothal gifts, she was tongue-tied.

  "Who sold out cheaper?" At this time, a pretty face poked in from outside the door. It was Xiong Wenbin's eldest daughter, Xiong Danni. She walked in, carrying a plastic bag.

  After marrying, Xiong Danni was rarely seen by Shen Huai. He thought that after not seeing her for half a year, her new married life had made the previously slender her plumper; although her face wasn't as pretty and sweet as Dai Ling's, she was still a rare beautiful young woman.

  "Sister!" Xiong Dailing excitedly ran over, "What about Zhao Dong and Mingxia's marriage?" Her little mouth quickly told the story of Zhao Dong's predicament, and then said, "But it would be letting brother-in-law take advantage of us. If I had known earlier, I would have definitely made him wrap a big red envelope before giving you to him..."

  Shen Hua saw Zhou Ming and Yang Haipeng, so he followed behind them. As it was their "first" meeting, he politely stood up, shook hands with Zhou Ming and Yang Haipeng, and asked Zhao Dong to introduce them.

  "Hey, what's going on outside? Is something wrong?" Xiong Danni put down the things she brought and asked what had just happened. The entrance of Tongzi Building was messy with a pile of garbage.

  At this, Xiong Daling became excited again, her bright red lips moving quickly as she told the story from start to finish, until finally she couldn't help but bury her face in her sister's chest and burst out laughing.

  "You guys are really something..." Bear Dani didn't say it was good or bad.

  Shen Huai knew that Dai Ling's sister had a steady personality, and could even be said to be afraid of causing trouble, unlike Xiong Dai Ling's wild temperament. She was always worried about such things, and would often just laugh them off.

  Xiong Wenbin's eldest son-in-law, Zhou Ming, was called "Xiucai" in the municipal steel plant in his early years. He also didn't seem to appreciate Shen Hua's style and had a relatively cold attitude. He only asked about Zhao Dong's marriage with concern, but didn't get along well with Shen Hua.

  Shen Huai thought that he might also know that he had a big fight with Zhou Dazui at the municipal steel plant, offended Ge Yongqiu, and relied on Chen Mingde to turn over.

  Zhou Ming is a utilitarian person who clearly distinguishes between people who are useful and useless to him.

  Shen Huai was also aware of Zhou Ming's self-interest and didn't take it to heart, thinking that there would be plenty of opportunities for him to fawn over her in the future.

  Yang Haipeng, on the other hand, is a straightforward person who can't tolerate nonsense. If he were present earlier, he wouldn't have smashed the flower pot. Although his car was damaged and he couldn't afford to compensate for it, he would definitely stand up for himself and chase the person away. At this moment, he is very enthusiastic about Shen Hua, admiring his actions, and after just a few words, he considers Shen Hua as a kindred spirit, even more easily getting along with him than Zhao Dong.