Chapter One Hundred Mutual Assistance

  "That's great. Let's talk about it." Yang Jianxiu's face lit up with joy. His thoughts coincided with Ye Zhuo, and he didn't want to cut ties with the Ye family so quickly. Now, taking advantage of buying a house, he can have more contact with the Ye family members, which is exactly what he wants.

  Although Ye Yuqi didn't know what kind of medicine Ye Zhu was selling in his gourd, the starting point was still the same as before, which was to get along with Mr. Yang as much as possible. At this time, seeing Ye Zhu say so, Yang Jianxiu agreed again, and he was overjoyed in his heart, hurriedly saying: "No matter whether Mr. Yang likes the house in Wanjiefang or not, our Ye family has accepted Mr. Yang's great kindness. At noon, at De Yue Lou, I'll invite Mr. Yang to have a small drink, and after dinner, we'll go to Wanjiefang to look at the house, what does Mr. Yang think?"

  "How can I trouble Old Man Ye? It should be me treating you instead." Yang Jianxu said with courtesy.

  The two of them declined for a while and set an appointment for noon before returning to the hall and telling Jiang Lao about their decision.

  When Yang Jianxiu decided to withdraw from the bidding and let Ye Yiqi buy the house, Jiang Lao's face was extremely ugly. But his original bid was 800 taels, now that no one is competing, he can't raise the price again, so he had to make a deal at this price.

  "This... Uncle, didn't you just say that we would let Mr. Yang buy the house? How did it become us buying it now?" Zheng Shi was shocked and anxious. She still thought that Ye Yuqi had secretly given Yang Jianxiu some silver money, and only then did Yang Jianxiu agree to let out the house. If so, didn't the Ye family pay a high price for this house?

  "Mother, it's rare that this house meets our expectations, and Mr. Yang is willing to let it go, so we should naturally buy it." Ye Zhuo said with a smile.

  Yang Jianxiu, although not as handsome as Ye Jiaming, is also dignified in appearance; moreover, he is a scholar, with a refined and elegant demeanor. In terms of both temperament and social status, he surpasses Ye Jiaming. What's more, he has taken a liking to Zheng Shi, although his character is unknown. Whether he wants to marry Zheng Shi as his wife or concubine, they should at least have the opportunity to get to know each other mutually. Who knows if this might be a perfect match?

  "Yes, Manwen, no matter what. Being able to buy the house is a good thing." Guan Shi also said. Seeing Ye Yuqi, Ye Zhuo and Yang Jianxiu return from outside with smiles on their faces, chatting and laughing as they walked, she felt relieved that her worries about offending Yang Jianxiu and bringing trouble to the Ye family had dissipated.

  "Alas, okay." Zheng Manwen saw that things were irretrievable and could only nod in agreement.

  Miss Zheng was not delighted to have won the house for herself, but rather felt a subtle unease, revealing that this woman was not one of those with short-sighted vision who would rejoice at gaining some small advantage.

  After some thought, he said: "Old man Ye and Gong Shuban are relatives by marriage. This is not something that should be said in a lowly position like mine. But since we have the opportunity to meet here, I'll just say what needs to be said - if Old Man Ye has any difficulties with the transfer procedures, just let me know. Although I don't have much ability, I still have some face, and they will take care of it."

  In his mind, Gong's family took Zheng's wife position, and the two can be said to be sworn enemies. Whether Gong is the winner or not, this woman will not have a big heart, especially when it comes to love rivals. So Zheng went to the house, maybe Gong would make things difficult for her. Since he has already belonged to Zheng, he naturally does not allow her to suffer any hardship.

  Ye Yiqi was overjoyed when he heard this and immediately stood up to bow deeply: "If I can get Mr. Yang's help, I will be eternally grateful."

  It turns out that the house was transferred. The one who handled the registration and procedures was Gong Shuban. When the Ye family bought the Yu Zhuo Fang, because the middleman was Du Haoran, Gong Shuban did not dare to make trouble, so he had to hold his nose and handle the procedures. As for Luo Jing Sheng's courtyard being transferred, Luo Jing Sheng was originally a chess piece buried by Tao Changsheng. He mortgaged the courtyard, also under Tao Changsheng's instructions, with the intention of forcing the Ye family to take on debt, until they were forced to sell their property and go bankrupt. When selling their property, Tao Changsheng would buy back the workshop and house at a low price, and then make another profit during the transfer, so the loss of that set of houses was recovered. Therefore, in this transfer section, Ye Yuqi was not made difficult, and he was allowed to handle the transfer procedures smoothly.

  This time, although it was Zheng's family who wanted to buy a house and not Yejia Da Fang, Gong's family also hated Ye Zhuo deeply. Zheng's family wanted to buy a house, and someone from Yejia Da Fang accompanied her, how could the Gong family let go of this opportunity? Not only would they make things difficult, but it was also possible that in the process, they would extort dozens of taels of silver to make up for the losses suffered by the Tao and Gong families in the two previous confrontations. This was what Ye Yuqi worried about most when buying a house.

  Now that Yang Jianxiu has stepped forward, this transfer should go smoothly, right?

  Since everything had been settled, everyone didn't stay in the house for long and set off to the government office to go through the formalities. Since the house was bought by Zheng's family, she naturally had to go there in person. Guan Shi and Ye Zhuo also accompanied her together. Adding Yang Jianxiu and Old Man Jiang, a total of six people took a car to the government office.

  Yang Jianxiu had his own vehicle, and since Ye's family wanted to rent a car, he invited Ye Yuqi and Old Man Jiang to ride in his car. Ye Zhuo and the other two women rented another car.

  Gao came up with a carriage, and Mrs. Guan curiously asked: "Zhuo'er, what did you say in the courtyard? How come Yang Gong suddenly became so easy to talk to?"

  "Mr. Yang is a good man, I told him our difficulties and he immediately understood and handed over the house to us," said Ye Zhuo. Zheng Shi had made up her mind not to marry anyone, and that matter with Niu Lao Ye was still recent, so she naturally wouldn't mention Yang Jian Xiu's thoughts. If Zheng Shi got angry and refused to take the house, turning around and leaving immediately, it would be a disaster.

  "Is that it?"

  "It's like that." Ye Zhuo nodded very affirmatively.

  "It seems I've really met a good person." Guan sighed.

  Ye Zhuo smiled but didn't speak. Whether Yang Jianxu was a good person or not she didn't know, but that he was a kind-hearted person was certain.

  No one knew what kind of identity Yang Jianxiu was, but when he arrived at the government office, everyone he met along the way showed great respect and called him "Mr. Yang". Yang Jianxiu just slightly nodded his head in response.

  "Mr. Yang, how come you have time to visit me today?" A man in his forties with a goatee came out to greet him, bowing and smiling at Yang Jianxu.

  "Haha, Gong Shuban, I have an uncle who wants to buy a house for his niece, and I'm accompanying him to handle the transfer procedures." Yang Jianxiu also returned the courtesy with a bow.

  "Mr. Yang's elders want to buy a house, just send someone to call me and I will go to their door to handle it for them, why bother you to run an errand? Which noble father is it that I should pay respects to..." Gong Shuban said up to this point, his voice suddenly stopped, his eyes staring at Ye Yiqi, then sweeping over Old Man Jiang and Guan Shi and others, his face sinking a bit.

  Yang Jianxiu followed only these few people, which means that one of them was the "uncle" mentioned by Yang Jianxiu. However, Ye Yuxi is Ye Yuzhang's older brother and Ye Jiaming's uncle, so Gong Shuban must have recognized him when he saw him at the time of the marriage between the Gong and Ye families. As for the only remaining male, Jiang Lao, who was dressed as a servant in a green robe and small hat, it is unlikely that he would be Yang Jianxiu's "uncle".

  Yang Jianxiu naturally noticed the unusual expression on Gong Shuban's face, but he didn't say anything until they followed Gong Shuban into his office and sat down. Only then did he point to Ye Yuxi and say: "This is Mr. Ye, I suppose you know him, Gong Shuban? I heard you two are related by marriage. However, what you may not know is that Mr. Ye and my father are old friends. I heard he wants to buy a house, and since I had nothing else to do today, my father specifically asked me to accompany Uncle Ye here."

  "So, Brother Ye and Old Master Yang are old acquaintances? I've never heard you mention it before. Come, sit down and talk." Gong Shuban was a smooth talker, always greasing the wheels in official circles. As soon as he heard Yang Jianxiu's words, his attitude towards Ye Yuxi changed from indifference to extreme warmth. His tone was casual, yet intimate, as if he and Ye Yuxi were really family.

  As for how depressed he was in his heart, only he himself knew. Whether it was the Ye family's main house because of the workshop and Tao Changsheng's conflict, or the Ye family's eldest daughter who had been adopted into the main house and ruined her own daughter's good deeds, he knew them all. So he had secretly sworn that no matter what happened, as long as the Ye family's main house and the Zheng family fell into his hands, they would not die but would be stripped of their skin. However, he did not expect to have to let go of the first two times. Today, after waiting for them to deliver themselves again, they were actually related to this Mr. Yang, and he had to personally accompany him to handle the procedures, forcing himself to put on a smiling face and entertain them warmly, which made him so depressed that he wanted to vomit blood.

  "Thanks to Brother Yang for looking out for me." Ye Yiqi naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to expose Yang Jianxiu's words. However, he knew that his grudge against the Gong and Tao families couldn't be eliminated with just a few words - even if Gong Shuban wanted to eliminate it, he wouldn't agree. So he didn't want to pretend to be close to Gong Shuban either. He simply said this one sentence and then got straight to the point: "I'm helping my niece buy a house today, and I'll have to trouble you, Gong Shuban."

  "Old Jiang, take the documents to Gong Shuban for a look." Yang Jianxiu already knew about the grudges between the Ye and Gong families, especially with this daughter of Gong Shuban who had taken away someone else's husband, Zheng Shi. He didn't want to chat with Gong Shuban anymore, lest it provoke Zheng Shi's dislike towards him. Immediately, he called Old Jiang over, took the documents, and completed the formalities.

  Gong Shuban saw Yang Jianxiu personally helping with the arrangements, where did he dare to have half a bit of trouble? His stomach was extremely uncomfortable, but on his face, he had to pretend to be very enthusiastic. On the one hand, he chatted with Yang Jianxiu and Ye Yiqi, while on the other hand, he quickly handled the procedures. As Ye Yiqi had handled several property transfers before, she was very familiar with the process, so she immediately called Zheng Shi over and had her press a few fingerprints. The silver and handling fees were also paid in full on the spot. Before long, the new house deed with the large red official seal was in his hands.

  "Today Gong Shu has been busy with official duties. We won't disturb you, farewell." Yang Jianxu saw that the matter had been settled and immediately bid farewell.

  "It's none of my business, it's none of my business." Gong Shubao stood up with a smile and personally sent the few people out the door. Only then did he return to the house, sit down, and call for someone to bring him a cup of cold tea, which he drank in one gulp.

  "Master, should we tell Miss about this matter today?" asked the servant who was pouring tea.

  Gong Shuban remained silent for a long time before saying, "Mm, you go talk to her."

  "Yes." Then the servant immediately called another little servant to serve and himself went out of the door and got on his horse.