My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 346: Zhang Lei Designs the Qing Dynasty Clothing

He Daqing said, "Of course. Actually, even if I hadn't come to find you today, I would have been thinking of going to find my old friends and taking advantage of them."

Zhang Lei quickly stopped him, saying, "Uncle He, please don't! If you do this, you're giving others leverage over you. If this gets exposed in the future, you'll suffer a great loss."

Hearing Zhang Lei's words, He Daqing nodded and said, "Yes, that's why I thought of you."

Zhang Lei looked at He Daqing and said with a smile, "Uncle He, since they've set up a scheme against your family, why don't you set one for them?"

Hearing Zhang Lei's words, He Daqing said, "Zhang Lei, tell me quickly, what should we do?"

Zhang Lei said with a smile, "Uncle He, don't rush. You need to analyze the characters clearly first. What exactly do they care about?"

Upon hearing what he cared about, He Daqing thought for a moment and said, "Liu Haizhong is always thinking about becoming an official, so he must care most about the position of a senior official."

Zhang Lei smiled and said, "Isn't that right? That's the way to start."

Then He Daqing said, still somewhat puzzled, "Yan Fugui cares most about money. I can't possibly have someone steal his money, can I?"

Zhang Lei shook his head and said, "That definitely won't do. Yan Fugui's personality is such that he'd taste the saltiness of the manure cart if it passed by his door, and he considers it a loss if he doesn't pick up money every day. We definitely can't do anything illegal."

He Daqing asked, "Then what should we do?"

Zhang Lei said, "Uncle He, don't worry, there's still one person left."

He Daqing remembered Xu Damao and said, "Xu Damao? What does he care about most? His job?"

Zhang Lei shook his head and asked, "Uncle He, how is Xu Damao's reputation these days?"

He Daqing thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "It's definitely not good; he has a criminal record."

Zhang Lei nodded and said, "People like this care most about their reputation."

Hearing this, He Daqing was even more confused and said, "Zhang Lei, the three of them care about different things. We can't deal with them one by one, can we?"

Zhang Lei laughed and said, "How could that be? Dealing with them one by one is too troublesome, and there's no guarantee of success."

Hearing Zhang Lei say this, He Daqing said, "Zhang Lei, stop keeping me in suspense and just tell me. I'm begging you."

Seeing He Daqing's expression, Zhang Lei said with a smile, "Uncle He, this amount of food isn't enough."

He Daqing said with a smile, "You."

Then he shouted directly to the boss, "Give me a pork knuckle!"

He Daqing smiled and said, "Is this alright?"

Zhang Lei said with a smile, "Uncle He, listen to me. Since Liu Haizhong cares about his position as a senior official, Yan Fugui cares about money, and Xu Damao cares about his reputation—or more precisely, Xu Damao cares about the chance to salvage his reputation—then let's create such an opportunity for him."

He Daqing asked nervously, "How can we create such an opportunity?"

Zhang Lei smiled and asked, "What time is it now?"

He Daqing looked around in confusion.

Zhang Lei said with a smile, "Uncle He, it's not about the time. I'm talking about the difficult times right now. Many people can't afford to eat. There are so many poor people. I'm planning to donate some grain and money to the neighborhood committee soon."

Upon hearing Zhang Lei's words, He Daqing said, "You want me to donate money and food?"

Zhang Lei said with a smile, "Uncle He, you won't be reluctant to part with him, will you?"

Hearing this, He Daqing hesitated for a moment, then asked, "How much should I donate?"

Seeing He Daqing's cautious demeanor, Zhang Lei smiled and said, "Don't worry, Uncle He, you don't need to donate much. Just make an appearance. When I go to donate money and grain, you can come with me and donate a little as well."

Zhang Lei's words confused He Daqing, who asked, "Zhang Lei, what are you trying to achieve by doing this?"

Zhang Lei said, "I'm not after anything. If I really am after anything, it's peace of mind."

Looking at Zhang Lei's appearance, He Daqing was unsure why Zhang Lei was doing this.

Zhang Lei looked at He Daqing and said with a smile, "I really did go to donate some supplies and money so that the neighborhood office could help more people in need."

He Daqing looked at Zhang Lei, somewhat incredulous.

Zhang Lei said with a smile, "If anything happens, I'll consider it a blessing for my unborn child."

Upon hearing Zhang Lei's words, He Daqing immediately understood. Zhang Lei's wives were all pregnant.

He Daqing said, "Zhang Lei, there's no need for you to do these things for my sake."

Zhang Lei quickly stopped He Daqing, saying, "No, no, Uncle He, what are you saying? I'm not doing this for you. I really want to donate things, and it's truly for the good of my unborn child."

He Daqing looked at Zhang Lei and said, "You're not just after fame, are you?"

Zhang Lei laughed and said, "Uncle He, you finally understand. Yes, it's about seeking fame."

Upon hearing this, He Daqing seemed to understand something and asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Lei said with a smile, "Uncle He, if we donate money and supplies, do you think the neighborhood committee needs some people who don't contribute anything, money, or even just their labor?"

He Daqing nodded and said, "Of course we need that, since the neighborhood office doesn't have that many people."

Zhang Lei laughed and said, "Isn't that right? There are three old men in the courtyard now. If you tell Director Wang of the neighborhood office when you donate money, that your courtyard at No. 95 can send two people to help at the neighborhood office, and that it's a matter of leaving names for good deeds, do you think they'll be eager to participate? There will be three people, but only two names. Do you think the three of them will fight over it?"

Upon hearing this, He Daqing finally understood and said with a smile, "Brilliant, truly brilliant."

Zhang Lei laughed and said, "It's not that high, only about three or four stories tall. This is the story of 'Two Peaches Kill Three Warriors'."

Hearing Zhang Lei's words, He Daqing was first stunned, and then burst into laughter.

He Daqing said with a smile, "Come on, let's drink. Zhang Lei, I'm really impressed by you now. You asked me to donate money just to shut Director Wang of the neighborhood office up."

Zhang Lei smiled and nodded.

He Daqing said somewhat embarrassedly, "Zhang Lei, I really benefit from your help this time. Since this is a good deed, I'll contribute more; I'll go all out and donate that 100 yuan. Later, I'll also suggest two more people from the hospital to Director Wang, and he'll definitely agree."

Zhang Lei nodded and said with a smile, "We'll take care of this first, but Uncle He, you have to spread the word after we've donated the money."

He Daqing nodded and said, "Don't worry, I know what to do about this."

Zhang Lei shook his head and said, "No, Uncle He, after you donate the money, spread the word, and then you have to apologize to those three."

Upon hearing the offer of concession, He Daqing asked with some doubt, "Is there really any need for this?"

Zhang Lei smiled and said, "Uncle He, that's for sure. We need to get them to confirm the truth of the matter, and you also need to change the information a bit. Xu Damao will definitely try to get it, and Liu Haizhong won't let this opportunity pass by either. But Yan Fugui, while he cares about these kinds of things that require effort, isn't that obsessed with them. So you also need to change the information. Say that the person who helps might receive monetary or material rewards from the street office, but you need to make the information vague. If Yan Fugui asks you, just give him a general idea; he's not going to actually ask Director Wang."

Hearing Zhang Lei's words, He Daqing felt a pang of unease and frowned, saying, "Give in? Can't we just not do that?"

Zhang Lei thought for a moment and softened his tone: "Then at least pretend to communicate normally on the surface, and don't let them know that you're still targeting them."

He Daqing pondered for a moment and nodded: "This is acceptable."

Zhang Lei looked at him, smiled, and said with a hint of coldness in his voice, "Uncle He, just you wait. The best way to get revenge is to make the other party lose what they care about most."

Hearing Zhang Lei's words, He Daqing was truly convinced.

The two chatted as they ate. After they finished, He Daqing looked at Zhang Lei and said with a smile, "Zhang Lei, this is another braised pork knuckle that I packed for you. Take it home for your family to try."

Zhang Lei looked at the things He Daqing had given him, nodded, and accepted them readily. After all, he had given him such a good idea.