Tan Tao asked: "Then you mean we check it out?"

Hu Pingtao said frankly: "Shangyi Community was not under our control before. The district was rezoned the year before last and the area merged with Yinghong Community. Now it is within the jurisdiction of our office. The illegal charging of parking fees is a big deal.

It's not a big deal, it only costs a few dozen yuan, but the problems caused by it are still quite troublesome."

Tan Tao nodded: "That's true. If it were me and I was forced to pay, I wouldn't feel happy. Why?"

Hu Pingtao said seriously: "I think there must be a hidden secret in this matter that is not known to outsiders... Well, I will go to Shangyi Community tomorrow to learn more about the situation."

Tan Tao agreed: "You are right. Hidden dangers must be eliminated as soon as possible. Just like the temporary market in Guankou Village, it looks lively on the surface, but in fact there are conflicts and disputes every day. If one is not handled well, we will be exhausted in the end.

I’m so busy that I can’t please both the top and the bottom.”

Just as he was talking, Hu Pingtao's cell phone rang.

It’s Amelia Su’s number.

"Honey, what time will you get off work today?" Her voice was soft, waxy, and very squeaky. Tan Tao covered his mouth and snickered while listening.

Hu Pingtao glared at him and approached the microphone: "If nothing happens, it should be normal time."

Tan Tao is on duty until Friday this week, and Hu Pingtao takes over on weekends.

Su Xiaolin said during the phone call: "Qiu Zhizhong asked us to have dinner together in the evening."

"Qiu Zhizhong?" Hu Pingtao was stunned for a moment and quickly found information about this person in his mind.

That was Su Xiaolin's high school classmate. We came here for a drink when we got married, and we had several dinner dates in the past few years. They were the kind of friends who had a pretty good relationship with each other.

Although the other party was a male, Hu Pingtao had a very good impression of him.

He said cheerfully: "Okay! I didn't drive today. Come pick me up in the afternoon! Let's go there together."

Su Xiaolin sweetly replied: "It's agreed, don't work overtime for various reasons then."

Hu Pingtao sighed: "Honey, I can't help myself with this kind of thing, and there's nothing I can do about it!"

After saying a few more words, he hung up the phone.

Tan Tao smiled beside him and said, "You can leave when you get off work. I'll keep an eye on what's going on in the office. Anyway, I'm on duty, so I'll replace you on the weekends."

Hu Pingtao was not pretentious: "Okay! That's it."

…

At lunch time, Su Xiaolin picked up Hu Pingtao and drove to a fish farm in the suburbs.

This shop specializes in rainbow trout. There is a fish pond in the backyard of the hall. If customers like it, they will catch it with a fishing net. The main ways to eat it are grilled and boiled.

Grilled fish is more complicated: wash and cut open the fish from the belly, add ginger slices, cooking wine, pepper and salt to marinate, then prepare broccoli and peppers and other auxiliary ingredients, put the fish into the baking pan, and add peppers

powder and cumin, and bake in the box. When the cooked fish comes out, add the blanched broccoli, coat the surface with fried garlic, put it in again and bake for five minutes. After serving, the fish skin will be crispy and the fish meat will be fragrant.

Spicy and smooth.

The fish heads and tails are used to cook the fish, as well as the removed fish bones. The corners of the head and tail are not delicious when grilled, so they are just right for making soup. Add finely shredded white radish and sprinkle with green onions.

The thick white fish soup tastes sweet and has a unique flavor.

Qiu Zhizhong is young and straightforward. After sitting down, he said that he would pay for today's meal and no one could compete with him.

After all, Su Xiaolin and he were high school classmates and were very familiar with each other, so she smiled and said: "Everyone who can treat you is the boss. It seems that your salary in the TV station is quite high!"

He works at the provincial TV station and is the host of the Focus on People's Livelihood column.

The dishes were already on the table. Qiu Zhizhong took the cup and toasted Hu Pingtao first, and said carelessly: "Let's drink something white. Anyway, Brother Hu, you are not driving today."

Hu Pingtao quickly returned the gift and said with a smile: "Okay! I'm not on duty today, so you can drink freely."

After three rounds of drinking, I started to talk too much.

Su Xiaolin picked up the fish skin with chopsticks and put it into her mouth. Feeling the crispy texture, she chewed and asked, "We haven't seen each other for a long time. I heard from Zhuo Miaomiao that you were busy preparing for a wedding some time ago?"

An embarrassed smile appeared on Qiu Zhizhong's face: "Don't mention it, what kind of marriage are you getting... It's more like being dizzy."

Amelia Su was very gossipy and was particularly interested in this aspect of things. She asked, "What's going on?"

Qiu Zhizhong thought for a while and replied: "It's all over anyway, there's no shame in saying it... That's right, my girlfriend... should be my ex-girlfriend, the one you met, her family is local

, I have been dating her for almost three years, and both parents have met and started talking about marriage."

"Last time I had dinner with a group of old classmates, and Zhuo Miaomiao was also there. At that time, I thought the marriage should be smooth, so I announced the news. But I didn't expect that the situation would change the next day."

"You need a house to get married! We have chosen a new house on Guangfu Road. It is a small high-rise house with an area of ​​115 square meters. The down payment is 500,000 yuan. I will pay for it."

"I joined the provincial TV station after graduating from college, and my income was so-so. I only had about 200,000 yuan in savings, so I could borrow some from my parents to make up the down payment. I have an employer and can pay for my mortgage.

In terms of provident fund, the monthly repayments are not too much, so it’s still okay.”

"My parents are still very good and supportive of me. They directly allocated 300,000 yuan to me and let me use it first, and then we won't talk about it until it's enough."

"She called me that day and said that her family had agreed that a wedding must have a bride price."

As he said that, Qiu Zhizhong looked at Hu Pingtao and Su Xiaolin pretending to be mysterious: "Guess how much gift their family wants?"

Su Xiaolin said without thinking, "How could you guess this? Taotao and I didn't ask for any gift when we got married! It's all a matter of your own free will."

Hu Pingtao said a number casually: "Two hundred thousand?"

Qiu Zhizhong replied with an exaggerated expression: "It's more than double 200,000...she asked for 500,000!"

Hu Pingtao took a breath after hearing this: "This is too exaggerated. You paid for the down payment of the house, which adds up to one million."

Su Xiaolin also commented: "Are you crazy about money?"

Qiu Zhizhong sighed: "Actually, this is my fault. When I was friends with her, I took her to meet my parents at home and told her about the situation at home... She knew that my parents had three names in their names.

Suite, my dad had just bought a new car at that time, and the two old people had retirement wages. Maybe it was because of this that she had the idea."

Hu Pingtao frowned and said, "It's your business to have money in your family, it has nothing to do with her!"

Su Xiaolin heard another meaning: "According to what you said, your girlfriend...oh, no, it should be the ex-girlfriend. Her family situation is not very good?"

Qiu Zhizhong did not elaborate: "In general! Her father used to be a worker in an agricultural machinery factory and retired long ago. Her mother is unemployed and has two younger brothers."

Hu Pingtao asked curiously: "Supernatural?"

Qiu Zhizhong smiled and shook his head: "One is a newborn, and the other is not. It has been several years since the two-child policy was implemented, and her younger brother is in the sixth grade of elementary school."

Su Xiaolin exclaimed "Wow" exaggeratedly: "These old couple are so open-minded! Pearls are born from old clams!"

Hu Pingtao thought of another level: "So, her family's financial burden is still very heavy."

Qiu Zhizhong shrugged his shoulders: "I only figured this out after she asked for a bride price. So I told her that I couldn't afford so much money. You can calculate my salary income over the years by yourself, and then do the math.

My daily expenses will be clear.”

Su Xiaolin followed closely and asked: "Then how did she answer?"

Qiu Zhizhong said: "She said...my parents are rich, and I am the only child in the family. This old man makes money for his children, so a gift of 500,000 yuan should not be a problem for me."

Hu Pingtao shook his head and sighed: "This woman has a big heart, and she has all kinds of reasons."

Su Xiaolin frowned: "That's your parents' money, what does it have to do with her?"

Qiu Zhizhong curled his lips: "Speaking of which, I really like her, otherwise I wouldn't have been together for so many years, let alone want to marry her. So when she said this, I was so confused at the time.

I thought too much, but I just felt it was a bit inappropriate, so I mentioned it casually - I guess my parents' savings are not as much as half a million, can it be less?"

"She told me on the phone: The bride price is just a token of appreciation. When we get married and get the certificate and have a banquet, she will bring the money over and treat it as dowry."

Hu Pingtao thought for a moment and nodded slowly: "This makes sense. But the problem is..."

Before he could finish his words, Su Xiaolin stood aside and said: "The question is whether she can bring so much dowry? Think about it, Lao Qiu, the betrothal gift is indeed a formality. If it is just a formality, tens of thousands of yuan will be enough.

But this is a full five hundred thousand! If you give it out, you can’t get it back."

Lieutenant General Qiu Zhi leaned back, looked up to the sky, and sighed loudly: "I'm not afraid of your jokes. I started raising money as soon as I hung up the phone that day... I am a person who is used to thinking about the good side of everything.

I didn’t think she would lie to me. Since she said she would treat the gift as a dowry, it should be true. So I shamelessly went home to my parents and asked them for help.”

"My mother gave me another 400,000 yuan... When I took the bankbook, my father looked at me and said: Actually, the family still has money, let alone 500,000 yuan, even if it takes a little more. But I am so old

I am a person, I have an employer, I have a job, I am married and have a family. The difference of 100,000 yuan has to be busy on my own. If I take a step back, if I really have no choice in the end, my family will help me make up the difference."

Hu Pingtao nodded and agreed very much: "That's right. Your parents are quite particular about this."

Lieutenant General Qiu Zhi sat upright and said seriously: "Yes! I went to the bank to transfer the money the next day and transferred the money to my account. Then I found a familiar friend and collected 100,000 yuan."

"Because the house is only temporarily considered and I haven't paid the down payment yet, the money is still in my account. Adding in my original savings, the total is over one million."

"At that time, the bank's duty manager saw that I had so much money on my card and asked me if I wanted to buy financial products. In this way, the income alone would be tens of thousands in a year."

"I didn't care at the time because I was only thinking about getting married."

"In the afternoon, I made an appointment with her. Because there are many things to discuss about the wedding, mainly the decoration of the new house and the purchase of furniture... She came, and she brought her older brother with her."

"He was an idler. He didn't go to school after graduating from junior high school. He used to do odd jobs outside, and then he did nothing at all. Now people in their twenties spend all day either lying on the sofa with their mobile phones and being lazy, or hanging out with their friends.

Just fooling around. The worst thing is that the boy always said that I was his brother-in-law when he met everyone, and a few times he used my name to deceive others."

After hearing this, Su Xiaolin couldn't help but raise her hands to cover her mouth and said with a smile: "You host a program on a TV station, you are a local celebrity!"

Qiu Zhizhong said with a wry smile: "We made an appointment at a coffee shop that day and talked for more than an hour. I told her that the bride price was settled and the house was basically settled. All that was left was to get the certificate and hold a banquet.
To be continued...