Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 41 Heart-killing
“That Hongbing is going too far. How could he treat the old lady like that?”

"Silly Zhu, where are you going?"

"Uncle, I'm going to find Hongbing."

"Oh dear, don't go! If I had known you were like this, I wouldn't have said any of this to you. Li Hongbing will think I sent you..."

"Don't worry, sir, I'll just go and reason with Hongbing. I won't resort to violence!"

"Hey, come back!"

"..."

Seeing that Sha Zhu ran towards the front yard in a fit of anger, Yi Zhonghai shouted for Sha Zhu to come back, but he didn't actually do anything. He just tentatively called out twice.

Neither Xu Fugui nor Liu Haizhong, the caretakers of the courtyard, wanted to get involved in the deaf old lady's matter, and since it wasn't appropriate for Yi Zhonghai to directly intervene, he naturally thought of Sha Zhu.

As a "neutral" person, Sha Zhu's decision to be the one to stick his neck out is obviously not something anyone can criticize.

As for why Yi Zhonghai didn't use Sha Zhu as a trump card in the previous incidents, the reason is simple.

The siblings Li Hongmei and Li Hongbing had once given Sha Zhu a meal as a gesture of kindness.

Because of this, Sha Zhu naturally couldn't treat them the same way he treated Xu Damao.

Getting Sha Zhu to help him deal with Li Hongbing was obviously not so easy; if things went wrong, it might damage his glorious image in Sha Zhu's eyes.

But this time.

Yi Zhonghai had no other choice.

Moreover, Yi Zhonghai believed that even if Li Hongbing and her brother held a place in Sha Zhu's heart, it was far less important than the two of him and the deaf old woman combined, especially since the deaf old woman was now hospitalized.

Sha Zhu can be stubborn at times, and is also prone to impulsiveness and acting on impulse.

But it is precisely because of this that he believes in "reason" and has his own set of principles for doing things.

During the year or so that He Daqing was on the run, Yi Zhonghai had spent a lot of time "cultivating" Sha Zhu, so he believed he knew him very well and had grasped his temperament. This move was obviously within Yi Zhonghai's calculations.

If Sha Zhu makes any more noise, Li Hongbing will have to give everyone a satisfactory explanation.

……

at the same time.

Just as Yi Zhonghai thought his plan had succeeded, Sha Zhu arrived at the door of the east wing of the front yard and shouted loudly, "Li Hongbing, come out here for a moment."

Even if Sha Zhu were reckless, he wouldn't dare to kick the door down directly.

not to mention.

The Li siblings had also been kind enough to give them a meal.

Even towards Xu Damao, Sha Zhu wouldn't dare now, since his father, Xu Fugui, still lives with him and hasn't moved away.

"Silly Zhu, what's wrong?"

Li Hongmei came out to open the door, her expression showing a hint of wariness towards Sha Zhu.

Li Hongmei already knew about what happened that afternoon, and the fact that Sha Zhu came to her door at this time, and in this tone, clearly meant nothing good.

If nothing unexpected happens, Sha Zhu is here to seek justice from Li Hongbing on behalf of the deaf old lady.

"Sister Hongmei, I need to talk to Hongbing about something."

Upon seeing that it was Li Hongmei who stepped forward, Sha Zhu's imposing manner weakened somewhat.

Sha Zhu didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of Li Hongmei.

"Tell me what's wrong!"

Now that she had guessed Sha Zhu's intentions, Li Hongmei, as the older sister, naturally wanted to protect her younger brother.

"Sister Hongmei, I really need to talk to Hongbing about something."

Faced with Li Hongmei's actions, Shazhu was in a difficult position and said helplessly, "Sister Hongmei, don't worry, I won't bully Hongbing. I just want to ask him a few questions in person..."

Sha Zhu wasn't there to teach Li Hongbing a lesson or settle scores, but the matter of the deaf old woman needed to be addressed.

At this moment.

The commotion caused by Sha Zhu attracted all the residents in the front yard, who all wanted to see what was going on.

Li Hongbing also came out of the house and asked Shazhu, "Shazhu, do you want to talk here or outside?"

Upon seeing Li Hongbing appear, Sha Zhu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Hearing Li Hongbing's words again, Sha Zhu hesitated for a moment, but finally said, "Let's go outside!"

Sha Zhu wasn't afraid of the people in the front yard, but with Li Hongmei present, there were some things he couldn't say to Li Hongbing.

and.

He also wanted to save Li Hongbing some "face," not wanting him to be too embarrassed in front of everyone. "Hongbing..."

"Sis, it's okay! Sha Zhu won't do anything to me. I'll be back in a bit."

Li Hongbing wanted to go outside alone with Sha Zhu, which naturally worried Li Hongmei, but Li Hongbing didn't seem to care much and reassured her.

soon.

Once outside, Li Hongbing cut to the chase, saying directly, "Speak, Sha Zhu, what do you want?"

"Hongbing, let me ask you, was the old lady hospitalized this afternoon because of you?"

"no!"

"I...no, I'm not?"

"To be more precise, the old lady was so frightened by me that she ended up in the hospital."

"..."

Li Hongbing's turn almost confused Sha Zhu.

That's all.

In Sha Zhu's view, Li Hongbing's actions were tantamount to admitting what he had done, and also confirmed that what Yi Zhonghai said was true.

“Hongbing, since you’ve admitted it yourself, I won’t say anything more.”

"The old lady is the matriarch of our courtyard. How dare you talk back to her?"

"You were wrong to do this."

"It's too late today. If we go now, it will disturb the old lady's rest."

"I'll go to the hospital with you tomorrow. You go and kowtow to the old lady to apologize!"

"Then, I'll plead with the old lady on your behalf. I believe she's magnanimous and will forgive you..."

"..."

If Yi Zhonghai were here, upon hearing what Sha Zhu said, he would definitely applaud and give him a big thumbs up.

It is clearly unrealistic to expect Li Hongbing to receive a more severe punishment.

But if Li Hongbing can do as Sha Zhu says, then Yi Zhonghai will definitely accept it.

Li Hongbing knelt down to admit his mistake to the deaf old woman, which meant that he had given in and would have to be humble when he saw her from now on. Yi Zhonghai also raised his head a little, which was a huge step forward for him.

at the same time.

Li Hongbing was speechless and somewhat surprised.

I thought Sha Zhu was going to do something to him, but it turns out he just wanted him to apologize to the deaf old lady.

This requirement and approach would indeed be very lenient if applied to Sha Zhu.

But don't even think about asking him to kowtow and apologize to the deaf old woman.

Where does the face come from?

Does she, a deaf old woman, deserve it?

Too lazy to investigate whether it was Sha Zhu's own idea or Yi Zhonghai's, Li Hongbing directly refused: "Sha Zhu, let me correct you on one point. This deaf old woman is your ancestor, not my ancestor, Li Hongbing. She has nothing to do with me. Don't try to trick me."

"Li Hongbing, how could you say that..."

Sha Zhu was displeased when he saw Li Hongbing say such "disrespectful" things to the old lady in front of him.

"Silly Zhu, I have a few questions for you."

"If your ancestors knew that you had taken this deaf old woman, who was not of the same surname, as your ancestor, would they have recognized you as a descendant of the He family?"

"What is your surname now, He, or something else?"

"After your father passed away, you hated him, so you secretly changed your surname, didn't you?"

"..."

As Li Hongbing interrupted Sha Zhu and said those words, Li Hongbing clearly saw the veins bulging on Sha Zhu's face. Especially when Li Hongbing mentioned He Daqing, Sha Zhu glared at Li Hongbing angrily, looking like he wanted to devour him.

However, Li Hongbing was not afraid at all. Instead, he looked thoughtful and said to himself, "What was the old deaf woman's surname again?"

Ugh!
Forget it, it’s not important!

Sha Zhu, I think you should stop calling yourself He Yuzhu from now on and just call him by the old lady's name.

She's called Deaf Old Lady, so you'll be called Deaf Rain Pillar!

(End of this chapter)