Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

"Bang."

Seeing that neither side was willing to comply with his arrangements, Yi Zhonghai seemed to have been provoked and shouted sternly, "Shut up, both of you!"

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai had lost his temper, Jia Zhangshi behaved herself and stopped making a fuss.

"Jia Zhangshi, Yan Jiecheng, you both swore a solemn oath about killing the chicken. You each have your own version of the truth. If you're both not convinced, you can go with Wang Feng to report it to the police."

"Let me tell you, if this matter goes to the police, regardless of whether Jie Cheng killed the chicken or not, our institute's reputation will be ruined. Director Wang will also find out about this, and we might lose our advanced institute status next year."

Wang Feng smiled and waved his hand: "I won't report it to the police. If they want to, I have no objection."

"Don't report it to the police; let the court handle this."

"Yes, we can't report it to the police. Jia Zhangshi, it's because of you that we lost our advanced compound this year. If you lose our advanced compound next year too, you will have to compensate us for our losses."

"That's right, Jia and Zhang, you can make a fuss, but you can't escalate things, otherwise you two families will have to compensate us for our losses."

Upon hearing that the advanced compound might be lost next year, the people in the compound immediately became anxious and began to reprimand Jia Zhangshi and Yan Jiecheng.

Other things can be treated as entertainment, but losing access to the compound is a real loss of benefits, and that's no longer something to watch.

When Madam Jia heard the people in the courtyard demanding compensation for their losses, she pointed at them and began to curse loudly:

"I'm not paying you anything! Whether you want it or not, I'm not paying. What can you do to me?"

Yan Fugui frowned and said, "Old Yi, even if we don't count the chicken killing incident, Jia Zhangshi and Jie Cheng's matter is equally serious, so I think we should just let it go and let them clean the toilets."

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand, looked at the crowd below, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, Jia Zhangshi ruined someone else's blind date, and Yan Jiecheng beat the old man. In order to prevent them from doing such things again in the future, as an old man in the courtyard, I will punish them by making them each clean the toilet for a month. Raise your hand if you disagree."

Upon hearing this, no one in the courtyard tacitly raised their hand. Only a handful of people did raise their hands, namely members of the Jia and Yan families.

Seeing that no one objected except for the Jia and Yan families, Yi Zhonghai smiled with satisfaction.

"Jia Zhangshi, Yan Jiecheng, this matter is settled. Jia Zhangshi, if you are not satisfied, I will tell Director Wang and have her send you back to the countryside."

"Yan Jiecheng, especially you, you hit an old man. If you don't accept the punishment, I will report this to the factory's labor union."

When Jia Zhangshi heard that she was going to tell Director Wang, she was terrified. Director Wang was her biggest fear, because he really had the right to send her back to the countryside.

"No, no, I can't tell Director Wang. I'll accept the punishment, okay? It's not like I'm the one cleaning the toilets."

Just as Yan Jiecheng was about to speak, Yan Fugui gestured for him to stop, saying, "Jiecheng, that's enough."

Yan Fugui never expected the hospital-wide meeting to turn out like this. He regretted not letting Yi Zhonghai hold the meeting; who knew Yi Zhonghai would be so persistent about beating the elderly?

Seeing that both sides had backed down, Yi Zhonghai nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand dismissively:

"That's enough for today, everyone can go home."

Soon, the crowd dispersed.

Madam Jia Zhang returned to the house, cursing and swearing. As soon as she entered, she found Qin Huairu and launched into a tirade:

"Qin Huairu, I asked you to go out and buy some cornmeal at noon, why did you take so long to come back? Tell me, did you go out and cheat on me with another man?"

Qin Huairu wiped away her tears and said in a pitiful voice, "Mom, the corn noodles at the nearby pigeon market have gone up in price again, so I went to another pigeon market to buy them."

Madam Jia glared fiercely at Qin Huairu and shouted, "You dare talk back to me?"

As she spoke, Jia Zhangshi pinched Qin Huairu's arm hard, cursing as she did so.

"I'll teach you to talk back, I'll teach you to talk back."

"Waaah, Mom, I was really late because I went to buy some cheaper corn noodles."

Qin Huairu cried in grievance after being pinched by Jia Zhangshi. What kind of situation was this? Someone hit Jia Zhangshi, and Jia Zhangshi took it out on her? Was she really using her as a punching bag?

"I don't care! It's because you weren't home that I got beaten up by Yan Jiecheng, that born childless bastard! You're in charge of cleaning the toilets for the next month!" Jia Zhangshi cursed.

Using any excuse, Jia Zhangshi assigned the glorious task of cleaning the toilets to Qin Huairu.

"Mom, this is Master's punishment for you. If I were to sweep it, others would probably have objections," Qin Huairu said, sounding aggrieved.

"What master? Yi Zhonghai is a dead child, he doesn't help our family anymore, and he even uses Director Wang to threaten me. From now on, I'll call him a dead child. If I tell you to clean the toilet, just do it. If anyone has any objections, let them come find me!" Jia Zhangshi shouted.

Qin Huairu wiped away her tears and could only reluctantly agree, otherwise she would not only get another beating, but she would still have to clean the toilets.

......

The front yard, the Yan family's house.

Back in the room, Yan Jiecheng didn't say a word or eat anything before lying down.

Yan Fugui sighed and said to Yan Jiefang, "Jiefang, your brother has to go to work every day now. You've seen how tiring it is for him in the foundry workshop. Why don't you help him clean the toilets for the next month?"

Yan Jiefang's eyes widened, and he shook his head in direct refusal.

"Dad, I disagree. This is my brother's mistake. Why should I be punished for him? Why don't I get half of my brother's salary?"

Yan Fugui's face darkened upon hearing this.

"Jiefang, don't you know what our family's situation is like now? All our money has been stolen. Now it's just your brother and me working to earn money. Without us earning money to support the family, what will you eat?"

"But Dad..."

Yan Jiefang was about to speak when Yan Fugui raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Jieyuan, it's decided. If you can earn money to support yourself now, then I'll let Jiekuang go. But right now you still need us to earn money to support you, so you have to listen to me."

"Yes, Jiefang, just think of it as helping your brother. He's so tired from work every day, where would he find the energy to clean the toilets?" the third aunt advised.

Yan Jiefang was very reluctant, but he had no choice but to nod and agree.

"Dad, what if people complain if I clean the toilets?"

Yan Fugui waved his hand: "It's alright, just keep sweeping. If anyone has any complaints, tell them to come find me."

"Alright then," Yan Jiefang sighed.

"Hey, Lao Yan, what kind of mess is this? Do you think our family has been haunted? Why is everything going wrong lately?" The third aunt wiped away her tears and sighed deeply.