Courtyard House: Jia Zhangshi! How dare you hit my sister?

As dusk settled, Qin Huairu finished clearing the dishes, wiped her hands, and said to her younger brother, who was wiping the table:

"Huai'an, it's stuffy inside. Let's go sit in the yard for a while and cool off."

Qin Huai'an tossed the rag into the basin and nodded: "Okay."

The siblings carried two small stools out of the house and sat down under the eaves at the doorway.

The backyard is not big, just a small courtyard surrounded by a few rooms.

It wasn't completely dark yet; a faint crimson glow still lingered in the western sky.

The courtyard was quiet, with only the distant sounds of neighboring children playing.

Qin Huairu breathed a sigh of relief. Although she was tired after a long day, she felt at ease.

With a job and a younger brother, life finally had hope.

She turned her head to look at her younger brother. In the dim light, Qin Huai'an's profile was sharply defined, and his eyes were calm, but there was always a sense that there was a hidden strength in them, a strength that could explode at any moment.

"Huai'an," Qin Huairu said softly.

"I told you about Xiaomei this afternoon, think about it carefully."

"I'm not forcing you, I just think... you should consider it."

Qin Huai'an didn't look at her; his gaze was fixed on the old locust tree in the courtyard, and his voice was flat:

"Sister, I know you mean well."

"But I really don't know Zhou Xiaomei."

"You only met once and had a meal together, what can you possibly learn from that?"

"You can't rush things when it comes to relationships."

Qin Huairu sighed: "I know you can't rush things, but with your temper... I'm afraid you'll scare the girl away."

"So what if they're scared away?" Qin Huai'an scoffed. "Those who can be scared away aren't exactly the same kind of people."

Just then, the door to the next room creaked open.

The deaf old lady, leaning on her cane, walked out shakily.

She looked to be over seventy years old, with gray hair, a face full of wrinkles, and wearing a faded gray jacket. She was a little hunched over, but the shrewdness in her eyes beneath her double eyelids was evident as she walked.

She slowly moved to her own doorway and sat down under the eaves, holding a palm-leaf fan in her hand and fanning herself intermittently.

After sitting down, she glanced sideways at Qin Huai'an, her eyes scrutinizing him and revealing a hint of barely concealed apprehension.

Qin Huai'an knew this old lady—one of the most troublesome characters in the original story, seemingly confused but more shrewd than anyone else, and the backer of Yi Zhonghai's gang.

He ignored him and continued sitting and smoking.

Qin Huairu greeted her politely, "Grandma, are you enjoying the cool air?"

The deaf old woman raised her eyelids and slowly turned her head, as if she had just noticed them:

"Huh? What did you say?"

Qin Huairu was taken aback, then raised her voice a bit: "I said, are you also enjoying the cool air?"

"Oh...to cool off, to cool off," the old lady mumbled, fanning herself a few times with her palm-leaf fan. She then spoke again, her voice low but just loud enough for the siblings to hear:

"This courtyard used to be so quiet. The neighbors all knew how to behave properly."

She paused, glancing towards Qin Huai'an:

"Some people are making trouble as soon as they move in, hitting and cursing, which is ruining the atmosphere in the courtyard."

Qin Huairu's expression changed, and she seemed about to say something, but Qin Huai'an stopped her with a look.

Qin Huai'an remained seated, a cold smile playing on his lips.

This old man is indeed in cahoots with Yi Zhonghai; he comes right off the bat with a tirade.

Seeing that he didn't respond, the deaf old woman slowly said again:

"Young people, it's not good to be too hot-tempered. You must know how to respect the elderly and follow the rules."

"There's an old man in charge of the compound, and we old folks keeping an eye on things, so everything has to be done reasonably..."

"Reasonable?" Qin Huai'an finally spoke, his voice not loud, but carrying a chilling edge:

"Who can I reason with? Those who bullied my sister?"

The deaf old woman choked on her words, her face turning slightly pale, but she quickly resumed her slow, deliberate manner.

"What did you say? Speak louder, I'm hard of hearing, I can't hear you..."

Qin Huai'an looked at her feigning deafness and muteness, but he knew perfectly well that the old woman's ears were very sharp when she wanted to hear, but deaf when she didn't.

A cold smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He ignored her comment and instead asked directly:

"Grandma, didn't Yi Zhonghai talk to you about why I hit someone?"

The deaf old woman's eyelids twitched, she paused for a moment while fanning herself with her palm-leaf fan, then continued fanning herself.

"What did you say? I'm hard of hearing... I can't hear you..."

"Can't you hear me?" Qin Huai'an suddenly raised his voice. "Then let me explain it to you more clearly!"

He stood up and took two steps forward. Qin Huairu, startled, quickly grabbed him: "Huai'an!"

The deaf old woman was startled by his action and shrank back, but she remained defiant:

"What...what are you going to do? I'm so old..."

"I'm not doing anything." Qin Huai'an stood in front of her, looking down at her. "I just want to tell you, and also tell those in the courtyard who still have ulterior motives—"

"If anyone dares to bully my sister again, I'll beat them up without hesitation. No matter who they are or how old they are."

"If some people think that they can spout nonsense just because they are old and act like they're superior, I wouldn't mind letting them know what it means to have trouble with your words."

He spoke slowly, word by word, his eyes revealing an undisguised fierceness.

The deaf old woman felt uneasy under his gaze, forgetting to fan herself with her palm-leaf fan. She was genuinely afraid—this young man's eyes weren't just meant to scare her; he truly dared to attack.

She quickly turned her head to the side, covered her ears with her hands, and looked completely bewildered.

"Huh? What did you say? My hearing is really bad... I can't hear what you're saying..."

Qin Huai'an looked at her desperately pretending to be deaf and suddenly laughed.

This old lady has really mastered the art of using "smart ears".

"Okay, you can't hear me, right?" Qin Huai'an nodded, turned around and walked back. "It's better that you can't hear me, so you won't hear things you shouldn't and have trouble sleeping at night."

He sat down again, lit a cigarette, and stopped looking at the old lady.

The deaf old woman sat there, her face turning pale and then red. She had lived so long, and this was the first time she had been so openly confronted, yet she dared not utter a word in return.

The key point is that her attempts to play dumb seemed completely useless against this young man—he simply didn't buy it.

She sat frozen for a few seconds, then finally couldn't hold on any longer. She stood up shakily, muttering to herself:

"It's not cool here... I'm going back inside..."

After saying that, he leaned on his cane and slowly moved back into the house, slamming the door shut.

Qin Huairu watched the old lady's retreating figure as if she were fleeing, breathed a sigh of relief, and whispered:

"Huai'an, you were too direct just now. She's an elder after all..."

"What elders?" Qin Huai'an exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Disrespectful to elders, unworthy of being called elders."

"Sister, don't be fooled by her pitiful act; she knows the truth better than anyone else."

"She's from Yi Zhonghai's side, and she came here today to tell you and me this."

Qin Huairu was stunned for a moment, and after thinking about it carefully, it seemed to be true.

She was about to say something when the sound of bicycle bells and footsteps came from the front yard.