The Courtyard House: He Yuzhu Returns with Boundless Hatred for Revenge

As evening fell, Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and the others returned to the courtyard house one after the other. As soon as they entered the front yard, they saw Yan Bugui, who was covering half of his swollen face, with his glasses, the lenses of which were broken and barely held together with tape, waiting at the front gate.

"Old Yi! Old Liu! You're finally back!" Yan Bugui greeted the two men with a sob in his voice, looking utterly disheveled.

Yi Zhonghai frowned and asked, "Old Yan, what happened to your face and your glasses?"

"What else could have happened? It was all that little beast Sha Zhu's doing!" Yan Bugui recounted how He Yuzhu had asked a carpenter to reinforce the doors and windows that afternoon, how he had tried to dissuade him and uphold the honor of the compound, how He Yuzhu had verbally abused him, and how he had even resorted to violence, including beating Yan Jiecheng, who had come to help.

"Did he really say that? And he even dared to hit you?" Upon hearing this, Liu Haizhong's fat face immediately filled with rage. "He's gone too far! He's really gone too far! Does he even respect us leaders?"

Yi Zhonghai's face was so dark it could drip water. He hadn't expected He Yuzhu to be so audacious. Yesterday he beat up the Jia family, and today he even went so far as to beat up Yan Bugui, the third master! This was clearly a blatant disregard for the three of them, the stewards, and an attempt to completely overturn the table!

"Outrageous! Utterly outrageous!" If this isn't dealt with severely, who in this courtyard will obey us? What authority will the three of us old men have left?

"Old Yan, Old Liu, this matter absolutely cannot be left like this!" Yi Zhonghai said resolutely. "Tomorrow night, we must hold a hospital-wide meeting! We must crush this unhealthy trend!"

Liu Haizhong nodded vigorously: "Yes! Hold a meeting! It must be held! We must make Sha Zhu bow his head and admit his mistakes in front of the entire hospital! He must give a profound self-criticism!"

Yi Zhonghai took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said to Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong, "Old Yan, Old Liu, this matter needs to be discussed carefully. How about this, you two come to my house later, I'll have my wife cook a few dishes, and we can discuss it over a meal, making sure we come up with a foolproof plan."

Upon hearing that there was food, Yan Bugui's eyes lit up, and even the pain on his face seemed to lessen somewhat. He quickly replied, "Okay, okay! I'll go back and get a bottle of wine right away!"

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong returned to the Intermediate People's Court first. Yi Zhonghai glanced at the obviously reinforced doors and windows of He Yuzhu's house, his eyes growing even more gloomy. When he got home, he instructed an older woman to bring out the meat she had bought that morning to prepare for the guests, and to cook a couple more dishes.

Not long after, Liu Haizhong came over with his hands behind his back and his belly protruding. Immediately after him, Yan Bugui arrived, carrying a wine bottle and beaming, "Old Yi, try this, it's good wine!"

Yi Zhonghai took the bottle and looked at it. The label was a bit blurry. He shook it a bit and felt the liquid... He calmly opened the bottle cap and smelled it. It was so faint that he could hardly smell any alcohol.

"That old swindler, how much water did he add to it!" Yi Zhonghai cursed inwardly, but he didn't dare to expose him. He simply put the bottle on the table and said with a smile, "Old Yan, you should keep this wine for yourself and enjoy it slowly. Today I have some authentic Erguotou here, let's drink this!" As he spoke, he took out an unopened bottle of Erguotou from the cabinet.

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Yan Bugui's face, but he quickly smiled and said, "Alright, alright, try your good wine, Lao Yi."

Liu Haizhong, who was watching from the side, curled his lip in disdain. He looked down on Yan Laoxi and was ashamed to associate with him. How could a small business owner be worthy of being a leader in the compound with him? He was a glorious member of the working class and was destined to be a high-ranking leader in the factory.

The middle-aged woman worked quickly and efficiently, soon bringing out the dishes: a plate of scrambled eggs, a plate of stir-fried cabbage with sliced ​​pork, a bowl of braised pork, and a dish of peanuts. In those days, this was considered a fairly good meal for entertaining guests.

The three sat around the table, and Yi Zhonghai poured wine for each of them. After a few drinks, they naturally became more talkative.

*Bang!* Liu Haizhong slammed his hand on the table, angrily saying, "We should have listened to me back then! When He Daqing ran off with the widow, we shouldn't have been so soft-hearted! We should have just kicked He Yuzhu and his sister out of the courtyard! If we had each had one of those three main rooms, none of this mess would have happened today!"

Yi Zhonghai cursed Liu Haizhong inwardly as an idiot! Was the Military Control Commission just a figurehead? Could they tolerate them blatantly seizing the orphaned siblings' property? Did they really think the government and the law were pushovers? Did they think Yi Zhonghai hadn't considered this, but the risks were too great? A misstep would be suicide, so in the end, he adopted a more covert and long-term strategy of subjugation. This Liu Haizhong, his brain is nothing but a lump of mush, consumed by ambition!

Thinking this to himself, Yi Zhonghai outwardly wore a pained expression: "Old Liu, you can't say that. Zhu Zi and his sister were still young then. How could anyone in our compound do something like kicking someone when they're down? We wanted to guide him onto the right path, but who would have thought, alas, that child is growing more and more crooked!"

Yan Bugui took a sip of wine and smacked his lips: "Old Yi is right, we meant well back then. But this He Yuzhu is simply an ungrateful wretch! We need to think of a way to make him back down at tomorrow's meeting."

A glint of light flashed in Yi Zhonghai's eyes: "At tomorrow's hospital-wide meeting, we need to achieve several goals. The first is to get him back to bringing lunchboxes to the Jia family! This is a major issue concerning the livelihood of Dongxu's entire family, and it's also about upholding our hospital's tradition of mutual help!"

Liu Haizhong immediately chimed in, "Yes! This is a matter of principle! We can't let him break the rules!"

Yi Zhonghai continued, "Also, as you've all seen, the Jia family's housing situation is really tight, and Dongxu's wife is about to give birth, so it's truly difficult. He Yuzhu's family has three main rooms, but with only him and Yushui, it's completely insufficient. Asking him to lend one room to the Jia family for temporary accommodation is reasonable and justifiable. This is also a test of whether he has a sense of community and understands the importance of neighborly assistance."

Upon hearing this, Liu and Yan were displeased, and their faces immediately darkened. Why should the Jia family get all the benefits? Jia Dongxu is Yi Zhonghai's apprentice and caretaker. In the end, all the benefits go to Yi Zhonghai alone. What have we gotten? We're not the same naive Zhu we used to be, so easily fooled.

Yi Zhonghai had anticipated the reaction of these two men. Just by looking at Liu and Yan's expressions, he knew that it would definitely not work if they didn't share some benefits with them.

"Old Liu, Guangqi got into a vocational school this year. He'll be a government official when he graduates. He's all grown up now. We can't let him squeeze into a room with his brothers anymore."

Upon hearing this, Liu Haizhong immediately perked up and looked at Yi Zhonghai: "Old Yi, you mean..."

Yi Zhonghai pretended to ponder and said, "If the Jia family's situation is resolved, it will be much easier to deal with the pillars later. It wouldn't be a problem to ask him to spare another room for Guangqi to live in. It can also be used as a wedding room for Guangqi in the future. After all, they are all neighbors and elders. They should help each other and be considerate of each other when they are in trouble."

Liu Haizhong was overjoyed, as if he could already see his eldest son getting married in style in the main house of the He family. He nodded repeatedly, "Old Yi has thought this through! If this works out, I, Liu Haizhong, will remember your kindness!"