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

Yan Bugui was naturally extremely jealous when he saw that Liu Haizhong had benefited. However, he knew his own family background and that he was no match for Liu Haizhong and Yi Zhonghai in terms of social standing. If it weren't for Yi Zhonghai's interest in his status as a primary school teacher and his use of it to exclude Xu Fugui, he would never have become the third uncle.

Left with no other option, he rubbed his hands together and said, "Old Yi, look at me... I got beaten up today for upholding the rules of the compound, so I should at least get some compensation, right?"

Yi Zhonghai was extremely disdainful. This Yan Laoxi was a shrewd schemer who would do anything for profit.

His face showed understanding and sympathy: "Don't worry, Lao Yan, Lao Liu and I have seen your contributions. Here's what we'll do: from now on, I'll decide that you can take half of the annual award for advanced civilized courtyard houses issued by the neighborhood committee. Also, my liaison officer allowance will be given to you as compensation. You were wronged today, so here's another five yuan for you to get a new pair of glasses." As he spoke, he actually took out five yuan from his pocket and pushed it in front of Yan Bugui.

Yan Bugui's eyes lit up immediately. He grabbed the money, his face beaming with joy: "Oh, Lao Yi, how can I accept this? Don't worry, at tomorrow's meeting, I will definitely stand firm and resolutely support your and Lao Liu's decision!"

With the profits distributed, the three had formed an alliance. Yi Zhonghai concluded with a serious expression, "There's one more thing. He Yuzhu is ruthless these days. Just in case, we need to be prepared at tomorrow's meeting. Old Liu, tell your sons Guangqi and Guangtian to be on their toes. Old Yan, Jiecheng and Jiefang are also keeping an eye on things. If He Yuzhu dares to act recklessly, all of us will attack together! I don't believe he can take on so many of us by himself!"

Liu Haizhong patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Lao Yi. That Sha Zhu is just strong because he can flip a wok, but I'm not one to be trifled with!"

Yan Bugui quickly nodded, "I'll go back and tell Jie Cheng and the others!"

The three of them discussed the details of tomorrow's meeting in detail, such as each of them contacting their own people. It should be noted that both Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong have their own influence in this courtyard. After all, they are both senior workers from the steel rolling mill, and the courtyard is mostly inhabited by steel rolling mill employees. Over time, they have gathered around the two of them.

For example, one of Liu Hai's apprentices lived in the front yard, and Yi Zhonghai also had two henchmen from Workshop One in the yard. Even Yan Bugui could threaten some people by relying on his status as a primary school Chinese teacher. After all, no family with a child could escape going to Hongxing Primary School in the future, and they couldn't avoid Yan Bugui's influence.

Back here, after He Yuzhu chased away Yan Bugui, the old carpenter spent two hours reinforcing all the doors and windows.

Don't think this is a small workload. Take a look at what three main rooms mean. It's a three-courtyard siheyuan. The three main rooms in the middle courtyard are about 100 square meters. You can't see that scale at all in TV dramas, so just think about how many windows there are.

He Yuzhu carefully inspected the work several times and was very satisfied with the old carpenter's craftsmanship.

"Thank you for your hard work, master." He Yuzhu took out five yuan from his pocket and handed it over. "This is your payment, please keep it."

The old carpenter took the money, held it in his hand, and looked surprised: "Young man, did you give me too much? We agreed on three yuan." In those days, five yuan was not a small amount; an ordinary worker's daily wage was only a little over one yuan.

"It's not much," He Yuzhu waved his hand. "You did a good job and used high-quality materials. It's worth the price. I might need your help again in the future."

Hearing this, the old carpenter no longer refused, carefully putting the money into his inner pocket. His smile became much more genuine. "Alright, then this old man will shamelessly accept it. Young comrade, you're a truly honest person! If you ever need any carpentry work in the future, just come to the carpentry group at the neighborhood office and I'll make sure it's done perfectly!"

After seeing the old carpenter off, He Yuzhu returned to the house and carefully inspected it again. Then, relying on the memories in his mind, he made some small objects and set up extremely hidden mechanisms in the gaps of the windows, the ends of the latches, and the joints of various parts. These mechanisms seemed simple, but anyone who tried to pry open the doors and windows from the outside would inevitably trigger them and leave traces.

After doing all this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Some of the beasts in this courtyard were shameless without any bottom line. For example, Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui were full of evil intentions and would stop at nothing to achieve their goals. He couldn't let his guard down. He Yuzhu planned to take some time to get some materials and make the kind of traps that could hurt people and set them on the doors and windows.

He had no qualms or concerns. After all, this era was nothing like later times, where jokes like thieves breaking into homes, getting killed, electrocuted, and then being extorted for money were commonplace. In this day and age, if you dared to break in, you deserved to be hacked to death.

Reaching the door of the side room, he gently pushed it open. He Yushui was hunched over her desk, diligently doing her homework. The little girl was quite serious about her studies; at least she was willing to put in the effort. Seeing this, He Yuzhu felt a significant reduction in the anger he had felt towards those beasts.

"rainwater"

He Yushui looked up, saw it was her brother, and immediately smiled: "Brother, are you done?"

"Hmm." He Yuzhu walked in, glanced at her open workbook—the handwriting was neat, the pages clean—and asked, "How's your studying? Are you keeping up?"

"I can keep up!" He Yushui nodded vigorously. "Brother, I'm a good student; I've never fallen out of the top ten in my class!"

"That's good." He Yuzhu patted her head, feeling a little guilty. He realized he had never cared about He Yushui's grades before and had no idea that she could consistently be in the top ten of her class. In her previous life, He Yushui had been admitted to high school, but in the end, she only ended up working as an ordinary worker in a textile factory.

This is abnormal. He, as the older brother, hadn't offered a single helping hand during his sister's crucial life decisions. Even his connections with high-ranking officials were wasted on those ungrateful wretches like Bang Geng. No wonder his sister hated him so much in the end, ending up as a lowly foreman at the textile factory before being laid off. Keep in mind, she was a high school student in the 1960s!

Now that he has been given a second chance at life, he absolutely cannot repeat the same mistakes. He must take his sister's studies very seriously. Whether she goes to junior high, high school, or vocational school, he must find a way to pave the way for her. As long as He Yushui doesn't turn out to be an ingrate, and doesn't take his efforts for granted like Qin Huairu's family did, and then exploit him, then even if he has to give his all, he, He Yuzhu, will fight for a bright future for the sister that his mother told him to protect before she died.