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

Wang Xuemei was completely stunned by the series of humiliating blows. Since starting her career, she had climbed step by step to her current position, mostly surrounded by admirers and treated like royalty. She had never suffered such disgrace before, especially today, being slapped repeatedly in public by an ordinary citizen!

A surge of rage rushed to her head. She shoved away the men who were helping her, pointed at He Yuzhu, and her voice became sharp and distorted with extreme anger, even cracking.

"This is outrageous! Utterly outrageous! He Yuzhu, how dare you assault a state official in public? Do you have no respect for the law? You're utterly lawless! No wonder everyone in the compound calls you the tyrant; now it seems it's all true. Today, we're adding open resistance to the law and assaulting government personnel to your list! Your crimes are compounded!"

Enraged, Wang Xuemei yelled at her henchmen, "What are you all standing there for? Arrest him, tie him up, and take him to the police station immediately! I'm going to accuse him of assaulting a state cadre, and I want him sent to a labor camp! Now get to it!"

Upon hearing their superior's order, one of them immediately untied a rope from his waist and lunged menacingly at He Yuzhu, attempting to twist his arms behind his back. He Yuzhu didn't even lift an eyelid, nor did he make any significant movements; he simply leaned his shoulder slightly against the ground.

"Bang!"

The man felt a tremendous force come from him, groaned in his chest, staggered backward, and fell to the ground with a thud, looking quite disheveled.

This scene thoroughly provoked the other security guards. The leader, who was slightly older and judging from his posture, was probably a former soldier. He took a rifle off his shoulder and shouted sternly, "He Yuzhu! Stop! If you dare to resist again, I won't be so polite!" As he spoke, he pulled back the bolt, and although the muzzle was slightly downward, it was already aimed at He Yuzhu, the threat and warning self-evident.

The cold muzzle of the gun was pointed at He Yuzhu, and the atmosphere instantly plummeted to freezing point. No one dared to utter a sound; they hadn't expected things to escalate to the point of violence.

He Yuzhu stared at the dark muzzle of the gun, but instead of panicking, he burst into laughter in front of everyone. Everyone thought he had truly gone mad. He had publicly assaulted the head of the neighborhood committee, and now he dared to laugh so brazenly even with a gun pointed at him. What else could he be but insane?

"Hahaha! Good, very good, truly excellent! I never imagined that in less than ten years, the gun barrels would be pointed not at the enemy, not at bad elements, but at a working-class person like me!"

Before he finished speaking, he grabbed his collar with both hands and ripped it open with a "ripping" sound, tearing the collar of his clothes along with the undershirt, revealing his chest. Facing the gun barrel, instead of retreating, he took a step forward, staring intently at the armed security guard, his voice suddenly rising like a thunderclap.

"Come on! Shoot here! Fire! If I even flinch today, I'm a son of a bitch!"

"Today I'm going to show everyone in Beijing, young and old! I'm going to show the people of the whole country! I'm going to show you corrupt officials how you turn your guns on a third-generation farm laborer! Come on, shoot!"

"Three generations of farm laborers"

Wang Xuemei and her henchmen were dumbfounded when they heard this. This thing, so bright red, so blindingly red, with its roots even turning purple, was a rare sight even in the countryside these days. How could one of these possibly appear in the capital, especially within their own jurisdiction?

Their initial instinct was disbelief, but they were then forced to accept it. These days, no one dared joke about such things; it would be a serious crime, enough to send someone straight to labor camp. He Yuzhu would only dare to speak so recklessly if he were truly insane.

"You, you're talking nonsense! How could you possibly be a third-generation farmer? Where are your files? Where is the evidence?" Wang Xuemei was still clinging to a sliver of hope.

"Hahahaha!" He Yuzhu burst into another extremely mocking laugh, the sound echoing in the courtyard, particularly jarring.

"I'm not exaggerating when I say you're a corrupt official who can't distinguish right from wrong and who holds a position without doing his job. You didn't even investigate the background of my He family before you dared to listen to the slander of these old bastards and come to our door with guns to arrest us? If you're not a corrupt official, then who is? Having corrupt officials like you is a disgrace to Xinhua and a tragedy for the people."

"Xinhua has only been liberated for a few years! How dare you turn your guns on the working people, on me, a third-generation farm laborer? Good, very good! I see you're already getting impatient. What do you want? Come, come, let's talk this out today. Do you want to speak up for the landlords, or to seek justice for the capitalists?"

These words were like a Gatling gun on the battlefield of Verdun, utterly shattering the psychological defenses of Wang Xuemei and her men.

The armed security guard turned deathly pale and quickly lowered his gun. At that moment, he wished he could slap himself twice and then throw the broken gun into the stinking ditch! His attempt to curry favor backfired; in his attempt to please his superior, he'd pointed a gun at a third-generation farm laborer?

These people have experienced everything since the founding of the nation, from countless battles to various conflicts. Often, such a large-scale conflict is sparked by a tiny spark. Regardless of the final outcome, the instigator will not have a good ending.

Beads of sweat rolled down the man's forehead. What the hell had he done to deserve this? Just going on a business trip with his boss, and he'd gotten himself into this mess. If this hadn't happened, everyone would be fine. But now that it had, his whole family was doomed. No one would listen to his explanations about why he'd pointed a gun at three generations of farmers, even if he was right.

He hated Wang Xuemei to death. "You came out to arrest people without even checking their identities? Now look what's happened! You didn't just kick a hornet's nest, you kicked a molten iron furnace! You're about to melt yourself!"

The others also subconsciously moved a few steps away from Wang Xuemei and the leader. They were all seasoned veterans who had lived since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and they knew the importance of avoiding trouble and seeking good fortune.

At this point, Wang Xuemei was terrified, almost to the point of being delirious. Having spent years navigating the complexities of the system, there were certain sensitive topics she simply dared not touch. If she were to be careless and someone seized upon a pretext, and then seize the opportunity, she would face a gruesome end.

"No, no! Comrade He Yuzhu, let me explain. It's a misunderstanding, a complete misunderstanding. I absolutely did not mean that. I was just misled; it was an unintentional act."

"Deceived? You think you can just brush things off with a casual 'deceived'?"

"As the director of the subdistrict office, you wield power, yet you cannot distinguish right from wrong, you are biased and believe only one side, and you allow these old bastards to fabricate facts and slander me, a third-generation farmer! You even came to my door with a gun, attempting to forcibly arrest me."

"How is your behavior any different from those corrupt officials in the old society who oppressed the good and colluded with the wicked? I think you're not just being deceived; you fundamentally agree with their ways of oppressing the working people! You're trying to retaliate and restore the feudal class."

"Ah! Comrade He Yuzhu, you can't slander me like that! I didn't mean it that way!"

"You have"

"I don't"

"You have"

"I don't"

"If I say you have it, then you have it!"