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

When Yang Ruihua heard Yan Bugui say that he had been expelled from school, he stood there stunned for more than ten seconds before letting out a loud howl.

"The sky is falling! This is going to kill my whole family!" Yang Ruihua plopped down on the ground, pounding her fists on the floor and wailing, "Why? Why? Why is it that they get a demotion at the factory and that's it, but you get fired? Huh? Yan Bugui, tell me, did you offend someone at school? Did they take this opportunity to bully you? How can they treat people like this!"

The more she talked, the angrier she became, and the louder her sobs grew. "Is there no law anymore? They just fire people like that? I won't stand for it! I'm going to the school to find their leaders! To find the principal! To find the education bureau! I refuse to believe there's no place in this world where justice can be served! They bully us ordinary people like this, are they even letting us live?!"

He was about to get up and rush outside, looking like he was going to confront the school and its leaders.

Yan Bugui was finally jolted awake by her outburst. He jumped up, grabbed Yang Ruihua's arm tightly, and pulled her back. "It's no use, stop causing trouble. We're from a bad class background, we can't compare to the working class, just accept your bad luck."

Yang Ruihua shouted, "Does having a bad class background mean you're inferior? What kind of logic is that? Does this Xinhua country even allow people to live anymore..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yan Bugui slapped him across the face, interrupting him, "Are you out of your mind? Talking such filthy nonsense? If anyone hears this and it gets out, our whole family will be finished! It won't just be a dismissal! We'll be left with nothing but death! Do you want our whole family to go to the Northwest to eat sand?"

Yang Ruihua was stunned by Yan Bugui's slap; her crying stopped abruptly, replaced by fear. She was just an uneducated housewife, good at scheming over trivial matters and taking small advantages, but she didn't understand these intricate matters. Yan Bugui's words frightened her. After all, they had been married for many years, and although Yan Bugui was stingy, he had never laid a hand on her. She must have really said something deadly.

"Then, what are we going to do now? You've stopped earning money, how are we going to feed this family of six? Waaah..."

As they were crying, Yan Jiecheng heard the commotion and came over. The stingy little girl had been terrified by the blocked door last night and hadn't dared to go out to look for work this morning, so she was in her room taking care of her younger siblings. Seeing her parents like this, she sensed something was wrong. "Dad, Mom, what's wrong?"

Yan Bugui glanced wearily at his eldest son and repeated weakly, "I've been expelled from school."

Yan Jiecheng's face turned pale instantly. He knew, of course, what this meant. The pillar of the family had collapsed.

Yan Bugui sighed and said helplessly, "From now on, the whole family will have to tighten our belts. Jiecheng, you're not a child anymore, it's time for you to share the burden of the family. Starting next month, you will pay ten yuan a month for living expenses."

"Ten yuan?" Yan Jiecheng jumped up immediately upon hearing the number. "Dad! I work myself to the bone all day, sometimes I don't even earn a few cents! I'm lucky if I can save a few yuan a month. You want me to pay ten yuan? How am I supposed to save money to find a girlfriend? I'm eighteen this year, do you even want me to get married?"

"Get married?" Yan Bugui scoffed. "We're lucky if we can even fill our stomachs right now! You want to find a wife? Is that something you should be thinking about right now?" He paused, then looked at Yang Ruihua, who was still sobbing. "After liberation, he shouldn't go to school anymore. Anyway, our family's class background is bad, so even if he finishes school, he won't get a good job. When he comes home from school, tell him that he's thirteen this year, not a kid anymore. After the New Year, he can go out with Jie Cheng to find some work, even if it's just collecting scraps or running errands, it can help supplement the family income."

"Liberation was only thirteen..."

"So what if he's thirteen? He's only thirteen and a half! Can he eat my family out of house and home? If he doesn't work, will the whole family starve to death?"

Yan Jiecheng stood aside, looking at his father's face that treated his son like livestock, and suddenly a surge of anger rose within him.

"Dad! Don't think I don't know some things! Our family has been in business for generations! My great-grandfather, my grandfather, and even you when you were young, we owned several shops! I refuse to believe that our family has left us with nothing."

"You'd rather watch your whole family struggle like this than offer any help in this emergency? If you're willing to spend money, even just through connections or back channels, you could buy me a permanent job! With a permanent job and a stable income, I could support my family again, right? It's better than just sitting around and living off our savings."

Yan Jiecheng had actually been holding back these words for a long time. After all, he had experienced the days when he was called the young master, and he knew perfectly well whether his family had money or not. It was just that they were able to get by before, and with the old man's temperament, he couldn't be bothered to investigate further. But now that the family was on the verge of collapse and they were being treated like animals, he couldn't tolerate it anymore.

Yan Bugui was startled when his son exposed his deepest secret, then flew into a rage, shouting, "You're talking nonsense! What family fortune did we have? It was all seized and investigated by the Kuomintang long ago! What's left is my retirement money! You want to touch it? Only when I'm dead!"

He roared hysterically, appearing utterly exasperated, but a thought flickered in his mind. Yan Jiecheng's words might not be without merit. If all else failed, using their savings to find a way out for their son seemed like a viable option.

But, absolutely not now! If he gives in, Yan Jiecheng will think this job came too easily, and once he's powerful enough, he won't be able to control him anymore. Even if he really has to make a move, he'll have to beg and plead, and he'll have to reluctantly agree, setting all sorts of conditions so that Yan Jiecheng ultimately has no choice but to agree. Then, he can be like a landlord, earning interest and living off the profits steadily... Oh right, what about his other sons when they're adults? Thinking this, a glint of light flashed in Yan Bugui's eyes, and his calculations began again.

Seeing that the father and son were about to start arguing, Yang Ruihua quickly pulled Yan Jiecheng's arm, "Alright, alright! Stop talking! What's the use of arguing now?" Then she turned to Yan Bugui, "Old man, tell me, how are we going to get through this? Without wages, we'll really be starving!"

Yan Bugui thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "How can we get through this? This can't just be left like this! It's all Sha Zhu's fault! If it weren't for him, would I be in this situation? The root of the problem lies with Sha Zhu!"

"Find him! When he gets back, settle this score with him! I've lost my job, my future is ruined, and that idiot Zhu has to compensate for the losses suffered by this whole family!"

She stood up, paced back and forth a couple of times, and said in an even more shameless tone, "If he doesn't pay, humph, our whole family will go to his house for dinner! Those with nothing to lose aren't afraid of those wearing shoes. We'll just stay at his house and die, let's see what he can do to us!"