Courtyard House: Inheriting the Restaurant, the Jia Family Wants to Get It for Free

Xu Damao was half asleep when the sudden loud noise startled him so much that he sat up straight in bed.

"Who is it? Demolishing a house in the middle of the night?"

He muttered something, threw on his clothes, and ran outside.

He wanted to see which fool dared to cause such a ruckus in the yard.

As soon as he arrived at the Intermediate People's Court, he saw that familiar and robust figure.

It's Sha Zhu!

Sha Zhu was seen pounding on Yi Zhonghai's door like a madman, cursing under his breath, but it was too far away to hear what he was saying.

"Hey, what's gotten into Sha Zhu now?" Xu Damao was secretly delighted and quickly found a corner to hide in, ready to watch the show.

Immediately afterwards, the lights in each household were turned on one after another.

Yan Bugui from the front yard, Liu Haizhong from the back yard, and some other neighbors were all disturbed. They came out one by one, wearing their clothes, yawning, and peeking out.

"What's going on?"

"It's the middle of the night, can't a person get any sleep?"

"That sounds like Sha Zhu's voice. Who's he fighting with this time?"

A murmur rippled through the courtyard.

Xu Damao's father, Xu Fugui, also came out from the backyard, walked to his son's side, and asked in a low voice, "Damao, what happened? What's wrong with Shazhu?"

Xu Damao shook his head, then whispered gloatingly, "I don't know. Judging from the looks of it, they've gone head-to-head with Yi Zhonghai. Dad, just you wait and see, there's definitely going to be a big show tonight!"

At this moment, inside Yi Zhonghai's house.

The loud banging on the door also woke Yi Zhonghai and his wife.

"Old Yi, what's going on? Who's outside?"

Tan Zhaodi was terrified. She grabbed her husband's arm, her voice trembling slightly.

Yi Zhonghai was also stunned. He had just lain down and was having a sweet dream. In his dream, Sha Zhu and Jia Dongxu were serving him on either side, massaging his legs and back.

I was woken up by the sound of banging on the door before I could finish my dream.

He was burning with anger, and listening to the noise outside, it sounded like Sha Zhu's voice.

"Pillar? What's he doing here?"

Yi Zhonghai frowned, somewhat puzzled.

I just finished talking to him, and now he's come banging on the door. What does that mean? Has he finally come to his senses and can't wait to go to the steel mill?

Wait a minute, even if you've figured it out, you don't need to resort to this method, do you?

"Yi Zhonghai! You old bastard! Get your ass out here!"

Sha Zhu's roar pierced through the door and clearly entered the room.

Yi Zhonghai and Tan Zhaodi were dumbfounded on the spot.

Old bastard?

Who...who is this person insulting?

"Why...why did he swear?" Tan Zhaodi's face turned pale.

Yi Zhonghai's face also darkened instantly.

He couldn't understand why Sha Zhu had suddenly turned on him. Just a moment ago, he was treating him so warmly, calling him "Uncle Yi" so affectionately. How could he suddenly start cursing at him?

"Don't be afraid, I'll go out and take a look."

Yi Zhonghai forced himself to remain calm, put on his clothes, and got out of bed.

He felt there must be some misunderstanding. That silly Zhu must be out of his mind. He'd just go out and talk to him properly, calm him down.

He walked to the door, straightened his clothes, cleared his throat, and unlatched the door.

With a creak, the door opened.

Yi Zhonghai forced a look of elder's authority and concern onto his face, and was about to speak.

"Zhu Zi, what's wrong with you...?"

Before he could finish speaking, a dark shadow flashed past him.

Immediately afterwards, a tremendous force slammed into the bridge of his nose.

"Bang!"

The sound was even more muffled than the sound of banging on the door earlier.

Yi Zhonghai felt a sudden sting in his nose, and a surge of heat rushed out instantly. He felt as if he had been hit by a bull; his mind went blank, the world spun around him, stars flashed before his eyes, and his body fell backward uncontrollably.

"Thump!"

He fell hard on the threshold, the pain bringing tears to his eyes.

In the courtyard, everyone who was watching the spectacle gasped in shock.

No one expected that Sha Zhu would attack without saying a word!

And once they start, they're ruthless!

Tan Zhaodi screamed in terror, "Ah! Murder! Sha Zhu is hitting someone!"

However, Shazhu completely ignored her screams.

He punched Yi Zhonghai to the ground, but the anger in his chest did not subside; instead, it burned even brighter.

He rushed forward in one stride, giving Yi Zhonghai no chance to react, and straddled him, swinging his fists, as big as casserole dishes, at Yi Zhonghai's old face from both sides.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The sound of a fist hitting a cheek sent chills down one's spine in the quiet night.

"I'll teach you to scheme against me! I'll teach you to trick me!"

"I'll teach you to ruin my future!"

"You old bastard! You hypocrite! I'll beat you to death!"

As Sha Zhu fought, he roared and poured all his anger and humiliation into his fists.

Yi Zhonghai was completely stunned. He tried to fight back, but Sha Zhu was too strong. He was like a small mountain pressing down on him, and his arms were pinned down, making it impossible for him to move.

He could only twist his body in vain, mumbling incoherently, "Misunderstanding... Pillar... It's a misunderstanding..."

But his voice was quickly drowned out by Sha Zhu's fists and roars.

"Yi Zhonghai, you bastard! You still dare to say it's a misunderstanding?"

Sha Zhu straddled Yi Zhonghai, punching him harder with each blow, his eyes bloodshot, looking like he wanted to devour him.

"I was doing very well as an apprentice at Fengzeyuan. My master thought highly of me and was willing to teach me real skills!"

"You old bastard, you actually tried to fool me, sending me to some damn steel mill canteen!"

"What are you up to?!"

Sha Zhu's roar echoed through the courtyard like thunder, every word clearly reaching everyone's ears.

The neighbors who were watching the commotion in the courtyard were initially confused, wondering why Sha Zhu had suddenly gone mad.

Upon hearing this, they all perked up their ears and became as energetic as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

There's something fishy going on here!

And it's a big deal!

Yan Bugui stood in the crowd, his small, calculating eyes narrowed, his mind racing.

A steel rolling mill canteen?

He instantly grasped the key point.

His wife, Yang Xiulian, tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Old Yan, what's going on? Isn't it a good thing that Lao Yi sent Shazhu to the steel mill? A secure job!"

Yan Bugui curled his lip and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Good thing? Good my ass! What do you know!"

"Who is Sha Zhu? He's He Daqing's son, the successor of the Tan family cuisine! He's currently an apprentice at Fengzeyuan, what kind of place is that? It's a place where you can learn real skills! As long as he makes it through, he'll become a master chef in the future, with a limitless future!"

"But what about the steel mill's canteen? It's just a place that cooks communal meals! All his skills will be wasted there in less than three years! What else can he do besides cook communal dishes?"

"Old Yi isn't helping him, he's ruining him! He's dragging him from a path that leads to success into a dead end where he can only be a farmhand!"

Although Yan Bugui's voice wasn't loud, it was still heard by several people around him in the quiet night.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately understood.

So that's what happened!

For a moment, the way people looked at Yi Zhonghai, who was lying on the ground with a bruised and swollen face, became strange.

"I knew it! There's no such thing as a free lunch."

"Tsk tsk, I never expected that Yi Zhonghai, who usually looks so respectable and has thick eyebrows, would actually be so scheming behind people's backs."

"That's right, they're so heartless. They'd ruin someone's entire future just to control them."

"You can know a person's face but not their heart!"

Discussions and jeers rose and fell.

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai's "highly respected" image shattered like dumpling filling.

Xu Fugui was even more direct, saying to Xu Damao beside him, "See that, son? That's what you call a hypocrite. He spouts all that morality and righteousness, but his heart is full of wickedness and depravity. Stay away from this kind of person in the future, lest you be sold out by him and still end up counting the money for him."

Xu Damao nodded repeatedly, feeling extremely pleased as he looked at Yi Zhonghai, whose head had been beaten into a pig's head.

Serves you right for always putting on airs! Serves you right for showing favoritism!

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai, who was pinned down by Sha Zhu, was utterly devastated.

He felt like his face no longer belonged to him; it was numb and painful, and his mouth tasted strongly of blood.

What made him even more desperate was that he heard the whispers of his neighbors in the courtyard.

He's finished!

His reputation, painstakingly built over decades, was completely destroyed tonight by those few punches from Sha Zhu!

"Pillar! Let me explain! I'm only doing this for your own good!"

Yi Zhonghai used all his strength to roar and defend himself.

"For my own good?" Sha Zhu punched him in the eye socket again, giving him a black eye.

"Does 'for my own good' mean I should give up my promising future and become your slave?"

"You mean you want to keep me tied to the steel mill, so you can boss me around and take care of me in my old age?"

"Yi Zhonghai, I was so blind before I thought you were a good person! You're a complete and utterly despicable scoundrel!"

Tan Zhaodi paced anxiously to the side, wanting to break up the fight but afraid of being accidentally injured by Sha Zhu's fists. She could only keep crying and shouting, "Stop fighting! Stop fighting! Zhu Zi, you've misunderstood! My husband, Lao Yi, really didn't mean it that way!"

But her voice sounded so pale and powerless amidst Sha Zhu's roar and the neighbors' chatter.

Sha Zhu got so caught up in the fight that he became increasingly angry. If he hadn't been more careful today and gone to ask Brother Cheng, he would have really been ruined by this old bastard for the rest of his life!

Thinking of this, the anger in his chest burned even brighter.

"Yi Zhonghai! Let me tell you!" Sha Zhu grabbed Yi Zhonghai by the collar, lifting his face, which was swollen like a pig's head, and roared viciously, "If Brother Cheng hadn't woken me up today, I would have really fallen for your trick tomorrow!"

"At that point, my life will be ruined by you!"

"Tell me, should you have hit him or not!"

That shout silenced the entire courtyard once again.

All eyes instantly shifted from Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai to the figure standing silently watching the show from his own doorway not far away.

Cheng Shuhai!