The Beginning of a Courtyard House: Sixty Years of Internal Strength

Yi Zhonghai nodded in satisfaction after watching Qin Huairu serve Old Madam Long her medicine.

"Grandma, let's go home and cook a meal first. You haven't eaten yet, are you hungry? We'll be right back when it's ready."

"Alright, you can go ahead."

After all that fuss, the old lady calmed down and began to think about her future.

She needs someone to take care of her. She's paralyzed in bed now, and if no one takes good care of her, she probably won't live for more than six months.

Now all we can do is use money and this house as bait.

She couldn't give it all away. If she did, Yi Zhonghai might kill her. Thinking about this, tears streamed down her face.

After returning home, Yi Zhonghai and Li Cuilan began to discuss the matter.

"Cuilan, what should we do about this?"

Yi Zhonghai knew that taking care of the old lady was mainly up to his wife; he couldn't offer much help.

He was also afraid that Li Cuilan would disagree, after all, taking care of an old woman who was paralyzed in bed was not an easy task.

"Yi Zhonghai, I'm telling you in advance, you can go find whoever you want."

Don't ask me to do anything like cleaning up her excrement or urine. It's just a little money, right? I don't even know if I'll live that long.

Li Cuilan was also clear-headed; she knew what Yi Zhonghai meant—he was about to nod in agreement, and the old lady would be left to her from now on.

"Cuilan, that's not what I meant. What I meant was, can we find a way to get rid of these dirty and tiring jobs?"

You should stay with her in the backyard most of the time. That way, if she really becomes unwell, it will be easier to find out where the treasure is.

There's still a house; the backyard is the old lady's private property.

We must make her leave a will. Even though we've already spent all our money, this house is still a harbinger of Jia Dongxu's fate.

"Alright, since that's the case, what do you suggest we do? Should we hire someone to take care of the old lady?"

Li Cuilan was happy to hear that she wouldn't have to take care of things herself.

"Taking care of a paralyzed elderly person will probably cost a lot of money."

How about we get the people in the compound to take turns caring for the old lady? What do you think?

Each household can send one woman, taking turns to do it one day at a time.

Yi Zhonghai shared his thoughts.

"Zhonghai, your idea is good. The Xu family, the Liu family, and Shazhu's younger sister He Yushui are all ten years old and can work."

The Jia family has Qin Huairu, and Yan Bugui in the front courtyard has Yang Ruihua.

Once a few powerful families agree, the other members of the compound will be coerced into agreeing as well.

However, Li Jianguo is a problem. He never listens to you when it comes to Sha Zhu's affairs, and he'll probably disagree even more this time.

Li Cuilan took stock of the people in the courtyard, and indeed there were enough people available.

"Well, Li Jianguo has no choice but to agree. Use the power of the courtyard to pressure him. If he still doesn't agree, we still have Sha Zhu, so let's give him a good beating."

I'll discuss this with Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui first. Liu Haizhong is easy to talk to; I can just persuade him a bit. As for Yan Bugui, if I give him some money, he'll agree too.

Yi Zhonghai said confidently, "I couldn't control Li Jianguo before I became a big shot. If I still can't control him after becoming a big shot, then I've been a big shot for nothing."

There's also the trump card, the Siheyuan War God Shazhu, who is now both scholarly and martial.

"Okay, go ahead, I'll take the food to the old lady now."

Li Jianguo recounted the conversation between Yi Zhonghai and his wife.

Wang Yao became an instant sensation.

"What? This 'easy to die out'? He's crazy! He actually wants me to serve that wretched old woman."

She even made me clean up after her, and if she soiled the bed, I had to clean it up. Zhonghai is really a scoundrel.

Li Cuilan is such a fool. How old is He Yushui? She's already making her take care of a paralyzed old lady.

"I knew Yi Zhonghai was a treacherous guy. I never thought he could come up with such a disgusting method."

Don't worry, I'll definitely ruin this for him.

"Brother Jianguo, you must help me vent my anger. If all else fails, just knock that bastard Yi Zhonghai out of his wits with one slap."

Yao Yao was furious at this point. The thought of Yi Juehu making her clean up other people's excrement and urine made her unable to suppress her anger.

"Yaoyao, Yi Juehu, I've already taken action against him once, but not to paralyze him. I've secretly crippled his hand."

Isn't he a fitter? You'll see, he won't even be able to hold the pliers properly, let alone do any work."

"Really, Brother Jianguo, that's great! When will it flare up?"

Yao Yao's eyes immediately lit up.

"Hmm, I guess it'll be a few more months, it should be soon." Li Jianguo had momentarily forgotten that he had set it for one or two years.

"Brother Jianguo, what did this childless man do to offend you back then? Why did you have to take action against him?"

"Sigh, were Sha Zhu and He Yushui picking up trash back then? I felt sorry for them, so I gave them some food."

As a result, Yi Zhonghai, that old man without a heir, tried to control the brother and sister, refusing to let me provide them with financial assistance, which led to a conflict.

"That scoundrel is really wicked. In order to help someone in need, he actually stopped them from doing good. It's disgusting."

"Alright, let's go to sleep. Judging by this, we'll probably have to hold an all-staff meeting tomorrow. Just wait and see how I manage to mess things up then."

He then reached out to hug Yao Yao.

"No, Brother Jianguo, please have mercy on me this once. I really can't take it anymore, I'm so tired."

Li Jianguo, seeing Yao Yao's pleading expression, smiled and touched her lips.

"I have a very bad temper, aren't there other ways?"

Yao Yao rolled her eyes at him and squatted down.

Patting Yao Yao's little head, Li Jianguo felt a surge of pride, realizing that she hadn't forgotten what he had taught her.

You truly are my good student; you learn so quickly.

Yi Zhonghai went directly to Liu Haizhong's house. He said a few words, then said that as the person in charge of the courtyard, they had to take responsibility.

Having mobilized the power of the people, Liu Haizhong immediately straightened his back and declared that he would definitely handle the matter well.

Yi Zhonghai looked at the silly-looking Liu Haizhong, nodded in satisfaction, and went to the front yard.

After arriving at the front yard, I told Yan Fugui about it.

Yan Bugui's eyes lit up and he immediately expressed his disagreement.

"How can you let the hospital take care of you for free? That won't do, Lao Yi, you're doing something wrong."

Yi Zhonghai knew what he meant as soon as he heard it.

"Old Yan, here's 2 yuan. I'll give it to you first. From now on, for every day your wife helps out, I'll give you 2000 yuan. How about that?"

When Yan Bugui heard that it was two thousand, he felt it was a lot, but he still wanted more.

"The old lady is paralyzed and difficult to take care of; 2000 is too little."

"Old Yan, you can't be too greedy. Others don't give you a single cent."

Otherwise, we'll just forget about the 2 yuan. Liu Haizhong and I both agreed, it's a 2:1 split. Your disagreement is irrelevant.

As he spoke, Yi Zhonghai pretended to have already collected the money.

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui immediately snatched the money away.

"Okay, okay, Lao Yi has already agreed on two thousand per time."