Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

He was about to walk towards Yi Zhonghai when he was stopped by the crowd.

Second Uncle Yan Bugui quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "Young man, stop killing this and that. Let's sit down and talk things over. There's always a solution, isn't there?"

"You say you're helping your father avenge his death, but you need to explain things clearly, right?"

Upon hearing Yan Bugui say this, Yi Zhonghai became anxious—damn it, how could this be said in public?

Where the hell am I supposed to put my old face?

"Dong Dabao, why don't we go inside and talk..."

"Wait, what can't we say in broad daylight?"

"Since this old man has asked so sincerely, I will just say it directly and let everyone judge for themselves."

Fortunately, Dong Dabao didn't say "show great mercy," otherwise Zhang Dabiao would have thought a fellow villager had arrived...

Yi Zhonghai, his face ashen, slumped down on the steps of the covered walkway.

"My father, Dong Dingjun, is a postman at the Nanluoguxiang Post Office. He's been responsible for delivering mail in our area. I think some of you here know him, right?"

Many neighbors nodded in agreement: "We know him, we know him. He's been working here for decades, how could we not know him?"

Then Dong Dabao pointed at Yi Zhonghai: "It was this old bastard who spent money to persuade my father to intercept all of He Daqing's letters, saying that he would deliver them."

"My dad figured that the old man in charge of the compound helps underage kids collect their mail, and that's how it is in many compounds. It's impossible for the person in charge to be home every time, right?"

"So he agreed, and Yi Zhonghai even paid for it. My father was blinded by greed and agreed to give him a letter from He Daqing separately every time."

"After all, there are four brothers in my family, and only my dad works. His salary is really not enough."

"But this old, childless family has never handed over the inheritance since 52! Not even once!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes kept sweeping back and forth between Yi Zhonghai, Sha Zhu, and He Yushui; basically, everyone knew about this matter.

"Then the matter came to light, Yi Zhonghai was arrested, and my father was also implicated."

Zhang Dabiao's heart tightened—[Since I exposed it, won't they come after me again?]

"But guess what happened in the end? The main culprit paid compensation and got away with it, while my dad, as an accomplice, was sentenced to three years of hard labor!"

"I've lost my job, and I'm fined 200 yuan. None of my four brothers can fill in for me; they're all unemployed now. And with the current economic climate, we still have an elderly, frail mother to support. How are we supposed to survive?!"

"Yi Zhonghai, you're so capable of staying out of this mess, but you managed to get my dad out of it too?"

"You started this mess, and you just walked away. How are we supposed to live?!"

"What?! How are we going to survive?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Dong Dabao got angry again and kicked Yi Zhonghai.

"If my family can't survive, then you, Yi Zhonghai, won't survive either!"

Even Sha Zhu couldn't stop this kick, because he was momentarily stunned and didn't expect that his actions had caused such great harm to the Dong family.

These days, the Dong family's situation is...

It's no different from sending someone to their death.

Yi Zhonghai stumbled as he was lifted, but Liu Cuilan didn't stop him. Only after he fell to the ground did she react a beat too late and silently help him up.

"Dong Dabao, it's impossible to get your father out of trouble. We...we don't have that ability." As he said this, Yi Zhonghai unconsciously glanced at the old deaf man.

The old deaf man shrank back into the crowd. It was hard to say whether he really had the ability, but at that time, it was already quite good that Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu were able to protect themselves. Among them, Sha Zhu was the least affected, only managing to crack the man's skull open.

But you're asking her, an old deaf woman, to use her connections to help a complete stranger like a postman?

That's absolutely impossible.

With so many things going on, there has to be someone to take the fall, right?

This is illegal no matter how you look at it. The postman's failure to deliver the package to the recipient is dereliction of duty, and accepting money from Yi Zhonghai is bribery.

Yi Zhonghai's interception of the mail constituted a crime of infringing upon citizens' freedom of communication—according to the 1950 Draft Outline of the Criminal Law: concealing, destroying, or illegally opening another person's mail, if the circumstances are serious, is punishable by imprisonment for up to one year or detention. This is a criminal offense.

As for embezzling child support, it falls under the crimes of embezzlement or theft. Although the amount was large, Yi Zhonghai claimed that he was "managing it on behalf of others" and that he was "afraid that the children would squander it and that he would give it to them when Sha Zhu got married or Yu Shui got married." In addition, the money was indeed untouched. With the help of the old deaf man's connections, Yi Zhonghai's crime was suppressed.

In fact, Yi Zhonghai's guilt is far greater than that of the postman.

But with so many culpable offenses, the higher-ups can't just pretend nothing happened, can they? At least one of them has to be dealt with, right?

Therefore, postman Dong Dingjun was the perfect scapegoat.

Not to mention that the verdict was handed down swiftly in just two days, and the higher-ups have already made their decision. How can they possibly bail him out? It's impossible.

Moreover, she was unaware of the postman's deal with Yi Zhonghai.

Seeing the old deaf man shrink back, Yi Zhonghai understood that she could no longer use her connections to settle the matter, so he "sadly" "discussed" with Dong Dabao: "Dong Dabao, I know I've let your father down, but I really can't get him out of trouble. If you have any other solutions or ways to compensate, please let me know."

"I will do my best to do what I can."

Yi Zhonghai's expression was sincere and honest, with a look that said, "I was doing a good deed, but I did it the wrong way," "I meant well but it backfired," and "I'm innocent too"...

All the neighbors were immediately captivated by his "performance".

"Yeah, Dong Dabao, regardless of right or wrong in your father's case, the higher-ups have already made their judgment. Why don't we talk about compensation? After all, life has to go on, right?" Liu Pangpang also stepped in to mediate.

"What good is it to vent your anger? Even if you die together with Lao Yi, you still have an elderly mother in poor health and three brothers to support."

"Yes, let's each take a step back and discuss how to resolve the problem."

"Old Yi didn't do it on purpose. He meant well but things went wrong. Besides, both sides share responsibility, don't they?"

"You don't want your family to..."

"..."

Everyone started to persuade them.

But Dong Dabao and his family weren't so easily convinced—their family was already struggling to survive.

Since we can't get my father out, we either have to solve their family's survival problem, or we'll all perish together.

"Alright, I'll give everyone face. As long as it allows my family to survive, this is something we can discuss."

"My conditions are: first, my dad's monthly salary is 53.5 yuan; you can check at the post office. He's been in jail for three years, so he should at least pay us back his salary for those three years, right? That makes sense, doesn't it?"

Before Yi Zhonghai could even refute, everyone nodded in agreement: "No problem."

Yi Zhonghai – [What's wrong with that? He broke the law! If he hadn't been greedy and taken my money, would he be in jail? Why should I pay him back three years' worth of wages? At most, I can only pay half!]

But seeing the murderous look in Dong Dabao's eyes, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to nod, after all, his life was at stake.

"How much was your salary over three years?" a neighbor asked.

"1926 yuan." Old Man Yan quoted the number without hesitation.

"Your math teacher? How did you calculate so fast?" one of Dong Dabao's brothers exclaimed in surprise. How could he calculate so fast? He gave the answer in a second!

"I'm a primary school Chinese teacher at Hongxing Elementary School, and I also know a little bit about math. Occasionally, I could even fill in as a math teacher..." Before Old Man Yan could finish his self-praise, Sha Zhu blurted out without thinking—

"He's a master calculator, guaranteed to be right!"

[That abacus has become a genius!]