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

Regardless of her workplace, He Yushui is determined to become a cadre! So she is studying very hard now, waiting for next year's college entrance examination.

With such a high college entrance examination pass rate over the past 60 years, it shouldn't be too bad next year, right?

Mu Wanqing's goal is to go to university and then perform or sing on stage; she doesn't have any grand ambitions.

Qin Jingru?

My wish back in the village was to have enough to eat and to become a worker in the city.

But now, as long as she finishes junior high school, she can do all of this, so she doesn't have any big goals.

Zhang Dabiao's goal, however, was...

Eat and wait to die.

He genuinely wanted to live a life of leisure and idleness; as for making money, he didn't actually have that strong a desire for it.

He had a tough life in his past life, but in this life he has a "little nest" and the money he earns from patents is in fixed deposits. Even if he only lives off the interest, he is still among the highest earners in this era.

Why work yourself to death to make money?

As for money, enough is enough; he's not interested in money.

With plenty of food and drink, a car, a house, savings, and beautiful women by your side, why make yourself so tired?

As for helping the country—I need to have the skills. I know nothing about industrial manufacturing, chemistry, medicine, or automation, let alone mushroom eggs. You could say there's something to copy in the cultural industry, but that's not allowed now.

Surprisingly, the women expressed their support for Zhang Dabiao's "disheartened" attitude.

Da Biao can live his life however he wants; he'll leave the rest to them!

While Zhang Dabiao was still fantasizing about making some money after the reform and opening up, and then taking Mu Wanqing to travel all over the country and abroad, a familiar wailing sound suddenly came from the courtyard.

"My God! I can't live like this—!"

That dry howl was like a rusty saw, sawing back and forth next to Zhang Dabiao's eardrums.

The three women frowned immediately; the voice was all too familiar.

Jia Zhangshi is back!

The four quickly put down their food and went to the central courtyard to watch the commotion.

Chinese people love to join in the fun, and young women are no exception. Jia Zhangshi has been inside for more than half a year, and the courtyard has been too quiet. Now that there is something exciting to see, how can they not go and watch?

In the open space of the central courtyard, Jia Zhangshi sat cross-legged on the ground. Her gray coat was filthy, her hair was like a clump of withered grass, and her face, whether smeared with ash or genuinely dirty, appeared dark and crusty. One of her arms was still in a splint, broken and not yet healed, while she pounded the ground with her other hand, raising clouds of dust, and howled dryly as she did so:

"Neighbors, look at this! My old woman has been locked up for eight months, eating prison food for eight months, and I haven't even had a warm breath since I came back! My Dongxu, my dutiful son, why didn't you come out to greet your mother? Are you ashamed of your mother too?!" She wailed, but her eyes darted around to each house. When she saw someone peeking out, her voice immediately rose eight octaves.

Yi Zhonghai stood with his hands behind his back, his face ashen, at his front door. He had clearly been out for a while. He tried to speak several times, his lips moved, but he swallowed the words back, his brows furrowed into a knot.

The door to the Jia family's house creaked open, and Jia Dongxu rushed out in his slippers, his face a mixture of embarrassment and anxiety: "Mom! Mom, get up! What kind of scene is this! Let's go home and talk!"

"Go home? Go home of what!" Jia Zhangshi flung away Jia Dongxu's hand as he tried to help her, the force almost causing him to stumble. Her finger nearly poked Jia Dongxu's nose, spitting as she spoke: "Do you even consider me your mother? Where were you when I was being bullied? Where were you when I was eating cornbread inside? Now you're pretending to help me? I think you'd rather I died out there so you could get rid of this burden, wouldn't you!"

Jia Dongxu stood there, his face flushed red from the scolding, at a loss for what to do. He could only turn to Yi Zhonghai with pleading eyes.

Qin Huairu followed behind, carrying a coat, seemingly intending to drape it over her mother-in-law. She took two timid steps forward and whispered, "Mom, the ground is cold. Please get up. Dongxu talks about you every day..."

"Get out of here! Who gives you the right to speak here?" Seeing Qin Huairu, Madam Jia exploded like a lit firecracker, all old and new grudges surging within her. She whirled around Qin Huairu, her eyes practically overflowing with malice: "Just because this old woman isn't home, does that mean you've gotten yourself into trouble? Huh? Let me tell you, Qin Huairu, don't think you can act tough just because my son is protecting you! This is the Jia family, not the Qin family. Jia family matters are none of your business!"

Qin Huairu's eyes reddened from the scolding, and she bit her lip, lowered her head, and dared not utter another word.

Seeing this, Jia Zhangshi became even more smug. She turned her attention back to Yi Zhonghai, slapping her thigh and drawing out her words: "Oh my! Yi Zhonghai! My good uncle! You're the head of the compound! Tell me, all I did was take some food, wasn't it? I was forced to by circumstances, I couldn't survive! You, as the head of the compound, how could you bear to watch me be locked up for so long without saying a word for me, without trying to save me?"

Her tearful and sarcastic remarks put Yi Zhonghai in a very difficult position.

Yi Zhonghai immediately denied it three times: "I'm not a big shot anymore, Liu Haizhong is the big shot, go find him if you need anything!"

Liu Haizhong — [Yi Zhonghai, you bastard?!]

[You go get the good stuff, but I'll take the blame? Are you even human?]

Then Liu Haizhong looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle—this has nothing to do with me.

Yi Zhonghai's face flushed red and then paled. He always liked to stand on moral high ground and point fingers at others; he had never been so openly and rudely questioned in public. He cleared his throat, trying to recreate the authoritative demeanor he used to have when he was a respected elder: "Sister-in-law Jia, you're wrong. Your labor camp case is being handled by the government according to the law; you were in the wrong first. As someone who used to be a respected elder in the compound, I should be the one to lead by example and abide by the law. How can I interfere with the government's handling of the case?"

I'd love to, but I don't have the ability!

"Don't give me that!" Madam Jia spat, refusing to pat the ground anymore, and pointed directly at Yi Zhonghai's nose. "Stop giving me that official talk! Don't think I don't know what you're up to, Yi Zhonghai! You think my son Dongxu is honest, so you want him to take care of you in your old age, right? That's why you always favor them and coax him! Now that I'm in your way, you just wish I would never come back so you can continue to have your son revolving around you!"

These words were direct and harsh, directly piercing through the thin veil of secrecy.

What Jia Zhangshi didn't know was that her house had been robbed. While she was in labor camp, Yi Zhonghai directly adopted Jia Dongxu as his godson. When Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu visited her in prison and brought her clothes and food, they didn't dare tell her about these things.

To this day, Jia Zhangshi is still completely unaware of the truth.

Yi Zhonghai, his hidden scheme exposed, trembled with rage. He pointed at Jia Zhangshi, shouting, "You...you're talking nonsense! This is utterly unreasonable!"

【I can scheme, but you can't just say it outright! Do you think I, Yi Zhonghai, have no shame?】