The Courtyard House: The story begins with He Yuzhu beating up the White Widow.

He Yuzhu gently patted He Yushui's back to comfort her and said, "Director Wu, the main purpose of the Military Control Commission in selecting liaison officers in each compound is to prevent enemy attacks and spies. That makes it unsuitable for people who are already working. They can't possibly abandon their jobs after becoming liaison officers and stand guard at the compound gate watching for suspicious people, can they? Besides, didn't the instructor say that women hold up half the sky? So I think it's more suitable to select middle-aged women who stay at home as liaison officers for our compound. This is my opinion, for everyone's reference only."

Wu Jiangyong was the first to chime in, "Although Comrade He Yuzhu is young, his words are very insightful. But the liaison officer is ultimately serving the people in the compound. In the end, the decision of who to elect is up to everyone. I'll give you all three minutes to consider. After three minutes, we'll vote to elect the liaison officer."

Three minutes passed quickly. The election for liaison officers for Courtyard No. 95 officially began. After a round of voting, Aunt Pang, Yang Ruihua, and Ma Cuilan were chosen as the liaison officers for Courtyard No. 95. This result stunned not only Yi Zhonghai and the others, but even He Yuzhu hadn't expected it to end this way. However, in the original story, the liaison officers were crucial to Yi Zhonghai's control over the entire courtyard and his machinations against He Yuzhu. Losing their positions was like breaking a leg for him. He Yuzhu secretly glanced at Yi Zhonghai's gloomy face and thought to himself, "Yi Zhonghai, let's play this game slowly and see who comes out on top first!"

After the election, Wu Jiangyong kept the three liaison officers behind, gave them a few instructions, and told them to go to the Military Control Commission for training the next morning. Then he left No. 95 Courtyard with his men.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!" He Yuzhu and He Yushui had just returned home when the knocking started again. He Yuzhu opened the door and saw the woman who had been standing next to Wu Jiangyong standing at his door. He Yuzhu asked, "Comrade, what's the matter?"

Wang Xia spoke up, "Can I come inside and talk?!"

He Yuzhu thought for a moment and then stepped aside. Wang Xia entered the house, looked around at the furnishings, and said, "My surname is Wang, and my name is Wang Xia. If your uncle hadn't sacrificed himself, I would be your aunt now."

"What?! This is the legendary 'King of Covering Up'?!" He Yuzhu was stunned for a few seconds, then quickly recovered and said, "Since we can't call you 'Auntie,' Yushui and I will call you 'Auntie'!"

"Okay!" Wang Xia responded, and said, "I work at the Military Control Commission. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you two can come to the Military Control Commission to find me."

He Yuzhu said, "Aunt Wang, I expect I'll be troubling you quite a bit in the future. Please forgive me!"

Wang Xia hadn't expected He Yuzhu to be so direct, and couldn't help but laugh. With a teasing tone, she said, "I'd like to know what kind of favor you're going to ask me for?!"

He Yuzhu asked, "Aunt Wang, are you familiar with the situation in our compound?!"

Wang Xia said, "I'd like to hear what you have to say."

He Yuzhu gestured for Wang Xia to sit down, made her a cup of tea, and placed it in front of her, saying, "There aren't many good people in our courtyard." He then mentally prepared his next words, continuing, "Our courtyard originally belonged to the deaf old lady in the backyard. Before Liberation, she gradually sold off her houses. Besides our family, only the houses of Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Xu Wude were privately owned by her. Later, she kept the two rooms she now lives in and sold the rest to Lou Bancheng, making them workers' dormitories for Lou's steel rolling mill. Liu Haizhong is a good-for-nothing, obsessed with becoming an official. I don't know where he heard that 'eldest son inherits' nonsense. He doesn't care about his other two sons..." They treated them like their own children, beating them when they were happy and beating them when they were unhappy. Anyway, those two little ones were either being beaten or on their way to be beaten. Next door to Liu Haizhong's house, on one side was the deaf old lady, the original homeowner; no one in the courtyard knew her real name. On the other side was the Xu family. Xu Wude used to be Lou Bancheng's driver, but later, for some reason, became a projectionist. His wife still worked as a maid for the Lou family. Xu Wude had two children, a son named Xu Damao and a daughter named Xu Xiaoling. Xu Damao's personality was exactly like his father Xu Wude's. You couldn't really call him bad. But you also couldn't call him a good person; he'd never done anything good. He'd certainly done a lot of wicked things. Next door to the Xu family lived a grandmother and grandson surnamed Zheng.

He Yuzhu took a sip of water and continued, "Besides my family, there are four other families in the Zhongyuan compound. These four families are the Yi family, the Jia family, the Sun family, and the Qian family. Our house is the largest, with three main rooms and an east wing. The Jia family lives in the west wing, which has two rooms. Before Liberation, Old Jia died from an injury. Lou Bancheng compensated the Jia family with fifty silver dollars and a job. A few years ago, Jia Dongxu reached the age to take over his father's job and became Yi Zhonghai's apprentice. Jia Dongxu is a decent person. However, he has one flaw: he listens too much to his mother, Jia Zhangshi. A while ago, Jia Zhangshi stole from our house, and I did a good deed by sending her to jail. Next door to the Jia family is the Sun family. The head of the Sun family is called Sun Liugen, who works as a welder at the Lou family's steel rolling mill. The east wing is Yi Zhonghai's house. Yi Zhonghai's biggest obsession is not having children. I'm not afraid of airing my dirty laundry. The reason my father abandoned my sister and me to go to Baocheng was because of Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady in the backyard."

Wang Xia asked curiously, "Your family has absolutely no connection to them, so why would they scheme against your father?!"

He Yuzhu said, "The deaf old lady in the backyard and Yi Zhonghai have one thing in common: they're childless. I don't know what kind of agreement there is between the deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai. Anyway, Yi Zhonghai and his wife took on the job of taking care of the deaf old lady. Yi Zhonghai has his eye on Jia Dongxu and wants Jia Dongxu to support him in his old age. The deaf old lady thinks that with Jia Zhangshi around, Yi Zhonghai can't control Jia Dongxu. She thinks I'm stupid and easy to control. So they conspired to get rid of my father first, hoping I would support them in their old age. But Yi Zhonghai has another ulterior motive. He hasn't given up on Jia Dongxu, but he's unwilling to make any sacrifices, so he plans to raise me to support his elderly parents. However, Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady didn't expect that their scheme against me would fail. Next door to Yi Zhonghai's house is the Qian family. The husband, Qian Dagang, is a milling machine operator at a steel rolling mill, and the wife is a worker at a textile factory. They also have two elderly people and four children."

Wang Xia asked, "Yi Zhonghai and his wife don't have children. I heard rumors circulating that his wife is infertile?!"