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

Yan Bugui knew what his son had done at school and had been keeping watch at the gate. Seeing He Yuzhu and his son return, he feared getting into trouble and went back inside. Only after the He family left did he come out of his house. Yan Bugui thought he was out of trouble for the day. Unexpectedly, He Yuzhu stopped him as soon as he stepped out: "Hey, you surnamed Yan! Where's your Yan Jiefang?! Make him come out!"

Yan Bugui, with a fawning smile, said, "Zhuzi, let's talk this out! Don't get so angry! Anger hurts your liver!"

"Easy to talk?! What good would it do to talk nicely to your family?!" He Yuzhu rolled up his sleeves and continued, "It is said that the son pays for the father's debts, and the father pays for the son's debts. If you raise a child but do not teach him, it is the father's fault. Since you, as the father, want to take the blame for your son, then that's the best you can do." After saying that, He Yuzhu punched Yan Bugui in the face.

Yan Bugui took a solid punch. Afraid that He Yuzhu would continue to hit him, Yan Bugui ignored the injury on his face and turned to run home. How could He Yuzhu let Yan Bugui go?! In a flash, He Yuzhu caught up with Yan Bugui, grabbed his collar, and lifted him up.

Seeing that he couldn't escape, Yan Bugui regretted coming out to cause trouble. With a forced smile, he said, "Zhuzi, let's talk this out, don't fight!"

He Yuzhu snorted coldly and said, "Yan Bugui, don't try to play mind games with me. I know what you're thinking. If you don't want to get beaten up, fine. I'll give you two choices: either you beat up Yan Jiefang in front of me, or you pay me back!"

For a stingy person like Yan Bugui, paying compensation was tantamount to taking his life. Faced with the choice between paying compensation and beating his son, Yan Bugui unhesitatingly chose to beat his son. Yan Bugui said, "Zhuzi, isn't it enough that I beat him up in front of you?!"

He Yuzhu released his grip on Yan Bugui's collar and said, "Go quickly! My patience has its limits. Don't force me to take action!"

Yan Bugui sighed, knowing that if he didn't give Yan Jiefang a good beating today, the whole family would be in trouble. Yan Bugui dragged himself home, and Yan Jiefang asked, "Dad, you're not really going to hit me, are you?!"

Yan Bugui said, "You caused this mess, so you have to bear the consequences yourself! Do you want your whole family to suffer because of you?!"

Yan Jiefang said with a mournful face, "Dad! You can't just abandon me after you've served your purpose! I bullied He Yushui to get revenge for you!"

Yan Bugui was both angry and amused. He said, "Yan Jiefang! When did I ever ask you to stand up for me?! Besides, you can't just make things up to avoid punishment!" With that, Yan Bugui grabbed Yan Jiefang and started walking outside.

Yan Jiefang struggled and cried out, "Dad! Dad! Please forgive me! I know I was wrong! Please pay He Yuzhu some money for me. I'll pay you back slowly later! I don't want to be beaten!"

Yan Bugui was stunned for a moment, but quickly figured it out. He pulled Yan Jiefang to the door, grabbed a broom, and started hitting him with it.

He Yuzhu stood by with his arms crossed, watching and gloating, saying, "Yan Bugui, have you not eaten enough?! Is this how you discipline a child?! You're just dusting him off. If you don't know how to discipline a child, wait until Liu Haizhong from the backyard comes back, then you can ask him for advice on how to discipline your son. When it comes to disciplining sons, he's a professional."

Hearing He Yuzhu's words, Yan Jiefang, who was constantly dodging, was furious! He roared, "He Yuzhu, you either have my dad beat me to death today! Otherwise, I'll go to school and see how I deal with He Yuzhu!!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui knew things were going badly. He glanced furtively at He Yuzhu, then decisively increased the pressure on his hands. Seeing Yan Bugui hitting harder and harder, Yan Jiefang panicked. He roared, "Dad! Are you serious?!"

"Hey?! Old Yan, disciplining the kids?!" Just then, Liu Haizhong walked in from outside.

Yan Bugui's heart skipped a beat. He stopped what he was doing, looked at Liu Haizhong somewhat awkwardly, and greeted him, "Old Liu, you're off work?!"

Liu Haizhong smiled as he sized up Yan Bugui, then looked at He Yuzhu, and finally fixed his gaze on Yan Jiefang. Liu Haizhong said, "Old Yan, you teachers should know the saying 'Jade must be carved to become a gem.' It's the same with children. They won't amount to anything without being disciplined. The harder you discipline them, the better you're treating them. If you can't discipline them, you can tell me. I can do it for you!"

Yan Bugui's face instantly fell, and he said in a sarcastic tone, "Old Liu, you don't need to do this for me!"

Liu Haizhong chuckled softly, losing interest in staying any longer. He hummed a tune from "Exploring the Clear Water River" and headed towards the backyard.

After Liu Haizhong left, He Yuzhu urged, "Teacher Yan, don't just stand there! Let's continue! If you don't want to do it yourself, I can do it!"

Yan Bugui gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and looked at Yan Jiefang, thinking to himself, "Jiefang, don't hate me! It's better for me to do it than for someone else to!" Then, Yan Bugui swung the broom in his hand and struck Yan Jiefang. As he struck, Yan Bugui seemed to enter a special state. The more he struck, the more excited he felt; it was as if all 30,000 pores on his body were open, and he felt an indescribable sense of exhilaration.

When Yan Bugui finally snapped out of his daze, he realized he had gone too far. He stopped, looked at He Yuzhu, and asked, "Zhuzi, are you satisfied now?!"

He Yuzhu said with a smile, "Teacher Yan, if you had put this much effort into educating your child earlier, you wouldn't have needed to be so calculating. Let's just let this matter go this time. But if there's a next time..." He Yuzhu pointed at Yan Jiefang and said, "This is what will happen to your whole family. I hope Teacher Yan can keep a close eye on your family."

After He Yuzhu left, Yan Bugui breathed a sigh of relief, threw the broom aside, and shouted, "Ruihua! Come out quickly!"

"They're here!" Hearing the shout, Yang Ruihua immediately ran out of the house. Seeing Yan Jiefang covered in wounds, tears instantly streamed down her face. She said, "Old Yan, this is our own son. Why did you hit him so hard?!"

Yan Bugui couldn't tell his wife that he was addicted to beating people, so he could only vaguely say, "I had to go all out! Who told this kid to be so talkative?! Even if you want revenge, you can't say it to his face. But this kid went and threatened me directly. Who is He Yuzhu?! Don't let his harmless appearance fool you. He's ruthless! Otherwise, how could Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady have gotten themselves into trouble?!"

Although Yan Jiefang looked badly beaten, most of his injuries were superficial. He had listened to everything Yan Bugui said without missing a single word. At the same time, a sense of lingering fear arose in his heart. However, Yan Jiefang was still a child, and this fear came and went quickly. Soon, the pain in his body made him forget his fear.