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

Yan Jiefang's expression changed slightly, and he said with a bitter face, "Brother Zhu, we're neighbors, we see each other all the time. We can talk things over."

He Yuzhu said, "Is this your family's attitude of negotiation?!"

Yan Jiefang, forcing a tough stance, said, "What?! Why aren't you willing to negotiate?! He Yuzhu, don't push your luck!"

He Yuzhu sized up Yan Jiefang and said, "You're something else! Since you want to stand up for your family, I'll grant your wish!" With that, He Yuzhu pulled out handcuffs and put them on Yan Jiefang's wrists. Yan Jiefang was instantly stunned by He Yuzhu's actions. His voice trembling, Yan Jiefang questioned, "He Yuzhu, what are you trying to do?!"

He Yuzhu said, "Since you've done something wrong, you have to pay the price. I'll send you to where you belong to reflect on your actions now."

Yan Jiefang hurriedly begged for mercy, "Brother Zhu! Brother Zhu! Let's talk this out! Let's talk this out! What are you doing?!" At the same time, Yan Jiefang thought to himself, "Why is this different from what my dad said?!"

Seeing Yan Jiefang's reaction, He Yuzhu continued, "Don't worry! You won't be lonely in there. Your parents and brother will come to keep you company soon!"

Yan Jiefang was completely dumbfounded. Just then, Yan Bugui, who hadn't seen Yan Jiefang for a long time, arrived. Seeing He Yuzhu preparing to take Yan Jiefang away, Yan Bugui panicked! He hurriedly ran to He Yuzhu, grabbed him, and said, "Zhuzi! Zhuzi! Let's talk this out! Let's talk this out!"

He Yuzhu sized up Yan Bugui and said, "Which blind fool showed you?! You think you can call me 'Zhu'?!"

Yan Bugui's expression changed slightly, and he questioned, "He Yuzhu, what do you mean by this?!" Then, seeing more and more people gathering to watch the commotion, Yan Bugui's eyes lit up, and he immediately came up with a plan. He said, "He Yuzhu! Why did you arrest my son for no reason?!"

He Yuzhu understood Yan Bugui's meaning, smiled, and said loudly, "Folks! My name is He Yuzhu. Recently, there have been many rumors about me circulating around here. And the root of these rumors is this Yan Bugui! Just because I didn't let him take advantage of me, he's trying to ruin my reputation. He wants me to never be able to find a wife, and the most vicious thing is, he wants to get fired from my job by ruining my reputation!"

Passerby A: "That Yan Bugui is too vicious!!"

Passerby B: "He used to be a teacher, but I heard he got into trouble and now he's sweeping garbage at the school."

Passerby C: "Oh my?! Thank goodness he's not teaching anymore! If he's like this, how could his students be any good?!"

Hearing the whispers of passersby, Yan Bugui's face turned extremely ugly. He wished he could disappear into the ground. However, Yan Bugui was Yan Bugui after all; his skin was thicker than a city wall. That hint of embarrassment was fleeting. Yan Bugui pulled He Yuzhu, who was about to take Yan Jiefang away, and asked, "What exactly do you want?!"

He Yuzhu said, "You ask me what I want?! I should be asking you, what do you want?!"

Yan Bugui knew that at this point, arguing wouldn't work, so he said, "Isn't it enough that I apologize to you?!"

He Yuzhu sneered, "What do we need the police for if we have to apologize?!" Then, changing the subject, he said, "However, out of consideration for our neighborly relationship, I'll give you a chance to reform. Write down the bad things you've done in big-character posters. Make three copies: one to post at the entrance of our compound, one to your school, and the last one to the entrance of the Military Control Commission."

Killing someone is one thing, but He Yuzhu is killing them emotionally! If Yan Bugui really did what He Yuzhu said, forget about cleaning the school or working in the library. He'd be lucky not to be expelled. Yan Bugui's face turned even uglier than if his wife had died. He said, "Zhuzi, let's make a deal. I'll apologize to you in front of everyone, okay?! No need for the big-character poster!"

He Yuzhu said, "Yan Bugui, ever since your family moved to courtyard number 95, you've done no shortage of disgusting things. Don't you know how many opportunities the people in the courtyard have given you?! Jia Zhangshi from our courtyard got arrested for stealing. That's understandable, since she's a rural woman, a widow, and uneducated. You're a primary school teacher, claiming to be cultured. But the things you've done are even more uncultured than those uneducated people. You're like a toad crawling on your foot; you're either frightening or disgusting. Every person in our courtyard who comes back from outside has been asked for favors! Anyone who hasn't been given a favor, you either gossip about them behind their backs or scheme against their children."

After hearing He Yuzhu's words, everyone around him became indignant. If Yan Bugui still didn't admit his mistake at this point, he would probably get a good beating.

Seeing that things were not going well, Yan Bugui didn't care about Yan Jiefang anymore and turned to run away.

Seeing Yan Bugui's pathetic, panicked escape, everyone present burst into laughter. He Yuzhu unlocked the handcuffs on Yan Jiefang and said, "You'd better watch your step! Your dad can sell you out once, and he can do it again. Next time, he might kill someone and make you brothers take the blame. You'll be eating peanuts while he enjoys life."

Yan Jiefang cried, "Brother Zhuzi, I didn't want this either! But there's nothing we can do! We brothers were blind when we were born. We were born into this family. We brothers are already burdened with a mountain of debt to my father!"

He Yuzhu said, "If you want to leave this family, you can only do it yourselves. There's no one outside who can help you. You'd better take care of yourself!" With that, He Yuzhu got on his bicycle and rode away. Seeing there was no more excitement to be had, the onlookers dispersed. Yan Jiefang watched He Yuzhu's retreating figure, sighed softly, and slowly walked home.

"Jiefang, how's it going?! What just happened?!" Yan Jiefang had only taken a couple of steps when Yan Jiecheng ran up from behind, hooked his arm around Yan Jiefang's shoulder, and asked.

Yan Jiefang glanced at Yan Jiecheng and said, "Brother, what else can we do?! I almost got caught by He Yuzhu just now. That old bastard Yan Bugui almost got beaten up too."

Yan Jiecheng asked, "Liberation? What's going on?!"

Yan Jiefang didn't hide anything and told Yan Jiecheng what had just happened. After listening to Yan Jiefang's account, Yan Jiecheng's heart skipped a beat, and he muttered, "I really didn't expect He Yuzhu to be so difficult to deal with."

Yan Jiefang said, "Brother, with our family background, trying to fight He Yuzhu is just courting death. Besides, I can see that even ten of Yan Bugui, with his dead-fish brain, wouldn't be a match for He Yuzhu. Not to mention that He Yuzhu also has He Daqing in his family."