Courtyard House: I fish in the heavens, a professional bird abuser.

"Ouch—! It hurts so much! Grandma! Mom! Help me—!"

"Oh my goodness! You damned He Yuanchao! You deserve to die a horrible death!"

"Quick! Someone help! The stem is stuck!"

"What a disaster! What...what is this thing? How can it be so cruel?"

The source of the sound was none other than the doorway of He Yuanchao's small side room in the backyard!

He Yuanchao pushed his bicycle while Yan Bugui carried a fish basket. The two looked at each other; Yan Bugui's eyes were filled with confusion and astonishment, while He Yuanchao's eyes flashed with a knowing coldness.

He quickened his pace, crossed the front yard, and headed straight for the back yard.

The backyard is in complete chaos!

Outside He Yuanchao's dilapidated wooden door, a number of neighbors who had come after hearing the commotion had gathered.

Like a maddened mother beast, Jia Zhangshi slumped onto the cold ground by the door, slapping her thighs and crying with snot and tears streaming down her face. Her voice was hoarse and shrill: "My beloved! My darling! You heartless bastard! What kind of black heart did you have!"

Putting this harmful thing in front of your own doorstep! You're trying to kill off the Jia family line!

Old Jia! Come up and take him away! Waaah…

Bang Geng was half-crouching and half-kneeling under He Yuanchao's windowsill, one leg twisted in an extremely awkward position. At his ankle, a steel mousetrap, gleaming with cold metallic light, was like a ferocious beast's mouth, tightly clamped onto his calf!

The serrated clips were deeply embedded in his flesh, and blood had stained his trousers and the ground!

Banggeng's face turned deathly pale with pain, his features contorted, and large beads of sweat mixed with tears streamed down his face as he let out a pig-like scream: "Ah—! It hurts! It hurts so much! Grandma! Help me! Get it off me! My leg is going to break! Waaaaaah—!"

Xiao Dang and Huaihua were so frightened that they huddled to one side and cried loudly.

Qin Huairu hadn't finished get off work yet, and Jia Dongxu was lying paralyzed on the kang (a heated brick bed) and couldn't get up.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong were also alerted and stood at the front of the crowd.

Yi Zhonghai looked at the gleaming, incredibly powerful steel mousetrap on Bang Geng's leg, his face turning extremely ugly.

Liu Haizhong, with his belly protruding, looked like he was "in charge of the overall situation," but his eyes also held fear and a hint of barely perceptible schadenfreude.

"Get out of the way! What are you all doing standing around like that!" Yi Zhonghai shouted sternly, trying to remain calm.

He crouched down and tried to pry open the mousetrap.

However, the steel clips were exceptionally sturdy, and the spring force was astonishing!

Yi Zhonghai exerted all his strength, his face turning red, but the clamp didn't budge! On the contrary, because he used so much force, the clamp clamped even tighter!

"Awooo—!"

Banggeng let out an even more piercing scream, almost fainting from the pain!

"No! I can't bend it! These clamps are too weird!"

Yi Zhonghai released his grip, panting heavily, his face ashen.

"Where is He Yuanchao? Has He Yuanchao returned yet?"

Liu Haizhong shouted at the top of his lungs, "Find him here! He must have put this trap there! It's outrageous! Putting such a dangerous thing in the yard! He has to give us an explanation! Compensation!" He tried to shift the blame to He Yuanchao, who was not present.

Just then, a calm yet powerfully penetrating voice rang out from behind the crowd:

"No need to look for me, I'm back."

'

Swish!

All eyes were instantly drawn to them!

He Yuanchao was seen pushing his brand-new Forever 28 bicycle, with a heavy, splashing bucket hanging from the handlebars, full of lively, wriggling fish!

Yan Bugui followed closely behind, carrying a tattered fish basket that was also bulging and had its fish tails swinging wildly. His face still showed the astonishment of watching the spectacle and a hint of barely perceptible pleasure.

The shocking sight of the abundant fish catch contrasted sharply with the pitiful state of the fish stalks at the entrance and Jia Zhangshi's wailing!

He Yuanchao's cold gaze swept over Jia Zhangshi, who was lying on the ground wailing, then over Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong, whose faces were ashen, and finally landed on Bang Geng, who was groaning on the ground, and the steel mousetrap on his leg.

A sneer, undisguised, curled at the corner of his lips, his voice echoing clearly in the deathly silent courtyard:

"Oh? What's going on here? Comrade 'Master Thief' Banggeng, what brings you to my humble abode? And why are you wearing 'shackles'?"

He Yuanchao's cold voice was like an ice pick, instantly piercing through Jia Zhangshi's hysterical wailing.

He pushed his brand-new Forever 28 bicycle, the heavy bucket on the handlebars teeming with fish splashing and leaping, reflecting the golden light of the setting sun. This contrasted sharply with the bulging, battered fish basket in Yan Bugui's arms, its fish tails flailing wildly, creating a striking scene.

The bountiful harvest, displayed in abundance, contrasted sharply with the menacing steel rat traps on Bang Geng's legs, the bloodstains scattered on the ground, and Jia Zhangshi's disheveled state, creating a stark and jarring scene reminiscent of heaven and hell.

Jia Zhangshi's heart-wrenching wailing came to an abrupt halt, like an old hen being strangled.

She suddenly looked up, the resentment in her triangular eyes almost solidifying as it stared intently at He Yuanchao's face. Then she burst out with even more scathing and vicious curses: "He Yuanchao! You damned, childless bastard! You heartless, rotten beast! How dare you come back?! Look at the mess you've made!"

What are you up to?! Putting these man-eating iron traps at your own doorstep! Are you deliberately trying to wipe out the Jia family line?!

Old Jia! Open your eyes! Quickly get rid of this jinx! He's trying to drive us, a widow and her orphan, to our deaths!

My beloved... my sweetheart...

She slapped the ground, raising dust, her snot and tears smearing her harsh, swollen old face. Her finger trembled as she pointed at He Yuanchao, wishing she could pounce on him and devour his flesh.

"That's enough!"

A stern, angry shout rang out, and the old man Yi Zhonghai finally found an opportunity to exercise his "authority".

He covered his aching left eye socket, his face ashen from being accidentally injured by Sha Zhu yesterday. He stepped forward, standing between Jia Zhangshi and He Yuanchao, his gaze fixed on He Yuanchao, his tone carrying a condescending question and an unquestionable "fairness": "He Yuanchao! You've come at the right time! What exactly happened?"

Bang Geng is still a child! Look at him, look at how badly you hurt him with that clamp!

My legs are almost crushed! What are you trying to do, leaving such a dangerous thing in your own yard? Don't you have any sense of neighborly courtesy? Don't you have any sense of safety?! This is utterly lawless!

He deliberately ignored the core question of "why the stick appeared under He Yuanchao's window" and directly pointed the finger at the "danger" of He Yuanchao placing the mousetrap, attempting to seize the moral high ground.

Uncle Liu, with his big belly, greedily scanned He Yuanchao and Yan Bugui's overflowing catch with his beady green eyes. Then, glancing at the groaning fish on the ground, he immediately realized that this was a good opportunity to win over Yi Zhonghai, suppress He Yuanchao, and incidentally show off his own "Uncle Liu's" presence.

He immediately puffed out his belly, adopted a leader's air, cleared his throat, and declared in support: "Old Yi is right! Comrade He Yuanchao! Your behavior is too egregious! The nature of this is too serious!"

I've seen this clamp; it's made of high-strength steel! It's even more ruthless than the clamps on the machines in the factory! Is this for dealing with rats? This is clearly for dealing with humans!

If anything happens to Bang Geng, I'd like to see how you explain yourself! This must be dealt with seriously! Compensation! A thorough self-criticism!

He waved his short, chubby fingers, spitting as he spoke, looking indignant.

The neighbors were taken aback by the sight, and Banggeng's pitiful appearance was indeed frightening. Many looked at He Yuanchao with a mixture of reproach and fear, whispering among themselves:

"Yeah, these clamps are really brutal..."

"Although Banggeng is a bit mischievous, this is..."

"He Yuanchao went a bit too far..."

"So many fish...tsk tsk, how could they bring themselves to use such poisonous traps?"

"The Jia family is in deep trouble now..."

The deaf old lady, who had been helped along at some point, stood shakily at the back of the crowd, leaning on her cane.

His dim old eyes first swept over the howling stick on the ground and the hideous clamp on his leg, but his cloudy eyes showed little emotion.

But when her gaze fell on the heavy, bouncing bucket on He Yuanchao's handlebars and the bulging fish basket in Yan Bugui's arms, her toothless mouth seemed to smack its lips, and a very faint, almost imperceptible glint of light flashed by.

She didn't speak immediately, but gently tapped the ground with her cane, making a dull "thump-thump" sound, as if to remind everyone of her presence, or as if she was waiting for something.

"Make way! Make way! The doctor is coming!"

A commotion arose in the crowd as Dr. Wang, the community doctor who had been hastily summoned by a neighbor, squeezed in with his medicine kit on his back.