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

"Give me the money! To buy it!"

He Yuanchao's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a thunderclap rolling across the deathly silent courtyard. Every word was like ice shards, making the eardrums of the onlookers buzz.

After a brief silence came an even greater uproar.

"He Yuanchao! Do you have any humanity left?!"

Second Uncle Liu Haizhong was the first to jump out, his slightly protruding belly sticking out. He almost poked He Yuanchao's nose with his finger, spitting everywhere. "Neighbors, why are you talking about money? Vulgar! Utterly vulgar! With your high salary, helping those in need is an act of kindness! It's a matter of conscience! Why do you keep talking about money? You're obsessed with money!"

"Exactly! That old man is right, wasting food is a crime! Look at your meat, it's so fatty it's oozing oil, can one person eat that much?"

Xu Damao's sarcastic voice squeezed in from behind the crowd. His horse-like face was filled with schadenfreude and jealousy, his eyes fixed on the bowl of glistening twice-cooked pork, as if looking at it any longer would allow him to get a bite. "The Jia family is in such dire straits, they're practically starving. How can you be so heartless? Is your heart made of stone?"

"Wang Chao, you can't be too selfish! If you're too selfish, you won't have any friends!" someone chimed in.

"Exactly, we'll run into each other all the time. Everyone needs to ask for help sometimes."

"Young man, don't get so hot-tempered. Listen to this old man's advice, and share some of your strength. Everyone will appreciate your kindness!" I said.

The banner of "morality" was waved wildly by these people, as if He Yuanchao was an unpardonable sinner who should be nailed to the pillar of shame in the courtyard if he did not immediately bring out and share the bowl of meat.

Qin Huairu lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly. Her frail appearance, crushed by life and bullied by her "unkind" neighbors, aroused the pitiful and laughable "protective instincts" and "sympathy" of many onlookers.

Seeing this, Jia Zhangshi became even more confident. She rolled her triangular eyes, slapped her thigh, and started wailing, "Oh my God! Open your eyes and look! Is there no justice or law here anymore!"

Our Dongxu is paralyzed on the kang (a heated brick bed), barely clinging to life. The other children, Banggeng and his family, are starving and on the verge of starvation! But He Yuanchao is doing just fine! He's locked up behind closed doors, eating and drinking like a king, with piles of fatty meat bulging out of his head!

That profit was enough for our family to live on for half a month! You heartless, rotten-necked bastards! They just stood by and watched us die!

"Old Jia, you died too soon, leaving us orphans and widows to be bullied like this..." The dry howl rose and fell, mixed with the most vicious curses against He Yuanchao.

Driven to madness by his grandmother's wailing and tormented by the unattainable aroma of meat so close yet so far, Bang Geng completely lost his mind. He plopped down on the ground, kicking his legs wildly and screaming at the top of his lungs, a sound so piercing it hurt the eardrums: "Meat! I want meat! He Yuanchao! Give me meat! If you don't give me meat, I'll smash your windows! I'll have my dad come looking for you in the middle of the night! Waaaaaahhhhhh—!"

Xiao Dang and Huaihua were also led by their brother to burst into tears, and the yard was thrown into chaos, with chickens flying and dogs barking.

Several elderly women who usually didn't get involved in things were also drawn out by this tragic scene. Looking at the crying child and the "grief-stricken" Jia Zhangshi, they shook their heads and clicked their tongues.

"Oh, what a tragedy..."

"It breaks my heart to hear the child crying like that..."

"That kid Yuanchao... he used to seem so honest, how come he's so heartless now..."

"After all, he's orphaned and lacks discipline..."

As the old man Yi Zhonghai listened to these discussions, the solemn expression on his face, one of concern for the country and its people and upholding justice, almost froze into a mask.

He straightened his back, ready to speak again, using more "earnest" words and a higher moral stance to completely crush He Yuanchao's pitiful "selfishness".

Just then, a hesitant voice, tinged with calculation yet trying to appear impartial, rang out. The volume was not loud, but it stood out starkly amidst the noise.

"Um... well... can I say a few words?"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Uncle Yan Bugui had somehow slipped from his own doorway to the edge of the crowd.

He pushed up his old glasses, one leg of which was broken and held together with a thin thread, and his small eyes quickly scanned the meat and wine on He Yuanchao's table behind the lenses. He then glanced at the aggressive Jia Zhangshi and the wailing Bang Geng, and finally looked at Yi Zhonghai.

"Old Yi, and all the neighbors," Yan Bugui cleared his throat, trying to make his voice sound more convincing, "that's a bit harsh on the subject of 'Aid Korea,' and it doesn't sound very pleasant."

But... but thinking about it carefully, what he said makes sense!

"Reason? What reason?" Jia Zhangshi glared at Yan Bugui with her triangular eyes, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Old Man Yan! It's easy for you to talk when you're not the one suffering! As if it's not your children who are starving!"

Yan Bugui choked on Jia Zhangshi's words and instinctively shrank back, but then he thought of the two greasy pieces of meat and the heavy white flour on He Yuanchao's table...

A strange courage sustained him, and he straightened his neck, raising his voice a few decibels: "Sister-in-law Jia, you can't say that! Reason is reason!"

"That meat, that flour, was bought by Yuanchao himself, with real money, from the pigeon market! Right, Yuanchao?" He looked at He Yuanchao as if seeking confirmation.

He Yuanchao crossed his arms, leaned against the door frame, and coldly watched the farce unfold, neither nodding nor shaking his head, as if he were watching a group of clowns jumping around.

Yan Bugui took this as a tacit agreement and continued to argue his "reasoning": "What kind of place is Pigeon City? It's a black market!"

Prices have skyrocketed compared to state-run stores! The money Yuan Chao spent on these few items is equivalent to half a month's worth of food for an ordinary worker! That's his own hard-earned money! A level four fitter—that's a skill he honed day and night in the workshop, the hard-earned money!

Why should we give it to your Jia family for free? Just because your family is in trouble?

"Who in this courtyard isn't struggling? Why should it be your family that's in trouble and everyone else has to cut off their own flesh?"

The more he talked, the more convinced he felt he was in the right, and his eyes behind his small glasses even brightened a bit: "Besides, the old man is right to say that wasting food is a crime! But if people buy food for themselves to eat, does that count as wasting it?"

He deserves what he eats! It can't be a sin just because he bought more and ate more delicious food.

So, according to that logic, if anyone has a good time and eats something nice, does that mean they have to share it with the whole yard? And if they don't, it's a crime? This...this doesn't make sense!

Although Yan Bugui's "fair words" were still based on his own scheming, they were surprisingly clear and powerful in logic. Like a bucket of cold water, they extinguished the blind moral enthusiasm of some onlookers.

The courtyard became much quieter, and some people wore thoughtful expressions.

"Yan Bugui! You old bastard! You're talking nonsense!"

Madam Jia completely lost it. She pointed at Yan Bugui's nose and started cursing, unleashing a torrent of vulgarities like excrement. "What benefits did you take from that He fellow? Why are you speaking up for him like this? Are your eyes glued to his flesh? You old, stingy bastard! You deserve to be poor your whole life!"

"You two are in cahoots with this bastard! Neither of you is any good! You deserve to be childless!"

Seeing his grandmother scolding fiercely, Banggeng jumped up and screamed, "Old Man Yan is so mean! So mean! He won't give us meat! He's a bad guy!"

Yi Zhonghai's face darkened completely, turning as black as the bottom of a pot.

Yan Bugui's words, seemingly reasonable, were actually a public slap in the face to Yi Zhonghai!

They shattered the moral standards he had just established!

This old man, usually so stingy, suddenly jumps out to sabotage things at a crucial moment?

Yi Zhonghai knew exactly what he was thinking. He just wanted to curry favor with He Yuanchao because he saw that He Yuanchao was rich and handsome, and make some extra money.

"Old Yan!" Yi Zhonghai's voice was filled with suppressed anger and unquestionable authority. "Your words are biased! Mutual help and support among neighbors is a traditional virtue of our Chinese nation!"

How can you measure this with money? The Jia family's situation is clear: the children are crying from hunger. How can we, as their elders, just stand by and watch? To stand by and watch them die is the greatest fault of all!

"Everyone has a heart, and Yuan Chao was young and impulsive. He might have acted rashly in a moment of weakness. We should be trying to persuade him, not adding fuel to the fire."

He once again raised the banners of "children" and "morality" in an attempt to regain control of the situation.

However, He Yuanchao made his move at this moment.

He seemed not to have heard Yi Zhonghai's righteous nonsense at all, and he couldn't be bothered to look at Jia Zhangshi's disgusting shrewish face anymore.

His gaze passed over the agitated crowd and landed on Yan Bugui, whose face was pale and who was being humiliated by Jia Zhangshi's scolding.

"Third Uncle," He Yuanchao's voice was calm, even carrying a hint of...invitation?

Yan Bugui's blood pressure was rising from Jia Zhangshi's scolding, and he was somewhat regretting his impulsive actions. When he heard He Yuanchao call him, he looked up blankly and asked, "Huh?"

"What you just said was the only thing among all these birds... cough, people in this yard that still had a trace of humanity."

He Yuanchao's lips curled into a mocking smile. His gaze swept over Yi Zhonghai's instantly ashen face and the neighbors around him, some angry and some envious. "Justice resides in the hearts of the people? Ha, bullshit! In this courtyard, fists and money are the only justice!"

"I, He Yuanchao, worked hard to earn this money, bought this meat with my own skills, and now I'm enjoying a nice meal behind closed doors. What law have I broken?"

He paused, then his voice suddenly rose, carrying an undeniable force: "Come in! Sit down! Have a couple of drinks with me! Of all the people in this courtyard, only what you just said was somewhat human!"

boom!

Like pouring a ladle of cold water into boiling oil, the entire courtyard erupted in chaos!

Inviting Yan Bugui? To drink? Right here in front of everyone?

While they were all denouncing and eagerly waiting to get their share of the meat?

He Yuanchao is absolutely insane!

This is a blatant provocation!

It's like slapping everyone hard across the face!

"He Yuanchao! What...what do you mean?!"

Yi Zhonghai was so angry that he was trembling all over. He pointed at He Yuanchao, and his fingers were shaking.

He felt that his authority as an elder had been completely trampled underfoot and crushed.