Siheyuan (courtyard house): My name is Shazhu!

"There are elderly people in the courtyard who have no descendants and refuse to eat. They want to cause trouble for me, an unmarried person. Think about the consequences. Can you bear them?"

If anyone dares to steal my family's property again, I'll at least break their legs. If they dare to lay a hand on my sister, I'll deal with their whole family, including your children.

"Comrade Yi Zhonghai, if you think I'm wrong, you can go find the comrades from the Military Control Commission now. I have to go to work and don't have time to wait for you."

"Pillar, you did something wrong..."

"Stop! Whether what I did was right or wrong is for the comrades of the Military Control Commission to decide. Do you have the right to judge? Your personal opinion does not represent the law. Are you going to call someone or not? If not, I'm at work."

"Zhu Zi, hitting an old woman has serious consequences. You should wake Jia Zhangshi up, apologize, and pay some medical expenses."

"I'll pay your mother! Stop using your 'old age' excuse to bully and intimidate me. You think I wouldn't dare to slap you old bastards? There are just too many old trash like you in this courtyard."

"Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap." Four hard slaps were delivered to Yi Zhonghai, leaving him covered in blood as he collapsed to the ground.

"You two piece of trash, if you dare to use your 'old age' to intimidate me again, I'll beat you up."

He Yuzhu locked the door, glanced at Jia Zhangshi, whose face was rosy and chubby, and who was soundly asleep, gave a disdainful smile, and rode his bicycle to work.

On the way, He Yuzhu felt that it was really awesome to slap Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhangshi. He wanted to slap them when he watched TV dramas, and it was even more awesome to do it in real life!

Before six o'clock in the evening, He Yuzhu returned to the courtyard with He Yushui. He Yuzhu knew that this matter was not over.

"He Yuzhu, why did you hit my mother and my master? If you don't give me an explanation, I'm going to report you to the authorities." Jia Dongxu walked out with a gloomy face as soon as he entered the central courtyard.

"You hit her mother, no excuses. Next time she dares to curse or hit someone, I'll beat her the same way. If you're not happy, go report it to the authorities, or... just keep it to yourself."

"you...."

"Make way, get out of here."

"You wait here." Jia Dongxu turned and walked out of the courtyard.

"Brother, are you alright?" He Yushui asked anxiously.

"Rain, be good. Your brother is okay. Play inside for a while; it's cold outside."

"Yes. My brother taught me to read."

"Teach the rain to recognize characters, so that it can study hard in the future and go to university when it grows up."

I will.

"......."

"You are Comrade He Yuzhu. Someone has accused you of beating an elderly person, causing the elderly person to faint. What do you have to say?" Three soldiers and Jia Dongxu entered the house.

"This is what happened... If you two comrades don't believe me, you can ask others. At noon, there were more than thirty women and children who were not at work watching the commotion."

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course, I stand by my words. You two comrades can call the person out and ask them. The facts are right in front of us. Apart from Yi Zhonghai from the Intermediate People's Court, who believes that the elderly should not have been beaten, no one else has said anything."

"Comrade Yi Zhonghai, why do you think it was wrong of you to hit the old man?"

"He kept saying in the compound that we should respect the elderly, no matter what the reason? We should respect the elderly, and it is wrong to talk back to the elderly or hit the elderly. So I slapped him too."

Why do you say that? I don't know. I only know that respecting the elderly depends on the person; it's impossible to respect bad elements like traitors and villains. One must be able to distinguish right from wrong.

"A virtuous old woman deserves our respect, but a wicked old shrew does not." He Yuzhu's dignified yet assertive reply also served as another blow to Yi Zhonghai.

"If that's the case, you haven't done anything wrong. That old shrew doesn't deserve our respect. We must be able to distinguish right from wrong, and we need to find out the truth of the matter."

"Xiao Zhang, call someone to the Intermediate People's Court. We need to ask them all." A soldier ordered.

"Comrade, he hit my mother..."

"Comrade Jia, if what Comrade He said is true, your mother deserves a beating. Don't say anything yet, we'll investigate thoroughly." The soldier spoke simply and directly.

In less than half an hour, the three soldiers found out what had happened at noon.

"Comrade He, you did nothing wrong at noon. She hit you twice before you fought back. You need to protect yourself. As for Yi Zhonghai, he was using his seniority to intimidate you and couldn't distinguish right from wrong."

If something like this happens again, tell our military control commission. It's not right for you to resort to violence.

Comrade Jia, tell your mother to stop her scheming. It was wrong of her to try to take advantage of someone who has no family to support her and to hit people. This is a lesson for her, and she should behave herself in the future.

Our Military Control Commission believes that He Yuzhu's assault was justified and he is not guilty; therefore, this matter ends here. If you have any objections, you can contact other members of the Military Control Commission.

Thank you for your cooperation, comrades. Now you can go home and rest.

After the leading soldier finished speaking, he left with two comrades from the military control committee.

"He Yuzhu, this isn't over." Jia Dongxu said harshly, then went home with his hands behind his back.

When He Yushui saw her brother enter the room, she asked, "Brother, are you alright?"

"Brother did nothing wrong, so of course he's fine. Rain, just be careful what the Jia family says to you in the future..."

"Brother, I understand. Dad took everything from the house. What are we going to do now?" He Yushui was already quite sensible.

"It's alright. Didn't I tell Yushui? Our dad left you a lot of money before he passed away. He'll raise Yushui to be plump and healthy, like a little pig."

"I don't want to be a little pig. Brother, can I sleep with you tonight? I'm scared." He Yushui was worried that her brother wouldn't want her anymore; what a clever child.

"We slept together until Rain went to school, at which point we slept separately, and Rain was a big kid by then."

"OK."

The Jia family!

"Dongxu, Shazhu beat me so badly, and he's actually alright. He didn't even pay my medical bills. I will never let him get away with this!" Jia Zhangshi said viciously.

"We can't let him go. Just because Sha Zhu can fight doesn't mean his sister can. We have plenty of time, and we'll find a way to deal with him."

"A bastard whose father ran away, a penniless nobody, how will they survive without money and food?"

"Dongxu, I took fifty catties of grain from Shazhu's house, almost enough for my daughter and me to eat for a month. Consider it his medical expenses." Jia Zhangshi thought about how to get something for nothing.

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu said, "You absolutely mustn't make a fuss. Stealing is illegal. Who else has taken anything from 'Silly Zhu's' house?"

I estimate that the siblings can survive. Sha Zhu works at the restaurant and is provided with meals, although He Yushui doesn't get any. They can manage by borrowing money.

"No one took anything from his house. I remember Yi Zhonghai went in there before, and he came out empty-handed."

"Hmph, those two little bastards got off too easily. It would be better if they starved to death." Jia Zhangshi said indignantly.

"We know, but we must not tell anyone else," Jia Dongxu added.

"I understand."

Yi Zhonghai's home!

"I never expected that Zhu Zi would turn out like this after only half a year of apprenticeship. He has no respect for us elders at all and even dares to hit us elders. This behavior is very wrong." Yi Zhonghai was very angry.

"Old Yi, the comrades from the Military Control Commission say they are doing the right thing. Don't say the opposite, or you'll get into trouble."

Jia Zhangshi did something wrong at noon today. She asked to borrow a bicycle worth 2.8 million yuan and wanted to borrow it for several years. She also started hitting a pillar.

"Who is she? We all know." Yi Zhonghai's wife, Tan Guilan, looked down on Jia Zhangshi.

"Putting aside the facts, wasn't Zhu Zi right? We should teach him a lesson sometime and show him what it means to respect the elderly."

"He's become like this, and the old lady still says he's good. She really misjudged him. I need to guide him back to the right path and make him a 'good person.'" Yi Zhonghai was still very angry.

"See?" Tan Guilan had no say in her own home.