Courtyard House: Starting by inheriting the tradition and suppressing the barbarians.

After taking the Rejuvenation Pill given to him by Li Xuan, Xu Damao felt his back was no longer sore, his legs were stronger, and he even walked with a spring in his step.

Although he wasn't pregnant yet, he had complete faith in Li Xuan!

Every day before going to work, he would make a special trip to the backyard to greet Li Xuan, being incredibly attentive.

That afternoon, Xu Damao came home from get off work and went to collect eggs from the chicken coop while humming a little tune.

"Why?"

Xu Damao's expression changed, and he counted three times.

"Wait a minute! One of my hens is missing!"

That was an old hen that he specially saved for Lou Xiao'e to eat during her postpartum confinement period; he treasured it dearly!

"Moths! Moths! Where are our chickens?" Xu Damao shouted as he rushed into the house.

"How would I know? It was just here a moment ago." Lou Xiao'e also looked bewildered.

"Oh no! We've been robbed!"

Xu Damao was furious!

In the past, he would have wandered around the yard like a headless fly.

But now, he has someone to rely on.

"No, I have to go find Master Xuan!"

......

The backyard, the Li family's house.

Li Xuan was drinking tea and reading a book inside the house.

But his spiritual power had already covered the entire courtyard and even the surrounding alleys.

In fact, he had clearly seen where the chicken was half an hour earlier.

Abandoned cement pipes outside the back wall of the steel rolling mill.

Banggeng was hiding inside, hugging half a charred chicken and gnawing on it with his mouth full of oil.

Next to it was a pile of messy chicken feathers and a fire that was still burning.

This kid, only a few years old, has already mastered the skill of eating alone without any instruction.

Even pregnant mothers were completely ignored.

And not far away.

Sha Zhu was leisurely walking back, carrying half a soy sauce chicken he had smuggled from the cafeteria.

"Knock knock knock!"

A knock sounded at the door, and Xu Damao hurriedly rushed in.

"Master Xuan! Something's happened! My chickens are missing!"

Xu Damao looked anxious. "You're so capable, could you help me figure out which bastard did this?"

Li Xuan put down his book and smiled faintly: "Brother Da Mao, don't rush."

"The chicken is gone for good, but this thief..."

"Far away, yet right before my eyes."

"Who?" Xu Damao's eyes widened.

Li Xuan pointed towards the central courtyard: "Besides that gluttonous kid, who else could it be?"

"A stick?"

Xu Damao slapped his thigh, "I knew it was that ungrateful little brat!"

"He's always been dishonest!"

"Master Xuan, I'll go and arrest him right now!"

"Wait a minute."

Li Xuan called out to him, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes, "To catch a thief, you need to catch him red-handed!"

"If you go now, they'll finish eating and wipe their mouths; what can you do about it?"

"Besides, someone will definitely step forward to take the blame for this."

"Take the blame? You mean Sha Zhu?" Xu Damao was a smart man and understood immediately.

"That's right."

"Sha Zhu will definitely take on this for Qin Huairu's sake."

Li Xuan's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Since he wants to be a hero, let's grant his wish."

"However, the price... will be one he can't afford!"

Li Xuan whispered a few words in Xu Damao's ear.

Xu Damao nodded repeatedly, a sinister and excited smile spreading across his face.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

"Master Xuan, just you wait and see!"

......

Half an hour later.

The Intermediate People's Court convened another plenary session.

One square table, three old men.

Xu Damao stood in the middle, pointing menacingly at the casserole dish that Sha Zhu was stewing.

"Silly Zhu! Confess! Did you steal my chickens?"

Sha Zhu was sitting by the stove, legs crossed, with a look of disdain on his face.

"Xu Damao, which of your dog eyes saw me steal your chickens?"

"I bought this myself!"

"Bought it? Where did you buy it?"

"I haven't seen you bring any live chickens back!" Xu Damao questioned.

"I...I bought it at the Chaoyang vegetable market!"

"Kill the one we brought back! Is that not allowed?" Sha Zhu retorted, sticking out his neck.

Qin Huairu stood in the crowd, her face pale and her eyes darting around.

She just saw Bang Geng sneak back alone, his mouth greasy and smelling of smoke.

When questioned, the brat actually admitted to stealing and eating the chicken.

She was terrified and quickly wiped the dog's mouth and changed her clothes.

Seeing Sha Zhu being questioned, she felt both guilty and hopeful.

They hope that Sha Zhu can help their family get through this, just like before.

Yi Zhonghai sat up, looked at Qin Huairu's pitiful appearance with her big pregnant belly, then looked at Sha Zhu, and coughed.

"Um... Da Mao, you need to have evidence in everything."

"Shazhu is a cook; if he wants chicken, he can make it himself. He wouldn't steal it from you."

This is a classic case of bias.

"evidence?"

Xu Damao sneered and turned to look at Li Xuan, who was sitting in the corner watching the show.

Li Xuan nodded slightly.

Xu Damao instantly felt confident and shouted, "Uncle, don't be so quick to judge!"

"Since Sha Zhu says the chicken was bought, that makes things easier."

"Let's go inside his house and see if there are any chicken feathers or innards, then we'll know for sure."

"And another thing! My hen is an old hen, and she has a nest of eggs inside her!"

"What if the chicken in this clay pot, Sha Zhu, is a rooster? What then?"

Sha Zhu's expression changed.

His chicken was indeed a rooster, and it was taken from the cafeteria; it had no feathers or internal organs.

If they really investigate...

He glanced at Qin Huairu subconsciously.

Qin Huairu looked at him helplessly, her eyes filled with tears.

Those eyes seemed to be saying, "Pillar, save Bang Geng, save Sister."

In a moment of impulsiveness, Sha Zhu's reckless energy returned.

"Alright! Stop investigating!"

Sha Zhu suddenly stood up and shouted, "I stole the chicken! Is that enough?"

"I just don't like Xu Damao and want to get back at him!"

"So what!"

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

Yi Zhonghai breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Sha Zhu admitted it, this matter could be considered an internal conflict.

The matter can be settled by paying some money, and the stick will be fine.

"Foolish! Zhu Zi, you're so foolish!"

Yi Zhonghai feigned a reprimand, saying, "Since you stole it, you'll have to pay for it!"

"Based on market price, we'll compensate Xu Damao two yuan!"

"Two pieces? Are you trying to fob me off like a beggar?"

Xu Damao jumped up, "My hen is a laying hen!"

"One egg a day, that's 365 eggs a year!"

"You owe me five dollars! No, ten dollars!"

"Ten dollars? Why don't you just rob someone?" Sha Zhu stared wide-eyed.

Just when the two sides were deadlocked.

Li Xuan, who had been silent all along, suddenly stood up and slowly walked to the center of the field.

"Wait a minute!"

Li Xuan's voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the noise in the room.

He looked at Sha Zhu with a half-smile:

"Silly Zhu, are you sure you stole this chicken?"

"Of course it's me! A real man takes responsibility for his actions!"

Sha Zhu felt a little uneasy, but he still forced himself to keep going.

"What a courageous and responsible person!"

Li Xuan nodded, then suddenly his expression darkened. "Since you admit to stealing!"

"Moreover, the theft was committed in a residential compound, involving a large sum of money and constituting a heinous crime!"

"According to the Public Security Administration Punishment Regulations, this constitutes theft!"

"Brother Da Mao, stop wasting your breath on him, go to the police station and find Captain Xu!"

"Just tell them there's a thief in our compound, caught red-handed, and tell him to bring his men to arrest him!"

"This deserves at least six months of re-education through labor and dismissal from public office!"

"Okay!"

Xu Damao agreed and took off running outside.

"No! Don't go!"

Now, both Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai panicked.

Shazhu wanted to take the blame for Banggeng, but he didn't expect to end up in jail himself!

If he gets a criminal record and loses his job, he's finished!

"Li Xuan! You're pushing someone to their death!" Yi Zhonghai roared, slamming his fist on the table.

"Forcing him? He admitted it himself."

Li Xuan sneered and turned his gaze to Bang Geng, who was hiding behind Qin Huairu.

Banggeng was looking down, not daring to look at anyone, with grease stains still remaining on the corners of his mouth.

"However... when I came back just now, it was by the cement pipe on the back wall of the factory."

"It looks like I see a pile of chicken feathers and a fire, and..."

Li Xuan walked up to Bang Geng, reached out and wiped his collar, then raised his finger.

"Look everyone, what is this?"

There was a dark soy sauce stain on Li Xuan's fingers.

"Banggeng, why does the wild vegetable porridge you ate for dinner taste so strongly of roasted chicken and soy sauce?"

"Eating alone in a concrete pipe, enjoying your meal quite a bit, huh?"

"You won't even give your pregnant mother and sick father a bite to eat?"

"boom!"

Now the truth is out!

All eyes were on the stick.

Banggeng burst into tears, terrified: "It's not my fault!"

"It was Xu Damao's chicken that ran off there by itself!"

"I'm just...I'm just hungry...waaaaah..."

"Oh! So it was you, you ungrateful little devil!"

Xu Damao trembled with rage. "Idiot Zhu! You're something else! You dare to take the blame for something like this?"

"You're protecting a criminal!"

"Are you after this kid's mother?"

Sha Zhu's face turned a deep liver color, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Having his thoughts exposed in public was worse than being killed.

"Arrest him! He must be arrested!"

Xu Damao was truly enraged this time, and he wouldn't let it go, "Stealing chickens and dogs at such a young age, what will he be like when he grows up?"

"No! Damao! Please!"

Qin Huairu knelt directly in front of Xu Damao, crying her heart out, "Bang Geng is still a child!"

"He's so ignorant! I'm begging you!"

Yi Zhonghai couldn't sit still any longer.

If Bang Geng gets arrested, the Jia family is finished, and his retirement plans will be ruined.

"Da Mao! That's enough!"

Yi Zhonghai, his face dark, said through gritted teeth, "We're all from the same hospital, don't go too far!"

"Let's settle this privately!"

"Settle it privately? Sure!"

Li Xuan spoke up calmly from the side, "But what about Brother Da Mao's compensation for emotional distress and lost wages..."

"And the future value of that laying hen, it's worth at least fifty dollars, right?"

"Fifty? Why don't you just rob me!" Jia Zhangshi screamed.

"You won't give it to me? Then let's make it public and send you to a juvenile detention center." Li Xuan said expressionlessly.

"Give it to me! I'll give it to you!"

Yi Zhonghai's heart was bleeding, but he knew he had no choice but to pay up today.

He shakily pulled five ten-yuan bills from his pocket and slammed them hard on the table.

"I'll pay this money on behalf of the Jia family!"

Xu Damao took the money, his mouth twitching with joy.

He looked at Sha Zhu, who was covered in dust and dirt, and then at Qin Huairu, who was crying her eyes out.

Finally, he gave Li Xuan a thumbs up.

That battle was absolutely exhilarating!

......