Courtyard House: My Hidden Wheat Seeds Caused a National Sensation

Matchmaker Li casually launched into her remarks.

"you!"

"That's enough!"

Li Jianye's temples throbbed from the noise. "I'll see them all! Fine, I'll see them all, okay?"

"become!"

The three agreed in unison, glared at each other, and then turned their heads away.

"Then, Jianye, how about we set it for tomorrow?"

Yan Bugui adjusted his glasses. "Tomorrow is a day off. If you miss it, you'll have to wait until next week."

"Absolutely! Let's set it for tomorrow!"

"But if they all have to be crammed into one day, how can Jianye possibly manage?"

"Since it's our first meeting, there's no need for a banquet. Why not just exchange a few words through the curtain?"

"Very well, Jianye, you come and get the auspicious time."

Listening to the cacophony of voices, Li Jianye lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment.

He had pondered the matter of marriage countless times—he had thought about it in his past life, and he was still thinking about it in this one.

No matter how I think about it, the scale in my heart has never changed: it has to be the feeling that makes my heart skip a beat at the first sight.

Otherwise, one always feels like they're just making do with someone.

He was unwilling to settle.

As for the location of the meeting, he didn't really care.

He knew that there would inevitably be people causing trouble in this compound, but he didn't care.

Even if there are many ups and downs, we can still manage to meet, right? That's enough.

If he were to meet someone who would capture his heart at first sight, he would pursue her with all his might; if not, he would simply give up.

"Then let's schedule them all for the afternoon."

Li Jianye finally spoke, "You three can discuss the specific time."

The location is in my house; I'll be waiting at home.

Excuse me.

Suddenly remembering that his bicycle was still at the factory, he stepped out of the yard.

"Okay!"

When the three men saw that he had agreed, they immediately huddled together and whispered among themselves. Before long, they had arranged the order: Matchmaker Li would go first, Matchmaker Wang would go second, and Yan Bugui would go last.

"Hehe... I'll deliberately bring Teacher Ran over a little later, maybe I can even freeload dinner? That's a good deal!"

Yan Bugui, with a knowing look in his mind, walked happily toward his home.

The two matchmakers, Wang and Li, then went off separately towards the He and Liu families.

……

"It's done!"

Yi Zhonghai hid behind his window, watching the two matchmakers pass by the door one after the other, and a smile slowly spread across his face.

Yi Zhonghai's carefully woven net has already been cast.

"I want to destroy you completely."

A cold hatred lingered in his eyes.

The atmosphere at the steel rolling mill was calm in the morning, but it subtly changed in the afternoon.

The gazes that swept over him were sticky and strange, and the whispers that drifted into his ears were all laced with thorny implications—that he was unfair and that his selfishness had overridden justice.

Yi Zhonghai immediately understood: the turmoil in the courtyard yesterday had grown legs and slipped into a corner of the factory.

A surge of anger rose in his heart.

The urge for revenge was hard to suppress.

The original plan was to first find out Li Jianye's background, find out his roots in the countryside, and investigate in detail.

But he couldn't wait any longer to take that roundabout approach.

The third method the old lady mentioned came to mind—find a woman like that and push her in front of Li Jianye.

He immediately asked for leave and hurriedly left the factory area.

Deep in Rouge Alley in the west of the city, he found a familiar woman whose beauty was the most outstanding in the area.

He stuffed the heavy sum of money into his hand and whispered important instructions.

He then turned around and found a matchmaker who was used to visiting people's homes. On the surface, he said he was looking for a spouse for He Yuzhu, but in reality, he had his eye on the Li family.

But even that wasn't enough for him.

With a change of heart, Yi Zhonghai went to Liu Haizhong's house in the front yard.

"Old Liu, do you know a reliable matchmaker? Want to talk to your son Guangqi about it?"

His face was plastered with his usual amiable expression.

Upon hearing this, Liu Haizhong was naturally unwilling and nodded repeatedly.

So, the second matchmaker, Li, was also brought into the picture.

On the surface, she was working for the Liu family's son; in secret, she and the previous matchmaker, Wang, were both targeting Li Jianye.

One was sent to a confidante, gentle and charming, a blade that strikes at the heart; the other was led to an ordinary girl, decent in appearance but awkward in temperament, a background color to stand out.

In Yi Zhonghai's scheme, given this comparison, Li Jianye was bound to fall into that alluring trap.

"Just wait and see."

He gazed at the gray eaves of the courtyard house and murmured to himself, "Your good days are over."

……

At this moment, He Yuzhu's room was filled with warmth.

Wang, the matchmaker, sat on a stool, while He Yuzhu rubbed his hands together, his face beaming with undisguised joy.

"You mean...you're really going to find me a wife?"

His voice rose in pitch.

The idea of ​​getting married had been lingering in his mind for more than a day or two, but when the matchmakers heard about his situation—he looked old, his parents had passed away, he had a younger sister to raise, his salary was meager, and he had little savings—they would often shake their heads.

But he was too proud and only looked good.

As time went on, the matter was delayed.

These days, men can get married properly at twenty, and most of them start making arrangements around that time.

Xu Damao, that kid, married the Lou family's daughter at the age of twenty-three.

He Yuzhu glanced at the calendar. He had already reached the age of twenty-four, and his side was still cold and lonely. How could he not be anxious?

Now that the matchmaker has come to his door, he feels a surge of heat rushing to his head.

But he wouldn't budge an inch on his terms.

"Aunt Wang,"

He leaned closer, his eyes gleaming, "I need to marry a city girl."

As for looks... they can't be worse than Xu Damao's wife in the backyard, right? Ideally... they should be better than Qin Huairu! What do you think, is there a chance?

The matchmaker felt a lump in her throat, and her smile froze.

She rolled her eyes inwardly, swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue, and only mumbled "Ouch."

He made a sound.

Wang the matchmaker rolled her eyes inwardly.

If we're talking about city girls whose looks could surpass Qin Huairu's, she did indeed have one in her grasp—the "vixen" that Yi Zhonghai had secretly slipped to her.

.

That girl was truly beautiful, but unfortunately, she was "bait" prepared specifically for Li Jianye.

.

"I'll keep an eye on it for you."

Matchmaker Wang couldn't refuse He Yuzhu directly, so she could only give a vague reply.

"That would be wonderful! When will you bring her over to meet me?"

He Yuzhu didn't notice the perfunctory tone in his voice and continued to ask questions with a cheerful smile.

"In the next few days."

Matchmaker Wang dared not make any definitive statements, after all, helping He Yuzhu with the arrangements was just a side job.

She made a few more perfunctory remarks before hurriedly taking her leave.

As she passed by Yi Zhonghai's window, she didn't stop, but only nodded very slightly into the window.

＊ ＊ ＊

Meanwhile, Matchmaker Li also entered Liu Haizhong's house.

What she said was almost identical to what Matchmaker Wang said—after all, the real person on her mission was Li Jianye, and Liu Guangqi was just a convenient cover-up, something to be dealt with casually.

But Liu Guangqi had no idea about these intricacies. Upon hearing that he was to be married off, he was practically floating on air.

After making a few more laughs, the matchmaker, Li, also excused herself and left.

She came here specifically to connect Li Jianye with someone after receiving a thank-you gift from Yi Zhonghai.

Reaching the window of the Yi family's house in the central courtyard, she turned her head and glanced inside. Seeing Yi Zhonghai hidden behind the window, she nodded slightly, indicating that everything should proceed as planned.

Unfortunately, this subtle movement was witnessed by Li Jianye, who had just returned to the hospital.

When the matchmaker saw Li Jianye approaching, a hint of panic flashed across her face. She quickly put on a smile and greeted him, explaining that she had just gone to Liu Haizhong's house to discuss Liu Guangqi's marriage.

Li Jianye showed no outward expression, but doubts arose in his mind.

He exchanged a few casual pleasantries and watched as Matchmaker Li walked away.

"This matchmaker Li is behaving strangely... Could it be that Yi Zhonghai is trying to set me up with a woman? To lure me in and then report me to the authorities to catch me red-handed? If that happens, I'll be completely finished."

Li Jianye squinted, the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to be the work of Yi Zhonghai.

"You underestimate me. Would I really fall into a trap like this? But... I'd better go and test the waters first."

He changed his mind and turned around to go to Yan Bugui's house.

"Second Uncle".

"Jianye, what's up?"

Yan Bugui greeted him with a smile.

"I'd like to ask you where Matchmaker Li and Matchmaker Wang live? There's something I forgot to tell them."

"Oh, is that so?"

Yan Bugui nodded and explained the address in detail.

Watching Li Jianye's departing figure, he secretly rejoiced: "Luckily, I acted quickly and introduced Teacher Ran to him earlier."

If those two matchmakers beat me to it, wouldn't all my favors be wasted? Hmph, Li Jianye even said I might not be able to let him see Teacher Ran… I'd like to see if that's true or not.”

＊ ＊ ＊

Matchmaker Wang didn't live far away; it only took a short bike ride to get there.

It was a large, mixed-use compound. As soon as Li Jianye entered, he was stopped by the old man in charge of the compound.

"Hey, comrade, who are you looking for?"

"Does Matchmaker Wang live here?"

"She went out and hasn't come back yet."

"Sir, I'd like to ask you something..."

Li Jianye handed over a cigarette and casually described what an elder looked like.

Upon hearing this, the other person nodded in realization: "You mean Grandpa Yi Zhonghai? He did come here earlier."

"I see."

Li Jianye's expression relaxed slightly. "Then I won't bother you any longer. I'll just ask him directly later."

Thank you for your help.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, he turned and left, but his expression gradually darkened.

He then went to the residence of another matchmaker and inquired in a similar manner, only to receive the same answer—Yi Zhonghai had also visited him that day.

"It really was him."

A cold smile appeared on Li Jianye's lips.

He did not suspect Yan Bugui, knowing full well that the man who arranged the marriage was simply trying to gain some benefits from food and drink, which was completely different from Yi Zhonghai's scheming intention to ruin him.

Ultimately, neither of them can be considered a good pair.

"Since you want to set a trap, I'll just go with the flow."

He thought to himself, "The one that Yi Zhonghai can use to scheme against me must be quite good-looking."

Such a beautiful woman, yet so easily manipulated by him, is probably not a decent person.

Perhaps... it would be more appropriate to give it to Sha Zhu.

This pairing is quite fitting; now it remains to be seen how Yi Zhonghai will handle the old lady's wrath.

Just as he was pondering this, Jia Dongxu walked in from outside the courtyard gate with a gloomy face.

He had just visited his mother, who was in custody, and his heart was filled with resentment.

"Damn it...it's all Li Jianye's fault! I must get my revenge!"

He gritted his teeth, his mother's bruised and swollen face, her hair disheveled, still flashing before his eyes.

While wolfing down the food he had brought, Jia Zhangshi kept cursing and swearing.

Seeing his mother in such a wretched state, neither human nor ghost, Jia Dongxu couldn't help but shed tears.

He was a man who valued filial piety, and he couldn't swallow this insult no matter what.

"Master!"

He stormed into Yi Zhonghai's room, his eyes red and swollen, and said, "I've seen my mother... she's been tortured beyond recognition! I want Li Jianye to pay the price!"

Yi Zhonghai sighed, not surprised by Jia Zhangshi's plight—with her personality, how could she not suffer in a place like that? "Dongxu, I understand how you feel."

He shook his head, feigning helplessness, "But Li Jianye is too shrewd and difficult to deal with."

"Master, please help me!"

Jia Dongxu knelt down with a thud.

"Get up, get up quickly."

Yi Zhonghai quickly helped him up, his face showing a look of being moved by the sincerity. "Actually... I saw two matchmakers coming into the courtyard today. I heard they were going to arrange a marriage for Li Jianye."

There might be something to make of this.

I'll go out and talk to them in a bit.

Li Jianye's marriage has become a source of speculation for some people.

Someone was planning to find him a woman with a complicated background, and when the time was right, to set a trap to tie the woman to him, even creating evidence of their cohabitation before they registered their marriage.

In this way...

"We just need to wait to report it to the police, and someone will come to arrest him."

Jia Dongxu eagerly took over the conversation.

The idea excited him so much he couldn't sit still.

He thought this arrangement was absolutely brilliant.

"Master! You've truly treated me with your whole heart!"