Courtyard House: My Hidden Wheat Seeds Caused a National Sensation

At the same time, Li Jianye brought Dilireba back to the courtyard house.

He remained silent the whole way, his brows slightly furrowed.

The urgent notice he received before leaving get off work was still lingering in his mind—the Academy of Agricultural Sciences had sent an urgent message, but without specifying the reason, only requiring a meeting to be held early the next morning.

"What exactly happened at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences?"

"Dilisilin asked softly, her tone tinged with unease."

She was afraid that Li Jianye would have to go on another business trip—they had only just gotten married and had already been separated for many days. It was such a rare opportunity for them to reunite, and she really couldn't bear to be separated again.

"It's not clear yet; we'll find out at tomorrow's meeting."

Li Jianye shook his head.

The notice was brief, but he had a vague feeling that something was amiss.

It's now the end of 1959, and this sudden gathering... may be related to the upheaval that was about to affect the whole world.

As a time traveler, he understood the direction in which the wheels of history were turning better than anyone else.

"Is that so..."

After a moment's hesitation, Delilah said softly, "If possible, please don't go on business trips anymore, okay? The New Year is almost here."

"it is good."

Li Jianye laughed and ruffled her hair. "Even if we really have to go out, I'll take you with me."

"That's a deal!"

Delilah's eyes lit up immediately.

Delilah's eyes lit up, and she extended her little finger.

"Pinky promise!"

"Okay, pinky promise."

"Pinky promise, for a hundred years, no take-backs! Stamped!"

She chuckled and hooked her finger around the other person's, giving it a good shake.

"Just like a child."

Li Jianye smiled and gently pinched her cheek.

The two talked as they walked through the gate of the courtyard house.

"Jianye is back?"

As soon as I stepped into the courtyard, Yan Bugui's voice came over.

"Uncle, have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet, your third aunt is working on it."

Yan Bugui pushed up his glasses. "Hurry back and eat. After you finish eating, we'll have a meeting at the Intermediate People's Court to discuss Xu Damao's family matter."

His parents are back; you'll see them when you pass by.

"Oh?"

Li Jianye nodded, exchanged a few more words, and then led Dilisilin to the backyard.

As they passed the Intermediate People's Court, He Yuzhu, who was cooking in front of Yi Zhonghai's house, suddenly snorted loudly in their direction.

"Silly Zhu, what do you mean?"

Delilah frowned and looked over.

"The cooking fumes are irritating my throat, can't I even just groan?"

He Yuzhu didn't even look up, the spatula clattering as he flipped the pot. "You're bothering with this too?"

Dilisilin was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to refute these words.

"I'll do it."

Li Jianye gently tugged at her, then turned to He Yuzhu, raising his voice slightly, "Silly Zhu, are you planning to have dinner with that old man?"

"What's wrong? Am I bothering you?"

No, not at all.

Li Jianye spoke in a casual tone, but each word was clear: "I'm just kindly reminding you that your illness is easily contracted from eating at the same table."

He Yuzhu abruptly stopped shovel in his hand.

Inside the house, Yi Zhonghai's family also fell silent for a moment.

Several gazes unconsciously drifted toward the figure by the stove, each feeling a vague sense of unease.

"dad!"

Without thinking twice, Bang Geng blurted out, "Can Sha Zhu's illness really be transmitted to others?"

Jia Dongxu opened his mouth, but the words got stuck in his throat.

He suddenly remembered that he seemed to have heard someone mention that this disease... could be transmitted even through kissing.

That saliva probably isn't clean either.

Thinking of this, Jia Dongxu suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

He hurriedly leaned out and shouted, "Shazhu! When it's time to eat, take your own bowl and eat the food separately! Don't share your food with us! Stay away! I'm not scared, but we have to look after the elderly and children!"

He Yuzhu stood frozen in place, the smoke rising from the pot making his eyes sting.

So all that work did he get nothing but disdain?

"puff……"

Dilisilin quickly pursed her lips.

After hearing what Li Jianye had said, she had long lost all goodwill towards the people in the courtyard. He Yuzhu's snort just now made her even more unhappy. Seeing his fate now, she couldn't suppress the little bit of laughter in her heart.

"Should."

"Let's go home and have dinner."

Li Jianye led her to the backyard, but several thoughts were running through his mind.

This fool is lucky to have caught the right moment. If it had been a few years later, such a moral failing would have resulted in him being paraded through the streets with a placard; and if it had been twenty years later, he would have been jailed.

Back in his own house, Li Jianye took out the lunchbox.

In those days, food was scarce for every family, and it would be too conspicuous to have lavish meals on the table all the time.

He has been cautious these days.

Li Jianye would always secretly bring home cooked food prepared in the processing workshop in an aluminum lunchbox to enjoy.

The meals contained meat, eggs, and dairy products, with a good balance of meat and vegetables, and occasionally a few kinds of fruit were added.

It could be described as lavish, even somewhat extravagant.

Dilisilin had no idea where Li Jianye got all this food, but she wisely didn't ask any questions and just happily ate all the good stuff with him.

After dinner, the hospital-wide meeting officially began.

"Something really awful happened in our compound yesterday—Sha Zhu almost beat Xu Damao to a pulp!"

Uncle Liu Haizhong stood by the square table and shouted at the top of his lungs, "This matter has a terrible impact! Xu Damao's father, Xu Fugui, wanted to report it to the police as soon as he found out, but luckily I persuaded him to stop."

After all, it's a matter for the institute, so we'll handle it ourselves.

Xu Fugui, tell me, what kind of explanation does your family want for this matter?

"Pay me back!"

Xu Fugui didn't beat around the bush at all; he just said those three words.

"Although my son Damao survived, the two teeth he lost will never grow back! He needs to eat something good to recover during his recovery period."

Therefore, I demand that He Yuzhu compensate me with 100 jin of 850 powder, 10 jin of eggs, 5 jin of meat, 5 jin of pork bones, a whole old hen, plus 50 yuan!

"What?!"

The neighbors were all stunned when they heard this.

There is currently a famine, and food prices have increased many times over.

Six months ago, two yuan could buy a pound of grain coupons, but now even four yuan might not be enough to buy one.

Moreover, Xu Fugui wanted real supplies, not coupons, so the price went up even further.

Most importantly, even with money, you might not be able to get your hands on these things right now.

"Xu Fugui, are you crazy?"

He Yuzhu immediately exploded upon hearing this, "Go ahead and report it to the police! Let them arrest me!"

"Okay! I'll go right now!"

"Old Xu! Don't be impulsive!"

Yi Zhonghai quickly stepped forward to stop him, saying, "You're asking for way too much. That's why Zhu Zi got anxious."

Old Xu, you know what the situation is like outside right now.

Although Zhu Zi has some connections to get food, where is he supposed to find so much? Besides, he's no longer the head chef of the canteen; he's been transferred to the boiler room, which has not only reduced his salary but also made it much harder to find ingredients than before.

He also has to support his younger sister, and all the savings he had accumulated were taken by Liu Lili.

You're asking for so much all at once, aren't you just pushing Zhuzi to the brink? Xu Fugui, what are you up to? We're all neighbors, why are you acting like this? Of course, it's wrong for Zhuzi to hit someone, but it was Xu Damao who started it yesterday.

Back in the factory, weren't those rumors spread by Xu Damao? If he hadn't provoked trouble, would Zhu Zi have taken action? Here's the deal: Zhu Zi will compensate your family with 50 jin of 85 powder and 5 jin of eggs, and that'll be the end of this.

From now on, I'll keep an eye on Zhu Zi and make sure he won't dare touch Da Mao again! Everyone's here today, so we can all be witnesses.

"We're neighbors in the same courtyard after all. Damao will still be living in the courtyard in the future, and we'll see each other every day. It's not good for anyone if things get too tense."

"What did you say?"

Xu Fugui's eyes widened.

How could he not understand the underlying meaning in Yi Zhonghai's words? This was clearly an attempt to play the victim, use personal connections to pressure someone, shirk responsibility, and even include a soft threat.

"Let me tell you, Yi Zhonghai, even if I have to move out of this courtyard, I will still seek justice for my son!"

Yi Zhonghai sighed and took half a step back.

"Xu Fugui!"

He Yuzhu suddenly took a step forward.

He clenched his fist and said loudly, "My reputation is ruined now, so I don't care about living well anymore."

"Go ahead and report me to the authorities! Pay me a penny? Not a single cent! At worst, I'll go to jail. Who's afraid of who? When I get out, I'll see who regrets it the most!"

"You, you—"

Upon hearing this, Xu Fugui clutched his chest with trembling fingers, staggered, and nearly fainted.

"Master!"

Xu Damao's mother hurriedly stepped forward to rub his back, then turned and pointed at He Yuzhu, cursing, "You shameless little brat! Go ahead and hit me if you dare! I refuse to believe there's no place for reason in this city!"

"Alright! Then I'll show you right now!"

Before He Yuzhu could finish speaking, he lunged forward.

Just as tensions were about to rise, an aged yet authoritative voice suddenly rang out:

"You idiot! Stop right there!"

He Yuzhu stopped in his tracks and turned to look.

An older woman was seen helping a deaf old lady slowly stroll over from the corner of the yard.

"Young Master Xu,"

The deaf old woman slightly raised her eyelids, her voice not loud but carrying a heavy weight, "Give me this old face a favor."

Let's just let this matter drop, shall we?

"Grandma, you..."

Xu Fugui pointed at her, his lips moving as if he wanted to argue, but he swallowed the words back, as if he was captivated by some old memory.

He remained silent for a moment, then finally stamped his foot heavily: "Fine! I'll respect your decision."

From this day forward, all past grievances between our two families are wiped clean!

After saying that, he turned and left.

His wife followed without a word, her head bowed.

This scene caused the onlookers to gasp in astonishment.

The crowd's fear of the deaf old woman deepened even further.

"This old lady... is no ordinary person."

Hiding in the crowd watching the commotion, Li Jianye muttered to himself, "Just who is this guy?"

The original book never explicitly states the deaf old woman's identity, but the fact that she and He Yuzhu each live in the two most spacious rooms in the courtyard is enough to infer that these two people probably have unusual backgrounds.

"Today I've truly witnessed the legendary 'Yi Zhonghai's Three-Pronged Attack'."

Li Jianye clicked his tongue with interest, "First, they come up with a set of reasons to intimidate people, then Sha Zhu swings his fists to scare them, and finally the deaf old lady is the grand finale."

Wow, that's really intricately linked.

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai loudly announced that the meeting was adjourned.

As the crowd gradually dispersed, the whispers and discussions continued. Clearly, the shock of the deaf old woman had left an indelible mark on everyone's hearts.

"See that?"

Jia Dongxu sidled up to Qin Huairu, proudly raising his chin. "Our family's backers are powerful, aren't they? My master, and the old lady, aren't they formidable?"

"sharp."

A glint flashed in Qin Huairu's eyes as she looked at him with a long-lost admiration.

That look made Jia Dongxu feel completely at ease.

The biggest threat now is He Yuzhu, who is suffering from a serious illness and can no longer get involved; and his wife, seeing the power her family relies on, seems to be siding with him again.

All of this made him extremely happy.

"You go back to your room first, I'll go check on my master."

He said it in a lighthearted tone.

Seeing that there was nothing serious on Yi Zhonghai's side, Jia Dongxu hummed a little tune as he walked back.

His steps were light and quick, almost as if he were jumping up. A pent-up frustration that had been building up for years seemed to vanish with the evening breeze, leaving only a feeling of carefree freedom.

This feeling intoxicated him.

He pushed open the door and entered the room, and as usual, he looked at the desk—but his expression suddenly changed.

"Huh? Where's my copy of 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'?"

The first thing Jia Dongxu did when he got home was to flip through the book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" that he had read countless times.

But now, the book that was usually placed on the kang (heated brick bed) has disappeared.

"Huai Ru!"

He raised his voice, "Have you seen my copy of 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'?"

Qin Huairu, who was coaxing Xiao Dang, was taken aback upon hearing the voice: "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms? I haven't touched it... Could you look for it again more carefully?"

Jia Dongxu searched every corner of the room, even under the bed, but the book was nowhere to be found.

"Really not?"

He straightened up, sweat beading on his forehead.

After settling Xiao Dang in, Qin Huairu also rummaged through the chests and cabinets, even shaking under the mattress several times, but still found nothing.

"That's strange."