Courtyard House: Ten-year-old Master Zhu reorganizes the entire courtyard

Outside Qianmen, there is Dashilan.

What has become of the once bustling commercial street?

A truly deformed monster.

Legitimate shops have two words pasted on white paper on their doors: "Inventory".

But what about on the streets?

People were packed together, shoulder to shoulder.

It's all vendors, all middlemen.

This is the fucking black market.

Jia Zhangshi was clutching a blue cloth bundle tightly to her chest.

It was like hugging one's own son.

That was her lifeline. Jia Dongxu's pension, plus the money she had saved from mending clothes and making do with other people's coffins, were all exchanged for those useless counterfeit Lianyin notes.

The people in the compound advised her to go to the bank and queue up.

She wouldn't listen.

She had her own agenda, and thought she was smarter than anyone else.

The blind fortune teller at the alley entrance said that there are "big connections" in the black market that can exchange goods at a ratio of one to one hundred.

"Hey ma'am, need some money exchanged?"

A man with a pointed face and monkey-like features, like a ground rat, swarmed up to them.

That ill-fitting suit had so much grease on the cuffs that you could scrape off two ounces of oil.

Madam Jia shuddered, took a step back, and clutched the bundle even tighter.

"You...you accept this too?"

"Take it! Why aren't you taking it!"

The man's voice was barely audible, like a mosquito's hum, as he slyly pointed to the alleyway to the side.

"Commissioner Li has internal quotas; we're just doing things for our superiors. The bank gives two hundred, we'll give one hundred and twenty, in cash or new legal tender—you can choose whichever you prefer!"

One hundred and twenty!

Jia Zhangshi's heart pounded like a drum.

This is way more than what the bank would give!

"Really...really?"

"I'd be a fool to lie to you! Come on, it's quieter in that alley over there. It's too crowded and inconvenient here."

The word "greed" blinded Jia Zhangshi.

She followed the man, feeling dizzy and disoriented, and ended up in a dead end.

At the very end of the alley, there was a black sedan parked.

The car window was rolled down halfway, revealing a face.

He was wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses.

He Yuzhu was squatting on a rooftop not far away, holding a pair of binoculars in his hand.

He recognized that face.

A good dog under Section Chief Ma, surnamed Zhao.

This whole thing is a play.

The so-called "high-price buyback" is nothing more than bait to lure people in.

They specifically prey on greedy devils like Jia Zhangshi, who won't shed a tear until they see the coffin.

Madam Jia Zhangshi trembled as she handed the bundle inside.

The person in the car took it, pretended to weigh it in their hand, and then tossed out a thick envelope.

"A few dots. The new legal tender, there's plenty."

Jia Zhangshi's hands trembled like a leaf.

She tore open a corner of the envelope, and inside were brand new banknotes, printed with Sun Yat-sen's portrait, and still smelling of ink.

That's the taste!

"Yes! Yes! Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

"Alright, get lost, don't delay things."

Jia Zhangshi clutched the envelope, buried her face in her arms, and turned to run away.

That speed was as if a wolf was chasing them from behind.

A burst of laughter erupted inside the car.

The man surnamed Zhao took off his sunglasses and spat at the man next to him with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks.

"That old bastard is so easy to fool. Those were 'training tickets,' only the first one was real."

"Master Zhao is brilliant!" The man with the pointed chin and monkey-like face gave a thumbs-up. "Is this the tenth one today?"

"Hmph, a bunch of poor bastards, trying to take advantage of the country? They should take a piss and look at themselves in the mirror."

The man surnamed Zhao snorted coldly.

"Drive, let's go somewhere else and continue."

He Yuzhu put down his binoculars.

He didn't say a word.

I didn't plan to go down there and become some kind of hero.

A woman like Jia Zhangshi will never know the pain unless she loses everything.

This is the retribution she deserved.

This world taught her the cruelest lesson it could ever teach her.

Half an hour later, at No. 95, Nanluoguxiang.

Jia Zhangshi lay sprawled on the ground in the middle courtyard, her hair disheveled, frantically slapping her thighs with both hands.

The crying was high-pitched and shrill, just like when a father had died.

"Damn it! This is outrageous! My life savings! That's Dongxu's money for his life!"

There were colorful papers scattered all over the ground in front of her.

It's a tool used in banks for practicing counting money.

It had two big characters printed on it – “Sample”.

It's blinding.

People in the courtyard formed a circle; some clicked their tongues, some shook their heads, and some gloated.

Not a single person went up to help.

Yi Zhonghai stood under the corridor with his hands behind his back.

He watched the farce unfold, his eyes filled with mixed emotions.

Jia Zhangshi deserved it.

But looking at her, he felt a chill run down his spine.

"Uncle Yi! You have to do me justice!"

When Jia Zhangshi saw Yi Zhonghai, she was as if she had seen a savior. She crawled over on all fours and grabbed his leg.

"You're in charge! Take me to the authorities! Arrest those damned swindlers!"

Yi Zhonghai tried to pull his leg away in disgust, but she held him tightly.

"Report to the authorities?"

Yi Zhonghai's lips curled into a smile that was more like a grimace.

"Aunt Zhang, the person who lied to you drives a luxury car! They're officials! What are we? We're just commoners! How can we fight them?"

"Then I'm not going to live anymore! I'll hang myself on your doorstep!"

Jia Zhangshi started rolling around on the ground.

"That's enough!"

He Yuzhu strolled in from the front yard.

The voice was not loud.

But it silenced the noise in the courtyard for a moment.

He walked up to Jia Zhangshi and looked down at her.

"If you want to die, get out and die, don't dirty the yard. Weren't you the most enthusiastic when Section Chief Ma came to seal off my door? What, now that you've been tricked by your 'official,' you're thinking of the neighbors?"

Jia Zhangshi was so choked by these words that she couldn't utter a single word and could only wail.

He Yuzhu's gaze swept across the numb faces around him, finally settling on Yi Zhonghai.

"Uncle Yi, did you see that?"

He Yuzhu pointed to the scraps of paper on the ground.

"This is what they call 'restoration.' In their eyes, we're not even human. We're just leeks, fat sheep. Today they're harvesting the Jia family, tomorrow a knife might be at your throat."

Yi Zhonghai's body trembled violently.

Looking into He Yuzhu's dark eyes, he realized for the first time that this ten-year-old child understood things better than he, a man who had lived most of his life.

"Zhu Zi... tell me, is there any way to live like this from now on?"

Yi Zhonghai's voice was completely hollow and scattered.

"have."

He Yuzhu uttered a single word.

"But not on your knees."

After saying that, he turned around and went back into the house.

Yi Zhonghai didn't sleep a wink that night.

He tossed and turned on the bed like a pancake, while the cries of Jia Zhangshi from next door seemed like a death knell, drilling into his ears in waves.

He reached out and touched the savings book under his pillow.

The numbers mentioned above now seem like a joke.

He believed in the "Doctrine of the Mean" his whole life, but in the end, it was all a load of rubbish.

In this dog-eat-dog world, you can't protect even a fart.

And He Yuzhu.

He sat under the lamp, a Yuan Shikai silver dollar twirling between his fingers.

On the system panel, the [Power Sandbox] module was changing silently.

[Target: Yi Zhonghai]

[Status: Uncertain/Confused]

[Loyalty Tendency: Neutral -> Shift]

[Analysis: Once the foundation of faith crumbles, it presents a golden opportunity for rebuilding.]

He Yuzhu gently blew on the silver coin.

"Buzz—"

Crisp and pleasant to the ear.

The timing is right.

It's time to add some new firewood to the stove.