I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

The courtyard house is usually bustling in the evening, but today's liveliness has a hint of tension.

As Li Jing'an pushed the bicycle into the courtyard, he heard a noisy commotion inside, like a pot of boiling water bubbling away.

He pushed his cart through the moon gate in the front yard, and as soon as he entered the middle yard, he saw a large crowd gathered in the open space, three or four layers deep, a dense mass of people.

In the center of the crowd, Liu Guangtian and Yan Jiecheng were holding Sha Zhu on either side, their faces flushed red and the veins on their arms clearly visible.

Sha Zhu, like a tethered ox, struggled forward relentlessly, shouting, "Let go! Let me beat that bastard!"

Across from him, Xu Damao was covering one eye and whispering something to Lou Xiao'e in front of him.

Lou Xiao'e spread her arms to protect him, her face showing both anxiety and anger.

The three old men—Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui—were pointing and gesturing at Xu Damao. Yi Zhonghai looked solemn, Liu Haizhong was indignant, and Yan Bugui was adjusting his glasses, as if he was thinking about something.

The most eye-catching was Jia Zhangshi, who sat cross-legged on the cement floor, slapping her thigh with one hand and waving the other in the air, shouting, "This is outrageous! They're bullying us orphans and widows! Heaven, please open your eyes!"

Beside her, Qin Huairu was wiping away tears with her head down, her shoulders shaking with each sob; anyone who saw her would feel pity for her.

Seeing the situation, Li Jing'an knew he couldn't push the bike over there. He leaned the bicycle against the wall, locked it, and then slowly strolled to the outer edge of the crowd. He saw three middle-aged women standing on tiptoe, peering inside, their faces clearly showing their interest in watching the spectacle.

"Auntie, what's going on?" Li Jing'an asked, leaning closer.

The three women turned around, and when they saw it was Li Jing'an, their eyes lit up and they immediately perked up: "Oh, Director Li is back! You wouldn't believe it, something terrible has happened!"

She tugged at Li Jing'an's sleeve and whispered in his ear, "That kid Bang Geng, he was playing at the alley entrance this afternoon and got bullied by some kids from the outer courtyard!"

"Oh? How did you bully me?" Li Jing'an asked cooperatively.

"Those kids said Banggeng's family were beggars, and called him a little beggar!" Auntie San said indignantly. "They even hit him! Banggeng ran back crying, and no matter how Jia Zhangshi tried to comfort him, she couldn't. The child was crying so hard he almost passed out! You didn't see it, but when Qin Huairu came home from get off work and saw him, tears streamed down her face."

Li Jing'an nodded, his gaze turning to the center of the crowd: "So what's going on here now?"

"Look, Qin Huairu found an old man and Sha Zhu, and took Bang Geng to find those kids. Not long after they got back, Sha Zhu got off work and bumped into Xu Damao coming into the yard. He went up and kicked him and punched him! Before Xu Damao even understood what was going on, his eye was already blacked out!" The third aunt said vividly, gesturing with her fingers from time to time.

As they were talking, Uncle Yi Zhonghai looked around at the crowd and cleared his throat: "Since everyone's here, let's have a general meeting for the whole courtyard! Uncles, what do you think?"

Liu Haizhong immediately responded: "Open it! It must be opened! We can't have such a backstabbing villain in our compound!"

Yan Bugui adjusted his glasses and said slowly, "It's good to hold a big meeting. We can clarify things, so as not to wrong innocent people and never let bad people go unpunished."

The courtyard immediately became bustling with activity. Someone brought a square table and several long benches from their home and placed them in the center of the courtyard.

Someone was busy serving tea and water to the three elderly men. The children were chased back inside by the adults, but they secretly peeked out the window. Before long, a makeshift "judgment seat" was set up.

Looking at this scene, Li Jing'an felt a little excited—wasn't this just like the whole courtyard assembly often depicted in TV dramas? He never expected that after transmigrating to this courtyard world, he would actually be able to experience such a "famous scene" firsthand.

He found a spot further back in the crowd where he could see the whole scene clearly without being too conspicuous.

Yi Zhonghai sat in the center, with Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui sitting on either side.

People in the courtyard spontaneously formed a semicircle, with two distinct groups in front: one group consisted of Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e, with Xu Damao covering his eyes and Lou Xiao'e standing in front of him like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

On the other side were Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu. Jia Zhangshi was no longer sitting on the ground, but her anger had not subsided, while Qin Huairu was still sobbing softly.

Sha Zhu stood behind them, arms crossed, eyes fixed on Xu Damao, while Liu Guangtian and Yan Jiecheng stood on either side of him, preventing him from rushing out again.

Liu Haizhong scanned the crowd and suddenly spotted Li Jing'an standing at the back. He quickly stood up and said, "Oh, Jing'an's here too! Come up and sit down!" He pointed to the empty seat next to the Third Uncle.

All eyes immediately turned to Li Jing'an. Li Jing'an waved his hand and said with a smile, "Second Uncle, you're too kind. This is a general meeting of the entire hospital, and I'm just one of them. I can just stand like everyone else. Besides, the affairs of the hospital are under the leadership of the three uncles, so I'll just listen."

These words were both humble and respectful to the three elders. Yi Zhonghai nodded slightly, and Liu Haizhong smiled with satisfaction. He sat down again and slammed his hand on the table: "Quiet! Quiet down! The entire hospital meeting is now beginning!"

The courtyard fell silent instantly.

Yi Zhonghai spoke first: "Some neighbors know about what happened today, while others may not. Qin Huairu, why don't you tell us what happened?"

Qin Huairu wiped away her tears, her voice choked with sobs: "This afternoon, Banggeng was playing with some children at the alley entrance when some kids from another courtyard came along and said he was a beggar, called him a little beggar, and even hit him..." She couldn't help but cry again, "Banggeng ran home, crying so hard he could barely breathe, and no matter how his grandmother tried to comfort him, it wouldn't work..."

Madam Jia immediately retorted, "My poor grandson! Even if our Jia family is poor, we're not reduced to begging! This is like stabbing a knife into our hearts!"

"And then?" Yi Zhonghai gestured for them to calm down.

"Later, when Uncle Yi and Sha Zhu came home from get off work and found out about it, they took Bang Geng to find those kids," Qin Huairu continued. "The kids said that someone gave them some candy and told them to say that. When asked what the person looked like, they said they couldn't remember, only that the face... was quite long."

"Long face!" Sha Zhu immediately jumped out, pointing his finger directly at Xu Damao. "Isn't that Xu Damao? Who in our compound has a face as long as his? Like a donkey's face!"

A low murmur arose from the crowd.

"Yes, Xu Damao's face is quite long..."

"If you put it that way, it really does look somewhat similar."

"But we can't just conclude that someone else did it based on that, can we?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao panicked, lowered his hand from his eye—which was already bruised and swollen—and shouted, "Shazhu, you're slandering me! I've been at the factory all day, and you beat me up as soon as I got home from get off work! Am I innocent?!"

Lou Xiao'e chimed in, "Exactly! Do you have any evidence? What makes you say it was our Da Maoqian?"

Liu Haizhong tapped the table: "Xu Damao, you said you were at the factory all day, what happened at noon? What did you do at noon?"

"I was eating lunch in the cafeteria and even had a verbal argument with Sha Zhu. Lots of people saw it!" Xu Damao said confidently.

"And what about the afternoon?" Yan Bugui adjusted his glasses and asked slowly, "What did you do during your afternoon work hours?"

Xu Damao was taken aback, and his voice lowered: "I...I was maintaining the projector in the warehouse."

"Who can prove it?" Yan Bugui pressed.

"It's just me, no one else." Xu Damao's voice was even softer.

Sha Zhu immediately seized on the evidence: "Did you hear that? No one testified this afternoon! He must have sneaked back to cause trouble!" He turned to the surrounding neighbors, "Everyone, be the judge. Who is Xu Damao? Who in our neighborhood doesn't know he loves to sabotage things behind people's backs? Who else could it be but him?"

Another commotion broke out in the crowd, with many people pointing and whispering about Xu Damao.

Xu Damao turned pale with anxiety: "I really didn't! You can't wrong an innocent person like this! I've always maintained the projector by myself, what does that prove?"

Lou Xiao'e suddenly stepped forward: "Gentlemen, since the children say they were instructed by someone, could you please call them over to identify the person? If the children can't recognize Da Mao, wouldn't that prove his innocence?"

Yi Zhonghai nodded: "I just happened to call the leader's child and his parents over, they're at my house." Then he told an older woman to go home and call them.

An older woman answered and left. During the wait, the courtyard was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Xu Damao looked aggrieved. Jia Zhangshi glared fiercely at Xu Damao, muttering to herself. Sha Zhu, on the other hand, looked smug, as if victory was already assured.