Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

After Elena stormed out, looking resentful, He Yuzhu shook his head with a cold smile, then turned to He Daqing and waved, "Don't worry about Yi Zhonghai's side, he can't cause any trouble." With that, he dusted off his clothes, picked up his tool bag, and headed towards the courtyard house.

The Lunar New Year is just two days away. Even if we're not staying here to celebrate, we still need to clean the house thoroughly for good luck.

As soon as you step into the courtyard, the festive atmosphere of the New Year is immediately apparent—red lanterns are hung in the courtyard, some people are chopping fillings and making dumplings, and others are cleaning and scaling fish at the door, with the oil sizzling in the pan.

The workers at the steel rolling mill all had oily skin, pockets full of bonuses, and walked with a swagger.

These days, if a family has a steelworker in their household, they can truly enjoy meat during the New Year without having to worry about anyone's attitude.

As soon as He Yuzhu returned, he immediately divided the work with his sister He Yushui: you sweep the west room, I'll clean the east room, and after we finish our work we'll go to a restaurant near Zhengyangmen to treat ourselves.

Just as I was bending down to wipe the cabinet, there was a soft knock on the door.

He straightened up, wiped his sweat, and went to open the door. Standing outside was an old deaf woman, wrapped in an old cotton-padded coat, carrying a bamboo basket in her hand, with a smile on her face, but her eyes were somewhat evasive.

"Zhu Zi, are you busy?" Her voice was soft, with a hint of probing. "I... just wanted to ask you, do you want to spend the New Year with me and your uncle this year? The past two years it was just the two of you siblings, eating and then going straight to sleep, it was too lonely."

How wonderful it is to have a happy family gathering.

He Yuzhu narrowed his eyes, a cold smile playing on his lips. His tone was neither soft nor aggressive, yet it was like a knife slicing through ice:

"Old lady, don't you feel guilty saying that? You really want to eat with someone I almost killed every day? How could you even swallow that food?"

The old man was taken aback, his smile freezing on his face: "Zhu Zi, what...what did you say? I don't understand what you mean..."

"You don't understand, but someone else does." He Yuzhu leaned against the doorframe, his gaze fixed on her like a nail. "Why don't you go back and ask Yi Zhonghai? You certainly didn't ask him about this, did you? If you had, how could he dare to nod?"

Before he finished speaking, he slammed the door shut, sending a cloud of dust flying into the room, as if he had also swept away all the pretense.

Outside, the deaf old woman stood frozen in place, the cold wind making her sleeves flutter.

A moment later, a figure emerged from around the corner of the alley—Yi Zhonghai, his face ashen, strode forward to meet him.

"Mom, did he really say that?" His voice was extremely low, but his eyes were filled with turmoil. "I only just started investigating, and he already knew? How did he know?"

He investigated Sha Zhu's affairs with utmost caution, not even revealing a word to his own wife, let alone letting Sha Zhu himself catch a whiff of it.

But it's as if the other party has eyes in the back of their head.

The deaf old woman sighed, looking at him with a complicated expression: "Zhonghai, wasn't it about that matter you brought me the roast duck to ask me last time...? I told you you shouldn't have even considered it! Knowing the Jia family's true colors, why did you still try to get involved?"

Yi Zhonghai's heart sank suddenly.

"Grandma, Dongxu is a filial son. As long as I keep an eye on him and encourage him to work hard to improve his skills, he will eventually become a sixth-level fitter, and life will naturally become more comfortable." He said this, but it was more like he was trying to convince himself.

But he also knew that Jia Dongxu had become increasingly lazy lately.

Since he got his mentor backing him up, he had enough salary to live on, he was just going through the motions at work, he didn't ask any questions about new technologies, and he even started to just go through the motions of the workshop assessments.

He used to respectfully call me "Master" when we met, but now he just nods and doesn't want to say a word.

The deaf old woman shook her head, her tone heavy: "Zhonghai, you're confused! I've lived this long, what kind of people haven't I seen? Jia Dongxu is obedient, but he's incompetent! He struggles to support his own family, and now he's having children, with his third on the horizon—schooling, marriage, getting married, all of that costs money! What about the house? What about the money? Won't you be the one footing the bill?"

She paused, then lowered her voice even further: "You think this is retirement? This is being sponged off! What good is filial piety if you can't even hold onto your rice bowl? All those 'kind words' are just empty words."

Yi Zhonghai stood in the cold wind, unable to utter a single word.

He suddenly remembered that a couple of days ago, Jia Dongxu grinned and said to him, "Master, I want to have another son. Our family line can't end."

He smiled and nodded, saying, "Okay, more children bring more blessings."

But now that I think about it—the good fortune belonged to the Jia family, but the disaster was brought upon Yi Zhonghai.

He closed his eyes briefly, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Grandma, don't worry." He finally spoke, his voice hoarse but firm, "You'll be with me for Chinese New Year this year."

I've prepared plenty of meat—three meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, eight big bowls in total—I'm not afraid of making others envious.

"It's better that Sha Zhu isn't coming. Our two families can reunite and have a lively celebration, letting the whole courtyard see—no matter how good your cooking is, spending the New Year alone is ultimately cold."

Unlike Sha Zhu's family, there are only two people during the New Year. After eating, what can they do but lie down?

After persuading the deaf old lady to leave, Yi Zhonghai's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot, so gloomy that even the old woman didn't dare to utter a sound.

He kept thinking back, remembering how cautious he had been when gathering information, not letting a single word slip by. How could Sha Zhu have seen through him? Was he bluffing? Or... did Sha Zhu really have some trump card up his sleeve?

He stood by the window and peered out, seeing Sha Zhu busy cleaning inside and outside the house, but the more he looked, the more something seemed off—he hadn't even bought any New Year's goods this year and had no intention of spending the New Year in the courtyard house at all.

Just as he was pondering this, he suddenly saw Banggeng dart out of the house, head straight for the pile of coal briquettes in front of the He family's door, and in a flash, he pulled down his pants, spilling them all over the ground.

"You little brat, are you looking for death?!" A furious roar exploded from He Yuzhu's room.

He Yuzhu was wiping the windowsill when he heard the noise and peeked out. He was immediately furious – good heavens, that little bastard had actually peed on the coal briquettes in front of his house!

If it were any other child, they would just be scolded a couple of times, or at most kicked to scare them.

But this is a good-for-nothing, the ungrateful wretch he raised with all his heart in his past life! He arranged the job for him, gave him the money, and used his connections to get him a house, but in his old age, this beast kicked him out of the house, leaving him to freeze and fall ill on the street!

This scene ignited the hatred in his heart.

"I'll fucking kill you!" He Yuzhu roared, pushed open the door and rushed out, grabbing Banggeng, who was trying to escape, and pulling him back like a chick. He squeezed his hand hard, almost wanting to smash this ungrateful bastard to death.

A murderous intent flashed across his face, but he forcibly suppressed it.

He now has a system, and his future is bright; there's no need to dirty his hands over a broken pot.

"Grandma, sob sob—Dad, save me!" Bang Geng was terrified and wailed at the top of his lungs.

The crying alerted the Jia family, and Jia Zhangshi was the first to rush out.

The fat woman, who usually panted like a bull when she walked, was now as nimble as a sow rooting in a pen. She pounced forward and screamed, "Shazhu, let go of my grandson!"

"You old hag, if you want a beating, just say so. Do you think I'll let you?" He Yuzhu's eyes turned cold as he stared at her, his tone chilling.

He had waited too long for this day.

This group of people are so greedy, they're not satisfied with just taking advantage of him, freeloading off him, and stepping on him. Now they're really pushing their luck!

Jia Zhangshi felt a chill run down her spine from his glare, her steps halting abruptly. But she refused to back down, immediately collapsing to the ground, slapping her thigh and wailing, "That bastard is here! Adults are bullying children! There's no justice—oh dear, someone's going to die!"

This shout caused an uproar throughout the entire courtyard.

Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu ran out one after another, and even the second uncle, who was idly picking his feet in the backyard, strolled over with his hands behind his back.

Upon seeing this, everyone realized that the He family and the Jia family were fighting again, and immediately formed a circle, craning their necks to watch the spectacle.

When Jia Dongxu saw his son being carried by He Yuzhu with one hand, like a dead dog, his face immediately turned a deep purplish-red, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, and he wanted nothing more than to pounce on him and fight to the death.

But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he chickened out—he couldn't win! The other man was the cafeteria manager; one shovelful of his could leave his whole family starving!

Frustrated to the point of grinding his teeth, he could only force out, "Shazhu, no matter what my son did to you, put it down first, let's talk this over..."

"Jia Dongxu?" He Yuzhu interrupted with a sneer, "You dare call yourself 'Idiot Zhu'? Try saying it again!"

Before she finished speaking, she casually tossed the stick into his arms.

Jia Dongxu hurriedly caught it, but the force of the impact caused him to stumble and almost kneel on the ground.

"Open your dog eyes and look carefully!" He Yuzhu pointed at the pile of coal briquettes stained with urine, his voice suddenly rising, "You ill-mannered little beast, pissing at my doorstep on New Year's Day? Only stray dogs would piss on the ground like this!"

"You—" Jia Dongxu trembled with anger, but when he met He Yuzhu's chillingly cold eyes, his throat tightened, and he swallowed back the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

"It's just a few pieces of coal, and you almost killed him! That's going too far!" he argued through gritted teeth.

"Almost fell to your death?" He Yuzhu scoffed. "I feel so dirty even touching it myself! Jia Dongxu, I'll give you two choices: First, immediately replace the coal and clean the area in front of your house; second, your family won't be burning a single piece of charcoal this winter!"

Outside the crowd, Yi Zhonghai finally couldn't help but step forward and advise, "Silly Zhu, you're taking the child's playful antics too seriously..."

"You old bastard, get out!" He Yuzhu whirled around, his eyes like knives. "Who gave you the right to speak? You really think you're some big shot? Get as far away as you can!"

Before Yi Zhonghai could even finish speaking, He Yuzhu's insult, "old childless woman," struck him like a dagger to the heart. Yi Zhonghai's blood rushed to his head, his face turning a deep purplish-red. He pointed his finger directly at He Yuzhu's nose and roared, "You idiot Zhu! Can't you watch your mouth, you little brat—"

Snapped!Snapped!

Before he could finish speaking, two crisp, loud slaps landed on his face, so fast that his shadow was barely visible.

Yi Zhonghai's head suddenly tilted to the side, and a metallic taste filled his mouth. Half of his face swelled up like a steamed bun, and his gums made a buzzing sound, as if all his teeth were trembling.

"You old bastard, dare to say another word?" He Yuzhu sneered as he approached, his eyes so fierce they could rip your skin off. "Let's see if your mouth is tougher, or my hands are tougher!"