Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Yi Zhonghai waited until everyone had calmed down before raising his hand to signal for quiet. However, when he spoke again, the pride and joy on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a somber and stern expression, and his voice suddenly turned cold:

"but!"

This single "but" was like a bucket of ice water poured over someone's head, instantly plunging the noisy courtyard into a deathly silence once more. Everyone sensed that a storm was brewing.

"Just when we were all contributing to this hard-won collective honor and working hard!" Yi Zhonghai's voice suddenly rose, filled with intense anger and heartache. He slammed his hand on the table, making a loud "bang" that shook the teacup on the table!

"Some people, however, seem to thrive on chaos! They're engaging in underhanded tactics behind our backs, disrupting unity, tarnishing the reputation of our entire compound, smearing the commendation we just received, and hindering our efforts to become an 'Outstanding Courtyard'!"

His gaze was like two cold, sharp arrows, piercing fiercely at Sha Zhu and Xu Damao standing in front of the Eight Immortals Table!

"He Yuzhu! Xu Damao! You two, step forward! In front of everyone in the compound, explain yourselves! Why did you fight this afternoon?! Why did you trample on the good reputation we've worked so hard to build?! Speak!"

The final word "say" is like a thunderclap, carrying an unquestionable sense of judgment.

Sha Zhu felt extremely uncomfortable under Yi Zhonghai's rapid and intense questioning and stern gaze. His stiff neck shrank slightly, but it was quickly filled with immense grievance and anger.

He abruptly raised his head, pointed at Xu Damao, his voice urgent and impassioned, filled with the indignation of being wrongly accused: "Uncle! You be the judge! It was Xu Damao who started this mess! He's asking for trouble with his mouth! He slandered me! He...he...he..."

Sha Zhu's face flushed red. In front of the entire hospital, it was really hard to say the words, "He said that Sister Qin and I were arguing." Especially when he saw Qin Huairu's tearful face in the crowd, he felt even more suffocated. In the end, he could only let out a rough roar: "He deserves to be beaten! He deserves to be beaten to death!"

"Bullshit!" Seeing that Sha Zhu couldn't bring himself to say it, Xu Damao immediately perked up. Ignoring the pain on his face, he jumped up and down, shouting in a shrill voice, "Uncle! Neighbors! Listen to this! Sha Zhu dares to do it but doesn't dare to admit it! Do you think I, Xu Damao, am the kind of person who talks nonsense? I saw it with my own eyes! Just now, at the entrance of the Central Court! Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu were pulling and tugging at each other, getting incredibly close!"

Qin Huairu was practically pressed against him! Sha Zhu shoved the lunchbox into her hand without a word! Would he be so generous if he didn't have something to hide? Sha Zhu is usually incredibly stingy! I, Xu Damao, merely spoke up and exposed his true colors, and he reacts like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, attacking me immediately! Is there no law anymore? Sir, you have to stand up for me! This is retaliation!

"Xu Damao! I'll fuck your ancestors!" Xu Damao's words were like a bucket of cold water poured into boiling oil, instantly causing an uproar!

Jia Dongxu, who had been standing in the crowd with a gloomy face and was still unaware of the specific reason for the conflict, felt a surge of anger rush to his head when he heard his wife's name being spoken of in public like this, especially with words like "pulling and tugging" and "clamping into his arms"!

He burst out of his house like a mad bull, his eyes bloodshot, and lunged at Xu Damao, fists flailing! "You bastard Xu! I'll fuck your grandma! You dare slander my wife! I'll kill you!"

"Dongxu! You stop right there!" Yi Zhonghai reacted quickly, shouting sharply to stop him. At the same time, Liu Haizhong swiftly grabbed the enraged Jia Dongxu around the waist. Jia Dongxu struggled, cursing and spitting as he spoke.

Meanwhile, Jia Zhangshi, who had been frowning and whose triangular eyes were flashing with a mean light, heard Xu Damao's words and saw her son so furious that she immediately transferred all her anger to Qin Huairu!

She suddenly stood up from the bench and rushed to Qin Huairu with a speed disproportionate to her obese body. Before anyone could react, she raised her thick palm and slapped Qin Huairu hard across the face!

"Slap!" The crisp, loud slap sounded particularly jarring in the quiet courtyard!

"You shameless little whore! You jinx! No wonder you've been hanging around Sha Zhu all the time! So that's what you've been up to! My Jia family must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to marry a vixen like you! How dare you tarnish the reputation of my Jia family! I'll beat you to death, you shameless thing!" Jia Zhangshi was like a madwoman, cursing Qin Huairu with the most vicious language while reaching out to tear at her hair and clothes.

Qin Huairu staggered from the slap, half her cheek instantly swelling and burning with pain. She covered her face, tears streaming down her cheeks like a broken string of pearls. Her body trembled with humiliation and fear. Faced with her mother-in-law's insults and tearing, she could only instinctively flinch, letting out suppressed, desperate sobs: "Mom... I didn't... I didn't..."

"Jia Zhangshi! What are you doing!" When Sha Zhu saw Qin Huairu being beaten, his heart ached as if it were being torn apart. He couldn't care less about arguing with Xu Damao anymore. He roared and rushed over to protect Qin Huairu.

"Shazhu! Get out of my way! I'm disciplining my daughter-in-law, what's it to you! What? Feeling sorry for her? Showing your true colors now?" Jia Zhangshi immediately turned her gun on Shazhu, pointing at his nose and cursing, "You son of a bitch! You want to hit me? Come on! Try and lay a finger on me! Neighbors, look! Shazhu's going to hit an old woman! He's lawless!"

"Enough!!!" Yi Zhonghai suddenly stood up and slammed his hand hard on the octagonal table with all his might! This time, the force was so great that the enamel mug lid on the table jumped up and fell to the ground with a loud "clang"!

His face was ashen, and his chest heaved violently; he was clearly enraged! This roar, like a tiger's howl in the mountains, carried a chilling aura that instantly silenced the entire crowd!

Jia Zhangshi's cursing stopped abruptly, Sha Zhu's charge froze, Jia Dongxu's struggles ceased, and Xu Damao shrank back in fear. Everyone was stunned by Yi Zhonghai's thunderous rage, and only Qin Huairu's suppressed sobs and the heavy breathing of the crowd remained in the courtyard.

"This is outrageous! They've completely defied the heavens!" Yi Zhonghai's gaze was like a knife as he swept his eyes over the troublemakers, his voice as cold as the dead of winter. "Jia Zhangshi! Hitting someone in public, using foul language—what kind of behavior is this! Sit down! Jia Dongxu! You tried to attack without even asking what happened—where's your brain? He Yuzhu! You stay put too! And you, Xu Damao!"

His gaze finally settled on Xu Damao, carrying a strong sense of pressure: "What did you just say? You said He Yuzhu and Qin Huairu were arguing? Did you see them doing anything immoral with your own eyes? Huh? He Yuzhu helped the poor households in the compound, giving them some assistance, and in your mouth, that became something shameful?!"

Xu Damao, let me tell you, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want! This is slander! It's defamation! You'll be held legally responsible! Do you dare to take responsibility for what you just said? Do you dare to produce solid evidence in front of everyone in the courtyard? If you can't, you're spreading rumors, causing trouble, and disrupting neighborhood harmony! Can you bear that responsibility?!

Yi Zhonghai's remarks were righteous and forceful, with clear logic, and he directly invoked the two major accusations of "legal responsibility" and "undermining unity"!

He cleverly shifted the focus, directly characterizing Sha Zhu's feelings and ambiguous actions towards Qin Huairu as a legitimate act of "helping people in need." At the same time, he relentlessly pressed Xu Damao, insisting he lacked concrete evidence.

Xu Damao was rendered speechless by Yi Zhonghai's barrage of questions, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead. What real evidence did he have? He was just deliberately trying to provoke and disgust Sha Zhu by seeing the two of them standing close together and knowing what Sha Zhu was thinking.

If you asked him to produce any evidence of "immorality," he couldn't possibly do it, no matter what. Yi Zhonghai's mention of "legal responsibility" and "undermining unity" sent a chill down his spine. In this day and age, such accusations are no laughing matter.

"I...I..." Xu Damao stammered, his eyes darting around. His previous arrogance had vanished, leaving only guilt and panic. "I...I just saw them...getting a little close...I didn't say for sure..." His voice grew softer and softer until it was almost inaudible.

"Hmph!" Yi Zhonghai snorted coldly, his voice loud and stern, like a judge issuing a verdict: "Without evidence, you dare to spout nonsense and slander others! Xu Damao, today's conflict was entirely caused by your baseless accusations and malicious defamation! You bear the primary responsibility!"

The entire courtyard is now striving for the collective honor of "Outstanding Courtyard House"! And you, Xu Damao! Yet, for your own personal grudges, you spread rumors, stir up trouble, and undermine unity! You are making an enemy of over a hundred people in the courtyard! Ask them if they agree!

Yi Zhonghai cleverly steered the conversation back to "collective honor," instantly igniting the crowd's emotions. Those who had just felt sorry for Xu Damao now looked at him with dissatisfaction and accusation.

"No way!" "Exactly! Xu Damao, you're outrageous!" "One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel!" "You almost caused us to miss out on the awards!"

The clamor of the crowd turned Xu Damao's face deathly pale, and he completely deflated, hanging his head and daring not to utter another word. He knew that he was doomed to suffer this loss today.

Seeing that he had completely subdued Xu Damao, Yi Zhonghai turned to Sha Zhu, his tone softening slightly but still critical: "Of course, Comrade He Yuzhu, you also made mistakes! Helping people in need is good, but you need to stay calm and reason things out! How can you resort to fists so easily? Hitting someone is wrong! Even if you're right, you become wrong! You need to deeply reflect on your simplistic and brutal approach!"