I Have a Lake as I Walk Through the Courtyard

Nan Yi was truly amazed today. How could there be such a shameless woman in the world? Before he could even speak, Qin Huairu had already started grabbing at the dishes on the table.

Nan Yi frowned. If he didn't stop this woman today, she would only become more and more outrageous, and this wouldn't just be a matter of a few pieces of food. Thinking of this, Nan Yi roared, "Stop! I haven't even said anything yet, who told you to dig into my food!"

Qin Huai was suddenly pulled away, and the chopsticks in her hand accidentally fell to the ground. "Hey, how come you have such a strong grip? It's just some food. Next time I have something good to eat, I'll bring it over for you. This child is being noisy, so please be kind enough to let me know!"

"I said no, and that's final! Get out of here!" Nan Yi said, grabbing Qin Huairu's arm by the clothes and dragging her out of the house, shoving her hard. "I've never seen anyone as shameless as you. It's one thing to come to my house for a meal, but before I even asked, you started taking everything! You have such a big bowl, and you took it all! What am I supposed to eat?"

After saying that, Nan Yi went back into the house, took out Qin Huairu's large bowl, and shoved it into her arms. "Don't come to my house again. You're not welcome here!"

Seeing this scene, Lin Feng, who was sitting at the door, burst out laughing. The Third Uncle couldn't help but laugh as well, and turned his head away, thinking that everyone in the courtyard was a fool!

Where in the courtyard had Qin Huairu ever suffered such humiliation? Large tears streamed down her face like broken beads, making it seem as if she had suffered some injustice at Nan Yi's house.

"What did you do to my daughter-in-law? Did you bully her?" Madam Jia rushed out from the moon gate and grabbed Nan Yi, who was about to go back inside. "You bullied my daughter-in-law and you want to go back? If we don't make this clear today, you're not leaving."

After Jia Zhangshi finished speaking, she grabbed Nan Yi with one hand and waved the other wildly in the air. "Everyone, come and see! This cook is bullying a woman on his very first day here..."

Many neighbors in the front yard had been watching this scene closely. When they heard the shouts, they all ran out to see what was going on. On one side was Qin Huairu, who was crying her eyes out, and on the other side was Nan Yi, who was being held at the door. Neighbors in the middle yard who heard the noise but were unaware of what was happening ran over to see what was going on and all glared angrily at Nan Yi.

"You've been acting like a hooligan since your very first day here. If we don't teach you a lesson, which of the wives in the neighborhood will dare to go out?"

Upon hearing this, several men stepped forward. "What's going on?"

Lin Feng looked at the Third Uncle. This guy had clearly witnessed the whole thing, but he was still silent. Lin Feng rolled his eyes, not understanding what kind of scheme this guy was plotting, so he also kept silent.

The taciturn Nan Yi stammered out the story, but he was no match for Jia Zhangshi.

"Even if my wife goes to your house to get some vegetables, you can refuse to give them to her, but why are you bullying her? Look at my wife's clothes!"

Upon closer inspection, everyone noticed that both men had unbuttoned Qin Zhunru's shirt due to their pulling. One of the more impulsive men even rushed up to Nan Yi and grabbed him by the collar. "You son of a bitch, how dare you be such a scoundrel!"

Nan Yi had no way to express his bitterness. He never expected that a simple meal would cause such a big commotion. Qin Huairu, on the other hand, only cried and didn't say anything, which made Nan Yi so anxious that his face turned red.

"I didn't bully him, I just pushed him out of the house!"

Nan Yi's defense was quickly drowned out by Jia Zhangshi. Seeing that Nan Yi was about to suffer a loss, Lin Feng, who was a little annoyed with the Jia family, stood up. Just as he was about to defend himself, Sha Zhu returned to the courtyard with a lunchbox.

"Sister Qin, what happened?"

Hearing that familiar voice, Qin Huairu cried even harder, sobbing uncontrollably. Seeing this, Sha Zhu immediately panicked. "You're driving me crazy! Say something!"

Qin Huairu's tears flowed even more fiercely, as if she was desperately suppressing her sobs. Her eyes kept glancing at Nan Yi. Sha Zhu's face instantly turned red with anxiety, and he shoved the lunchbox into Qin Huairu's hand. "You wait!"

Seeing Sha Zhu charging towards him menacingly, Nan Yi shoved aside the persistent neighbor! "Listen to me, this is a misunderstanding!"

"She's crying like this, and you still say it's a misunderstanding! Are you new here? I'll beat you to a pulp, you son of a bitch!"

The turn of events caught Lin Feng off guard. This Sha Zhu really had a fiery temper. Before Lin Feng could even blink, the two had already started fighting, and the front yard instantly became a mess.

"Enough! Stop it, both of you!" Liu Haizhong, heavily pregnant, stood between the two men. It took the Liu brothers considerable effort to separate the two cooks. "What's going on? Why are they fighting again? It's only been a few days since things calmed down!"

Still angry at having been wronged, Nan Yi touched the wound on his face, hissing in pain. "Second Uncle, this is what happened!" Nan Yi recounted the incident again. After hearing it, the men who had been bothering him turned bright red and hid deep in the crowd.

"You're talking nonsense! Sister Qin was clearly bullied. What could a grown man do to her? Do you think she could handle you?"

"Am I that kind of person? Look at the bowl in her hand."

Sha Zhu then noticed that besides his lunchbox, Qin Huairu also had a bowl he recognized very well. Others might not know Qin Huairu, but how could he not? Realizing what was happening, he then noticed a captivating aroma. "You're a cook too?"

Sha Zhu's train of thought caught Nan Yi off guard, and he instinctively nodded. "Yes, I just arrived at the steel rolling mill today!"

Sha Zhu narrowed his eyes and instantly understood the whole story. This chef's skills were not bad, much better than his own at the moment, but it was hard to say what would happen in the future. This Li Huaide really had some talent.

"Then you shouldn't bully women! She's an orphan and a widow..."

"I already said I didn't bully her!" Nan Yi shouted, on the verge of collapse.

"You didn't bully her, yet she's crying so hard, do you really believe it yourself?"

"Exactly! My daughter-in-law definitely got the short end of the stick. If you don't explain yourself clearly today, nobody's going to sleep!"

Nan Yi rushed to Qin Huairu. "Let him tell me himself, how did I bully her?"

Seeing Nan Yi's intense anger, Qin Huairu hid behind her mother-in-law, clutching the lunchbox tightly in her arms.

"You dare bully her in front of me? You're asking for it!"

Lin Feng was completely exasperated with this woman. Seeing that Sha Zhu was about to step forward again, he grabbed Sha Zhu's hand. "Alright, I know what happened! No one bullied this woman. She's just pretending to be innocent to mislead everyone!"

"You're talking nonsense, Sister Qin isn't that kind of person."

Lin Feng glanced disdainfully at Sha Zhu, then at Yan Bugui, who was still watching the commotion from the sidelines. "If you're still just watching, I'll tell Director Wang tomorrow that if you can't even uphold this much justice, what kind of liaison are you?"

Yan Bugui narrowed his eyes upon hearing Lin Feng's words, then smiled. "That's right, it's a misunderstanding. Nobody bullied your Sister Qin. She's probably just shy and felt wronged by being kicked out, which is why she cried so much."