Courtyard House: In times of famine, my hamster became a spirit.

"Sha Zhu is a real man, he can handle it. But what about He Yushui?"

Upon hearing the name Zhou Jianguo, Yi Zhonghai's pupils contracted sharply and swayed twice.

"I just glanced at the remittance slip. He Daqing clearly wrote in the remarks that half of this money is for Yushui's living expenses and tuition fees!"

Zhou Jianguo approached step by step, his voice low but full of pressure:

"Everyone remembers how rainwater grows, right?"

"That girl was barely scraping by! She was as skinny as a stick! The year before last, when Yushui was in high school, she was sent back because she couldn't afford the five yuan tuition fee. She cried until her voice was hoarse at the school gate! She thought her father didn't want her anymore! She thought she was an unwanted bastard!"

Zhou Jianguo glanced at the middle-aged woman, then at Qin Huairu, and finally his gaze shot like lightning to Yi Zhonghai:

"Yi Zhonghai! When that teenage girl fainted from hunger by the pool after missing two meals, were you just watching from behind that window? You had the living expenses sent by her own father in your pocket, and you watched her starve to death with a clear conscience!"

"Are you just storing it? Huh?!"

With a loud shout, Zhou Jianguo slammed the fire hook in his hand against the wooden pillar beside him, sending a cloud of sawdust flying.

"This is torture! This is exploiting someone who's destined to die! You're trying to drive that girl to her death so you can completely control Sha Zhu and have him take care of you in your old age!"

The entire venue was deathly silent.

Then, a fury ten times more intense than before erupted.

If tricking Sha Zhu could be considered a man's scheme, then abusing He Yushui, the sensible yet pitiful little girl he had watched grow up, crossed everyone's bottom line.

"You beast!"

I don't know who shouted.

A rotten cabbage stalk flew over and hit Yi Zhonghai on the forehead.

Then came the second piece, the third piece...

"I even called you 'Grandpa'! You're not even as good as an animal!"

"That poor girl, Yu Shui! Are you heartless?"

"Kill this old bastard!"

The crowd was outraged, and several young men even started rolling up their sleeves to look for bricks on the ground.

The old woman was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground, her face ashen. She knew that Yi Zhonghai was finished, and the Yi family was finished.

Yi Zhonghai stood in the eye of the storm, letting the rotten vegetable leaves hit him.

He opened his mouth wide, but couldn't utter a sound.

All the explanations seemed so pale and powerless in the face of He Yushui's pale and thin face.

The persona he had painstakingly cultivated for decades was utterly shattered by Zhou Jianguo at this moment, leaving not a trace.

Seeing that the situation was about to spiral out of control and turn into a full-blown fight, Zhou Jianguo did not continue to incite the situation. Instead, he raised his hand to stop a young man who was about to throw a stone.

Killing Yi Zhonghai now would be too lenient for him and would only cause more trouble.

"Don't touch me, you'll get your hands dirty."

Zhou Jianguo turned around and looked at Yi Zhonghai, whose face was deathly pale:

"Since this old man insists that it's for safekeeping and for the good of the He family, then let's let the person involved speak for himself."

He looked at Liu Haizhong, who was in a state of extreme excitement:

"Second Uncle, Yushui happens to be on leave at home today. I think you should immediately send someone to the textile factory dormitory to bring He Yushui back. In front of all the men and women in the compound, and in front of this stack of remittance slips, let Yushui see how her uncle has been taking care of her all these years."

Upon hearing the words "collecting rainwater," Yi Zhonghai's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground once again.

"Go...go and collect the rainwater?"

This time, he was truly desperate.

If the rain were to return and learn the truth... he didn't even dare to think about the consequences.

He knew He Yushui's personality all too well.

She usually looks as docile as a cat, but if she knew that all the money her father sent back to save her life over the years had gone into Yi Zhonghai's pocket, then this cat could turn into a man-eating tiger!

Moreover, half of those several hundred yuan was specifically designated by He Daqing for Yushui's schooling and dowry!

"I...I'm so upset..." Yi Zhonghai clutched his chest, his old face ashen, and he made a hoarse sound.

His eyes rolled back, and half of his body went limp like a noodle, sliding down the old woman's shoulder to the ground.

"Old Yi! Old Yi, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me!" An old woman let out a shrill scream and hugged Yi Zhonghai tightly. The noise sounded just like a funeral procession.

The neighbors, who were originally cursing and spitting as they went, stopped their shouts when they saw this scene.

"Oh dear, is she really so angry she's died?"

"Your face is so pale, it doesn't look fake."

"Old Yi has a weak heart; if this results in someone's death, we'll all be in legal trouble..."

The once impenetrable wall of people quietly cracked open amidst the old woman's cries.

Several timid neighbors instinctively shrank back.

Such an infuriating thing would get out and the neighborhood committee would put up a sign criticizing it.

Seeing this, the older woman was overjoyed and pulled Yi Zhonghai towards the eaves, saying, "Quick! Give me a hand, let's get Old Yi back inside to lie down. He needs to take his medicine; his illness can't take any more stress!"

Yi Zhonghai breathed a sigh of relief.

Once he gets inside that room and locks the door, he can hold out for several hours, even if the security department comes.

If we can stall until nightfall, or until he comes up with a perfect plan, this situation can be broken.

Unfortunately, he overlooked one person.

"Ma'am, please don't start crying yet."

A mocking voice shattered the somber atmosphere that Yi Zhonghai had painstakingly created.

Zhou Jianguo pushed through the crowd and walked out slowly.

He reached into the sleeve of his cotton-padded jacket and pulled out a five-inch-long steel needle.

"It's that needle again!" Uncle Liu Haizhong's eyelids twitched suddenly, and he subconsciously took half a step back. He had personally witnessed the deaf old lady being pricked by this thing and being thrown forward.

Zhou Jianguo held the needle, twirling it deftly between his fingertips as he approached step by step.

"Don't panic, everyone. I don't have any other skills, but I have a set of life-saving needles passed down from my ancestors, which are specially used to treat this kind of impatient person with qi and blood rushing to their head." Zhou Jianguo squatted down, the needle tip almost piercing Yi Zhonghai's nasal bone. "This old man has blocked heart fire and has lost all five senses. Needling the philtrum is for quacks; you have to needle the ten fingers, which are connected to the heart."

As he spoke, he reached out to grab Yi Zhonghai's hand, which was clenched up due to nervousness.

"Ma'am, hold on tight. This needle has to go in through your fingernail, through the bone, and directly stimulate your heart. As long as I put this needle in, even if this old man is still alive, or even if he's already in his coffin, I can make him jump up and curse in the street."

Zhou Jianguo spoke very softly, as if he were talking about neighbors, but to Yi Zhonghai, it sounded like a death knell.

"Jianguo...can this work?" Liu Haizhong peeked out from behind, his eyes gleaming with excitement.