Courtyard House: The Frog Boy Brings Back a Genetic Potion at the Start

In her opinion, since Hao Jianguo saw her coming, he should have waited where he was. Instead, he locked the door and tried to leave, which was clearly a deliberate attempt to embarrass her.

Hao Jianguo's attitude showed that he didn't take her seriously at all.

Thinking of how everyone in the courtyard used to treat her with utmost respect, the deaf old lady felt even more resentful. Seeing Hao Jianguo's unwavering steps, she quickened her pace and blocked his way.

"Oh, ma'am, is there something you need?"

Hao Jianguo feigned surprise, widening his eyes as if he hadn't heard the shout at all.

The deaf old lady was furious. How could she not see that Hao Jianguo was imitating her usual act of pretending to be deaf and dumb?

By this time, many people in the courtyard had already peeked out and looked over. When they saw the deaf old lady blocking Hao Jianguo's way, they all cast curious glances at her.

"Hao Jianguo, I'm here today to tell you that from now on you'll be responsible for my food and drink."

The deaf old lady got straight to the point, speaking with an air of self-righteousness, as if Hao Jianguo was born to shoulder this responsibility, and didn't even feel that her request was inappropriate.

Hao Jianguo was amused by her self-righteous manner.

"Provide for your food and drink? Why should I? What kind of relative are you to me?"

Hao Jianguo found it absurd, and Yu Li beside him couldn't help but frown slightly.

Previously, Hao Jianguo was afraid that Yu Li would be taken advantage of because she was unaware of the situation in the hospital, so he briefly told her about the ways some people behaved.

Seeing Yu Li remain silent with her lips pursed, Hao Jianguo naturally understood that she had also seen through the old lady's unreasonable behavior.

"From now on, you'll have to support me and take care of me in my old age until the end."

These things should have been handled by Sha Zhu and the old man, but you were heartless and got them all arrested. Now nobody cares about me; it's all your fault, so you have to take over all my problems.

Hao Jianguo was utterly speechless.

He knew all along that this old woman was no pushover, but he never expected that she would be so shameless after losing her support.

But then he thought about it again and realized that people of this age often have conservative ideas and deeply ingrained beliefs about caring for the elderly and seeing them off in their final days.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have spoken up for Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai without any principles before.

If it were someone else, they might have silently accepted the loss under the intimidating presence of the deaf old woman.

But who is Hao Jianguo? Let whoever wants to take the blame for this injustice take it; don't even think about dragging him into it.

"Grandma, what you're saying is outrageous."

Are you saying I got Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai in there? Anyone with eyes can see that Sha Zhu wanted to molest Qin Huairu, and Yi Zhonghai went even further, sleeping with Qin Huairu directly.

What does this have to do with me? Did I force them to do it?

They brought this upon themselves; what does it have to do with me?

It's completely unreasonable for you to pin all the blame on me now.

Hao Jianguo's response left the old lady speechless for a moment; she opened her mouth but couldn't utter a sound.

"Furthermore, why bother making excuses now that things have come to this?"

You're just trying to get close to me because you see that Zi is doing well and Yi Zhonghai and He Yuzhu are both in jail.

But what kind of absurd logic is that? I'm living my good life, what's it to you!

"You...you..."

The old woman was so angry that her blood boiled and she stammered for a long time, unable to speak coherently. She then resorted to shameless behavior, insisting that Hao Jianguo take responsibility for the rest of her life and threatening to harass him if he did not agree.

A hint of impatience flashed across Hao Jianguo's eyes.

He never expected that this old lady's ability to argue and cause trouble was even better than that of the Jia family's mother-in-law.

He had no intention of wasting words on such an unreasonable person, so he pulled Yu Li aside and decided to take a detour.

A rare good mood shouldn't be disturbed like this.

"Wait!"

The old woman's withered hand suddenly gripped his sleeve, determined not to let go.

She had already planned this all along—she had to extort Hao Jianguo today.

If he struggles to break free, she will fall to the ground.

Then it can be said that he abused the elderly, and subsequent medical care will naturally follow.

But when she met Hao Jianguo's eyes, which seemed to be smiling but weren't, her heart skipped a beat.

In a daze, she realized that her scheme had already been seen through by the other party.

"Hao Jianguo, it's no use saying anything more."

I'm convinced of only one thing—the incident at China Overseas happened in your area, and you can't escape responsibility.

From this day forward, you're the one I've chosen.

"In the past, Zhonghai and Yuzhu always took care of me, but now they're both gone. How am I supposed to live? If you won't take responsibility, who will?"

Hao Jianguo almost burst out laughing.

This kind of "I'm weak, therefore I'm right" mentality.

Their behavior was truly absurd, and besides, in this courtyard, who really considered this old lady to be a vulnerable person?

"Hao Jianguo, how can you be so heartless! You've sent two people who could have taken care of me in my final days to jail. How am I, this old woman, supposed to live now!"

Seeing that Hao Jianguo remained unmoved, the old lady steeled herself and immediately began to wail and beat her chest, tears welling up in her cloudy eyes.

"I've suffered my whole life, and I was hoping to get married and have a few good days, but who knew my husband would die for his country... I have no regrets, it's an honor."

"I've weathered all these years of storms and rain, and I've never blamed anyone."

But now…

She actually put on a pitiful act in front of Hao Jianguo.

Seeing the old lady's tearful appearance, Hao Jianguo couldn't help but frown.

I used to think that Qin Huairu was the one in the courtyard who was best at playing the victim, but now I realize I was wrong.

Old ginger is indeed spicier.

Hearing her pitiful cries, an uninformed person might think the old woman had suffered some terrible calamity, or even misunderstand that he had bullied her.

But Hao Jianguo remained unfazed.

The neighbors who peeked out from the courtyard shook their heads when they saw the scene.

Everyone had seen the old lady's unreasonable behavior just now, and they all felt that her actions were really going too far, clearly taking advantage of Hao Jianguo's kindness.

But in the end, no one stood up to speak.

Everyone knows the old lady's temperament—if you rashly step forward, she might hold a grudge against you, and that would really bring trouble upon yourself.

Inviting such an old lady home is, to put it nicely, an elder, but to put it bluntly, it's like bringing a deity home to worship—you can't neglect her, but you can't refuse her either, isn't that just asking for trouble?

These days, every family is struggling to make ends meet, and they may not even have enough to eat every day. How can they possibly have extra food to support an elderly person? Besides, she is already old. If something were to happen to her, who could bear the responsibility?

"Hao Jianguo is really unlucky. He's been stuck with this old lady like this, and he probably can't get rid of her now."

"I had a feeling that this old lady was not simple-minded, and now it seems that I was right."

Even Hao Jianguo can be entangled with her; we'd better be careful from now on.

"Whoever gets entangled with her will never have a peaceful life."

Many people were thinking the same thing to themselves, but no one dared to say it out loud.

Firstly, the old lady still maintained some authority in the courtyard, and secondly, everyone was afraid that if they spoke too harshly, they would get into trouble and end up getting implicated themselves.

Everyone shook their heads secretly, feeling a pang of worry for Hao Jianguo.

Some of the more timid women, such as Aunt Er and Aunt San, simply turned around, went back into the house, closed the door, and pretended not to have seen anything.

They sympathized with Hao Jianguo, but they were even more afraid that if the old lady had run into a snag with Hao Jianguo, she would turn around and come after their own family.

They were unwilling to take on this hot potato.

Hearing the commotion outside, Jia Zhangshi also stepped out of the house.

Ever since Qin Huairu's incident, she had been holding back her anger, and she never expected to stumble upon such a commotion so early in the morning.

She curled her lips into a smirk, a hint of satisfaction in her eyes.

"Serves you right! You, Hao Jianguo, are always so smug and live such a comfortable life."

Now that this old woman has you hooked up with, let's see how you'll ever have a comfortable life again!

"I'd rather drag you down, pshaw!"

The more Jia Zhangshi thought about it, the more relieved she felt.

In her view, this deaf old woman was a burden, and might actually turn Hao Jianguo's good life upside down.

When people are unhappy, they tend to think negatively, and this was the case with Jia Zhangshi.

Hao Jianguo coldly swept his gaze around, taking in everyone's expressions, but his heart remained calm and undisturbed.

He knew all too well who lived in this courtyard.

They're just a bunch of people who can't stand seeing others do well, yet they're afraid of seeing others do poorly.

There are probably people who would love to see him get entangled with this old lady.

Thinking of this, his gaze fell back on the deaf old woman.

"Have you said enough? If you have, let go."

If this continues, I'll call the police to settle things.

Even if you are old and the police can't easily take you away, they can at least say something in public.

"Where will you put your old face then?"

Hao Jianguo spoke calmly, without a trace of anger.

The deaf old woman was taken aback by these words, but she wasn't about to give up so easily.

Her eyes darted around, and another plan came to mind.

She suddenly let go of Hao Jianguo's arm and, to everyone's surprise, walked straight towards Hao Jianguo's house.

"Hmph, I'm not leaving here today! Unless you agree to take care of me, I'm staying here."

"Go ahead and call the police! Let's see what they can do to an old woman like me. Where I sit is none of their business!"

The deaf old lady is determined to lose face today.

For her, having no one to care for her in her old age and see her off in her final days was an absolute catastrophe.

She had nightmares about it all night, no wonder she was so stubborn this morning.

But before she could reach the door, a figure suddenly blocked her way.

The deaf old woman looked up and saw that it was Yu Li.

Just as the deaf old lady was about to speak, Yu Li suddenly blocked her way.

"Alright, old lady, you've lived to be so old, do you really want to ruin your reputation before you die?"

Hao Jianguo is her husband, how could Yu Li stand by and watch him suffer this injustice?

Fight back!

She would never tolerate anyone who dared to bully her husband.

No matter if she's a recipient of the Five Guarantees or a martyr of three generations, it doesn't matter!

"Grandma, the whole hospital respects you because you are an elder, a recipient of the Five Guarantees, and your family has produced three generations of martyrs."

But then again, aren't your actions now just smearing those names?

Yu Li's voice was crisp and clear, each word like a slap in the face, leaving the deaf old lady's face turning pale and then red.

"You... what nonsense are you talking about!"

"Smear campaign"

Those two words pierced my heart like needles—those "five-guarantee households".

And "Three Generations of Loyal Martyrs"

It was the glory she valued most in her life.

Yu Li's sharp retort made the old lady so angry that she felt a tightness in her chest and almost fainted.

Those watching from all around were dumbfounded.

Many people stared at Yu Li as if they had seen a ghost: This girl is usually so gentle and kind, who would have thought she would say something like that?

It was both assertive and satisfying.

She revealed the secrets of many people who had been keeping quiet to themselves.

happy!

That felt so good!

Even Hao Jianguo glanced at his wife, giving her a deep look.

"Did I say something wrong? Search your conscience, what one of these things is worthy of your status?"

Seeing that Yu Li was still not satisfied, he followed up with another sentence.

"Besides, you can't just blame someone for nothing."

They keep saying that the matter is related to Jianguo, so why did the police only take Yi Zhonghai away but not lay a finger on Jianguo?

"Isn't it obvious? This has nothing to do with the founding of the nation."

Besides, you and Jianguo are neither related by blood nor have any affection for each other, so we have no obligation to take care of you in your old age.

If you're truly struggling to make ends meet, we're kind enough to offer you a meal or two.

"But that's a favor, not my duty."

Yu Li's words were as fluent as the wind, and Hao Jianguo couldn't help but give her a thumbs up.

Look, this is his wife.

The deaf old woman was so angry that her eyes rolled back and her body swayed. Some people worried that she might faint on the spot.

Everyone could tell that although Yu Li didn't say it outright, she had already assumed the old lady was a beggar.

Yu Li, however, had no intention of stopping.

She glanced around at the people in the courtyard, making several neighbors lower their heads awkwardly, before continuing:

"I understand that you are respected in the hospital, and everyone is willing to offend you because of your status."

"But I'd also like to ask: you're clinging to us like this now, but where were you when the nation faced hardship and disaster during its founding?"

"Qin Huairu's decision to break off the engagement was due to her own shortsightedness, but you were a witness back then."

Old lady, put your hand on your heart and tell me, did you say a single word for Jianguo back then? Not even a single word!

The deaf old woman was immediately embarrassed; she opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

The whispers of pointing fingers gradually rose from all around, low in volume, yet like tiny knives, slowly slicing away the former awe.

More and more people's eyes have changed, and the respect that has been hidden for decades is quietly cracking.