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

Since the incident with the snakeskin bag, the old lady's trust in him and Sha Zhu has clearly diminished.

Yi Zhonghai understood, but there was nothing he could do—he and Sha Zhu couldn't explain the strangeness of that day.

The old lady, having lived to such an age, was already quite shrewd; how could she not see through Yi Zhonghai's intentions?

She reached out and patted Yi Zhonghai on the shoulder, saying softly:

"Zhonghai, don't overthink it."

"Grandma, I didn't mean anything by it, I was just worried about being overheard."

"We used to discuss everything and make careful arrangements, so there shouldn't have been any problems. But what happened? Everything fell through."

I'm thinking, maybe... someone else is after us."

The elders in the courtyard gave her reasons. She was so confident in her plan that she believed it to be flawless that she was almost overconfident.

Regardless of what others thought, the honest young man believed these words at that moment.

He slapped his knee hard, his face instantly filled with anger.

"No wonder our plans all fell through! This is the root of the problem! I'm going to find the culprit and make him pay!"

He angrily began to curse.

Afterwards, the group talked for a while, mostly expressing their hopes for a better future.

Perhaps influenced by the elder's optimism, they all felt that this time they would surely defeat the neighbor surnamed Hao, and the pent-up frustration of the past few days dissipated.

……

The next morning, the wife suggested that she go back to her parents' home for a few days.

It wasn't that they had a fight, but rather that she felt sorry for her husband—it was the busiest time for him at his factory recently, and every day after finishing his work, he still had to take time to take care of her.

"Don't worry about me, I'll just go back to stay for a while, my parents can take good care of me."

You just focus on your work; it's only a few days anyway.

His wife said considerately.

Hao Jianguo understood that this was his wife's way of showing her affection, so he didn't try to dissuade her and nodded in agreement.

Of course, there was an even more important reason, which was secretly told to him by the little frog who had returned from his previous trip.

The little frog is currently staying in another world, and it seems to have opened a passage that is faintly connected to Hao Jianguo's residence, so a cold and eerie atmosphere inevitably seeps out.

It's fine for ordinary people to live here, but my wife is newly pregnant and the pregnancy is not yet stable.

According to Little Frog, it would be best to let his wife leave home for a while and return once everything has settled down.

Even if his wife hadn't brought it up today, Hao Jianguo had originally planned to discuss the matter with her.

After sending his wife to her parents' home, Hao Jianguo returned to his courtyard house.

With nothing else to do, he began to organize the supplies at hand.

All the things he had previously obtained from the little frog were piled up in his storage space. Fortunately, the little frog had brought back an ability that expanded his storage space, otherwise it would have been overflowing by now.

Right now, all sorts of items are piled up like a small mountain inside. Fortunately, time stands still in this space, so the meat and vegetables haven't spoiled.

It took him most of the day just to count all of these.

His wife wasn't home today, so he just ate a casual dinner—though it was "casual," the aroma still made the neighbors in the courtyard secretly swallow their saliva.

Lying alone in bed at night, Hao Jianguo felt somewhat dazed.

This is the first time I've slept alone since getting married; it feels like I've instantly returned to my single days.

Although couples usually enjoy sweet and warm companionship, experiencing being alone together occasionally feels quite refreshing.

This feeling is probably something that most married men have experienced.

Life went on as usual, never stopping for anyone. There was less gossip in the courtyard, and everyone's lives returned to normalcy.

However, during their leisure time, everyone couldn't help but murmur about the strange things that had happened recently, especially the honest young man, that elder, and the Jia family's affairs, which all seemed suspicious no matter how you looked at them.

For example, elders kneeling in public, and Jia's mother-in-law wandering around at night... none of these incidents can be reasonably explained.

Humans are born curious and imaginative.

Amidst these strange occurrences, all sorts of rumors began to circulate in the courtyard, with the most prevalent ones invariably revolving around "feng shui."

Two characters.

These past few days, Liu Haizhong has been really annoyed by his wife.

Aunt Er was a firm believer in feng shui and metaphysics at heart, but she usually kept it to herself—after all, Liu Haizhong always nagged her, "Don't be superstitious."

That set.

But now that strange things are happening one after another in this courtyard, she can no longer hold back.

At the dinner table, she leaned close to Uncle Er's ear and whispered, "Old Liu, you always used to think I was superstitious, but now that this is right in front of us, can you still say I'm just imagining things? If it's not a problem with the feng shui, could it really be that the courtyard is haunted?"

Rather than "ghosts," bangs naturally lean more towards "feng shui."

The argument.

He hesitated for a moment, then replied in a low voice, "Could it be... that the feng shui of our courtyard has really deteriorated?"

Seeing her husband's attitude soften, Aunt Er excitedly slapped her thigh: "Isn't it a feng shui problem! Otherwise, why would every family say this? Let me tell you, the root of the problem must be with the Jia family."

She glanced at Liu Haizhong and lowered her voice: "Think back, hasn't our courtyard been in constant turmoil ever since Jia Zhangshi started sleepwalking in the middle of the night?"

Liu Haizhong paused for a moment, then nodded silently.

Taking advantage of the situation, Aunt Er continued, "It's the Jia family that ruined the feng shui of the whole courtyard! Old Liu, although you are nominally Uncle Er now, you're doing the work of Uncle Yi."

"If we want the people in this courtyard to live in peace, we must get rid of the source of the bad feng shui."

She spoke with a sense of unease, feeling that her family had been tainted by bad luck these past few days.

Liu Haizhong remained silent, but his mind was racing with thoughts.

Seeing his hesitation, Aunt Er rolled her eyes at him, annoyed: "You still don't believe me? This feng shui thing has already come true for us! Let me ask you, you're using Uncle Er's name but doing Uncle Yi's job, have you been promoted? Have you made any money? Even your bonus this year has been much smaller—think about it, hasn't your luck been dragged down by this?"

Hearing her say that, Liu Haizhong felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

Seeing his expression, Aunt Er added, "Whether you admit it or not, let's give it a try, shall we?"

"Try it? You can find out by trying it?"

"Why not?"

Aunt Er leaned forward. "Didn't a Taoist priest used to live on Jade Emperor Mountain? Why don't we ask him to come and take a look secretly, and then we'll know?"

Liu Haizhong frowned, and after a long while he hesitated before saying, "That person... I do remember him."

But is he still there? Perhaps he'd already been exterminated as one of the Four Olds...

Inside this courtyard, it wasn't just Liu Haizhong's family who were discussing the feng shui; even Yan Bugui's family was talking about it over and over again.

Aunt San was particularly attentive, whispering in Yan Bugui's ear, and what she said was exactly the same as Aunt Er's – they had come up with it together during the day while idly chatting.

"You stubborn old man, why won't you believe it? Logically speaking, your wages should have increased this month, right? But what happened? Why is there no change? Isn't it because the Jia family has committed a sin, ruining the feng shui of our courtyard and disrupting our fortune! If you ask me, the right thing to do is to quickly invite that Taoist priest Wang over to take a look."

Sister-in-law San pestered Yan Bugui relentlessly, pouring one sentence after another into his ear.

Yan Bugui has always considered himself a "scholar".

They consider themselves superior, so why would they believe in such mystical things?

However, things had been going terribly wrong in the courtyard lately, and he couldn't find a decent reason to explain it, so he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

"However..."

Yan Bugui's tone became hesitant when Wang Daoren was mentioned.

"That person does seem to have real skills."

In his early years, he was quite remarkable; many respectable people would come to him seeking his guidance.

"If you didn't have some ability, how could you have such a reputation... Why don't you give it a try?"

When a person is deluded, their heart becomes convinced.

The strange occurrences happening in the courtyard have confused Yan Bugui, who considers himself clear-headed, and he has unknowingly been drawn into Aunt San's trap.

If even they were so shaken, the younger generation in the courtyard would be even more so.

Aunt San and Aunt Er never hid from others when they talked, and Yan Jiecheng and Liu Guangfu had heard everything clearly.

A few days later, a group of young people got together and were already convinced that "there must be a problem with the feng shui of the courtyard." They spoke with such conviction that they seemed to have become fortune tellers.

"There's absolutely no mistake, it's a problem with the feng shui!"

Liu Guangfu slapped his knee, his words resolute.

Yan Jie immediately echoed, "I think the same way as Guangfu."

Think about it, how many things happened to the Jia family before? One after another, without end, and later even Jia Dongxu almost lost his life.

"What else could this be but bad feng shui? Why is Sha Zhu acting so crazy? It's all because of the Jia family!"

"They ruined the entire layout of the courtyard, and Sha Zhutou was the one who suffered the most."

If this isn't dealt with soon, every single one of us will be caught!

Yan Jiecheng spoke with increasing seriousness, making the people around him feel uneasy.

"That's right, that's right."

Someone else chimed in, "Didn't Bang Geng keep saying he'd seen ghosts? And the old lady was possessed... Every single thing seems eerie, it must be bad feng shui! If you ask me, we should kick the Jia family out! If they delay my marriage and having a son, I'll fight them to the death!"

Xu Damao spoke through gritted teeth.

Now, his top priority in life is to get married and have children. He will never let anyone who gets in his way get away with it.

Yan Jiecheng chuckled and casually replied, "If you ask me, this bad feng shui has already manifested its power."

"We're all broke and have no wives, so aren't we being harassed? Xu Damao, you're still dreaming of having a son? Maybe, because of this lousy feng shui, you won't be able to have children even if you get married!"

He mentioned it casually, but little did he know that his words would inadvertently touch upon a future worry for Xu Damao.

Xu Damao was immediately annoyed and was about to argue when Zhang Kai, the son of the Zhang family, coughed timidly.

"Um... do you guys think it's possible... that it's not a problem with the Jia family, but rather something Hao Jianguo is up to?"

As he spoke, he secretly glanced at Hao Jianguo's room, his expression showing a hint of fear.

"Think about it, the Jia family went downhill while Hao Jianguo's life got better and better. Wasn't it around the same time? Who knows... that Hao Jianguo absorbed the Jia family's fortune and is now absorbing the blessings of our whole courtyard."

"Otherwise, how do you explain it? None of us are doing well, yet Hao Jian's family is getting better and better every day. Even if the feng shui has turned bad, everyone should be treated equally. How can you just favor his family?"

The speaker lowered his voice to a whisper, his words revealing confusion and a hint of resentment.

Hao Jianguo is currently enjoying great influence in the courtyard, so he naturally dares not speak loudly, for fear of getting into trouble.

Xu Damao immediately glared at him and shouted, "What nonsense are you spouting! How dare you spread such baseless rumors?"

Despite his cursing, he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Upon closer reflection, what I just said wasn't entirely without merit.

Could it be… Xu Damao involuntarily glanced in the direction of Hao Jianguo's country, a chill inexplicably creeping up his back.

……

The deaf old lady had no interest in the idle chatter of the younger generation outside.

Wang Daoren was sitting in her room, with a pot of freshly brewed tea between them.

She had specially invited this gentleman early this morning, just to deal with Hao Jianguo today.

Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu were also by her side. Only then did the two of them fully understand the old lady's entire plan.

For Sha Zhu's generation, the name Wang Daoren was indeed unfamiliar; but Yi Zhonghai was different. He had heard of this man's abilities in his early years and knew that he was a truly capable master.

In the past, only noble families could invite such people. I never expected that the old lady could invite him. At this point, Yi Zhonghai finally understood why the old lady was so confident today.

"Mr. Wang, everything has been arranged as you instructed."

When do you think it would be appropriate to take action?

The deaf old lady's tone was somewhat urgent.

Although she came up with the idea, the specific implementation still depended on Wang Daoren's arrangements.

After all, he's the expert in this field.

Wang Daoren sighed inwardly, "If you take someone's money, you have to solve their problems."

Having taken on this job, I can only feel sorry for Hao Jianguo.

Since we're complete strangers, there's no need to carry too much emotional burden.

He raised his hand and calculated for a moment, then said slowly, "In that case, let's set it for tonight."

The deaf old lady immediately frowned.

She wanted to kill Hao Jianguo immediately and couldn't wait a moment longer.

"We've endured this long already, a few more hours won't make a difference."

If hasty actions ruin the plan, then it will be truly too late to regret it.

Wang Daoren said calmly.

These words touched the old lady's heart.