Courtyard House: Starting as an eighth-grade worker, with too many wives.

"Weren't you so tough just now? If I really let you die, why are you so scared now?"

Everyone around breathed a sigh of relief.

Then look at the deaf old woman's eyes; they've completely changed.

"I've seen shameless people, but I've never seen anyone this shameless."

"That deaf old lady used to be such a respectable person, but now that she's old, she's lost all sense of shame."

The deaf old woman crawled and hid behind Yi Zhonghai, still swearing:

"He tried to kill me! You saw it! I'm calling the police to arrest him!"

"Alright, you deaf old lady, stop embarrassing yourself."

Some people couldn't stand it.

"They didn't intend to kill you. But you, why didn't you actually run into them?"

"Aren't you all tired of watching Director Li cause trouble all the time?"

Public opinion is overwhelmingly in favor of the government.

Yi Zhonghai, the deaf old woman, and Jia Zhangshi stood there, completely dumbfounded.

They thought that if they went to Li Jianguo's door in person to ask for his help, he would at least give them face.

The results of it?

It’s over.

The last hope is gone.

The three people stood there dejectedly.

Like three eggplants that have been hit by frost.

Li Jianguo glanced at them, his voice not loud, but every word was like a hammer blow:

"Sha Zhu deserves his current predicament. How many years he gets sentenced is up to the police and judge, and it's all reasonable and legal. If you keep causing trouble, I don't mind calling the police and having you all arrested."

He turned around.

close the door.

The sound of the door closing was like a judgment.

The courtyard was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat.

Then, a wave of discussion arose.

They drowned the three of them.

The laughter of the neighbors was sharp and piercing, like a series of sharpened knives scraping back and forth across their faces, leaving them with raw, bleeding skin, wishing they could disappear into a crack in the ground.

"Deaf old lady! Didn't you say you were going to call the police? Go ahead and call them! Let the police see if they're going to arrest us, or arrest you, you disrespectful old woman!"

Someone started shouting and making a ruckus, their eyes gleaming with a chillingly gloating light.

What letter of understanding?

There wasn't even a ghost in sight.

Yi Zhonghai stood like a wooden stake in the crowd, his old face burning hot, his eyelids twitching with pain. It wasn't shame, but the burning pain of being slapped more than a dozen times, a stinging sensation that ran from his cheeks all the way down to the back of his neck.

He could sense it.

The gazes coming from all directions were like poisoned nails, piercing him one by one. In those gazes were naked mockery, detached schadenfreude, and a hint of—long-suppressed, finally released, cathartic pleasure.

"Let's go back."

He sighed, his voice so low it was like a mosquito's hum, weak and lacking any strength. Before the words had even finished, he had already turned around, hunched his shoulders, and tucked his tail between his legs, ready to disappear into his house.

It runs faster than a rabbit.

He didn't even greet the two old men behind him.

The deaf old woman was unwilling to admit defeat so easily.

She spat a mouthful of thick phlegm onto the ground, the phlegm splashing onto the blue bricks in a sticky, disgusting spray. She raised her cloudy eyes, the light in them gleaming with the malice of a dying snake, staring intently at Li Jianguo's tightly closed door:

"You ignorant little beast! One day, I'll skin you alive and make sure you suffer a terrible death!"

This was overheard by an older woman eating sunflower seeds nearby, who immediately burst out laughing, nearly spitting sunflower seed shells onto the back of the person in front of her head.

"Oh dear, you deaf old woman, with your attitude, you're practically one foot in the grave, and you still want to skin someone alive? Aren't you afraid of hurting your old back? You might end up going to see the King of Hell before you even get to skin them alive, and then you'll get a beating in hell!"

"You're making it sound like she's not going to hell right now? Look at all the things she's done in her life, is there anything she can be proud of?"

"Exactly! They're always acting like they're superior just because they're old, throwing their weight around like they're some kind of pampered empress dowager! Pah! They should take a good look at themselves in the mirror!"

The surrounding mockery was like boiling water, rising and falling, bubbling and gurgling.

All that feigned respect, that hypocritical act of worshipping her, was torn off and thrown on the ground, trampled to pieces.

The way she looks at me now is like looking at an old dog that doesn't know whether it's dead or alive, still struggling and twitching in the middle of the road.

Yi Zhonghai has long since disappeared.

He slipped away so fast, like oil on his feet, without even uttering a sound, leaving the deaf old woman and Jia Zhangshi behind, like two dirty, carelessly discarded rags, lying forlornly in the middle of the courtyard, to be trampled on.

The deaf old woman gritted her teeth, her cheeks bulging out.

She bent over shakily, reaching out to push herself up. The mocking gazes were like needles, densely packed on her hunched back, each one barbed, piercing deep and tearing away flesh.

She gritted her teeth, endured the pain, and slowly moved towards her home.

The result was that they had only taken one step—

I stepped on a round little pebble.

His body suddenly tilted to the side!

He was like a rotten, withered tree, and uncontrollably crashed straight to the side, slamming into Jia Zhangshi, who had just gotten up.

"Ouch—!"

Two heart-wrenching screams echoed through the courtyard.

The two people collided solidly, then slammed heavily to the ground, raising a small cloud of dust.

Coincidentally.

Jia Zhangshi's plump body, resembling a sow about to be slaughtered, slammed straight down onto the deaf old woman's leg with the force of her fall.

"ah--!!!"

The deaf old woman let out a scream that sounded inhuman.

The sound was sharp and piercing, like the scream of a pig being stabbed in, instantly breaking the twilight that had just gathered over the courtyard. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets, her face contorted in agony, and she nearly fainted on the spot.

Those standing closest could hear it clearly—

Click.

The sound was crisp and clear, like a piece of dry firewood snapped underfoot in winter, or like a butcher swiftly and decisively chopping a bone with his knife.

It's definitely a broken bone!

The sound drilled into their ears, sending a chill down everyone's spine and making their scalps tingle.

"Quick, fucking help him up!"

The men turned pale with fright and rushed forward in a flurry, trying to pull Jia Zhangshi away from the deaf old woman.

The deaf old woman trapped underneath was in so much pain that she was delirious.

Her mouth was open, but no sound came out; only a series of hoarse gasps escaped her throat. Her leg was twisted in an extremely bizarre and chilling manner—the lower part of her leg below the knee was limp and bent to one side at an angle that completely defied human anatomy, like a tree branch that had been snapped off, held together only by a thin layer of skin and flesh.

When everyone reached out to lift her, her leg was as limp as a cooked noodle, hanging down without any support, swaying weakly with the movement.

"This...this bone is definitely broken!"

Someone shouted something, and the voice changed tone.

Everyone's hearts sank to the bottom.

The people in the yard quickly made arrangements to get the person to the hospital as soon as possible.

But it was only at this point that they realized—

The person closest to the deaf old lady was Sha Zhu. Whenever something happened, Sha Zhu would run around taking care of her, even more attentive than her own grandson. Now that Sha Zhu was gone, the deaf old lady lay on the ground in pain, barely clinging to life, and for the time being, she couldn't find anyone willing to lend a hand or do anything to help.

Everyone's gaze, as if by prior arrangement, turned in unison to the tightly closed door of Yi Zhonghai's house.

"Sir! The deaf old lady has broken her leg! You'd better come out and make some decisions, arrange for someone to take her to the hospital! Aren't your two families usually the closest?"

Yi Zhonghai was blocked at his own doorstep.

He wanted to refuse.

But the words stuck in his throat and he swallowed them back down.

Over the years, the image of a "good guy" and "manager" that he had painstakingly built up in this compound was ingrained in his very being. If he were to abandon this situation in front of so many people now, all the reputation he had accumulated in his life, and all the leverage he had in the compound, would be gone.

Utterly helpless.

Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to grit his teeth and start making arrangements. He borrowed a cart and called on Xu Damao and several young people from his second uncle's family. With a combination of dragging and lifting, they finally got the deaf old lady onto the cart, wrapped her in a tattered quilt, and took her to the hospital.

Watching the cart creak and groan as it gradually disappeared into the twilight at the alley entrance, the people in the courtyard were no longer in a hurry to go home and cook.

In twos and threes, they spontaneously gathered together, munching on sunflower seeds and chatting idly.

"Hey, have you guys noticed? Every time these guys go looking for trouble with Director Li, they end up in big trouble. They either lose a tooth, break a leg, or fall into a latrine. This time, they even had their limbs amputated."

"We noticed it a long time ago! It's really weird! It's like they're possessed!"

"Don't bring up any feudal superstitions. I think it's just that Director Li is too upright. These people bully him all the time, and even God couldn't stand it anymore. This is him acting on behalf of Heaven!"

"Yes, yes, I also think it's because they did too many bad things and got their comeuppance."

"But...it really has nothing to do with Director Li?"

"Why does this feel so strange..."

As they chatted, everyone's gazes, almost simultaneously and slowly, turned to the figure still standing at his own door, seemingly indifferent to the situation—Li Jianguo.

That gaze was too intense, and too complex.

Even though Li Jianguo was thick-skinned enough, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

Of course he knew what was going on.

That [divine halo] always operates on the same pattern. The moment something happens on one side, the person who provoked them immediately suffers terrible misfortune. They don't even need to lift a finger; fate has already cleaned them up completely.

However, he certainly couldn't say such a thing.

Even if I told you, no one would believe me.

"What does this have to do with me?"

Li Jianguo looked at them with a half-smile, his hands casually behind his back, exuding an air of profound mystery and nonchalance.

"As the saying goes, there are gods watching from above. People should be honest and upright, and not always harbor wicked thoughts. Otherwise, they'll get into trouble sooner or later."

After saying that, he turned around and went into the house without waiting for anyone's reaction.

With a "bang," the door slammed shut.

He had experienced firsthand the gossipy nature of the older women in the courtyard. The more he said, the more mistakes he made; less was more. He just needed to clear himself of any involvement.