Courtyard House: Is Xu Damao a childless man? Let me help.

"Guangfu, Guangtian, your family has finally made it through! Your father was already a level seven blacksmith, earning a decent salary every month. Now that he's been promoted, your lives should be even more comfortable now, right?"

Xu Damao's words were like rubbing salt in the wound. Upon hearing this, Liu Guangtian immediately rolled his eyes and said, "Xu Damao, do you think you don't know what my family situation is like?"

With my dad's character, it would be a miracle if Guangfu and I didn't get beaten up. How comfortable could our lives be?

It's the same as before, they won't even give us a scrambled egg!

Liu Guangfu chimed in, "Yeah, yeah! After my dad got promoted, he said he wanted to celebrate, but all he did was treat himself to a meal and eat all the meat!"

Hearing the two brothers' complaints, Xu Damao was secretly delighted, but his face remained mysterious. "Don't you two brothers want to change the current situation?"

At least... if I wanted to eat something, I wouldn't be like this now, only able to look but not eat!

Liu Guangtian sighed and said, "Hey, I wish I could, but there's no way to change this situation!"

My brother and I are currently unemployed. Without jobs, there is no income, and without income, we are truly at the mercy of others!

"If I can find a job in another year or two, I'll definitely move out as soon as possible!"

Upon hearing his brother's words, Liu Guangfu lowered his head even further. His brother was unemployed and had no income, and he was a few years younger than his brother. If his brother had to wait one or two years, then he would have to wait three or four years.

Moreover... If my second brother moves out, I'll be the only son left in the family. Before, when my second brother was around, at least I had someone to share the burden, so I wouldn't get beaten so badly. But if I'm all alone from now on, I'll be in real trouble!

So Guangfu immediately said, "Brother!! What will I do if you move out? Why don't you take me with you when you move out!"

If I'm left home alone, I'll be the only one Dad can beat up left. I don't want to get beaten by him every day!

At this moment, Xu Damao spoke up, "You two brothers are really in a terrible situation. How about... I give you some advice?"

Liu Guangtian's eyes lit up, and his expression immediately changed. "Brother Da Mao, you're usually the most resourceful person in our compound. Do you have any ideas that can help us?"

If you can really help us, we'll definitely remember your kindness. If you ever need anything in the future, just say the word!

Xu Damao smiled and then said, "Isn't your dad a team leader at the steel rolling mill now? You should go and tell him that you want to start working earlier."

Ask your dad to find you a job at a steel rolling mill. If that doesn't work, anywhere else will do!

Once you have a job, the rest is easy, right? Once you get your salary and have money in your pockets, do I even need to tell you the rest, 2.5?

Upon hearing this, Liu Guangtian's eyes lit up, but then he lowered his head again. "This... even if my dad finds me a job, I probably won't even get the salary!"

"I'll work myself to the bone to earn some money, only to have my dad take it all away. Wouldn't that be unfair?"

Xu Damao laughed and said, "Hey! Why don't you use your brain? How much money could you earn as an apprentice?"

Whether you receive your salary or not during this period doesn't really make a big difference. Besides, since you're able to earn money for the family, your dad will definitely beat you less often!

"When you get a permanent position, your chance to get rid of your dad will come. You'll have a stable job with a high salary and you'll have learned some skills. How could you not be able to support yourself?"

Chapter 180 The Five Masters of the Courtyard Each Have Their Own Hidden Intentions

At this point, Xu Damao paused for a moment, then said in a mysterious low voice, "You should also know about Zhang Xiangyang from the Jia family, right?"

How clever he is! He tricked Jia Zhangshi into handing over the job to the Jia family, after promising her countless benefits.

But what about now? Look at all the benefits he promised, did he deliver on them? He directly applied for a transfer! Forget the promised benefits, he doesn't even provide Jia Zhangshi with meals anymore!

"Let's not talk about him, let's talk about your brother! Your dad treated him really well back then, right? And now? He applied for a transfer several years ago, hasn't he? Has he even come back once?"

Once you're officially hired, if there's an opportunity, just apply for a transfer. Then, with the emperor far away, your dad won't be able to take a train to beat you up, will he?

Upon hearing this, Liu Guangtian's eyes lit up immediately, but Liu Guangfu, standing to the side, was not happy. "No! After my older brother passed away, my dad often beat the two of us brothers."

If my second brother leaves too, won't I be the only one left to get beaten up? Second brother, you can't leave me to get beaten up alone!

Xu Damao waved his hand and said, "Your matter is even simpler. Your father beat you and your second brother before because he has three sons!"

After your eldest brother passed away, he still had two sons left. But if your second brother also passes away, your father will only have you as his son!

"Your dad will be too busy doting on you to hit you. Let me tell you, if he dares to hit you again, threaten him with not taking care of him in his old age. It'll work!"

At this point, Xu Damao paused for a moment, then continued, "Moreover, this way, you won't have to worry about your job anymore."

In a few years, your dad will be old, and you'll be able to take over his job. Then you'll be supporting him, and he won't dare to mess with you.

Forget about hitting you, even who gets to eat the scrambled eggs in the family will be up to you!

After hearing Xu Damao's words, Liu Guangfu was finally satisfied. He exchanged a glance with his second brother, thanked Xu Damao, and ran straight home.

In the Liu family home, Second Uncle was giving Second Aunt some "instructions" when Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu suddenly barged in. Seeing that they were his two mischievous sons, Second Uncle didn't mind and continued talking to Second Aunt.

But Liu Guangtian rushed up to Uncle Er in a panic, "Dad... I want to ask you for a favor!"

Uncle Er turned to Liu Guangtian with an impatient look. "What? You've caused trouble again? You brat, why can't you ever behave yourself?"

Liu Guangtian quickly waved his hand, "No... Dad, what trouble could I possibly cause? I just wanted to say... I don't want to go to school anymore, could you find me a job?"

"I'll give you my entire monthly salary from now on. I just want to learn a skill and find something to do. Is that okay?"

Liu Guangtian had learned his lesson and even took the initiative to offer to hand over his salary, which made Uncle Er, who originally didn't want to talk to Liu Guangtian, suddenly hesitate.

After thinking it over carefully, I realized that I'm now a team leader, which is considered a 'leadership level', so I figured it should be possible to arrange a job for my son.

Besides, even if it's not convenient for the steel mill to make arrangements, there's still Ye Jianchuan, isn't there? Ye Jianchuan seemed quite easy to talk to just now. As long as I get on good terms with him, getting him to arrange a job shouldn't be a problem.

So after hesitating for a moment, Uncle Er actually agreed to it, which made Liu Guangtian extremely happy.

However, Uncle Er didn't completely rule it out. Instead, he continued, "That's not certain yet. Until things are settled, you better go to school and behave yourself! Don't be like a street urchin all day long."

In this way, Xu Damao disrupted the Liu family's plans, which can be considered as buying a seed.

Among the five masters in the courtyard, Second Master is busy scheming against Jia Zhangshi and First Master, Xu Damao is busy scheming against Second Master, so what are Jia Zhangshi, First Master, and Banggeng doing?

They were certainly not idle either. After being thrown into the detention room last time, Jia Zhangshi came back and caused a scene at Uncle Yi's house because of the letter of understanding, which earned her the opportunity to eat a meal at Uncle Yi's house every day.

This significantly reduced Jia Zhangshi's financial burden, and although her nephew wasn't exactly a good person, he seemed to have handled the matter quite well.

Since the day she went in, Zhang Xiangyang had already sent back six yuan for living expenses, so Jia Zhangshi's food and clothing problems were basically solved.

With basic needs met, the next step is naturally to think of ways to stir things up, such as... using Banggeng, this unfilial grandson, to help him make some money.

Even... Jia Zhangshi was planning to find a way to make ends meet with the child support money Qin Huairu was giving her, so that eleven yuan should be enough for her to live on her own.

However, people are always greedy. Before she had no income at all, Jia Zhangshi was very happy to get a free meal.

But now that she had not only gotten a free meal, but also had money to buy painkillers, Jia Zhangshi started plotting to extract even more money from Uncle Yi.

While Jia Zhangshi was plotting how to use her unfilial grandson to obtain some money for her retirement, Uncle Yi was scheming how to directly take custody of Banggeng from Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu.

As for Jia Zhangshi, it was actually quite easy to resolve. Uncle Yi had already seen through Jia Zhangshi's little scheme. As for Uncle Yi, anything that could be solved with money was negotiable. As long as it could ensure his worry-free retirement, what did spending a little money matter?

However, Uncle Yi was unsure about Qin Huairu's side, since this stick was a piece of Qin Huairu's flesh and blood!

Even though Qin Huairu's attitude towards Bang Geng is quite indifferent now, it doesn't seem like it would be so easy for her to give up custody of Bang Geng!

These two are each plotting against each other with their own ulterior motives, but for various reasons, they have not yet taken action. So, is the last of the five masters, the Thief of the Saint's Staff, really at peace now?

The answer is of course no. Although under Uncle Yi's guidance, Bang Geng's attitude towards Uncle Yi has indeed changed a lot. At least in front of Uncle Yi, he is indeed trying his best to act like a good boy.

But old habits die hard! Bang Geng's innate ingrate nature is impossible to hide, so while Jia Zhangshi and Uncle Yi were scheming against each other, our Bang Geng wasn't idle either.

Chapter 181 Aunt Er Starts to Take Action

Has Bang Geng really learned it well? Of course not. So if he hasn't learned it well, why is he pretending to be a dutiful grandson in front of Grandpa Yi?

To put it bluntly, isn't it all for those things that Uncle Yi talked about, "What's mine will all be yours in the future!" Bang Geng wants Uncle Yi's money, and Bang Geng wants Uncle Yi's job too!

So Bang Geng started pretending to be a good boy, but being a good boy isn't so easy. He might be able to keep it up for a day or two, but he couldn't stand being like that every day.

So Banggeng quickly came up with another idea. He probably wouldn't be able to get a job in the short term. Even if Uncle Yi was willing, he couldn't work at the steel mill with his small arms and legs!

But money is a different story. Uncle Yi has saved a lot of money over the decades, and Bang Geng knows that.

Although Grandpa Yi said that all this money would be left to him in the future, but... is there a way to get this money decades earlier?

So, does that mean I no longer need to act like a good boy in front of Uncle Yi every day?

So... how can I get my hands on this money ahead of time? Grandpa Yi said that after he dies, all this money will go to Bang Geng, so...

Kill Uncle Yi? Bang Geng wouldn't dare do something like that. Besides, even if Uncle Yi were gone, the person closest to him would still be Aunt Yi! Could he possibly find a way to 'kill' Aunt Yi as well?

So getting rid of Uncle Yi is definitely not an option. So, is there no other way besides this method?

Of course there are, and this other method is actually a perfect match for Bang Geng, because the second method is to simply steal all of Uncle Yi's savings for his funeral!

This idea had already formed not long after Banggeng moved into Uncle Yi's house, but Banggeng simply couldn't find any opportunity to make a move.

There are two difficulties in stealing Uncle Yi's savings for his funeral. The first problem is where exactly Uncle Yi's savings for his funeral are hidden!

This is a very crucial question. If you don't even know where the money is hidden, and you have to search blindly, then whether you can find it or not is questionable.

The second problem is with Aunt Yi. Aunt Yi basically stays at home every day and doesn't go out much, so even if Bang Geng wanted to find a place to hide money at home, he couldn't do anything about it.

So even though he had been staying at Uncle Yi's house for almost half a month, Bang Geng still hadn't made any substantial progress.

. . . . . .

Against this backdrop, Uncle Er's plan was finally launched. The next day, all the men in the household went to work.

Apart from the children who haven't started school yet, only a bunch of old women were chatting idly in the courtyard.

Following Uncle Er's instructions, Aunt Er moved a stool and sat down at the entrance of the courtyard, chatting with Aunt San.

The reason they were squatting at the door was, of course, to wait for Jia Zhangshi to appear.

And so, the two women chatted idly for a while, until Jia Zhangshi's plump figure finally came into Erda's view.

Second Aunt pretended not to see Jia Zhangshi coming over, and did not deliberately lower her voice, speaking directly to Third Aunt.

“Ruihua, if you ask me, the most miserable family in our compound is the Jia family! First, Jia Zhangshi lost her husband, then her son, and now she can’t even protect her own grandson!”

I think after a while, there won't be any Jia family members left in our courtyard, only the Yi family!"

The direction where Aunt San was sitting could see Jia Zhangshi coming, so she immediately gave Aunt Er a big look, signaling her to stop talking, but how could Aunt Er possibly stop talking?

I'm saying this to Jia Zhangshi! So Second Aunt pretended not to see Third Aunt's reminder and continued talking to herself.

"You probably don't know this yet, but Yi Zhonghai is already planning to change Banggeng's surname."

If you ask me, Yi Zhonghai is no good either. Others might say they don't know what happened with Zhang Xiangyang, but Yi Zhonghai was Zhang Xiangyang's mentor! How could he not know?