The Courtyard House: Xu Damao's Aunt is the Queen of Women

The shrewd, deaf old woman figured it out, but before she could speak, Yi Zhonghai had already led his men into the courtyard.

The courtyard was packed with people; in addition to the residents of courtyard number 95, onlookers from other courtyards also squeezed in.

Liu Hao stood in front of the Jia family's gate, looking at Grandpa Niu, who was being protected by his three sons.

He had just asked the onlookers and learned that Grandpa Niu was an old man in courtyard number 93, known for his upright and kind nature, and was a well-known good man in Nanluoguxiang.

"Master Niu, I've only been living in courtyard number 95 for a few days, but I've heard that you're known in the neighborhood for your integrity and kindness. I'd like to trouble you to be a fair witness in this matter, and also ask the three brothers Niu to lend a hand in searching the area. Would that be alright?"

Grandpa Niu had a good impression of Liu Hao because the young man was handsome and polite.

"Alright, I'll help you out. Boss, second brother, third brother, get to work! Search thoroughly!"

"Okay!"

The three calves responded in muffled voices, rolled up their sleeves, and went inside.

Everyone pressed their faces against the doors and windows, craning their necks to peer inside.

Qin Huairu held Xiao Huaihua tightly, her face pale with nervousness, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead. She prayed in her heart that they wouldn't find out, that they wouldn't find out.

Due to excessive tension, the muscles kept tightening, causing the locust flower to cry out loudly.

"Mom...it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"

Madam Jia turned to look at Qin Huairu and noticed her trembling with nervousness, clearly showing signs of guilt. Her heart skipped a beat, and she lowered her voice to ask, "What's wrong with you? Have you been secretly saving money behind my back?"

Qin Huairu stubbornly retorted, "I didn't have any! Where would I get the money, Mom? Every month, my salary goes towards your medicine, and I only give you two yuan for retirement. It's not even enough to cover the basic needs of the whole family!"

Madam Jia frowned and thought about it, and half of her doubts were dispelled.

"Really? I think you're hiding something, humph!"

At this moment, Sha Zhu said smugly, "You surnamed Liu, you're doomed to lose. Pack your things and move out of my west wing tonight."

Upon hearing this, Madam Jia became furious.

"Bullshit! It's my family's bet with this little bastard... uh, this Accountant Liu. What's it to you? The west wing is my family's, and the money is my family's too!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Niu Lao Er's exclamation came from inside the house.

"My goodness, that's a lot of money!"

The atmosphere suddenly became lively, and everyone craned their necks to look inside.

Soon, another exclamation rang out. It was Boss Niu who had found a red cloth bundle hidden in the brick wall next to the stove.

"They're here too!"

In the room on the left, Niu Laosan kicked away the collapsed tiles piled on the kang (a heated brick bed), carefully searched through them, and found that one wall brick was obviously wrong.

I picked up a piece of wood and poked it, the brick loosened, I pulled it out and looked inside, hey, there was an oil paper package.

I took it out and opened it; inside were loose bills, about twenty yuan.

The stick standing in front of Jia Zhangshi seemed to realize something, swallowed hard, and rushed inside.

Quick-witted and agile, Sha Zhu grabbed him by the collar and teased, "What's the rush, kid? Did you wet the bed last night and didn't tell your mom?"

"I'll pee your mother! You little brat, let me go!"

"Hey, with my temper, how dare you talk back to me like that? Today I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your mother!"

Sha Zhu raised his hand and slapped Bang Geng's butt, making Bang Geng scream in pain.

When Jia Zhangshi saw her beloved grandson being beaten, she rushed over and kicked Sha Zhu in the crotch.

"Aww...!!!"

Sha Zhu clutched his crotch and knelt on the ground, his eyes bulging out of their sockets from the pain.

Yi Zhonghai scolded, "Jia Zhangshi, how could you be so rough? Do you think you can just kick that spot like that?"

Madam Jia, pulling the stick aside, said nonchalantly, "Who told this little brat to hit my grandson? Why can't I kick him? Doesn't Sha Zhu often kick Xu Damao's crotch?"

"..."

Yi Zhonghai was speechless, glared at Jia Zhangshi, and went over to ask Sha Zhu if he was hurt.

Liu Hao also noticed that Xu Damao was not there!

It feels strange not having Xu Damao, that troublemaker, around.

"My goodness, so much money!"

With a shout full of shock and disbelief, three calves came running out, carrying several cloth and brown paper packages.

The onlookers immediately erupted in excitement because the gray cloth bag in Boss Niu's hand was open, revealing a thick stack of banknotes, estimated to be no less than two thousand yuan!

In Old Niu's dirty red cloth bag, there was quite a bit of money, at least fourteen or fifteen thousand.

The two small paper packets that Niu Laosan was carrying didn't contain much money, just a few dozen yuan.

The atmosphere became strange. Everyone looked at Qin Huairu, who was covered in cold sweat and whose hair was steaming, and then at Jia Zhangshi, whose eyes were red and who was staring intently at Qin Huairu.

Banggeng rushed up to Niu Laosan and tried to snatch the oil paper package, screaming, "This is my money! Give it back!"

Xiao Dang also ran over in a panic, trying to snatch the other paper package from Niu Laosan's hand.

Everyone burst into laughter. All five members of the Jia family, except for Huaihua, had their own secret stash of money.

Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu were stunned. They mechanically turned their heads and looked at Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu in disbelief.

Yan Fugui was shocked. The Jia family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had actually saved so much money.

Liu Haizhong's face turned ashen. He thought about how, for the sake of face these past few years, every time Yi Zhonghai held a hospital-wide meeting to donate money to the Jia family, he donated the same amount as Yi Zhonghai.

If I do the math, I donated about 250 yuan!

Three and a half months' salary! This is three and a half months' salary! It's the hard-earned money I made by swinging a sledgehammer every day.

If the donation were to be given to people in need, that would be one thing, but to give it to the rich?

Liu Haizhong grew angrier the more he thought about it, and pointed at Yi Zhonghai, roaring, "Go to hell, Yi Zhonghai! The Jia family is so rich, and you still want us to donate money to them?"

"You beast! You fucking beast! The poor helping the rich, is that something a human being would do?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Fugui felt a sharp pain in his heart, because although he hadn't donated much, it still amounted to more than twenty yuan.

This money was what he ate every morning with hard cornbread, drank thin porridge with pickled vegetables at noon, and couldn't even bear to turn on the light at night, going to sleep as soon as it got dark.

"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! Yi Zhonghai, you must give us an explanation today!"

The residents in the compound were also outraged, and some of the poorer residents were so angry that they cried.

Yi Zhonghai practically forced them to donate money to the Jia family, and as a result, we were the poor donating money to the rich.

The onlookers from other courtyards felt very sympathetic; this was just too much bullying.

Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, the deaf old woman immediately stepped forward to calm things down.

"Listen to what this old woman has to say!"

"I won't listen!"

Ye Juan, always eager for drama, stepped forward to fan the flames.

"What are you trying to say? That Yi Zhonghai is biased towards the Jia family, making the poor people in our compound donate money to the incredibly wealthy Jia family?"

"You're probably going to say... oh, it's the Jia family who's shameless, they went to Zhonghai to plead poverty, and Zhonghai, being kind-hearted, saw that they, a widow and her orphan, were indeed in dire straits. Zhonghai has been the steward all these years, always worrying about and working hard for everyone. Don't you know what kind of person he is?"

"Take my advice, old woman, and let this matter go!"

Ye Juan mimicked the deaf old woman's tone in a high-pitched voice, imitating her so perfectly that everyone burst into laughter.

The deaf old woman was so angry that she trembled all over and almost couldn't catch her breath, fainting on the spot!

She was using all my lyrics! My lyrics!