The Courtyard House: He Yuzhu Returns with Boundless Hatred for Revenge

Wang Xuemei has not been seen since the day she was taken away by the district work group. Even if she is released from prison or sentenced, there should still be some news about her, but this woman seems to have completely disappeared from the world. The entire street office is tight-lipped about it, as if no one with the surname Wang had ever served as director here.

Her husband, a former official in a municipal department, was implicated in Wang Xuemei's case and was found to have some problems himself. He was quickly expelled from the Party and dismissed from all his posts, losing all his benefits. The organization considered that the issues involved were not too serious and therefore did not pursue criminal charges.

The man immediately published a notice in the newspaper announcing the termination of his marital relationship with Wang Xuemei, and severely condemned her for deceiving the organization and her family for a long time, being morally corrupt and behaving inappropriately. He claimed that he had suffered greatly because of her and now wanted to completely sever ties with her and strive to return to the team as soon as possible.

Husbands and wives are like birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly away separately. How much more so in this era of high winds and turbulent waves, where no mishap is permissible. The name Wang Xuemei, along with her shame, was quickly buried by time, leaving no trace whatsoever.

Meanwhile, Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu were both discharged from the hospital and returned home. They had no choice but to stay in the hospital; the daily expenses were draining them like water, and even with Jia Zhangshi's retirement savings, Qin Huairu was almost gone. Yi Zhonghai even took some time to inquire about Jia Dongxu's medical expenses being reimbursed at the steel rolling mill, but to his dismay, they refused to reimburse him. "They've already done more than enough by keeping an apprentice for him after his gambling spree; they expect reimbursement for medical expenses? What are they thinking!"

Hope was utterly shattered. Left with no other choice, the family of four returned dejectedly to the nearly bankrupt Jia family home. Why "a family of four"? Because the parents had returned, and naturally, the eldest son was also brought back. Bang Geng had also been living a life worse than death for the past two weeks. After much persuasion, Yi Zhonghai finally convinced Zhang Guifen to let Bang Geng stay at their home temporarily.

The ungrateful brat thought his good days had begun after entering the old, childless family's house. Seeing Zhang Guifen cooking delicious food, he tried to snatch it, only to be thrashed twice. This was outrageous! Grandma had said this woman was a barren hen; the old family's money and house would eventually be his. Now she dared to defy the heavens and offend the eldest son? She immediately launched into a tirade against Zhang Guifen.

Unexpectedly, this only brought her greater suffering. Having been tormented by Yi Zhonghai for so many years, Zhang Guifen had become somewhat twisted herself, and naturally showed no mercy to the hamsters. The more pitiful the hamsters screamed, the more excited she became, and she would throw them two cornbread buns each day, just enough to keep them from starving.

And so, when Qin Huairu returned to the Jia family, all she saw was Bang Geng, covered in injuries. When she went to reason with him, Zhang Guifen berated her, saying things like, "You little beast, you never learn anything good, stealing and cursing all day long! A family of ingrates! Did we make a mistake taking you in?" and so on, leaving Qin Huairu speechless and making the Jia family even more resentful.

Yi Zhonghai was relieved ahead of schedule. These past two weeks had been a nightmare for him. Every day, besides the unchanging street sweeping, he had to spend all his time serving Jia Dongxu, this useless man, washing him, feeding him, turning him over, and dealing with his bodily needs. Jia Dongxu was in excruciating pain in his legs, in a terrible mood, and his personality had become extremely distorted. At the slightest provocation, he would hurl insults at Yi Zhonghai, venting all his resentment and malice on his master.

Yi Zhonghai couldn't be hit or scolded; he had to keep a smiling face and was exhausted. In just over ten days, he lost more than ten pounds.

However, the most shocking news for the courtyard house was yet to come.

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, a large group of people from the neighborhood committee arrived at the courtyard house. As everyone came out to watch, they discovered that among the group was a long-unseen figure, none other than the former ancestor, the deaf old woman.

Immediately afterwards, the newly appointed Director Zhang of the subdistrict office personally convened a general meeting of the entire court at the Intermediate People's Court to announce the organization's decision on how to handle the deaf elderly woman.

"Long Xiaocui has a complex background, having been involved with reactionary forces in the old society and concealing significant historical issues. After liberation, instead of repenting, she took advantage of the negligence and indulgence of some grassroots cadres to feign progressiveness, oppress the masses, spread feudal and backward ideas within the compound for a long time, and attempted to establish personal authority, disrupting the normal management order at the grassroots level. Her actions were extremely egregious."

With the approval of the organization, the following decision is made.

"First, immediately cancel all of Long Xiaocui's benefits, including her status as a recipient of the Five Guarantees."

"Second, their illegal gains and property of unknown origin shall be confiscated in accordance with the law. Except for a small amount of cash for basic living expenses, all other gold, silver, valuables, antiques, calligraphy and paintings shall be confiscated and put into public possession."

"Third, the two houses she currently resides in will be taken over by the public. Long Xiaocui may stay there temporarily until her death, after which housing will be arranged by the street office."

"Fourth, based on her words and deeds and the investigation results, Long Xiaocui is identified as a current counter-revolutionary and must accept the supervision and reform of the people."

Long Xiaocui was numb at this point, or rather, she didn't care at all. Her face was stubborn and unconvinced, as if to say, "I'm not wrong, the world is wrong." No wonder she was once the matriarch of a courtyard house; she was as stubborn as could be.

"Boom!" The onlookers all took a few steps back.

"Now, now against..." Upon hearing this word, everyone was momentarily stunned. But once they did, chaos erupted. Panic quickly spread.

Other families have three members who pass the imperial examinations, bringing glory to their lineage and a sense of honor. But here we have three members who are considered "rebellious"! Forget about bringing glory to the family; will the younger generation even be able to find partners in the future? When people come to inquire, they'll say, "Good heavens, is this your village a den of the King of Hell?" Well, goodbye, never to be seen again!

"What kind of trouble has our department caused to attract such a bunch of scourges?"

"I won't dare say I'm from building number 95 when I go out anymore, or I might really get beaten up."

"There's still a daughter in the family who's not married yet. What are we going to do? If we try to find out who she might be, they'll definitely run away."

"Don't even mention it, I'm so worried too. My family still has two sons who aren't married yet."

Enraged, the group now harbored a deep hatred for all five families: Lian Yi, Liu, Yan, Jia, and the deaf old woman. Of course, He Yuzhu had already been categorized as one of the worst troublemakers in the courtyard. These six families would henceforth face complete isolation from the rest of the courtyard.

He Yuzhu was also panicking. This was truly a Pyrrhic victory! The courtyard house had such a bad reputation, and now his whole family was implicated. What if his sister couldn't find a good partner in the future? Besides, the resentment in the courtyard house would only grow stronger, and he was worried about He Yushui's safety. It seemed he had to find a place to live outside, or maybe try to get the factory to allocate an apartment so they could move out. As for the old He family house, he was going to visit He Daqing during the New Year anyway, so he could have him guard it then.