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

Back then, Jia Zhangshi could not be said to be extremely beautiful, but she was at least pretty with delicate features and a well-proportioned figure. Otherwise, she would not have been able to marry into the city from the countryside and marry Jia Wangcai, a fitter at Lou's steel rolling mill.

It's important to know that the Lou family's enterprise was the best-paying private company in Beijing at the time. Even during the lean years, the workers there never let their families go hungry, let alone skilled trades like fitters. Naturally, their standards for a wife were high. Back then, there were plenty of high school graduates in Beijing for Old Jia to choose from, but in the end, he chose someone from the countryside, which shows that Jia Zhangshi was indeed quite beautiful.

Before marrying into the Jia family, Zhang Xiaohua worked in the countryside with her parents, farming, carrying water, and feeding pigs. She worked from dawn till dusk, doing whatever the men did. It was truly a life of hard labor, with her face to the soil and her back to the sky, living in complete darkness. But after marrying into the Jia family, it was like heaven and earth, a completely different world.

Every day, she only needed to do some housework and take good care of Old Jia. Old Jia was an honest man and treated his wife well. He wouldn't let her do any heavy or tiring work and would often buy her some oil and fat to satisfy her cravings. With the nourishment of the rain and dew, Zhang Xiaohua gradually blossomed, her face became whiter, her skin became smoother, and she even began to resemble a city woman.

As life became more comfortable, their minds started to wander. Jia Wangcai and Yi Zhonghai had entered the factory together. Jia Wangcai was honest, while Yi Zhonghai was a hypocrite; they quickly became close friends. Of course, at that time they didn't live in the courtyard house; the Jia family lived in a large fenced area, while Yi Zhonghai was still living at his father-in-law's house.

As a result, Lao Jia frequently invited Yi Zhonghai to his home for drinks. Over time, Yi Zhonghai and Zhang Xiaohua developed feelings for each other. Finally, one night when Jia Wangcai was working the night shift, the two crossed the line and Lao Jia was cuckolded.

Does this character seem familiar? That's right, her experiences are at least 80% similar to Qin Huairu's. Except Qin Huairu hasn't quite reached the point of cheating on her husband yet, but she's close. This is why Jia Zhangshi can see right through Qin Huairu; she's practically a carbon copy of her. How could she not understand her character?

Once you start having an affair, it's impossible to stop. After that, whenever Lao Jia worked the night shift, Yi Zhonghai would be there without fail. To this end, Yi Zhonghai even applied for a shift change to completely avoid Lao Jia's night shift, just to make it easier to have an affair with Zhang Xiaohua. He also had other intentions; he and Zhang Guifen had been married for several years without any sign of pregnancy, while Jia Zhangshi had already given birth to their eldest son, Jia Dongxu. He was thinking of casting a wide net and seeing if he could reap any rewards.

But the truth eventually came out, especially since the two had been having an affair for several years without any trouble, which was already a miracle. The courtyard was full of people and eyes; some saw a dark figure sneaking into Jia's house in the middle of the night, others knew Old Jia worked the night shift, and there were strange noises coming from Jia's house in the middle of the night. These rumors slowly spread, and eventually reached Old Jia's ears.

Old Jia had actually sensed something was off about Zhang Xiaohua a long time ago, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Being an honest man who doted on his wife, he hadn't considered it, until rumors reached his ears, and he was shocked to realize it might be true—his wife was cheating on him! He was filled with rage and vowed to catch the adulterous couple.

That day, Lao Jia deliberately swapped shifts with his coworkers for the night shift. After dinner, he went out as usual, pretending to go to work, but he quickly hid at the alley entrance, staring intently at the courtyard gate to see if any strangers went in. He waited for over an hour. Then, someone Lao Jia never dreamed of appeared, sneaking into the courtyard—none other than his trusted brother, the morally upright Yi Zhonghai.

Old Jia felt dizzy and his blood rushed to his head; he almost spat out blood. The most tragic thing in the world is being betrayed by the two people you trust most—not only were you deceived, but they also conspired to cuckold him. This was an utter disgrace! He couldn't bear it any longer; he rushed to the front of the house, kicked the door open, and stormed inside!

These were all critical moments. Old Jia had lost his mind; rushing in at this time was just asking for trouble. The scene was utterly indecent. Two pale, naked bodies were entangled on the kang (heated brick bed), terrified by the sudden sound of the door being broken down. Zhang Xiaohua screamed, grabbing the quilt and covering herself tightly. Yi Zhonghai, naked, rolled onto the floor, not even bothering to put on his clothes, and immediately knelt down.

"Old Jia, Brother Jia, let me explain..."

"Explain your mother! Explain that you slept with my woman? Explain that you cheated on me?" Old Jia's eyes were bloodshot. He grabbed a rolling pin and started smashing it down on Yi Zhonghai without warning. Yi Zhonghai screamed and begged for mercy, but dared not raise his voice. Fortunately, it was late at night, and most people were asleep. Jia Wangcai, besides kicking hard, made sure to close the door behind him when he rushed in. He was an honest man, but also a man who cared a lot about his reputation and knew the principle of not airing one's dirty laundry in public.

At this moment, Zhang Xiaohua crawled over, grabbed Lao Jia's leg, and started wailing, "Husband! Have mercy! I was wrong! I was bewitched! Hit me, just don't make a scene, or our family will be too ashamed to face anyone! Dongxu is still so young..."

Mentioning his son Dongxu, Old Jia's grip loosened. (Jia Dongxu had been moved to another room to sleep.) Looking at the two men behaving so disgracefully before him, shame and anger overwhelmed him. If things really escalated, how could Jia Wangcai hold his head high in this courtyard and at the factory? How would his son face anyone afterward?

Pointing the rolling pin at Yi Zhonghai's nose, he shouted, "Yi Zhonghai, you beast! I've treated you well all this time, and this is how you repay me? Sleeping with my wife? Tell me! Dongxu, is Dongxu your son?!"

This was Jia Wangcai talking nonsense in a daze. Jia Zhangshi became pregnant not long after marrying into the family and gave birth to Xiao Jia. At that time, Jia Wangcai hadn't even brought Yi Zhonghai home yet; that was a year or two later. But this honest man was prone to overthinking, and once he entered a dead end, it became an insurmountable obstacle in his mind. No matter how many reasons he gave, he still suspected that Jia Dongxu was Yi Zhonghai's child.

Yi Zhonghai was also frightened by Old Jia's words and ferocious face. He wasn't stupid. Even if Jia Dongxu was his son, he couldn't admit it now, let alone have no connection with him at all! Didn't he see that Old Jia was already losing his mind? He still had a lot of youth left, and he still had to continue the Yi family line. He absolutely couldn't let it end here.

"I, Yi Zhonghai, swear to God that Jia Dongxu has absolutely no connection with me! If this is a lie, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death, and may the Yi family line die out forever!"