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

Days passed by, and eventually the wind rose. In an instant, the landscape of the motherland was ablaze with red flags. Gradually, government agencies were impacted to varying degrees, but in He Yuzhu's view, it was noticeably milder than in his previous life.

His years of hard work finally paid off. In those years, he acted as a mysterious figure, continuously disseminating a great deal of information and providing the country with many advanced industrial and agricultural technologies that were ahead of their time, dramatically increasing industrial and agricultural output. With abundant resources and plentiful food, people were less anxious, and the conflicts between the upper echelons, stemming from economic issues, which extended to political and ideological tensions, were greatly alleviated.

Song Fei and his group tried their best to mediate. He Yuzhu occasionally heard his father-in-law mention that the shopkeeper had a tough time, having to balance his ideals with his livelihood, but at least he had recovered now.

Due to various factors, the situation wasn't as severe as in the previous life, but even so, chaos still raged in society. Of course, this had nothing to do with the He family; no one dared to make a move on Song Fei's son-in-law, and He Yushui was naturally even more carefree. However, chaos began to emerge in the courtyard house at number 95 where He Daqing lived. The sons of the Liu and Yan families, along with a group of cronies, formed a fighting team, claiming they would take down everything. They started by attacking their own fathers, ignoring the desperate pleas of Yang Ruihua and Gou Xianhui, and fought Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui to the death.

This terrified He Daqing. With decades of experience in the underworld, he was once a powerful figure in Beijing, but he had never seen such chaos before. What kind of son would try to kill his own father? Even if the father was a scoundrel, at most they would just cut ties. But this was like fighting and killing an enemy, which scared the old man out of his wits.

He knew the grudges between these two families and his own, so he immediately moved his wife and children to the He family's courtyard for temporary accommodation. It should be said that He Daqing's intuition was quite good. The young men from the Liu and Yan families had not forgotten that their families' fate as "black five categories" was all because of He Yuzhu. The reason they dared not act for the time being was because they were wary of He Yuzhu's position as the director of the steel rolling mill. It was hard to say what would happen if things got more chaotic later, and they would eventually take action against the He family.

"Zhu Zi, you have no idea, that courtyard is unbearable to stay in!"

"Those guys from the Liu and Yan families, they really dare to go to extremes! We have a grudge against them, what if they remember this one day and bring people to cause trouble..."

He Yuzhu poured his father a cup of tea. "Let them come, what are you afraid of?"

"You may not be afraid, but I am! You're an official, the son-in-law of the Song family; they wouldn't dare touch you. But what about me? I'm just a cook, your Aunt Xu is just a housewife, and how old is your sister? If they really corner us, we'll be left crying for help..."

He Yuzhu thought it made sense, so he decided to let them stay. He also wanted to see how these two families would choose. If they really wanted to cause trouble, he wouldn't mind eliminating the threat from both families completely.

The steel rolling mill, too, could not escape the trajectory of history.

Li Huaide, after a dramatic transformation, became the director of the steel rolling mill's GWH (Government Affairs Department). Like any new broom sweeping clean, his first act was to fire Director Cao, relegating him to cleaning toilets.

He was truly in control and full of vigor, but the most important security force in the steel rolling mill remained firmly in Tan Jin's hands. Among the middle and senior management of the entire steel rolling mill, only Tan Jin and He Yuzhu had not joined GWH, but no one dared to touch them, not even Li Huaide.

He Yuzhu watched the changing winds and clouds quietly. Time slowly passed to 1968, and the situation became increasingly intense.

On this day, He Yuzhu came to the streets near Hongxing Elementary School. His purpose in coming here was only for one person, Ran Qiuye, with whom he had a predestined but ultimately unfulfilled relationship in his previous life.

Ran Qiuye's parents were highly educated professors who had returned from studying in the United States. Naturally, they did not have a good ending in this era. In their previous life, the old couple were sent to a farm and were tortured to death within a few years.

Ran Qiuye, as their daughter, fared no better. In that era, being highly educated, of low social class, and beautiful was considered a cardinal sin. She was subjected to relentless persecution, including various malicious attacks and humiliations from the "breakfast faction," and was paraded through the streets multiple times.

Finally, Ran Qiuye couldn't take the torment any longer and was forced to marry a poor, old bachelor from a lower-middle peasant family to avoid further trouble, but this ruined her life. When the storm finally died down, she had completely gone mad. In the end, it was all the fault of the wicked widow Qin Huairu. If it weren't for that last interference, he and Ran Qiuye would almost certainly have gotten together, and they wouldn't have ended up in such a tragic situation. His status as a third-generation farmer was enough to protect her.

Of course, He Yuzhu, who has lived two lives, did not come to find Ran Qiuye to rekindle their past relationship. He had his own considerations, mainly for his beloved apprentice Ma Hua.

Ma Hua is twenty-eight this year and still a bachelor. This apprentice has been with He Yuzhu for over ten years, rising from a junior apprentice in the canteen to become the deputy director. He's honest, hardworking, and has truly mastered He Yuzhu's culinary skills. However, his family is extremely poor. He has five younger siblings to support, grandparents to care for, and his mother is bedridden. The whole family depends on him alone. If it weren't for He Yuzhu's overt and covert support over the years, they simply couldn't survive.

Dragging this out has delayed his marriage. A few years ago, people introduced him to potential partners, but the girls turned away as soon as they saw Ma Hua's family situation. There were also women who didn't mind, but He Yuzhu was unhappy when he saw the conditions. In the end, after thinking it over, he thought of Ran Qiuye.

Both were in their late twenties. Ran Qiuye came from a highly educated family; while her class background wasn't good in those days, her education and upbringing were impeccable. Ma Hua, despite his heavy family burdens, was the deputy director of the canteen at a steel rolling mill—a legitimate government official.

Most importantly, He Yuzhu is well aware of Ran Qiuye's current situation. The reason he didn't step in to protect her when things were getting heated was precisely because of today's considerations.

Ran Qiuye came from a highly educated family, and the pride in her bones wasn't easily extinguished. Why did she suffer so much in her previous life? Besides the pressures of the times, it was also her own unyielding sense of superiority. If she had been rescued from the beginning, given her personality at the time, she might not have looked up to someone like Ma Hua.

But things are different now.

Two or three years of turmoil is enough to smooth out a person's rough edges. Ran Qiuye should understand now that in this day and age, having a stable source of support is better than anything else. Ma Hua is honest and kind, has a good social standing, and can protect her. Although the family has a heavy burden, it's still better than sweeping the streets and toilets every day, and constantly being beaten, right?

Besides, He Yuzhu knows Ma Hua's personality best. He may be honest, but he's a caring person. If Ran Qiuye goes with him, her life won't be bad.

He believed that Ran Qiuye was a sensible person, and that his intervention this time was to show her a way out.