Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Xu Damao's voice was loud and urgent, and instantly everyone in the courtyard heard it, so they came over to see what was going on.

No one wanted to force the funeral, but Xu Damao started making a scene, so naturally they wanted to join in the fun, since no one else was going to start one.

In the west wing, Madam Jia abruptly stopped wailing, rushed out with disheveled hair, her eyes filled with rage. Upon seeing Xu Damao, she lunged at him as if he were her enemy, her neck stiff with fury, and roared, "Xu Damao, you heartless bastard! You have no conscience! My son has only been dead for a few days! His body is barely cold and you're already forcing us to hold a funeral! What are you up to?"

Seeing the neighbors gather around, Jia Zhangshi sat down on the ground, kicking up dust, and cursed incessantly: "Let me tell you, Xu Damao, you think you can force us to hold a funeral? No way! You're bullying us, a widow and her orphan! If you don't give us an explanation, I'll move Dongxu's coffin to your front door in the backyard, and none of us will get away with this!"

Xu Damao was dumbfounded?

"I only asked when the funeral will be held, what kind of explanation do I need to give you?"

"I didn't kill that person, how did I bully your family?"

Xu Damao was so angry at Jia Zhangshi's tantrum that he trembled. He took two steps back, pointed at her, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Jia Zhangshi, are you trying to be unreasonable and throw a tantrum here? There are rules for funerals. Five days is enough to keep the body in the morgue. How much longer do you want to keep it? I think you don't actually want to hold the funeral; you're just deliberately dragging this out to disgust people, aren't you!"

"What exactly do you want? Are you trying to extort money from me again?"

Xu Damao's shout revealed everyone's thoughts.

Yes, what exactly do you Jia family want? You should tell us.

Every day when Nima entered the house, he would see a coffin in the yard. Jia Dongxu's body was incomplete, indicating that he had died a violent death.

Aren't you afraid he'll come back to life?

"Extorting money?" Jia Zhangshi suddenly jumped up from the ground, pointing at Xu Damao's nose and roaring, "What did I extort from you? My son died unjustly, and the little money the factory gave us wasn't even enough for his funeral. If I don't drag this out and wait for an explanation, am I supposed to let my son be buried in such a shabby way?"

"Xu Damao, it's easy for you to talk when you're not the one suffering. You're about to hold your wedding banquet, getting married in all the glory, but what do you care about the lives of us orphans and widows!"

Xu Damao – [What the hell do I care? You're surnamed Jia, I'm surnamed Xu, what the hell is it to me?]

But we can't say that directly, can we?

At this moment, Qin Huairu walked out, leaning against the door frame, her face as pale as paper. She deliberately protected her abdomen with her hand, and said weakly while crying and wiping away tears, "Da Mao, please don't force us anymore, okay? Dongxu... he died so tragically. We just want to give him a decent funeral, but we really don't have any money left. We can only postpone it... Please wait a little longer. Once we've raised enough money, we'll hold the funeral immediately. We definitely won't delay your plans any further, okay?"

【Holy shit—】

"If they have enough money, they'll hold the funeral; if they don't, they'll just drag it out. Isn't that extortion?"

Xu Damao really wanted to refute directly, but since the other party's family had just lost its breadwinner, no matter how outspoken Xu Damao was, he couldn't directly expose them at this time.

Directly confronting them would create a complete and irreconcilable feud, and Xu Damao was afraid that the Jia family would cause trouble at his wedding banquet.

Knowing full well what bad intentions someone has, but not daring to be the first to call them out—this feeling of frustration is infuriating!

As Qin Huairu spoke, she slightly bowed, and Xu Damao even bowed once more, looking utterly pitiful. Several elderly men and women watching nearby couldn't help but sigh, their eyes filled with disdain as they looked at Xu Damao: "Xu Damao, the Jia family is in such a state, can't you watch your mouth?"

After all, Qin Huairu was pregnant and had two children. Her whole family had rural household registration and no ration quota. The breadwinner of the family had just died, so she was indeed quite pitiful.

But Xu Damao couldn't stand this kind of thing, and seeing Qin Huairu's expression, he couldn't suppress his anger. He could only frown and ask impatiently, "Raise money? Raise what money? Didn't the factory give any compensation? Jia Dongxu was a worker at the factory, he died on duty, how could the factory not care?"

"Don't try to play the victim here. Let me tell you, I'm not buying it!"

"pension?"

Madam Jia sneered, her tone full of resentment: "What can that meager compensation do? It's not even enough to buy Dongxu a decent coffin, let alone cover the funeral! And how will our family survive after that?"

"Xu Damao, if you have any conscience, help our Jia family raise some money."

"Otherwise, you can forget about having a wedding banquet; we'll fight to the death!"

This is a case of revealing one's true intentions when all else fails.

The two argued more and more fiercely, and more and more neighbors gathered to watch. Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, and others who had gone home from work earlier also rushed out after hearing the news and stood aside to watch, but no one dared to step forward to mediate the fight—everyone in the courtyard knew that Jia Zhangshi was a shrew, and whoever tried to intervene would be in trouble.

Try to persuade Xu Damao? Xu Damao was also furious at the moment, so trying to persuade him was useless.

Just then, Sha Zhu returned from outside carrying a lunchbox. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw a large crowd gathered at the entrance to the middle courtyard. Jia Zhangshi and Xu Damao were arguing heatedly, their faces flushed, while Qin Huairu stood to the side, weeping uncontrollably. His heart tightened, and he immediately rushed over, shoving Xu Damao aside and shielding Qin Huairu. He glared at Xu Damao and shouted angrily, "Xu Damao, are you even human? Dongxu just died, and you're already arguing with a widow and an old lady! How can you be so shameless?"

Xu Damao was pushed so hard he almost fell, and he became even angrier. Pointing at Sha Zhu's nose, he yelled, "Sha Zhu, you son of a bitch! What business is it of yours what I do with the Jia family? Are you out of your mind again, being fooled by Qin Huairu's words?"

"Meddling in other people's business?" Sha Zhu retorted angrily, "Sister Qin is pregnant and has two children, how difficult is that? Jia Dongxu's body has been kept in the morgue for three days and they can't have a funeral, there must be difficulties. You not only don't help, but you also pressure them, are you even a man?"

"Hey, you silly Zhu, are you trying to heal the Jia family?"

"Come on then! Do you think I'm afraid of you? Try touching me and see what happens!"

The two men were on the verge of fighting, and the surrounding neighbors panicked. Someone quickly shouted, "Stop fighting! Stop fighting! We're all neighbors, let's talk this out!"

"Yes, it's a funeral and a wedding, there's no need to resort to violence!"

When Sha Zhu was provoked by Xu Damao, he immediately threw a punch, but then Zhang Dabiao's words from that day suddenly flashed through his mind—"According to your original fate, you were destined to freeze to death under the bridge and be devoured by wild dogs, and it was Xu Damao who collected your body."

These words instantly extinguished Sha Zhu's anger like a bucket of cold water. His fist froze in mid-air, and the anger on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a look of bewilderment and apprehension.

He looked at Xu Damao in front of him, and a question lingered in his mind—

Is what Zhang Dabiao said true? Was it Xu Damao who ended up collecting my body?

If I hit him now, will he still accept me in the future?