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

"Absurd... This is utterly disgraceful!" Yan Bugui gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words.

He still couldn't accept this fact!

He slammed the comic book on the table.

"Bang!"

The sudden loud noise startled Yan Jiefang, Yan Jiekuang, and Yan Jiedi, who were engrossed in eating corn porridge nearby. Yan Jiefang's hand trembled, and a shred of pickled vegetable he was holding with his chopsticks fell onto the table with a thud.

Yan Bugui's triangular eyes locked onto the three children.

Yan Jiefang is 13 years old and in the second semester of junior high school; Yan Jiekuang is 12 years old and in the sixth grade of elementary school; Yan Jiedi is only 8 years old and in the same class as Banggeng, in the third grade of elementary school.

"Eat, eat, eat! All you know how to do is eat!" Yan Bugui slammed his hand on the edge of the table, making the bowls and chopsticks jump around. "Look at Zhang Dabiao! And look at you bunch of freeloaders! I, Yan Bugui, have been smart all my life, how did I end up with a bunch of blockheads like you!"

Yan Jiekuang swallowed hard and muttered under his breath, "Dad, Zhang Dabiao is a genius. Who in our compound can compare to him..."

"Shut up!" Yan Bugui spat as he pointed at the three children's noses and yelled, "Geniuses are made through learning! If you spent even half the time you spend slacking off on your books, would I be humiliated in the yard every day? From today onwards, each of you will write five more pieces of calligraphy every day! If you don't finish, no one will get dinner!"

Yan Jiefang stared at the fallen shredded pickled vegetable on the table with a bitter face, inwardly roaring.

The old man's gone mad with greed! Zhang Dabiao making a fortune from his book has nothing to do with us! You're just jealous of his good life, so why don't you go to the Intermediate People's Court and ask him for your money? Why are you taking it out on us?

This is like being caught in the crossfire.

The third aunt came over carrying a plate of thinly sliced ​​salted radish. Seeing her husband's ashen face, she sighed and advised, "Old Yan, why are you getting so angry with the kids? Da Biao is just lucky; he's met a benefactor. Didn't you see his teacher helping him out?"

"Besides, no matter how much he earns, it's his money, it won't end up in our pockets."

"You know nothing!" Yan Bugui ripped off his glasses and threw them on the table. "Is this about money? This is about reputation! I'm a respectable teacher, I've taught countless students, and in the end, I haven't published a book, while Zhang Dabiao has published one and is standing on his own?"

"My reputation is worse than that of a kid who hasn't even graduated from vocational school! How am I supposed to hold my head up in school now?!"

Ultimately, it all comes down to money.

Yan Bugui felt a pang of pain in his heart whenever he thought about Zhang Dabiao's two thousand yuan in royalties. Two thousand yuan! Even if Yan Bugui saved for ten years without eating or drinking, he couldn't accumulate that much. If that money were in the Yan family's hands, he could buy half of the courtyard house!

And this is royalties!

A perfectly legitimate royalty payment! A source of pride for writers!

"Write! Go write it now!" Yan Bugui pointed to the inner room and gave the order.

The three Yan siblings had no choice but to sheepishly put down their bowls and chopsticks. Yan Jiefang, walking last, glanced back at the "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King" comic book on the table, and thought to himself, "Why are you drawing comic books, Zhang Dabiao?"

[You drew it and published it, but you didn't even send me a copy?]

We're all from the same compound, aren't you being a bit petty?

------------

The Intermediate People's Court, the Jia family.

"Which bastard stole my money?! Who touched my retirement savings?!"

Jia Zhangshi's wailing shattered the evening tranquility of the courtyard. Her plump body spun wildly in the small room, turning the bed upside down, scattering tattered cotton wadding everywhere.

We've searched the houses in the front courtyard and the side rooms in the middle courtyard—but we haven't found anything!

"Two yuan! A whole two yuan! That's my life savings, painstakingly saved up from between my teeth!" Jia Zhangshi plopped down on the ground, slapping her thighs, and began to wail and scream, "Old Jia! Dongxu! Open your eyes and see! There's a thief in this yard, bullying us orphans and widows!"

Qin Huairu had just finished washing the family's clothes by the pool when she was startled by the scene as she entered the door. She quickly hugged Huaihua, who was gnawing on her fingers, and approached her with a wronged expression.

"Mom, stop crying. Think about it carefully, maybe you put it in the wrong place? Didn't you always sew the money into your underwear pocket?"

Jia Zhangshi rolled her triangular eyes and glared fiercely at Qin Huairu: "Wrong place? I have a good memory! I touched it this morning! Was it you? Did you, Qin Huairu, steal it to subsidize your family?!"

"Mom! Why would I take your money!" Qin Huairu's eyes instantly reddened, tears welling up. "I work myself to the bone at the factory every day, and after get off work I still have to take care of this whole family. I don't even have money to buy a hair tie, why would I steal your money!"

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were at an impasse when Xiao Dang, who was huddled in the corner, timidly raised her hand.

"Grandma, Mom... Mom didn't take it."

Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu turned their heads at the same time, their eyes fixed on Xiao Dang.

"Who took that?!" Madam Jia grabbed Xiao Dang and pulled her over with great force, causing Xiao Dang to scream.

"My brother took it." Xiao Dang shrank his neck, his voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

The room fell silent for a few seconds. Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu exchanged a glance; the atmosphere was tense.

"A stick?" Jia Zhangshi's fierce expression softened considerably, replaced by a hint of nervousness. "Xiao Dang, don't talk nonsense. What would your brother do with the family's money? He might take a dime or two to buy candy, but two dollars is no small amount."

Xiao Dang twisted her fingers and honestly said, "My brother said he went to buy books."

"Buy books?" Madam Jia was taken aback for a moment, then slapped her thigh, her fat face squeezing together as she burst out laughing. "Oh my! My grandson has made something of himself! He knows to buy books to study! What's two yuan? As long as my grandson studies hard, gets into university, and becomes a high-ranking official, he'll earn back those two yuan ten or a hundred times over!"

Qin Huairu breathed a sigh of relief, her heart finally at ease. Banggeng had been so gloomy lately; if he could truly focus on his studies, it would be a stroke of incredible luck for the Jia family.

Buying books is always a good thing.

"This child, if you're going to buy books, you can just tell the family. Why did you have to take them secretly?" Qin Huairu wiped away her tears and smiled.

But Xiao Dang's next sentence immediately froze the smiles on the faces of the two women.

"My brother said he went to buy a comic book. It's the one Uncle Da Biao drew, 'Nezha Conquers the Dragon King.' My brother said it's really good, and all his classmates are fighting over it!"

The room suddenly became eerily quiet.

The smile on Jia Zhangshi's face vanished instantly, her face turning ashen with anger. Qin Huairu's vision blurred, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

Why buy Zhang Dabiao's books?!

What kind of feud did the Jia family have with Zhang Dabiao? It was a blood feud so deep that they would never speak to each other again and wished they could tear each other apart alive! Zhang Dabiao cut off the Jia family's financial support, beat up the Jia family members, and cursed Jia Dongxu to death!

Now, the eldest son and grandson of the Jia family have actually stolen their grandmother's savings for her funeral to help their enemy increase sales?!

"What a tragedy!"