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

In the Intermediate Court, everyone had gathered. Liu Haizhong cleared his throat and spoke first.

"I've gathered everyone here today not for any other reason than because Xu Damao's family lost a chicken."

"Our courtyard is an advanced traditional courtyard house, and we absolutely cannot tolerate this kind of petty theft."

Xu Damao stood next to the table, pointing at Sha Zhu across from him.

"Gentlemen, it's obvious what happened. Sha Zhu stole the chicken."

"When I got home from get off work, the chicken was gone, and he was stewing it in the pot. What a coincidence!"

Sha Zhu stood there with his arms crossed, looking nonchalant.

"Xu Damao, don't make false accusations. I told you I bought it."

Yi Zhonghai picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and frowned slightly.

He knew in his heart that although Sha Zhu was stubborn, he would never do something like stealing chickens.

There's probably more to this story than meets the eye.

But he didn't want to make a big deal out of it, after all, family scandals shouldn't be aired in public.

Yan Bugui saw through it all and asked directly, "Shazhu, tell me honestly, did you buy this chicken?"

"Is it Dongdan Market or Xidan Market?"

"..."

"If you bought it, show everyone the receipt for the chicken."

Sha Zhu didn't get the receipt; he smuggled the half-chicken from the kitchen of the steel mill.

If this were to be said aloud, it would be considered theft of public property, a much more serious crime than stealing Xu Damao's chickens.

He glanced at Qin Huairu standing in the crowd.

Qin Huairu was looking at him with those mournful, helpless eyes, tears welling up in her eyes.

Sha Zhu's biggest flaw is that he's easily swayed and can't stand seeing women cry, especially Qin Huairu.

In a moment of impulsiveness, he slapped his thigh.

"Fine! I stole this chicken, I'll pay for it, okay?"

These words caused an uproar in the room.

Xu Damao laughed triumphantly.

"Did you all hear that? He admitted it himself!"

"You idiot Zhu, you thief, this isn't over until you pay me five yuan!"

When Qin Huairu heard that Sha Zhu had admitted to the matter, the corners of her mouth secretly turned up, and she breathed a long sigh of relief.

Yi Zhonghai sighed, preparing to make a final decision.

"This is ridiculous!"

"Since Sha Zhu has admitted it, then let's proceed according to the rules. Sha Zhu will compensate Xu Damao..."

Just as Yi Zhonghai was about to pronounce the verdict, a lazy voice suddenly came from the corner.

"Wait a minute."

Everyone turned their heads in unison to look at Zhang Dabiao, who was sitting in the armchair.

Zhang Dabiao slowly stood up and patted the sunflower seed shells off his trouser leg.

He walked to the front of the crowd, smiling as he looked towards the window of the Jia family's house, where the locust blossoms were being secretly observed.

The three children of the Jia family were hiding over there watching. Madam Jia and Qin Huairu wouldn't let the children come out, but they couldn't stop them from peeking from there.

"Huaihua, come here."

Huaihua is only a little over three years old. Zhang Dabiao often gives her candy, so she is not afraid of Zhang Dabiao at all.

So she ran over with her short legs, looked up at Zhang Dabiao, and said, "Uncle Dabiao."

Zhang Dabiao squatted down, patted her little head, and asked in the most relaxed tone.

"Locust blossoms, is the roast chicken delicious?"

The entire venue fell into a deathly silence.

You could hear a pin drop.

"I love flowers answered in a childish voice."

"Delicious... My brother's roasted chicken is so good..."

It's confirmed.

The case was solved immediately.

The curtain behind the Jia family's window slammed shut, and the door was slammed shut with a bang.

All eyes instantly shifted from Sha Zhu to Qin Huairu and the Jia family's wooden door behind her.

Sha Zhu's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot; he never expected Zhang Dabiao to pull this stunt.

Qin Huairu's face was deathly pale, and her lips were trembling.

Xu Damao was stunned for a second, then realized what was happening and burst into laughter, clutching his stomach.

"Hahahaha! You idiot Zhu, you're still pretending!"

"So, after all that, you're just taking the blame for someone else!"

Sha Zhu roared angrily at Zhang Dabiao.

"Zhang Dabiao! Are you out of your mind? How can you be so sabotaging me?"

"What business is it of yours? Why did you have to interfere!"

Qin Huairu also burst into tears and knelt down on the ground with a thud.

"Da Biao, Bang Geng is still young, he doesn't understand."

"You're saying that in front of the entire hospital? Aren't you trying to ruin him?"

Zhang Dabiao joked, "Ruined the joke? It's not like this is the first time he's committed petty theft. He's even been to the police station before; it's recorded in his file."

"Your Jia family ruined it eight hundred years ago, what's a little chicken the big deal?"

"What's wrong? Do you guys want to be officials or factory managers? Sorry, you can't be anymore."

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter, because Jia Zhangshi had always talked about Banggeng wanting to become a high-ranking official and a factory director in the future, but the records showed that this was definitely impossible, and everyone had just treated it as a joke.

After laughing, Zhang Dabiao's smile faded, and he looked coldly at Sha Zhu.

He threw the sunflower seed shells in his hand directly on the ground and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Silly Zhu, why are you yelling at me?"

"I'm saving you, preventing you from taking the blame."

"You really think it sounds good to be called a chicken thief?"

Sha Zhu stubbornly retorted.

"I'd rather pay up, it's no big deal!"

Zhang Dabiao chuckled, his voice instantly rising in pitch.

"You'd like that? Use your pig brain to think about it!"

"Your sister, He Yushui, is about to graduate from the School of Chemical Fiber Engineering and is waiting to be assigned a job."

"If her brother is a notorious chicken thief known throughout the entire college, and that's recorded in his file, what will happen to her background check?"

"Can she still be a cadre?"

"You're going to ruin your own sister's life!"

These words are piercing to the heart.

Sha Zhu froze instantly, standing there motionless as if struck by lightning.

He didn't care about his own reputation, but he cared about He Yushui.

He would never forgive himself if he ruined his sister's future by taking the blame for Bang-geng.

Qin Huairu also fell silent.

Zhang Dabiao's words were all reasonable, and she couldn't refute them at all.

Xu Damao didn't care about any of that; all he wanted now was money.

He walked up to Qin Huairu and extended his hand.

"Qin Huairu, since your family's 'banggeng' stole the chicken, then you should pay compensation."

"A hen that's laying eggs deserves at least five yuan in compensation!"

Jia Zhangshi rushed out of the house, plopped down on the ground, and started throwing a tantrum.

Five dollars? Go rob me!

"We can't even afford to eat, where would we get the money to compensate you? We have no money, but you can take my life!"

The scene descended into chaos once again.

In the end, it was Yi Zhonghai who stepped in to smooth things over.

"Alright, Da Mao, you know what's going on with the Jia family."

"We're all neighbors, so let's compromise and let the Jia family pay you three yuan, then we'll call it even."

Although Xu Damao was unwilling, he knew it was unrealistic to squeeze five yuan out of the Jia family, so he had no choice but to nod in agreement.

Qin Huairu, with tears in her eyes, said she would pay him back after she received her salary, and Xu Damao, for some unknown reason, agreed.

But when Xu Damao looked at Zhang Dabiao, his eyes darted away.

[Holy crap, is that bitch eyeing Qin Huairu again?]

Zhang Dabiao shook his head – forget it, he couldn't be bothered with them.

The wind is about to pick up, and it's hard to say what the final outcome will be for Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e.