Love in the Courtyard: Starting with Engineers

Back in the courtyard, the aroma of food wafted through the air, but the atmosphere remained subtly tense.

The Jia family kept their doors closed. Sha Zhu squatted at his own doorway, snorted, and turned his head away.

Li Yu went back into the house, started a fire to cook, and took out some lean meat that he had bought on his way back.

At this time, fatty meat is very popular, while lean meat may be left over occasionally.

Li Yu took out some pickled peppers and garlic from the jar at home and made shredded pork with pickled peppers, and also made a cornmeal porridge.

Jia Jiabang is currently pulling Jia Zhangshi along.

"Grandma, I want to eat meat! I want to eat meat!"

Madam Jia looked at Qin Huairu beside her.

"Didn't you hear my grandson say he wanted meat? Go get him some meat right now, or I'll make you regret it."

Banggeng chimed in from the side.

"Yes, yes, go buy me some meat right now, or you'll be sorry."

Qin Huairu looked at Jia Zhangshi with red eyes and said:

"Mom, we don't have any money left to buy meat for the pigeons. I only make 18.5 yuan a month and I have to give you 5 yuan for retirement. We're already broke this month."

Upon seeing Qin Huairu like this, Jia Zhangshi threw a tantrum.

"I don't care, if I don't have money, I'll go to Sha Zhu's house and get it. That damn Sha Zhu didn't bring my family a lunchbox today, I'm going to find him right now."

Qin Huairu hurriedly pulled Jia Zhangshi aside and said:

"Shazhu has been punished for shaking the spoon for Li Yu and is now cleaning toilets. He won't be bringing a lunchbox for the next month."

Jia Zhangshi immediately objected.

"That damned Li Yu, I'll make him pay. Oh, by the way, when he came back today, I saw he was carrying a lump of meat. Go get some for my son, Banggeng, as compensation for my lunchbox."

Qin Huai pursed her lips, then took a large bowl and headed towards Li Yu's door. Li Yu was eating with the bowl in her hand when there was a knock on the door.

Li Yu put down his bowl and went to open the door, wanting to see who would come at mealtime.

When the door opened, Qin Huairu was there, holding a large bowl.

Li Yu immediately asked with a dark face:

"Is there something you need, Sister-in-law Jia? It's probably inappropriate for you to be knocking on the door of a single young man like me at this hour instead of having dinner at home!"

Qin Huairu was craning her neck to look at the plate of oily pickled pepper stir-fried pork on Li Yu's table.

Upon hearing Li Yu's question, her ears instantly turned red, and she timidly replied:

"Brother Li Yu, my son is really craving meat. Could you spare some for me to satisfy his craving?"

Li Yu had no intention of giving Qin Huairu a friendly look and pointed outside, saying:

"Get as far away from me as possible! Only your Jia family would do something like coming to our door to borrow meat. Look at your Banggeng, it's already as fat as a ball and it's still craving meat!"

When Qin Huairu saw that Li Yu had no plans for her and that his words were so harsh, tears instantly welled up in her eyes. She covered her mouth and started to walk back.

[Ding! Received 88 points of resentment from Qin Huairu]

Just then, Sha Zhu opened his door and strode over.

Actually, from the moment Qin Huairu arrived at Li Yu's house, that simp Sha Zhu had been eyeing Qin Huairu.

Seeing his beloved Sister Qin crying, he couldn't suppress his anger any longer.

As soon as he reached Qin Huairu's side, he hurriedly asked:

"Did that brat Li Yu bully you, Sister Qin?"

Qin Huairu covered her mouth and cried silently, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

Seeing Qin Huairu's foolishness, Zhu became even more certain that Li Yu had bullied his sister Qin.

[Ding! Received 188 points of malicious emotion from Sha Zhu]

Sha Zhu glared fiercely at Li Yu.

"I'll teach you to bully Sister Qin!" he said, raising his fist and smashing it toward Li Yu's face. The punch seemed powerful, but in Li Yu's eyes, it was barely faster than a snail crawling.

Li Yu dodged to the side and pushed Sha Zhu forward, sending him crashing straight into the coal pile in the corner.

With a loud thud, Sha Zhu was knocked senseless. Qin Huairu, seeing this, quickly went over to support Sha Zhu and asked softly:

"Zhu Zi, are you alright?" Then she turned to Li Yu and said with a look of grief and indignation, "Li Yu, how could you hit someone? Look what you've done to Zhu Zi."

Just then, an elderly man and a deaf old woman who had heard the commotion came over.

When the deaf old woman saw Sha Zhu's miserable state, his face a mixture of blood and coal dust, she felt heartbroken and said, "Oh dear, Sha Zhu, who beat you up like this!"

He turned and glared fiercely at Li Yu, saying:

"It must be you, you bastard! If you don't give me an explanation today, I'll hang myself at your doorstep!"

[Ding! Received 188 points of malicious emotion from a deaf old lady]

Yi Zhonghai said, "If you don't give me a satisfactory answer, I will report you to the police."

A shelf that appeared out of nowhere was also shouting:

"Report to the police so that this childless man can be taken to the shooting range by the police."

Upon hearing the words "childless," Yi Zhonghai glared fiercely at Jia Zhangshi. At that moment, Li Yu said, "..."

"Okay, let's call the police and let them come and see how Sha Zhu came to beat people up and how people in the courtyard houses handle neighborhood issues."

Upon hearing Li Yu's words, Yi Zhonghai knew there was probably a problem and immediately changed the subject, saying:

"Since Sha Zhu was beaten like this, regardless of whose fault it was, Li Yu can just give the idiot ten yuan for medical expenses and that will be the end of it."

Li Yu sneered.

"Regardless of right or wrong, what does it matter when you have your baby? Sha Zhu came to my door and tried to hit me without saying a word. This was self-defense. Even if the police came, they could only find me not guilty. And you want me to pay compensation? What kind of person do you think you are!"

Yi Zhonghai nearly died of anger upon hearing Li Yu's words. The deaf old lady, now that she was no longer deaf, retorted:

"You say my son Zhuzi started it, what evidence do you have? Who saw it?" The deaf old lady's gaze swept over the crowd, but no one dared to respond.

Just then, Xu Damao's voice rang out from the crowd.

"I saw it; it was Sha Zhu who started it."

The deaf old woman and Yi Zhonghai stared at Xu Damao.

"Xu Damao, don't meddle in this," Yi Zhonghai said coldly.

Xu Damao felt a little uneasy under their gaze, but he still stubbornly said, "What do you mean it's none of my business? I'm just telling the truth. Is there anything wrong with telling the truth?" Then, a few voices from the crowd echoed his sentiment.

Upon seeing this, Yi Zhonghai knew that Sha Zhu would have to suffer this loss today.

An old man stared at Li Yu and said, word by word:

"Young man, don't be so hot-blooded, you'll suffer the consequences sooner or later." After saying that, he called Sha Zhu to help the deaf old lady and walked towards the backyard.

Li Yu's voice drifted over slowly: "If you're young and not full of vigor, will you turn into an old dog barking and howling every day?"

[Ding! Received 199 points of malicious sentiment from Yi Zhonghai]

Yi Zhonghai didn't turn around, but his hand supporting the old lady was trembling.

The deaf old lady patted Yi Zhonghai's hand and said, "It's alright, he won't be able to cause trouble for long. Once he's kicked out, I'll find Director Yang to kick him out of the steel rolling mill."

Hearing this, Yi Zhonghai felt a little better. Now he couldn't wait to find Qin Huairu to devise a plan to get rid of Li Yu as soon as possible.

As soon as Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi entered the door, Qin Huairu was slapped hard across the face by Jia Zhangshi.

Zhang said in a low, menacing voice:

"Don't think I didn't see you and Sha Zhu arguing just now. If there's a next time, I'll scratch your face to pieces. Now get over there and kneel down in front of Dongxu's memorial tablet. Don't try to look pitiful; I'm not buying it."

After saying that, Jia Zhangshi turned over and lay down on the bed.

After finishing his meal, Li Yu checked the system panel and found he had 1708 emotion points.

After clearing away the dishes, Li Yu began to address the issues with the imported machine from earlier that day, planning to resolve them all at once the next day.