I painted an aircraft carrier on the courtyard house for Dongda University.

This change in attitude stunned Yi Zhonghai, Yan Fugui, and Qin Huairu. They had thought Zhou Weiguo was determined to call the police, but now was there a chance for things to turn around?

Hope ignited in Qin Huairu's eyes, and she quickly wiped away her tears: "Just name a price, and as long as we can afford it, we'll definitely pay!"

Yan Fugui chimed in, "That's right, that's right. Paying compensation is better than losing face. We're all neighbors, there's no need to ruin our relationship."

Yi Zhonghai, however, stared warily at Zhou Weiguo, feeling that things weren't so simple—this kid wasn't usually so easy to talk to.

Zhou Weiguo's lips curled into a meaningful smile. His eyes swept across everyone's faces before finally landing on Qin Huairu. He said slowly and deliberately, "Compensation? Fine. I don't need much for the damaged food, the broken items, or the emotional distress. Three to five hundred yuan will do."

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai's lips twitched, Yan Fugui looked on with envy and admiration, while Qin Huairu's face turned ashen. The three of them fell silent for a moment.

Banggeng knew he had made a huge mistake, so he buried himself in Qin Huairu's arms and cried.

Yi Zhonghai said with a forced smile, "Comrade Zhou, look, the child just caused some damage. These things aren't worth three hundred yuan at all. You can buy them all new for fifty yuan at most."

Zhou Weiguo sneered: "Who said it wouldn't cost three or five hundred? I think anything that's been messed with by Bang Geng is dirty, so I'll just throw it all away and buy new ones. Including the damaged parts, it'll probably only cost fifty yuan."

But you forgot one thing—the tea set was a family heirloom left to Zhu Zi by his mother. For so many years, Zhu Zi had always protected it carefully, never daring to be negligent in the slightest, but that little brat Bang Geng actually smashed the entire tea set to pieces.

I remember when my mom passed this tea set down to my eldest sister, she said it was worth one and a half small yellow croakers. At today's prices, it'd be close to four hundred yuan. And that's a friendly price; otherwise, this wouldn't be over for less than five hundred yuan!

"These shoddy things aren't worth that much money. I could buy a new set for a dollar. You're just..." Yi Zhonghai's face turned ashen with anger, but Qin Huairu grabbed him before he could finish. She shook her head pleadingly, signaling Yi Zhonghai to stop talking.

Zhou Weiguo said with a half-smile, "Go on, if you dare say those last few words, I'll ask you for a thousand. Do you believe me? If you don't, let's see. As for you saying this family heirloom is fake, that's simple. We'll call the police now and let them come and authenticate it, how about that?"

Yan Fugui gasped, looking at Zhou Weiguo with fear.

The thought that he had almost gotten into trouble with this person just now sent chills down his spine.

In his eyes, Zhou Weiguo was practically a living devil, and Lao Yi and the Jia family were completely finished this time. He even secretly hoped that Bang Geng would also "visit" his house, and he wanted to try to imitate Zhou Weiguo's methods.

Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu were rendered speechless by Zhou Weiguo's words.

Yi Zhonghai blushed and tried to retort several times, but was forced back by Zhou Weiguo's gaze and words.

Qin Huairu collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face. She knew her family simply couldn't afford that much money, but she was at a loss.

Yi Zhonghai pondered for a moment, gritted his teeth, and forced an awkward smile: "Comrade Zhou, three hundred yuan is far too much. The Jia family, with their orphaned children and widow, simply can't afford it. How about this, let her pay fifty yuan first, and the rest can be paid back slowly. What do you think?"

Zhou Weiguo crossed his arms, gave a mocking laugh, glanced at his watch, then went into the kitchen, came out carrying a cleaver, and said coldly, "I like things quick. Since you like to drag things out, I prefer a clean and efficient approach. I'm only giving you fifteen minutes. If I don't have three hundred yuan by then, I'm calling the police. Anyone who tries to stop me, I'll chop them down! From now on, every extra word you say will reduce the time by one minute." As he spoke, he deliberately pointed to his watch.

These words immediately threw the scene into chaos. Yi Zhonghai had no doubt that Zhou Weiguo was capable of such a thing. Yi Zhonghai grabbed Yan Fugui and started walking out, saying, "Old Yan, lend me two hundred yuan first, I'll pay you back later."

Yan Fugui's eyes darted around, and he retreated repeatedly, looking troubled. "Old Yi, you're trying to kill me! You know how little money my family has, where would I get spare cash to lend you? Besides, all my money is in the bank, we only have a few dollars at home."

Yi Zhonghai looked at Qin Huairu helplessly: "Huairu, this can't be delayed. I remember your mother-in-law should still have Lao Jia's pension. You should go home and find the money now. I really don't have any money on me, just a little over a hundred. You go find the money, and I'll try to borrow some from others."

Qin Huairu bit her lip, her face streaked with tears, and said in a trembling voice, "Okay, I'll go back and find it right now!" After saying that, she stumbled and ran home.

At this moment, Qin Huairu was preoccupied with her child and couldn't care less about anything else. As soon as she got home, she started rummaging through drawers and cabinets, searching for a long time, but only managed to scrape together a few small bills. This amount of money was a drop in the ocean compared to the 300 yuan compensation.

She turned the house upside down, even searching for Jia Zhangshi's clothes, but she could only scrape together less than two yuan. Looking at the crumpled banknotes in her hand, Qin Huairu stamped her feet in desperation, tears welling up again: "What am I going to do? What am I going to do…"

Suddenly, she remembered a time when she came home and saw Jia Zhangshi crawling out from under the bed. She rushed to the bedside, used all her strength to lift the bed board, and sure enough, she found a loose brick on the wall at the corner of the bed. Trembling, she pulled out the brick, and inside was an iron box. Opening it, Qin Huairu was overjoyed—inside were three hundred and fifty yuan, as well as a large amount of gold yuan notes and banknotes from before the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Without thinking twice, she counted out three hundred yuan and rushed towards Zhou Weiguo, slamming the money heavily on the table: "Brother Weiguo, here's the money, three hundred yuan. Can you let Banggeng go now?"

At this moment, Yan Fugui and Yi Zhonghai also arrived and were surprised to see the money on the table. Yi Zhonghai silently put the money in his hand back into his pocket.

Zhou Weiguo smiled, picked up the money, counted it, and said in a good mood, "I'm happy now, so I won't argue with you about whether you should call me brother or uncle."

He then went inside, grabbed a piece of paper, and began to write quickly. The content roughly described what had happened that day, and also noted that Qin Huairu voluntarily compensated the He family for their losses of three hundred yuan, and that she could not go back on her word.

Zhou Weiguo forgave Bang Geng's mistake, with Yi Zhonghai and Yan Fugui as witnesses. After writing it down, he signed his name and pressed his fingerprint, and then had Qin Huairu, Yi Zhonghai, and Yan Fugui also sign and press their fingerprints.

"Alright, Qin Huairu, take Banggeng and go." Zhou Weiguo said, "That's enough for today. Remember, this is my first and last time since I came back. If I catch you again, don't blame me for making your Jia family pay dearly."