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

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai was instantly stunned, his face filled with disbelief: "Director Wang, this..."

He was about to argue when Director Wang coldly interrupted him: "Shut up! Zhang Cuilan has it tough raising her child alone. Without a house and no money, how are they supposed to survive? Besides, this whole thing started because of you, so you should take responsibility!"

The deaf old woman tugged at Yi Zhonghai's arm, signaling him not to argue.

She knew in her heart that as long as she could successfully get a marriage certificate with Yi Zhonghai and save his life, this amount of property was nothing, and there would be plenty of opportunities to get it back from Zhang Cuilan in the future.

Yi Zhonghai understood the deaf old woman's eyes. Although he was unwilling, he could only swallow his words and nod reluctantly: "Okay... I'll listen to Director Wang."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cuilan felt a weight lifted from her heart and let out a long sigh of relief. Her eyes were fixed on the divorce certificate, her mind completely blank.

After resolving the divorce, Director Wang didn't delay any longer. He took out a marriage certificate application form and a large red paper from his cloth bag and slammed them on the table with a "thud": "Yi Zhonghai, deaf old lady, process your marriage certificate now! Sign and put your fingerprints on it quickly!" His tone was urgent, as if he couldn't wait to finish this mess.

Yi Zhonghai picked up the pen and, without the slightest hesitation, quickly signed his name and pressed his red handprint.

The deaf old woman slowly moved to the table, picked up the pen with trembling hands, and signed her name stroke by stroke.

Director Wang picked up the application forms signed by the two people, quickly filled them out by referring to the information, and then took out the street office seal he carried with him and stamped it with a "snap".

The bright red official seal, stamped on the golden marriage certificate, was particularly eye-catching, like a heavy hammer blow, sealing this outrageous marriage.

Director Wang shoved the marriage certificate into Yi Zhonghai's hand, his tone weary and impatient: "Alright, all the formalities are complete! From now on, Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old woman are legally married, and Zhang Cuilan is Yi Zhonghai's ex-wife! You all better behave yourselves and don't cause any more trouble, or don't blame me for being impolite!"

He Yuzhu, who was guarding the corner of the courtyard, had heard everything Director Wang was doing inside the house.

He gave Zhou Weiguo a knowing look, and before Director Wang could even come out, he dashed to the moon gate and yelled at Uncle Yan Fugui, who was standing nearby, "Uncle, am I dreaming? I just heard Director Wang say that our Uncle Yi Zhonghai and Aunt Zhang Cuilan have divorced!"

As soon as these words were spoken, curious neighbors immediately gathered around. Aunt Wang was the first to squeeze to the front, urgently asking, "Shazhu, don't shout nonsense! Is it true? Why would an old man like you divorce Cuilan? Cuilan has a child with her!"

He Yuzhu patted his chest, his tone full of absolute certainty and a hint of gleeful excitement: "Why would I lie to you! Director Wang just personally processed their divorce in the deaf old lady's house! The house and all the savings went to Zhang Cuilan!"

"My goodness!"

Aunt Zhao gasped, covering her mouth in shock. "That's not all! This old man got divorced, could it be because..."

Before he could finish speaking, He Yuzhu suddenly raised his voice and dropped an even more explosive announcement: "Guess what? As soon as the divorce was finalized, Director Wang immediately issued a marriage certificate to the old man and the deaf old woman! They even handed out the big red paper! Our old man and the deaf old woman are now legally married!"

"boom........."

These words were like a thunderclap, instantly stunning everyone in the courtyard. The neighbors stared wide-eyed and gaped, and no one came to their senses for a long time. The courtyard was so quiet that you could hear each other breathing.

Grandpa Li's pipe fell to the ground with a "thud," without him even noticing, as he muttered, "Crazy! Everyone's crazy! An old man marrying a deaf old woman? This is utter nonsense!"

Uncle Yan Fugui gasped in shock, his face turning pale, his voice trembling: "My God! Has Yi Zhonghai lost his mind? He'd abandon his young wife and children to marry an old woman who's practically on her deathbed? Where has his moral compass gone?!"

Aunt Wang slapped her thigh and sighed repeatedly, her voice filled with disbelief and horror: "This is ten times more outrageous than Xu Damao marrying Second Aunt! Uncle used to be such a respectable person, how could he do such a thing? Zhang Cuilan is so pitiful, she was divorced right after giving birth, and her husband is with an old woman..."

"What's there to pity? There might be something fishy going on here!"

Aunt Zhao frowned and analyzed in a low voice, "Think about it, all these things that happened today—Qin Huairu, Xu Damao, and Yi Zhonghai all got together! The old lady's family made such a commotion this morning; I guess they staged this wedding to protect Yi Zhonghai!"

The surrounding neighbors nodded in agreement, and the murmurs grew louder, filled with shock and disdain.

One person couldn't help but complain: "Our No. 95 courtyard is really going to explode! Two outrageous weddings in one day, an old man marrying an old woman, and Xu Damao marrying a second aunt. If this gets out to other courtyards in Nanluoguxiang, and then to the whole of Beijing, we'll have to walk with our heads down from now on!"

"It's more than just keeping their heads down!" another neighbor exclaimed, their face full of worry. "Their reputation is completely ruined! What young man or woman would want to date someone from our compound? What family would want to associate with someone from our compound? Compound 95 is now infamous, and notorious at that!"

Just as chaos erupted in the courtyard, the door to the deaf old woman's house creaked open, and Director Wang emerged, rubbing his throbbing temples, his face etched with undisguised exhaustion.

She glanced at the gossiping neighbors in the yard, her brows furrowing even more, but she didn't scold them anymore. After this series of messy events, she no longer had the energy to argue with these people.

Director Wang quickly spotted Zhou Weiguo in the crowd and subtly gave him a wink.

Zhou Weiguo, understanding the situation, turned and walked towards a quiet spot near the courtyard gate. Director Wang followed closely behind, and only after reaching a secluded corner where no one was watching did he let out a long sigh of relief and speak first, asking, "Chief Engineer Zhou, I've finished handling everything inside. The divorce proceedings between Yi Zhonghai and Zhang Cuilan, his marriage to the deaf old woman, are all complete, and all the property has been divided between them and Zhang Cuilan. Do you think this arrangement is acceptable?"

Her tone was cautious and tentative, after all, the matter was handled so outrageously that she was unsure of herself and afraid that Zhou Weiguo would be dissatisfied.

Zhou Weiguo leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and after listening, he simply nodded noncommittally without saying a word.

Seeing him nod, Director Wang felt a slight sense of relief, then rolled her eyes dramatically. "Chief Engineer Zhou, things are settled for today, so I'll take my leave now. By the way, Chief Engineer Zhou, I've heard about these people in your institute from others, but since you're a cadre in this institute, if you can help deal with them, please do so. Otherwise, too much trouble will be bad for both of us, don't you think?"

P.S.: Please urge me to update more and give me good reviews. Thank you!